Upson County
My Great-Grandmother Moves to Texas
I suppose I may have taken some liberties with this month’s Carnival theme of “What if . . . ” I don’t know exactly what happened when my great-great- grandmother and the son of a former slave owner who lived next door absconded to Texas from Georgia in 1884. But what if it happened like this: Sitting and sipping tea …
April 1, 2009 Wednesday at 7:49 pm
Names, Places & Most Wanted Faces
I started this with a note on Facebook and it was suggested that it would make a good meme for bloggers. The idea is to publicize your surnames and locales to see if anyone elseknows something about them. For me on Facebook, I got several research-helpful replies. So how much better to take it to a wider audience. List the …
February 26, 2009 Thursday at 8:29 pm
Georgia Confederate Pensions on Ancestry Put to Use
George Preston Birdsong (1841-1905), known as “Pres” to family and friends, is my presumptive great-great-grandfather. He was the scion of a prominent Upson County, Georgia, family. Pres’s father, George Lawrence Forsyth Birdsong (“Larry”), was a sportsman and land owner. Larry also served for a time as Upson County Sheriff. When the Civil War began, Pres enlisted in Company K, 5th …
February 16, 2009 Monday at 6:39 pm
History Comes to Dinner
Actually I’m going to dinner at the home of my great-great grandmother, Matilda Manson, in Rockdale, Milam County, Texas, on a day in 1900. Grandma Mattie has been kind enough, at my suggestion, to invite her son Otis, and his wife Bettie Sanford, as well as Bettie’s 90 year old father, Billie Sanford. Bettie is pregnant with their fourth child, …
February 2, 2008 Saturday at 4:55 am
Debunking A Family Myth
I’ve written about this before, but it fits this topic exactly, so I’ve reached into the archives and dusted this one off. Matilda Manson is listed in the 1850 census of Talbot County, Georgia, with her mother, Jane Manson and her sister, Mary Manson. Matilda’s age is given as 6 years old; Mary is reported to be 4, and their …
September 1, 2007 Saturday at 10:35 pm
