Is anyone working on the Bracewell line? I'm just getting started and am helping my aunt. We have starting with Melvin Hubert Bracewell, Sr. b. 11 There is a very active group researching Bracewell and similarly spelled names, Braswell, Brazell etc. There are several newsletters and people often subscribe to all of them. DNA testing is being done. The coordinator of the group for that is named Bracewell. One can read about that in the newsletters. There is also an extremely well done web page by a still different person. [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] http://www.braswell-genealogy.com

Is anyone working on the Bracewell line? I'm just getting started and am helping my aunt. We have starting with Melvin Hubert Bracewell, Sr. b. 11 Oct 1902. Thanks, Kathy _________________________________________________________________ Get 200+ ad-free, high-fidelity stations and LIVE Major League Baseball Gameday Audio! http://radio.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200491ave/direct/01/

My ancestor, Thomas F. Leggett, was also in the 37th Alabama, Company A. Contact Chip Culpepper at: [email protected] He's got a great web site and he can tell you everything you ever wanted to know about the 37th Alabama; he is a great resource. Chip's website on the 37th can be found at: http://gen.culpepper.com/military/civilwar/AL37/ Here is another web site with information on the 37th: http://www.archives.state.al.us/referenc/alamilor/37thinf.html Jeff Armstrong ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, May 22, 2004 12:35 PM Subject: Re: [ALHENRY]- #37th alabama infantry - Co. H -Homer Jones?? > I have ancestors in Co. H of the 37th Alabama - any experts available with > this company???? > > Mike McLane > Baltimore, Md > Malcolm McLain/McLane > Barbour County, Alabama > > In a message dated 5/22/4 1:48:33 PM, you wrote: > > <<1. Although I knew Homer Jones, I never knew which county or town he lived > in. Want to give him credit for some info in my research. Anybody know for > sure? > > > 2. Since Homer's gone, is anyone else doing lookups for CSA soldiers and > units in the old Henry County area? > > > Val > > --- > > Val McGinness, Alexander researcher > > >> > > ______________________________

Homer Jones lived in Ozark, Dale County, AL and is buried in Woodland Memorial Gardens, Ozark. Manonia Snell ----- Original Message ----- From: "Val McGinness" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, May 22, 2004 8:48 AM Subject: 2 Questions: About Homer Jones & CSA Lookups > 1. Although I knew Homer Jones, I never knew which county or town he lived in. Want to give him credit for some info in my research. Anybody know for sure? > > 2. Since Homer's gone, is anyone else doing lookups for CSA soldiers and units in the old Henry County area? > > Val > --- > Val McGinness, Alexander researcher > > E-mail: [email protected] > URL: http://webpages.charter.net/valmcginness > > ______________________________

Also some may want to post to the Alabama in the Civil War Message Board for information on their wiregrass Confederate ancestors. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Le Bateman" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, May 23, 2004 6:53 PM Subject: Re: [ALHENRY] 37th Alabama Infantry Co H There were three companies of the 37th that were from Henry A, E, and H. Dr. Ken Jones a good site on the Regimental Histories of all Alabama Units, some of these have rosters. Dr. Jones is a professor at Tarleton University. [email protected] is his email address. You can get rosters from him, for a fee. Le ----- Original Message ----- From: "Larry Hammack" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, May 23, 2004 11:14 AM Subject: [ALHENRY] 37th Alabama Infantry Co H I am not an expert by any means but have been collecting information about this unit for several years in hopes of putting together a book regarding the members before, during and after the war of Northern Aggression. I do have the following on a William T McLain Private in Company H, signed parole at Vicksburg on 9 July 1863, On 22 July 1864 taken prisoner again and sent to Camp Chase via Nashville, and Louisville. March 2, 1865 transferred to City Point and exchanged on 10 March 1865 to Bouleware's Wharf and Cox Wharf, james River, Virginia. This exchange included 3499 men of which 143 were officers. If this is your ancestor I would be interested in knowing more about his after war activities. Respectfully, Larry Hammack Hammack/Hammock/Corbitt ==== ALHENRY Mailing List ==== If you wish to unsubscribe from the Henry Co., AL Mailing List, send only the word UNSUBSCRIBE to [email protected] or if you are on the digest list to [email protected] ============================== Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 ==== ALHENRY Mailing List ==== NOTICE: Posting of virus warnings, test messages, chain letters, politicalannouncements, current events, items for sale, personal messages, flames, etc. (in other words - spam) is NOT ALLOWED and will be grounds for removal. Consideration for exceptions, contact Kathleen Burnett [email protected] ============================== Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237

There were three companies of the 37th that were from Henry A, E, and H. Dr. Ken Jones a good site on the Regimental Histories of all Alabama Units, some of these have rosters. Dr. Jones is a professor at Tarleton University. [email protected] is his email address. You can get rosters from him, for a fee. Le ----- Original Message ----- From: "Larry Hammack" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, May 23, 2004 11:14 AM Subject: [ALHENRY] 37th Alabama Infantry Co H I am not an expert by any means but have been collecting information about this unit for several years in hopes of putting together a book regarding the members before, during and after the war of Northern Aggression. I do have the following on a William T McLain Private in Company H, signed parole at Vicksburg on 9 July 1863, On 22 July 1864 taken prisoner again and sent to Camp Chase via Nashville, and Louisville. March 2, 1865 transferred to City Point and exchanged on 10 March 1865 to Bouleware's Wharf and Cox Wharf, james River, Virginia. This exchange included 3499 men of which 143 were officers. If this is your ancestor I would be interested in knowing more about his after war activities. Respectfully, Larry Hammack Hammack/Hammock/Corbitt ==== ALHENRY Mailing List ==== If you wish to unsubscribe from the Henry Co., AL Mailing List, send only the word UNSUBSCRIBE to [email protected] or if you are on the digest list to [email protected] ============================== Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237

I am not an expert by any means but have been collecting information about this unit for several years in hopes of putting together a book regarding the members before, during and after the war of Northern Aggression. I do have the following on a William T McLain Private in Company H, signed parole at Vicksburg on 9 July 1863, On 22 July 1864 taken prisoner again and sent to Camp Chase via Nashville, and Louisville. March 2, 1865 transferred to City Point and exchanged on 10 March 1865 to Bouleware's Wharf and Cox Wharf, james River, Virginia. This exchange included 3499 men of which 143 were officers. If this is your ancestor I would be interested in knowing more about his after war activities. Respectfully, Larry Hammack Hammack/Hammock/Corbitt

Several of my Parker line were in the 37th as well. I suspect if you go to the List Mail Archives you can find all of those sent by Homer. Be sure to check ALDALE as well. http://archiver.rootsweb.com/ Just type in the name of the list you need. Winnette

I have ancestors in Co. H of the 37th Alabama - any experts available with this company???? Mike McLane Baltimore, Md Malcolm McLain/McLane Barbour County, Alabama In a message dated 5/22/4 1:48:33 PM, you wrote: <<1. Although I knew Homer Jones, I never knew which county or town he lived in. Want to give him credit for some info in my research. Anybody know for sure? 2. Since Homer's gone, is anyone else doing lookups for CSA soldiers and units in the old Henry County area? Val --- Val McGinness, Alexander researcher >>

I've been missing Steve Elliott's postings about Henry County history....... Steve, if you're still on the list, please give us some more "Very Henry Countily Yours" remembrances and research............ Betty Vann

1. Although I knew Homer Jones, I never knew which county or town he lived in. Want to give him credit for some info in my research. Anybody know for sure? 2. Since Homer's gone, is anyone else doing lookups for CSA soldiers and units in the old Henry County area? Val --- Val McGinness, Alexander researcher E-mail: [email protected] URL: http://webpages.charter.net/valmcginness

Hello, I have a new email address at [email protected]

All of you who live close enough to attend are invited to join us for this program on May 3, 2004. Manonia Snell President, Dale County Genealogical and Historical Society Mr. Ted Urquhart, President, Alabama Cemetery Preservation Alliance, will be the guest speaker at the May meeting of the Dale County Genealogical and Historical Society on Monday, May 3, 2004, in Alice Doughtie Wing of the Ozark-Dale County Public Library. The meeting will begin at 7:00 P.M. Helping with the program will be Joyce Nicoll, the ACPA's founding President and current Treasurer, and Lee Anne Hewett who is the Alabama Historical Commission's Cemetery Program Coordinator and Ex Officio member of the ACPA' s Board of Directors. We encourage those who are interested in preserving and restoring old cemeteries to take advantage of this group's expertise. The public is cordially invited. Manonia Snell 774-5622 [email protected]

1867 voter lists gave slaves' last names http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1081847818306640.xml Birmingham News 1867 voter lists gave slaves' last names 04/13/04 DAVID WHITE News staff writer MONTGOMERY - In faded black ink etched on yellowed paper, cursive handwriting records the names of about 100,000 blacks and 60,000 whites who registered to vote in Alabama in 1867, two years after the Civil War. The names are listed in county-by-county books kept for decades in the Capitol basement and now stored nearby in the state archives building. The registration books, many of them two feet wide and three feet tall, are some of the earliest listings of the last names of black men in Alabama who had been slaves just a few years before and hadn't had last names. State archivists are photographing book pages and typing names and other information from them into a computer database. The work may take two years to finish, said Tracey Berezansky, assistant director for government records at the archives. But she said information for Winston and Wilcox counties should be available online within a few months at www.archives.state.al.us, the Internet home page of the Alabama Department of Archives and History. Information from other counties will follow. Archives Director Ed Bridges predicts the online listings from the books will be a boon to genealogists, especially people whose ancestors were slaves. "This is during the period when those who didn't have a legal last name were choosing for themselves their last names," Bridges said. "It'll reflect the population of the state as the state settled out again after the Civil War." Gained right to vote: The registration books commemorate when blacks in Alabama gained the right to vote, a right imposed on a defeated, one-time Confederate state by occupying Union troops who enforced laws passed by the U.S. Congress. In Pike County, the people who registered to vote in 1867 included S.H. Williams, Thomas Walton, Joseph Wilson and other whites as well as Sip Smith, Jim Weed, Holland Williams, Friday White, Moses Wynn and other blacks. Women couldn't vote, but any man 21 or older who had lived in Alabama for at least 12 months could qualify regardless of property ownership or military service. A few decades later, Alabama's Constitution of 1901 imposed property, literacy and poll tax requirements that greatly restricted voting by blacks and poor whites. Besides the name, county, precinct and election district of each man who qualified to vote, the registration books list the number of the loyalty oath that each man, white or black, had to take before he could register. Federal law barred from voting anyone who was a legislator, member of Congress, judge or other officeholder before the Civil War who then "engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States." Everyone else, before they could vote, had to sign an oath to "faithfully support the Constitution and obey the laws of the United States." Those county-by-county oath books also are kept at the archives. Many men in 1867 were illiterate and marked the oaths with an X. Registrars signed their names by their marks. Bob Booth, a black man, on Aug. 5, 1867, made his mark on oath number 2174, recorded on page 87 of the third oath book for the second precinct of Autauga County. Joseph Basill, a white man, made his mark the same day on oath number 2198, recorded on page 99 of the same book. Michael Fitzgerald, a historian of the Reconstruction era that followed the Civil War, said putting the registration information online should be a big help to historians, but especially to people tracing their family histories. "For people who are trying to find their ancestors, especially, I expect, for African-Americans, this would be one of the first places you would find names of individuals," said Fitzgerald, who teaches at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. He said blacks weren't listed by name in any U.S. census through 1860 unless they were free. "You run into a brick wall in terms of trying to trace ancestors, with slavery," Fitzgerald said. Most blacks were slaves: Some free blacks, who had first and last names, did live in Alabama before the Civil War, especially in Mobile County, but slaves far outnumbered free blacks. Fitzgerald said slaves had little use for a last name because they had few rights. Slaves under Alabama law could not enter into contracts, lend money, own a horse or dog, buy liquor or leave a plantation without a written pass, according to the 1994 book "Alabama: The History of a Deep South State." But when ex-slaves after the Civil War gained full rights as U.S. citizens under federal law, Fitzgerald said, they often took the last names of former masters, or took famous last names such as Jefferson or Lincoln. "What happened at the end of the war, suddenly people had to have a legal last name," Fitzgerald said. "And they ran out and picked one." Information from other counties down the alphabet will also go online as it is typed in and proofed, Berezansky said. Once the names are online, people will be able to click on a name and see the image of each listing from its registration book. People will be able to search for a person by last name and home county. Archives library technician Dianne Jackson is slowly but surely typing voter information into the database, among her other jobs. She said the Spencerian handwriting common in America in the 1860s is generally easy for her to read, except that M sometimes looks like W, and a lower-case s sometimes looks like ee or oo. A question mark: If she can't clearly identify a letter, even after using a Spencerian script guide, Jackson said she puts a question mark by the word. "You really have to concentrate on what you're looking at," she said. "We do quite a bit of question marks." The 1867 database will join several others already available online at the archives home page, under "Search our databases." They include a list of the roughly 2,000 Alabamians who died in service during World War I. Computer users may search for a person by last name, branch of service, military unit, race, hometown and county. Another database lists Alabamians who fought in the Civil War. The listing so far includes 106,000 entries on veterans whose last names began with A through K. Some people have more than one entry. Finishing the Civil War database likely will take several more years, archives officials said. Computer users may search for a Civil War veteran by last name, branch of service, regiment or company. Some listings include the person's rank, battle history and dates of service.

For those interested in ALEXANDERS of the old Sumter District in SC, who spread into southeast Alabama, Neshoba and Winston counties in Mississippi, and into Darlington and Florence counties of SC, contact me at the e-mail address below and I'll give you the URL of a biographies site for the "older" Alexanders, if you're willing to share any info you may have on them. This is a newer version of a site that I had on the Net a couple of years ago, based on my book. Those biographies feature descendants of John Alexander of the old Camden District, and his sons Rev. Abner M. Alexander (SC), Rev. John William Reese Alexander (SC), James Alexander (AL), and Aris Alexander (MS). Val McGinness [email protected]

Was this Oakey Grove Church in Columbia? My ancestors founded an Oakey Grove AME Church there which changed its name to Oakey Grove Community Church. Were there 2 churches with the same name but different denominations? See the description of the church below: Saundra Brown OAKEY GROVE A.M.E. CHURCH In 1897, Mr. Benjamin G. Smith (Benjamin G. Price-Smith, 1849), Mr. William M. Price (1860 GA), Mr. Benjamin McClendon (1855 GA), Mr. L. A. Grace, and Mr. Henry Jenkins established a church, and in 1898, purchased a one acre parcel of land on which now stands Oakey Grove A. M. E. Church in Haleburg, Alabama for the sum of five dollars from Mr. and Mrs. H. Davis. The original structure was wood frame. Benjamin G. Smith (aka Price-Smith) and William M. Price were brothers. The first 3 founders are my great great grand ancestors. Not only were these gentlemen the Founding Fathers of the church, but also were the first trustees of Oakey Grove. Some of the pastors of this early church were Rev. Samuel Cunningham who married Margaret E. Smith (daughter of founder and trustee Benjamin G. Smith); Rev. J. N. Jones; Rev. Davis; Rev. Coleman; Rev. Lewis; Rev. Owens; and Rev. Arline. In 1940, Rev. E. V. Burkett along with the help of Mr. Bora Hayden and others, led what became known at that time as "the New Deal" movement in an effort to withdraw the church from the African Methodist Episcopal Church Conference. Their church was in the 9th Episcopal District - A.M.E. South Conference. As a result of their movement, several churches, including Oakey Grove, withdrew from the conference. The other churches that pulled out were in Tennessee; Gordon, Alabama; Base Springs, Alabama, and Graceville, Florida. Today, the church has a new name OAKEY GROVE COMMUNITY METHODIST CHURCH. The first pastors to lead the church after its succession from the A.M.E. Conference was Rev. Martinez and Rev. O. W. Lewis respectively. Sometime later, Oakey Grove joined The Southern Regional Council of Community and Independent Churches. The first leaders of the church under this organization were Rev. J. W. Cotton and Rev. Miller respectively. In the late 1940's, the small wood frame structure was devastated by fire, and the present day structure was completed by 1951. The church records were also destroyed as a result of the fire. The Key and Salter families there are descendants of the McLendon family. Jimmy Salter married Eddie Dean Key, the great granddaughter of Joseph McLendon, the brother of Benjamin McLendon. In 1998, Jolyn Salter, a McClendon descendent was the Youngest Member. Much later, the Hayden family became the leaders of the church, so much so that Oakey Grove was once referred to as "The Hayden Church" for many years. Today, the Mother of the Church is Mrs. Ophelia Stovall Hayden. The Haydens are kin to the founders Benjamin McLendon, and William M. Price (brother of Benjamin Price) who married Lucinda Henderson, the sister of Horace H. Henderson. Horace H. Henderson is the grandfather of Horace Hayden, husband of Ophelia Stovall. Benjamin McLendon's daughter, Elizabeth McClendon Moore had a son Enoch who married Aretha Hayden (daughter of Horace Hayden and Ophelia Stovall). In 1998, the First Lady of the Church was Mrs. Verna Powell. Powells, McClendons, and Hutchins are kin. The African Methodist Episcopal is an offspring of the Methodist which was founded by John Wesley in England and America in the eighteenth century.The Methodist movement itself began in 1739 when John Wesley,an Anglican,started within the Church of England a movement to improve the spiritual life of his Church. The movement became widespread. Many of the followers of the movement emigrated to America. Wesley,realizing the future for the spread of Methodism in the Colonies, ordained Dr. Thomas Coke, an Anglican priest, and sent him to organize the Church in America. Dr. Coke arrived and called a General Conference in Baltimore, Maryland in December 1784. At this "Christmas Conference, Richard Allen (founder of the American Methodist Episcopal Church),was present as an observer only, and was not a delegate or a voter. Methodism grew as the Methodist riders went from point to point, from settlement to settlement,and from plantation to plantation. The African Methodist Epi! scopal Church sprang from the American counterpart of the Methodist Church. The African Methodist Episcopal Church has a unique and glorious history. It is unique in that it is the first major religious denomination in the Western world that had its origin over sociological rather than theological beliefs and differences. The immediate cause of the organization of the A.M.E.Church was the fact that members of the St. George's Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia Pa., in 1787 segrated its colored members from its white communicants. The Blacks were sent to the gallery of the Church, to use the venerable Richard Allen's own words. One Sunday as the Africans, as they were called, knelt to pray outside of their segrated area they were actually pulled from their knees and told to go to a place which had been designated for them. This added insult to injury and upon completing their prayer, they went out and formed the Free African Society, and from this Society came two groups: The Episcopalians and the Methodists. The leader of the Methodist! group was Richard Allen. Richard Allen desired to implement his conception of freedom of worship and desired to be rid of the humiliation of segregation,especially in church. Richard Allen learned that other groups were suffering under the same conditions. After study and consultation, five churches came together in a General Convention which met in Philadelphia, Pa., April 9-11, 1816, and formed the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The name African Methodist came naturally, as Negroes at that time were called Africans and they followed the teaching of the Methodist Church as founded by John Wesley. The young Church accepted the Methodist doctrine and Discipline almost in its entirety. BACKGROUND ON A.M.E. CHURCHES IN ALABAMA African Methodism sprang up in the City of Mobile as far back as 1820, but was crushed by slavery. In 1864, Rev. J. P. Campbell, who was afterward one of the Church, and Rev. M. M. Clark, visited that city and preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the name of the African M. E. Church. In 1867, Rt. Rev. A. W. Wayman, presiding Bishop of Georgia, appointed missionaries in Alabama. As far as we have been able to gather information here and there, the organization was fully started in 1867 and 1868. The early pioneers of this work were Revs. lazarus Garner, Cain Rogers, (but Cain Rogers is now in the M. E. Church), Peter Lipscomb, Harry Stubbs, R. B. Bailey, F. H. Smith, G. B. Taylor, Louis Hilary and Jacob F. Crozier. The General Conference sitting in Washington, D. C., May 1868, elected the Rev. James A. Shorter, Rev. Thomas M. D. Ward and the Rev. John M. Brown to the episcopacy, and at the same conference set apart Alabama as the 7th Episcopal District, and appointed the newly elected Bishop John M. Brown to preside over the same, making him our first Bishop, who stamped his scholarly and classical elements upon every thing he touched in our early pilgrimage. On July 25, 1868, Selma Ala., the first annual Conference was organized. The Rev. Louis Hillary and Rev. R. B. Bailey were the first secretaries. At that time we had 6 churches and 31 missions; at that time we had 5,617 members, and now we have 57,000; our churches were valued at $4,350, now the value is $340,000. Churchese were then located at Selma, Eufaula, Cahaba, Greensborough, Florence and Opelika. At this Conference we had five traveling Elders, ten traveling deacons, and seven licentiates; three of these Elders and nine deacons were transferred from the Georgia Conference to Alabama, and two Elders and one deacon from the Louisiana Conference. Selma was the historical center of Alabama's African Methodism. From here went out the four Presiding Elder's Districts to do pioneer or mission work, as if pointing to the four cardinal points. The districts stood then: Selma, Montgomery, Union Springs and Mobil. They stand now 22. ALABAMA CONFERENCE: Montgomery, Union Springs, Eufaula (BARBOUR COUNTY), Opelika, Old Columbia (HENRY COUNTY), Troy (HENRY COUNTY), Good Water, Ozark. NORTH ALABAMA CONFERENCE: Birmingham, Blockton, Florence, Montevallo, Huntsville, Blossburg, South Birmingham CENTRAL ALABAMA CONFERENCE: Selma, Mobile, Camden, Greensborough, Demopolis, Thomasville, Greenville SOURCE: HISTORY OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN ALABAMA with Biographical Sketches by Rev. W. H. Mixon, D. D. Nashville, Tenn. A.M.E. Church Sunday School Union. 1902 (illustrated) From: "john elliott" <[email protected]> To: "Saundra Brown" <[email protected]> Subject: Oakey Grove Community Methodist Church--Haleburg,Aabama Date: Fri, 8 Aug 2003 10:45:44 -0500 Saundra, Thank you for the post on the message boards and on my personal e-mail concerning your family ties and the Oakey Grove Church in Haleburg. I have made copies and filed them in my historic records of the area. As a member of the Henry County Historical Group, Inc., the Alabama Preservation Alliance, and the National Trust of Historic Preservation, I wanted to address your concerns about a historic marker at the Oakey Grove Church. I am very familiar with the church and its dear members and have been there to funerals of dear friends of mine and of my family there. In 1995, I was blessed to speak there for morning worship. My father, the late Haleburg Mayor John Elbert Elliott, III, was the man that appointed the first woman and the first black town council members in Haleburg. He appointed now former Mayor Louie Jones to the town council against the objections of some in the predominately white community. Dad simply said, "It's time--past time!" Dad died in the middle of ! his term as mayor in 1994. I donated $500.00 in my Dad's memory to have the brick sign and name marquee in front of the church completed as it stands today. For many years I had driven down Hayden Drive and had seen it in shambles and thought that would be a good gift to give to the church first in the love of Christ and secondly in memory of my Dad. In 1996, I was the campaign manager of Brother Louie Jones to have him elected the first black Mayor of Haleburg. He served a brilliant term getting much completed. It was his goal to take the ideas of my Dad and see them through along with his unique prospective added to all of the projects. Now, after I have rambled, to address the historical marker. The markers are not given free by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, but are placed on a matching funds grant. Presently, if Oakey Grove wanted a marker, and the Commission and the Henry County Historical Groups, Inc. approved it, then the church would have to match the grant for the marker in the sum of $1,500.00. That is the way that Mount Zion is going to have their marker. They will pay for the matching grant funds of the marker themselves. Then there is the case of priority that the Historic Chattahoochee Commission has on the amount it allots in its budget each year for the placement of markers. So it will be a while before the Mount Zion marker is erected. The old churchhouse is historic in that Mount Zion was built in 1871 and is among the oldest, if not the oldest, African American, wood frame, house of worship located in the Wiregrass of Alabama. The year of construction, 1871, was only six ye! ars after freedom from slavery and is a tribute to the freedmen and women who declared their religious freedom with a church. Prior to the Civil War, the slaves were members of the church that their master was a member of in most cases. In a reference to the old Smith Plantation, the original owner, Bartlett Smith, lived in Columbia in a town home and had his slave quarters and overseer on the huge spread of land on the Chattahoochee River north east of Haleburg. In 1835, the First Baptist Church of Columbia was established. One of the charter members of this aged church was Gen. Bartlett Smith. Also a charter member was a slave, January Smith, the buggy driver for General Bartlett Smith. So a slave was in the list of charter members of this 170-year-old white church. A side note here, the Smith Plantation will be remembered on the bold Chattahoochee River for many years to come for the river takes a sharp bend on the old Smith Plantation. Even today, barge operators on the Chattahoochee River know this place as �Smith�s Bend��but little do they know the history that is wrapped around that name. Also, in 1836, General Smith built a large two story plantation house on the plantation and moved onto his property There is a long list of marker requests that the Historic Chattahoochee Commission must weed through to place the markers each year. They serve the entire Lower Chattahoochee River Valley in both Alabama and Georgia from Columbus Georgia to Chattahoochee, Florida where the Flint River joins the Chattahoochee and forms the Apalachicola River to the Gulf of Mexico. There are about a dozen sites around Haleburg that outdate the Oakey Grove Church in age�this being a very conservative number. I am in agreement that the church should have a marker. I want to see as many markers as possible in the Haleburg area. And if Oakey Grove is ready to make the financial commitment, it can approach the �powers that be� and wait in turn for the marker to be placed. Does this help you better understand the marker program? Mount Zion is presently in the front running for it has restored the old churchhouse and the marker would be a part of that restoration. Another thing is that Mount Zion was used as a school through the years before there was a school. It also served as a school when the Sandy Ridge Colored School burned. My opinion is that this was probably arson of a racial origin though I have no facts to prove that statement. Another thing about the Mount Zion Church is the adjoining cemetery that is the oldest freedman cemetery in a broad area of the Haleburg area. Though there are many marked graves, there are possibly near 100 graves in the cemetery that are not marked due to the fact that the cemetery has been there over 130 years. It was the community burial grounds for the Haleburg area. I do know that another church that is in consideration in the marker program is the old Bellevue Church in the Barnes Community northeast of Haleburg that is also an old church that served the African American community in that section of the Old River Road. There are several African American churches on the Old River Road and no white churches. Why? Because at the time of freedom in 1865, the former slaves stayed on the plantations they had worked on prior to the Civil War and obtained land that the former plantation owners could not pay taxes on due to the harsh taxes imposed by the Radical Republicans during the horrid years of Reconstruction 1867-1877. It is all a rich melting pot of history, isn�t it!? Until we shall visit again, I remain Your faithful and obedient servant in Christ, Steve Elliott Date: Fri, 05 Mar 2004 11:10:30 -0600 From: "Kathy and Farrell" To: [email protected] Subject: [ALHENRY] Kirkland/Brown Hoping that someone will know something about these folks. Dimetius Brown who married Bartow Kirkland...I think Bartow may have been a minister or jp. Inez Brown who married Hubert Kirkland. I have an obit for Inez but it raises a lot of questions for me. It states that she was 51 (this was in 1977) and she had died suddenly. She had lived in Columbus , GA and Bristol, FL prior to living in Headland. (She was listed as a native of Dale County). She was a member of the Oakey Grove Baptist Church near Abbeville. Survivors included: husband- Hubert Kirkland, of Headland; daughter-Angela Meis of Fulda, Germany; son-Larry Kirkland of Headland; STEP-FATHER and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Peterson of Headland; two sisters-Mrs. Pauline Burke, and Mrs. Mary Nell Arnold. Inez was the daughter of David Brown (brother to my ggrandmother, Minnie Mae) and Vassie Brackin. I found a SSDI listing for Vassie Brown that has 6 Jan 1897 birth and Oct 1973 death. If this is the correct Vassie she would have died 4 years before Inez and not be listed as survivor. Plus, Marvin Peterson was a nephew of David Brown (he was son of Mary Brown Peterson). Would Pauline and Mary Nell be whole, half or step siblings? Can anyone help me unravel this??? Thanks, Kathy --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Search - Find what you�re looking for faster.

Hoping that someone will know something about these folks. Dimetius Brown who married Bartow Kirkland...I think Bartow may have been a minister or jp. Inez Brown who married Hubert Kirkland. I have an obit for Inez but it raises a lot of questions for me. It states that she was 51 (this was in 1977) and she had died suddenly. She had lived in Columbus , GA and Bristol, FL prior to living in Headland. (She was listed as a native of Dale County). She was a member of the Oakey Grove Baptist Church near Abbeville. Survivors included: husband- Hubert Kirkland, of Headland; daughter-Angela Meis of Fulda, Germany; son-Larry Kirkland of Headland; STEP-FATHER and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Peterson of Headland; two sisters-Mrs. Pauline Burke, and Mrs. Mary Nell Arnold. Inez was the daughter of David Brown (brother to my ggrandmother, Minnie Mae) and Vassie Brackin. I found a SSDI listing for Vassie Brown that has 6 Jan 1897 birth and Oct 1973 death. If this is the correct Vassie she would have died 4 years before Inez and not be listed as survivor. Plus, Marvin Peterson was a nephew of David Brown (he was son of Mary Brown Peterson). Would Pauline and Mary Nell be whole, half or step siblings? Can anyone help me unravel this??? Thanks, Kathy _________________________________________________________________ One-click access to Hotmail from any Web page – download MSN Toolbar now! http://clk.atdmt.com/AVE/go/onm00200413ave/direct/01/

Wow, it only took 4 days for this to make it to the list. Winnette --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.602 / Virus Database: 383 - Release Date: 3/1/04

Hoping that someone will have some information or connection to James H (possibly Henry) Peterson and his wife, Mary Brown. They lived in the Blackwoods Community and I understand that some of their descendants still live on the home property. I have no idea when JH Peterson was born but Mary, the sister to my ggrandmother (Minnie Mae Brown) was born ca. 1899. I am researching the John W. Brown family. John W. married Julia Ann Messer in 1881 and they had 8 children: Irene (Rene) married Henry C. Kirkland John H. (buried in Piney Grove Cem) Minnie Mae (my ggrandmother) b. 13 May 1886 d. 23 Oct 1915 married Thomas Coker Cutchens Janie Mary married James H. Peterson Mellie/Nellie married Pate Kirkland David m. Vassie Brackin William m. Althea Zera Riley I can't connect John W. Brown to any of the zillions of Browns in Henry or Dale Counties and am hoping that maybe through their children I can find someone who may know something about them. Thanks for the help! Kathy _________________________________________________________________ Get a FREE online computer virus scan from McAfee when you click here. http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963

There will be a family reunion in Melbourne Florida during the 4th of July weekend. Other surnames are Long, Danzy, Grimsley, Knight, Smith, Corbett, Moore, Powell from the area of Clay and Early Counties in Georgia from slavery to 1900, then from Houston and Henry Counties during the early 1900s, and then further migrations later on. Please contact Saundra Brown for verification of descendancy. Saundra Brown Family Historian [email protected] __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Get better spam protection with Yahoo! Mail. http://antispam.yahoo.com/tools