Hello! My name is Jeanne Ledford Brewer and I'm new to the list. I'm researching the following Madison County families: (I'm really interested in learning more about my great-grandmother, Lula Ritchie, and her mother's family, so I've included more information about her.) MY FATHER'S PATERNAL SIDE (LEDFORD, BIRNIE, MANEY, CORN, HEATHERLEY, PITTS, VANN, OTTERLIFTER) LEDFORD - my father is Bobby Jeane Ledford, born 10/21/1931 to Troy Everett and Susie Jane Wilkins Ledford. He was brought up in the Pinnacle area of Madison County. Troy Everett Ledford, 06/28/1902 - 08/22/1971, was the son of Jasper Alonzo and Maude Zeola Birnie (Burney) Ledford. He was also brought up in the Pinnacle area of Madison County and moved to Washington state after World War II. Jasper "Alonzo" Ledford, 10/20/1869 - 08/22/1950, was the son of Samuel Jackson and Nancy T. Maney Ledford, who moved to Madison County in the 1890s from Shooting Creek, Clay County, North Carolina, and settled in the Pinnacle area of Madison County. I have quite a bit of information on the Ledfords and Maneys, including census records, birth and death certificates, pension records, Cherokee Indian records, etc. Maude Zeola Birnie (Burney), 03/30/1881 - 11/08/1957, was the daughter of Henrietta (Nettie) Pitts and William Birnie. William Birnie was killed in an ambush in 1881 or 1882, and his widow married J. L. Hunter on 04/06/1884 in Scott County, Arkansas, and had another daughter, Dolly Hunter. After the death of J. L. Hunter, Nettie married Dr. Thomas Jefferson Julian and moved to the Boxley area. Henrietta "Nettie" Pitts' mother was named Mary A. ? Pitts and was born in Georgia, and her father was F. Pitts, born in South Carolina. We have no further information on the Pitts. William Birnie is listed on the 1880 census of Scott County as having been born in Tennessee with both parents born in Ireland. We have no further information on the Birnie family. MY FATHER'S MATERNAL SIDE (WILKINS, RITCHIE, POPE) WILKINS - my grandmother, Susie Jane Wilkins Ledford, is 97 years old. She was born 01/02/1903 near Crosses to Marion Burgess and Lula Ritchie Wilkins. She was brought up in the Crosses and Pinnacle areas and is presently living in Myrtle Point, Oregon, where her daughter, Geraldine Ledford Vanlandingham Wylie, also lives. Marion Burgess Wilkins, born 11/09/1859 in Hamilton County, Indiana, was the son of Isaiah A. and Mary Jane Pope Wilkins, who were both born in Ohio according to census records. Marion Burgess Wilkins married Lula Ritchie in 1892, had nine children with her, and died 04/06/1915. His father, Isaiah A. Wilkins, was born circa 1824 in Ohio, and his mother, Mary Jane Pope, was born circa 1827 in Ohio according to census records. Mary Jane Pope Wilkins mother and sister, Nancy and Sarah Pope, were living with the Isaiah Wilkins family in the Jackson County, Ohio, census of 1850. Lula RITCHIE was born 04/19/1874 in Arkansas and died 12/14/1947 in Chelan, Washington. She was the daughter of Marcum Ritchie and ?????. Lue had an aunt Tony Buck and an aunt Clarissa Walker, both sisters of Lue's father, Marcum (Martin) Ritchie. Other relatives mentioned by Susie were first cousins Cleo Ritchie Shipman (Mrs. George), Jim Ritchie (a trapper), Lizie Glass, and Judge Combs of Crosses, Delaney, or Combs, Arkansas. Lue was the oldest of three daughters, and her two younger sisters were Bertha Ida Ritchie, born about 1876 and later married a Sullenger; and Ella Ritchie, born about 1878, married a Raymond, and was a cook in the Chicago, Illinois, area after her marriage. Lue and her sisters lived with relatives in the Paris, Logan County, Arkansas, area during their childhood. It is believed that both of their parents died while the girls were very young. Lue married Marion Burgess Wilkins on September 11, 1892, in Madison County, Arkansas. Lue and Marion had nine children together before he passed away in 1915. Lue then married a dairyman from Tuttle, Arkansas, with the last name of Branstetter (Brenstetter), who died about 1925. After Branstetter's death, Lue sought the help of her cousin, Judge Combs, in achieving a fair division of his dairy with his heirs. Lue then married Earle Houston and moved with him in 1943 to Chelan Falls, Washington, where she died on December 14, 1947. If anyone on this list is researching some of the same families, please contact me so we can exchange information. Thanks :^) Jeanne Ledford Brewer Walla Walla, Washington ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com