Greetings to all, and now that the new year has come and all the festive gatherings are over for a while I hope everyone is ready to gear up to find those elusive ancestors in the coming months. Now is the time, as the weather isn't the best to be outdoors and what could be more fun than finding a few gems out there somewhere to further our research. To get things started lets all post not just our line but the ancestor you would most like to spend and evening with. Giving a run down of the questions you would like to ask and also asking about the family. I will get things started and it has been a tough decision of which ancestors I wanted to spend an evening with, so I may end up posting more than one ancestor but it needs to be in a new email with the correct heading. I finally selected Andrew Jackson Bridwell as the one I would like to spend an evening with as he is my ggrandfather, and his wife was Amanda Lemons. I know she died and he remarried later but I would like to see them together. Their oldest son was John Wesley (my grandfather) and he had a brother and a sister that lived in Richmond CO.... The brother George W. ( he ran a little grocery store I was told) and the daughter was Flora. But I would like to know about Amanda, who were her parents and where did they originate. I haven't had much luck in finding them in the census but I don't know how to spell her last name. I think it is Lemons but it could be Lamonds I just don't know. I may have to look at census in SC and the Bridwell family did live there before moving to Richmond CO.. Hopefully, Andrew J. could tell me all about his ancestors and especially his father John. He was a colorful man as far as I have discovered. He had two wives and there were 14 children by the last wife Mary Ann Davis. There were 9 children by the first wife, Rachel Cox. I am sure there are a lot of stories that could be told on that subject. Another question I would ask is where is the family cemetery is on Spirit Creek? I have looked and looked and haven't been able to find it. I even wrote to FT Gordon but there is no record of it there. Probably one of those small family cemeteries that have been swallowed up by progress. But I was under the impression that the family was well to do enough to afford a marker of some description. When he died it was reported in the newspaper in an article and then there were obituaries. He died in the hospital after surgery. I don't know what kind of surgery? He was 70 years old and what kind of surgery would they do on someone in those days at that age? I would also ask if some of the things I have today came from his and Amanda's house. They came from one of the ancestors in Richmond Co. Can anyone on the Richmond List know or connect to any of these people? It is hard to think of all the things I would ask them about their life as I would like to know just how they lived. Evidently they had a good life. Oh yes I do know one other thing that is unusual about one of the sons of Andrew. I don't remember which son it was but one son left Augusta and went to Salt Lake City to become a Mormon. I told this to one genealogist years ago and she told me highly unlikely. But I found the record. That is where I found my first bit of news about the Bridwell family. We spent several days there researching and sightseeing........I would really like to know about this family and their move from VA down to SC and GA. That was Jacob Bridwell and his wife Martha Elizabeth Edwards and they left Fauquier Co. Va. and went to Greenville, SC. From there John moved to Edgefield, SC and then to Richmond Co., GA. Beulah McCain _GrannyMc@aol.com_ (mailto:GrannyMc@aol.com)