Kelly KH Sullivan wrote: > > This letter (copies of ) has been passed on to family members and came > to me this year. The cousin who sent it to me thought it would be a good > addition to the Ratliff list, for informational purposes. I agree. The > copy I possess was copied by Emma Jon Ratliff Chandler in its original > composition and added notes, March 10, 1971 > > The Ratliff Family > > This letter from J.M. Ratliff of Arkansas to W.N. Ratliff of > Centerville, Tennessee and which he sent to his brother, L.M. Ratliff of > Texas dated June 4, 1909. Then sent to Bertha Fouts, Weston, Ohio, by > Edith Ratliff Gunn, Amarillo, Texas, October 9, 1968 > > The Ratliff family are Scotch first, now Scotch-Irish, with a later > admixture of North German (only one family have German blood), emigrated > over 200 years ago to England, settled the town of Ratliff not far from > London. The name in Scotland was Radcliff, in Ireland changed the > spelling to give Irish accent, Ratcliff, dropping the d; In England to > give the Anglo-Saxon sound dropped the c and it was Ratliff, for they > were of old Presbyterian stock. A part came in the days of King James to > America, in the "Discovery" in command of Capt. John Ratcliffe, and > settled at Jamestown, Va. From here they separated and part went to Bat > Cave, Va., some to Pike Court House, Kentucky, (on Big Sandy River, I > believe). Our gr-gr-gr-grandfather had 12 sons -- from their temporary > homes in Virginia part of these moved on foot across the mountains to > Central Kentucky, after which they again changed the spelling of the > name, and left off the final e, and it was Ratliff again. A part of the > family are still in Virginia, and it is believed that descendants of one > of the 12 still own Bat Cave. William is a family name, was William > Ratliff who had 20, 000 acres of land there. Some are still in England, > and some of those still retain the c in the name. Every Ratliff, > Ratcliffe, Radcliff and Ratcliff are kin and came from the same stock. > Now this final e was restored by a cousin of ours, a son of Reuben, in > Kentucky, and a pedagogue. The change we regret for the spelling of the > name in so many different ways has been changed too often without any > necessity for it, causing confusion in tracing the line of Descent. > (Arch, Mose, Reuben, William and John settled in what is now Taylor > county., Kentucky, at Campbellville, Long before the war between the > states). These brothers, some with grown children and grand children, > began to scatter. One went to the Republic of Texas, whose descendants > are here and there in Texas now. One went to Mississippi, one, William > Jr., went to Tennessee, who married a Lady of German descent, of small > stature. From this resulted a marriage between John and a distant > relative of James. We believe from this union we have the Ratliff family > in Hickman county, Tennessee. > William, Newton, Mark, Shadrick (Shadd) and four sisters, Matilda, > Lou, Rachel and Anna. The wife of John was one of the Old Louisiana > family. Arch remained in Kentucky, years after the other brothers > scattered. John M., Centerville, Tennessee (April 19, 1909) is a > grandson of Arch. One of these brothers, Mose, died in Kentucky, two of > his grandsons are preachers in the Church of Christ, and all cousins to > W. W. Ratliff, Mark and their families, Joe and Jim, in Carlisle, > Kentucky. > Those in Mississippi took to the Law, and were noted politicians in the > days of Populiam. A line of preachers are all the way along -- several > of Wm. Jr., grandsons in Arkansas, are noted Methodist preachers, some > of them went east later and are Episcopalian clergymen. Mark went from > Hickman county, Tennessee to Texas with a large family, as the family > from the earliest history are quite prolific, though not all Mark's boys > took politics or law. W. W. Ratliff had no children, but has raised > three orphans, who are called by the family name. He lives in > Centreville, Tennessee. One John Ratliff, jr,. father of W. W., Mark > and Shadd and the four sisters, was a son of five brothers, having > drifted to Tennessee, while J.M. Ratliff is the son of Reuben. These > were brother's sons and their families, cousins, or if you prefer, second > cousins. > Alex, another cousin down another line a Baptist preacher, died in > Kentucky. Arch died in Indiana, John in Tennessee, William in Texas and > Mose in Kentucky. > --W. N. Ratliff > > Early families of Eastern Kentucky by Kozee contains information on a > James Ratliff. Mrs. Gunn is from the line of John Ratliff b. 1822, > Hickman county, Tennessee. d. while a confederate Soldier, m. Minerva, a > cousin of some degree who was b. same county, 1824. > (I am not clear about this last line concerning the Confederate soldier > and Mrs. Gunn, but I typed it as I recieved it. Make of it what you > will, or if you know of a correction, please inform me.) > > My personal request: If any one knows Bertha Fout, may she be contacted? > > Thank you, Kelly > > ___________________________________________________________________ > You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. > Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com > or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] > > ==== RATLIFF Mailing List ==== > Please remember to respect the copyright laws. If you wish to > quote something that is copyrighted, quote just a few words > or lines, giving credit to the author of the publication. Thank you so much, for sharing with all of us Ratliffs/etc, that wonderful letter. Though I couldn't necessarily make sense of all of it, it's these personal glimpses of our ancestors that make genealogy so fascinating. -- Janet Reaves [email protected] ____________