I do not condone slavery. It was wrong, whether the slave was black, immigrant, or chattel white. My BROWNLOW ancestors in Giles County TN owned black slaves. I am NOT ashamed of my ancestors. I AM ashamed of the US Government that permitted slavery. Slavery was a constitutional right, observed in both, the North & South. Slavery was profitable for the US Government, Article 1, section 9 permits a taxation on slaves up to $10 per head. Slavery was protected, fostered, and supported by the US Constitution. More information can be read on the internet at: a.. Crittenden Compromise b.. The Corwin Amendment c.. The Fugitive Slave Laws of 1793 & 1850 http://www.law.du.edu/russell/lh/alh/docs/slaverycon.html http://www.midnightbeach.com/jon/US-Constitution.htm Leland Carter Texas

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/SeB.2ACE/730.1.1.2 Message Board Post: In all fairness.... Some slaves were bought from abusive slave-holders, so that they would have better lives... and some were bought, to be freed by their new owners. Not all slave masters were cruel. Yes, it was a way of life... even if not a desirable trait.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/SeB.2ACE/730.1.1.1.1 Message Board Post: I do!

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/SeB.2ACE/730.1.1.1 Message Board Post: Give it up folks. It was a way of life for the entire world at one time or another in history. The Africans were gathered and sold by Africans who could have cared less what happened to them. Most peoples have stopped slavery now. My ancestors bought and sold slaves, but I don't condem or apologize for what they did.

Judy, When I learned that one of my own branches had slaves, I was appalled and felt ashamed. A distant cousin from that line told me I had nothing to feel ashamed for, and we're not responsible for what our ancestors did. Thats true......but you still have that pang, because you know it was wrong. Just wanted you to know that I know how you and others feel. My two-cents worth. Donna [email protected] wrote: This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/SeB.2ACE/730.1.1 Message Board Post: I just can't get it off my mind - only 12 years old. I can't imagine her fears or her parents fears. I am embarrassed that my husband's family owned slaves. At the Giles County, TN site, if you type in Richard T. Johnston, you will find he was a slave trader and transactions of all of his sales. He was the brother to Elizabeth Payne Johnstone, married to John collins listed as buyer. Judy ==== TNGILES Mailing List ==== Got a will or obituary of your Giles County ancestor??? Send them to me and I will add them. MailTo:[email protected]

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/SeB.2ACE/730.1.1 Message Board Post: I just can't get it off my mind - only 12 years old. I can't imagine her fears or her parents fears. I am embarrassed that my husband's family owned slaves. At the Giles County, TN site, if you type in Richard T. Johnston, you will find he was a slave trader and transactions of all of his sales. He was the brother to Elizabeth Payne Johnstone, married to John collins listed as buyer. Judy

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/SeB.2ACE/730.1 Message Board Post: Judy, I went through the same emotions and felt like I needed to do something with the information. I found the following site where you can post records you come across. From the link below, click on the Records option at the top and then Submit Data. http://www.afrigeneas.com/ Jane

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Hezekiah Roberson/Robertson Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/SeB.2ACE/201.1 Message Board Post: Hi Brenda, I saw your posting from a few years ago. I don't know if you'll receive this to your email, but we can correspond/trade information if you like. I'm descended from him through Annie Grantham and their son Richard Grantham Roberson. You can email me at [email protected] or [email protected] Ron Browning

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Collins, Johnston Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/SeB.2ACE/730 Message Board Post: I have been researching John Collins from Giles County and recently found a Deed (Bill of Sale) for a young slave, age about 12. Although this family freed their slaves before moving to Missouri, it is something that enrages me. Is there a site where people can search for their slave ancestors or where one can post information? Below is a copy of the Bill of Sale: Deed Book R - 1843 - Page 116 Mitchell & Osburn To Bill Sale Registered the 24th day of May 1844 We have this day sold and do hereby convey to John Collins his heirs and assigns forever for two hundred eighty three dollars to me paid, a Girl Slave named Manerva aged about twelve years----warrant the title to said Slave to the said John Collins his heirs and assigns against the lawful claim of all persons and aslo warrant her to be sound healthy sensible and a slave for life. This 13 day of Febry 1843. Witness: William Harris Ephraim P. Trick Andrew Mitchell seal James Osburn seal State of Tennessee Giles County Personally appeared before me Edward D. Jones Clerk of the County Court of Giles County William Harris and Ephraim Patrick Subscribing witness to the within named Bill of Sale who being first sworn depose and day thar they are acquainted with Andrew Mitchell and James Osburn the Bargainors, and that they acknowledge the same in their presence to be their act and Deed upon the day it bears date----witness my hand at office this 24th day of May AD 1844. (No. 15 for May Recd. 11 o'clock May 24th 1844 E.D. Jones, Clerk

This Whitt was Samuel Houston Whitt who married Velma Smith, daughter of Thomas Caleb and Nora M. (Scott) Smith. Imogean McDonald The Giles County TN Heritage Book Committee meets the first Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at the Comfort Inn in Pulaski. Everyone welcome. Ask me about the Giles County TN Heritage Book _Click here: http://www.gilescotn.com/brochure.html_ (http://www.gilescotn.com/brochure.html)

Linda, or List Searching for Parents of Sarah Jane Duncan who married Aaron Cryer whose son Jesse C. Cryer married Sarah Malinda Cryer daughter of Alfred Cryer and Louisa Jane Alfred(Alford) 1850 Morgan County, Alabama 299/299 Duncan, Jane 40 f TN " Mary A. 18 f TN " Rachel C. 16 f TN " William 12 m TN " Amanda 10 f TN " Berry 8 m TN " Wasstin 6 m AL " Clarinda 4 f AL " Anna 16 f AL 1850 Morgan County, Alabama 397/397 Duncan, Jane 40 f TN Sarah J. 18 f TN Rachel C. 16 f TN Anna 16 f TN William 12 m AL Amanda 10 f AL Granberry 8 m AL Henry W. 6 m AL 1860 Morgan County, Alabama Aaron Cryer age 30 Sarah J. age 26 Jesse age 7 Mary V age 6 Nancy J age 1 Aaron Cryer married Sarah Jane Duncan on 25 Jan 1852 Morgan County, Alabama. Census Place District 20, Giles, Tennessee Family History Library Film 1255257 NA Film Number T9-1257 Page Number 383B Sarah J. CRYER Self W Female W 46 TN Keeping House KY TN We know whoever Sarah Jane Duncan's father was he was born in Kentucky. Were her Parents From Giles, Tennessee?

I did not find your family in Giles Co, TN... also checked Lawrence Co,TN and Lauderdale Co,AL. But I think I found him in Limestone Co,AL. ED 42-10, SD 2, SH 7A Pass/or Past Sand Springs, Pct 3, Limestone Co,AL April 11,1930 Enumerator: Odie JONES [dwelling 113 - family 120] SMITH, Calip - Head, male, white, 63, marr., age at first marr. 25, able to read/write, b- TN, F-b TN, M-b TN, Farmer, General Farm. SMITH, Nora M. - wife, female, white, 55, marr, age at first marr. 20, able to read/write, b- TN, F-b KY, M-b TN. SMITH, Malcolm C. - son, male, white, 19, single, not able to read/write, b- AL, F-b TN, M-b TN, Laborer, General Farm. SMITH, Carl W. - son, male, white, 16, single, able to read/write, b- AL, F-b TN, M-b TN, Laborer, General Farm. McKEE, Homer - grandson, male, white, 12, single, able to read/write, b- AL, F-b AL, M-b AL, (none) I also noticed that the family next door included a wife by the name of Velma WHITT, who is about the age of your Velma... [dwelling 112 - family 119] WHITT, Samuel H. - Head, male, white, 26, marr., age at first marr. 21, able to read/write, b- TN, F-b TN, M-b TN, Farmer, General Farm. WHITT, Velma E. - wife, female, white, 26, marr., age at first marr. 21, able to read/write, b- AL, F-b TN, M-b TN. WHITT, Dorris - dt, female, white, 4 5/12, b- AL, F-b TN, M-b AL. WHITT, Henry C. - son, male, white, 2 11/12, b- AL, F-b TN, M-b AL. WHITT, Reba J. - dt, female, white, [age in months appears to be x'd out, and 0 written in...], b- AL, F-b TN, M-b AL. There are 2 other WHITT families on the same page.. _____Minnie HILLIS REAGOR [email protected] wrote: I am sorry- made a mistake on the census yr. I need look-up for 1930 Giles co., Tn Thomas "Caleb" Smith - proboly bron around 1870 wife Nora/Millie? and daughter, Velma- born 1903 I had his death date as 1924- but, turns out, that was marriage date. Sorry, for any inconvience ! Trish Holaway ==== TNGILES Mailing List ==== Got a will or obituary of your Giles County ancestor??? Send them to me and I will add them. MailTo:[email protected]

I am sorry- made a mistake on the census yr. I need look-up for 1930 Giles co., Tn Thomas "Caleb" Smith - proboly bron around 1870 wife Nora/Millie? and daughter, Velma- born 1903 I had his death date as 1924- but, turns out, that was marriage date. Sorry, for any inconvience ! Trish Holaway

Can some-one please do a census look-up for 1920 Giles co., Tn Thomas "Caleb" Smith - proboly born around 1870 wife- Nora (Millie?) and daughter, Velma- born about 1903. would appreciate it, very much !!!!!!! Thnaks, Trish Holaway

Dear List, On the 1840 Census of Giles County, Tennessee is a Nancy Crier. I believe her maiden name is Johnson. Can anyone identify any next of kin, or her parents? Looking for any Cryer's connected with her. I believe her husband was the William Cryer found in dyar County, Tennessee on 1830 Census. I believe same lady is found again in Morgan County, alabama on 1850 Census. There is a marriage on 24 Feb 1826 Madison County, Alabama of a William Cryer who married a Nancy Johnson. This was his 2nd marriage. I'm wondering what relation they have in any of these locations to hop around so much. Most of their children were born in Morgan County, Alabama before 1830. 3 Kids were born after 1826 to 2nd wife in Morgan County, Alabama. Who was the 1st wife? can anyone help me find some records of these people besides Census Records. Or if I have identified wrong people and you know who the really belong to let me know. Thanks.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/SeB.2ACE/729.1 Message Board Post: Hi Clarence. I'm a member of your family. I have information on George Washington Crumley and Cynthia Jane (Janie) Pilkinton, and also Clarence Robert and Pearl James Crumley, which I assume are your grandparents and parents. If you 're who I think you are, I have a photo of you at about age 9 or 10 wearing a cowboy hat standing in front of a birthday cake. Also have photos of your Uncle Cleve and Uncle Boyd. Feel free to email me at [email protected] I look forward to hearing from you.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Crumley Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/SeB.2ACE/729 Message Board Post: My grnadfather is buried in Ripley, Tenn and i am trying to do a family tree on his side of the family. I am trying to find out as much information as possible and would greatly appreciate it if anyone out there has any info on the Crumley's lineage. thanks Clarence Crumley

Can anyone tell me about this family please; Florence Al Obit; Mrs. Mattie Pope is laid to rest Sunday. Lingering illness proved fatal. Funeral services were held Sunday afternoon at 3 o'clock for Mr.s Mattie Pope, aged 74, who died Saturday, 617 Trade St. Florence AL, following a lingering illness. Services were conducted at the residence by J.M. Gainer, minister of the James Building Church of Christ, after which interment was made at Florence Cemetery. Mrs. pope is survived by one son, Virgil B. Pope of Florence, and two sisters; Mrs. Carissa Bell Abernathy White, Mrs. Ada Abernathy White of Athens, and one brother, William Henry Abernathy of Florence, AL. Pallbearers serving at the funeral yesterday were; G.W. Wilkes, M.C. Hurt, Dan Shook, Fred Mitchell, Robert Watson and Dave Beadle. *** Virgil B. Pope Died Funeral Friday Virgil B. Pope, 83, of 418 Industry St. Florence, AL died at a nursing home in Haleyville, Wednesday at 5 am. He had been ill for six years. Mr. Pope is a native of Giles Co TN and had lived in Florence, AL for the past 59 years. Funeral services will be held Friday at 2 pm at East Florence Church of Christ, with Charles Holt officiating. Burial will follow in Florence Cemetery, AL with Morrison-Elkins directing. He is survived by two half brothers. [ not named darn it!! Ginny K.] Mattie [Abernathy] Pope was born June 2, 1857 , died Mar 12, 1932 Florence , Lauderdale Co AL. [She was dau of Henry M.C. Abernathy and Alcy Caroline Graves- dau. of Campbell Graves and his unk first wife.]. Mattie married ______ Pope. They had one son; Virgil B. Pope b Oct 30, 1877 Giles Co TN, d Sept 7, 1960 Florence, Lauderdale Co AL. Virgil never married. I would like to know the name of Virgil's father and two half brothers. Seems like Mattie and Mr. Pope were divorced??? This must have happened in Giles Co TN where Virgil was born. Any help appreciated. Mattie [Abernathy] Pope was a sister of my grandmother, Carissa Belle Abernathy who married John Lewis White. John White is buried at Minor Hill Cem. Bell, who was separated for years from John White, is buried at Florence Cem. in same plot as Mattie [Abernathy] Pope and son, Virgil Pope and her brother William Henry Abernathy and his wife. Ginny Keefer

Back in 1998 I took a trip over to Pulaski from Dallas, TX to research my husband's family. When I arrived at the courthouse genealogical records, this very nice person came out to meet me. I told her I was searching the Witt family history, and she said "Just a minute" and disappeared. In a few minutes she came back with a large file on the Witts going back as far as 1645. I then realized that Elizabeth Witt White and my husband, Luther Smith Pully were second cousins. My husband's grandfather on his mother's side was General Lafayette Witt. General Lafayette Witt's brother was Charles Morgan Witt, who was Elizabeth's grandfather. What a pleasant surprise - and she had already done all this research. I can not thank her enough, and I hope she will enjoy her retirement, but I may be calling on her again. She has so much knowledge stored away in her memories, and has been a blessing to so many of us. Gladys Pully

PULASKI CITIZEN JAN 25, 2005 HISTORIAN'S LABOR OF LOVE ENDS AFTER 18 YEARS ON THE JOB CITIZEN of the week By Sheila Holden Lifestyles Editor In the previous 18 years, Elizabeth White has lived in the past and the present at the same time. At least, that is how the Citizen of the Week described the years she spent reading through transcripts of Giles County Chancery Court proceedings and other old records found in offices of the courthouse. "Sometimes it was confusing because sometimes I got to believing some of the people were still around," White said, laughing at herself. "They just become real to you. You read the court cases and see how they live and where they lived, and it is real somehow." White has retired from the Old Records Department located on the top floor of the Giles County Courthouse. Her last day was Thursday of last week, and she has left her longtime friend, Clara Parker, to carry on the work they started in February 1986. However, White didn't leave the job before helping to create a fabric of Giles County history from which generations to come will benefit. "I know of no one who has done more to preserve the records of Giles County than Elizabeth Witt White," said Frank Tate, a longtime friend and fellow genealogist. "When Elizabeth saw on the third floor of the Pulaske Courthouse the jumble of Giles County Records, she decided something needed to be done. "Her decision evolved into what we know now as the Old Records Department, which was named by her." Even before there was the Old Records Department, White was there at the courthouse researching family roots. That's how she met Parker, when the two would meet at the courthouse to go through the old records. After meeting Eulala Weldon in Limestone County, Ala., at the Old Records Department housed in a former post office building, White and Parker knew what they had to do to Giles County. They talked with then County Executive Earl (Corky) Wakefield. "We finally got up the courage to broach the subject, but nobody knew what we were talking about," White said. Without compensation in the beginning, White, along with Parker, spent several summers, with help from participants in the former Summer Youth Program, cleaning the third floor of the courthouse as well as the old record books taken from the various courthouse, offices down below. "There were some who didn't understand what we were doing," White said, who is noted for her outspokeness, "but thank goodness for the County Court at that time." What the ladies did was to clean all the old record books, dating from the early 1800s to the early 1900s, with a special solution, placing them on the third floor in an effort to catalog and preserve them. The Giles County Old Records Department that they created is at least one of the first such archives in the state to have been set up in a rural county. In the ensuing 18 years, White and Parker have continued cleaning and preserving the records as well as reading and cataloging them. The ladies remove all the paper clips, staples and the brass tabs that have been attached to the old papers, giving them a more preserved atmosphere, and all have microfilmed and placed in archives in Nashville. "We haven't had the most pleasant place to work," White said, "and we'd have to sit there even on the hot days." From 8 a.m. to 4p.m. every day the ladies would be in their "nest" in the top of the courthouse reading, cataloging, cleaning the records and answering requests. White said they never received a request they couldn't find. In a related story in an upcoming edition of the newspaper, find out about the Japanese man who found his mother, the lady looking for her mother after 40 years and a daughter looking for her father. From those many hours of reading and taking notes came books which are now copyrighted and placed in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. "An outstanding work done by Elizabeth is six volumes of the Chancery Court Records 1830-1900 found in the many Woodruff Metal Boxes in the chancery court office at the courthouse," Tate said. "These indexed volumes reveal much of the history of Giles County and are a delight for historians as well as family researchers." Also, for three of the 18 years, White and Parker trudged through the backwoods of Giles County looking for long forgotten vine-covered, overgrown cemeteries in the winter and walking through the more clean ones in the summer. "(Elizabeth) and Jackson White, her husband, spear-headed the cataloging of the cemeteries of Giles County into book form which became 'Cemetery Records of Giles County, Tennessee.'" Tate said. "This volume is used by countless people searching for their ancestors and others needing a vital statistic." Genealogists, historians and those interested in researching various historical facts and figures have visited with the ladies on the third floor. Parker said, "Elizabeth has been wonderful to Giles County in sharing her knowledge of the history and also helping to preserve the written history - it being the abstracting of thousands of loose papers put in book form for researchers from all over the U.S." White's retirement is being lamented as a huge loss to the county. "She's been a wonderful asset to this generation and every generation to come," said CITIZEN-FREE PRESS staff writer Claudia Johnson, who has visited the Old Records Department, especially within the last year. She's provided a valuable service to Giles County, agreed Mark Dunavant, who was president pro tem of the County Court 18 years ago. He was instrumental in getting county funds set aside to create the Old Records Department and to place White and Parker in charge. "She has helped to preserve the history of this county," he said about White, adding that because of what both ladies have done, the Old Records Department will be more meaningful in the future. In the fight to preserve it, White has probably forgotten more about Giles County history than many of us will ever know. But, she said, there's more than 18 years of work left to be done. "We haven't done much pass 1900," she noted. The work has been painstaking and it has been dirty, and done for many years without pay. "I wouldn't take anything for doing this," she said, "I was not paid a whole lot, and Clara and I certaintly couldn't have lived on what we made, but it's been a lobor of love for Giles County." White would not have missed the years she climbed the steps to the third floor of the Giles County Courthouse. "I've been climbing those steps for 18 years, and I'm tires," White quipped. Her retirement plans included living with her daughter. She'll miss Parker and Dan Watson "a lot," people in the offices, the research, etc., but being "cooped" up in the nest of the third floor of the courthouse isn't what the Citizen of the Week wants to do for the rest of her days. "I want to look at the sky. I want to sit in the sun and look at the flowers and the butterflies this summer and enjoy the beauty of nature in Giles County. "I can't leave Giles County. I was born here and I'm like ol' Burr Rabbit - I'm stuck. "I'll live here for the rest of my days." Editor's note: More of Elizabeth White's memories of the past 18 years will appear in an upcoming edition of the newspaper.