I am James Shivers, born in Memphis, Shelby County, Tn. now living in Raleigh, Nc. My research focus is in Hardeman County which is the last "Stabile" place that any data is found for any of them. So my Shelby County research is focused at understanding Hardeman County and any connections that can be made. Researching a group of families split after the civilwar with many that made slight changes in their last name spellings and seemed to move away to deceased relatives properties possibly inherited in the North in Illinois and Maryland. Previous to the civilwar they possessed huge estates in Hardeman County and many listed as destroyed and mostly lost to the reconstruction period for back taxes due to POW status in war of the property owners. King Family of Raleigh, Shelby County Tn. These sisters both married Roderick Theophilus Shivers Ella F King - b.Sep/2/1849 buried in the Old Raleigh Cemetery, Memphis Olivia M King - b. Oct 1858 buried in the Forrest Hill Cemetery - midtown Memphis Their parents were listed in the LDS as James W King and Harriet R "Mary" Thomas. I believe they took part in the Alabama/Georgia land lottery and or were listed as Indians and moved out west. There is a James W King who was part of the indian land treaty in the 1830's but not sure if this is the same as no mention about his family, his homeplace, or his final destination. Unable to locate any records on these parents or make connections with the other children. Samuel b. 1844, James W jr. 1846, Anna 1848, Ida 1854, Hattie 1856, Julia 1860, Rufus 1862, Moody 1864, Thomas 1867 This family seems to either have disappeared, all died in the Yellow fever epidemic, or became part of the growing scandle involving orphans in this part of the country. James W King Sr. was found to be the son of Thomas Wiggin King and Martha Porter and James W Sr. also had a second wife named Susan C Hector of which no information is found. Since the Shivers family was in both Hardeman and Shelby County I am unable to locate any land information on the King family, no deeds or records of any sort or tombstones for anyone except these 2 daughters. The King family is supposed to have purchased the destroyed properties for back taxes but no records have been found to substantiate this. Redditt family of Bartlett, Shelby County Tn. - Maybe spelled "Redit,Redout,Reddit,Riddick" Louisa Redditt b. 1824 She was the daughter of Starkey Redditt and Cynthia Williams. Much data has been compiled on the Redditt family including numerous conversations with expert researchers, collections of family history data and phototrips of their family cemeteries. I am still unable to locate Louisa's tombstone and this is a mystery in itself. Did she remarry, did she die during the yellow fever epidemic, or did she relocate to Louisiana with other Redditt's. Bartlett,Tn would have been on the road to Hardeman County and Starkey's parents Theophilus Redditt and Rachel ? may have been active in Hardeman during the period prior to the civilwar but their place of death is listed as Bertie County Nc. Shivers of Hardeman and Shelby County, Tn. - Maybe spelled "Shriver,Shaver,Shever" Shadrick W Shivers was the son of James Marklin Shivers a landowner in Hardeman County. While he has been tied to slavery and also powerful political positions in Shelby County with his brothers, he seems to have deserted his family in Shelby County, abandoned the family property in Shelby and Hardeman and went back to Pitt County, Nc. He left behind a son "Roderick T who is raised by the Redditt family, another son William James Shivers who seems to either disappear, or his descendents claim no connections for personal reasons. In 1950 Marcus Shivers interviewed the Shivers family of Bartlett, Tn and found Ann Shivers who married E.B. Keuhn who claimed her half-brother William James Shivers jr. went to Missouri where we located a William James Shivers of the correct age, but those researchers although they can not make any connections past their William James Shivers claim no connections. Missing family information related to this family would be Lula B Martin wife of Melvin T Shivers, Clara Kale wife of Lee Roy Shivers, Clara Bromley wife of Rufus Shivers. Who were these ladies, where did they come from, where did they go and does anyone resemble connections to them ??? Keuhn Family from "MARS" - Maybe spelled "Kuhn" This family seems to be a big issue to my research. Not only do they seem to not exist anywhere, but the spelling of the name seems to have changed or else they came from another planet landed, had a family, then packed them all back up and went back to Mars. Ann Shivers and E.B. Keuhn had 3 children Ernest, William, Vernon. Nobody in the world has listed them, claimed them or acknowledged they existed even though Marcus Shivers a respected researcher documented them in 1950 in Bartlett, Shelby County, Tn. Delany family of Shelby County, Tn, Maybe "Dulaney" Elizabeth Delany b1890 first wife of Harry F Shivers Who were her parents, was she also from Hardeman County, or Bartlett, Shelby County Tn. ??? When Elizabeth died she had 2 children Harry jr and Dorothy (still alive). Harry remarried a Catholic girl named Catherine O'Neill. this created a big still in the family mostly disowning Harry and the children were sent away to be raised by unassociated relatives. No connections for Elizabeths parents can be found, and Benjamin G Wasson and wife raised the 2 children. Who were the Wasson's ? Where were they from Hardeman County ?. Anyone have any Delany/Dulaney family in West Tennessee ? I realize that these lists do not appreciate any mention of religion or god, or politics. That is the way of the world now, but it is most important at understanding who these families were, who they became, where they went and why.!!! The early Hardeman information I have shows most of them as Methodist and Baptist, most politically connected as Constables,Sheriffs and the "S" word Slave-Owners....These end run family members are now primarily Catholic making any remote connection to other religions historically unethical and I want this practice to stop. That alone is why most of these families go unconnected and another reason that hundreds of researchers have found common connections in my work already fixing numerous errors and issues related to the disappearance and opening more clues about them. I would appreciate any list members dropping their pride just enough to help understand any of these missing persons. I promise to go away when they have their history documented, but until then will continue to piece it together alone...I am also willing to pay expenses associated with any copies of documents that can be obtained related to these families and willing to do more than any single Shivers researcher out there to pay proper respect in documenting their existence, cleanup and restoration of their burial locations and full disclosure to any new relatives who come forward willing to make the connection. Thank you James Shivers shivers@mebtel.net http://www.xtremechat.org 400,000 digital documents online, 80 rare books about Tennessee families online. Hundreds of tombstones online. Migrations.org historian for Shelby County Tn and historian for the Sons of Confederate Veterans camp #813. Not religiously or politically motivated, not racially biased or discriminative in our material. I only post what is submitted and then gain the copies needed to substantiate my facts. Active in Slave history, reconstruction, and interested in Repairations with affected black families by providing data from my archives about unrecorded slave families listed in family based documents. Make a connection to my work by helping and a password protected digital document section becomes free roaming territory to help you in your own research.