Good news! I had an epiphany last night that panned out – Go Daddy can restore my MySQL database from their backup storage!:-)

Although the cost ain’t cheap – $150 buckaroos, it’s worth it to fix my oh-so-dumb mistake!

So soon, I’ll have all the benefits of my updated theme {which I adore!} & Wordpress platform {which I needed}, with the historical posts & comments that mean the WORLD to me!

Wooooo-hooooo!:-)

Luckie.

P.S. What’s the lesson to be garnered from this experience friends? Listen to GeneaBlogger, back-up your data TODAY!:-)

Just when I thought I had the Wingfields of Washington-Wilkes all figured out!

Okay… recently, while searching online for more info related to my Catie’s manumission, I discovered the Digital Library on American Slavery, a collective repository of slave petitions.

Much to my disappointment, I did not find any evidence validating Catie had been freed by Rev. James Dickey in 1861 & after poking around, only discovered one Wilkes County WINGFIELD petition in the DLAS database -  Petition 20681714.

But what a doozy this one document turned out to be!:-)

Here’s the abstract…

In his will, the late John Querns bequeathed to his nephews, William and Samuel Arnett, property that included nine slaves, with the stipulation that some of them be freed at the age of twenty-one. He also set aside a small legacy for eighteen other slaves who were to be freed by his executors upon his death, and appointed several men Thomas Lasley and Thomas Talbot as trustees of the bequeathed property and guardians of the slaves’ interest. Samuel and William Arnett claim that the executors, Talbot, Lasley, and one John Wingfield, have taken no steps to execute the emancipation clause of the will, the legislation of the state of Georgia having made it unlawful to free slaves. The slaves are to remain slaves for life and the executors should render account of their executorship and settle the estate.

Why is this so interesting? Well…

• The John WINGFIELD cited in this petition is the father of James Nelson Wingfield {owner of my 4th Grandfather James Wingfield}, who in his will, bequeathed slaves to James Nelson.
• The 31 slaves listed in the petition, who were eventually bound to slavery for life {courtesy of Georgia legislature making it illegal to free slaves}, share a handful of [unique] names with slaves listed on the 1862 estate inventory of Archibald S. Wingfield. And as I’ve confirmed over the past few weeks, Archibald’s slaves were my new cousin Farrel’s ancestors & quite possibly mine {including an 11 year old “Katy”}.
• Although we didn’t know how until now, Samuel & William ARNETT came to eventually own some of Farrel’s Ancestors {ARNETT is also a known surname related to my WINGFIELDS}.
• Post emancipation, Farrel’s Ancestor, Peter Arnett/Cohen founded the city of Cohen Town in Wilkes Co, accumulating land & wealth over the years.

Questions to answer -

• How was the estate settled & who were the slaves awarded to?
• How did it come to be that the next generation of these slaves appear to be owned by Archibald Simpson Wingfield?
• Where are the wills/estates for the Arnetts, Talbot, Lasley, & John Wingfield? What will they reveal?
• How did Peter Arnett/Cohen come to purchase property after emancipation? Was his fortune connected to the “small legacy” bequeathed to his predecessors by John Querns?

I have a feeling that my questions are just the tip of the iceberg!:-)

Luckie.

My Wednesday is not entirely “wordless” because I need your prayers, chants & meditations for my Mom, Geraldine BARWICK {Daughter of Fannie & Willie Barwick}.

On July 06 Mom will turn 68 years old. For several years she has exhibited signs of Alzheimer’s/Dementia but within the past year or two, her condition has declined at an alarming speed.

Simply stated – Mom just forgets. Dates {including her birthday & mine, which follows one day behind hers – 07/07}. Conversations. People. Medications. Food.

My visit to Atlanta was both relief {I needed to see her} & heartbreak.

What can I say… all positive Chi welcomed!

Luckie.

With all the blown-up MySQL databases, I want to remind you OurAlabamaRoots is live & cousin Glenza is already talking about a family reunion in Cincinnati next year!:-)

There is something to be said for all these “fresh” starts – be it voluntary {Our Alabama Roots} or forced {Our Georgia Roots}, I seem to be cutting several new paths these days.

Guess I’ll just wait & see what the Ancestors have in store!:-)

Lest we forget…

Luckie

I’ll be on a plane in a few hours {5 hrs to be exact!}… heading home for the day to interview & visit briefly with my Mom.

Pray that the interview(s) goes well because my ♥ is in Georgia.

Luckie.

You may remember a few weeks ago my being excited about a conversation I’d had with James Dickey III, the Great Grandson of Rev. James Madison Dickey, the minister who owned my 4th Grandmother Catie WINGFIELD DORSEY in 1861.

During our conversation, James mentioned he believed Rev. Dickey to have “freed” Catie before he left Wilkes Co. in 1861 & that she “continued to work in the church” after his departure.

I was thrilled & hoped this revelation was true. For me it would have answered my question as to what happened to Catie between the years of 1861-65, before emancipation and just the thought of her being free gave me a little sense of comfort.

But, when a Georgia State Archivist dismissed the notion of Catie’s freedom in a brief email, though irritated by her lack of explanation, I should have noted her response.

As it turns out, she was correct – in 1851 the State of Georgia made it virtually IMPOSSIBLE for a slaveholder to willingly manumit {free} a slave.

Please note below the Georgia law regarding manumission of slaves and free people of color -

Section 46 from A Digest of the Statute Laws of the State of Georgia, Athens, 1851:

• Slaves can be manumitted only by the Georgia Legislature
• Penalties for any manumitter from $200 to $1000
• The manumitted slave shall be liable to arrest, conviction, and re-enslavement
• Contracts or deeds of manumission are null and void and are not to be recorded by Clerks of the County Courts
• Free people of color are forbidden to own real estate and slaves

So all this leaves to determine who did Catie go to in 1861 & how was the transfer made? Still also of note, the 11 year old Katy listed as a part of Archibald S. Simpson’s estate inventory.

It could very well be my Catie was transferred/sold to Archibald who was a neighbor of Dickey’s as well & owner of many of my Wingfield ancestors.

Scratching my head…

Luckie.

Sometimes you just have to laugh at the unexpected “events” that keep life exciting!:-)

Tonight, after spending the day tweaking the new Our Alabama Roots site, I decided to update my existing OGR Theme & Wordpress installation.

So being the “techie” I am, I followed each step perfectly. I was home free – after several hours, WP 2.8 was successfully updated & the new theme in place! Aside from a few minor edits to the header, my work was finished.

But then I logged-out & encountered a database error & rather than doing a step-by-step analysis to determine the error source {which of course, I know to do}, I was impatient & decided to do the next best [or worse] thing – I deleted my EXISTING database!

Yep the entire database & of course once I hit “delete”, I KNEW beyond a shadow of a doubt that Our Georgia Roots, the blog, was G-O-N-E!

Of course I can salvage the links [eventually!] & thank God my data collections live at Picasa & AfriQuest but all of my posts & your insightful comments? Gone just like that!

Hmmm… well I guess it really is time for a new look & a fresh start!

Lest we forget…

Luckie.