As most of you know {by way of Tweetville}, Sandra, Bernard and I took to the road early yesterday morning heading I-20 East — destination Greensboro (Greene Co.) and Washington (Wilkes Co.), the small, historic country towns many of our Ancestors called home.

Greene and Washington-Wilkes are neighboring counties, and typically my journey home entails a stroll through Greensboro’s historic Main Street.

This was San’s first visit to Greene County and I was happy to be with she and Bernard, riding around finding our way.

I had told San the night before that it’s customary in small towns to chat with folks when seeking information. After establishing YOUR connection to the land –addressed by telling them who your people are/were– you can usually feel free to ask questions. Needless to say, San was less than enthusiastic about this approach but being the opinionated, vocal Sister-Cousin-Friend I am, I commented that it would be a shame to travel all that way and miss an opportunity to connect because it wasn’t “her way” and left it at that.

Downtown Greensboro was as beautiful as always! Weather-wise the day could not have been any more perfect! After we spotted a group of older gentlemen talking and made their acquaintance, our afternoon took an interesting turn!

It’s really San’s story to tell {I Never Knew My Father} so I’ll let her pick-up from here! I was just blessed to be there!:-)

So, after our Greene County adventure, we were off to Washington-Wilkes, my TRUE Georgia roots!

Funny thing about home is that it’s HOME –you don’t feel like a visitor– so your camera really doesn’t come out and you don’t necessarily pay attention to the historic landmarks that many travel there to see.

We enjoyed a tasty lunch (and a homemade rice crispy treat!:-) at the cozy Talk of the Town Cafe, a cool blend of coffee house, cafe and specialty boutique, located in the heart of Washington’s Public Square. I picked up the DVD – A Narrative of Wilkes County, Georgia that features interviews with several of Washington’s 70+ year old natives.

I spent time at the Washington Historical Museum with Curator Stephanie Macchia, chatting about her FAVER/FAVOR lineage and WINGFIELD home. There I found a book I’ve wanted a LONG time — The African American Experience: Education in Wilkes County, Georgia from 1922 to 1970 by Kay FINNELL.

As always, I could have spent hours in the Museum, just walking and taking in all the history!

I was fascinated by the 20 or so authentic Slave Deeds on display and two Ku Klux Klan robes from the late 1800s in a display not too far away.

Equally as intriguing, scanned images of slave inventories listing some 400+ slave names from the North Carolina plantations of Stephanie’s Ancestors! These should be on their way to me today and will be transcribed for posting on A Friend of Friends!:-)

On the top of my list will be a visit where I can stay a few days to spend time researching and visiting the Wingfield properties with Stephanie!

My visit ended with a quick stop to hug my best Wilkes buddy, Vernon Anthony (Tight). Tight is homegrown and one of the smartest business men I know! After he extended a fishing invite to Bernard and I teased him about his favorite past-time of hunting poor innocent deer, we headed back to Atlanta.

I napped all the way home, feeling exhausted and at peace.

It was a perfect day in every way and a trip that this girl needed. To touch the land that my Ancestors lived, loved, loss and survived on did me a world of good!

I’ll be making the trip more often for sure.

As promised, enjoy the slide-show!:-) ~ Luckie.

I’ve really been on a FAVER/FAVOR roll lately. After 11 years of having few leads and no known Faver/Favor researchers, I now have a host of them I’m in contact with and tons of leads to trace.

However 5 years ago I was encouraged by Hollice Favors to contact Almay CARROLL regarding her book, Faver and Kindred 1748-1990, an extensive compilation of Faver/Favor ancestry.

But it seems I’ve waited too late. I found Almay’s phone number in a 2005 email from Hollice and called her home last night. I was told by a caregiver that Almay has advanced Alzheimer’s Disease and was directed to contact her son “Tim”.

A call to Tim made me aware that of the 200+ copies of Almay’s book, there are no more available outside of Family copies. He also was not sure if Almay could comprehend him well enough to answer my question of whether any copies had been donated to local libraries or the GA Archives.

I did explain briefly to Tim that I too understand exactly where he and his family are with caring for Almay at home and wished him the best. Almay is 86 years old.

I think sometimes we/people feel there is always time to learn what you need to know or do what you want to do.

For me the genealogy lesson is twofold — never forget the necessity of documenting your family history… we never know where our life-journey will carry us and learn how to act when the opportunity presents itself. Committing to not letting any of life’s seasons pass me/us by.

Prayers today for Almay and the Carroll Family.

Luckie.

For a brief time in 2005, I had the opportunity to communicate with Hollice “H.A.” FAVORS, the 4th Grandson of John FAVER Sr. and Mary Ann BOLTON.

H.A. was the kindest man, he’d email me frequently and even went to the trouble of gathering up Faver/Favor documentation that he thought could help to answer the nagging question of — who owned my Annie Faver?

What I appreciated most about our exchange was H.A.’s openness — we conversed about his Ancestors slave ownership easily and he shared with me freely the nuances of his mixed heritage – H.A.’s Great Grandmother was full-blooded Cherokee and his Grandmother possessed Native-American blood.

There was a no “sting” to our exchange — just two people working to pull together a patchy history in an attempt to answer a question that still eludes me today.

Amazing how 5 years later H.A.’s family documents (or puzzle pieces) are now starting to “fit” into mine! Seems like H.A., Paris Jr. and I each have had pieces to one collective GeneaPuzzle!:-)

The Genealogy finds of this week:

• Realized H.A.’s Ancestor John FAVER Sr. (died 1818) was identified by Paris Favors Jr., as the owner of Winny FAVER via his estate record. Note: Paris Jr. speculated in his book that Winny could have been Rev. Parish’s Mother.
• Confirmed that H.A. and Paris Jr. are from the same FAVER/FAVOR family line! The history of H.A.’s Ancestors from France > Virginia > Wilkes/Oglethorpe County was confirmed this week in a conversation I had with Paris Jr.’s widow, Gail FAVORS. The FAVORS visited the CALLAWAY Plantation in Wilkes and was given the family history of both the white and black FAVERS/FAVORS of Wilkes County.
• Identified the previously unknown parents of Rev. Parish to be Burnell and Maria Faver from the 1870 Wilkes Census & 1859 estate inventory of Thomas FAVER — the oldest son of John FAVER, Sr.
• Connected the very same Winny of 1818 as the Mother of Burnell, Squire and Ben FAVORS – she was Rev. Parish’s Grandmother!:-)

Last night I gathered all of the docs H.A. shared with me and began hunting for clues that I would have overlooked 5 years ago!

I continue to tell myself to be patient but it’s hard, I’m closer than I’ve ever been to not only finding my Annie FAVER, but her FAVER/FAVOR family as well.

In the spirit of Sandra Taliaferro’s post — A Friend of Friends: Lessons From The Underground Railroad, consider where my research would be had H.A. and the FAVORS Family decided not to share their resources/contacts with me.

That’s right… not very far.

I’ve often been the beneficiary of descendants — both black and white alike — sharing their family history with me. In the times when this has happened (like now), my personal research leaped forward!

In the instance of a descendant choosing not to share their Ancestors slave owning history, as the case with James Madison DICKEY’s descendants (Catie’s owner), I am left with many gaps that may never be filled — an incomplete puzzle.

Please, whether you are the descendant of an Ancestor who owned slaves or a descendant of one who endured slavery — take the time to share your resources when a researcher with questions and hope, comes knocking.

Forever with you on the journey,

Luckie.

P.S. I really hope to hear from you H.A.! There is much to share!:-)

Yesterday I was the beneficiary of a rare and special gift — In Search Of A Family – The Incomplete History of the FAVORS Family of African Descent by the Paris FAVORS Jr. {1987}.

What a gift! Paris Favors Jr. {1948-1994} was a practicing attorney and Minister, which clearly shows in his beautifully descriptive writing and attention to detail.

After opening my parcel last night from Robert BOLTON {Son of Wade BOLTON and Grandson of Rev. Paris/Parish FAVOR born abt. 1842}, I had not made it beyond page #11 before I’d solved my first Ancestor mystery — who were the elder Paris/Parish Favor’s  parents and slave owner?

On page #7 Paris Favors Jr. wrote:

As noted earlier, I have been unable to discover who were the parents of the Reverend Parish Favors, where he came from or who were his owners during slavery.

After reading a few pages further, I noted a 1986 interview with Wade Bolton of Lincolnton that identifies Parish as having Sisters named Chaney and Le Anna and a Brother named Ben.

I immediately headed to the 1870 Wilkes County Census to search for those names and here is what I found:

• Burrill Favor – 60
• Maria Favor – 50
• Chaney Favor – 20
• John S Favor – 0 (this was a census taker’s oversight)
• Winny Favor – 17
• Ritta Favor – 13
• Leanna Favor – 11
• Edward Favor – 9
• Charles Favor – 8
• Mary Favor – 6
• Susan Favor – 4

There in all its glory were Parish’s Sisters, Chaney and Leanna, living with their parents, Burrill(Burnell) and Maria and a handful of other siblings!

Although there is no sign of  a 28 yr. old Paris/Parish on the August 1870 Wilkes County census (not uncommon for this census!), we do find Mary HARRIS, Parish’s first wife {they wed Dec. 26 1870} living alone with children Lorena 4, Augustus 2 and Hannah 1. Note also: next door to Mary is Henry HARRIS 41 with wife and children. Henry is probably Father or Brother to Mary!:-)

Ok, so next, I wanted to find Paris and his family in an estate record and since I own a copy of the Wilkes County Estate/Inventories from this period {500+ inventories/estates}, I immediately started looking.

Now, Thomas FAVER has long since been the person I believed to have been my Annie FAVER CARTER’s slave owner, as you can see from the August 2009 post about his 1859 Estate Appraisal.

So imagine my reaction when I went to his record first and found Parish’s family listed both in the name ledger on the first page, as well as by the “lot” they were placed in — Lot No. 1 sold to Charles S. FAVOR!

While I don’t see Paris/Parish listed in the lot sale with his family (God, how sad is that?) I do believe on the 1st page of the estate record, the name of the 8 yr. old boy for $750 appearing under the name “Isiah” is “Paris”.

So after examining the estate record of Thomas Faver and the 1870 Wilkes County Census here’s where we are, as of today – I believe Burnell/Burrill {born abt. 1810} and Maria {born abt. 1820} to have been the parents of Rev. Parish Favors. I also believe that “Ben” FAVER {born abt. 1825} was not a sibling of Parish’s as speculated by Paris Jr., but the younger Brother of Burnell — so, Parish’s Uncle.

What else? I believe Squire FAVOR {born abt. 1814} who appears both living next door to Burnell in 1870 and in the Thomas Faver estate record {Lot #2 sold to J.D FAVOR} was a sibling to Burnell and Ben — and get this, all 3 Sons to Winny FAVER found living at age 72 yrs with Ben in 1870 and identified as age 60 yrs in Thomas Faver’s estate!

Not bad for one night’s work and not reading beyond page #12 of 62, huh?!:-)

Thank you Paris Jr., Grandma Annie, Rev. Parish and all my FAVER/FAVOR Ancestors for leading the way…

I’m listening!:-)

Luckie.

[Image Source: Rev. Parish & Jane Claiborn Favors - cover image of In Search Of A Family - The Incomplete History of the FAVORS Family of African Descent by the Paris FAVORS Jr. 1987; circa unknown]

So tonight, just as I’d decided to log-out due to such sadness in my heart, witnessing the devastation in Haiti via CNN (and fearing the worst come Sunrise) and hearing the family report from Dominique, I by chance checked my email one last time to find the correspondence below from Marcia STAMPS HENDON waiting for me!

I am sure Marcia Hendon has no idea of how she has touched my heart this night.

I honestly don’t know why the Ancestors chose me to do this work. The urge is relentless and unyielding — and I am sure, not of this world.

I can’t explain my need to pursue the unknown to anyone outside of the Genealogy world with any hope of getting them to understand. I regularly forgo sleep, food, dates and yes, sometimes a shower just for one last search in the hope that the next “epiphany” will bring down one of my many brick walls.

But for me, what I love most, are the Elders. Those Elders who I’ve loved deepest have crossed over. Yes, they are with me (always), but not here… where I am still blessed to hear or read their words.

It so blesses me to read the words Marcia Hendon took the time to write me tonight. She is a daughter of Wilkes County and a relative no doubt — the names LM, Heard, Favors, Bolton, Smith all ring familiar throughout my line — let alone Daniels.

There is much invaluable, family Oral History in her writing (we MUST capture every bit!) and the kindness she showed me was like salve to an open wound tonight.

Earlier via Twitter I told @Matfam42 to celebrate her newest connection because the Ancestors were speaking.

Little did I know, they were sending Marcia Hendon my way with an encouraging word. Guess they know what we need and when.

This is why I cannot quit. This is why I am here.

Bless you Marcia — I sure would like to give you a big ole, southern girl, bear hug!:-)

Luckie.

Marcia Stamps Hendon wrote:

i noticed your bolton interview and we are so glad to clear this pictoral mystery.

thanks, as we were told this was our uncle pierce, a well known basketweaver from wilkes ga.

our uncle made chairs and baskets as a source of income, horace calloway would sell them for him

i ‘m told there are some wilkes baskets in the museum in atlanta. we have yet to determine if they were made by family.

there is a family member in detroit mich named nathan bolton. he was raised by ” daddy Joe Bolton of wilkes ga. we do not know all of the history , but he and willie robert smith were both wards of ” daddy joebolton.

regarding the daniels name ,

my aunt sallie mary smith daniels married samuel daniels , they had six children they left rayle and migrated to Seaforth Delaware in 1943.

her children are as listed

mary lee daniels (deceased )

david l. daniles of north carolina

jimmie l. daniels of philadelphia

doris daniels rogers of new jersey

delphia a. daniels  seaford

carolyn d. daniels williams  seaford

a sister in law susie daniels , frances beasley, mary magetine heard , and lily rene daniels of ga

my aunt was the daughter of lm and mary bush smith of wilkes georgia.

i am so proud of your beautiful writing gift. i am doubly proud of the way God has blessed the young generations of our families.

what is the connection of your daniels name and is this your married name. your family pictures are really beautiful.

also, one of my ancestors was a relative to the favors, i can’t find my paperwork as i’m still trying to locate the smith slavemaster of wilkes and oglethorpe county ga.

i will let you know of any additional info i may have .

i ‘m off to work.

marcia lee smith hendon

daughter of clifford smith

gd of lm smith and mary bush smith

ggd of john ( burrell smith ) and mary p. hanson smith.

late note . i have a copy of the deed of property donated by margaret hanson. this propery was donated to the lyonsville church.

thanks, again, for assisting us  “old folks ” who would like to know our hx. before we move to the next chapter of our lives.

God bless and a happy encouraging new year to you and yours.

Everyone knows that I’ve been channeling my FAVER/FAVORS Ancestral vibe for quite awhile now.

It seems that from out of nowhere [that can be seen with the human/living eye] FAVER/FAVOR information and new cousins started appearing, which tells me, the Ancestors have something they want me to know!

I’m excited to no end! Annie FAVER CARTER my 2nd 4th Grandmother from Washington-Wilkes died sometime after 1900 and before 1910 (according to the Census). Sadly, this means there is no real paper-trail to follow, so until now I’ve known very little about her.

But my spirit tells me this will soon change!:-)

Thanks to Willie C. BOLTON, I received the phone number of Robert BOLTON in Charlotte, North Carolina — a Henry BOLTON/Mamie FAVORS descendant who just happens to own a copy of the rare FAVORS Genealogy book written by the late Paris FAVORS Jr.{pictured}!

I’ll tell you the truth, there isn’t one FAVORS/BOLTON cousin that I’ve reached out to that hasn’t been forthcoming with any info they have — which is a blessing! Although we (genealogists) do it all the time, picking up the phone to chat about family history with a complete stranger can be scary!:-)

So let me say thank you to the BOLTONS — Willie C., LaKisha, Georgia Mae, Mr. Fred and Robert for making it easy and FUN!:-)

Now, Robert has promised  that I too will receive a copy of the Paris FAVORS Genealogy book — all 60+ pages! Bless his heart, Paris FAVORS was an Attorney, so no doubt I will see that ethic and detail recorded in his work.

Then tonight, another could-be cousin, Aaron FAVORS Jr., emailed me from Iraq via Facebook with another host of Georgia FAVORS names! Shoot, I was so thrilled to hear from Aaron, I forgot to ask how he’d even found me!

Yes indeed, Luckie is shaking the Ancestor tree and anxious to see what juicy FAVER/FAVORS fruit lands in my hands!:-)

Wooo-hooo!

Luckie.

[Image Source: Paris Favors Jr., Burney-Harris Class of 1967 from www.TheYellowJacket.com; shared with me by LaKisha BOLTON GREEN]

Being a techie by day and night, there is no one more thankful for the convenience of technology than me!

Without a doubt, my research did not “take off” until that day in 1999 when I was able to send 1 email that reached 3,300 WINGFIELD descendants via a mail list! And where would my research be without the message boards? I’ve been blessed with countless leads, several new cousins & my gem gift — my COBB-DANIELS Grandmother’s family bible via a 5 year old post from a complete [but kind] stranger last year!:-)

But technology aside there is NOTHING as cool as spending time with an elder and getting family Oral History firsthand — this is PRICELESS!

I had the blessing to speak with Uncle Fred BOLTON from Lincolnton, Georgia yesterday and what a time I had!

Uncle Fred was warm, friendly and funny like only folks from a small hometown can be — no pretense, no gates… once he knew who I was and who my folks were, our conversation flowed like warm butter!:-)

Uncle Fred is 73 years young and the 25th child {the “baby”} of Henry BOLTON and Mamie FAVORS! He tells me that when he was born in 1936, Henry was “60 something” years old!:-)

One thing Uncle Fred wanted to make clear was that the image I posted from the Digital Library of Georgia was not Henry BOLTON and Mandy FAVER {Henry’s 1st wife and mother of 10 BOLTON children} but actually Henry’s Father, Silas BOLTON.

Yep, looks like the DLG and that original note-taker from 1902 got it wrong! Appears he also got the BOLTON children count wrong too — there were 25 total, not 36 as stated.

As I told Uncle Fred, this makes complete sense to me — I remember noting in my post that according to census records, Henry would have been approx. 28 yrs old at the time that image was taken and the white beard alone raised suspicion for me.

Now I have even more questions to answer –

1. If that’s not Mandy in the image, who is it — Susan BOLTON, Silas’ wife?
2. When and where did Silas and Susan die?
3. Was Silas related to James BOLTON from Oglethorpe County, the emancipated slave recorded in the 1936 narrative?
4. Still to be answered, who were Mandy’s parents?
5. Henry and Mandy had a Son named Silas who was in WWI & II. It appears he was living in Cincinnati, OH before going to the 2nd World War. How did he and wife, Ada end up there? [Note: many of my Wilkes County Ancestors migrated to Cincinnati, OH too!]
6. Where can I find the Genealogy prepared by the late Paris FAVORS and what is our connection to Wilkes County Callaways?

Thanks to Uncle Fred I now know there is an image of all the BOLTON brothers taken before his Grandmother Susan passed away. Fred believes it’s in the possession of a relative here in Atlanta!

Even more so now, I do believe this is my FAVER/FAVOR family line and it’s just a matter of time before I connect the dots to tell me how!

So all this is to say, appreciate the technology BUT when given an opportunity take time to call and/or visit an elder to receive their gift of LIVING HISTORY.

Forever on the GeneaTrail…

Luckie.

Well it looks like I’ll be heading to Wilkes County soon to visit the Cemetery at Lyonsville Baptist Church in Rayle.

From what LaKisha {my new found, could be cousin!:-} tells me, Lyonsville is a family cemetery of sorts and many FAVER/FAVOR-BOLTON Ancestors are resting in the Church Cemetery.

If my Annie FAVER is connected to this line, there is a good chance she could be to!

Grandma Annie would have passed away after 1900 but before 1910 — as she is found in the 1900 Pento, Wilkes County Census living with Grandpa Phil but by 1910 Grandpa Phil is widowed living in Atlanta’s 4th Ward.

Because she died before 1919 there is no Georgia Death Certificate to reference.

Could Grandma Annie and other FAVER-CARTER Ancestors be buried at Lyonsville? Quite possibly — I sure hope so.

My Faver-Carter family is the biggest remaining GeneaMystery I have. It would be a blessing to know more about her and my other kin folks from that line.

I’m still crossing my fingers that the Faver/Favor genealogy compiled by the late Paris Favors of North Carolina will make its way to me. I’m anxious to see what questions I am able to answer!

I’ll keep you posted…

Luckie.

In 1869 My 4th Grandfather Philip CARTER married Annie FAVER in Washington-Wilkes, GA.

When they married, Grandma Annie already had a 2 yr old Daughter named Anna WRIGHT and aside from my childhood memory of Grandma Annie’s long braid of hair, held in a glass jar by my Great Grandmother Annie CARTER JACKSON {obviously, her namesake}, that is all I know of Annie Faver.

Recently, much to my amazement, Willie BOLTON and his Daughter, LaKisha BOLTON-GREEN discovered Our Georgia Roots and tagged the blog! They are descendants {Grandson and Great Granddaughter} of Mamie FAVORS-BOLTON, a FAVORS Ancestor I posted about on July 23 – Mamie FAVORS Bolton 1891-1982!

This for me is an unexpected blessing and an opportunity to answer questions I NEVER thought I’d have an answer to and possibly the discovery of new “cousins” and a lost Grandmother’s history.

I have TONS of questions for Willie and Kisha… thank goodness they live close by which gives me an opportunity to meet them in person! But for the sake of posterity, I wanted to post my initial FAVER/FAVOR/FAVORS questions here at OGR too!:-)

1. It appears that Henry BOLTON had 2 wives and a total of 28 children. Were Amanda/Mandy FAVER {1st wife} pictured with Henry and Mamie FAVORS {2nd wife} related?
2. Do you know the names of Mamie’s (or Mandy’s) Parents and Grandparents? [Luckie: Mamie's Parents were Paris and Janie Faver/Favor. I believe Henry's Father was Silas Bolton. Mandy's Parents are still unknown]
3. Do you know who would have been the original slaveowner of Mamie’s (or Mandy’s) family?
4. Where did your FAVORS and BOLTONS originally live in Wilkes County? [Luckie: It appears the Boltons were originally from Oglethorpe Co. and the Favors (post-emancipation) in Pento and Derbyshire, Wilkes Co.]
5. Has it ever been said that your FAVOR/FAVORS were of Native American decent?
6. Are you aware of any CARTER and/or WRIGHT relatives from Washington-Wilkes?
7. Have you ever heard of Philip CARTER and Annie FAVER?
8. Who is your oldest living FAVOR/FAVORS relative? Could I speak to them?
9. Is there a documented family tree that I could study?
10. Are there pictures of your FAVOR/FAVORS Ancestors?

Just when think you’ve hit a brick wall, along comes new cousins to provide a much welcomed detour! Lord, I love it!:-)

Luckie.

Philip CARTER my 2nd 4th Grandfather from Washington-Wilkes was said to be of small stature, with keen features, white skin, blue eyes and snow-white hair.

My Great Grandmother Annie once told me that when Philip’s siblings, Tom and Anna were Emancipated in 1865 they went on to live as white and were lost to the family forever, never to be seen again.

Philip lived to be very, very old — his 1922 Georgia Death Certificate lists him as 112 yrs (by my calculation his actual age in 1922 was abt. 96 yrs. old).

I am aware of only one family story about Grandpa Phil and this is what was told to me…

One day, Grandpa Phil returned from working the fields to find that his wife and children had been sold by his owner (still unconfirmed but believed to be John R.J. CARTER of Wilkes County).

When he attempted to protest, he was “encouraged” by his owner to let the matter go because why fret, he could always take another wife and have more children.

In 1869 on the 18th of February, Philip chose his 2nd Wife, Annie FAVER, my 4th Grandmother and with her, had at least 10 children — one of which was my Great, Great Grandfather, Wash CARTER.

From the moment that Grandpa Phil came home to find his wife and children gone forever, I’ve often wondered how he found the strength to live.

When I try to imagine myself in his shoes, and think about what the instant loss of my family would mean to me, I just can’t imagine moving forward. I don’t know how a person recovers from that kind of loss. Who did Philip become after that day? Was he a different man than he had been before?

Like with most of my Ancestors, I wish I knew Philip’s life story and could see his face with the  mysterious features that surely connect to another branch of our tree all together. I wish I knew more about him than the tale of his suffering.

I am praying for the day when by chance I encounter another CARTER and/or FAVER ”cousin” from Wilkes County who can share with me more of who my Grandparents were and how they lived.

Just like me, they are out there. I am just waiting for destiny to connect us.

Luckie.

[Image Source: 1867 Wilkes County, Georgia Voter Registration Card - Philip Carter #479]