I confirmed this afternoon that my researcher {thanks Janet!:-} will head over to Southwestern University’s Special Collections department on Monday to begin identifying the M.D. CODY specific artifacts contained in the Claude Carr CODY Collection!

Even though I’ve been forewarned by those close to the collection that outside of the Stephens letters, there is little to no mention of slaves, I am still hopeful that M.D.’s meticulous record keeping practices will hold & that I’ll be able to gain insight into the emancipated CODY slaves that remained on property after the war’s end.

Fom the 1870 Warren County Census I know that MANY freed CODY & related Ancestors, including my Aly DAWSON {Catie’s believed Sister}, remained on CODY land as farmhands, living amongst M.D.’s Brother Marion M. & other relatives. 

I am so anxious to see what history has to reveal — hoping I’ll be able to sleep & concentrate on work over the next few days!

I’ve also emailed William in regards to living CODY descendants that he may be aware of because the obvious question for me — WHERE ARE THE CODY SLAVE DOCUMENTS, omitted from Claude’s Collection?

Yes, I know it’s possible that these valuable artifacts could very well have not only been excluded from the collection but disposed of altogether.

I am prepared to accept that if it is the case — I think.

Nevertheless, I’m committed to chasing the needle in the haystack, because I am convinced 100% that the Ancestors make no mistakes & that my Catie would not send me down this path if there was no purpose.

If I never find physical evidence that M.D. CODY sold and/or loaned Catie to James DICKEY in 1860 or that the Aly DAWSON living just a few dwellings away from Marion M. CODY in 1870, is Catie’s Sister, it will be alright.

In my heart, I know that this week, I can check-off the two BIGGEST family mysteries on my list & feel at peace with moving on to the next.

Bless you Catie & Allie for the relief, yes my heart is a wee bit lighter!:-)

Luckie.

[Image: Southwestern Faculty - Circa 1887-1890. Claude Carr CODY is the 2nd row; second image from the left]

Dear Ms. Daniels,

My name is William B. Jones. I am a retired history professor at Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas. Kathryn Stallard, the Director of Special Collections at Southwestern, has shared with me the correspondence you and she have exchanged. She did so because I have written a history of Southwestern University in which the Cody family figures very prominently. Claude Carr Cody, a native of Covington, Georgia, and a graduate of Emory at Oxford, was the first dean of Southwestern at Georgetown, and his son, Claude Carr Cody, Jr., was a prominent Houston physician and chair of the Board of Trustees for many years. Their names figure in Southwestern history from 1878 until 1969, almost a hundred years.

Your interest, of course, is in his father, Madison Derrels Cody, and his mother, Francis Carr Cody, whom you have very brilliantly traced as Catie’s owners. Though I cannot add to what you have done in that direction, I may be able to furnish some information that will give you an idea as to what kind of people M.D. Cody and his wife were. We can do this because we have four letters in our Special Collections from Alexander Stephens, who was Vice President of the Confederate states during the Civil war to M.D.Cody. These four letters came into the possession of Southwestern because Claude Carr Cody brought them with him from Georgia when he came to Southwestern as professor of mathematics in 1878. Claude Carr Cody was born in Covington, Georgia, in 1854. He graduated from Emory at Oxford in 1874. His father, M.D. Cody, died in 1875. The papers of M.D. Cody then fell to his heirs and his son, C.C. Cody, was so in tune with his father’s sentiments that he brought four letters from Stephens to his father with him to Southwestern when he was employed. Those letters date from the beginning of the Civil War to 1873, eight years after the war. Let me transcribe for you how I narrate the story in my book:

“Cody was born in Covington, Georgia, on November 5, 1854, the son of a prominent Georgia family. Its status is indicated by the fact that his father was a close friend of Alexander H. Stephens, a resident of nearby Crawfordville, who served as Vice President of the Confederacy during the Civil War. This friendship represented moderation on the part of the Codys rather than strong support for the Confederate cause, because Stephens was the most reluctant of the Southern leaders to enter the fray. Three letters to Cody’s father from Stephens before and during the war, bemoaning the radicalism of the Southern leaders, became a proud possession of Cody in Georgetown. They were resounding criticisms of the political strategy pursued by the South leading to the war. Cody gave at least one lecture on Stephens in Georgetown and published the three letters in the newspaper. A fourth letter from Stephens to Cody’s father eight years after the end of the war said: ‘Do you remember the letter you wrote me in the Fall of 1860 urging me to go to Warrenton to make a speech against secession? What sad, sad changes since then. I then thought we were in the Penumbra of the deep darkness which has come upon us since.’”

From these letters and the fact that the son, Claude Carr Cody, was still lecturing about Stephens and publishing the letters of Stephens to his father leads me to believe that M.D. Cody and his wife laid a strong foundation for Claude Carr Cody’s later views. While most of the South was moving in the direction of Jim Crow laws, Claude Carr Cody was saying that the South did wrong in seceding from the Union.

If you are interested in reading the copies of the original letters, I suggest that you contact Kathryn Stallard. She guards her material in Special Collections very carefully, especially letters as old as these, but she might find a way to duplicte them for you. The letters are found in the following places:
1. The four original letters of Alexander H. Stephens of November 9 and December 25, 1860, of November 16, 1861, and of November 7, 1873, are found in Claude Carr Cody Scrapbook #4.
2. The three letters reprinted in the newspaper are found in Claude Carr Cody Scrapbook #8.
3. The newspaper article referring to Cody’s lecture on Stephens is found in Claude Carr Cody Scrapbook #7.

Alex Haley lectured at Southwestern sometime before his death. I had been fascinated earlier by his “Autobiography of Malcolm X” and, of course, by his “Roots.” He made a tremendous impression on me at the lecture, and I remember he said that his next project was to write a book on John Newton, the slave trader who was converted and wrote “Amazing Grace.”

I know I have rambled on and on in this letter–perhaps I am Nat King Cole’s “Rambling Rose”–but I hope what I have said may be of some help. If you want to follow up on anything I have said, please do not hesitate to write me. I am an old man now, approaching my 81st birthday. After completing my history of Southwestern three years ago, I have a lot of time.

William B. Jones

[Note: published to Our Georgia Roots with written consent provided by William B. Jones]

Yesterday was my first trip to the Georgia State Archives since returning from Texas. Hard to believe it’s been well-over 10 months! When the Archives were located in Downtown Atlanta, I was there sometimes 2-3 days in a given week!

I was so excited to arrive! So excited to at least begin following-up on the dozens of leads & questions we’ve identified after a year of blogging & sharing.

However, after SEVERAL hours of scrutinizing CODY/WARREN County microfilm, I found that I was somewhat disappointed {and yes, irritated too} that I’d not discovered ANY information to either validate and/or negate my conclusions of late.

I read several AMAZING letters from the hand of politician Madison Derrell CODY {an Ancestor of Lori’s}. There was a beautiful love-letter to his future wife, Frances “Fannie” CARR. There were several letters to an acquaintance about the state of the Union & the impending war. There was a cheerful, brief correspondence to Fannie alerting her of Georgia’s Secession from the Union in 1861. Another note to Fannie, where M.D. appeared impatient with a slave, SIAB & offered to give him a pass to go join the Union forces — I thought that humorous!:-)

There were MANY CODY relations family bibles, including the family bible of Robert CODY & Catherine BRANTLEY — the Primitive Baptist who owned Pierce & could be the first owner my Catie — I still don’t know.

There were several CODY deeds from the Superior Court records, but all that I read involved the transfer of land, not slaves AND none mentioned Rev. James DICKEY.

I even eyed the Estate Inventory of Edmund CODY, complete with what was sold from his 1832 estate BUT absent of any slave names to connect who inherited the “Ailey” mentioned in his Will.

Yes — I researched MUCH family history yesterday, just not mine!

And while I take issue with the CODYS of past and their descendants for not including my Ancestors in their historical documentation, I am EQUALLY as disappointed in the African-American community, my family in particular, for NOT righting this wrong by stopping to share OUR stories.

Yes, I am well aware of our history & challenges but does that prevent us for preserving our Great Grandmother’s family bible? Does that prevent us from marking family images with names & dates? Does it prevent us from caring about the upcoming family reunion or making note of Cousin Mae’s funny cemetery story or your Mother’s version of family history? No, it doesn’t.

To take it a step further – what’s preventing my tech-savvy generation from launching a family blog [for FREE] or uploading their family images & documents to the Archives in their state? Is there something that stops us from working to build our family tree?

While I know that I am preaching to the choir here, I hope this encourages you to be relentless in sharing the sermon of Genealogy Preservation to those outside of the choir!:-)

This charge is for both black & white researchers alike — heck, shouldn’t the beautiful CODY history I read yesterday be available somewhere online?

Yesterday, we observed the tragedy of 9/11 by honoring its nearly 3,000 victims. People who unknowingly left for work or boarded a plane on a pretty normal morning, only to never return home again.

The future is uncertain & that said, the present should not be taken for granted.

So long as WE don’t work to preserve our family history TODAY, we have absolutely NO right to complain when we’re not captured in someone elses TOMORROW.

Okay, okay… Luckie has exited the soapbox!:-)

Luckie.

{Note: the posted image DOES NOT belong to my family. It is a mural created by Miguel Ramos, entitled Homage to the Ancestors. I discovered it online several years ago. It was one of the first visuals to inspire me to find my own family images & stories.}

Have you seen the Georgia USGen Web Court Records?

During the last conversation I had with Rev. DICKEY’S descendant, he speculated that my Catie had been manumitted {freed} when the Minister left Wilkes Co. in 1861.

I cannot tell you how excited I was! Just the thought of Catie escaping the bonds of slavery made me  — exhale. Made me smile.

Now, several months later, although I do not believe that an 11 yr. old Catie was freed, I still get excited to learn of those blessed Ancestors who were — be they related or not.

The optimist in me wants to believe freedom made their lives easier, although I’m not sure it did. Can you imagine how they felt or what they encountered?

If you have Georgia Ancestors, take the time to read through these court records which include several records of manumission {1799-1856} & provides a historical context on how the State of Georgia drafted laws in respect to slavery.

For the record, here are the high-level bullet points – 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

Luckie.

P.S. And thanks to this comment from Renate {which as usual, got me to thinking, expect a Part II post — Reparations.

Yesterday while scanning Ancestry’s African American Collection, Slave Information Message Board, I noticed a post in regards to the transcribed Estate Inventory of John HUGULEY of Wilkes Co. The information had been posted by someone with the surname FAVOR.

Given that my 4th Paternal Grandmother was Annie FAVER CARTER, anytime I see the surname FAVER/FAVOR I perk-up but especially when it’s associated with Wilkes Co!

So I sent a message to the original poster inquiring about her surname & to my surprise, she responded back immediately!

With her permission, I’ve included her response below. In more ways than one it speaks to the importance of sharing both your & others Genealogical information within the research community.

Please take note of the information she is sharing as well — we never know where a connection might be found!:-)

Hi Luckie,

I have been to OurGeorgiaRoots.com. It gave me inspiration to continue this search. To answer your question, I don’t know. I have looked extensively at the John Faver family line in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Texas. I have their entire descendant chart. I traced one branch from Alabama to Fannin County Texas but have not been able to make a link. My ancestor was Pomp Favors. Reported in 1880 census as born in Alabama. He died before 1890. He was freed at age 14 in Fannin County (family rumor not fact with maybe a brother George-rumor not fact). I have gotten as far back to his 1876 marriage but have found nothing on him beyond that. I have found George who shows up in the 1867 voter registration. It reports him born in Alabama. It reports that he had been there for 17 yrs. George shows up in the 1880 census on the farm next to Pomp. But we really don’t have any evidence yet that they were even brothers. I only find them in the 1880 census. I am assuming that they both died shortly after that. Pomp’s wife was remarried by 1889, but she had a child by Pomp born in 1888. So, I am still searching for some kind of connection to the Faver family of Alabama and Georgia.

Has your family any thoughts of doing a DNA project? I hope this answers your questions.

Information that I posted re: the Hughley Estate was information I transcribed from the copy of Wilkes County Probate book that was posted by Mechie on Picasso. I found a reference to a slave named Pomp in that book but have not gone any further on my research in that area yet.

Now the original poster’s “Pomp Favors” does sounds familiar to me — so I plan to spend some time reviewing where I’ve come across the name. There is also a GOOD chance that she could be connected to my other FAVER cousins, Barrett & Farrel!

But what was heartwarming to me was that visiting OGR’s blog inspired her to continue her search & that she’d transcribed John Huguley’s estate inventory from the Wilkes County Inventories I posted on Picasa! I am the “Mechie” she referenced {Dona Amechia by birth}!:-)

How cool is that?!

Over the years, there have been countless times when being online has made ALL the difference. I’ve been blessed by many by way of this blog & previous iterations of it. Glad to know that others are benefiting from my efforts to share the love too!

If you are NOT actively online somewhere you really have no right to complain when your research doesn’t advance at the rate you want it to OR to criticize others who aren’t sharing their research. Ya’ll are passengers of the same ship!:-)

C’mon — do it for you, do it for your Ancestors, do it for other researchers who DESPERATELY need to know who their Ancestors are & you may hold the key!

There are new folks joining the GeneaTribe everyday & long-time clan members going a step further! Check-out these…

• My Nola Heritage – Felicia started off as a client courtesy of GenFreelancers & is certainly now my Sister on the GeneaJourney! She’s starting off with researching her Maternal line from Webster Parish, LA! Twitter: @Matfam42.
• Just Thinking- Nadasue emailed me with questions regarding OGR & then the next thing I knew, she was blogging! I always appreciate the detail to her posts & feedback on mine! Twitter: ??? {yes, Renate — this is my way of saying, get going!}
• Conversations With My Ancestors- A new Geneablog from my girl Mavis of Georgia Black Crackers, as she digs deeper into her Paternal family line. Twitter: @NCChemist
• Giving Back To Kin – A digital Act of Kindness from GeneaBloggette Robyn of Reclaiming Kin. I love it!:-) Twitter: ??? {Ditto!:}
• OurAlabamaRoots – This is my newest blog dedicated to my BARWICK Ancestors of Barbour, Henry & Montgomery Co. AL.  Twitter: @OurGeorgiaRoots

Now, if you are not blogging, posting or tweeting but you want to – no worries! Here are a few GREAT resources to get you on your way!:-)

• GeneaBloggers.com – A one stop shop for ALL things related to Genealogy blogging! If T2 doesn’t have it – it’s not to be found!:-) Twitter: @GeneaBloggers
• Forums at LowCountry Africana – LowCountry Africana has recently launched its own Message Board! If you have South Carolina, Florida and/or Georgia Ancestors, this is the place for you! Twitter: @LCAfricana
• GenealogyWise - Think Facebook meets Genealogy!  Twitter: @GenealogyWise
• African-American Genealogy Examiner- Great articles from seasoned Genealogist, Michael Hait! Twitter: @MichaelHait
• AfricanRootsPodcast- Weekly podcast STUFFED with informative Genealogy goodies presented by uber-knowledgeable, Angela Walton-Raji. Twitter: @AYWalton

So as I exit from my soapbox, I leave you with a quote from Angela Walton-Raji that sums up this post:

Share what you find, and also share what you seek!

Luckie.

While searching for slave data online pertaining to my Grandfather’s line BARWICK, I happened upon this link – SLAVE PAPERS, which in essence is a compilation of legal documents relating to slaves in the state of Delaware.

While it may not have any connection to my personal BARWICK research {my Ancestors were from Alabama}, I just could not bypass these Ancestors & the documentation of their existence, and in some cases – their liberation.

If you are and/or know of any researcher with Delaware roots, please pass this link on – SLAVE PAPERS.

Just think… what if EVERY state had a compiled list like this?!

Luckie

As luck would have it, a business meeting next week calls for me to hit the road – I’m going home to Atlanta!

I must admit, for the first time ever I’m looking forward to the 12 hour haul from Texas! I am truly homesick!:-)

My plan is to pack up the kids & after taking care of business, spend a few days relaxing with all that’s familiar – family. friends. food. more food. Georgia Archives.

With only 1 day to visit the Archives, I really need a strategy for what I plan to accomplish. I hope to also make a pit-stop at Emory’s Pitts Theology Library. I found out today they have church records from several of the churches James Madison pastored. Who knows, right? Maybe I’ll find something good!

Yep, I’m excited!:-)

OGR

As you might be able to tell from my onslaught of new posts – I am officially off the bench & back on my ancestry hunt! Woo-hoo!:-)

Being a Techie, I thumped myself on the head for not having OurGeorgiaRoots on Twitter! It’s FREE, super-convenient & all the tech-rage! If utilized, I believe Twitter could move Genealogy research to the next evolution much like message boards (GenForum, Ancestry, Afrigeneas & Genealogy.com) did a decade ago!

Waste no time, join Twitter NOW & don’t forget to follow OurGeorgiaRoots!

And just in case you need a Tweet101 crash-course, Paul Duxbury offers a great HOW TO TWEET article for Genealogists!

Cousin Mechie
www.Twitter.com/OurGeorgiaRoots

Hey Family!

I know it’s been a while since I last posted but I wanted to tell you about the coolest site I discovered today – www.GenealogyFreelancers.com!

Whether you are a Specialist {like me!} offering services or a person seeking Genealogy research assistance, you will find this website helpful.

Dang, what a great idea! Wish I’d thought of it first!:-)

Cousin Mechie

P.S. My profile is GeorgiaRoots, make sure to check it out if you need a hand with your research:!-)