Writing A New HERstory for Catie!
It’s my lucky day!:-) After 12 years of asking the question, “Who was Catie’s CODY owner?”, I do believe I have my answer — politician Madison Derrelle CODY! Wooo-hooo!
Madison Derrelle {d. 1875} was the youngest son of Michael {d. 1831} & Rebecca ROGERS CODY {d. 1851}.
If you’ve read my post from Friday’s visit to the GA Archives, you know I was pretty irked not to find any information pertaining [directly] to Catie.
Most of my research centered around M.D. CODY’s life & migration to Covington, GA following the Civil War. I found myself absorbed in his personal letters, which should have been a mental flag right there – NEVER in my 12 years of research have I EVER found interest in any slave owners personal correspondence.
But that irony went right over my head! The epiphany came tonight, after responding to Sandra Taliaferro’s Miles From Miles post via her I Never Knew My Father blog.
Shortly after responding a thought sprang to mind, if I believed my own theory that the Ancestors make no mistakes – then why would Catie send me to the Archives & allow me to spend hours fixated on M.D. CODY for no reason at all?
Well, she didn’t!:-)
I decided to re-examine M.D. CODY in the census first. I say re-examine because M.D. Cody has been on my short-list of potential owners since I first began researching in 1997. I have had his Father, Michael Cody’s will posted to my OGR site for well over 10 yrs & was even told early on by CODY researcher, Paul WRIGHT, to look to Edmund or Michael’s line as Catie’s owner!
So go figure, the answer was here ALL ALONG! Okay, my logic…
1850 – Warren County Census. To my joy I find pre-inheritance Madison {age 26}, living with his Mom, Rebecca {age 64} & M. E. Clergy, Freeman Franklin REYNOLDS! What?!
Methodist Clergyman?! F.F. Reynolds?! I KNOW this name — F.F. Reynolds was the minister who succeeded James DICKEY at the Smyrna Church in 1862! I’d researched him as recent as 2 months ago, as a possible owner of Catie after James Dickey left Washington-Wilkes & here he was LIVING with the Codys 11 yrs earlier?!
1860 – Warren/Wilkes County Census. Rebecca passed in 1851. Madison is living with his wife, Frances “Fannie” CARR & family. His personal estate is valued at $30K – I recall Michael CODY’s will stipulating that Madison inherit 1/4 of his total estate upon the passing of his mother. F.F. Reynolds is appointed by the Annual Georgia Conference to Watkinsville & James Dickey to Wilkes — my Catie is listed as 1 of Dickey’s 2 slaves. Catie is 11 yrs old.
1861. James Dickey is appointed to Morgan Co. & F.F. Reynolds to Wilkes Co. I believe Catie could have remained in Wilkes with Reynolds during this time.
1870 Newton County Census. Madison has relocated his family to Covington, GA which is just West of Washington-Wilkes. Interesting enough, there are REYNOLDS in the next two dwellings following M.D! So, could be there’s a family relationship we’re seeing here!
1870 – Warren County Census. Marion Michael {Madison’s oldest Brother} & Aly DAWSON {Catie’s believed Sister} are found living only 7 dwellings apart! Her Husband, Elbert, appears to be a farmhand on Marion’s farm.
The best thing about my new & BIGGEST discovery to date {aside from the mental relief} is knowing that Madison Derrelle CODY is well documented due to his involvement in the Confederacy & continued presence in the GA political scene. AND as I mentioned, there is a CODY-ROGERS of Georgia book that now becomes a HUGE asset!
I know Madison enjoyed writing, so let’s hope that’s reflected in his documentation of slave property.
Next Steps:
- Review ALL documentation I’ve gathered over the years that mentions M.D. Cody.
- Look for church records. From the Cody-Rogers book by L.L. Cody, it’s mentioned the family were members of Warrenton Baptist Church.
- Dig deeper into F. F. Reynolds Wilkes presence from 1861-1862
- Read thoroughly L.L. Cody’s 1915 Cody-Rogers book. Thanks GOOGLE!:-)
- Return to the Archives to really study the microfilm that contained so many Cody-Roger records
- Search for M.D. Cody deeds from 1859-1860.
- Search for a deed of sale from Dickey to Reynolds in Wilkes Co. 1861
- Email the REYNOLDS researcher I’ve identified online
- Hit the message boards — now M.D. Cody & F.F. Reynolds become my focus.
Okay, that’s it — I think!
Keep my honest here friends, have I identified Catie’s owner in M.D. Cody or just been sniffing way too many old & dusty courthouse docs?!:-)
Luckie.
Tell Catie’s Spirit Thank You!! We tell ourselves that we have hit a dead end and we feel there is no other way to go, but our ancestor’s spirit instills in us that there are no deadends. There is always more to do and means and ways to do it.
I found your post so inspiring, Luckie!! Your comment that “Ancestors make no mistakes” really hit home with me, as I’ve been chasing a hunch all week. There’s something very spiritual about family connections… they linger even after your Ancestor has passed. I personally think that you are right on target, just judging by your gut reaction. When you know, you know! Congrats!!!
ADDENDUM #1:
I neglected to add that the names FANNIE & MARION {for males} are both family names! We have 3 known Fannie’s & 2 Marions! Could be a complete coincidence but what the heck, just thought I’d attach it to the theory!:-)
Renate – I spent HOURS doing OMG!!! *tweets* & could not make myself go to sleep before 5AM!:-) P.S. Join Twitter!:-)
Felicia – just shows how dense I can be… I spend HOURS looking at one person & never stop to question WHY?! As I told Toni, I needed Catie to throw a heavenly brick upside my head last night OR I may have missed the clues completely! Amazing — I bet Catie & Cousin Elbert are somewhere doing their own Happy Dance!:-)
Kathy – Follow that hunch! I am convinced more than EVER that we are not in this journey alone. Because I believe Ancestors see the ‘whole picture’, I don’t believe they make mistakes — where they point us is VERY deliberate. Please let me know when you have your breakthrough too!:-)
Luckie.
ADDENDUM #2:
Further proof — in 1870 Warren Co. Aly DAWSON & Family live next door to Howard WELLBORN {black, age 35 yrs}. M.D. CODY’s only sister, Amanda Louisa was married to wealthy, James M. WELLBORN.
This is a sign of the “clusters” remaining close.
Woo-hoooo!:-)
ADDENDUM #3:
L.L. CODY’s book Cody-Rogers of Georgia indicates that Madison inherited all of Rebecca’s property after her 1851 death & maintained it until 1865.
I have to find her Will & Estate Inventory — my Catie & Aly will be there!
Luckie,
You are definitely on to something-no doubt about it. I know that feeling, and I am so thrilled for you. It may have taken 12 years, but I’m sure it was well worth the wait. You have all the pieces laid before you-now just put the puzzle together.
San
Luckie -
You’ll have to change your name, because this wasn’t luck – you earned it through hard work, diligence, and good research practices. I usually find that most “epiphanies” happen when I am thinking about something different. You just have to let all the info marinate for a while, and it will just come to you.
And just to help you out a little more, if you haven’t seen these, check this out: http://bit.ly/3ltlMx . There are a couple of books that you might be interested in looking at – not all of them are available online, but you can check WorldCat.org to find a copy near you.
Thanks San & Michael!:-) I must admit, this is SUPER exciting!
The discovery of Claude Carr CODY’s {Madison’s only Son} HUGE Collection at SouthWestern University yesterday almost sent me in to heart palpitations!:-)
From what was written in the Cody-Rogers book, C.C. Cody was very protective of his Father’s belongings, so I am expecting to see some really good stuff!
I will be emailing/calling the Collection Head this morning about resources to scan some of the contents & plan to return to the GA Archives tomorrow!:-)
Luckie.
This is AWESOME!!! AWESOME!! AWESOME!!! Once I learn how to read my ancestors, I’ll be here too!!!
Thanks Allum! One important learned-lesson for me & my GeneaPals – I’ve had the information since 1997 – I just didn’t look at it! Sure I focused on understanding my Wilkes Co. history first, which spanned several years but also, I limited my CODY focus way too early without any real basis for doing so.
Had I continued to include M.D. Cody in my evaluation process, I probably would have arrived here years ago!:-)
And above all else — think to yourself, if there are no accidents then why am I HERE? Why am I looking at THIS document? Why has THIS person caught my attention?
Every time I step back & do that, a breakthrough follows!
Luckie.
Luckie,
Hadn’t really looked at your blog since your 9/11 posting and I have to say, signing on has become an exciting adventure. Here’s the irony of our situation…my intentions were to try and help you and in the end, I can see you’re the helper and I’m the beneficiary. Since I last posted, I went through my personal Cody papers but everything focuses on my Michael Cody#2 (or later) who migrated to Barbour County. By the way, I’m pondering the Barbour county connection between us as well. It does make you wonder what unseen forces are working around us. Tell me you have Liberty County, GA connections and I’ll really wig out. I have very deep and far more researched roots in that area of the state.
I really had not focused on Michael Cody’s children from Rebecca Rogers as these were half siblings…my research is lacking with this line so I was more focused on the direct descendants. That’s how I originally got to your site…looking to dig deeper into the Warren County ancestors. Anyway, after your Marion Michael discoveries, I’ve been documenting these siblings in my database…as a matter of fact, just recently found a picture of the Madison / Fannie Cody tombstone (thanks to some kind soul on Find-A-Grave). So, thank you very much for the inspiration and for your hard work which definitely is going to help in completing more of my family history.
Some thoughts on your discoveries and forgive me if the answers are in your past posts, my mind is spinning with the different connections. Could it be that Catie was never officially sold or deeded to Dickey or Reynolds? Since they were “clergy”, could Madison (or ?) have loaned her as some kind of gesture to the church? I’m at work so I’m hesitant to do too much surfing and I can’t remember her parent’s status…did you ever find solid evidence that Michael Cody (my number #1) owned either of Catie’s parents? I’m thinking we don’t know that for sure or we would have figured what Cody son would have owned Catie’s parents at the time of her birth. I’d like to make a copy of the Cody genealogy book I have for you to review (4 eyes are better than 2). Since I don’t want to violate any copyright laws, I’ll make a copy and send a PDF email rather than posting on the site. You can destroy when you finish. I really can’t see any problem with that…if you lived down the street, I’d just loan it to you! I’ll try to do that tomorrow.
Also, I’m going to make a run to the Florida Archives on Friday for other lines I’m working on. I’ll do a little searching to see it there is anything related to the Cody’s but I think I may have done so in the past. Who knows, since I’m coming at it with new connections maybe there’s something there. Let me know if you have any ideas.
Keep digging, I know you’re almost there.
Hey Lori! It has been a REALLY exciting few weeks!:-)
The GA Archives has a phenomenal microfilm of CODY & relations bibles that you would be interested in & the archived letters from Madison are amazing.
I also discovered this pretty substantial Claude Carr CODY Collection {Michael’s Grandson, M.D.’s only Son} at Southwestern University in Texas. I’ve arranged for a researcher to pull a few documents of interest for scanning & hope to visit the collection in the near future.
From what I’m told, there are several scrapbooks of Family images that are too fragile to be scanned. Imagine, that’s ALL your family?!
I think you could have something in terms of the “loan” theory, that had crossed my mind as well if the line of owners went from CODY to DICKEY to REYNOLDS & all were a part of the Methodist Episcopal Church of the South {MECS}.
My question would be, how an arrangement like that would be documented? Sadly, if she were on loan to The Smyrna Church specifically, I have yet to find any records from the early years.
I have never been able to confirm the names of Catie’s parents. Her Death Certificate lists Kate WILLIAMS as her Mother & Jim DICKSON/DICKERSON as her Father. For years, I thought this was a derivative of James DICKEY but we know he was not her Father from a biological perspective.
It could be that this is the name of Catie’s true parents OR my Great Aunt Daisy, who recorded the record, attempted to list James DICKEY.
To complicate matters – there are WILLIAMS & DICKINS/DICKINSONS living near the Warren County CODYS!
I believe that I will find validation of Catie & Allie’s owners via Rebecca’s 1851 estate & will. According to the Cody-Rogers book, M.D. Cody inherited all of her property.
I’m heading to the Archives in the AM to confirm — I just can’t stand the suspense!
Looking forward to reading the book & hearing how things turn out for your Archive visit.
And the BARBOUR Co. migration is pretty freaky — I’ll let you know when I uncover a Liberty Co relative!:-)
Wish me luck!:-)
Luckie.
Luckie,
As you can see I’m catching up on posts tonight. CONGRATULATIONS!!!! That feeling you had with this new revelation is the one we all live for in genealogy–there’s nothing like it. I’ve had a few of my own recently and they all involved just what you talked about–seeing things I simply hadn’t seen before. I think it’s also the new knowledge we gain over the years–especially with regard to clustering.
I’m lost though–what happened when you went to view Rebecca’s probate file? I’m so excited and happy for you!!! I’m getting this idea that I want to plant a tree for every enslaved ancestor whose owner I find.
Thanks Robyn! No doubt, it has been a BLAST around here these last few weeks!:-)
Yes, a lot of what was missed early on was due to research immaturity. You just don’t know what you don’t know, right? By now, [I hope] I’ve learned the language my Ancestors speak & the nuances of the slave data.
Those 2 factors alone make my work more productive & heck of a lot less painful!:-)
Rebecca, is going to be interesting — the trip to the Archives netted zilch! But I know why — Michael CODY’s 1832 will predicated how Rebecca’s estate should be executed upon her death, so I found nothing that identified her or her estate in the probate records.
What I do know is that Michael’s will specified 2 things Rebecca could not sell — the slaves & his property. When she died in 1851 M.D. Cody (Catie’s Owner) who was living with her inherited the family property, including slaves — comparing the 1850 schedules against 1860 schedules.
I’ll have to do a thorough records search — the needle in the haystack — because there is a papertrail, I just have to find it…
Congrats on your recent discoveries too! Any find is a GREAT achievement!:-)
Luckie.
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