More on the Brassfields

So Reba McEntire and "Who Do You Think You Are" breathed new life into my genealogical research for one of my ancestors I had mostly ignored.

My grandmother Posie Koonce's grandfather was D. Brassfield. In 1865 D. Brassfield and Susan Buck, both of Gibson County, Tennessee, married through the auspices of the Freedmen's Bureau. That license gave me very few although juicy details. D, and I keep saying D because I don't know what the heck his name is, was copper in color while Susan was bright mulatto. All other questions were answered with "unknown."

So I looked for any Brassfields on the 1860 census in Gibson County. I came up with a George Simpson Brassfield in 1850. He is the only Brassfield listed in Gibson County. He owns 10 slaves, one of which is the right age and gender for my ancestor. However, there is no listing for slaves on the 1860 census. George is still alive and according to the census has a land value of $7,500 but I can't find the slave census. This may be a blessing if there were transactions during that time. I'm pressing onward.

Oh, and by the way, George is a direct descendant, according to the Brassfield/Brasfield.net, to Reba's ancestor George of Chester, England.

Me and Reba McEntire

I watch "Who Do You Think You Are" faithfully. Although I am extremely jealous of the research done for the celebrities, I watch because I learn something in every episode. On a few there have even been connections to the research I'm doing.

When the Reba McEntire episode aired, I figured I'd watch just for the genealogy tips, not expecting too much of a connection with the country western star. It was a great surprise then to find that there is a huge connection between our families.

Reba is a descendant of a George Brassfield. I am a descendant of a Brassfield. Her ancestors were slave owners. My ancestor was undoubtedly a slave. Watching the show renewed my interest in learning more about that line.

According to the episode, all Brassfields in America come from that first George who came over as an indentured servant at the age of nine  from England on the ship Loyalty. I have been able to trace my ancestor back to 1865 in Gibson County, Tennessee. So far I have found precious little about him even though his name is very unusual. In fact, I'm not sure what his name is. When I look at the original documents it looks like Danic or Domic. It has also been transcribed as David and Derick. That's part of the problem in finding him. But I do know that he was copper in color because I found the Freedmen's Bureau's marriage license when he married my great great grandmother Susie!

Why I Keep Digging

Every now and then, after hitting a brick wall after brick wall, I question why I am still seeking answers to the seemingly unanswerable. Then I find this sliver of a clue and do the happy dance and keep on keeping on. I love genealogy because of the mysteries. I think if it was too easy, I would have stopped long ago. The obstacles makes me push harder to unearth new relatives and new information.

I also think genealogy has a tremendous value. In response to a post I wrote earlier, it is important to know your history. It can inspire you and be a road map of what you can accomplish and what to avoid.

I just found out that one of my ancestors, Florence Octavia Alexander, my grandmother's sister, was asked to dine at the table with Eleanor Roosevelt. I am learning more about Kenny J. Williams, my grandmother's niece. Her mother was Maude Alexander Jackson and wife of Rev. Joseph Jackson, president of the Northern Baptist Association from 1941 to 1990. At one time he was considered more influential than Martin Luther King. There's a treasure trove of anecdotes there.

In my surfing of the web I ran across this blog, "The Chicago History Journal" and a post dated in 2010.  The writer was researching Chicago authors and their lives. "When I read a book I like to know who is talking to me. To my chagrin, I found very little information about this accomplished scholar." http://www.chicagohistoryjournal.com/2010/01/kenny-j-williams-voice-for-chicagos.html

That scholar was my cousin, Kenny J., someone I knew personally but knew only a little better than the blogger. The few details that I have gather so far convinces me that someone needs to document her history. She had no children and was an only child so that leaves it up to her cousins.

That is also why I believe genealogy is important. Because no matter who we are, we matter. And it has to be more than who begat who, when they were born and when they died. It has to be stories of celebrations and cautionary tales of people who lived and loved.

Florence Octavia Alexander

Maude Alexander Jackson

Kenny Jackson Williams

Research tip

I discovered an important tip from Taneya Koonce (no relations?).http://tngenweb.org/blog/research-tip-check-original-records/

I have been loving that I can view death certificates, mostly for free, on familysearch.org. I finally found the death certificate of my great grandmother Katie Warren there on the anniversary of her death this past December. She died December 30, 1930. And according to the death certificate, she didn't remarry after my great grandfather died, as legend had it.

Another death certificate has puzzled me. Or should I say two? My great uncle Howell Brasfield has two death certificates. After looking at them again, I'm not sure they are for the same person. It's just hard to believe that there were two black men named Howell Brasfield was born in Tennessee and died within miles and a month of each other in the same year.  But then the certificates has different birth dates, marital status and dates of death. They had different burial dates but was both buried in the small city of Maury City, Tennesee.

While I was there last year, I mentioned it to the archivists on staff. One was amazed at the possibility of two death certificates for one man, while another said it happened all the time. Since reading the article from Taneya, I know I now must go back to the Tennessee Archives and look at the originals. It is still wonderful to be able to access the certificates online, but "ain't nothing like the real thing, baby."

Obituary

I found this obituary while searching for more info on my Warren ancestors.

Dyersburg Gazette
February 14, 1901

Aunt Kate Fowlkes, one of the best known negro women in Dyersburg, died last Sunday. She was truly an old time "black mammy" and was proud of the distinction of having nursed the first boy baby every born in Dyersburg - the late lamented Capt. Frank G. Sampson. She died at the ripe old age of 89 years. 

The name struck me because my great grandmother went by the name Kate Fowlkes at one time. This is not her but I wondered if it could have been her grandmother. This obituary was probably meant to honor a "truly old time black mammy" and that was suppose to be a good thing. But while they praised her, they didn't mention her family, the ones who most mourned her passing. The only clue left behind is "the late lamented Capt. Sampson," most likely the son of her slavemaster. I'm sure his obituary was effusive in comparison. Her brief tribute is very sad to me.

Silence must not fall

It is my endeavor to write an updated version of my family history in 2012. To help get started,  I have decided to interview to my mom and her brothers as well as my aunt Hortense and get some of their experiences down in print.

So this morning I started with my mom. I think I may have to polish my interviewing skills some more. My mom was extremely defensive. I tried to explain that if she didn't know the answer it was okay but she seemed to feel I was judging her lack of knowledge. It made the interview very long on excuses and explanations and very short on interesting tidbits. Or is that a tidbit in itself?

My mother doesn't share my curiosity about our ancestors. It may be a generational thing. She was taught not to question her elders and that may also be why she is uncomfortable with me questioning her about our past. That is unfortunate, genealogically speaking. She knows very little about her father's people. She wasn't told much and she didn't ask. That definitely does not describe me. I will keep on digging and asking until I am satisfied no matter how long that takes.

Back to work

I was contacted by two people this week that has stirred me out of my hiatus. One was a relative of Isaac Koonce's ward. And another was one of my cousins with contradictory information on Mosella Koonce Dodson.

It will take a little while to get my research muscles going again but I have a break from real life coming up. I will use that time to give those muscles some exercise.

It was very interesting talking to the descendant of Isaac's ward. She told me that the original farm belonged to President Andrew Jackson. She told me of seeing two beautiful antique quilts made by one of the slaves. Unfortunately she didn't know which slave quilted the piece. I wonder if it was Amy.

Since I have done little research since August, the mystery remains. I did look over my blog where I detailed the different ages and gender of Isaac's slaves. I think in my zeal to find Amy, I committed a genealogy sin. I assumed. I haven't been able to gather any more oral stories but I know they're out there. I just have to look under every rock and tree until I find it.

And I think the info on Mosella is just a little confused. Once it is unraveled it will prove to be as we always believed. She is definitely Solomon's daughter.