Our People at the Battle of Kings Mountain

The summer of 2017, we took our middle son to bagpipe camp not far from Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina.  After dropping him off for his week long stint, the rest of us headed out for some touring of Appalachia via the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Appalachia, by the way, is pronounced "Apple at chuh" by the locals.

We saw Asheville and Boone and Blowing Rock among others.  It's really beautiful country and the average temperature in July in the mountains is nothing like Mississippi which made the trip exceedingly pleasant.  

High on my list of "must sees" was the Revolutionary War historic site of the Battle of Kings Mountain.  It's a bit off the beaten path just west of Charlotte, North Carolina.  Technically, it's across the state line just barely into South Carolina.  The battlefield is a National Military Park and it's saddled up next to a South Carolina State Park.  The area is well worth a visit.  Naturally, my interest in it is genealogical.  We had people there on October 7, 1780.

Monument at Battle of Kings Mountain National Military Park

There's a good wiki page HERE if you want to learn specifics about the battle.  In a nutshell, it was a decisive Patriot victory and is often credited with turning the tide of the Revolutionary War in the south.  It certainly is responsible for turning the redcoats out of North Carolina.  The forces involved were all Americans (Patriots and Loyalists) save the commander of the Loyalist forces who by most accounts was a decent and reputable leader of Scottish birth.  He was also the only professional soldier on the field that day.  There were about 100 Provincial Loyalist soldiers among the 1,200 or so Tories.  They would be the only forces on Kings Mountain wearing the iconic red coats.  Their leader, Major Patrick Ferguson, was felled in the thick of battle that day.

Monument and Cairn marking resting place of Patrick Ferguson

Both sides were primarily composed of militia forces. The Patriots were generally backwoodsmen or frontiersmen accustomed to scraping a living out of the soil, trapping and hunting for their food.  Instead of a standard issue military musket, they carried their own hunting rifles and wore handspun clothing and buckskins.  The lack of uniforms was a cause of confusion on the battlefield.  Loyalist militia units and Patriots looked so much alike, they had to devise a method of telling themselves apart.  The custom of the day was for the Loyalists to put a pine twig in their hat band, while the Patriots put a white piece of paper or cloth.

The Patriots' formal training as soldiers was practically nil, but most had gained suitable experience chasing and being chased by hostile Indians so the concept of "kill or be killed" among the brush and brambled forests had been honed in them through their daily lives. For many, the war had run them out of their farms in the east. They had sought refuge in wilderness areas west of the Appalachian Mountains, so when the war in the east forced them back over the mountains, they became known as the "Overmountain Men."

One of these Overmountain Men was Colonel Joseph Hardin.  He is a 5th great grandfather via my Kuykendall family line.  His son-in-law was Adam Kuykendall who is responsible for bringing the Kuykendall clan to Arkansas.  Col. Hardin is one of a surprising number of ancestors with his own wiki page (found HERE).  He is credited with a number of impressive accomplishments-- a mover and shaker in colonial times.  He was very active in the military serving North Carolina as a Major in the Salisbury District Minutemen, a Captain with the Tryon County Regiment, and a Captain with the 2nd Battalion of Volunteers.  At the time of the Battle of Kings Mountain, 46 year old Hardin was serving as a Major in the Wilkes County Regiment of the North Carolina Militia.  He and his family saw lots of action.  Two of his sons were killed in various battles with Indians.  His brother, Captain John Hardin, and his company of rifle marksmen earned fame at the Battle of Ramsour's Mill.

Joseph's name is found among the signers of the Tryon Resolves along with his father, Benjamin Hardin.  The Tryon Resolves was signed on August 14, 1775 by residents of North Carolina who were incensed by the degradation that resulted from the policies of the English government forced on the colonists, especially after the Battle of Lexington.

Signers of the Tryon Resolves a year before the Declaration of Independence

Another signer of the Tryon Resolves was the husband of Joseph Hardin's sister, Sarah.  He was Lt. Col. Frederick Hambright who would distinguish himself at the Battle of Kings Mountain.  Hambright was born in Bavaria and immigrated as a child with his family to Pennsylvania and then Virginia where he married Sarah. They lived very near Kings Mountain at the time of the Battle.  Hambright was severely wounded during the battle, taking a musket ball in his thigh.  The wound ended any future military exploits but not before he finished out the Battle of Kings Mountain, though wounded, directing his men from his horse.  When the battle was won, he was taken to his nearby home where his injuries were treated.  He lived another 37 years.

Hambright's marriage to Col. Hardin's sister makes him my great uncle (6x), but I also found that one of his daughters was married to a Kuykendall.  James Kuykendall, who was 24 at the time of the Battle of King's Mountain, married Mary Esther "Polly" Hambright in 1779.  The Kuykendall name popped up frequently in my Kings Mountain research.  This James Kuykendall was first cousin to 4th great grandfather Adam Kuykendall (mentioned above), son-in-law of Col. Joseph Hardin. Both Hardin and Hambright had children married to Kuykendall's.  If that's not enough.  Col. Hardin had a brother and sister who both also married Kuykendall's.  I'd say the families of Hardin and Kuykendall were very familiar.

Another look at the signers of the Tryon Resolves reveals yet another Kuykendall.  I believe this Joseph Kuykendall is the son of Col. Hardin's sister, Rebecca Hardin and John Kuykendall, an uncle to my Adam Kuykendall.  I believe he is the Joseph Kuykendall who was counted present at the Battle of King's Mountain.  It seems highly likely that Adam Kuykendall who was 36 at the time was also present at the Battle, but I have found no evidence to support this.

There is a "well grounded tradition" that two men were at the base of King's Mountain in fervent prayer while the battle raged October 7, 1780.  The chaplains for the men of Colonel Benjamin Cleveland's Wilkes County Militia were, Reverend George McNeil and Reverend John Cleveland.  John, my 5th great grandfather, was a brother of Colonel Benjamin Cleveland.  John had at least two brothers in the battle and another that had been wounded on his way to the battle.  Colonel Benjamin Cleveland is the most well known of the family as he led the Wilkes County men all over the Piedmont chasing Tories for most of the War, but he is most known for his important role in the victory at King's Mountain.  

Recently, I was surprised to find the "King's Mountain prayer story" corroborated by a mention in the Fall 2020 edition of the Sons of the American Revolution Magazine...

I tried to contact the author hoping to get a source for his story, but I haven't had any luck.

Col. Benjamin Cleveland's  exploits are memorialized in the very entertaining pension records of scores of men that served under him.  HERE is his wiki page.

Unfortunately, there is no pension record for Rev. John Cleveland.  He passed away about the time the federal government allowed full pension for those who fought in the Revolutionary War.  It's likely, he never filed one.  We do have some pay receipts that prove his service.  The North Carolina Archives holds a record of a voucher number 721 from January of 1782 showing payment of 25 pounds, 12 shillings to John Cleveland for services as Chaplain.  Another account paid by General McDowell of Burke County shows an amount of 18 pounds, 4 shillings, 6 pence paid to John Cleveland for militia services.  Prior to his Militia service in North Carolina, he had enlisted in the 9th Virginia Regiment.  He served three years and we have a copy of his discharge in June of 1780.  This is where he held the rank of Ensign which, I understand is comparable to today's rank of Lieutenant.

John Cleveland's discharge from 9th Virginia Reg't

Rev. John Cleveland definitely served Patriot duties during the Revolutionary War, but there are only a couple bits of evidence for him being at the Battle of Kings Mountain.  Other than the oral tradition handed down in the McNeil family about the prayer warriors mentioned earlier, I have found only a couple references to Rev. John Cleveland being at the battle.  One reference comes again from the McNeil family.  The Reverend George McNeil's family celebrated him at family reunions for many years.  In 1905, a hundred years after his death, a marker was erected at his gravesite.  Hymns were sung and statements were read including the following written by his son, Joseph McNeil...

The Rev. Mr. George McNeil was bornd on or about the year 1720 and was ordained some time before the year 1776, but the exact time I cannot tel, and he was frequently a corresponding messenger to different associations, frequently appointed a help to churches whose difficulties arose in them, and was called to ordain preachers, and constitute churches, and was Moderator of the Yadkin Association for a number of years, and he and the Rev. Mr. John Cleveland went in the Revolutionary War with the army as they went from Kings Mountain and preached to them until they got up into Burke County. Him and the Rev’d Mr. A. Baker yoused to preach a great deal together. He departed this life June the 7th, 1805. This is correct an account as I am able to give.

Much of what Joseph wrote about George McNeil's experience with the Baptists in North Carolina and north Georgia would apply to John Cleveland also.  They worked together to establish churches and associations.  It is understood they were great friends.  One of John's daughters married a son of George McNeil.

Another source that indicates John Cleveland was present at the battle of Kings Mountain is the pension application of Private Thomas Majors.  A deposition by a man named Forbes in that pension application states the following...

"I was from Burke County North Carolina Majors was from Wilkes County North Carolina & served under Colonel Benjamin Cleveland. I first knew him about the 30th of September 1780, when the different forces assembled. I knew Col. Cleveland well also Major Hearn, Captain Joseph Lewis: & Ensign John Cleveland also knew Colonels Campbell & Shelby & Major Winston. From the date aforesaid up to the battle of Kings Mountain I knew Majors & some time afterwards: Majors was one who went to guard some prisoners to Burke Court house: & I was also one"

Following Forbes' statement is another by a man named Isham Lane that backs up Forbes' recollection.  Lane states this...

We were both from Wilkes County North Carolina he (Majors) was a regular enlisted soldier of the Revolutionary Army. He & I both drew lots from the same hat & he drew to go: He enlisted early in 1780 He was at the battle of Kings Mountain & served under Colonel Cleveland & Major Winston & Captain Joseph Lewis and Ensign John Cleveland all of whom I knew well & also Shelby and Campbell Colonels but do not remember Major Hearn.

Photo by Joanie Chapman

This marker is near the I-85 South Carolina welcome center at Lake Hartwell.  I looked for it when we passed through there on the way back from the Blue Ridge Parkway but couldn't find it.  This photo was borrowed from Ancestry.   His body is buried at another location not far away in Oconee County, South Carolina.  His great great granddaughter, Sara Amanda Dickson married William Thomas Keller, they were the parents of my grandfather, William Harrison "Bill" Keller.

Two men who served as Captains in the Wilkes County Regiment of Militia and were also present at Kings Mountain are Godfrey Isbell and Moses Guest.  Isbell is a 5th great grandfather while Guest is a 4th great.  Both are found up the Keller line of my tree like Rev. John Cleveland.

There is a book called "The King's Mountain Men: The Story of the Battle with Sketches of the American Soldiers who Took Part" by Katherine Keogh Wright that mentions Godfrey Isbell and Moses Guest by name.  The passage referring to Godfrey Isbell states:

Godfrey was under Sevier. At a militia meeting of March 19, 1780 there were present Colonel John Sevier, Major Jonathan Tipton, Captains Godfrey Isbell, John McNabb, James Stinson, William Trimble and Joseph Wilson and Lieutenant Landon Carter, acting in the absence of Captain Valentine Sevier. It was ordered that 100 men be raised agreeable to the command of General Rutherford, to serve in South Carolina. These men were at Musgrove's Mill as well as King's Mountain.

 The Isbell family was from Virginia only having just migrated westerly about the time of the Revolutionary War.  Godfrey had a brother who enlisted with the 1st Virginia Regiment.  Pendleton Isbell was chosen along with three others within the unit to serve in the Commander and Chief's guard.  Sometimes called the Life Guard, this unit served as the personal body guards of George Washington.   Pendleton served 2 years in this capacity.  He was at Valley Forge, Morristown, the battles of Brandywine and Germantown with George Washington.  His tour ended in early 1780 at which time he took up with Godfrey's NC militia unit and was also present at King's Mountain.

 Godfrey Isbell had a granddaughter who married a grandson of Rev. John Cleveland.

Moses Guest is the best documented of my direct ancestors at Kings Mountain.  He has an excellent pension application with loads of detail.  The Georgia State Archives has a copy of his Bible with names and dates for all of his children.  Nearly every list I have found compiled of the soldiers at Kings Mountain include Captain Moses Guest.  In 2003 the SAR (Sons of the American Revolution) placed a grave maker at his burial site.  The following is a succinct bio of him written in a Toccoa, Georgia newspaper describing the SAR event...

...The Patriot was born in January, 1750, in Fauquier County, Virginia, and died October 1, 1838, in Franklin County, Georgia. He married Mary Blair, a first cousin of Daniel Boone, in Wilkes Co., North Carolina. In 1775, he was appointed by the Governor as an Ensign in the North Carolina Militia serving under Captain Elijah Issacs in fighting an Indian uprising. From 1776 to 1780, he served as Captain of Horse under Colonel Armstrong and Colonel Cleveland. He had a company of 50 men including his brothers, Benjamin and William Guest, in the battle of Kings Mountain. After the victory, his company was chosen to take over 700 prisoners to Moravian Town, North Carolina. Moses had sixteen children by Mary Blair and one child by his second wife, Eleandor York. He served as Sheriff of Franklin County around 1786, and as Justice of Peace from 1809 to 1816...

The passage mentions Moses' wife, Mary Blair.  The Blair family is interesting for a couple reasons.  The Daniel Boone reference is made, and I was aware of that connection.  Mary's maternal grandfather was the brother of Daniel Boone's mother.  So Mary's mother is the first cousin of Daniel Boone-- and so is anyone descended from Mary's mother.  I am Daniel Boone's first cousin, 7 times removed.

Other interesting things about the Blair family, are more closely related to the Battle of Kings Mountain.  Moses' wife, Mary, had a brother at Kings Mountain.  He was James Blair.  James is famously credited with sounding the alarm when it was discovered that Ferguson's band of Loyalists were making their way deeper into North Carolina.  James is known as the southern Paul Revere.  He rode through the settlements of the Overmountain men announcing the coming threat.  He was wounded during the ride by an unsympathetic Tory but completed it nonetheless.

There are Quaker records for the parents of Mary and James Blair.  Fifth great grandparents Sarah and Colbert Blair were practicing Quakers living in Burke County, North Carolina at the time of the Battle of Kings Mountain.  Interestingly, Colbert gets a mention in a Tory diary.  Lieutenant Anthony Allaire was acting as an adjutant to Major Patrick Ferguson when they fought at Kings Mountain.  Allaire survived the battle but was captured and along with 20 or so fellow Loyalists were marched toward Burke County by Colonel Benjamin Cleveland.  Allaire recounts a conversation with Cleveland...

Sunday, 29th. Col. Cleveland waited on Capt. DePeyster and the rest of the officers, and asked us if we, with our men, would come and hear a sermon at ten o'clock. He marched the militia prisoners from their encampment to the town, and halted them; and sent an officer to our quarters to acquaint us they were waiting for us. We then ordered our men to fall in; marched to the front of the prisoners; the whole then proceeded on to a height about half a mile from the town. Here we heard a Presbyterian sermon, truly adapted to their principles of the times; or, rather, stuffed as full of Republicanism as their camp is of horse thieves.

Monday, 30th. A number of the inhabitants assembled at Bethabara to see a poor Tory prisoner executed for a crime of the following nature, viz: A Rebel soldier was passing the guard where the prisoners were confined, and like a brute addressed himself to those unhappy people in this style: "Ah, d--n you, you'll all be hanged." This man, with the spirit of a British subject, answered, "Never mind that, it will be your turn next." But Col. Cleveland's goodness extended so far as to reprieve him.

Later Allaire and a few others escaped their captors.  They began travelling back towards their own forces at night to avoid recapture.  They hid out in the woods during daylight hours.  This went on for several days and then Allaire records this...

Friday, 10th. Suffered very much with the cold. At six o'clock in the evening set out again. This night saw the moon in an eclipse, and heard several wolves bark. Passed a Rebel party consisting of twelve or fourteen, who lay about twenty yards from the road by a fire; but very fortunately for us, they were all asleep. We marched thirty miles and arrived at Colbert Blair's, just at daybreak. 

Saturday, 11th. It began to rain just after we got to Mr. Blair's. Lucky we were indeed. This good man secreted us in his fodder-house, and gave us the best his house afforded.

Sunday, 12th. Remained at Mr. Blair's; a rainy, disagreeable day. 

Monday, 13th. Set out from this good man's fodder-house. He conducted us about three miles to a Mr. F. Rider's, who guided us seven miles farther, over the Brushy Mountains, to Catawba river. Mr. John Murray, who lived on the bank of the river, put us over in a canoe, and conducted us three miles to Mr. Ballou's. This old man was about sixty years of age; but his love for his King and his subjects induced him to get up, although very late at night, and guided us seven miles to a Mr. Hilterbrine's. On the way the old man informed us he had two sons who lay out in the woods, who were anxious to go to our army, and were also good guides. He also told us of one Williams, that was a good guide, and who would be glad to go with us. We told the old man we should be very happy to have them, as the road began to grow more dangerous, and we quite unacquainted with the way. This poor old man expressed a great deal of anxiety for our safety, and at last told us he would go the next day and endeavor to find them, and send them to us. We arrived at Hilterbrine's about six o'clock in the morning of the 14th. He received us with great caution, lest we should be treacherous; but when he found we were British officers he was very kind.

By most accounts, Colbert Blair was not a Loyalist.  He was simply living out the code espoused by the Quaker movement--  pacifism and love to all.  It is likely he would have treated escaped Patriot prisoners in the same manner.  Colbert was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.  He moved with his family to North Carolina around 1778.  Colbert's father, James, is buried at the Alamance Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Guilford County, North Carolina.  Probably, Colbert grew up Presbyterian and converted to Quaker at the time of his marriage to Sarah Morgan.  The Morgans have a deeper history with the Quaker movement.  Colbert and Sarah remained in North Carolina.  Colbert passed away in 1805 at about 75 years old.  Sarah died in 1827 at about 98 years old.  They are buried in Cedar Valley United Methodist Church Cemetery in Lenoir, North Carolina.

Lt. Allaire's interaction with Benjamin Cleveland and Colbert Blair is not my only connection to the Loyalist forces at the Battle of Kings Mountain.  Among the ranks of Patrick Ferguson and his Loyalist forces was Joseph Field.  Joseph and his brothers William, Robert and Jeremiah just a few years earlier had been members of the Regulator movement in North Carolina.

The "Regulators" were a large group of colonists who had grievances with and opposed the system of taxation and fees imposed by the local British officials.  In 1771 the opposition escalated into a full fledged battle waged between the regulators and the Governor's Provincial Militia.  The Regulators were soundly defeated.  Some were executed but most were pardoned after providing, under oath, loyalty to the King and royal government.  Joseph and his brothers pledged the oath.  Joseph's brother William is one of my paternal 6th great grandfathers making Joseph an uncle 7 times removed.

A few years later, when the Revolution began in earnest, a call was made from the Colonial powers for enlistment in the King's forces.  William Field stated that he was bound by honor to make good on his oath and submit to the call.  His brothers did the same.  The brothers marched on Wilmington as Loyalist Provincials but quickly surrendered themselves at Guilford Courthouse when confronted by unfavorable odds.  They spent a number of months as prisoners of the Patriots eventually gaining their freedom most likely through a prisoner exchange.  Joseph and brother William show up on a payroll list in New York for North Carolina Loyalists being paid from February 5, 1776 to October 27, 1778. No documents occur for Joseph after that date.

After the war, Joseph's wife Lydia remarried.  She had a son by the new husband named Joseph B Armfield.  That son is quoted in Sallie Stockard's book, "The History of Guilford County, North Carolina" saying his mother's first husband was killed at the Battle of Kings Mountain.  In all likelihood, Joseph would have been one of the hundred or so Provincials decked out in the red coat uniform on the mountain that day.  Joseph's brother, Jeremiah, lived to 90 years old.  He is quoted in the book A Sketch of the Life and Character of the Rev. David Caldwell, D.D. by Eli Washington Caruthers.  I feel like all his brothers would echo this sentiment...

Jeremiah used frequently to say in conversation that having fought twice, once for his country and once for his king, and having been whipped both times, he would fight no more; but generally added that, if war were to arise again between England and America, though he would not fight at his age, he would be on the side of the king, because he had taken a solemn oath to be faithful to him while he lived; but he would tell all his sons to fight for their country.

So at the end of the day, October 7, 1780, I count at least 14 family members at the Battle of Kings Mountain...

• Col. Joseph Hardin - 5th great grandfather, Patriot
• Rev. Ens. John Cleveland - 5th great grandfather, Patriot
• Col. Benjamin Cleveland - 6th great uncle, Patriot
• Capt. Robert Cleveland - 6th great uncle, Patriot
• Capt. John Cleveland - 1st cousin 6x removed, Patriot
• Joseph Kuykendall - 1st cousin 6x removed, Patriot
• Lt. Col. Frederick Hambright - husband of 6th great aunt, Patriot
• Col. James Blair - 5th great uncle, Patriot
• Capt. Moses Guest - 4th great grandfather, Patriot
• Pvt. Benjamin F. Guest - 5th great uncle, Patriot
• Pvt. William Guest - 5th great uncle, Patriot
• Capt. Godfrey Isbell - 5th great grandfather, Patriot
• Capt. Pendleton Isbell - 6th great uncle, Patriot
• Capt. Joseph Field, KIA - 7th great uncle, Loyalist

Woodbridge/ Sentell Plot at Minden City Cemetery

Photo borrowed from Find a Grave, originally posted by Yon Hafer

This plot is in the Minden City Cemetery (also known as Goodwill Cemetery) in northern Louisiana.  The marker reads, “WOODBRIDGE, SENTELL.”  This is the burial place of Reverend George Grant Woodbridge (1855-1920).  From his obituary…

...The remains were laid to rest in Minden Monday beside those of a first wife and an only son… …Mr. Woodbridge came of several generations of ancestors who were all ministers of the Presbyterian Church. He had been for the greater part of his life in the service of various churches in Louisiana. He was pastor of the church at Minden for ten years [~1903-1913] and had since served the group of churches including Benton, Cottage Grove and Plain Dealing for a number of years and until lately also served the church at Keatchie.

Rev. Woodbridge officiated the funeral of 2x great grandmother, Ann Eliza Sherburne Sentell in 1915.  The Sentell's were regulars at Cottage Grove.  George was family as well.  A couple years after Ann Eliza's funeral, his daughter married Samuel Eugene Sentell, one of Ann Eliza Sentell's sons.

There is some question as to who all is buried in this plot.  The lack of individual markers makes it a bit of a mystery but because the lone monument includes the name “Sentell” it follows that Woodbridge’s daughter, Aline Woodbridge Sentell, is buried here.  She is the only "Sentell" connection to the Woodbridge family and her obituary states she was buried at the Minden City Cemetery.  It is also likely that her daughter, Novaline Sentell, who never married, is buried here also.  Her obituary indicates burial at this cemetery.  No other descendant of George Grant Woodbridge is buried at the Minden City Cemetery.

From what I have gathered, the people buried in this plot are (in order of burial):

Rosa Lee Baldwin Woodbridge (1866-1907) - first wife of Rev. Woodbridge
Samuel Baldwin Woodbridge (1893-Bef. 1920) - only son of Rev. Woodbridge
Reverend George Grant Woodbridge (1854-1920)
Mabel Paul Jordan Woodbridge (1883-1962) - second wife of Rev. Woodbridge
Novaline Mina "Aline" Woodbridge Sentell (1891-1965) - daughter of Rev. Woodbridge
Novaline Armena Sentell (1922-1993) - granddaughter of Rev. Woodbridge

Photo borrowed from Find A Grave, originally posted by Yon Hafer

Our Pilgrims

The Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor, by William Halsall 1882

November of 2020 will mark the 400th anniversary of the landing of the Mayflower in the new world.  It's an anniversary celebrating another of those significant historical events made more personal and relevant by the realization that we had ancestors there as eyewitnesses.

Thanks to a 1856 marriage in Jackson Parish Louisiana joining the Baptist Minister William McBride and his bride the widow Ann Emelia Scarborough Hardy, I can point to specific grandparents that walked the deck of the Mayflower in 1620.  Ann Emelia's great grandmother was Nancy Doty, the great great granddaughter of  Edward Doty, a Mayflower passenger.  Nancy was also the great great great granddaughter of Samuel Fuller, another Mayflower passenger.  Samuel's parents, Edward and Ann were passengers too.  That's four people who made the voyage on the Mayflower that contributed to my DNA and that of all my family that descend from Ann Emelia McBride.

The General Society of  Mayflower Descendants publishes a multi-part volume originally titled, The Five Generations Project.  It's an aid for membership that lists the descendants of all the Mayflower passengers down five generations.  It is now called the Silver Books as the  project has expanded beyond five generations.  Because of this volume, a prospective member only needs to prove lineage to someone listed in the Silver Books.  The lineage above that person is considered already proven.  In my case, Nancy Doty was the ancestor I needed to prove lineage.  She is in the Silver Books and connects me to the four Mayflower passengers already mentioned.

9th great grandfather, Edward Doty was in his early 20's when he made the Mayflower journey.  Although he signed the Mayflower Compact in 1620, he is not considered one of the traditional "Pilgrims."  He was the servant of another passenger and remained so until becoming a freeman some years after the establishment of the Plymouth Colony.  Edward was the servant of Stephen Hopkins.  Hopkins was one of very few on the Mayflower that had made a previous journey to the new world.  That journey, fraught with excitement, saw him shipwrecked in Bermuda, a castaway for 10 months, sentenced to death as a mutineer (later commuted), a member of the Jamestown community and finally returning to England.  Why, after all that, he returned to the new world is anyone's guess.  His servant, Edward (my ancestor), developed the reputation of having been a bit of a rogue.  He appears regularly in the court records and is credited with carrying out the first recorded duel in the new world.  He and a fellow servant took to swords and daggers to settle a quarrel.  Both were bloodied  but neither died in the bout.  The Colony fathers sentenced them to be bound together by the head and feet for a day.  So heinously unbearable was the punishment that the men were separated after only an hour.

11th great grandparents Edward Fuller and wife were a little more tame and certainly more respectable in comparison to the antics of Edward Doty.  Originally from Norfolk, England, they made the journey with one young son, Samuel.  An older son was left in England to make the journey later.  Along with many other Mayflower passengers, they were living in Holland before the historic trip to the new world.  Some researchers say Mrs. Fuller's name was Ann, but there are no records to prove this.  I show her as Ann in my tree just for the sake of giving her a name.  Edward and Ann did not survive long in the new world.  They passed in the first season.  Their son, Samuel, became an orphan and was taken up by his uncle who was also named Samuel Fuller and also came on the Mayflower.  The two are frequently confused.  Uncle Samuel Fuller was a self taught physician and became the colony's doctor.

The younger Samuel Fuller is my 10th great grandfather and lived to 71. He died in Barnstable, Massachusetts.  He married Jane Lathrop, the daughter of John Lathrop, a congregationalist preacher who in 1634 left a prison cell in England for the new world on the condition that he never return.  Samuel and Jane had several children.  He outlived her and we find his will instructs that his oldest son receive Joel, an Indian slave, giving Samuel the dubious distinction of being the only Mayflower passenger to have been known to own a slave.

My descendance from these Mayflower ancestors looks like this...

EDWARD CAMERON DOTY (1598 - 1655)
9th great-grandfather
SAMUEL DOTY SR (1643 - 1715)
Son of EDWARD CAMERON DOTY
JAMES DOTY (1686 - 1739)
Son of SAMUEL DOTY SR
BENAJAH DOTY (1723 - 1780)
Son of JAMES DOTY
NANCY DOTY (1753 - 1809)
Daughter of BENAJAH DOTY
SARAH "SALLIE" WARREN (1781 - 1834)
Daughter of NANCY DOTY
ABRAHAM MARSHALL SCARBOROUGH (1804 - 1842)
Son of SARAH "SALLIE" WARREN
ANN EMELIA SCARBOROUGH (1832 - 1885)
Daughter of ABRAHAM MARSHALL SCARBOROUGH
JOHN SHERWOOD MCBRIDE (1860 - 1937)
Son of ANN EMELIA SCARBOROUGH
WILLIAM MCGINTY MCBRIDE SR (1899 - 1963)
Son of JOHN SHERWOOD MCBRIDE
WILLIAM MCGINTY MCBRIDE JR. (1929 - 2016)
Son of WILLIAM MCGINTY MCBRIDE SR
JOHN SENTELL MCBRIDE

SAMUEL FULLER SR (1612 - 1683)
10th great-grandfather
HANNAH FULLER (1636 - 1686)
Daughter of SAMUEL FULLER SR
ELIZABETH BONHAM (1659 - 1704)
Daughter of HANNAH FULLER
PHOEBE SLATER (1693 - 1745)
Daughter of ELIZABETH BONHAM
BENAJAH DOTY (1723 - 1780)
Son of PHOEBE SLATER
NANCY DOTY (1753 - 1809)
Daughter of BENAJAH DOTY
SARAH "SALLIE" WARREN (1781 - 1834)
Daughter of NANCY DOTY
ABRAHAM MARSHALL SCARBOROUGH (1804 - 1842)
Son of SARAH "SALLIE" WARREN
ANN EMELIA SCARBOROUGH (1832 - 1885)
Daughter of ABRAHAM MARSHALL SCARBOROUGH
JOHN SHERWOOD MCBRIDE (1860 - 1937)
Son of ANN EMELIA SCARBOROUGH
WILLIAM MCGINTY MCBRIDE SR (1899 - 1963)
Son of JOHN SHERWOOD MCBRIDE
WILLIAM MCGINTY MCBRIDE JR. (1929 - 2016)
Son of WILLIAM MCGINTY MCBRIDE SR
JOHN SENTELL MCBRIDE

James McBride (1773-1850)

James McBride is (and has been for some time) at the top of my Paternal line.  His line is a frustrating brick wall.  There are scant few documents available to help flesh out who his parents were. While we don't have a grave marker or a death certificate, we do have the family Bible belonging to his son, Daniel.  It was recently in the possession of Gladys Meadows, a 4th cousin and descendant of Daniel.  She said the following...

I have Daniel's bible and his parents death dates are given. James McBride Sr. died 28 November 1850 and his mother Sarah died 2 January 1854. I am sure they are buried at Antioch Cemetery. In 1850 census of Tippah Co. James and Sarah McBride lived next door to Anderson Street. An old letter exists dated 31 May 1858 where Daniel McBride writes a letter to his brother Sherwood McBride sending a draft for his share of their father's estate." - Gladys Meadows

Gladys passed away in 2012.  I'm not sure who has Daniel's Bible now.

Tippah County, where James is buried, is as far north as you can go in Mississippi. It is situated between Marshall County and Alcorn County on the Tennessee state line.  The town of Ripley, Mississippi is the county seat.  The area is replete with McBride and Street family descendants to this day.  I found the Antioch Church cemetery during a visit in May of 2015.  James' daughter Keziah's stone marker was easily located as well as those of several other family members.

James and his second wife, Sarah Jackson, migrated to Tippah County with the families of their son Daniel and their daughter Keziah around 1834-5.  Keziah McBride was married to Anderson Street.  That union produced fifteen children.  The ninth child, Seleta Street, was the first to be born in Mississippi.  Her birth date is recorded as 1835.  This tells us the family was in Mississippi very shortly after the land was made available for settling.  Although Mississippi became a state in 1817, North Mississippi was not opened up for white settlement until the Chickasaw land session of 1830.  Legal settlement began in 1834.  It would appear the McBride family were anticipating the available farmland and took advantage of it as soon as it was offered up.

James is found enumerated in the 1840 federal census in Tippah county.  He died in 1850 but not before he was included in the 1850 Federal Census. Sarah shows up in his household.  Neighbors listed around him include Keziah and Anderson Street and  James' son Daniel (owner of the family Bible) and his wife Mary.  We can assume James spent the last 15 years of his life in Tippah county living on the property of one of his children.  I have found no land records for James in Mississippi.

Cropped page from 1850 Federal Census shows James' age and place of birth

The 1850 Federal Census is the best document we have for James McBride.  In this census, James lists his age as 77.  That puts his birth around 1773.  Virginia is given as his birth state. Of course census records are not infallible but it seems a safe bet that this information can be trusted because James, as head of household, likely provided the information himself to the census taker.

Prior to his years in Mississippi, much of his productive years were spent in Tennessee.  His children were born there.  The breakdown of his family is best described in a letter we have from James Louis McBride, one of his grandsons...

My great grandfather and granmother came from Ireland sometime between 17 hundred and twenty five and fifty before they married and granfather serves at prentiship as a blacksmith trade and then he married and settled in Virginia. They lived there till after the Revolution war and they then moved to Tennessee. I don't know how many children he raised. They raised several sons I never saw but 2 of them that was my granfather James and Uncle Daniel. James was my granfather. His first wife was a Brock. She had 4 children before she died, 3 sons and 1 daughter, John was the oldest, was my father, next Sharword then William next Kisey (Kesiah).
My granfather second wife was a Jackson. She had 4 children 3 boys and 1 girl, Daniel, Jefferson and Solomon and Polly (Mary).
My granfather fout threw the Revolutionary war. Great granfather and granmother lived till they was 93.

There were two wives and two sets of 4 children.  Like James Louis McBride, I descend from the oldest son, John, of the first wife, Sarah Ann Brock.

I find it interesting that he says his granfather fought through the Revolutionary War.  The timeline doesn't quite work out for that statement to be entirely correct.  Assuming the 1850 census is right, James would have been only 10 years old at the end of the Revolutionary War.  But, I'm sure James Louis McBride didn't pull that statement out of thin air.  No doubt there was some oral history passed down to him.  I believe he was referring to his great grandfather (from Ireland) as having served through the Revolutionary War.  In the same letter, he calls the man who served an apprenticeship as a blacksmith, then married and settled in Virginia his "grandfather."  That man was obviously his great grandfather.  Maybe he was just loose with the terms.

It could also be he had his wars confused.  The ages work out for James Louis McBride's grandfather, James, to have fought through the War of 1812.  In my mind, it is probable that both men served their country.  Great Grandfather likely served through the Revolution as James Louis recalls and James McBride, at 40 years old, would still have been expected to respond to muster calls from his local militia in 1813.  There is evidence for that.

James' local militia were those formed in Lincoln County, Tennessee.  We have some land records for James in Lincoln County.  That's where he was farming during the 1810's.  He bought land on the headwaters of Kelly's Creek near the Alabama border and had it surveyed in 1808.  Kelly's Creek is a tributary of the Elk River that flows east/ west along the southern portion of the county.  His farm was about 13 miles from the county seat of Fayetteville, Tennessee.

Peter Tidwell, listed as a chain bearer on this Lincoln County survey plat, married Martha McBride, who is believed to be a sister of James.  Some of her descendants match me and other descendants of James with no other discernible connection other than the McBride family connection.  The plat maps are interesting because it was common for family members to assist in the survey of properties.  The fact Peter is listed on this one reinforces the theory that Peter's wife, Martha was a sister of James McBride.

Just up the Elk River from James and two miles south of Fayetteville was Camp Blount, where in 1813 Andrew Jackson collected the men that became his army who fought the first Creek War.  These men soundly defeated the Creeks at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.  In 1814 the men mustered at Camp Blount were part of those that traveled with Jackson down the Mississippi River and ultimately defeated the British at the Battle of New Orleans.  If our James served, he likely mustered at Camp Blount.

James' neighbor, Joseph Street, was roughly the same age as James and lived 4-5 miles closer to Fayetteville and Camp Blount.  He became an in-law when two of his children married children of James.  Keziah and Anderson, mentioned earlier, were one of those couples.  Unlike James, Joseph's war record is pretty clear.  He was one of those who traveled down the Mississippi to fight at the Battle of New Orleans.  We know he died of illness while returning from that battle.  His wife's pension application spells out the whole experience with witness accounts from his superior officers.  I have a previous blog post about Joseph.

The search for James' 1812 service record has turned up two general index cards that record a James McBride in units that were formed at Camp Blount.  Our James could be one of these, both of these, or neither.   Unfortunately, I can't find a pension record for James.  The index cards only list the name, rank and associated unit.

General Index Cards for James McBride.  These units mustered at Camp Blount near Fayetteville, Tennessee 1813-14.  May or may not be our James McBride.

There is no way from these documents alone to confirm if this is our James.  Lincoln county, Tennessee was home to at least two James McBride's in the early part of the 1800's.  The other James McBride that we know of is buried in Belfast, Marshall County, Tennessee along with many other members of his McBride family.  I'll refer to the families from here on out by where they are buried.  I suspect we may be related somehow, but I have been unable to draw any connection between the Belfast McBride's and our Tippah County McBride's through records or DNA evidence. 

The Belfast James is said to have been born in Ireland in 1751.  He was 22 years older than our Tippah County James.  His pension record indicates he settled in Lincoln County Tennessee along the Duck river in 1812.  I find it unlikely that Belfast James could have served during the war of 1812.  He was in his 60's and his pension record for service during the Revolutionary War filed in 1832 has no mention of 1812 service.  He had no son named James, but it is possible he could have had a nephew or other relation named James McBride.

Family locations in 1813

It's very common to see ancestry trees online that lump our Tippah County James McBride in with the Belfast, Marshall County McBrides in one way or another.  Some list Belfast James as father to Tippah James.  More often, they list the parents of our Tippah County James McBride as John McBride (b. 1752)  and Margaret McGahey (b. 1757).  The argument is made that Tippah County James' first son is named John, likely after his grandfather.  John and Margaret are buried with the Belfast McBrides and it is highly likely that John is a brother of Belfast James.  While I think it is possible John and Margaret are related to me on some level, I do not believe they are the parents of our Tippah County James McBride.

We know a good bit about the McBride family buried at the Round Hill Cemetery at Belfast, Tennessee.  That family spent a fair amount of time in North Carolina.  Belfast James' extensive pension record lists the following...

From James McBride (b. 1751) Pension Record: 

• Aug 1751 - he was born County Down, Ireland [Shortly after his birth moved to Lancaster Co. PA]

• 1771 or 1772 moved from Lancaster Co. PA to Guilford Co. NC.

• 1775 living in Guilford Co, NC at time of Revolutionary service. 

• 1800 moved to Tennessee, principally in Williamson County, Tenn. 

• 1806 moved back to Guilford Co. NC presumably to settle his father's estate, and lived there until spring of 1812.   

• Spring 1812 moved to Lincoln Co. Tenn.   

• 1832 living in Lincoln Co. Tenn. when applied for pension.

The Round Hill cemetery brothers, James and John, had a father named John McBride born in 1721 (Ireland).  He was married to Jean Gahey and he left a will in 1806 at Guilford, North Carolina.  In the will he names all his children including James and John as well as some grandchildren...

Last Will and Testament of John McBride, 25 Jan. 1806
I John McBride farmer of Guilford - In the name of God amen.  Being by the blessing of God in the perfect exercise of my reason, but in a low state of health do hereby make, appoint and constitute this my last will and testament.   I leave my mortal body to the grave and my soul to God who give it...
I do hereby name, constitute and appoint my well beloved son James McBride [buried Belfast, Marshall County Tennessee] and Samuel Allison to be the true and faithful executors of this my last will and testament...
I do leave and bequeath all the land that I am possessed of together will all the stock on it, and estate property and heredetennet (?) to the same belonging without any let or encumbrance whatever except what is hereafter mentioned in this testament unto my four unmarried children that is to say unto my son James McBride, my daughter Elizabeth, my daughter Jean, and my daughter Sarah, equally among them share and share alike...
I do leave and bequeath unto my son John McBride one hundred dollars.
I do leave and bequeath unto my daughter Margret McGaughy’s two sons viz David and James McGaughy thirty dollars each to be paid when they are come of age, remainder to one if the other dies sooner, remainder to their mother if both dies - .
I do leave and bequeath unto my said daughter Margret one cow as soon as she desires to have it after my decease...
I do leave and bequeath unto my grandson John McBride one hundred dollars together with one middle rated horse & a saddle...
In consideration of the distance of the place of residence of my house and to present disputes when I am deceased I do hereby prohibit and restrain those of my heirs each and every one of them from selling or anyway disposing of their particular part or share of the said land until they are all agreed to the same...
That this is my true will and testament I have hereunto signed and sealed in presence of Samuel McDill and William Cosbie this 25th of January in the year of our Lord 1806.
John McBride.
Witnesses present.
Samuel McDill (Jurat).
W. Cosbie.
State of North Carolina. Guilford County.
Mary Court 1806.
Samuel McDill proved the execution of the within will in open court and on motion ordered to be recorded ---  Then came in James McBride and qualified as Executor. 

The assumption I have found perpetuating online is that my Tippah County James McBride is the grandson of  John, the writer of the will, and the son of, John Jr., mentioned in the will.  None of the countless trees online support this assumption with record evidence.

The will names sons James and John, daughters Elizabeth, Jean, Sarah and Margaret (who married a McGaughy).  Grandchildren mentioned include David and James McGaughy and John McBride.  Many of these people mentioned are buried in the Round Hill Cemetery at Belfast, Marshall County, Tennessee.

My reasoning for discounting this family's proposed connection to our Tippah County McBride's is twofold. (1) The will does not jive with what we know about Tippah County James McBride (from James Louis McBride's letter) and (2) the current evidence offered by DNA testing does not seem to support it either.

James Louis McBride's letter says his great grandparents were from Ireland and "lived till they was 93."  John McBride and Margaret McGahey were 74 and 61 at their deaths.  Margaret was born in Pennsylvania.  There is some question about where John was born. Some say Ireland, but it is likely he was born in Pennsylvania also.  James Louis mentions his great grandparents settled in Virginia.  Tippah County James also says he was born in Virginia per the 1850 census.  This is counter to the Belfast McBride family history which shows no residence in Virginia.  They went from Ireland to Pennsylvania to North Carolina and finally to Tennessee.

The name Daniel does not show up in the Belfast, Marshall County McBride's family.  James Louis tells us this great uncle's name specifically (as the only one he could remember).  John's will (above) names three grandsons but does not mention Tippah James who would have been a 33 year old grandson at the time.

Secondly, I have found no cousins in my DNA matches that support a connection to the Belfast, Marshall County McBrides.  My brother has done yDNA testing at FTDNA.  The pool of matches is still a bit small, so there have been no big breakthroughs.  I have managed to rule out a couple McBride families but have not been successful narrowing the field of possible McBride ancestors.  I think this will come with time as more people do yDNA testing.

Additionally, I have autosomal testing for myself and two sisters that has proved helpful.  The McBride matches we share collectively have revealed probable siblings or really close cousins of Tippah County James McBride.  These include Martha McBride Tidwell  (mentioned above), Rebecca McBride James, Nathaniel P McBride, Daniel McBride, Thomas McBride and John McBride (who married Fanny Clark).  Unfortunately, the descendants of these 5th great uncles and aunts have no more information on their McBride ancestors than we do, but they do provide some new avenues for research.

My job now is to collect record information that confirms or denies the evident kinship suggested by these DNA matches.  Often, learning their family stories helps develop ours.  John and Fanny Clark McBride are one example.

In 1810 there is another property surveyed for our James McBride on Kelly's Creek where a John McBride is called out as chain bearer.  This John, born in 1782, is believed to be a brother of our James.  John married Fanny Clark and produced a large family.  Some descendants of that union match DNA with me and other descendants of James McBride in the same way Martha McBride Tidwell's did.  John and Fanny have no land records in Tennessee, but had children in Lincoln County.  They most likely lived on our James McBride's property.

Some time before 1830 the Tippah McBride's including John and Fanny moved from Lincoln County, Tennessee to Lauderdale County, Alabama.  James' son Sherwood bought property there.  That land is now under the waters of Wilson Lake just east of Tuscumbia, Alabama.   Tippah County James and his wife Sarah were there and probably his oldest son John (my 4th great grandfather).  Sherwood later moved to Hunt County Texas after a stint in Itawamba County, Mississippi.  Much of the rest of the clan also made the move to Mississippi around 1834-5.

There are no land records for Tippah James McBride after Lincoln County, Tennessee.  Census records show he lived in Tippah the last 15 years of his life.  The search goes on for his father.  Here is what I believe to be the facts regarding my James' father:

• He was born in Ireland
• Last name McBride
• Immigrated between 1725 and 1750
• Apprenticed as a Blacksmith
• Married in the Colonies
• Lived in Virginia before and through the Revolutionary War
• Fought through the Revolution
• Moved to Tennessee in the 1780's
• Possible children include:
• Martha McBride Tidwell (1770-1837) Virginia birth
• James McBride (1773-1850) Virginia birth
• Nathaniel P McBride (1776-1841) Virginia birth
• Rebecca McBride James (1780-1834) Married in Tennessee
• John McBride (1782-1869) South Carolina birth, Married in Tennessee
• Thomas McBride (1785-1861) Tennessee birth
• Daniel McBride
• Lived very long life (possibly to 93 years old) as did his wife.

Dr. David Lewis Phares

At noon on Wednesdays, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History hosts "History is Lunch."  Generally, it is an opportunity for an author of History (typically Mississippi History) to pitch his latest book.  Usually there is an accompanying slide show.  If I've got nothing keeping me at the office, I'll walk over and check it out.  It's a nine minute walk through the heart of downtown Jackson.  There have been some interesting topics and great speakers and I, more often than not, enjoy the hour.  I always learn something.  On the rare occasion, I'll even buy a book.

Today's topic was the book, Images in Mississippi Medicine a Photographic History of Medicine in Mississippi.  The authors, Dr. Luke Lampton and Karen Evers, spoke.  They currently edit the Journal of the Mississippi State Medical Association.  Dr. Lampton spoke about the early history of Medicine in Mississippi.  We saw many pictures of the enormous Lunatic Asylum that was located in Jackson where UMMC is now.  There was much discussion about Doctors who impacted the early life of Mississippi as a territory and eventually a State.  Many names and portraits were presented during the hour.  Several of the names were familiar or at least vaguely familiar. 

One familiar name was Arthur Guyton.  He wrote a Physiology book that is world renown.  I went to camp with a couple of his grandsons.  Guyton was one of the more recent people discussed.  

A photo of a horse drawn "ambulance" from 1909 was shown.  The owner/ operator was named Hiram Hardy.  He operated in Jackson.  That name rang a bell so I wrote it down thinking this person or one of his ancestors may be in my tree.  I'd check it out later.

Another name that rang that bell was "Phares."  Dr. Lampton spoke about David Lewis Phares from Woodville, MS.  He was born in 1817 and graduated from what became Centenary College in Louisiana.  He later achieved a Medical degree from Tulane in New Orleans.  He practiced in Wilkinson County, Mississippi for 40 years, started a couple colleges, and was instrumental in the formation of Mississippi State University.  He taught at MSU for nine years.  Among other things, he served on the first Board of Health for the State of Mississippi. He was an early bigwig in Mississippi Medicine.  There is a great bio of him HERE written by our speaker.

Looking at my tree a little later, I did find Dr. David Lewis Phares.  He had two siblings that married into the Noland family.  The Noland's are my people.  Ann Phares (1821-1892) married William Avery Noland (1810-1874) and Samuel Phares (1802-unk) married Sarah Ann Noland (1821-1880).  William and Sarah Ann Noland's father was Pierce A Noland III (1785-1842).  He and wife Nancy Palmer are one set of my 4th great grandparents. 

The image below is a detail from an original plat map from the extreme southwest corner of Mississippi.  I believe this was drawn up in the 1820's.  The property to the left of Pierce Noland's is labeled "William Phares."  He was David, Ann and Samuel's father.

The Phares and the Nolands were both American families with European backgrounds that moved from the east coast in the early 1780's.  They became Spanish land grant holders and neighbors in what eventually turned into the Territory of Mississippi.  This was an interesting time in Mississippi and Louisiana history when the land was changing hands between colonial powers.  Pierce Noland III was likely born on that property when it was Spanish held.  As a teen, he saw it fall under the jurisdiction of the United States. 

The straight line on the south side of the Phares and Noland properties at the bottom of the map is the 31st parallel.  This portion is sometimes called the Ellicott line- named for the man that George Washington asked to survey it.  Today it is the boundary between Mississippi and Louisiana.  At the time when the Noland's and the Phares' lived there, it was the border between the Mississippi Territory (United States) and Spanish West Florida.  It was an international boundary.  Another couple miles west on the Mississippi River was Fort Adams, the official Southern "Port of Entry" for the United States on the Mississippi River.  Pierce Noland II (5th great grandfather) is supposedly buried at Fort Adams.  More likely, he was buried on his property and the death was documented at Fort Adams as it would have been the local seat of government.

The Phares and Noland families lived and farmed this land when Andrew Ellicott's survey crew came through in October of 1798.  Pierce III was 13 years old.  Ellicott's journals indicate he had a falling out with his co-leader, Thomas Freeman at Thompson's creek.  You will notice on the map that Thompson's creek crossed the 31'st parallel on Noland's property.  Freeman stormed off at that point and left the party.  He later led the 1806 Freeman-Custis Red River Expedition as requested by Thomas Jefferson.  I wonder if my Noland's were witness to the argument between Ellicott and Freeman.  It was in their backyard, afterall.

That's my connection with the esteemed Dr. David Lewis Phares.  Our families were neighbors and married into each other way back when.  I don't share an ancestor with him as far as I know, but some of my cousins do.

That other guy that sounded familiar in today's History is Lunch program, Hiram Hardy, is likely not related either.  He is not in my tree but he sounded familiar because Hiram Hardy Hargrove is in my tree.  Hargrove was the first husband of my great great grandmother, Ann Emelia Scarborough.  After his death she married Rev. William McBride.  Hargrove was from Georgia and died in Louisiana, but did have property in Mississippi.  I don't know about Hiram Hardy, the ambulance operator's background, but it could be that he and Hiram Hardy Hargrove were both named for an earlier Hiram Hardy.  Who knows!

Here is a link to the book that was highlighted at today's History is Lunch...

https://www.msmaonline.com/Public/Journal_MSMA/Images_in_Mississippi_Medicine/Public/Journal/Images_Book.aspx?hkey=5291961e-b1b9-4d23-b2f1-94625e4b2e0c

Aunt Cora's Reminiscences

Cora Inez McBride Walters was the first child of John Sherwood McBride and Medora McGinty McBride.  She passed away in Ruston in 1984.  She was 95.  My grandfather, William McGinty McBride Sr., was a younger brother, making her my great aunt.  The following writing was found on her typing table after her death.  I got it from Aunt Ann Chilcutt the other day.  It's transcribed here...

When John Sherwood McBride finished his medical course in Louisville, Kentucky he decided to practice medicine in the village of Gansville, La.  It was good to be near his family who had moved there from Vernon, La.  Then, too, he wanted to renew his acquaintance with a certain young lady.  he probably wooed her with quotations from some of his beloved poems.  On the flyleaf of a lovely book of Tennyson's poems is written, "To Miss Medora McGinty, Christmas 1885".  So they married and started housekeeping in a small log house about a mile or so north of the village.

I was born October 20, 1888, the first child of John Sherwood and Medora McGinty McBride.  Before I was old enough to remember we moved to a more pretentious log house south of the village and almost in sight of it.  This house was in a wide open space something like a pasture about 100 yards or more from the big road.  There was a trough made of planks that extended from a spring on one side of the land to a mill on the other side.  The water formed a pond here and it was sometimes used for a church baptistry.

In our fenced-in front yard was some shrubbery and five tall arborvitae trees spaced like sentinels watching over us.  Two or three steps led up to the long front porch.  A wide hall extended through the length of the house to the back porch.  There were two bedrooms on each side of the hall.  One of them on the right opened into the kitchen.  The first on the left was our parlor.  There was a fireplace at one end and in the center a round table on which was a large family Bible and an album of pictures.  In another corner of the room was a bed for company.  On the bolster were two pillows standing upright.  On the sham of one was embroidered in red, "I slept and dreamed that life is beauty" and the other was embroidered "I woke and found that life is duty."

I was named Cora Inez and had red hair like my father. When I was eleven months and fifteen days old a little sister was born.  She was named Pearl and she, too, had red hair.  She was so tiny she might not have lived if it had not been for Papa's prayers and Grandma's care.  The next year little dark-haired Mary Josephine joined our family.  How proud our parents were when little Douglas Culpepper arrived.  Then (about a year later) tragedy struck.  Mama had the measles and the little sister that arrived at that time didn't survive.  Another little red haired sister brought joy to our family the next year.  She was named Lila Dale. 

We had no store-bought clothes.  My mother had a chart by which she could cut patterns and she was a good seamstress.  The only stockings I remember ever having were long black-ribbed ones.  Seems to me the famoshanters we wore were of brown material and the center was quilted. 

Papa was kept very busy riding long distances in the country to treat his patients.  Sometimes when he returned he would stop his horse at the front gate and say "Who has been here since I have been gone... a pretty little boy with red shoes on?"  Sometimes Mama would sit on the front porch and while nursing a baby would softly sing a hymn.  The Baptist church was about 100 yards across the road from us.  We could attend Sunday School there on Sunday afternoons.  A cousin would play the organ and the young folks would sing.

 It was sad to hear the church bell tolling when one of Papa's patients died and the body was being brought to the cemetery in a wagon.  When we developed colds Papa would say, "Dodie, give her a dose of castor oil."  One of the foulest of medicines and we had no orange juice to camouflage it.  When we had chills and fever we were given a capsule of quinine.  I couldn't swallow mine so my quinine was put in a spoon of slippery elm goo.  This was made by soaking the elm bark in water.  There was no vaccine for whooping cough so we were given a toddy.  Boils were lanced. 

Although we had no running water, electricity or screens we were right healthy.  We could fan some of the table with a peach tree witch and we could sleep under a mosquito net if we wished.

A black woman helped Mama with some of the work.  She milked the cows down at the barn and taught me to milk by having me squeeze the water out of a dripping wet cloth.  I don't remember ever drinking a glass of milk. 

I never had toast for breakfast but hot biscuits with the bacon and eggs.  Don't remember ever being urged to eat. 

When Papa was away from home for several weeks taking a refresher course young Dr. Talbot stayed with us and took over his practice.  He was fun to have around as long as he didn't treat us.  He liked to tease Pearl.  My Papa's sister, Kate, visited and helped us some at that time.  When she and the doctor married we called him "Uncle Doctor." 

The village school was in the Baptist church.  It was so convenient for me to go there.  No one had to watch me cross the road for there were no cars.  One of my aunts was my teacher and taught me my ABC's.  I soon learned a little spelling and reading.  Pearl and Mary soon entered.  We were there for several years.  There was no playground equipment so at recess we could go through the back door and through the unfenced and unkept cemetery to a pine thicket and make play houses with the pine needles. 

One day Papa said that we could not go to school in the church for it was against the law for church and state to mix.  So we had to walk a mile or so to a one-room school house.  Like the school in the church it was ungraded.   just a place to learn a little more reading, writing and arithmetic.  There was no playground equipment.  just long strong vines attached to the tops of trees.  They made good swings but Papa told me not to swing because I might fall and break my arm. 

We didn't go to this school long before Grandpa McGinty passed away.  That meant that Grandma would be alone except when Uncle Herschel, her young son, would be home from his store in the village.  So Mama and Papa decided to live with her. 

This place was a children's paradise.  There was a big persimmon tree on the side of the road as we came in.  In the orchard was a huge pecan tree, several fig trees, a variety of apples, peaches and pears.  We could swing on the low limbs of the large elm tree in the back yard.  There was an ash hopper where lye was collected to make delicious hominy.  We were careful to stay away from the bee hives on a nearby bench.  There was a smoke house, a cider press and an iron pot.  Soap was made in this pot. 

Over the side yard fence was a meadow often dotted with little blue daisies and other wild flowers.  At the bottom of it was a covered spring where the black woman boiled and batted our clothes.  Had to walk back up the hill to hang them on the line in the back yard. 

A trough built with planks ran from the spring a few yards to a pond by Grandpa's gin.  It was fun to play around the spring and watch the farmers bringing cotton to be ginned. 

When school time came we had to walk another mile or so to a one-room school in Possum Neck.  As I walked along I sometimes studied my multiplications.  On my way home I could sometimes find huckleberries on the side of the road. 

Our teacher taught us to parse sentences, one of which was "I saw a man digging a well with a Roman nose."  This, too, was an ungraded school.  I always was so glad for school to open.

I enjoyed going somewhere.  Once Uncle Herschel took the three of us, I think, to visit Uncle Cyrus and his family in Montgomery, La.  As we traveled mile after mile we saw no one nor saw a house.  There were tall pine trees on both sides of the road and scattered beneath them were large pine cones. 

Sometimes we went to Dugdemonia to a fish fry.  The men fished and the ladies kept the children out of the creek.  We enjoyed it very much even though the chiggers feasted on us. 

Sometimes we went to visit Great Grandma Stinson.  She lived in a two-story house on the other side of the village.  Great Aunt Josie who lived with her was an unusual person.  She kept her curly hair cut short long before the movie stars started the style.  She  spent much time growing flowers in her front yard.  The upper story of the house was one big open room.  In this Aunt Josie had installed hammocks made of barrel staves, and we did enjoy swinging in them.  Great Uncle Alex had many grape arbors and we were allowed to feast on the grapes.  When we came in for dinner I noticed that Great Grandma's teaspoons were different from ours.  had never seen copper colored ones before.  Seems to me at this time Grandma's advice to us was to "never write in a letter what you wouldn't want the whole world to see. 

Papa read scriptures to us and explained it when we didn't understand.  Mama bought a copy of Aunt Charlotte's Bible stories and we enjoyed reading it.  Was so easy to understand.  Papa also liked to read "It is Never Too Late to Mend." 

Mama could play hymns on our pump organ.  One song at that time I especially liked was "I'll Remember You Love in My Prayers."  The first stanzas were, "When the curtains of night are pinned back by the stars and the beautiful moon leaps the skies and the dew drops of heaven are kissing the rose, it is then that memory flies." 

Another red-haired baby brother joined our family and he was named McGinty.  Now there were six of us and we were growing up so fast.  Mama and Papa were really concerned about our future.  There was such little schooling, no library and no advantages. After much discussion they decided we better move.  They had heard that Ruston was a growing town and had good schools.  Mama hadn't regained her health and had a swollen leg and Papa told her we couldn't move until it was lanced and healed.  I don't know who helped with the operation;  probably Pearl held the lamp. 

When McGinty was six weeks old Mama was able to travel.  One fine morning the horses were hitched to the three-seated hack and after we were tucked in with our numerous bags we drove on through the village about eight miles to the big road and on to Ruston to seek knowledge.

That was the end of Aunt Cora's narrative.  A quick google search found that you could buy those pillow shams with the pithy phrase patterned on them out of the 1897 Sears and Roebuck catalogue.  You had to do the cross stitch work yourself.  The verse was from a poem by Ellen Sturgis Hooper published in 1840.

Aunt Cora lived a long life.  Born in 1888, she witnessed a lot of changes, but what is amazing to me is her first hand references reached much further back.  Her Great Grandmother Stinson, who she mentions visiting on the other side of the village (Gansville), was Eliza Lamkin Stinson.

Eliza was born in Wilcox County, Alabama two years after it became a State and only eight years after the horrific massacre at Fort Mims.  Eliza was born 40 years before the start of the Civil War!  Her husband was too old to fight in it.  Eliza could have sat Cora on her knee and told her about Eliza's own father who was born in Virginia during the Revolutionary War and who served during the War of 1812.  Those connections are reaching way back for a woman who died in 1984.