Category: Family Stories

A few years ago, Bill Williams contacted me on Facebook. His dad and my dad had been friends growing up. I recently asked him if he knew where my dad’s home was, since dad had never showed me. He told me that he knew exactly where it was and...

A few years ago, I was advised that the first Roberts in my line, William Rookhurste Roberts, was actually a Bruce who moved from Anandale, Scotland to Kent, England in 1107. Reportedly, he changed his name to “Rookhurste”, translated as “hill of Rooks”, in honor of Robert “The Rook”...

I was reading through the Wallens’ journeys from Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts, to Kyles Ford, Tennessee, and beyond. I thought it was interesting and wanted to share. 1623-Ralph and Joyce Wallen arrive at Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts, aboard the “Anne”. 1627-Thomas Wallen Sr. born. 1643-Joyce Wallen dies. 1650s-Wallens relocate to Providence,...

Here is a story about Confederate “Bushwackers” in Lee County during the Civil War, courtesy of Lawrence J. Fleenor at http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~duncanrw/witchersboys.html Witcher’s Boys in Lee County During the Civil War By: Lawrence J. Fleenor October 1997 At the beginning of the American Civil War the mountainous region between Kentucky...

Two of my parents’ closest friends are Ralph and Willa Dean Hurley of Sneedville, Tennessee. They attended church together for many years at Duck Creek Baptist Church in Sneedville, where Ralph and dad served as Deacons and dad occasionally led the singing with Ralph playing the piano. I was...

I have heard through family stories that a Baker ancestor or ancestors invented the Pennsylvania or Kentucky Long Rifle. I recently found a page that my uncle David Baker did at https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/b/a/k/David-Baker-3/GENE2-0015.html that give some of the background. I’ve copied it here for your consideration. A number of Baker...