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Thank you for visiting my blog!

This blog is used to share information I find about the families I am researching. To see these family names click on the "My Families" tab. Please feel free to make comments, corrections, and ask questions here or on my Facebook page or go to the "About Me" tab to send an e-mail.

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My posts can be accessed by the date posted from the column on the right. Blog posts containing specific surnames can be found by clicking on the names in the left column.

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Tuesday, March 31, 2020

From the Files of Marguerite Cook Clark: Belle Hanley Cameron (AKA Belle Latta)


I thought this was going to be a quick and easy post but as I was enlarging the photo, I realized Belle was also the unidentified girl in the Biggs family photo I posted in October.  It has been said Belle was the adopted or foster daughter of Hollon Span Bryan and her husband, James "Lon" Alonzo Latta (See Terrell Bryan's obituary at this link).  She was pictured with the family of Hollon's sister, Terrell "Bunch" Biggs, in the photo below. 





I searched through my notes and the more I found, the more I wanted to know. I now needed the whole story before I could finish this post. 

Thursday, March 26, 2020

From the Files of Marguerite Cook Clark: Two Unidentified Photos

These are two of several photos found in Marguerite Cook Clark's collection that were not identified. Most of the photos found in this collection were families from Bienville Parish and other areas of Northwest Louisiana. If you have these photos or recognize the couples, please contact me through this blog or my Facebook page






If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 


Diana
© 2020

Sources

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. Accessed April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016. Used with permission.

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Span Regan and Questions Regarding his Name

Span Regan
1818-1875

Span Regan, the son of Elizabeth Span Regan and Joseph Regan was born on April 1, 1818. The date is well documented; however, the spelling of his name varies from Spann to Span and Regan to Ragan. It is said that Span Regan changed the spelling of his last name to Ragan. In Public and Private Trees at Ancestry.com, Span Regan along with name variations were found in over 100 trees. I found the name Span to be used in 73 trees and Spann in 55 trees. Regan was used in 82 trees, Ragan in 25 trees and the rest could not decide whether to use Regan or Ragan so used Regan/Ragan

Elizabeth Span Regan Bryan, 
Span's mother. I'm sure I have

written her name as Spann as

well and will need to make 
many changes. 
E. Ragan Pruitt
1922 - 2009
Deciding between Span and Spann was easy. I loved E. Ragan Pruitt's explanation for the Span/Spann confusion and wish I could undo some of my mistakes as well. Ragan, a descendant of Span Regan and a genealogical researcher who began his search for family in the  1970s, stated that it's Span (not Spann) in Span Regan's family bible and that an error was made when he (Ragan) wrote a family history. He wrote, "it has just gone the rounds - don't really know how to stop it." 

Span Regan and his birthday of April 1, 1818, is written in the transcription of his step-father's family bible. 

Span was the second of three sons; John born in 1816 and Rufus Wiley born on February 16, 1820. Rufus died just a few days before his father, Joseph Regan, in December 1820. Joseph named his sons, John and Span Regan in his will dated December 18, 1820. 

Span's mother, Elizabeth Span Regan married Reddick Bryan in 1821 in Pulaski County, Georgia. They lived in nearby Twiggs County and later settled in Houston County, Georgia


In 1836, Span Regan, John Regan, and their step-brother James Bryan were drafted into the Georgia Militia during the Creek War. In the index records, Span's name is written as Span Ragan

Span sold land in Coweta County, Georgia to his brother John in 1838. His name was transcribed as Span Regan

In the fall of 1838, the blended Bryan / Regan family left Houston County for Northwest Louisiana where they settled in what is now Bienville Parish. In a brief biography about Span Regan's son, Joseph Thomas Ragan, it is said that Span accompanied his family to Louisiana where he was employed as a school teacher before medical school.



Elizabeth Bryan wrote a letter to her son, Span Regan, in 1845. He was living in Houston County, Georgia. In 1846 Span graduated from Southern Botanico-Medical College in Macon, Georgia. The name on his diploma was Span Regan



The census taker wrote, Spann Ragan on the 1850 census in Lee County, Georgia. In the 1852 tax digests of the same county, his name was written as Span Regan

According to written family histories, Span married Julius Leurany Speight on May 1, 1856. I do not have a documented record for this marriage. 

The 1860 United States Census shows his name as Span Ragan. And, in 1863, Span Regan was named in his brother-in-law's will as his executor. Span Reagan was the name listed in the county index. 



 He is Span Regan on the Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers. Span is found in the Georgia, Returns of Qualified Voters and Reconstruction Oath Books, 1867-1869.  He signed his name as Span Regan although, in two of three sections completed by a county official, his name was written as Span Rigen


On December 15, 1867, in a document giving Terrell Bryan Power of Attorney, Span signed his name Span Regan




Span Ragan was listed with his family on the 1870 United States Census. 





Span died in 1875. Obituaries, cemetery records, and written family histories all record his last name as Ragan. Old letters, written by his wife to Joseph B. Bryan in the early 1880s, show that she signed her name as Ragan. And, Ragan is the surname used by his children and their descendants. 




I've always wondered why Span Regan changed his name to Ragan. Now, I don't believe he did.



If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 




Diana
© 2020








Sources

Ancestry.com. U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865

Ancestry.com. U.S. Army Indian Campaign Service Records Index, 1815-1858

Ancestry.com. Georgia, Returns of Qualified Voters and Reconstruction Oath Books, 1867-1869

Ancestry.com. Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1893

Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census

Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census

Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census

Ancestry.com. Pubic Member Trees

"A History of Savannah and South Georgia - William Harden."  Google Books https://books.google.com/books/about/A_History_of_Savannah_and_South_Georgia.html?id=zv9HAQAAMAAJ. Accessed 15 Mar. 2020.

Family photographs and documents from the collection E. Ragan Pruitt. Used with permission. 

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Diana Bryan Quinn.

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. Accessed April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016. Used with permission.

The transcription of the Reddick Bryan Bible was found at the DAR library in Washington DC by Diana Bryan Quinn on July 7, 2010.  This bible record was submitted in 1950 and found in Louisiana Bible Records (1950), Louisiana DARGRC report S1v25. These records were submitted by Mrs. John Newton Pharr of the New Iberia Chapter of the DAR. 

Friday, March 20, 2020

Friday's Photo: Span Regan's Medical Diploma - 1846

This photo of the diploma from the Southern Botanico Medical College of Macon, Georgia
was shared by a Regan (Ragan) descendant several years ago.





Span Regan and his wife, 
Julius Leurany Speight
Span Regan was the son of Elizabeth Span Regan and her first husband Joseph Regan.  

When the blended Regan/Bryan family left Georgia for Louisiana in 1838, it is said by many that Span remained in Georgia. 

However, in a brief biography about Span Regan's son, Joseph Thomas Ragan, it is said that Span accompanied his family to Louisiana where he was employed as a school teacher before medical school. It was also written that Span attended medical lectures in New Orleans before attending Georgia Medical College in Augusta. 

Descendant of Span Regan and genealogical researcher, E. Ragan Pruitt, stated Span studied medicine under the instruction of a doctor in Bienville Parish before attending Augusta Medical College where he graduated in 1850. 

Southern Botanico-Medical College was established in Forsyth, Georgia in 1839. One source indicated that it moved to Macon, GA where it became the Reformed Medical College of Georgia.  This medical college was considered a botanicomedical college. To learn more about the botanicomedical movement, look at The Botanico Medical Reference Book: Comprising the Fundamental Principles by A. Biggs. 

The above diploma makes it obvious that Span Regan attended the Southern Botanico-Medical College. Did he also attend a second medical college in Augusta?  


If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana
© 2020

Sources

Family photographs and documents from the collection E. Ragan Pruitt. Used with permission. 

"List of defunct medical schools in the United States."  Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_medical_schools_in_the_United_States. Accessed 15 Mar. 2020.

"A History of Savannah and South Georgia - William Harden."  Google Books https://books.google.com/books/about/A_History_of_Savannah_and_South_Georgia.html?id=zv9HAQAAMAAJ. Accessed 15 Mar. 2020.

Robert G. Slawson  Medical Training in the United States Prior
to the Civil War*  Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine
17(1) 11-27.


Tuesday, March 17, 2020

A Little New Quay News on Saint Patrick's Day


Taken in New Quay, County Clare - March 2016

I love to read old newspapers. I learn so much about families and find many surprises. 

I really like Irish Newspaper Archives. It does require a fee. I don't join for a year but pay for a month ($29.00) when I know I will be researching my husband's Irish ancestors. Over the years, I have found bits and pieces about my husband's family in both the counties of Galway and Clare.

Today, I will list some of the New Quay births, deaths, and marriages I collected when searching for information about my husband's Murray and Quinn families. These are not my families, but I thought they might be helpful to other researchers. 
  • 1837 - When the wife of W. J. Skerrett gave birth to an heir, all of the towns on the property celebrated. There were bonfires. Mr. Hyne's house of New Quay was especially brilliant. 
  • 1847 - A merchant vessel from Cork was driven ashore at New Quay and some lost their lives. 
  • On April 17, 1870, at Bayfield in New Quay, a son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Michael Aynes. 
  • March 3, 1862, Henry Thynne married Anna Hynes in New Quay. Anna was the youngest daughter of the late John Hynes. Henry was the eldest son of Edward Thynne of Ballinagrane in County Clare. 
  • July 30, 1864, at St. Andrews Church, Captain Cowan of the Galway Militia married Helena, eldest daughter of W. J. Skerrett. Captian Cowan was the eldest son of Joseph H. Cowan. 
  • At Bayfield, Mrs. Mary Kerin (husband Thomas Kerin) died in 1865 (date not known) at the home of her son-in-law, Michael Hynes. 
  • Mrs. Elizabeth Baker, age 96, died on January 23, 1866. Formerly of New Quay, she died at the home of her son-in-law, George M'Clean. 
  • In September 1879, Timothy Kerin died. 
  • In February 1893, the New Quay Parish Priest, Father Martin Sweeney died. His father was Ulick Sweeney of Galway. 
  • In July 1925, Mr. Michael Davenport of New Quay died. 
  • Mrs. Mary Gaynor died on August 27, 1930, at her residence in New Quay. 

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana
© 2020

Sources

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Diana Bryan Quinn. 

"Irish News Archive Newspaper Records." Irishnewsarchive https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/subscribe. 

Friday, March 6, 2020

Friday's Photo: Is this a Bryan, Albritton, McNeil, or Wylie Descendant?



My second cousin Jane is sorting family photos and came across this one. Jane and I share the same great-grandparents, Terrell Bryan and Harriet Albritton - both born in Georgia, raised in Bienville Parish, Louisiana, and raised their family in Erath County, Texas. Jane is a descendant of Terrell and Harriet's daughter, Dorothy Elizabeth Harriet Bryan and her husband Thomas S. Wylie. Tom Wylie, born in Tishomingo, Mississippi, was the son of Samuel Kelso Wylie and Mariah McNeil. Tom Wylie had numerous siblings who lived along with his family in Erath County.

Could this blue-eyed beauty be a niece of Terrell and Harriet, living in Northwest Louisiana? Or maybe a niece of Tom Wylie living in Erath County?  I haven't been able to date the photo, but wonder if it could possibly be Jane's grandmother, Dorothy Elizabeth Harriet Bryan. 

If you can identify this young woman, I would love to hear from you!


If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana
© 2020


Sources

Abersold, Jane. Wylie Family TreeAncestry.com https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/196554/family/familyview?indiv=try&h&db. Accessed 5 Mar. 2020.

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Jane Aebersold. Used with permission.