The History of Mackey Lodge #122, Ringgold, Bienville Parish, Louisiana : 1866 -1911

Terrell Bryan (left) 1836-1920
Tillman C. Bryan (right) 1830-1899

By 1867, Terrell Bryan, my great-grandfather, his brother, Tillman, and their step-brother, John Regan, were members of this lodge. Catharine Bryan's husband, James C. Watts, died in 1867, and it was noted that he was stricken from the roll. 

In 1867, a Special Committee on lodges in arrears made a report which was read and unanimously adopted. It was explained that the Lodges remaining under the rule of the late Confederate Government until the war ceased, lost in one day the whole funds which they held in their respective treasuries. It was resolved that the amount for dues previous to 1864 and owed to the Grand Lodge be donated to the lodges, thus clearing the debts. 

Mackey Lodge #122 of Ringgold was one of only a few lodges in Louisiana not in need of this help.

This is the second of four posts about Mackey Lodge. Here are links to the other posts. 

• The History of Mackey Lodge #122, Ringgold, Bienville Parish, Louisiana : 1854 to 1862

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

© 2023 

Tillman Bryan, photograph, n.d.; digital image, 2016, from the privately held photo collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Photos were accessed and scanned at the home of Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter in Alpine, Texas, on April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016. Used with permission. 

The History of the Mackey Lodge #122, 1954; digital images, 2016, from the privately held collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Records were accessed and scanned at the home of Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter in Alpine, Texas, on April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016. Used with permission.

Proceedings of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Louisiana at the fifty-fifth Annual Communication Held at New Orleans, February 11, 1867, (New Orleans: Bouvain & Lewis, 1867), 111, 228;  PDF download, Louisiana Masonic Library/Museum (https://library.la-mason.com/PastProceedings/1860/1867.pdf: downloaded 21 ‎March ‎2020).

Terrell Bryan, photograph, ca.1900; digital image, from the privately held photo collection of D.B. Quinn, 2023.

Friday's Photo: Another Biggs Family Photo

Unidentified young woman found in the Biggs Family Bible

I have had a genealogy web page at Rootsweb, now part of Ancestry, since about 2004. Ancestry is retiring its Rootsweb pages in 2024. They say the pages will become static pages. You will be able to see the pages, but I will not be able to make changes. Just in case they lose my web pages, I am putting some of the web page content on my blog, and this post is the first of many. 

This unidentified photo was shared by a Bryan / Biggs researcher and her daughter and has been on my webpage for almost 20 years. 

Terrell Little Bryan, known as "Bunch," was the daughter of Terrell Bryan and Harriet Albritton. She was born in 1861 in Bienville Parish and left her home and many aunts, uncles, and cousins when her parents decided to move to Texas in about 1876. The family spent about a year in Eastland, Texas, before moving to Erath County. Terrell married James D. Biggs in Erath County on 16 May 1880. Terrell and James are pictured below. Note their names on the Bible. The photo above was one of several found in that Bible. 

Other Biggs Family Posts

Friday's Photo: The Biggs Family + One in Erath County, Texas

Friday's Photo: Four Unidentified Photos Found in the Biggs Family Bible

Friday's Photo: Terrell Little "Bunch" Bryan

The Terrell Bryan and Harriet Albritton Family

Flowers and Family - A Letter from Erath County to Bienville Parish - May 3, 1913

Friday's Photo: Ina, Charlie, and Jimmy Biggs of Erath County, Texas

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

© 2023 

Unidentified photos found in the Biggs family Bible, photographs, no dates; scanned images from the privately held photo collection of Mary Sue Blackwell Pierce, TX, 2006.

Mary Sue Blackwell Pierce,  "Birth Record of Biggs Family," 1847 - 1939; supplied by Mary Sue Blackwell Pierce, Texas, 2006.

The History of Mackey Lodge #122, Ringgold, Bienville Parish, Louisiana : 1854 to 1862

James Bryan 1815-1884 (left)
Joseph B. Bryan 1824-1907 (right)

On 14 October 1853, as recommended by a number of members of the Sparta Lodge, No. 108, a Dispensation for the formation of the lodge in Ringgold, Bienville Parish, Louisiana, was granted. This lodge was called Mackey Lodge. My great-grandfather's brothers, James and Joseph Bryan, were charter members of the lodge, along with their brother-in-law, James C. Watts. 

Prior to the formation of the lodge in Ringgold, some of the charter members were members of the Minden, Mt. Lebanon, and Coushatta Lodges. 

Family found on this 1852 Coushatta Lodge roll: James Bryan,
Joseph B. Bryan, John Regan (half-brother to Joseph and step-brother to James),
Robert E. Hammett (brother-in-law) and James C. Watts (brother-in-law)

The following typed notes were found in the files of Marguerite Cook Clark. This post is the first of several where you will see notes and other items of interest she saved regarding the Mackey Lodge. 

Clippings from The Baylor County Banner - Seymour, Texas - February 11, 1926

My grandparents, Redic E. Bryan and Myrtie Hairston, and my great-grandparents, Phillip A. Hairston and Lodema Criswell, moved to Baylor County in 1905. My father, Whit Criswell Bryan, was born in Seymour in 1920. He was the youngest of seven children born to Redic and Myrtie. 

In April 2019, I visited the Texas State Library and Archives to read Baylor County Banner issues that could not be found online or on microfilm. I photographed articles with information about my father's family, who lived in Seymour. While sorting through my family finds, I realized I had photos of articles that might interest others looking for family. I have pictures of numerous articles from 1923 and a few from other years. I will post as time allows. 

Thank you to Matt Gwinn at the Baylor County Banner for giving me permission to post these clippings.  

I did not copy the full front page of this issue but felt the partial obituary for Dan Bellows paired with the picture warranted posting. 

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

© 2023

Sources 

O. C. Harrison, The Baylor County Banner (Seymour, Texas), 11 February 1926, Vol. 31, number 21, print; Texas State Library and Archives, Austin, Texas, 2019. 

Friday's Photo: John Knighton Wimberly of Northwest Louisiana

In 1918, on his draft registration, thirty-eight-year-old John Knighton Wimberly had blue eyes and dark hair and was described as medium height. He was a farmer living in Ringgold in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. I'm not sure when this photo was taken, but other photos showing the chair and the painted tree on the background indicates the photo was taken sometime around the turn of the century. The photo, from the files of Marguerite Cook Clark, was labeled Knighton Wimberly by Maggie Martin Cook, a cousin and about the same age as Knighton. Maggie was also the mother of Marguerite Cook Clark. 

John Knighton Wimberly, son of Andrew Lawson Wimberly and Harriet Elizabeth Knighton, was born on 5 April 1880 in Red River Parish. He was the third of eight children. The other children were Missouri Frances, Martha Elizabeth, John Lawson, Andrew Lawson Jr., Annie Harriet, Thomas Cannon, and Mary Ann. 

Knighton spent most of his life in Red River Parish and Bienville Parish; however, in 1900, he was found working in Haskell, Texas, for a farmer, Frank Ross, and living with the Ross family. There is a story found in the Wimberly Family History that indicates that Knighton went to Texas to be a cowboy. 

By 1914, he had been married three times and widowed three times. He had one child, Cleo Wimberly, with his second wife. His fourth wife, Dollie Miles, outlived him. John Knighton Wimberly died on 5 November 1933 and is buried with other family in the Wimberly Cemetery. 

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

© 2023 

"United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6W37-N9G?: 5 August 2014), Texas > Haskell > ED 90 Justice Precincts 2-4 > image 2 of 21; citing NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

Knighton Wimberly, photograph, n.d.; digital images, from the privately held photo collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Photos were accessed and scanned at the home of Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter in Alpine, Texas, on April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016. 

"United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZ8K-2MG : 24 December 2021), John Kinghton Wimberly, 1917-1918.

Vera Meeks Wimberly, Wimberly Family History, Ancestors, Relatives, and Descendants of William Wimberly, Pioneer from Georgia to Louisiana 1837 (Houston Texas: D. Anderson, 1979).

Friday's Photo: The Fringed Posing Chair

Tillman C. Bryan
ca. 1860s

Redic E. Bryan
ca. 1874

A few weeks ago, I posted this childhood photo of my grandfather (left) taken in or next to a posing chair with fringe on the arm. 

Upholstered posing chairs with fringe appeared in photographers' studios in the 1860s and remained popular through the 1870s. 

I have access to many photos from family collections containing such a chair. This chair is one of many clues to help to identify the time at which the photo may have been taken.

These photos, probably taken in the 1860s and 1870s, are about 150 years old. Three of the photos are unidentified. All of the photos were thought to have been taken in or near Bienville Parish, Louisiana. 

These unidentified young men are seen in photos from the Frye family collection. 

This unidentified young man is from a Sledge family collection. 

Photos of this family are from the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. 
At the top are James Bryan and his wife, Alice Mary Wimberly. Below the couple are their
adopted children, John Terrell Bryan and Sarah Josephine "Josie" Bryan. 
The children's biological parents were Joseph Bryan (brother to James) and Sarah
Margaret Wimberly Bryan (sister to Alice). Judging from the age of the children, the
photos were taken in the late 1860s or very early 1870s.

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

© 2023 

James Bryan family photos, ca 1860s-1870s; digital images, from the privately held photo collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Photos were accessed and scanned at the home of Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter in Alpine, Texas on April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016.

Redic E. Bryan, photograph, ca.1874; digital image, from the privately held photo collection of D.B. Quinn, 2023.

"Signs of the Times," Family Tree Magazine  (https://familytreemagazine.com/uncategorized/finding-date-clues-in-family-photos/ : accessed 13 April 2023). 

Sledge Photo, photograph, n.d.; scanned image, from the privately held photo collection of Mary V. Smith, Alaska, 2004. 

Tillman C. Bryan, photograph/tintype, ca.1860s; scanned image, from the privately held photo collection of the H. Forstmann, CT, 2020. Used with permission. 

Two unidentified young men, photographs, n.d.; scanned images, from the privately held photo collection of the Frye Family, San Francisco, 2019.

Sometimes You Just Need to Turn the Page

A Lesson Learned!

Several years ago, I was researching Almus Beck - not my family, but I had an interesting collection of his photos and wanted to get them to family. One of my favorite finds was his wife's passport application in 1919. This two-page application showed the date and place of marriage and Lillie Beck's date and place of birth, adding more to the story. 

However, it wasn't only two pages. When I came to the blank page after page two, I assumed that was the end of the application. Assuming is always a mistake in the genealogy world! 

A year later, while revisiting the document, I turned that blank page revealing four more pages and adding facts to this story. Lillie's name was Ludovica Ivanova Savchenko. Documents from North Carolina named the mother of Almus, stated that Almus was born in Wake Cunty, and that his mother had since moved to Durham County. 

That was a lesson learned. Now when looking at documents, whether digitized, microfilm, or print, I check pages prior to and following any item of interest.

More About Lillie and Almus

Friday's Photo: Almus E. Beck of North Carolina

Snapshots From Siberia 1918 -1919

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
 

© 2023

Almus and Lillie Beck, scanned images from the original photograph album, ca.1919, from the privately held collection of Diana Quinn, 2020. Album currently held by the National WWI Museum and Memorial, Kansas City, Missouri, 2022.

"United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99X3-3NWQ?cc=2185145&wc=3XZ4-ZNR%3A1056306501%2C1056594601 : 22 December 2014), (M1490) Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925 > Roll 969, 1919 Oct, certificate no 133876-134249 > image 328 of 894; citing NARA microfilm publications M1490 and M1372 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.)

Driscolls Living in Cohoes, NY between 1901 and 1935

My husband's great-grandfather, John Driscoll, was employed at the Harmony company for
most of his life. In 1897, he lost his forearm when caught in a belt in the weave
room at No. 1 Harmony Mill. When he died in 1905, he was employed at the Harmony 
company as a night watchman. 

In 2000, I visited the library in Cohoes, New York, and copied most pages from city directories naming Driscolls living in Cohoes. Helen Driscoll, daughter of John and granddaughter of Simon, was my husband's maternal grandmother. That same year, I transcribed these Driscoll entries and, under each year, grouped them by address to see possible families. 

In the last month, I have recopied the transcribed list, corrected many mistakes, and added a few years from directories found at Ancestry.com. This is the second of a two-part list. The years from 1870 to 1900 can be seen by clicking here. 

Notes: Abbreviations and punctuation were copied from the directories. Deaths and any notes can be seen in red. An asterisk [*] can be seen next to the Driscoll entries I believe MAY be the family I am researching. 

Some abbreviations found in the directories are as follows:

h. is home

n. is near

b. or bds. are boards

opp. is opposite

1901 (Cohoes, page 501)

• Driscoll Frank, laborer, h. near lock 15 Erie canal
• Driscoll Catherine, h. 25 Lancaster
• Driscoll Catherine T., widow of Michael, h. 75 Egbert
• Driscoll Catherine, widow of John, variety, 11 Summit, h. do.
• Driscoll James, carder, h. 208 Columbia*
• Driscoll Michael, laborer, bds. 208 Columbia*
• Driscoll John, millhand, house 23 Mangam*

1902 (Cohoes, page 689)

• Driscoll Frank, laborer, h. r lock 15 Erie canal
• Driscoll James, millhand, h. r lock 15 Erie canal
• Driscoll Catherine, h. 25 Lancaster
• Driscoll Catherine T., widow of Michael, bds. 75 Egbert
• Driscoll Catherine, widow of James, variety, 11 Summit, h. do.
• Driscoll James, (Schenectady) h 73 Reservoir
• Driscoll Michael, laborer, bds. 1Vliet
• Driscoll James, spinner, bds. 23 Mangam*
• Driscoll John, millhand, h 23 Mangam*
• Driscoll Katie, ironer, bds 23 Mangam*
• Driscoll Mary A, weaver, bds 23 Mangam*
• Driscoll Samuel, conductor, UT Co bds 23 Mangam*

Friday's Photo: Using Related Faces to Identify Young Girls in Seymour, Texas

Last Friday, I posted Friday's Photo: A Confirmation from Related Faces. I looking at pairings in Related Faces. This week, I examined the below photo and attempted to identify a few of the girls. I don't have a date for the photo but am fairly certain it was taken in Seymour around 1915. The reason for the photo is unknown. 

This is one of two photos with the same photographer's background. The other group photo, young girls in a Woodsmen Circle, can be seen at the bottom of this post. 

My cousin told me years ago that my Aunt DeRay Bryan is the young girl in the middle of the front row, the girl to her right was my Aunt Marie Bryan, and the tallest girl in the back was my father's first cousin, Millard Ray Latta. This was information my cousin remembered being told 20+ years prior. So, with access to Related Faces, I decided to look a little harder. 

She was correct about Millard Ray Latta labeled BC3 above. BC3's paired with the four photos on the left. The first, third, and fourth photos were all known images of Millard Ray. The second photo, with a 95.08 resemblance score, was an unknown image of a woman holding a baby. I never thought that I would identify her as her hair or a hat appeared to be covering her eyes. However, enlarging the photo and comparing it to other photos of Millard Ray shows me that I have found the woman's identity.                               

The young girl BC2 is my father's sister, DeRay Bryan. This young girl paired with six known images of DeRay, and all but one showed resemblance scores in the 90s. She had one pairing with DeRay's sister Marie with a resemblance score of 66.25, indicating a family resemblance. 

Marie, three years older than DeRay, was not so easily identified. My cousin wrote that Marie was on DeRay's right (BC1), but that girl was as small or maybe smaller than DeRay and didn't look like any of Marie's childhood photos. 

Three girls in the photo paired with girls in another group photo from Seymour, but none were Aunt Marie. 

Members of a Woodmen Circle

Photos of Marie Bryan paired with one of the members (Marie) of the Woodsmen Circle

Unknown young women in the first photo are paired with those in the Woodmen Circle photo. 

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

© 2023