Clippings from The Baylor County Banner - Seymour, Texas - November 22, 1923

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.  

My father's sisters, DeRay and Marie Bryan attended this shower. From what I could find, the couples were Joe Blanks and, wife, Thelma Smith, and Thomas E. Brock and, wife, Essie Melinda Swilling. Thelma Smith attended Seymour High School with my aunts. In her 1919 yearbook photo, Thelma (left) appeared to have a fur collar or wrap of some kind around her neck. It reminded me of a photo of my Aunt DeRay (right) that was also seen in the 1919 yearbook 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

O. C. Harrison, The Baylor County Banner (Seymour, Texas), 22 November 1923, Vol. 9, print; Texas State Library and Archives, Austin, Texas, 2019. 

Seymour High School, The Jackrabbit (Seymour, Texas:1919), no page number, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/467135737:1265? : accessed 7 Feb. 2022).

From the files of Marguerite Cook Clark: Mrs. J. F. Dring

Written at the bottom of the obituary is
"Rev Dring our pastor twice"

Mrs. J. F. Dring was Sibbie Smith prior to her marriage to Rev. John Franklin Dring. Rev. Dring served as pastor of the First Methodist Church in Ringgold, Bienville Parish, Louisiana from 1915  to 1917 and from 1933 to 1935. 

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

© 2022 

 

"Mrs. J. F. Dring," newspaper clipping, June 1965,  unidentified newspaper, from the privately held collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Obituaries 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.

Marguerite Cook Clark, A History of First United Methodist Church, unpublished manuscript, from the privately held collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Obituaries 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.

Gathering Giddens: Too Many Abrahams

I had planned to name this post Abraham Giddens a.k.a. Abram - Wayne County, North Carolina to Monroe County, Alabama but as I started writing, I realized that I did not have any direct evidence that connected Abraham of Wayne County, North Carolina to Abraham of Monroe County, Alabama. What if I am writing about the wrong Abraham Giddens? 

I have been collecting bits and pieces about Abraham Giddens of Conecuh and Monroe Counties since my first trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City in 2008, when I found both Abraham and Isaac Giddens in the vicinity of Monroe and Conecuh Counties. 

However, several individuals named Abraham Giddens were found when looking at U.S. census records and other peoples' family trees. Although my search is far from complete, I will not be looking at Abraham again in the near future and think it would be a good idea to share what I have learned so others will not repeat my research. 

Note that all of these Abraham Giddens were also seen as Abram and that there were many spelling variations for the name Giddens which include but are not limited to Giddins, Giddings, Geddings, Gideons, Gideon, and Giddons. 

 Abraham Giddens, son of John Giddens of Wayne County, North Carolina 

 

Abraham Giddens of Wayne County was named as a minor son of John Giddens in the above probate record. John died in 1802, and documents reveal that Abraham was considered a minor in 1815 and possibly as late as 1817.[1] 

The probate document pictured above indicates that Abraham may have sold his inherited land to his step-father, Jesse Flowers, in 1817. No deed record was found. However, Abraham was named in a deed when Asher Flowers (relationship to Jesse Flowers unknown) sold Abraham's inherited land in 1823 to David Giddens, Abraham's younger brother.[2]   

From the Files of Marguerite Cook Clark: Thomas Jefferson Martin III - Resident of Ringgold and WWII Veteran

Thomas Jefferson Martin III's obituary is another of the approximately 175 newspaper clippings saved by Marguerite Cook Clark, her mother, and her daughters.[1] The photograph is from an interesting collection of photos sent to me by Mary V. Martin Smith, niece of Thomas Jefferson Martin III.[2]

Thomas Jefferson Martin III is a descendant of Reddick Bryan and Elizabeth Regan, making him my third cousin. His parents were Thomas Jefferson Martin Jr. and Willie Bessie Murph Woodard.[3] 

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

© 2021 

    1. "Martin [obituary]," newspaper clipping, n.d., unidentified newspaper, from the privately-held collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Clippings 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.

    2. Thomas Jefferson Martin III, photograph, ca. 1940; scanned image, from the privately held photo collection of Mary V. Martin Smith, Alaska, 2004.

    3. Laura Decker, "Laura Ann Martin Decker," public tree, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/114525353/family/familyview?cfpid=350132377968&dtid=100 : accessed 9 November 2021). 

From the Files of Marguerite Cook Clark: Theodore G. Smith, WWII Air Force Veteran and Native of Ringgold, Louisiana

This obituary is one of approximately 175 newspaper clippings saved by Marguerite Cook Clark, her mother, and her daughters. [1] According to the Find a Grave website, the parents of Theodore Green Smith were Uriah Green Smith and Verna Estelle Rockett Smith. He is buried in section 25, site 758 in Arlington National Cemetery. [2] A picture of his headstone can be seen at the Arlington National Cemetery's app, ANC Explorer. Click here to view it on the web app.[3]  

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

© 2021 

    1. "Theodore G. Smith [obituary]," newspaper clipping, n.d., unidentified newspaper, from the privately-held collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Obituaries 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.

    2. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49318630/theodore-green-smith : accessed 08 November 2021), memorial page for Theodore Green “Theo” Smith (5 Dec 1917–30 Sep 1964), Find a Grave Memorial ID 49318630, citing Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia. Maintained by John C. Anderson (contributor 47208015).

    3. Arlington National Cemetery, ANC Explorer , database and images (https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/#/arlington-national/ : accessed 08 November 2021), headstone image page for Theodore G. Smith (5 Dec 1917–30 Sep 1964).

A Letter from Sallie Bryan Hammett of Bienville Parish, Louisiana to Lizzie Ragan in Terrell County, Georgia Written in Spring 1915

I scanned this photo at the home of a cousin in Post, Texas, several years ago.
This is Wesley Hammett and Sallie Bryan and their children, Jim,
Eleanor, and Ada. [1] 

This letter and one other were sent to me by a cousin in Georgia.  They were originally copied and sent to him by E. Ragan Pruitt. [2] I love how these posts came together with photos shared by so many different families. 

This letter and others belonged to Lizzie Ragan and their location is not known at this time.  Lizzie was looking for genealogical information. Sallie Hammett wrote this letter sometime in the Spring of 1915 prior to a second letter dated April 28, 1915.

Clippings from The Baylor County Banner - Seymour, Texas - April 26, 1923

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.  

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 

Harrison, O. C. The Baylor County Banner. (Seymour, TX.), Vol. 27*, No. 31. 26 Apr 1923. Print. Accessed 15 April 2019. 

*Note that January and February issues were part of Vol. 28. This and all March and April issues were printed as Vol. 27. In May, it goes back to Vol. 28. 

Clippings from The Baylor County Banner - Seymour, Texas - February 15, 1923

My grandparents, Redic E. Bryan and Myrtie Hairston, and my great-grandparent's, 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. Redic and Myrtie died in the 1920s and my father moved, along with his sisters, to Borger, Texas. 

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.  

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

Harrison, O. C. The Baylor County Banner. (Seymour, TX.), Vol. 28, No. 21. 15 Feb 1923. Print. Accessed 15 April 2019. 

Clippings from The Baylor County Banner - Seymour, Texas - February 8, 1923

My grandparents, Redic E. Bryan and Myrtie Hairston, and my great-grandparent's, 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. Redic and Myrtie died in the 1920s and my father moved, along with his sisters, to Borger, Texas. 

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.  

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

Harrison, O. C. The Baylor County Banner. (Seymour, TX.), Vol. 28, No. 20. 8 Feb 1923. Print. Accessed 15 April 2019. 

Claude Louis Davis - Born 127 Years Ago Today

Claude Louis Davis  1893 - 1967

The U.S.S. Franklin was a training ship at the Commanding Naval
Training Station in Norfolk, VA. The ship was decommissioned and
sold on October 14, 1915. This photo was said to have been taken soon
after Claude got over the measles. According to historical records,
there was a measles outbreak at the Norfolk Commanding Naval
Training Station in 1915. 

My grandfather, Claude Louis Davis, was born September 28, 1893 in City Hospital, Louisville, Kentucky - 127 years ago today. His mother, Bertha Davis, was young and unmarried. At age six months he may have been given to Isaac Smith and, his wife, Nancy Jane Saunders, for care. 

Claude's mother, Bertha Davis, was the daughter of Olive Caroline Davis. Her father is unknown. Bertha's grandparents were Seth H. Davis and Margaret "Peggy" Jones, both of Edmonson County. The Smith family was somewhat connected to Claude’s family as Bertha’s first cousin, George Page, was married to Nancy Jane’s sister, Clara.

Simeon Baker Bryan, son of Reddick Bryan, did not move to Louisiana with family. He remained in Georgia.

My grandfather, Redic E. Bryan, wrote the portion of
this list in black ink sometime before his death in 1929. 

This paper, found in Terrell Bryan's family bible, lists members of the Reddick Bryan family as known by my grandfather, Redic E. Bryan. With the exception of Baker Bryan, other family members had been found in numerous family and government documents. It was said that Baker remained in Georgia when the rest of the family moved to Louisiana. 

In 2004, after quite a lot of research, I was able to conclude that Baker Bryan was actually Simeon Baker Bryan. You can see my search documented on my Rootsweb page at this link.

Simeon Baker Bryan was the second known son of Reddick Bryan and his first wife whose name is unknown. A birth date of January 19, 1817 was found in a transcription of Reddick Bryan's family Bible.  And, the same date was seen in another Bryan family Bible published in 1843 and found in the Marguerite Cook Clark collection. It is thought that Baker was born in North Carolina.

Copied from a Bible published in 1843. One of several Bibles saved by
Marguerite Cook Clark and her family. 

In 1836, Simeon appeared as Simon B. Bryan on list of the names of those in the Georgia Militia who marched from Houston County on the 27th, May 1836 to rendezvous at Columbus, Georgia on June 2, 1836. "Creek War" was indicated on his military record. Simeon's brother, James Bryan, and step-brother, Span Regan were also on the list. 

Simeon B. Bryan married Louisa Smith on May 20, 1838 in Houston County, Georgia. His name is written as Simeon on the actual marriage record but in Jordan R. Dodd's Georgia marriages : early to 1800 : a research tool (found at Ancestry.com), his name is transcribed as Simon. 

In Houston County, on February 1, 1839. it was reported that Simeon B. Bryan's wife, Louisa, died. Her parents were listed in the obituary as Needham and Ardelia Smith and it was written that the "marriage took place in May last and in the fall afterwards her husband's father and brothers emigrated to the far west, in the State of Louisiana."

A portion of a Georgia map found at the Library of Congress website and published in 1854.

In the 1840s and 1850s, I have seen Simeon Baker Bryan in Lee, Clay, Early, Baker, Dougherty, and Calhoun Counties. After looking at old maps and understanding the formations of each county, it's easy to see how he could have lived in the same area for most of his life but shows up in records from several different counties. 

Simeon married Elizabeth Ann Mercer, daughter of Silas Mercer and Ann Thompson sometime in the 1840s or early 1850s. No record has been found. E. A. Bryan wrote letters to family in Louisiana referring to Reddick Bryan and his wife, Elizabeth, as Pap and Ma. In Georgia probate records, Elizabeth A. Bryan is the wife of Simeon Baker Bryan. 

Administrators bonds, indicated that Simeon B. Bryan died in Calhoun County, GA prior to October 27, 1856 when Elijah Padgett applied to be administrator of the estate of Simeon B. Bryan. No record of his burial has been found. 

This post has been added to The Reddick Bryan Family - A Timeline.


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

Bonner, William G. Bonner's pocket map of the state of Georgia. New York: J.H. Colton & Co, 1854. Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/91685221/.

Dodd, J. R. (1999). Georgia marriages: Early to 1800: A research tool. Bountiful, UT: Heritage Quest.

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.

Holcomb, Brent. Marriage and Death Notices from the Southern Christian Advocate 1837 to 1860. 1979. Print. 

Louisiana Bible Records (1950), Louisiana DARGRC report S1v25. 1950. Accessed at the DAR library in Washington DC by Diana Bryan Quinn on July 7, 2010.

Quinn, Diana Bryan. My Search for Baker Bryan. 2005. Web. 
http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~bryanquinn/genealogy/BryanSimeonBaker.htm. Accessed 5 Aug. 2020.

Quinn, Diana Bryan. Moments in Time, A Genealogy Blog: #52ancestors Post Eleven: The Bryan Family Bible. 2018. Web. https://momentsintimeagenealogyblog.blogspot.com/2018/03/52ancestors-post-eleven-bryan-family.html. Accessed 5 Aug. 2020.

Wimberly, Vera. Wimberly Family History: Ancestors, Relatives, and Descendants of William Wimberly, Pioneer from Georgia to Louisiana, 1837. Houston, Tex.: D. Armstrong, 1979. Print. 

Friday's Photo: Mary Virgie Martin

Mary Virgie Martin, born in Bienville Parish, Louisiana on October 20, 1907, was the daughter of Thomas Jefferson Martin II and Mary Ann Sledge.  Her 2nd great-grandparents are also my second great-grandparents - Reddick Bryan and Elizabeth Regan.  Mary Virgie Martin married Euel Walker in 1933. She and her husband are buried in the Wimberly Cemetery. Mary Virgie was a teacher and can be seen in the photo found in the previous post, Teachers In Bieville Parish. 

The baby photo was found in the files of Marguerite Cook Clark. The three photos below were shared by Mary Virginia Martin Smith, niece of Mary Virgie Martin. 

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

© 2019

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.

Family photographs from the collection of Mary V. Smith. Accessed November 6, 2004. Used with permission. 

Marler, Janice. “Mary Virgie MARTIN.” https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/973847/person/477947933/facts?indiv=try&h&db. Accessed 22 Mar. 2019.