This Day in History...

92 years ago today, December 29, 1918, my great-grandparents, Ira Emmett Hinshaw and Nannie Helen Jacks, became man and wife in a civil ceremony in Lincoln County, Tennessee. The story goes that Emmett "stole" (as her mother put it) seventeen year old Nannie from her bedroom window and the two eloped across the state line from Paint Rock Valley to Lincoln County, Tennessee, to marry. Their marriage would produce nine children - Etta Epsie (Bird), Mary Jane (Long), John Lawson, Lester Donald, Opal Ernestine (Craig), Bertie Lou (Stapler), Alvin Ray, Shirley Fay (Lohenitz), and Helen Dean (Young). Sadly, Nannie died hours after the birth of her youngest daughter, Dean. She passed away at the age of 43 years old at the family home on Alpine Street in Huntsville, Alabama, and was laid to rest in the Neal's Chapel Cemetery in Big Cove, Alabama, where the family had settled around 1922. Emmett moved to Florida a few years later and finished raising his family with help from the older children, a few of whom had already married. He eventually returned to Madison County in the mid-70's, settling near New Market, Alabama. He passed away January 22, 1982, at the age of eighty-five. He survived Nannie by thirty-seven years; but never remarried. Emmett was laid to rest in Big Cove, Alabama, beside of the wife he loved so dearly, Nannie.

This photo is of Emmett and Nannie Hinshaw and was taken in Big Cove, Alabama, around 1941. The little boy running in the side of the picture is their son, Ray.

Merry Christmas!

Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

I hope you all have a wonderful WHITE Christmas!!

-BYRD

This Day in History...

I'm sure I'll post something about Christmas morning sometime tomorrow; but while we're busy getting ready for Santa Clause, I wanted to take a second to mention that 200 years ago on Christmas Day, my great-great-great-great-grandfather, Dr. George Lee Bird, was born near Crawfordville, Georgia. He was the son of a wealthy plantation owner, and had a fairly affluent lineage and had but one child with his first wife, Salina Chivers. That son was George Marshall Bird, who left Crawfordville shortly after his father's death and just before the Civil War. It was this George Marshall Bird who eventually settled in the Big Cove Community in 1904.

Kellie and Mackenzie and I took a trip to Crawfordville back in 2003, just before completing the book I wrote about our lineage. There, we were able to visit Dr. Bird's house, which still stands on the Taliaferro County square, adjacent the courthouse, as well as Dr. Bird's grave - a story Kellie loves to tell - ha, ha! I blog about that later.

Off to finish our Santa prep's - Merry Christmas everybody!

-BYRD

This Day In HIstory... John Elbert Adams

Seventy-five years ago today, my great-grandfather, John Elbert Adams, passed away at the young age of only forty-two years. He was born August 24, 1892, in Roanoke, Alabama (Randolph County) , and was the third child of James Thomas Adams and the former Miss Martha Eldorada Butler . As a very small child, John relocated to Marshall County, Alabama, with his parents and siblings; and eventually settled in nearby Madison County.
John married Rosie Lee Winkles on February 10, 1910 , in Huntsville, Alabama. Rosie, whose name can also found listed in some media type as Rosa , was born September 19, 1896 , and was only thirteen years old when she married John, who was then seventeen. Rosie was the daughter of James Winkles and the former Miss Ann Brumbalow, and was an orphan at the time of her marriage to John.
Over the next eighteen years, John and Rosie became the parents of thirteen children. Four of these children – one girl and three boys – died shortly after or at birth. Their names are unknown; however, their graves are marked in the Moon Cemetery near Owens Cross Roads. The nine surviving children were Rachel M. (1912), Albert Lonzo (1913), Bertie Lorene (1914), Ruby Nancy (19--), James Walter (1919), John Junior (1920), Sammie Ligie (1922), Rosie Virginia (1926), and William Jasper (1930). All of these children were born near Owens Cross Roads, Alabama.
John Elbert Adams died December 17, 1935 , at his home in Owens Cross Roads, Alabama. According to his death certificate, his death came almost five months after undergoing a nephrectomy (surgical removal of a kidney). The actual cause of death and minor contributory thereof is not clearly legible on the certificate; however, the cause is listed as “(unclear word) of left kidney”. The death certificate also indicates that John was a forty-two year old farmer (he was actually forty-three), lists his parents as J.T. Adams and Martha Butler, and lists his surviving spouse as Rosa Adams. The informant is listed as S.F. Adams, which is John’s youngest brother, Santford Adams.
John was buried in the Moon Cemetery in Owens Cross Roads, on December 18, 1935.

The photo below is of John Elbert Adams "Poppa", and Rosie Lee Winkles Adams "Granny".

Give the Gift of MUSIC!

Still looking for some great (or maybe just "good") stocking stuffers?!? Give the gift of MUSIC! We have the following CD's still available for sell:

• The Alvie McKenzie Family: Not Another Tear ($15)


• The McKenzie's: Volume II ($15)
  
• Chosen: Power in Believing ($10)


• Christmas With... (an all NEW Christmas CD featuring several of your favorite groups... and us!) ($15)


• New Harmony: The Journey (some of our friends from Huntsville) ($15)

If you're interested in any of these projectss, give us a shout and we'll hook you up We'll even do FREE shipping for the rest of the month!

-BYRD

This Day in History...

On this day in history, December 8, 1964, my great-great-grandmother, Mattie L. Black Stapler, passed away at the age of 85 years. My mom, who was raised out of state, remembers seeing her great-grandmother a time or two growing up; but of course, she passed away before my time. Grandma Stapler was laid to rest in the Green Valley Cemetery in Big Cove, next to her husband, Willias Silas Stapler. Here's a couple of pics of her. One of her as a young woman, and the other is of Grandma with her sister, Leona Hodges.

-BYRD

Weekend...

I don't know why, but for some reason, it seems like we can fit more activities into a two day weekend than we do the other five days of the week. Saturday, we photographed my niece, A.J., for pretty much all day. We were going to do pics of my girls that evening for our Christmas card, but it was rainy all day, so we didn't get around to it. We went to church Saturday night, and rescheduled our pics for Sunday. I try not to ever miss church on the account of pictures; but I knew if I didn't get something done yesterday, we weren't going to have cards this year. So Sunday morning, we get the kids all dolled up and took them to Chattanooga for pics. First, we had to run to the mall to finish-up their outfits; but we finally got over to the downtown area; and what do you know - it starts SNOWING! Not much, but it was spitting snow. That's how cold it was! We were freezing - especially the girls; and so we barely got enough pics for me to build a card with. We came home; and I built the cards and got them ordered. Kellie and the girls went to church at Higdon; and as soon as I got finished with the cards, I took off to the funeral home at Huntsville. When I finished there, I went to church at Big Cove, and then went to visit my parents for a few minutes afterwards, and got home at midnight. So there's my quick weekend update; and here's one of the pics we got Saturday. We hope to do a full session with them if we can catch a warmer day in the coming weeks!

-BYRD