HISTORY STORIES I'VE SHARED

It’s been so long since I posted , I thought I should check to see what I’ve written about in the past. I found there’s more history posts than any others, so I went back through them and put them all in one list so it would be easier for me to see what I had covered. After it was done I decided to post the list to make it a little easier for someone who might want to read about a particular family or subject. The list was too long for me to give legal land descriptions and exact locations, other more detailed information, dates, involvement in the Civil War, etc., and general historical information, which some of the blogs share.

I’ll post this list first, then try to put the others in some kind of order for readers. Please feel free to leave comments, questions, additions, corrections or email.

There are posts about:

 Jamestown, Va. and my ancestors—an early governor and his brother, the first pastor of the Anglican church in America, sent here by the English King in 1621(Posted June, 2007).

A large reunion of a branch of my husband Ken’s family, with live music, scrapbooks and dinner on the grounds of an old family home  (July, 2007).

Our small, historic church building offered for sale. Reporters and photographers from two Birmingham T.V. stations interviewing pastor and me. They also showed my book and told about it (August, 07).

Revitalization and immediate growth of our church congregation after merging with another small congregation. Brief history of both (August, 09).  

Interviewing, researching and writing about the Blackerby family in my weekly newspaper column. Recalling the fun of interviewing and researching for my local history book and as a photojournalist years earlier before the internet—using old books, letters and photos, boxes of odds and ends in homes, libraries, and courthouse records in giant record books and the attic (April 2010).

Some of my ancestors migrating from England in 1621, and eventually making their way to Shelby County, Alabama (my home county) where they settled, raised families, died, and are buried. My recollection of visiting the cemetery as a child, along with the little, rural church across the road, for funerals and “homecomings,” without  knowing I had several generations of family buried there until I began researching family history (March, 2011).

Tracing my family line from Vikings in Norway through Normandy, France and across the English Channel to conquer England, marry royalty from several countries, sail to America, and eventually migrate through several states to Alabama (March, 2011).

This is an introduction to the next several blogs about Ken’s Kendrick family line and the settling of our community K-Springs—which derived its name from the Kendricks (June, 2011).

This blog was taken from my local history book, Early Settlers of the K-Springs/Chelsea Area, about Elmira Gilbert Kendrick, widow of Isham Kendrick, who died in 1866, leaving Elmira with at least six minor children and another on the way. It shares quotes, and descriptions, from my personal interviews with grandchildren of Elmira who lived in the cabin her son Luther built for his mother (June, 2011).

Descriptions of five springs discovered near Elmira’s cabin, where people of the community came to wash, bathe the kids, and carry home bucketsful of water for other household uses. This blog also shared a photo of four young women doing laundry there. (One became my next door neighbor after Ken and I moved to K-Springs where he grew up, and one of them loaned me the picture for the book). During following years and generations, the springs furnished water for many other families and groups, including schools and churches (June, 2011). 

Description of the early K-Springs school and school life—studies, lunches, fun and games—by people who went to school there in the late 1800s and early 1900s. And the story of a young couple who met and fell in love playing against each other in a ball game between their schools (June,2011).

Two old photos of K-Springs school groups, with names (July, 2011).

The love story and 1908 marriage of a bashful, young man (Frank Kendrick) and the girl (Ressie Vick) he loved (July, 2011). (This couple gave me a lot of invaluable information).

 A guest blog by my son Tony about his remembrances of his great-grandmother and her faith. Known as “Aunt Jemima,” to people in the community, former students, and fellow church members, “Jemima Folsom Kendrick” (to whom my book is dedicated) is pictured several times in Tony’s blog (Sept 2013).