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George W Headlee and Caroline Smith

Updated February 4, 2010
Barbara Jean Blizzard

bjblitzen@yahoo.com


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OUR HERITAGE
by Barbara Blizzard and cousin Ron Potter CLRPMAN@aol.com
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George Headlee's ancestors came to America in the very early 1600's. His Headlee/Headley family moved from place to place with the Drake family as the colonies developed, finally settling in New York and New Jersey. Many of our Headley and Smith ancestors were in the American Revolution (See the link below.) Eventually our family line went to Iowa where our ancestor George W. Headlee was born. His parents were George J. Headley and Mary Ann Fry, granddaughter of Vincent Fry below. In Iowa George married Caroline Smith.

Who was Caroline Smith? We all heard the story of Captain John Smith who was saved by Pocahontas. Captain Smith had a brother named William, our ancestor. They were sons of George Smith and Alice Rickands, of Willoughby, England. William's grandson, Thomas, came to Colonial Virginia and, his descendants moved to Knox Co. Tennessee where our William Smith married his cousin Betsy Smith November 1812, giving us a double dose of the Smith bloodline. William and Betsy moved to Iowa where their granddaughter Caroline was born.

George W. Headlee....who once rode with "Buffalo Bill," William Cody in his Wild West Show....married Caroline Smith. They had a family large enough to have their own musical band. At their farm in Iowa, the family held dances which cost the large sum of ten cents to partake thereof. My maternal grandfather, Clyde, played the violin, and his twin, Claude played the piano. Claude also called the square dances. It was a fun family and they always enjoyed themselves.

Caroline's family was full of twins far beyond the history of our family included here. "Twins every generation as far back as anyone can remember," my grandfather, Clyde, said. Caroline's mtDNA is haplogroup H and her earliest maternal ancestor was Mrs. Catherine Snickers of Snicker's Ferry, Frederick County, Virginia. Catherine was the wife of Henry Snickers.

George W. and Caroline were both descended from Royalty. Among their ancestors my favorite is King John. In defense of John Plantagenet, King of England, he saved his mother after King Richard's "wanna-be king" heir, nephew Arthur of Brittany, captured her (his own grandma) and held her imprisoned in a castle. You've just got to love a man like King John who saves his mother......Our blood-line is so exciting! Pick up any book of history and you'll probably find your own history there in its pages. Our lineage goes all the way back to "Abraham," in Bible days, the Egyptian Pharaoh Rameses as well.

How? Simply because the royals kept genealogies. It is only in recent years that Roderick Stuart could print the Spanish lineage in "Royalty for Commoners" (on the link below) because the owner of the copywrite would not permit it before. However, my mother, Bernice Headley's ancestor Teresa of Castile was not the daughter of Zaida and Zaida was not the daughter of Muhammad III, she was his daughter-in-law. After Zaida's husband was killed she married our ancestor King Alphonso VI, Teresa's father. Teresa and Zaida were about the same age and couldn't possibly be mother and daughter, so the earliest genealogy proves to be correct, that Teresa of Castile was the daughter of King Alphonso VI's mistress Ximena aka Jimena, not Zaida, who I descend from on my father's side of the family.

We're related up close to American legends, too. George W. Headlee's mother, Mary Ann Fry, was the cousin of the famous Confederate hero, J.E.B. Stuart. Another cousin married into Daniel Boone's family. Yet another married the head of the RLDS, the great-grandson of Joseph Smith. We are proud of our heritage.

Cousins who contributed are: Ron Potter, Glenn Headley, Joyce McCool, Jo Mercer

GEDCOM Trees (viewing trees requires 4.0 or later)

  • Barbara Neel Blizzard's Paternal Tree (119 KB)
    These are the ancestors of Barbara's father, James Herbert Neel of Ft. Worth, Texas, husband of Bernice Headley.
  • Ron Potter Family (21 KB)
    This tree is of the family of Ron Potter son of Golden Daisy Headley and Harold Delos Potter.
  • Clyde Headley and Sybil Newman Ancestors (400 KB)
    Clyde Headley was the son of George Headlee and Caroline Smith. His wife was Sybil Newman Headaley, the daughter of Prof. J. Walter Newman of Omaha. The default line is Sybil Newman's family, but you can shift to the Headley line from the Index. To view the Index of the gedcom you must hit the shift and F key to bring up the index. From there chose whomever you want to view.
 

Family Photos

  • Charles Smith and wife Mary Higginbotham (66 KB)
    Charles Smith was the brother of Caroline. You must admit we came from a nice looking family.
  • Claude and Clyde Headley (72 KB)
    Claude and Clyde Headley were twins. The Entire Headley family was named Hadley in the 1925 census on the link below. Elder brother Rit changed his name to George Hadley---Grandpa said his family changed the spelling of their name every generation or so. He said to was to avoid mixing the mail with another in the family. One excuse is as good as another, but he had to change it back to Headley when he went on Social Security, hence, he died as Clyde Headley.
  • Golden Daisy Headlee Potter (13 KB)
    Golden Daisy was 19 years old when this photo was taken. Daisy was Ron Potter's mother, and my mother's aunt.
  • George and Caroline Headley's Headstones (111 KB)
    George and Caroline Smith Headlee/Headley
  • Daisy Headley Potter shopping (218 KB)
    Golden Daisy Headley Potter is the lady in the center her son Ron stated.
  • William and Elizabeth Smith Tombstone (28 KB)
    William and Elizabeth Smith, cousins who married, are both descended from the brother of Capt. John Smith of Virginia fame.
  • Caroline's Wine Set (101 KB)
    Caroline's Carnival Glass wine set is now a treasure of Ron's.
  • Gerald, Geraldine Hadley and baby Barbara Jean (26 KB)
    Uncle Gerald Vernon Hadley and Aunt Geraldine Sybil Hadley holding me, Barbara Jean. Gerald and Geraldine were twins, children of Sybil and Clyde. Neice Barbara Jean is the daughter of their sister Bernice.
  • David Fry LDS Record Page 1 (449 KB)
    David Fry LDS Record from Brenna Stokes. Only pages 1 and 2 are included on this site. Page 2 is below.Thank you, Brenna.
  • Caroline's Rolling Pin and Corn Cob Pipe (53 KB)
    Yes Caroline smoked a pipe as many women did a hundred years ago. I don't know if Caroline inhaled or not, but grandpa Clyde told me he never inhaled, that Indians didn't inhale in his day either.
  • David Fry's LDS Record Page 2 (474 KB)
    David Fry's LDS Record page 2 of 10 sent to me by Brenna Stokes. The entire file of 10 pages is on a link of files below.
  • Claude and Clyde Headley (6 KB)
    Claude and Clyde were the younger sons of Caroline and George W. Headlee.
  • Clyde and wife Sybil Newman Headley (42 KB)
    Clyde was twin of Claude, younger sons of George and Caroline Smith Headley. His wife Sybil was the granddaughter of Nebraska Legislator William D. Rowles of Sarpy Co, Nebraska.
  • Golden Daisy Headley (33 KB)
    Golden Daisy Headley aka Daisy G. Headley, daughter of George and Caroline Smith Headley, was the wife of Harold Potter and mother of Ron Potter.
  • Amanda "Jane" Fry (65 KB)
    Jane Fry was Mary Fry's sister. Jane married first Ansalum Coon. When Ansalum died she married James Headlee, brother of Mary Ann Fry's husband George J. Headlee.
  • Bernice Lorraine Headley 1921-2009 (29 KB)
    Bernice was the second daughter born to Clyde and Sybil Headley. She was born 1921 in Iowa and passed away 2009 in California. She married first James Herbert Neel and had Barbara Jean Neel; She married second Leland Edwin Olson and had James, Patricia, and twins David and Diane.
  • Mary Ann Fry (22 KB)
    Mary Ann Fry was the daughter of David Fry and Dorothy Stewart who descended from the Emperor Charlemagne. Mary Ann married our ancestor George J. Headley first. Her second husband was James A. Bowes. Thirdly she married William Palmer and had several children by him.
  • Athen Ritter Headley (75 KB)
    Athen "Uncle Rit" was the eldest son of George and Caroline. In later life he took the name of George Hadley. He died using that name in California.
  • 1830 Census Greene Co IN pg 157 David Fry (100 KB)
    The 1830 census were two page records. David is on page 157. On page 158 you will see his brother-in-law Nathan Stewart, James Stewart his father and Benjamin Fry. David's father Vincent Fry lived by Benjamin Fry in North Carolina on the Uwarrie River. Benjamin was the son of Johann Peter Fry, Jr. David's father Vincent, must also be closely related to Peter Fry, Jr.
  • Walter Pollard and cousin Caroline Smith (327 KB)
    Walter was the cousin of both Caroline and her husband George W. Headlee. Walter's paternal grandmother was related to our Smith side, and his mother was the first cousin of George's mother, Mary Ann Fry. Walter was known as the "Ragman" which was an important ocupation during the two world wars. And when George was running around the country with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, it was Walter who kept food on the table for Caroline and the children. It's no wonder that when George said either Walter goes or George will leave, Caroline chose Walter. It has been claimed by some grandchildren of another marriage, that George married a second time while still married to Caroline. Walter's parents were Jasper N. and Mary Fry Pollard, but she was listed as single on a census living by her mother Amanda Fry widow of Daniel Fry. Since they were Mormons, Jasper had a few wives however, only one was legally married to him at a time. The last one was Mary Ann Gobble whom he married in 1911.
  • 1830 Census Greene Co, IN, pg 158 Fry and Stewart (242 KB)
    The 1830 census were two page records. David Fry is on page 157. On page 158 you will see his brother-in-law Nathan Stewart, his father James Stewart, David's father-in-law and Benjamin Fry. David's father Vincent Fry, lived by Benjamin Fry in North Carolina on the Uwarrie River. Benjamin was the son of Johann Peter "Pelzer" Fry, Jr. David's father Vincent must also be closely related to Peter and Benjamin Fry.
  • Caroline Smith Headley (14 KB)
    Caroline Smith married George Headley, grandparents of Ron Potter, and great-grandparents of Barbara, Josephine Bendon Mercer, and Glenn Headley.
  • Alexander Stuart death notice (17 KB)
    This death noctice of Alexander Stuart, Sr. was sent to me by another descendant of James Stewart and Sarah Fleshman, Jack Hermon.
 

Related Files

  • Fry Family History (11 KB)
    Vincent Fry Descendants by Velva Davis.
  • Vincent Fry living near the Uwharrie River (21 KB)
    In these emails between Genforum Fry/Frye postings, we can pinpoint the location of Vincent Fry who lived near and moved to Indiana with Benjamin Fry who was probably his brother. Our family historian, Nora Headley Bendon, said David Fry's father was Joseph Fry. Since he was about 30 years old when he married Mary Snow, he was probably married before. He later married Mathilda Padgent and widow Mrs. Mary D. Bridewell. We need proof of who Vincent was.
  • Thomas Reynolds b. 1742 Ancestors and Descendants (218 KB)
    Thomas Reynolds born 10 Feb 1741/2 in Guilford, North Carolina, died 3 Oct 1782 in Edgefield, South Carolina. His wife is unknown, so she may have been Native American. Our Thomas was the son of William Reynolds Sr and Rachel John. William was the second son named William of Henry Reynolds and Prudence Clayton of Chester, Pennsylvania. There were two Thomas Reynolds in Edgefield, South Carolina. The other Thomas was born 1745 in Virginia, who married Nancy Harris and was only a distant cousin, and certainly not the same person. The big problem is that even when someone posts his family lineage online correctly, they may still have him married to Nancy Harris which is false information.
  • Abraham Wells and Descendants (176 KB)
    Abraham Wells died 1797. His will lists children Dorothy Johns, James, Abagail Crane and Sedonia. Daughters of the American Revolution has his date of birth about 1735.
  • McCool Wills (20 KB)
    These wills are from Joyce McCool and really cool because she was the first to publish the correct lineage of our McCool ancestors. A real ball of yarn, to be sure, because everyone named their children with the same family names--over and over again. Thank you, Joyce.
  • Caroline Smith Headley's MT-DNA (16 KB)
    Caroline's mt-DNA is Haplogroup H. She also has the common Native American allele 16111. She was mostly of Native American descent my grandfather told me.
 

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