Land Records (40 KB) George Grauer and his
father in law Mark Porter buying land in Marengo
County and then the daughter of George,
Elizabeth Westbrook buying 160 acres of her own
in 1860 for herself.
Named after my great grandmother
Lorena Bozeman McClain who was born in 1890
Ramer, Montgomery, Alabama, I have thoroughly
enjoyed writing about this great lady and her
heritage.
After my
parents passed away and my husband died of
cancer, I began to write about them and their
family trees when I was unable to
sleep.
Our families have traveled many
miles and intertwined in the samecommunities, some knowing each other,
many moons ago.
Lorena was named after
her mother Alice Lorena Stephens and the story
was that Alice's great grandfather was in the
American Revolution and married to a full blood
Cherokee, giving her a Biblical name. Indian
unrest was so bad in the Carolinas, they packed
up and moved to Dublin and Ramer in Alabama.
Records indicate there were several Stephens
Plantations in that area once, near many other
migrating families like Broadway, Bozeman,
Gibson, Timmons, Dillard, Money, Hill, Gardener,
McClain, Anderson, Sellers, with most of their
children intermarrying.
Alabama Migrations and mine were right in
the midst of it.
http://www.archives.state.al.us/teacher/settle.html After
the Revolutionary War, the U.S. Government
established laws to survey and sell land gained
from Britain. The area that became Alabama was
originally part of the Mississippi Territory
from 1798 to 1817. Many settlers arrived in the
area before government lands had been surveyed.
Unable to buy, they simply picked a location,
built a cabin, cleared fields, and put in crops.
Such families were called squatters. Land laws
were passed to provide legal title to land for
settlers who already lived on the land. Some
settlers claimed land by British or Spanish land
grants, and others were squatters who claimed
land by right of pre-emption....Starting in
1804, U. S. Land Offices were established to
sell land in the area which would become
Alabama. By law federal land was sold to the
highest bidders at public auctions. Alabama
sales attracted men from all over the nation,
many of them speculators. Groups of speculators
bought large tracts, sometimes for as little as
$10 an acre, then resold at $20 to $100 an acre.
When an auction ended, poorer migrants could buy
less desirable land for as little as $2 an acre.
The smallest amount one person could buy was 160
acres. Under the Land Law of 1800 a purchaser
could put one-fourth down and pay the rest off
over three years. But when the price of cotton
fell to eighteen cents a pound, few could meet
payments on land bought at inflated prices. By
1820, Alabama owed the federal government $11
million--more than half of the national land
debt. In 1820 and 1821 Congress passed new laws
to deal with this problem. The Land Law of 1820
required future buyers to pay the entire amount
in cash but lowered the minimums to $1.25 an
acre and 80 acres. Those already in debt were
aided by the Relief Act of 1821 which permitted
them to keep part of their land and return the
rest to the government or buy it all on the
installment plan at reduced rates. Introduction
to the Settlement Unit: The defeat of the Creek
Indians opened the heartland of Alabama to white
settlement and caused Alabama fever to sweep the
nation. Pioneers by the thousands left
Tennessee, Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia
seeking fertile land for growing cotton.
Mississippi territorial law was in place, but
when Mississippi became a state, Congress
created the Alabama Territory in 1817. Congress
designated St. Stephens as capital of the
Alabama Territory and approved a legislature of
Alabama delegates already elected to the old
Mississippi territorial legislature. William
Wyatt Bibb, a Georgia physician who had served
in the United States Congress and had powerful
friends in Washington, was named Territorial
governor. He was also elected as the first
governor when Alabama became a state December
14, 1819. He helped establish the government,
pass laws and administer justice. The following
documents deal with cost of government, land
speculation, cotton, and law as settlers poured
in the area during the early settlement of
Alabama.At the start of the 19th century,
Indians still held most of present-day Alabama.
War broke out in 1813 between American settlers
and a Creek faction known as the Red Sticks, who
were determined to resist white encroachment.
After General Andrew Jackson and his Tennessee
militia crushed the Red Sticks in 1814 at the
Battle of Horseshoe Bend in central Alabama, he
forced the Creek to sign a treaty ceding some
40,000 sq mi (103,600 sq km) of land to the US,
thereby opening about three-fourths of the
present state to white settlement. From 1814
onward, pioneers, caught up by what was called
"Alabama fever," poured out of the Carolinas,
Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky into
what Andrew Jackson called "the best unsettled
country in America." Wealthy migrants came in
covered wagons, bringing their slaves, cattle,
and hogs. But the great majority of pioneers
were ambitious farmers who moved
Documents (791 KB) Records found on many
of our relatives, Baxley, Ballard, Bond,
Bozeman, Carter, Cooper, Coonfield, Cochran,
Fenn, McClain, Stone, Little, Parker, Stephens,
Tefft, Wright, Weatherford, Young
Documents 2 (94 KB) Records found on many
of our relatives, Baxley, Ballard, Bond,
Bozeman, Carter, Cooper, Coonfield, Cochran,
Fenn, McClain, Stone, Little, Parker, Stephens,
Tefft, Wright, Weatherford, Young
Alabama Territory 1819... The lands of
Montgomery County were put up for auction at the
Federal Land Office in Milledgeville, Georgia in
1816. Larger parcels were sold to developers who
subdivided the land into lots for urban
commercial and residential use, predetermining a
major city on the banks of the Alabama River at
Montgomery. A hardy and superior class of people
penetrated the wilderness. Settlements and towns
sprang into existence everywhere. The City of
Montgomery, which became the county seat in
1822, was built on the side of the Indian town
Ikanatchati (Econachatee), which means red
ground, and Towasa on a high red bluff known to
Alibamu Indians as Chunnaanaauga
Chatty.
I have taken pictures of the
historical markers found downtown about the
former Indians who lived here along the Alabama
River and near the train station, but keep in
mind there was another train station in Ramer on
the east side of Montgomery County where the
First Little White House of the Confederacy was
placed and Ramer was the home of many large
plantations in this research.
Hundreds of
families began their journey into the state with
many settling in Montgomery County long before
it became civilized and left a legacy for us all
to be proud of.
John Hill, John
Stephens, Benjamin Lewis, Howell and Richard
Mason, Peter Bozeman, John Stacie, Abner
McGehee, Abner Broadway, John Stephens, Elisha
Anderson, William and Alfred Sellers, David
Campbell, Matthew Stokes, John McQueen, George
Gibson, William Chisholm, George Bush, Bunberry
Flinn, James Moon, Deer, Norman, Hampton
Hilliard, Henry Graves, etc.
Dozens of my
ancestors served in the Civil War and many lost
their crops or farms but they bounced back. Some
even tried the new land in Texas after the Alamo
but most returned to their native home in
Montgomery.
When the train finally came
through down by the river, families loaded their
wagons and hauled their crops down the old dirt
road called Dexter Avenue to sell or ship
out.
Aunt Ethel's Home
(128 KB) This tiny home
was built by Aunt Ethel and her husband Jace
Gibson and my picture was taken when my sister
Pam and I visited the area around 2005 after
hearing the story from her daughter Peggy whom
we lost not long afterward to kidney cancer.
Peggy's story was that Ethel and Jason had
several children at the time, all living in a
tent on this farm, while they built their new
home around 1930. It seemed to be one of the
oldest homes still standing in 2005. Ethel and
Jace are buried down the road at Hills Chapel
Cemetery on the Long Road close to her father
John Thomas Bozeman and his 4th wife Sara Ellen
Bean. Sara raised these children after their
mother died young and told them stories, like
she was related to the hanging Judge Roy Bean.
She was a wonderful stepmother who also gave
them four more siblings before she passed away.
Many of these descendants still remain in
Dublin, Ramer, Grady, and Hickory Grove.
Aunt Ethel Notes
(68 KB) Since her sister
was my great grandmother and Ethel had many
surviving but elderly children in the Dublin and
Ramer Communities, I located and contacted a few
for information. I managed to meet several of
Ethel's descendants in May 2007 at Hills Chapel
Church which was a marvelous gathering of
cousins. We exchanged research and took many
photos.
Elisha Anderson of NC died in
1834 (51
KB) His will is found probated in
Montgomery, mentions his wife, daughters and son
Elijah - Elijah had our Seaborne Montgomery
Anderson who had Nancy Jane. Seaborne had a
brother named Elijah who died in the Civil War
1861 and home was listed as Hickory Grove.
Hickory Grove is also where our Grandpa McClain
lived. Some researchers think that Elisha
Anderson was the son of Elmore Anderson and a
full blood indian all born in 1700s North
Carolina, near the Sellers and Pool families who
were also of mixed blood.
1880 (366 KB) Study of my families
in Montgomery 1830
Our Ancestors Speak
(521 KB) One clue after
another as we follow their trails.
Yellow Fever (9 KB) yes it also struck
Montgomery and some of our kin
1840 (74 KB) Montgomery
Transcription has my Abner Broadway, John
Carter, Daniel McQueen, Lewis, Stokes, Ross,
Gunter, Hill, Bozeman, Graves, Anderson,
Sellers, Johnson, Mills, and many others,
including George Bush and a John Booth, of
course the John Wilkes Booth you've heard of
actually performed in a theatre downtown
Montgomery. There are actually some old fish
ponds in south Montgomery County where you know
who George Bush comes to go fishing with old
friends..........So very many of their children
and grandchildren were intermarried, that we may
all be cousins way back when.
Dublin, Ramer, and Hope
Hull (23
KB) All up and down these old country
roads, were once our family plantations and some
graves were recently found.
Meeting New Cousins
(100 KB) Tracing Our
Roots in the early days of Montgomery
DNA of Jimmy (111 KB) Jimmy Ray and Alan's
DNA test to the local Bozeman family is a
perfect match.
Uncle Meady Sells Share of
Plantation (41
KB) Our connection to cousin Wayne
Bozeman through Grandpa William Henry's son
Meade. Meade was the brother of our Peter Edward
whom we found buried at Dublin.
1786 (62 KB) Marriages before the
migration to Montgomery include Lacklan
McIntosh, Peter Bozeman
Uncle Meady
Descendant (31
KB) Richard and William researching
the Montgomery families is also cousin to Wayne
of Elmore.
Bio of Aunt Ethel
(18 KB) Ethel Bozeman
married J Gibson, the son of Clopton Gibson and
Rebecca Lou Broadway ( Grandma's sister) they
lived in Dublin/ Ramer Community, after you
leave Hwy 231 which is known as Warrior Hill
Road.
Uncle Meady's brother
Peter (35
KB) Sharon is researching William
Henry's other brother who married Gilly and
moved to Louisiana and died in 1851 of the
cholera.
Search Bozeman Gen
Web (1
KB) Famlies migrating into Covington
and Montgomery Counties of Alabama by 1820 as
many more followed their trail down the Old
Federal Road through Creek Nation
Family Research
(687 KB) Following the
path they created, their trails and journeys,
their children, and more
1811 Catherine
Weatherford (52
KB) Item 76 states she is the daughter
of Charles but he is not making her marriage
bond so he must have been in Alabama.
Documents (191 KB) Some old images in my
collection.
Catherine Weatherford Wright's
daughter Catherine (254 KB) Go to Little and see
Catherine who married Hiram Little - She is the
daughter of Catherine G. Weatherford and John
Wright. Hiram was a physician and the son of
Jonas, and the grandson of George. Hiram and
Catherine had a son named John who is listed
below their article. John's granddaughter
married Frank D. Cochran.
Martha Hill Bozeman in Montgomery
County (39
KB) By 1850 she had settled near the
other Hills in Dublin and some families in Ramer
who connected to her vast lineage.
Grandmother Annie
Lee (1
KB) Anna Lou Stone married Fenn and
Carter and Dasher and died around 1933 or 1934.
Her father was born in Macon County AL and moved
back to Macon GA before he died. She followed.
The death certificates of both of her parents
are found in the Georgia Archives and Annie
signed as a witness to her mother's.
Elders of Martha Hill's
husband (23
KB) Study of William Henry Bozeman
born 1802 Darlington and their trails into Hope
Hull.
Captain Little
(450 KB) My dad's GGG
grandfather from Scotland along with several
possible brothers, in Union County South
Carolina 1790 and 1800 census but in Kentucky
1810 after the brother of Mrs. Mary Handley
Douglass Little explored, surveyed and offered
them land in Vienna Kentucky and more along the
Green River which is included in the books
History of Kentucky and mentions these familis
and is included in the Kentucky Genealogy
Webpages.
The Captain's great
grandson (144
KB) Military Record 1863 Kentucky
Infantry, then Bullitt County Kentucky and later
in Madison Arkansas. Also John's father was a
surgeon in the Civil War....many of this family
served.
1838 Lucy Campbell
(173 KB) Sterling
Campbell married one of the daughters of Peter
Bozeman in Darlington SC and followed the
families to Montgomery and later bought land
near Talladega.
1829 Vincent Joiner
(265 KB) Sarah's
X mark - Vincent married Ellen Bozeman, a
daughter of Peter, and later bought land in
South Alabama. Vincent also signed documents for
Peter in 1822 and 1824 as his child Julius
received a gift of land from Grandpa Peter.
Back and forth they traveled,
settling here and there, looking for work or
looking for rich soil to grow their crops, I
trace my elders through history, by census
records, tax lists, military documents, and I
visit old lost cemeteries to photograph their
tombstones to learn more about them.
They are included in many old books
about a states' history or early pioneers and
other family books like Wagon Tracks by Fenn,
Stephens Ancestry by Clyde, Sketches by Reverend
Bozeman, Milo's Custer's stories of Miller in
Rockingham, Green River KY Families, Cochran
Clan, Indiana History included Coonfield and
Clark, Barbour County History includes Fenn and
the Indians, History of Muhlenburg included
Little and Handley, on and on there is
documentation, which can be followed by census
record study which gives names and ages of
family members, and church records of the old
days and archives of courthouses reveal
important data.
Much is written and
speculated about our Martin Weatherford and his
wife Mary half blood leaving Virginia to own a
huge plantation in Georgia, but he had fought
for the British, and was very outspoken and soon
banned from the State and moved to the Bahamas,
but their son Charles, also left his family in
VA to marry Sehoy in Alabama and have a son who
led the Redsticks in the Creek War. Charles may
have left 4 children behind in VA including
Catherine Weatherford who married John Wright in
1811.
Charles Brooks had dozens and dozens of
ancestors migrating into Alabama in the early
1800s. Joseph Baxley born 1815 Georgia or
possibly as some speculate, in SC., married Mary
Evans and named a son James H. - the tombstone
of James has the middle name as Hardie. James
served in the Civil War and married Louisa
Miranda Holt and resided in "Holtville". Their
daughter Ella Olivia Baxley married L. W. Hood
and had Bessie Mae Hood who married Milton
Elijah Thornton. Elijah's parents were Mary
Angeline Partridge, an indian, and George
Thornton, a mixed blood from Georgia, who had
settled in Central, Elmore County, Alabama.
Elijah's daughter, Mary Ella Thornton married
James Edgar Brooks Jr. Parents of James were
Susie Mae Cooper and James E Brooks Sr. James
and Susie are listed on the 1930 census with
both their widowed mothers. Susie's ancestors
were in Chambers County about 1830: Andrew
Cooper and "Alsey" from SC living near Malinda
Phillips and Elijah Lee born 1777 SC. Their
children Sarah F. Lee married Charner P. Cooper,
a soldier from the Civil War, and had a son
named Levi who moved to Hope Hull working on a
farm owned by Thomas Randolph Carter, where he
fell in love with the daughter, Sarah Elizabeth
Carter. Parents of Thomas were "Mary" and John
Wise Carter of SC who had migrated to Talledega.
Thomas is buried in Hope Hull on his old
plantation by his first wife Lacy Jane Bozeman.
Her name was Lucy on census but Lacy on her
tombstone. Thomas served in the Civil War and
his grandfather Captain John Carter served in
the American Revolution, along with his own
father in law, John Wise of South
Carolina....The second wife of Thomas Carter was
Mary Josephine Hereferd of Virginia and she was
the mother of Sarah Elizabeth Carter...Mary was
not very happy with this marriage and had only
the one child. She buried Thomas by his first
wife. Some of Mary's family settled in Alabama
and some moved on to Texas. Mary's mother was
Jemima Ramsey of Virginia.
Parents of
James Brooks were Annie Ballard and John Brooks
of Tennesse and they are all buried at Greenwood
Cemetery in Montgomery Alabama. John was a
railroad man, born to Roxanna Permilia Smith of
TN and a John Brooks born 1837
Pennsylvania. John 1837 died of tuberculosis
in Texas. Parents of Roxanna were Caroline Bond
and Thomas Smith. Parents of Annie Ballard were
Dora Craig and James Ballard of TN. Some of
these families migrated into Tennessee about
1800 from the Carolinas living amongst the
Cherokee Indians and Chickasaw so they could
have been mixed blood. Annie's picture shows she
was a dark lady with black eyes and black hair
and so was her husband's features very dark but
I would suspect his from the Smith side of the
family.
Charles Brooks wed Kathy Cochran
in Montgomery Alabama. She was at least one
eighth Cherokee blood. Her parents were Anne
Carter and Frank Cochran. Anne's parents were
Alice Emily McClain and Cecil Earl Fenn Carter.
Emily was called Emma,Ellie, and Emmer by her
parents Lorena Bozeman and Charles McClain
Lorena's parents were Alice Lorena Stephens and
John Thomas Bozeman. Charlie's parents were
Elizabeth Broadway and Josiah Marion
McClain.
The father of John Bozeman was
Peter Edward Bozeman, a Civil War Soldier who
married Nancy Jane Anderson, and her father was
Seaborn Montgomery Anderson, another Civil War
soldier. Seaborn had married Lavinia Jane
Sellers.
Cecil Carter's parents were Anna
Lou Stone and William Franklin Fenn. Frank was
born in Tuskegee to Emeline Harrell and John
Fenn a Civil War soldier of Georgia. Anna's
parents were Mary Ann Hendrick and Augustus
Marvin Stone of Georgia. Anna divorced Frank
Fenn about 1901/1902 and remarried to a Carter,
then to a Dasher, as found in Georgia census
records.
Studying Marengo County finding
Elizabeth Grauer Westbrook in 1850 back home
with her parents and baby William, she is
obviously pregnant with George, and
divorced.
Anne Carter 's Grandpa's Death
Certificate (458
KB) Montgomery Alabama 1922 death
certificate of William Franklin Fenn born 1855
in Tuskegee, Macon County Alabama, former Creek
Indian Nation to Emeline Harrell and John Fenn
of Georgia - John had served in the Civil War
and moved his family to Alabama in the 1860s.
Anne Carter 's Uncle Frank
Fenn (18
KB) Her daddy's brother born 1895
resided in Coosada, had a farm on Airport Road,
a family cemetery and the Church Cemetery he
donated, and later his land became Coosada
Elementary School. Frank served in WWI and
worked for the railroad and he was the father of
Bob Fenn, the principal of Robinson Springs
School around 1987. Frank's tombstone is next to
his brother Robert's in their family graveplot.
Robert never appeared on a census record but was
known as Uncle Lee. Franks' features are very
much like those of Billy Carter and of Mark
Carter.
Anne Carter and Frank
Cochran (54
KB) 1953 by the cactus in Arizona -
They married in 1951 and moved to Tulsa Oklahoma
for a while, then to Arizona, and then back
through Mena Arkansas and Chetopa Kansas before
returning to Alabama.
Frank Cochran (212 KB) Family photo about
1937 with Frank on the left
Mary Angeline Partridge
Thornton (300
KB) Mother of Milton Elijah Thornton
in Elmore County Alabama and the granny of Mary
Ella Thornton Brooks.
Minnie Lee Gibson
(83 KB) Daughter of
Ethel Mae Bozeman's daughter Ruby Gibson -
Minnie's daughter contacted me and sent the
picture; please do write again. It has been such
a joy hearing from my new found cousins.
Frank Cochran's father as a child
with Jacob (108
KB) Family in Kansas - "Pop" Frank
Delbert Cochran was a handsome little lad with
much resemblence to the pictures of his many
grandsons, born to parents Clora Jane Miller and
Jacob Benjamin Cochran - both had become widowed
in Iowa 1870s and married there before migrating
to Hill City of Graham County Kansas in 1882 .
Sam Little (984 KB) Uncle Sam was the son
of John Wright Little and a brother to Lattie.
Lattie told her children stories of their Indian
Heritage while Uncle Sam would deny them all -
he didn't want to be indian.
Frank Cochran's mother
Luella (119
KB) Luella was the daughter of Lattie
Little and Ben Coonfield born in Arkansas.
Lattie was born in Kentucky and Ben's family had
been born in Indiana both with ancestors
mentioned in those states' history books .
John T. Bozeman
(3 KB) Son of Peter and
Nancy, married Alice Stephens, having Ethel Mae
and Lorena Emma Bozeman, this photo may have
been taken around 1890. John is buried at Hills
Chapel Cemetery in front of the church at Dublin
beside his brother Peter James, who died of
suicide.
Frank Cochran's mother Luella's
MOM Lattie (63
KB) Luella was the daughter of Lattie
Little and Ben Coonfield born in Arkansas. This
picture of Lattie shows her indian features
quite nicely. Lattie Cedonia Little was born in
Kentucky to Catherine Crigler and John Wright
Little, who had served in the Civil War.
Frank Cochran's great grandmother
Crigler (323
KB) Luella was the daughter of Lattie
Little and Ben Coonfield born in Arkansas.
Lattie Cedonia Little was born in Kentucky to
Catherine Crigler and John Wright Little, who
had served in the Civil War. This picture of
Lattie as a small child with her sister Sadonia
and their mother Catherine Crigler of Kentucky.
Catherine was the daughter of Catherine Roby and
Abraham Crigler who were of Mixed Blood.
Frank Cochran's great grandfather
John W. Little (479
KB) John Wright Little military
description, dark complexion, black eyes, black
hair, served in the Civil War, made guns, was a
blacksmith, born in Kentucky 1843 to Catherine
Wright and Hiram L. Little. John's family
refused Indian Land Allotment. Catherine Wright
Little was the daughter of Catherine Weatherford
and John Wright of Charlotte VA as they married
there in 1811.
Home (45 KB) Westbrook Surnames:
Grauer, Braswell, Glass, Holley, Penton, Jones,
Johnson, and more.
Tombstone of Elijah
Lee (28
KB) One of the many grandfathers of
Charles Brooks was born in 1777 SC and settled
in Chambers County Alabama by 1830 is buried
beside his wife and his son at Old Harmony
Church. Elijah's daughter Sarah Lee married her
neighbor Charner P . Cooper, a Civil War soldier
and had a son named Levi Benjamin Cooper who
settled in Hope Hull on T. R. Carter's
plantation as a laborer and then married
Carter's daughter.
Frank Cochran's great grandfather
John W. Little (26
KB) John Wright Little military
description, dark complexion, black eyes, black
hair, served in the Civil War, made guns, was a
blacksmith, born in Kentucky 1843 to Catherine
Wright and Hiram L. Little. John's family
refused Indian Land Allotment. Catherine Wright
Little was the daughter of Catherine Weatherford
and John Wright of Charlotte VA as they married
there in 1811. This picture of John as he got
older and grey.
John W. Little's cousin Lucius
Powhatan Little (40
KB) John Wright Little's mother had a
sister Martha who married Douglas Little, a
brother of Hiram. Martha named her son Powhatan
in honor of their indian blood. Powhatan was a
writer, lawyer and a judge in Owensboro Kentucky
History books.
Lucius Powhatan Little's
Mother (33
KB) John Wright Little's mother had a
sister Martha who married Douglas Little, a
brother of Hiram. Martha named her son Powhatan
in honor of their indian blood. Powhatan was a
writer, lawyer and a judge in Owensboro Kentucky
History books. This picture of Martha Wright is
all we have of that lineage, lovely lady with
indian features died of euthanasia according to
old records of LP and his daughter Laura.
John Wright Little Family
Photo (39
KB) About 1900 he moved them all to
Marble, Arkansas after his wife died and
appeared on the 1900 and 1910 census
Baxley, James H.
(483
KB) One of the many grandfathers of
Charles Brooks, served in the Civil War and had
a farm in Holtville, Elmore County. Much
information of Grandpa Baxley was sent by cousin
Glenda, a new found email pal with extensive
Baxley family research.
Kathy Cochran wed Charles W.
Brooks (33
KB) Photo taken about 1995 before he
got sick with colon cancer. Charles was the son
of Mary Ella Thornton and James Edgar Brooks Jr
Charles W. Brooks'
parents (6
KB) Charles was the son of Mary Ella
Thornton and James Edgar Brooks Jr - Parents of
Mary Ella were Bessie Mae Hood and Milton Elijah
Thornton. Parents of James were Susie Mae Cooper
and James E. Brooks.
Susie Mae Cooper's
dad (50
KB) Levi Cooper married Sarah
Elizabeth Carter and had Susie Mae. Levi's
father Charner Cooper had served in the Civil
War and married Sarah Lee of Chambers County
Alabama.
Susie Mae Cooper
(40 KB) Levi Cooper
married Sarah Elizabeth Carter and had Susie
Mae. Levi's father Charner Cooper had served in
the Civil War and married Sarah Lee of Chambers
County Alabama. Sarah Lee's father was Elijah
Lee born 1777 South Carolina and had served in
the War of 1812, then married in Georgia to
Malinda Phillips, settled in Chambers County
upon land purchased directly from a Creek Indian
and they are buried there - tombstones found at
the Old Harmony Church beside their son James
Lee who died in the Civil War..... This picture
of Susie Mae with her spouse James E. Brooks.
Susie Mae Cooper with her mother
Sarah (68
KB) Levi Cooper married Sarah
Elizabeth Carter and had Susie Mae. Sarah was
the daughter of Mary Josephine Hereford of
Virginia and Thomas Randolph Carter of SC who
had settled in Hope Hull. Thomas served in the
Civil War and it is written that he furnished
his own horse and it is written that he spent
time in a Virginia Hospital during a sickness
and one can only wonder if that is where he met
the beautiful Mary Hereferd because her entire
family soon moved into Montgomery Alabama.
Susie Mae Cooper 's granny
(58
KB) Mary Josephine Herriferd married T
R Carter and had Sarah Elizabeth Carter. Mary's
parents were Jemima Ramsey and John Herriford of
Virginia, all migrated to Alabama.
Grandpa Stone (90 KB) Augustus was the
father of Anna Stone Fenn Carter - parents of
Augustus were Sarah Davies and Benjamin Wilburne
Stone but census transcribers listed him as
Stowe......all born in Georgia they are found in
1850 Macon Alabama and the father of Benjamin
resided beside him named Michael Stone born in
Maryland 1700s.
Grandma Stone (88 KB) Augustus was the
father of Anna Stone Fenn Carter and his wife
was Mary Ann Hendrick of Georgia - her father
was Christopher Columbus Hendrick, who moved on
from Alabama into Texas after his daughter left
home.
Annie (440 KB) Annie Carter was
named after her grandmother Anna Lou Stone.
Annie was Kathy's mother. Annie had open heart
surgery in 1980 just weeks before Beverly was
born but managed to walk into that hospital to
hold her first grand daughter with amazing
strength and pride in her family.
Grandpa Charles
McClain (1888
KB) Death Certificate - his daughter
Alice married Cecil Earl Fenn Carter, the son of
Anna Stone. Charlie raised the children of Alice
and Cecil when they died by 1939. Charlie was
the son of Elizabeth Broadway and Josiah Marion
McClain. Census records show the date of birth
of Charlie was 1886 and all other records seem
to differ because his wife was not very
educated. Few could read or write back then. His
funeral memorial booklet shows the names of his
parents, wife, and many children. Served in WWI
but has no headstone on his grave at Dublin
Church of Christ. Grandpa had lazy eye but none
of the children inherited it.
Susie Mae Cooper 's
grandfather (35
KB) Mary Josephine Herriferd married T
R Carter and had Sarah Elizabeth Carter. This
picture of Thomas shows his first wife Lacy
Bozeman and their family before the epidemic.
When Thomas died, Mary had him buried near Lacy
and their children and Mary never married again
and never had any more children.
William Marion
McClain (1713
KB) Charlie's cousin by his father's
first marriage. They all connect to Josiah
Marion McClain born 1838. Josiah was first
married to Julia America King in Georgia who
bore him several children - Josiah served in the
Civil War, injured at the Battle of Franklin TN
and apparently sent back to Alabama to recover
but obviously forgot about his family and
remarried. Julia filed for divorce for
dessertion in 1872 and tried to apply into the
Cherokee Nation Rolls. His second wife Elizabeth
filed for a Widows Pension in 1897.
James Brooks'
mother (72
KB) Annie Clark Ballard of Tennessee
married John E Brooks and had only one son named
James. This beautiful Annie's parents were Dora
Craig and James Ballard of Tennessee early 1800s
history.
Charles McClain's wife Lorena
Bozeman (11
KB) Not sure who posted her as his
mother on his death certificate. Lorena was the
daughter of Alice Lorena Stephens and John
Thomas Bozeman of the Dublin/ Ramer area in
Montgomery County and she had indian blood.
Cemetery at Hope
Hull (1
KB) Thomas R Carter buried near Lacy
Jane Bozeman's monument but the top of his has
fallen. He served in the Civil War and owned a
plantation in Hope Hull. He buried her parents
here in this cemetery. Cemetery located off I-65
Hope Hull Exit on the McLean Road in huge
pasture on the right.
Lorena's sister Ethel Mae
Bozeman (91
KB) with husband Jace Gibson who was
also first cousin to Charlie McClain because
their own mothers were sisters ( Broadway ) Ruby
on horse - Ruby was mother of Elizabeth who we
met in Dublin at the Hills Chapel Church.
Ethel's children and grandchildren are still
living in that Dublin/ Ramer area and can lead
you to much of their heritage.
Cemetery at Hope
Hull (21
KB) Thomas R Carter buried near Lacy
Jane Bozeman's monument but the top of his has
fallen. He served in the Civil War and owned a
plantation in Hope Hull. He buried her parents
here in this cemetery. Cemetery located off I-65
Hope Hull Exit on the McLean Road in huge
pasture on the right.
Clopton Gibson
(184 KB) Ethel's father
in law came from South Carolina
Tombstone of Jesse Bozeman, father
of Lacy Carter (264
KB) states he was born 1793 and a tree
separates him from one of his wive's graves. He
came from Darlington South Carolina with his
father Peter who had served in the American
Revolution and their many families to settle in
Hope Hull in 1826. Jesse bought 160 acres in
1827 while his father wrote letters found at the
Probate Office where he expected free land for
his military service. Peter died in 1829 and is
buried closeby one would expect - his grave is
not yet found. Jesse is buried near his daughter
Lacy's very large monument and his son James
Freeman Bozeman who died in the Civil War, and
many of Lacy's children.
Tombstone of Peter Edward
Bozeman (1350
KB) Son of Martha Hill and William
Henry Bozeman of Darlington SC who also settled
in Hope Hull.....William was born about 1802 a
son of Peter and brother of Jesse. Wm's son
Peter Edward was married to Nancy Jane Anderson
and he served in the Civil War and she got his
pension - papers at Probate Office - Nancy had
son named John Thomas Bozeman who married Alice
Lorena Stephens. This tombstone is found in
Dublin behind the Hills Chapel Church while his
son John is buried in front of the church.
James H Baxley
(871 KB) Tombstone -
Civil War Soldier - married Louisa Holt and had
Ella Olivia Baxley who married L W Hood and had
Bessie Mae Hood. His father Joseph Baxley was
born about 1815 in Georgia and was married to
Mary Evans, in 1841 Chambers County Alabama, -
all found in 1850 Macon County Alabama but in
1860 were back in Muskogee Georgia
Tombstone Ella Olivia Baxley
Hood (94
KB) Mother of Bessie Mae - Ella was
daughter of James Baxley in Holtville, Elmore
County, Alabama
Tombstone L. W.
Hood (58
KB) Cains Chapel Cemetery at Slapout -
father of Bessie Mae Hood Thornton......L. W.
was called Wesley.
Tombstone Bessie Mae Hood
Thornton (34
KB) Cains Chapel Cemetery at Slapout -
mother of Mary Ella Thornton Brooks was
nicknamed Bubber. Bessie was married to Milton
Elijah Thornton and Bessie's parents were Ella
Olivia Baxley and L. W. Hood. Milton's parents
were Mary Angeline Partridge and George Thornton
of 1800s Georgia who had settled in Cold
Springs, Elmore.
1930 James Brooks
(1512 KB) Montgomery
Alabama - wife Susie Mae Cooper. Susie bore him
a son James Jr. and called him Bubba.
Anne Carter Cochran
(18 KB) Married to Frank
Cochran, she had Kathy in Broken Arrow Oklahoma
and then they moved to Mesa Arizona where her
sons were born
Cemetery Survey
(213 KB) Beverly
photographs tombstones of her great great
grandparents tombstones, Mary Angeline Partridge
and George Thornton, the parent of Milton Elijah
Thornton near Santuck, in Central at the Mount
Hebron Primitive Baptist Church.
Clora Jane Miller
(102 KB) Frank Cochran's
granny was married to Jacob Cochran and named a
son Frank Delbert Cochran. When Jacob died the
widow made her rounds, spending a few months
with each of her grown children's families. She
smoked a pipe, read the ashes and taught them to
pop corn. her ancestors of Ireland had settled
in Rockinham Virginia where we find Rev.
Alexander Miller of the 1700s buried at Cooks
Creek Cemetery. Clora's mother was Mary Clara
Parker of Ohio, who some say made medicine with
the indians, born to Sara Tefft and Archelaus
Parker of the New York Indian County. Tefft has
a wonderful 1600s history in Rhode Island, where
one of the Uncles was hanged by King Phillip.
Nancy Jane Anderson Bozeman
tombstone (29
KB) Widow of Peter Edward Bozeman, is
buried by two of her sons in this family plot,
not far from the Brooks and Coopers and Fenns
who are also buried at Greenwood Cemetery in
Montgomery Alabama.
Anne Carter 's Daddy's Death
Certificate (230
KB) Montgomery Alabama 1939 death
certificate confirms his parents to be Ann Stone
and Wm Frank Fenn as witnessed by his brother
Emmett Marvin Fenn
Walton McClain
(35
KB) with Charlie McClain on the farm
in Ramer about 1930 - Walton joined the military
for most of his life and earned his PHD. buried
at Alexandria VA
Frank Delbert
Cochran (50
KB) Son of Clora Jane Miller and Jacob
Benjamin Cochran served in WWI while Jacob was a
Civil War soldier of the Ohio Infantry.
Uncle Cecil Earl Carter born
1932 (33
KB) Son of Alice McClain and Cecil
Earl Fenn Carter was the father of Victoria
Carter, all buried at Memorial Cemetery except
Vickie who was cremated by her half sisters.
Uncle William Lawrence Carter born
1935 (25
KB) Son of Alice McClain and Cecil
Earl Fenn Carter he was the brother of Anne and
Cecil Jr. Alice died giving birth to "Billy".
Billy spent most of his life in Indian Territory
Oklahoma.
Peter Edward
Bozeman (1
KB) Beverly took me to Dublin to
locate these tombstones - grandfather of Lorena
Emma Bozeman McClain and he was the great great
great grandfather of Kathy.
1910 Charles
McClain (6
KB) Kathy's great grandfather on
census with his mother, stepfather, his own wife
Lorena and baby
Peter Edward Bozeman's Uncle Jesse
- Hope Hull (47
KB) Beverly took me to Hope Hull to
locate these tombstones - plus we found the
grave of T R Carter, a great great grandfather
to Charlie Brooks. Carter's daughter Sarah
married Levi Cooper, the son of Charner Cooper.
Mordecai Bozeman, father of Peter,
John, James. (5
KB) Mordecai served in the American
Revolution with sons Peter and John. Peter moved
to Alabama about 1826 while John moved to
Mississippi in 1823. James remained in
Darlington County SC.
T R Carter (9 KB) Born 1820 served in
Civil War, married Jesse's daughter Lacy Bozeman
who died in an epidemic then married to Mary
Josephine Hereford of Virginia, and had Sarah
Elizabeth Carter
Kathy's mom's great great great
grandpa Bozeman (5
KB) Mordecai Bozeman served in the
American Revolution = father of Peter Bozeman
who migrated to Hope Hull who also served along
with him in the War - they were paid for their
services and received land grants in Darlington
County South Carolina.
Kathy's mom's great great Grandpa
Josiah McClain (70
KB) Josiah Marion McClain was born in
Georgia to Anna and James McClain. Josiah
married first to Julia King and had a family in
Georgia, then he joined the Civil War in an
Alabama Infantry and was with Elizabeth Broadway
by 1870 having a son named Charles Allen
McClain. Charles and his wife Lorena had a
daughter named Alice McClain who married Cecil
Carter.
Census images (26 KB) My kin found on census
records in 1790, 1800, 1810 and other good stuff
......Hans Brooke had three boys and one
girl....Henry, Edward, John and Lula
Christine....They settled in Reading PA. The
parents died leaving minor children, and the
little girl was adopted...John, our grandfather,
was bound out to a tailor to learn that
trade....He was very unhappy and ran away,
arriving in Columbia TN about 1860 and we find
him on the Giles County 1860 census in TN
working as a tailor but as John Brooks...That
year he married Roxanna Permilia Smith
She was just breaking up with her other
boyfriend, Doctor Crittendon Smith and fell in
love with John Brooks...John and RP had Walter
and Nora before joining a wagon train to Texas
where John, Lula, Nimrod and Tom were born......
...John died in 1882 of tuberculosis and
is buried in Paris TX. Roxanna went back to TN
to marry Doctor Terry Crittendon Smith. He
actually heard she was widowed and went to Texas
to marry her and bring her back to TN. They
lived and died in Sandy Hook,
Tennessee.
Their son John married Annie
Clark Ballard and had only one child, James
Edgar Brooks - soon they moved to Montgomery
Alabama.
The Smith and Ballard families
came out of North Carolina about 1800 migrating
into Tennessee's Indian
Territory.
Permilia named her first son
Walter Brooks, and this author finds no Walter
in the lineage,so why use this name? and another
son JOHN Edwin but the census looks like his
middle initial was H., and JOHN married Annie
Clark Ballard in TN and they moved to Alabama
being transferred with the railroad and then
lived on Adams Avenue near the train station.
Annie had only one child, James Edgar Brooks,
who became a bookkeeper with the State, and
later married Susie Mae Cooper who soon named
her own son James Edgar Brooks Jr., a daughter
Christine . Susie was the daughter of Sarah
Elizabeth Carter and Levi Benjamin Cooper of
Chambers County AL.
Annie's photo shows
dark black hair and coal black eyes. Annie's
parents were both born in Tennessee, James
Calvin Ballard and Willie Eudora Craig but their
ancestors migrated from the Carolinas. "Dora's"
mother was Rebecca Caroline Pennington and she
married William Craig in 1860. Rebecca's mother
was only known as "Gracy" who married William
Pennington, and his mother was only known as
"Kezziah" born about 1750 in South
Carolina.
Her mother was Caroline Bond,
daughter of a John Baptist Bond of North
Carolina. Parents of Caroline Bond ( who married
3 times? ) were John Baptist Bond and Kitty
Stone. Many researchers are looking into the
Stone name as being of Cherokee Blood.
In
Georgia was Joseph Baxley born 1815 married to
Mary Evans and making their way into Alabama.
Their son James married Louisa Miranda Holt and
they resided in "Holtville" in Elmore County AL.
Also in Elmore County was L. W. Hood who married
their daughter Ella Olivia Baxley. Ella's
daughter Bessie married a Milton Elijah Thornton
in Elmore County. Elijah's parents also came out
of Georgia, Mary Angeline Partridge amd George
Thornton. Elijah's daughter Mary Ella married
James Brooks.
Sarah (143 KB) Sarah Elizabeth
Carter - Cooper with her children including
Susie Mae
James E Brooks Jr and Mary Ella
Thornton (6
KB) Her parents were Bessie Mae Hood
and Milton Elijah Thornton. Bessie's parents
were Ella Olivia Baxley and L W Hood. Milton's
parents were Mary Angeline Partridge and George
Thornton.
Baxley James H
(351 KB) Certificate of
Confederate Service2
1930 census of Brooks and
Cooper (1512
KB) Both their widowed mothers live in
this household which includes James E Brooks Jr
who later married Mary Ella Thornton and had
Charlie in 1953.
Baxley James H
(618 KB) Certificate of
Confederate Service3
1930 census Milton Elijah
Thornton (446
KB) Bessie Mae Hood his wife with
children include Mary Ella Thornton who married
James E Brooks Jr
Baxley James H
(398 KB) Certificate of
Confederate Service4-Judge Smith
1840 John Wise
Carter (360
KB) Talladega Alabama census, father
of Thomas Randolph Carter and the grandfather of
Sarah Elizabeth Carter Cooper - great
grandfather of Mamaw
Baxley James H
(796 KB) Certificate of
Confederate Service-Pension Application
1914 (72 KB) John Edward Brooks
with Annie Clark Ballard, parents of James Edgar
Brooks, of Tennessee. James married Susie Mae "
Mamaw" Cooper and had James Edgar Brooks, Jr. -
Jr married Mary Ella Thornton.
Baxley James H
(451 KB) Certificate of
Confederate Service-Pension Application 2
Baxley, Grandmother Ella
Olivia (11
KB) A visit to the Cain's Chapel
cemetery to locate the tombstones of Ella and
her husband L W Hood plus her parents buried
down the road in Coosa River Cemetery in
"Holtville" were James H Baxley and Louisa
Miranda Holt. These were ancestors of Mary Ella
Brooks, as Ella Olivia was the mother of Bessie
Mae Hood - Thornton.
Carter in South
Carolina (99
KB) father of Thomas was John Wise
Carter and his dad was Captain John Carter of
the American Revolution who married Elizabeth
Wise, the daughter of Am Rev Soldier John Wise.
Mary Ella Thornton, wife of James
Edgar Brooks Jr (258 KB) Her father was Milton
Elijah Thornton and her mother was Bessie Mae
Hood. This focus on the Thorntons as they
migrated out of Georgia into Elmore County
Alabama. Milton's mother was Mary Angeline
Partridge.
Hans Brooks of Holland
1800 (25
KB) John Brooks born 1837 to a father
from Holland and a mother from France is what is
found on the 1860 census when young John is a
boarder in a home in Giles County Tennessee,
where he met and married Roxanna Smith. Roxanna
had a son named John who married Annie Clark
Ballard and Annie then named a son James Edgar
Brooks.
Brooks - followup
(5 KB) John Brooks born
1837 to a father from Holland and a mother from
France is what is found on the 1860 census when
young John is a boarder in a home in Giles
County Tennessee, where he met and married
Roxanna Smith. Roxanna had a son named John who
married Annie Clark Ballard and Annie then named
a son James Edgar Brooks. Annie's father was
James Cal Ballard. Roxanna's father was Thomas
Smith and her mother was Caroline
Bond...............James Edgar Brooks married
Susie Mae Cooper, the daughter of Sarah
Elizabeth Carter and Levi Benjamin
Cooper........Susie named her son James Edgar
Brooks Jr. in 1927.
Stokes Cemetery on Bozeman Land-
Hope Hull (39
KB) Jesse Bozeman's daughter Lacy is
buried here near her husband Thomas Randolph
Carter, a Civil War Soldier, and the grandson of
Am Rev Soldier, Captain John Carter... Jesse's
father was Peter Bozeman a soldier in the
American Revolution. Lacy and some of the
children died in an epidemic. Jesse and his
wife's tombstones have been separated by a large
tree and the stones are broken. The top of
Thomas' monument has fallen to the side but
Lacy's monument stands tall. The Carters and
Bozemans once owned large plantations here.
Peter Bozemans grave was not found ( yet ) In
fact Jesse's brother William Henry Bozeman was
Kathy's ggg grandfather and his grave is not
found ( yet )
Ballard, James Cal of
Tennessee (80
KB) Father of Annie Clark Ballard
Brooks was married to Eudora Craig in Tennessee.
Parents of James Ballard were Rowena Densy
Baxter and Larken Francis Ballard born about
1830 in Tennessee long before the Trail of Tears
began.
Bond, John Baptist
(80 KB) Father of
Caroline Bond Smith was married to Catherine
Stone - Caroline Bond married probably 3 times
in Tennessee but her first husband Thomas Smith
was the father of Roxanna Smith - Brooks. Notes
on this page include Henry Smith, father of
Thomas and then the Ballards of North Carolina -
Larken Ballard's mother was Kizziah Dickens.
Tombstones (2 KB) Baxley, Holt, Hood,
Thornton in Elmore County
Lee and Cooper in 1840 Chambers
County AL (107
KB) Elijah Lee born 1777 married
Malinda Phillips and their daughter Sarah F. Lee
married Charner P Cooper in Chambers County.
Charner's parents were "Alsey" and Andrew Cooper
of South Carolina. Charner's son was Levi
Benjamin Cooper who ended up working in Hope
Hull on a farm owned by Thomas Randolph Carter
and married the man's daughter.
Carter, Thomas
Randolph (47
KB) Hope Hull visit to find the
tombstone of the grandfather of Susie Mae Cooper
Brooks and he was the great grandfather of James
Edgar Brooks Jr.
Tombstones (41 KB) Annie Ballard and
James Brooks, Susie Cooper, Elijah Lee, several
tombstones found in Alabama
Photos (4 KB) Scanned photos of
people and their tombstones
Tombstones (1 KB) Annie Ballard and James
Brooks, Susie Cooper, Elijah Lee, several
tombstones found in Alabama
Baxter, Rowena
Densy (20
KB) Grandmother of Annie Clark Ballard
Brooks and great great grandmother of Charlie
Kathy Brooks Kin
(38 KB) Cochran and
Carter, Bozeman and McClain notes
Thomas Randolph Carter born 1820
SC (6
KB) Civil War
Records............father of Sarah Elizabeth
Carter Cooper ..........grandfather of Susie Mae
Cooper Brooks.
1786 Marriages
(66 KB) Peter Bozeman
and Sarah Brown were the parents of Jesse and
William Henry Bozeman, plus another son named
Peter E. Bozeman who married Gilly
Partridge, Mary
Angeline (4
KB) Parents of Angeline were Mildred
Smith and George Partridge of Georgia. Her
husband was George Thornton of Georgia and his
parents were Nancy Katherine Culpepper and
Charles Thornton. Nancy's mother was Martha
Blackstone born 1814 Georgia, long before the
Trail of Tears.
Joe Stephens -Civil
War (4
KB) Joe and Sarah Mills Stephens of
Montgomery had a daughter Alice who married John
T Bozeman but she died soon after giving birth
to their 4th child.
Colonial Records
(3 KB) Saving a few
documents relating to my ancestors.
Herriford of
Virginia (50
KB) Mary Josephine Hereferd was the
second wife of Thomas Randolph Carter and their
daughter was Sarah Elizabeth Carter - Cooper (
mother of Mamaw ). When Thomas died, Mary had
him buried by his first wife Lacy Bozeman and
their children.
Allen Wesley Hood
(109 KB) buried in
Slapout AL , brother of Bessie and Barnie - son
of Ella O Hood and L Wesley Hood........could be
husband of Jessie Swindall
Annie Clark Ballard
Brooks (89
KB) wife of John, mother of James; the
daughter of Eudora Craig and James Ballard of
Lawrence TN plus her four grandparents were all
born in Tennessee.
Brooks - Cooper
headstone (69
KB) Greenwood Cemetery, behind the
Last Supper monument; all the way to the back
road of the cemetery.
Barnie or Buster
Hood (88
KB) buried in Slapout AL , brother of
Bessie and Allen - son of Ella O Hood and L
Wesley Hood
Luther Vernon
Ballard (72
KB) must have been brother to Annie as
all are buried near each other in Greenwood
Cemetery, Montgomery AL
R E Thornton (74 KB) Cains Chapel, Slapout
Alabama
L W Hood - great great
grandpa (115
KB) buried in Slapout AL , husband of
Ella Mae O Hood and father of Bessie Mae "
Bubber" Hood Thornton............Bessie named
her sons Lister and James...........
James Edgar Brooks
SR (106
KB) buried by his wife Susie Cooper
and near his mother Annie...........we found his
father JOHN buried in a different section of the
cemetery; yet this section had a large marker
named Cooper-Brooks located in Greenwood
Cemetery, Montgomery AL
BROOKS - Mary Ella
Thornton (87
KB) wife of James Edgar Brooks, mother
of Charles Wayne Brooks; buried in Prattville
Cemetery beside James and their other son John
Susie Mae Cooper
Brooks (73
KB) buried by husband James Edgar
Brooks Sr - Susie was known as Mamaw
BROOKS - James Edgar
Jr (68
KB) beside wife Mary Ella Thornton and
their son John in Prattville Cemetery - father
of Charles Wayne Brooks, John Milton and Thomas
Earl Brooks
Dorothy Hood (89 KB) Hood family in
Slapout/ Holtville, Elmore County, Alabama -
this cemetery is behind Cains Chapel Methodist
Church on the corner of the intersection of Hwy
111
Zona Cooper (97 KB) buried in the Cooper
Brooks plot
BROOKS - John
Milton (73
KB) Johnny died young, buried by his
parents James and Mary Brooks in Prattville AL
Mollie Cooper (99 KB) buried in the Cooper
Brooks plot
John Brooks 1880 Texas
census (833
KB) shows his father from Holland and
mother from France....married Permilia Roxanna
Smith in Tennessee and had their son, John
Brooks who married Annie Ballard and came to
Montgomery AL
Bessie Mae HOOD
Thornton (80
KB) buried in Slapout AL wife of
Milton Elijah Thornton, and she was mother of
Mary Ella Thornton who married James Edgar
Brooks JR
Wesley Hood on 1910
census (342
KB) census image shows him as head of
household with ELLA as his wife, so it leaves
confusion as to the L W Hood headstone
Marengo County was created by the Alabama
Territorial legislature on 1818 Feb. 6, from
land acquired from the Choctaw Indians by the
treaty of 1816 Oct.24. The name of the county
was suggested by Judge Abner Lipscombe, and was
given as a compliment to the first white
settlers, expatriated French citizens and
commemorative of Napoleon's great victory at
Marengo over the Austrian armies on 1800 June
14.Marengo County is situated in the
west-central part of the state.It is bordered by
Hale, Greene, Perry, Dallas, Wilcox, Clarke,
Choctaw,Sumter.
George Grauer born 1801
Germany married Sophia Porter born 1801 North
Carolina and migrated into Marengo County
Alabama. Perhaps with a group of brothers and
sisters, they all seemed to have settled closely
together, even with Sophia's father Mark Porter
and his families.
Sophia's daughter
Elizabeth was born in 1827 Alabama and she
married James Westbrook in Marengo County, a son
of Moses.
The Westbrook families were
also from 1700s North Carolina and may connect
to a Richard Westbrook who served in the N C
Militia in 1754.
It appears that
Elizabeth Westbrook was a widow with one son,
William, on the 1850 census so she must have
been pregnant with George Grauer Westbrook that
year. In 1879 her son George married Marsella
Braswell, who's families were also early
settlers of Marengo County; her mother was Mary
Glass, also another family of early settlers.
Mary's mother was Hannah Holt, a daughter of
Cader Holt, a big plantation owner who was
buying land in Marengo in the 1820s. The others
mentioned above have land deeds dated
1830.
Elizabeth Westbrook remained a
widow for many years and always took care of her
mother Sophia, who we find together on the 1870
census when Elizabeth has remarried, to Mr.
Lawson and had more children...Elizabeth's son
George and his wife Marcella had several
children, including Clarence Grauer Westbrook in
1879, who married Carrie Etheridge. Carrie named
a son Bruce Garland Westbrook in 1919 and he
married Christine Holley. Christine's son
married Penton, a daughter of Lige Bennett
Penton and Gertrude Jones starting their own
legacy in Elmore County
1830 John Porter
(389 KB) Marengo census
- John could be brother or son of Mark Porter
1837 Land Purchase
(58 KB) Mark Porter of
North Carolina in Marengo County Alabama
1830 Cader Holt
(688 KB) Marengo County,
he resides next to his son in law Willis Glass
and near a Joseph Grier who may be the father or
brother of George Grauer of the same county.
1824 Land Purchase
(36 KB) Cader Holt of
North Carolina in Marengo County Alabama
1850 John Grower
(739 KB) Marengo County
and he is listed on the next page after Moses
Westbrook. Grower is from Germany and could be
the brother of George - note that the children
have the same names as those of George. Just
adds to the theory that several Grauers settled
here together.
1840 - MYSTERY LADY
WESTBROOK (802
KB) Sarah Westbrook has one daughter
and two sons in this census - could she be the
wife of Moses? Where is Moses? He is back in the
picture in 1850 so we know he has not deceased -
perhaps he traveled?
Moses Westbrooke
(60 KB) 1837 Land
Purchase of 40 acres in Marengo County
Cemetery (213 KB) Mt Hebron Primitive
Baptist Church Cemetery is very small. George
Thornton and wife Mary Angeline Partridge graves
are found here.
Grandpa McClain
(62 KB) Emily Alice
McClain's father stands with her brother.
Charles McClain's parents and grandparents spent
many years in Creek Territory.
Cemetery (52 KB) Stokes-Carter Cemetery
has no official name, no Stokes buried here,
mostly Carters and Bozemans. Tombstones being
trampled and damaged by the cattle and falling
trees.
Cecil Carter (230 KB) Anne's father was
born around 1900 - nobody is really certain - at
Thompson Station in Bullock County - born to a
Fenn family he was adopted around 1910 when his
mother remarried in Macon Georgia. His father
was from Tuskegee Alabama and grandparents from
former Creek Territory in Georgia but he claimed
to be Cherokee blood. Enlisted in the Army about
1920 to 1930 stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso.
Found his father living in Montgomery Alabama
and returned about 1931.
Cemetery (865 KB) Cain's Chapel in
Slapout has many Thornton and Hood families from
the early days of Cold Springs, Elmore County,
Alabama
Cecil Carter (15 KB) Anne's father was born
around 1900 - nobody is really certain - at
Thompson Station in Bullock County - born to a
Fenn family he was adopted around 1910 when his
mother remarried in Macon Georgia. His father
was from Tuskegee Alabama and grandparents from
former Creek Territory in Georgia but he claimed
to be Cherokee blood. Enlisted in the Army about
1920 to 1930 stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso.
Found his father living in Montgomery Alabama
and returned about 1931.
Cemetery (308 KB) Dublins' old cemetery
behind Hills Chapel hidden far off into the
woods.
Cecil Carter's brother Frank
Fenn (51
KB) born 1896 at Thompson Station in
Bullock County - died in Coosada on his farm at
Airport Road where the school now sits. His
grave is on that land he had donated to the
church for a cemetery. Frank worked for the
railroad, his wife boiled his dirty clothes in a
pot outside - he was in WWI and hauled POWs on
the train.
Cemetery (97 KB) Dublins'new cemetery
for the public is across the street from the
front of Hills Chapel.
Bill Carter (38 KB) about 1970 - he was
Anne's brother
Cemetery (88 KB) Dublin - old
gravestone being cleaned with water and a brush
John and Annie
Brooks (72
KB) Moved into Montgomery Alabama
after 1900 and their son James married Susie Mae
Cooper. They have a strong lineage into 1800 TN
Cemetery (64 KB) Greenwood in
Montgomery, very large cemetery has graves of
many of the Brooks, Cooper, Bozeman, Fenn
families
Jacob and Clora
Cochran (34
KB) Left Iowa for Kansas Territory
after 1880 with son Frank Delbert Cochran on the
left.
Cemetery (18 KB) Memorial has many of
my relatives' resting places - land donated by
Lorena Bozeman's Uncle Robert Henry Bozeman -
located between Maxwell AFB and Hope Hull and
Pine Level.
Luella Coonfield
(119 KB) Arkansas - she
is in the center of this photo just before she
married Frank Delbert Cochran. She is Cherokee
by blood. Her mother was Lattie Cedonia Little
of Kentucky.
Luella Coonfield's mother was
indian (63
KB) Shepherdsville, Bullitt County,
Kentucky - Lattie Little was born to Mary
Catherine Crigler and John Wright Little.
Cemetery (275 KB) Dublin Old Cemetery
has tiny tombstone markers with no names
Cemetery (78 KB) Dublin Old Cemetery
behind the church - Alice Lorena Stephens
Bozeman, the Cherokee in grandma's lineage.
Cemetery (1456 KB) Dublin Old Cemetery
behind the church - Peter Edward Bozeman of the
Civil War - the clover design is a separate
layer added to this homemade tombstone with
penciled PEB our father added.
Powhatan (40 KB) Lucius Powhatan Little
was Lattie's cousin in Kentucky - he was a
lawyer, a judge, a writer, and a genealogist.
They all had one common grandmother from
Virginia, Catherine Weatherford.
Cemetery (78 KB) Indian Creek Cemetery
in Georgia where James McClain born 1810 is
buried - the father of Josiah is also the son of
the elder Josiah
Ben Coonfield's
parents (68
KB) Martha Frances Young of Kentucky
married Benjamin Wylie Coonfield in Indiana.
Their hair was so black that it looked blue in
the sunshine.
Cemetery (14 KB) Hill City Cemetery in
Graham Kansas is where my dad's grandparents are
buried
Mary Catherine
Crigler (323
KB) Born in Kentucky to Nancy
Catherine Roby and Abraham Crigler, she married
John Little and had Lattie and Sadona in this
picture.
Cemetery (28 KB) Old Harmony Primitive
Church Cemetery has few graves but includes
Elijah Lee born 1777 and his wife Malinda
Phillips who came to Chambers County before 1830
buying land from an old Creek Indian and they
are the great great grandparents of Susie Mae
Cooper Brooks.
Cochrans (106 KB) Chetopa Kansas, the
Cochran family includes Frankie, Freelon and
Darrell
Carter photo (46 KB) T R Carter with his
first wife and family - he is great grandfather
of Susie Mae Cooper Brooks.
Cochrans (26 KB) Frank Delbert's
brothers and sisters.
Susie Mae Cooper
Brooks (40
KB) grandmother to Charles Wayne
Brooks known as Mamaw. Her mother was Sarah
Elizabeth Carter who married Levi Benjamin
Cooper, a son of Charner P. Cooper of Chambers
County.
Anne Carter (28 KB) On the left she stands
by her granny Lorena, and Lorena's daughter
Katie Bell McClain. They raised her after her
mom Alice McClain Carter died. All buried at
Memorial
great great great grandpa James
McClain (26
KB) son of Josiah and named his first
son Josiah Marion McClain. James first married
Anna, maybe an indian, and he was found in
Alabama 1860 census with a second wife, and they
went back to Georgia after the Civil War, where
they are buried in Indian Creek Cemetery.
John Little (479 KB) Civil War, he was
Cherokee by blood and his description was dark
complected, black eyes and black hair. John's
mother was Catherine Weatherford, a daughter of
Charles Weatherford.
Mordecai Bozeman
(53 KB) Anne Carter's
great great great great grandfather Mordecai
Bozeman was paid for his service in the Militia
of the South Carolina's Continental Line of the
American Revolution. He was born 1735 Bladen
North Carolina and had sons, Peter, John, James.
Peter moved to Alabama in 1827.
Mordecai Bozeman 2
(52 KB) Anne Carter's
great great great great grandfather Mordecai
Bozeman was paid for his service in the Militia
of the South Carolina's Continental Line of the
American Revolution. He was born 1735 Bladen
North Carolina and had sons, Peter, John, James.
Peter moved to Alabama in 1827. Peter had
William Henry and then Henry had Peter Edward.
Peter Edward Bozeman had John Thomas, and he had
Lorena.
Jesse Bozeman born 1793
headstone (49
KB) found in Stokes-Carter Cemetery in
Hope Hull, Montgomery, Alabama just off I-65
where his daughter Lacy Bozeman married Thomas
Randolph Carter,
The first Home Steaders of the City,
arriving from Iowa Territory after many years in
Guernsey Ohio.
Jacob and his first wife
with six daughters appeared on the 1870 census
of Iowa, then his second wife on the 1880, as
they prepared for the long journey
south.
Much of their families lived near
them and some even followed Jacob to
Kansas.
Some of his children and
grandchildren and great grands remain in Kansas
while some ventured elsewhere and began a vast
lineage of their own in Arizona, California,
Colorado,Missouri, Oklahoma and
Alabama.
Lavinia Sellers -
1880 (528
KB) Mysterious error on census,
Lavinia Jane Sellers Anderson mistakenly listed
as Bozeman, but note that she is the mother in
law - she is Corrintha Anderson Barfoot's
mother. Lavinia was the wife of Seaborn Anderson
and also the mother of Nancy Bozeman in the next
household. Lavinia's parents were Levinia
Anderson and William Calvin Sellers - all the
Andersons being of the same family of Elisha and
the Sellers all being from 1700s North Carolina.
Confederate Application for Widows
Pension (852
KB) Grandmother Nancy Jane Anderson
Bozeman ( daughter of Lavinia ) applied in 1899
with her husband's Uncle John A. Hill as the
witness - her husband is buried on Uncle John's
old plantation in Dublin where I have discovered
his tombstone - this item adds to the suspicion
of Hill in our lineage as John was the brother
of Martha H. Bozeman and her father was also a
John Hill in the American Revolution who
eventually settled in Dublin with many of his
own children.
1850 (610 KB) Vincent Joiner and
Aunt Ellen Bozeman took in her brother Meady's
son after his death and one of them became big
in history as the Captain Peter Henry Bozeman of
Mississippi Calvary - Ellen was one of the
daughters of Sarah and Peter of Darlington SC.
Stone in Macon
County (654
KB) 1850 shows Grandfather Augustus
Marvin Stone as a child with his parents Sarah
Davies and Benjamin Wilburn Stone living near
Ben's brother William, from Georgia, but also
near their own father from Maryland, Michael
Stone born 1778.
1830 (76 KB) Grandpa Elisha
Anderson in Montgomery Alabama by his son in law
Alfred Sellers and by Jesse and by Captain
Benjamin Lewis
Anderson and
Sellers (1
KB) Big migration into Montgomery
Alabama with Sellers, Anderson and Bozeman all
living very close together for many many years.
1920 Madison Fenn on Commerce
Street, Montg, AL (817 KB) he is Carrie's Uncle
Mat or our great grandfather Wm F Fenn's brother
who died in 1927 and is buried at Greenwood
Cemetery by Wm F Fenn and near Emmett Fenn.
Whomever buried Uncle Mat listed him as Matthew
A Fenn, so they did not know much about the
family's real names. Madison was a night
watchman at a grocery store, according to this
census, being widowed as his wife had died in
Texas, prompting his return to Alabama. There is
also a Rewis family on this census which we
later find connected with Emmett Fenn.
1930 James Brooks and Susie Mae
Cooper (1086
KB) Montgomery Alabama census... John
BROOKS Self M Male W 42 PA Farmer HOLLAND FRANCE
P. R. BROOKS Wife M Female W 38 TN Keeping House
TN TN Nora C. BROOKS Dau S Female W 18 TN At
Home PA TN Walter H. BROOKS Son S Male W 13 TN
At Home PA TN John H. BROOKS Son S Male W 7 TX
PA TN Lula C. BROOKS Dau S Female W 5 TX PA TN
... W. BROOKS Son S Male W 3 TX PA TN
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
------ Source Information: Census Place Precinct
1, Lamar, Texas.
1930 Uncle Wm Frank Fenn near
Highland Avenue (998 KB) Carrie's brother,
also brother of our grandpa Cecil Earl Fenn
Carter. Uncle Frank, his wife Neva Mae Walraven,
and her mother are living between Panama Street
and Highland Avenue. He works on the railroad,
like his brother Emmett. Uncle Frank later buys
land in Coosada on Airport Road and has a family
cemetery which includes his brother Robert's
grave. The land later becomes Coosada Elementary
School. Some is donated to the church for a
cemetery. This is where cousin Martha remembered
her mom, Neva, boiling Frank's workclothes in a
pot outside from his job on the railroad. There
was once a housefire where they lost many of
their family photos and mementos, but one son
remembered Frank having a photo of a guy in
baseball uniform signed by Wm Arthur "Tige"
Stone.
1920 Susie Mae
Cooper (763
KB) Montgomery Alabama census with her
mother Sallie E Carter, widow of Thomas R Carter
and his first marriage was to Lacy Bozeman
1930 Eva Dakota Fenn on McDonough
Stree (21
KB) She is now alone. At some point
she moved in with her stepson Wm Frank Fenn Jr
because my mother in law Mary Ella Brooks knew
her and actually took her in when Eva and Frank
did not get along. This might have happened in
Montgomery before they all moved to Elmore
County but yes, Mary Ella took care of the lady
!! What a small world we live in < smiles
>
1820 Elijah Fann/ Fenn in Laurens
Georgia (407
KB) One of our great great
grandfathers....married to Martha Rich and had
John who ended up in Tuskegee Alabama and had a
son named William Frank Fenn . Elijah's
ancestors came down through the Carolinas and
the wars and some were listed on the Georgia
land lottery - such amazing history here !!
1910 James E Brooks in Montgomery
AL (384
KB) on Hull Street with father in law
listed as Crawford, children John and
Dorothy....?W. P. BROOKS Self M Male W 55 TN
Farmer NC VA Carrie BROOKS Wife M Female W 33 TN
Keeps House TN TN John D. BROOKS Son M Male W 25
TN Mule Trader TN TN Roxanna BROOKS DauL M
Female W 22 TN At Home TN TN Walter BROOKS Son S
Male W 19 TN Farm Laborer TN TN Rolla BROOKS Son
S Male W 5 TN TN TN Lilly BROOKS Dau S Female W
3 TN TN TN Kate JONES Other D Female B 35 TN
Dom. Servant TN TN Oscar JONES Other S Male B 3
TN TN TN
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
------ Source Information: Census Place District
16, Maury, Tennessee
John Thomas Bozeman
photo (386
KB) father of Lorena, husband of Alice
Stephens... Peter E. BOZEMAN Self M Male W 46 AL
Farmer SC SC Nancy J. BOZEMAN Wife M Female W 34
AL Keeping House AL GA John Thos. BOZEMAN Son S
Male W 14 AL Field Hand AL AL Peter J. BOZEMAN
Son S Male W 12 AL Field Hand AL AL Corintha
BOZEMAN Dau S Female W 10 AL AL AL Robt. H.
BOZEMAN Son S Male W 8 AL AL AL Martha J. F.
BOZEMAN Dau S Female W 5 AL AL AL Allie Lucie
BOZEMAN Dau S Female W 2 AL AL AL George M.
BOZEMAN Son S Male W 1 AL AL AL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
------ Source Information: Census Place Dublin,
Montgomery, Alabama
1930 Creek County, Oklahoma,
Carrie Fenn Johnson (993 KB) Cousin Martha said
that Aunt Carrie married a Ben Johnson and moved
to Oklahoma where they had one daughter named
Jean and they lived a very poor life and
probably died there. Ben is shown to have been
born in Texas.
John Brooks of Pennsylvania in
Texas 1880 census (833 KB) Shows his father is
from Holland and his mother is from France and
his wife is from Tennessee. John is 42 on this
document and his children are born in Texas so
they have been here nearly 20 years apparently.
Roxanna Permilia Smith is using P R for her name
on this.
1900 Choctaw Nation Texas, Ben
Johnson (927
KB) some of Ben's siblings are born in
Indian Territory but he shows born in Texas -
all citizens are listed as white. There is
another Johnson family living next to them.
Ben's mother is born in Alabama. They must have
returned later to Alabama when he met Carrie
Fenn and married her and then they moved on to
Oklahoma.
1920 Carrie Fenn in Alabama with
her father (701
KB) on Commerce Street with her
stepmother Eva, we do not know why Carrie/
Carolyn never lived with her own mother, but her
father was ill and she stayed. Her brother
Emmett is also there but we do not know why they
show his middle initial as J when his middle
name was Marvin, but census officials were not
perfect and if Eva was the person giving out the
information, she probably had no clue. Eva
Dakota Fenn was very young too !!
Luella was born 2/8/1897 in Benton
County Arkansas and died 5/11/1945 in a
Kansas City Missouri Hospital after an 80 day
stay that we were told was cancer
related; some say she died from surgical
mistakes made at a previous hospital.
She
was married to Frank Delbert Cochran
Her
parents were Benjamin Wallace Coonfield and
Lattie Cedonia Little.
I never knew my
grandma Luella but heard many wonderful stories
about her. Dad talked of watching her sit in the
fields for hours filling her apron with herbs,
polk, whatever was good for the family. She was
a strong, loving lady who came from a long line
of pioneers and soldiers and worked hard to care
for her loved ones and teach them honor and
respect. Dad also said her long black hair
reached the floor when she brushed it out.
Luella was very spiritual and kept many
handwritten notes in her Bible, which was handed
down to her by her mother.
Possibly some
of those notes were written by her parents.
Luella was one quarter Cherokee plus
some Creek. It's been said that some of her
Wright cousins were offered land allotments in
the Oklahoma Indian Territory, but this author
has not yet recovered any documentation of it.
Many of the surnames in this family are
found on the Indian Rolls in Oklahoma, yet a
direct connection to this line has not been
found.
Luella is age 3 on this 1900
census in Arkansas (982
KB) Lattie L Coonfield Home in 1900:
Garland, Benton, Arkansas Age: 28 Estimated
birth year: 1872 Birthplace: Kentucky Race:
White Relationship to head-of-house: Wife
Luella's Bible notes
(113 KB) List of family
birthdays but this is not Luella's handwriting
compared to other notes...perhaps her mother
wrote it down for her...it is said the Bible
once belonged to Lattie
Luella's great
granddaughter (11
KB) a beautiful flutist, also plays
clarinet and guitar and enjoys crafting of many
sorts and quilting
Laura's daughter Martha Hawes of Arizona
University contacted Kathy around 2003 or so and
mailed a large package of genealogy material
that her mother had worked up on the Little
family, along with copies of letters from
Dorline Gray, letters from Laura's father to Sue
Little Crenshaw and some photos.
Kathy tried to phone Dorline but learned
she had passed away but her husband shared the
phone number to Dorline's sister, Velma, who was
so delightful to chat with, and also mailed a
package of information before she also passed
away but it was learned the Gray children grew
up with the Cochran children in Kansas and many
photos and memories were shared.
Ancestry file (92 KB) the many ancestors of
Luella's children
Coonfield Research
Notes (121
KB) We find Isaac on the 1800 Kentucky
Tax list in Jefferson County and go from there.
His wife appears to be widowed in 1830.
Little Lineage (35 KB) Our Scottish
connection After Captain Little was widowed, he
married his son's mother in law and moved thru
Tennessee into Kentucky. His great grandson
wrote about them in the book Green River
Families of Kentucky and History of Daviess
County KY.
History of George
Little (11
KB) Luella's great great grandfather,
Captain George Little was injured in the
American Revolution, therefore exempt from any
future taxes.
