52 Ancestors 2021: Week 19: Mother's Day

 First and foremost, I want to apologize in the delay in my writing any blog posts. On June 7th, this laptop took a turn for the worst. It suddenly started saying, "no hard drive found," and I thought it was screwed, for lack of a better term. So on June 8th, I ordered off for a new laptop. 

From June 8th until July 2nd, I was using my Uncle's old HP laptop to try and get at least the bare minimum of genealogy done... but I grew more frustrated with it every single day. It was so slow that I wanted to pull my hair out every single time it tried to load a page. On July 2nd, on just a shites and giggles whim, I tried this laptop, and for some reason it was working again -- but the keyboard isn't. 

Alas, having worked an online job for years and years... I have a USB/wireless keyboard...so that's what I'm using to type on this laptop. My NEW laptop was meant to be here on July 9th... but it's delayed. I'm guessing Dell is having a hard time getting the parts from China, or Taiwan, or wherever they get their stock parts from. The new revised date is August 4th. 

Anyway... onward to the topic at hand: Mother's Day. 

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I thought I'd take a moment to write about each of my maternal ancestors -- the ones I know are 100% at least and talk about my maternal haplogroup (DNA) as well. Upon doing my 23andme, I learned that my maternal haplogroup is H4a. 

From the best of what I understand... H4a is one of many haplogroups that is popular among England - which my Mother is heavily English. It, too, has a heavy presence in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and other areas you'd consider "Viking territory." 

My hypothesis as to why our maternal haplogroup is H4a is the fact that Vikings, as you well know, raided and plundered England many many generations ago. They also started to intermingle with the English settlers... marry, have children, etc. I believe we descend from those Viking/English ancestors. 

My direct maternal line starts with my Mother, who was born right here in Henderson County and has remained here her entire life (she's 58 this year). Since she's still living, I won't tell you a whole lot about her in specific.. but beyond her, I'll try and speak a little more in depth about each of my direct maternal ancestors. My Mother takes after her father (James Allen Blanford Sr) and thus has a dark, "farmers tan" style complexion and icy blue eyes.

My Grandmother, Glynda Jane (Sandefur) Blanford was born at home on Letcher St. here in Henderson, Kentucky, on June 13th, 1941. She was the fourth child born to Henry Lloyd Sandefur and Anna Elizabeth Thompson. By the time she was a young girl, the family moved out to the Niagara community in our county. Very rural but very quaint. Sometime in 1961, she met my Grandpa while at the bowling alley with some friends. By March 31st, 1962, they married at Bellfield Baptist Church, which was my Grandma's church. My Grandpa was a Catholic.

My Grandmother was my genealogy partner until she got sick with what we believe was Parkinson's and dementia (not the Alzheimer's that her sisters tried to sell it as.) My Grandma passed away on December 8th, 2015. My Grandmother took after her mother with her dark brown eyes but had a pale complexion. Grandma and Grandpa are buried in St. Louis Cemetery here in Henderson. 

My Great-Grandmother, Anna (Thompson) Sandefur was born on August 18th, 1916, at home in the "Walnut Bottom" area of Henderson County, which in today's terms is known as Smith Mills. She was the seventh children born to John Rowan Thompson and Mary Janella Nally. On August 25th, 1933, she and Henry Lloyd Sandefur eloped to Old Shawneetown, Illinois, and married there. Nana, as I called her, is the entire reason I started genealogy. I was fortunate to know her in my youth and I had the curious question of, "did you know any of your Great-Grandparents?" However...she couldn't answer it. She, too, I believe, had Parkinson's and dementia that was stereotyped as Alzheimer's. Nana had an "olive complexion" as we call it. She had dark brown eyes. Nana passed away when I was eight years old, on October 2nd, 2001. Nana and Poppy were of the Baptist faith although Nana would have been raised Catholic. They are buried in Fernwood Cemetery here in Henderson.

My 2x Grandmother, Mary Janella (Nally) Thompson was born a twin of Camilla on October 20th, 1882, in rural Union County, Kentucky. It's likely they lived in the portion of Union County that is close to Smith Mills (which is Henderson County.) Definitely around the Highland Creek area. Her parents were Henry Oliver Nally and Vandalia Delia Gibson. On October 28th, 1902, Janella married her second cousin, John Rowan Thompson. They married in the Catholic church. She had blue eyes and an olive colored complexion, according to my Mom. Maw, as she was called, passed away on December 29th, 1972, of stomach cancer and arteriosclerotic heart disease, the latter she had for a number of years.. She and her husband are buried in Roselawn Memorial Gardens here in Henderson. 

My 3x Grandmother, Vandalia Delia (Gibson) Nally was the daughter of John Gregory Gibson and Mahala Caroline Busby, born on December 21st, 1856, in the outskirts of the Corydon/Cairo areas of Henderson County. Vannie, as she was called, married Henry Oliver Nally on January 28th, 1880, in the Old Highland Missionary Baptist Church.. that's surprising as I know the Nally's were Catholic -- but I'm going to go out on a limb and say the Gibson's were of Baptist faith. Vannie birthed two sets of twins... and twins apparently run in the Gibson, Nally, and Thompson families. I have unfortunately never been able to procure a photograph of my 3x Grandparents. Vannie passed away on July 5th, 1949, of arteriosclerotic heart disease of which she had for thirty years. Vannie and Henry are buried in the old Gibson Family Cemetery in Corydon. 

My 4x Grandmother, Mahala Caroline Busby, was born in January of 1820, in either Kentucky or Tennessee. In the 1820 census, her parents were listed in Sumner County, Tennessee, IF it's the correct people... but her parents married in 1813 in Henderson County, Kentucky. So, definitely born in Kentucky or Tennessee. She was the daughter of William Busby and Elizabeth Denton. By November 1st, 1841, Mahala was back in Henderson and married John Gregory Gibson. They had an absolute slew of children: 13 if I've counted correctly. at least 5 that died before the age of 20. They populated the county with Gibson's and the Gibson Cemetery with descendants. She and John Gregory are buried in the old Gibson Family Cemetery. 



My 5x Grandmother, Elizabeth Denton, was the daughter of Benjamin Denton and Priscilla Rebecca Wiggins; she was born on March 10th, 1790, likely in North Carolina. However, by December 28th, 1813, she lived in Henderson County, KY, where she married William L. Busby. They moved to Tennessee for a short time, where William died in 1830, and Elizabeth returned to Henderson County. Elizabeth herself passed away on March 13th, 1856, in Henderson County, and is buried in Talbott Cemetery in the Robards area of the county. That cemetery is horrendously overgrown and not taken care of. I wish I could see it cleaned up in my lifetime before Elizabeth's tombstone is completely erased from existence. The reason she's buried in that small cemetery of (quite possibly) only five graves is because her daughter, Celia, married a Talbott. 



My 6x Grandmother, Priscilla Rebecca "Celia" Wiggins was born in the year of 1755 in the Granville County area of North Carolina to parents Thomas Wiggins and Elizabeth Tabitha Cooper. On November 18th, 1772, in Granville County, Celia married Benjamin Denton. It is reported that Celia died in 1808 in White County, Tennessee. Her husband reportedly died there in 1810. I've never found an actual census record or land record of them being in White County, TN. Their descendants helped populate Henderson County with Denton's that are still in this county to this day! 

My 7x Grandmother, Elizabeth Tabitha Cooper, was born about 1735 and married Thomas Wiggins in roughly 1753 in North Carolina. On an application for the Sons of the American Revolution, they say she died around 1764 -- but I think she actually died closer to 1782. She's definitely deceased by 1796 when her husband, Thomas, re-marries to Frances Holman. Thomas passed away in either the last week of 1798 or the first day or two of 1799 as his will was probated on January 3rd, 1799, in Granville County, NC. 

Now, beyond Elizabeth (Cooper) Wiggins, I haven't made any DNA connections - which is normal with autosomal DNA. Autosomal DNA... unless you've got some heavy heavy heavy endogamy/intermarrying/inbreeding in the line, you aren't going to make matches with like 9th, 10th, 11th+ cousins. I have indeed made DNA matches with 8th cousins through Elizabeth Cooper & Thomas Wiggins. My Mom has made DNA matches through them as well. It is possible if my Mom does her mtDNA test over at FamilyTreeDNA, we might be able to make matches from further back this line.

So going off of folklore for the rest of this line... 

My 8x Grandmother is reportedly Elizabeth (Cannon) Cooper. She was born, roughly, in 1717 likely in Virginia. She married Benjamin Cooper Sr in 1734 in Surry County, Virginia. Elizabeth is said to be the daughter of John Cannon and Mary Price. Her husband, Benjamin, his will was written in 1759 and probated in 1761. It appears by the time he writes his will, that his wife, Elizabeth, has passed away... he does not mention a widow or spouse or wife. I believe their last child was born around 1753.. so it's likely Elizabeth could have died 1755 or sometime around then. 

My 9x Grandmother is said to be Mary (Price) Cannon. She likely would have been born around 1691 in Virginia and probably married around 1713 or just after. Her husband, John Cannon, was said to be born about 1688 and died 1734. I can't find any records mentioning them. The only records Mary can be found in are specific to her parents -- John Price and Jane Pugh/Pew. 

My 10x Grandmother is supposedly Jane Pugh (or Pew). She is said to have been born in 1659 in Henrico County, Virginia, the daughter of Jane Milner and Henry Pugh/Pew. It is said she married John Price in 1688 in Henrico Co, VA. They have at least five documented children: Mary, Elizabeth, John, Pugh/Pew, and Daniel. John died sometime around 1711 and Jane remarried Hugh Ligon. There were no children born to this union. Hugh is listed as being a descendant of the Plantagenets. Jane is recorded as dying on December 7th, 1713, in Henrico Co, VA. While Jane supposedly doesn't have any famous descendants -- she does have some famous relations according to her Find-a-Grave. 

My 11x Grandmother is said to be Jane (Milner) Pugh/Pew. She is supposed to be the daughter of John Milner and Elizabeth Rolfe. Elizabeth is said to have died in childbirth or the day after in 1635. She was born in Henrico County, Virginia. She married Henry Pugh/Pew in about 1658 in Henrico County, VA. Jane and Henry had at least four known children: Mary, Jane, Henry, and Elizabeth Ann. Jane, too, shows famous relations on Ancestry Beta, according to the manager of her Find-a-Grave profile. Jane is recorded as dying in April of 1709, in Henrico County. 

My 12x Grandmother is said to be none other than Elizabeth Pierce (Rolfe) Milner. Elizabeth is the daughter of THE John Rolfe (husband of Pocahontas) and his third wife, Jane Pierce. Elizabeth was born January 25th, 1620, in Jamestown, Virginia. Please note that she would have only been 15 years old when she married John Milner, who was at least 17 or 18 years old.. and she only had the one child with him: Jane Milner. It is said she died during or right after childbirth. John Milner was said to be of Nansemond, Virginia. 

My 13x Grandmother was Jane (Pierce) Rolfe, the third wife of the John Rolfe -- who had at least one child with Pocahontas. Jane was born about 1595 likely in England and died 1635, reportedly, likely in Virginia. She was the daughter of William Pierce of Virginia who is often confused with Pilgrim/Colonist William Pierce of Massachusettes. She married John Rolfe in 1619 in Virginia and had at least one child: Elizabeth, in 1620 in Jamestown. John Rolfe died in the Indian Massacre of 1622. Three years later, Jane remarried Captain Roger Smith. (To read more on William "Peirce" (Pierce): Click here. It is reported that Jane's first name was spelled "Joane" but it appears historians interchangeably use Joane and Jane. There is a marriage record for a John Rolfe and Joane Pierce in 1612 in New England records, but, we know they couldn't have married that early. In John Rolfe's will, made out in 1621 (he died in 1622), he appointed William Peirce as the guardian of his children. Apparently William Peirce and John Rolfe met in Bermuda after Peirce's ship, on which he was aboard, crashed. His wife and daughter were on a separate ship and arrived safely in Virginia ahead of him. 

My 14x Grandmother is said Joane/Jane, wife of William Peirce/Pierce, colonist of Virginia. It is likely that she, too, was born around 1580 and had their only child, Jane, when she was roughly 15 years of age in 1595. She was born in England, like William, and they married there. They did not sail for the new world until 1609. Joane and her daughter, Jane, arrived in Virginia safely as they were on a separate ship from William. William, however, crashed in Bermuda and that's where he met John Rolfe who would later marry his daughter. 

This is as far as I can take my direct maternal line. I'm really, really hoping that this information is correct. I would love to be a descendant of Jane (Pierce) Rolfe. It's depressing to not be a Bolling/descendant of Pocahontas, but ya know, being a descendant of John Rolfe is just as neat. 

Are any of you descendants of any of these people? Would you like to compare GEDMatch results maybe? My Mom and I both are on there. It's entirely possible we might be 8th cousin sand share a whopping 6 or 7 cM, lol. 

It's amazing to think a line of my family has been here in America since 1609 when America didn't even become "America" until 1776. I mean, 1609 is even prior to the Mayflower pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock. So I can say my family has been here since pre-Mayflower... or at least one branch of it. Very cool in my opinion as a genealogist. 

52 Ancestors 2021: Week 17: Favorite Place

 

I've already written about my Grandparents house being one of my favorite places growing up, and I've written quite a few times about the Gibson Cemetery being the cemetery that really made me fall in love with old family cemeteries. I could probably write about how much I love our library and it's genealogy department, or maybe a restaurant I love to eat at. 

But I think the best thing I could write about for "favorite place," that also goes along with a "favorite ancestral home," is my hometown and where I still currently reside...

Henderson, Kentucky. 

Henderson was originally known as "Red Banks" to the Native American tribes that lived on this land. In 1775, a man named Richard Henderson tried to purchase over 17,000,000 acres of land between the Ohio, Kentucky, and Cumberland rivers in what is currently Kentucky and Tennessee. Known back then as the Transylvania Purchase (because their little outfit was known as the Transylvania Company.) 

Unfortunate for Henderson, the sale ended up resulting in only 200,000 acres to develop. Richard Henderson hired famed Daniel Boone to survey the country and select favorable areas.. Unfortunately, Henderson passed away before he could ever come west and see the land he'd bought. 

General Samuel Hopkins and Thomas Allin, a surveyor, came to Red Banks in the year of 1797. They began to lay out the plans of what would later be known as Henderson -- named for Richard Henderson and his dream of a town west of the Alleghany mountains. 

While surveying, Hopkins and Allin agreed upon wide streets, so fires could not easily jump across the street. Today, this allows Henderson to have slanted parking spaces everywhere downtown -- instead of parallel parking like in most downtown areas in other cities. 

While Richard Henderson is the namesake -- Samuel Hopkins is certainly the Father of Henderson. In 1792, before "Henderson" came to be.. not counting the local Cherokee population, "Red Banks" only had 62 free male inhabitants. By October 29th, 1799, after "Henderson" was created -- a census for the city reported a population of 183. The county as a whole had 423 residents, 207 slaves, and 412 horses. 

A post office was officially put in place in Henderson in 1801. Our zip code today is 42420 -- but a lot of downtown businesses and P.O. boxes use zip code 42419. Henderson continued to expand and by the mid-1850's, Henderson had grown to be the largest producer of tobacco in the world, most of it being exported to Great Britain at the time. 

At the beginning of the 1900's, Henderson was said to have had more millionaires per capita than any other city in the world. Tobacco was still booming... until the First World War. Great Britain implemented such a high tax on tobacco that it drove the business out in this area for good. Local farmers, even today, still grow a little tobacco but.. it'll never be the craze that it was from the mid 1850's to pre-First World War. 

In the 1920's, 1930's, and 1940's, Henderson garnered attention and was referred to as "Little Chicago" because of how much illegal gambling in nightclubs happened here. In the 1950's and 1960's, they began to clean up the town considerably and nightclubs became a thing of the past. 

Samuel Hopkins resided out towards the "Graham Hill" area of Henderson County, just outside of Henderson city limits, and is buried in his family cemetery there. His residence was known as "Spring Garden." The young daughter of naturalist, John James Audubon, is said to be buried there as well. 

Yes, Henderson garners most of its fame for being home to John James Audubon for the early part of the 1800's. Audubon owned a grist mill right on the Ohio River in downtown Henderson and today that area is known as "Audubon Mill Park." We are home to the John James Audubon State Park and Museum on the north end of town. 

Henderson was also home to famous blues musician W.C. Handy for much of his life -- so we celebrate him and his legacy with the W.C. Handy Blues Festival every June in Audubon Mill Park. Another famous musician, "Grandpa" Jones, a banjo player who made it big on such shows as Hee-Haw was born in Henderson County, in "Niagara" to be exact; a little community just south-east of the city proper. 

During the Civil War, Adam "Stovepipe" Johnson, a Henderson native, rose to fame for taking Newburgh, Indiana for the Confederacy with a "stovepipe" he fashioned to look like a cannon. He took Newburgh on a literal bluff. 

During WW2, most notably the Pearl Harbor disaster -- the man who got a lot of the blame unjustly placed on him, Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, was born and raised here. The Kimmel Homestead was roughly between 5th and 6th Streets off of Green Street (our main thoroughfare through town.) 

We've been home to a few congressmen, senators, and the like. John Young Brown, A.B. "Happy" Chandler, James Franklin Clay, John Lloyd Dorsey Jr, Lazarus Whitehead Powell, Augustus Owsley Stanley, to name a few. 

We've had a few authors come out of our area like Debbie Dadey, Lucy Furman, Joey Goebel, Maralea Arnett, and more. 

Henderson is home to Metzger's Tavern, which proudly holds the title of the oldest continuously operating tavern in the entire state of Kentucky -- opening in 1887.

Henderson is situated on the Green River as well -- or at least, part of the county is. Green River meets up with the Ohio in what is known as the "Scuffletown Bottoms" very near communities such as Spottsville and Beals. It runs down through our county coming into contact with communities like Hebbardsville, Bluff City, and Niagara. The Green River, in part of the county, is the "divide" between Henderson County and McLean County. The Ohio River is the divide between Kentucky and Indiana. 

Henderson is also famous for being where Mother's Day was first celebrated in 1887. Mary Towles Sasseen isn't officially credited as the originator of Mother's Day -- no, the honor was stolen out from under her by a woman named Ann Jarvis. Sasseen was a schoolteacher here in Henderson County and it is recorded that she put together a Mother's Day program for her students as early as 1887. Her cousin, Susan Towles, was one of Henderson's most prestigious librarians. The Towles family was quite affluent in the area. 

Spottsville is home to one of only two revolving train bridges left operating in the world. 

Our "town square" which is called "Central Park" and is home to our county courthouse -- Central Park is the oldest park west of the Alleghany mountains. The park used to be home to the county jail and was even once the public lynching area. 

Henderson has many cemeteries with many notable and prominent people buried in them. I could write a different blog sometime about all of them. I could probably go on for hours about random facts about Henderson - like it being home to Ellis Park which was built in 1922, of course it's gone through a few name changes since then. 

I could also write a whole blog about all the schools in our area and the changes they've gone through since 1797. Same with the churches in the community, and all the little towns throughout the county. They all have their own interesting histories. 

I think I've given you quite a good glimpse at Henderson's history and how it came to be and what all makes Henderson special. Now I need to get down to the genealogical aspect of why Henderson is my favorite place ancestrally. 

My paternal side isn't from the Henderson area -- but my maternal side is. By the 1810 census, my 5x Grandparents -- Bennett Sandefur and Judith Bilbo had come to Henderson County, Kentucky. By 1813, my 5x Grandparents married here -- Thomas Watson and Rebecca Copeland. By 1812, another set of my 5x Grandparents married here -- Joshua Moss and Sarah Adkins "Sallie" Griffin. 

Some more of my early ancestors was my 4x Grandmother Joshua Jarrett who died here in 1849. My 5x Grandparents, Joel Gregory & Nancy Lester were here by the mid 1830's. Nancy died here in 1835 and Joel remarried in 1836. 

My 5x Grandparents, Daniel Hazelwood Jr and Susannah Smith were here by the mid 1830's.. Daniel dying here in 1836. My 5x Grandfather Hiram McDonald came here by 1825 from New York and married a local woman, Susan Hust; my 5x Grandmother. 

My 3x Grandfather, Ben LaRue, came here by the 1860's and married Mary Philapine Lawrey in 1867 - my 3x Grandmother. Her parents, Robert Lawrey & Elizabeth Hill were here by the 1860 census.

Of course, I've written about him several times before -- my 6x Grandfather Joel Gibson and his sons were in the Henderson County area between 1810 and 1820. I believe they arrived in 1813 to be exact. My 5x Grandparents married here in 1813 -- William L. Busby and Elizabeth Denton. 

The rest of my lines -- Blanford, Nally, Thompson, etc.. They're Catholic. They came to the Union County area, first, as part of a Catholic migration from Eastern Kentucky (the Nelson, Washington, Hardin county areas.) They're newer to Henderson County than the previously mentioned lines. 

My direct ancestors do have same family graveyards throughout the county. Joshua Moss and his wife are buried in one Moss Cemetery in the Niagara area and then my 4x Grandparents are buried in what's called the "W.J. Moss Family Cemetery" in Niagara. His name was William Jackson Moss. 

Daniel Hazelwood and his progeny are buried in the Hazelwood Family Cemetery out towards Hebbardsville. Of course, the Gibson Family Cemetery's (two of them) in Corydon where the Gibson Plantation was located right off of J. Gibson (named for Joel, I believe) Road.

Elizabeth (Denton) Busby is buried here in Talbott Cemetery in Robards. The rest of my lines are buried in either city cemeteries, church graveyards, or their graves are lost to time, sadly. A lot of my ancestors, even if I know where they're buried.. they no longer have tombstones or at least, not legible ones. 

My roots being here in Henderson County since 1810 -- it's no wonder that I love my hometown and really have no desire to leave here. A lot of my friends think I'm crazy for not wanting to escape this "hell hole" as some call it. The people here can sometimes be... urgh. I can say that, I'm related to everyone here, haha. But this place is so beautiful and has such a vast, rich history that.. I can't imagine ever leaving it. 

I wish there was a Pioneer Society of Henderson County. I'd love to join something such as that. I know we have a local Daughters of the American Revolution chapter, which I could absolutely join through Joel Gibson, but.. my family helped build this town into what it is today. I wish they could be recognized for their efforts. 

In some of the history books talking about Robards, it does mention my 5x Grandfather, Bennett Sandefur, as helping found the town along with Reuben Moss, my 4x Grandfather's brother. Jordan Moss, my 1st cousin 6x removed is also listed. Others like George Robards, George Eakins, Enoch Spencer, Thomas Rideout, Ben Wall, Nathan Smith, T.W. Royster, James McMullin, and Samuel McMullin Sr are also credited and I'm related to them as well.

George Robards was the husband of my 1st cousin 6x removed, Martha Moss. George Eakins was the husband of my 3rd cousin 8x removed, Sarah Elizabeth Melton. Enoch Spencer was the husband of my 1st cousin 6x removed, Abigail Denton. Thomas Rideout was the father-in-law of my 2nd cousin 5x removed, Martha Jane McAndrew. 

Benjamin "Ben" Wall was the husband of my 1st cousin 6x removed, Mary Sandefur Bugg. Nathan Smith was the grandfather of the husband of my 3rd cousin 4x removed, Mary Frances Wall. T.W. Royster (Thomas Wilkins Royster) was the father-in-law of my 2nd cousin 5x removed, Tabitha Jane Spencer. 

James McMullin was the father-in-law of my 3rd cousin 4x removed, Mary Emily Robards. Samuel McMullin Sr was the grandfather of the wife of my 3rd cousin 4x removed, Socrates Brackett. 

So when I tell you I'm related to everyone from Henderson County, Kentucky... I'm really not joking. My Ancestry tree is up to 94,719 people and it grows by at least a hundred people every couple of days. Before I started up my genealogy business in November of 2016, starting in 2011, I was on a personal mission to figure out how I was related to every single person buried in Henderson County. I started with the smaller family cemeteries and I just about had them all finished. I'd say, realistically, I got about 45% of the way done when I started up my genealogy business and no longer had time to compile my extensive research on each and every cemetery in the county (about four binders full so far.) 

I got a bit windier with this blog post than I intended, but I'm glad to have introduced you to Henderson, Kentucky, the place I'm extremely happy to call home. I'm very happy that my roots go as far back into the history of this great place as they do. I'll have to go much more in depth about some of the stuff I touched on in this blog at some point in the future. Maybe there will be a good topic sometime soon that some of this stuff will fit. :) 

Thank you for reading. If you enjoy my writing, please follow my blog, it would mean a lot to me!

52 Ancestors 2021: Week 3: Namesake

My name is Brecca -- and sadly, I'm not named after anyone. In fact, most people mispronounce or misspell my name as Becca or Rebecca. My name is pronounced Brek-kuh. My first name actually came from my Dad sitting back and watching an old Western movie where there was a character named "Bricka," or something similar to that. 

However, there is a gorgeous name in my family that for a couple generations was "a family name," if you will, and then it seemed to have died out, quite literally. It's my absolute favorite name in my entire family tree...

Vandalia.

The first Vandalia was my 3x Grandmother, Vandalia Delia (Gibson) Nally. I, unfortunately, have no photographs of Vandalia, even though she lived well into the 20th century. I'm not incredibly sure what or who the first Vandalia was named after... my speculation is the Vandalia territory. 

According to Wikipedia -- Vandalia was the name in the late 1700s of a proposed British colony in North America. The colony would have been located south of the Ohio River, primarily in what are now West Virginia and northeastern Kentucky. 

It's possible the Gibson family knew of this proposed colony as they came to Kentucky from Caswell County, North Carolina, and would have undoubtedly traveled through eastern Kentucky to arrive in Henderson County, Kentucky in the mid 1810's. 

Vandalia was born December 21st, 1856, in the Corydon area of Henderson County, Kentucky, where the Gibson family had been settled since Joel Gibson, Vandalia's great-Grandfather, came to the area in 1813. He came with a passel of his children, including his son Berryman Gibson, who was Vandalia's Grandfather. 

Vandalia herself was the daughter of John Gregory Gibson and Mahala Caroline Busby. She was their ninth child -- their fifth daughter. Vandalia and her older sister Neosha, were the only two daughters that lived past their 20's. 

On January 28th, 1880, at Old Highland Missionary Baptist Church in Union County, Kentucky, Vandalia became Mrs. Henry Oliver Nally. She was 23 years old. On her marriage application, she is listed as "Vannie Gibson." Vannie was her lifelong nickname. 

Henry and Vandalia were the the parents of seven children -- of those seven, there were two sets of twins. Janella & Camilla being the first, and then Henry & Vandelia being the last.

Martha Vandelia "Vannie" (Nally) Williams was born on November 19th, 1891, in Corydon, Kentucky. She was the twin of Henry Oliver "Bud" Nally. Vannie married Richard James "RJ" Williams and bore him one daughter, Eleanor Dorothy (Williams) McKasson. 

Vannie unfortunately died young, on November 9th, 1913, just shy of her 22nd birthday. 

Looking back at another of Vandalia's daughters -- Janella -- she mothered the third, and final "Vannie" in our family line. 

Vannie Louise Thompson was born to John Rowan Thompson and Mary Janella Nally on November 24th, 1911, in Henderson County, KY. Unfortunately, Vannie didn't live a long life. At almost four years old, she passed away of membranous croup and was laid to rest along with the other Vannie's in the Gibson Family Cemetery. She died November 19th, 1915. That would have been her aunt, Martha Vandelia's 24th birthday, coincidentally enough.

The original Vandalia -- she lived to see the age of 92. She passed away on July 5th, 1949, in Henderson, KY, of arteriosclerotic heart disease. 

If you ever go to the Gibson family cemetery out on top of the hill on Hughes-Sights Road in Corydon, Kentucky, remember to pay your respects to the Vandalia's of our family, especially those who didn't live a long life at all. And also, remember to pay your respects to the patriarch of the Gibson's in Henderson County -- Joel Gibson, my 6x Grandfather. Without Joel, none of us would be here today. And when I say none of us, I quite literally mean just about every person in Henderson County, Union County, and even Webster County have a line going back to Joel Gibson. 

Joel, too, became a family name in the Gibson family but, it would take me eons to gather up information on every single Joel there is in the family. There are five when I type in "Joel Gibson" into my family tree on Ancestry, but I know there are more than that, that I haven't added in. 

I have another interesting "namesake" story in my tree that I could talk about... and that's my 3x Grandmother, Mary Olive Oatman "Ollie" (Raley) Blandford. She was named after Olive Ann Oatman (1837-1903) -- an American woman taken hostage by a Native American tribe. The character of Eva Oakes, on the AMC show, Hell on Wheels, is adapted from Olive Oatman. 

The Wikipedia about Olive Oatman: Olive Oatman

Photograph below is of the real Olive Oatman, from the Wikipedia page.

My 3x Grandmother, Mary Olive Oatman "Ollie" Raley was born February 3rd, 1864, in Union County, Kentucky. She was the daughter of George Washington Raley and Frances "Fanny" Martin. She was one of at least nine children -- most of them being girls. 

On October 8th, 1883, at Sacred Heart Church, she became Mrs. Samuel Blandford, at the age of 19 years. 

Sam and Ollie had eight children together before she passed away on June 16th, 1906, at the age of 42. I'm unsure of what Ollie's C.O.D. was, as in 1906, Kentucky wasn't keeping proper death certificates yet. I believe, though, that she's buried in Saint Peters Cemetery in Waverly, Union County, Kentucky. However, no tombstone for her has been located. I've also never seen a photograph of Sam Blandford nor Ollie (Raley) Blandford. Sam re-married shortly after Ollie's death.  

I may, someday, revisit this topic and talk about all the Joel Gibson's in the family, if I ever find them all, LOL. But for now.. I think I'll wrap this up. :)