As crusades go, this may be a lost cause. I am determined to find historical evidence proving that the Martin “Frentham” who arrived in Natchez, Mississippi in 1788 was Martin Trantham, Jr., my 6th great grandfather. And that the Robert “Trentham”, who not only appeared but stayed, was Martin’s son. The “Holy Grail” of evidence is an affidavit filed by… More →
Author: K Trantham
Lettow Low Down
Great news. My application to join The American Society of Die Söhne der Napoleonischen Kriege (also known as Die ZöNK) has been accepted! Loosely translated, the Sons of the Napoleonic Wars is made up of people like me who can trace their ancestral lineage to German soldiers who fought against Napoleon’s armies in the early 19th century. Not to be outdone by its… More →
Cut it out. You’re Confusing the Lemmings.
I am auditioning titles for my new book on Martin Trentham. This is one of my favorites. In what will surely become an unfinished project laced with self-inflicted bouts of lunacy, I’ve decided that I simply can’t take it any more. I’ve developed an obsession (thus the lunacy) of trying to set people straight on the topic of Martin Trentham –… More →
Bad news travels far, too
Johann Heinrich Ludwig Grannemann, my 3rd great grand uncle, died three weeks shy of his 19th birthday on December 1,1843. Born in Nordhemmern, Germany in 1824, Johann must have yearned for America. Two of his brothers – my 3rd great grandfather, Johann Heinrich, and the oldest brother, Johann Heinrich – had already made the trip to America by 1842 and were married and busy… More →
The Trouble with Turbevilles
Alas, misfortune found its way to me as I tried to find a familial tie to Fortescue Turbeville who died under mysterious circumstances in South Carolina circa 1710. He may be related but he is not my ancestor. There are two genealogical research principles I learned early on and I ignored both of them. Don’t skip generations and try to… More →
Tracking Tricky Tranthams
Having picked the low-hanging fruit from my family tree, I am now faced with doing the kind of genealogical research that could easily and understandably take someone 30 years. Armed with enough Diet Dr. Pepper to choke a horse, I decided to buckle down this weekend and tackle one of the tougher items on my Trantham “to do” list. The first item is… More →
Casting Doubtful Votes
Lydia Turbeville, my 4th great grandmother who tried unsuccessfully to defraud the Army pension office in 1877, may have come by her penchant for dishonesty honestly. Fortescue Turbeville, who died mysteriously in 1710, was most likely Lydia’s direct ancestor – at least this is what I am now trying to prove or disprove. Fortescue fortified his place in history when, as… More →
Nalle Family Values
William Barnett Sims, my 3rd great grandfather, lived and died in Weakley County, Tennessee. Most Sims Family researchers believe (as I do) that his father was Alexander Sims who died in Weakley County around 1860. Alexander’s parents, according to these same Sims researchers, are also known. Well, sort of. From census records, we know that Alexander was born around 1773 in… More →
Gilley Willy-Nilly
This last week was productive genealogically speaking. I managed to fill in four squares on my mother’s ancestral scorecard and focus on a tree branch that I’ve pretty much ignored – the Gilley branch. Nancy Gilley, my 3rd great grandmother, was born in Henry County, Virginia about 1806. She married Stephen Turner in 1828. According to other Gilley and Turner researchers, Nancy’s middle name was… More →
Behold the Mayo
Today is Father’s Day. Although I have many male ancestors I could be writing about, I decided instead to focus on a man who is not related to me (that I know of) but of whose existence I am reminded every time I fill out an application requiring my full legal name. This man’s name was Basil Mayo and he was… More →