The latest edition of Hollingsworth Heritage (Volume 22, Number 3) arrived in my mailbox last week. It is the official publication of The Descendants of Valentine Hollingsworth, Sr. Society (DVHSS) of which I am now a member. Thirty-six pages of Hollingsworth happenings at my fingertips. Bazinga! And to think that a year ago I knew not and naught of my Hollingsworth heritage, and today I am thumbing through page after page of pictures, stories and anecdotes about my distant Hollingsworth cousins.

The introduction of one of these distant Hollingsworth cousins stood out from the rest and compelled me to do more research. Frederick Brodbeck, my 7th cousin, 3x removed, was 39 years old when he died in 1912. This father of three daughters was the “Firechief” of Salina, Kansas at the time of his death. (Okay, I’ll admit it. I was a bit partial to Fred’s story since I’ve driven through Salina many, many times.) While en route to an emergency, the car in which Fred was riding swerved to avoid a buggy in the road. Apparently, it was Fred who instructed the driver of the speeding car to veer – a selfless decision that ultimately cost him his life when the car crashed. Hundreds of people, if not thousands, showed up to pay their respects at Fred’s funeral. I found this intriguing.

It turns out that Fred was nationally known in firefighting circles – not for fighting fires, but for preventing them. And then there’s his car. Apparently, it was Fred who first conceived of the idea of outfitting a normal car with firefighting equipment – transforming it into what we know today as the fire chief’s car. Pictures of Fred’s famous car appeared in “leading fire and insurance journals” across the nation. Other fire stations modeled their fire chief cars after his. Fred’s famous firefighting car put Salina, Kansas on the map according to The Salina Daily Union. (Who knew?)

Beyond his car, Fred’s fire-preventing method of inspecting buildings – the dreaded fire inspection – was adopted by the International Association of Firechiefs and replicated across the country. Once again, Fred put Salina on the map. It’s no wonder so many people showed up to pay their respects at this funeral. Keeping people safe from harm and preventing harm is what Fred did best – even if it meant sacrificing his own life.

Tell me you won’t think of Fred the next time you see a fire chief’s car or SUV racing alongside a firetruck.

Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relation: 7th cousin, 3x removed
Common ancestors: Valentine Hollingsworth, Sr. is Fred’s 6th great grandfather, is my 9th great grandfather

Deborah Murray died between 1840 and 1845 in Henry County, Tennessee. I know this because John R. Deason, my 4th great grandfather, appeared in court in 1845 and testified that his signature on Deborah’s last will and testament was, in fact, his. He and his co-witness and co-signator, Joel Rushing, also testified that Deborah was of “sound and disposing mind and memory” when the will was created. I don’t know why it was necessary for them to testify but the judge certified the will as the real thing according to the court minutes of Henry County, Tennessee, 1830-1849. But, I do know that Deborah, deceased in 1845, owned 50 acres of land in the tax records of 1840. Thus, the court case might have been about the land.

There are a lot of loose ends that I am trying to connect here. For example, I have hypothesized that the “R.” in John’s name stands for “Rushing” and that his mother was Elizabeth (Rushing) Lytle Deason, the 2nd wife of William Deason. John’s co-witness, Joel Rushing, therefore, is likely his cousin; but I haven’t been able to prove it. I’ve also not been able to determine if there’s a familial relationship between John, Joel and Deborah. John owned 50 acres of land in 1840, so he Deborah may have been nothing more than neighboring landowners. I also don’t know how Deborah came into possession of her 50 acres. She may have purchased it (although not likely given her age in 1840) or she may have inherited it from her father or first husband who was named “Murray”.

When I requested information on John R. Deason from the Henry County Genealogical Society, I didn’t even know Deborah Murray existed. So, you may be wondering why I am dwelling on her.

After further research, it turns out that Deborah may actually make it on to my family tree yet. On January 28, 1838, she married (in Henry County) a man by the name of William Holladay. Sarah Holladay, my 4th great grandmother and first wife of Jesse Trantham, might have been William’s 1st or 2nd cousin. This is becoming quite tangled, methinks. In the 1840 census, three people were living in the William Holladay household – a female under the age of 5, a female between the ages of 20 and 29 (Deborah), and William.

Now back of John and Joel’s testimony. Deborah’s will was being contested for some reason in 1845. But by whom? And could it have been over the 50 acres? And who the was the female child that was left motherless? It’s like I’m writing a bad ending of 1960’s episode of Batman.

To be continued…

Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relation: 4th great grandfather (John R., not Deborah)
Common ancestors: That’s one of many unanswered questions.

Here’s an update on a previous post. Scouring approximately 600 pages of single-spaced typed names in the most recent edition of Pocahontas’ Descendants by Stuart E. Brown et al yielded nothing but a few paper cuts. Sadly, I did not find my name listed. Drats.

I did, however, learn quite a bit about Pocahontas and her immediate brood so all was not lost. Conspiracy theories aside, Pocahontas and John Rolfe has but one son (Thomas) who had but one daughter (Jane) who had but one son (John). And yet their modern-day descendants number in the tens of thousands.

I’d like very much to prove that the family legend that we are descended from Pocahontas is true. I am certainly no closer to disproving it despite the paper cuts. There are simply too many holes in the Trantham and Boren lines for me to say conclusively that we are not descended from her. The biggest gaping hole by far is Mathilda Jane, my great grandmother Lula Betty’s maternal grandmother. Mathilda Jane’s maiden name is still painfully unknown to me. Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

So I am left to wonder the following: is it possible that my great grandmother Lula Betty knew something about her grandmother’s family tree that is currently beyond my reach. Absolutely. Could Mathilda Jane be the missing link? Yes, yes, and yes.

So my quest to Know-cahontas continues.

Kenfolk: Trantham-ish
Relation: No-cohontas
Common ancestors: Folks who came out of Africa hundreds of thousands of year ago – of this I am certain

Two hundred years from now genealogists will be scouring Ancestry.com’s fully indexed Facebook archive to figure out what their 4th great grandmothers “liked”. Or what they ate for breakfast on a particular day. I envy them a little I think. Maybe they’ll uncover more than they wanted to know. But, they’ll also have unlimited access to “selfies” as well as historic Candy Crush levels achieved. By then, the Daughters of the American Candy Crushers will have formed and will be taking applications. Now I really envy them.

Since Facebook is a recent phenomenon, genealogists today, however, must look elsewhere for clues about things their ancestors “liked”. Surprisingly, court house minutes often provide insight.

For example, Jesse Trantham, my 4th great grandfather, liked Jesse Dunlap’s gray horse. So much so, he and two friends decided to purchase it. Deciding to pay for it in full, however, was altogether a different matter. Naturally, that didn’t sit well with the horse’s previous owner who took Grandpa Jesse and his two co-defendants to court in 1838. They lost the case and were ordered to repay Jesse Dunlap. Grandpa Jesse’s co-defendant, Jason Myrick, eventually paid off the remaining balance of thirteen dollars and twenty seven cents.That is, he paid it off after the Sheriff of Henry County was later ordered to recover the money one way or another.

I have no idea why Grandpa Jesse would purchase a single horse with two other men. Perhaps Jason and his brother James Myrick were his business partners or they farmed together. Or, it occurred to me that they might also be family. Could there be Myrick DNA coursing through my veins?

Yup. My father, my aunt and I all have several DNA matches who descend from Myricks who lived in North and South Carolina. B-I-N-G-O! Two of them are in the 4th to 6th cousin range and match both my father and my aunt. That’s very promising.

The maiden name of Jesse Trantham’s mother is unknown. She signed deeds “Massey” according to other researchers. That could very well have been her first name. One of her granddaughters was named “Massey Holladay” after her. Is it possible that I may have just stumbled upon her maiden name or a connection to the Myricks and that Jason and James Myrick were cousins to Jesse on his mother’s side? Yes, but proving it is going to be the hard part. No documents exist recording Massey’s full name. Nevertheless, there IS a Myrick connection in there somewhere methinks.

And to think I might never have known this had the three of them not tried to cheat poor Jesse Dunlap!

(You may be thinking to yourself, blogger, couldn’t Jason and James have been related to Jesse on his father’s side? Yes, but Lewis Peach pretty much identified the children of Betsy (Eppinger) and Martin Trantham in his 1884 letter and there were no Myricks listed among them!)

Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relation: 4th great grandfather
Common ancestors: Jesse and I might just be descendants of the Myricks. We’ll see.