Begins With a Vowel - Elizabeth
I haven't been able to find much information on my great grandmother, Elizabeth Bettie Bass Rogers, from my father's side. But there are some interesting facts about her own family tree. Here's a repost from February 12, 2014
Champion Travis Traylor Sr.
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| Spanish moss growing on Live Oak trees. |
How is he related to me? Glad you asked.
My generation is 1
My father George is 2
His father George is 3
His mother Betty Bass Rogers is 4
Her mother Mary Ann Elizabeth Powell Bass is 5
Her mother Nancy Jones Traylor Powell is 6
and her father Champion Travis Traylor Sr. is generation 7 from mine, or my 4 times great grandfather.
Champion married 15 Aug 1797 in Wilkes County, Georgia, to the beautiful (of course) Sarah Jones (daughter of Susanna (Sukey) Claiborne (Clairborne) and Frederick Jones. Since her family was also from Virginia, it seems probable that they were also immigrating elsewhere at that time, and may have settled in Georgia.
At age 42, in 1812, Champion Travis Traylor (Sr.) fought against the British in the War of 1812. He received a land grant of 169 acres as a result of this service, in Cahabu, Perry County, Alabama, where he moved before the actual deed was granted. This is known because his death in Perry County, Alabama occurred in 1832, and the deed was signed by the secretary to President Andrew Jackson in November, 1833.
From US Archives.
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| Possibly the Cahaba River near it's intersection with the Alabama River |
Now Cahabu is known as Cahawba, the first capitol of Alabama, which has virtually vanished. Here's a link to information on it...and it's a few miles south of Selma, Alabama, of which you may have heard.
The Traylors had 12 children, all of whom at least reached their 20th birthday. My ancestor, Mary Jones Traylor Powell was their third child, born in Oglethorpe County, GA in 1804. They lived there where 6 more brothers and sisters were born, until her little brother, Josiah, was born in 1817 in Selma, Dallas County Alabama. By 1819 the last 2 Traylor children were born in Perry County, AL, which might mean a change of name of the county while they were living in the same place. There are 2 family Bibles available apparently, which list important life events, mostly in agreement. They state the family moved from Georgia to Alabama in 1820.
By April of 1820, Champion was a Justice in Perry County, AL.
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| Historic St. Luke Episcopal Church, Cahawba, Alabama |
The above photos shared on this post are from .cahawba.com/index.
Champion Travis Traylor died on April 4, 1832 at age 62. I don't know where he is buried.
Many of my ancestors received land in Alabama, and most of them moved on to Louisiana then to Texas.
And our ancestress, Nancy, married Sept. 19, 1822 to James Moore Powell in that county. Nancy and James' second child was Mary Ann Elizabeth (Mae) Powell Bass. Nancy died June 27, 1881, in Old Waverly, Walker County, TX.
Mae Powell married Col. Richard Bass in 1839 in Perry County AL. Their seventh of twelve children was Elizabeth (Bettie) Bass Rogers, born in 1860 in Old Waverly, Walker County TX. She would become my great grandmother (whom I never knew.)
A blog giving lots of information about her siblings, and my conjectures as to how she raised her children after becoming a young widow is HERE.
Sharing with Sepia Saturday and 52 Ancestors 52 Weeks, a Facebook Group, called Generations Cafe.
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So many couples back then had such large families. Sometimes it was because a big family was needed to help with chores and whatever else. But I suspect, had they had a truly dependable way to control the number of children they produced, many would have used it. Oh well, cheaper by the dozen, as the saying goes. :)
ReplyDeleteI hate to mention it, but in the southern states, most families had several slaves to help with everything household or farm related. Plantation life depended upon them!
DeleteMy 2X great grandmother, Eliza, lived in Selma for awhile both before and after she was freed from slavery in the 1860s. I've been there myself. I was looking at that top photo - there seems to be damage to the photo, perhaps that part was damaged. I can't imagine she had a short skirt on showing her legs for a photo in those days.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly is strange to see the bloomer-clad legs, perhaps through a sheer skirt, or like you said, damaged in the processing. We probably had ancestors who may have grown up together in the Selma area...before and after slavery. I sure feel compassion for the slaves who were set free without much of anything, and hope my ancestors helped them as much as they could, having just come out of the Civil War themselves. Land and other natural resources were just about all that they had, without much other resources, except maybe some farming tools. As I think about it, where would freed slaves live all of a sudden? Just walk away and then what? A terrible situation all around!
DeleteWow that's going back a long way in your family history!
ReplyDeleteWhen I searched for this photo of my great grandmother, I found the Traylor family post, and wanted to share it again. Just a whim to keep some of these ancestors in my mind.
DeleteBeing able to climb down a family tree to seven generations of ancestors is very impressive. But placing them on a map is even more amazing. Most books I've read about the early pioneers have them following a route westward to Oregon or California. The southern routes of migration is less well known but just as important since, as your family history shows, they led to opening up Texas to American expansion. Your photo's blur does look like a mistake in the processing or perhaps a shaky camera, since it was most likely a simple box camera.
ReplyDeleteThat land deed is truly amazing. First time I am seeing one from service in 1812. Thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteI was struck by the picture of the family on the porch in Galveston. My husband's family has deep roots there. I don't know the street locations like he does, so I had to google these addresses.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that they are in walking distance from the Bryan Museum, which used to be the Galveston Orphans Home at 1315 21st Street. I have toured the museum and was interested in the Orphan Home history. I also read that the first child at the home was orphaned when a Confederate family tried to go to South America after the Civil War out of Galveston. There must have been those who had funds and interest in helping similar families. Another interesting fact is that children with one parent were taken in with provisions for the mother to visit. She also could of had a support job at the orphanage. Galveston also had lots of jobs, industry, wealthy families, and wealthy tourists.
There was also more than one orphanage in Galveston for Protestant families and a large orphanage for Catholic families.
Not only was this after the war, but also a time with lots of diseases along the gulf coast.
Good luck with your research!
cotterclan6@gmail.com
Here's some links that are a good place to start:
https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/galveston-childrens-home
https://thebryanmuseum.org/galveston-orphans-home/
https://thebryanmuseum.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Museum
My great grandfather was Robert Mariam Rogers from Bass, Alabama. Wonder if he is related.
ReplyDelete