A Little From the Nerren side of the Family Tree...

My Granny Wallace was a Nerren before she married. Her Great Grand Father was Elam Albritton. That makes him my third Great Grandfather.

 Elam was born in Simpson, Miss on February 2, 1843 to James and Charity. The 1850 U.S census shows the family in Houston, Tx. Elam is 7. James is 50 and Charity is 44. There are 4 other people ages 17, 12, 5 and 2 listed in the household. Some are brothers and sisters, perhaps the older one is an uncle. It's hard to tell with this kind of thing. 

The next thing we find out out about Elam is that he is a private in the 7th Texas Calvary  7th Regiment Mounted Volunteers Confederate States of America serving from 1861-1865. That would have made him age 18 at enlistment. This Regiment formed in the summer of 1861 and was made up of men from San Antonio, Palestine, and Angelina County. They began as part of the Army of New Mexico and soon transferred to the Trans Mississippi Department. They participated in about 17 engagements including the Battle of Mansfield, La. Not too long ago we toured that battle field and I had no idea I was walking the same ground an ancestor once did.  Another notable battle was Cox's Plantation where a small Confederate force routed a larger Union force. A little research indicates 430 Union dead and 33 Confederates killed. The 7th may have born the brunt of this for the Rebels as the Regimental record lists 6 killed 35 missing and 34 wounded. While the official end of the war was May 9th 1865 the 7th did not surrender until June 2nd. 

The next official document that allows us to track Elam is the 1870 census. He's in Angelina County, he's a farmer with a value of $550. The post office is listed as Pennington and he is married to Marie whose maiden name was Massingill and they have a one year old, Andrew. Things are a little murky here. Some places list the wife as Mary, an easy mix up from Marie on and old scratchy hand written document. It seems that about 1875 Mary or Marie was no more and Elam is Married to Ruth Massingill. They seem to have one son and daughter between 1875 and 1889.   Elam passed away on Jan. 22nd, 1910.  Here's his stone in the Mckindree Cemetery.

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It seems that about 1824 Ruth fell on hard times and applied for a Confederate widows pension at the Angelina Country courthouse. Here's the document:

If you read this document two friends B.F.Nerren, (probably a relative) and C.A. Rush swear that "We were in the same regiment and all together all the time. We were in Company D and Elam was in company E. We knew him to be a good solider and a good citizen after the war up to the time of his death." It's signed by these men and the facts of the companies and their names show up on the regiment roster. It's also signed by Judge J.T. Maroney and the tax assessor collector Jack Nerren, probably another relative. I guess Ruth needed this pension because they certify her homestead value as "none." Seems that Confederate pensions were still being awarded up until 1955.   

So we have found out a lot of things about old Elam but questions still remain. Who were Mary and Ruth, both with the Massingill surname? What happened? What about the Confederate service ? He does not seem to have been a slave owner but just a poor boy in a rich man's war. There are certainly Nerrens, Massingills and Albrittions who are still around. Maybe we will one day find out. 

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More on the Ancestors...

Here's a photo I got from my cousin Sue at a recent family gathering. It's my Grandmother (Granny) Wallace's grandparents Elam and Mary Ann Massingill Albritton.. 

Photo by Harrington and Rogers of Lufkin Tx. I'll have to look them up. 

You might recall I have blogged about Elam before. He was a Civil War vet in the 7th Texas Calvary. In 1924 he had been dead since 1910 and Mary Ann went down to the Angelina County Courthouse and filed for a Confederate Widows pension. You can read all this old info at this LINK. 

Today I took my mom and we went out to McKindree Cemetery and visited Elam and Mary Ann's grave stones. I had seen a photo of Elam's stone on find a grave but today I made a bunch of photos of Albritton, Massingill and Ridgeway headstones.  I will be looking these folks up and figuring out who is who as time permits. 

I believe Mary Ann's Gates of Heaven on her stone is a little wider that Elam's. 

I need to find out who these people were. I am guessing sisters, Elora and Eudora.

Nice Angel on Elora's. 

Eudora has a lamb on her's. She was born Feb. 7th, 1887 and passed on June 8th 1888. 

I am thinking these might be my people also. These petrified headstones are right in the middle of a grouping of my kin. As I walked the burial ground and it's not a big place all families were together. 

So new stuff to find out about. Some names I know, some we will have to find a place for. Stay tuned. 

Ok My Head is Starting to Spin as I Look up the Ancestors...

If you recall a few weeks ago me and my mom made a cemetery visit. We were looking for some folks, my Granny Wallace's people. She was related to the Nerrens and Albritions. I found this guy George Massingill and have been researching him. Let me see if I can tell this story and get it straight because sometimes looking way back it can get confusing. 

One thing we know for sure is that Granny was kin to the Massingills. Her great Grandfather Elam Albrition married Mary and possibly Ruth Massingill. It's hard to tell they may have been the same person or sisters. Their birth dates are close and we do have a record of Mary filing at the Angelia County Courthouse for Elam's Confederate pension. The Father of this or these persons was John Massingill. His Father was the person under this headstone George Massingill who was Granny's great great great grandfather on her mother's side. I think I have that right and here is what I have been able to find out about George. 

George served in the 3rd Tennessee Militia in the war of 1812 under General Nathaniel Green Taylor. These men were mustered in at Knoxville and marched to Mobile Al. serving as wagon  guards and road builders. The record I found shows that George was in "combat situations" at Mobile Bay and New (I thought I was the only one in the family to fight the battle of New Orleans) Orleans. A quick little research shows That the first battle of Mobile, an attempt to outflank New Orleans resulted in a British loss. The Battle of New Orleans then occurred and history tells it was after the treaty ending the war was signed and there was still a second battle of Mobile after this that resulted in a British win. George was apparently involved to some extent in these situations.  

In 1813, before all this took place George had married Hannah Gann. By 1816 she had enough of him for unknown reasons and filed for divorce requiring the stand in of an adult because she was under 21. The Friend's name incidentally was Pleasant Wallace. George never showed in court, the divorce went through but in 1822 filed a suit against Hannah and her new husband Moses Nelson to recover the cost of the divorce which totaled $12.90. There is no record of the money being recovered.

Records show that George and a new wife Polly were living in Hardin County in 1820 and by 1830 were in Henderson county. There they answer a call by Sam Houston for free land for permanent settlers to Texas and they and their 10 children joined a wagon train of 101 people "related by blood or marriage" and arrived in Nacogdoches Texas in 1837. George and his three sons Issac, John and Henry were each granted 1280 acres of land.  By 1840 George and Polly mover to the Walker Community (now Redland) in Angelina County and opened a  gristmill/sawmill on a creek four miles north of Lufkin. Following the death of Polly George lived with son John until his death in 1884. 

This gravestone is in the McKindree Cemetery off highway 103 east in Lufkin.  

After this cemetery visit my mom remembered the location of this old Albrition place nearby belonging to Giles who was the son of Elam. Giles Jr. was one of my dad's running buddies as young men. 

I do have a Wiley relative from my mother's side that was a vet of the War of 1812. His name is Alexander F. Wiley and I though I had a blog post on him but I can't seem to locate it. I was hoping to find if their paths ever crossed but I think I have had enough of the past tonight. There is a lot of War of 1812 info on troops and units and some interesting politics and subplots as well. I think when it comes to war there always is. I wonder how much these guys knew of the overall picture.   

Mandolin Orange...

Here's a band you should listen to. They call themselves Mandolin Orange. A guy I jammed with once down in Lake Jackson  (we hit it off great musically but have not been able to play again) tipped me to them. He found them I think because he got a mandolin for Christmas. This group that hails from North Carolina and did cover some classic bluegrass stuff but there is a lot more going on here songwriter wise. As they said at the Railbird Festival where we saw them they are not afraid to stand up at a festival and play a slow sad song.  

Check them our on this cut. It's about the Civil War.

This subject makes me think of one of my old ancestors, Elam Albritton who was a Confederate vet of the Civil War. He rode off with some other kin in the 7th Texas Calvary at age 17, had never owned a slave and as far as I can tell the last time an Albritton owned a slave was 1762, fought in the battle of Mansfield , La. came home and died in 1910 with "Come Be Blessed" and the Gates of Heaven engraved on his tombstone in the old McKindree Cemetery. In 1924 his wife Mary applied for a Confederate pension at the Angelina County Courthouse. I don't know if she got it.  His fellow soldiers who lived in Angelina County wrote on the application he was a good soldier and a good citizen after the war. 

If I can't get a slow sad song out of these facts I am no good at all. 

This song they say is about the Statue of Liberty. 

Get you a mandolin. Listen to good music Try and figure out what your ancestors were up to.