Hi Cuzzins:
This is a short month, and the newsletter this month is going to be short compared to others also. I'm still recuperating from the Bufkin clan. And I have also been working some on the Barlows in the Clearinghouse from the rest of the world. Check out the new homepage!
This months newsletter is covering one branch of the Ainsworth family, though I have found many others, I have yet to be able to connect them to one another, and at this time, I just don't have the energy to do the work. I have not been able to find anyone actively working on them to help share the load, the persons whom I do know about have invalid e-mail addresses in my database. I will try again in a future newsletter to work more on them ... and if any of you out there have any to share, it will be most appreciated.
I have very sad news to report ... Lora Beth's mother, Ina Mae Russell Barlow passed away on Sunday, February 25, 2001, and was laid to rest today, February 27, at Bethel Chapel Cemetery in Sabine Co Texas. I know she was so very tired, having been critically ill for well over a year, and she was ready to go "home" to be with her Lord, and with Dick, her husband. My love, prayers and sympathies are with the family, as I am sure are yours. Lora Beth's e-mail is wrightb@juno.com should any of you wish to convey your sympathies.
---Lora
Beth: Friends are always standing by, helping in whatever ways they can---
---Comforting, supporting, praying and sometimes just standing by. We're
here if you need us.---
Luther Hart was quick to respond to last month's newsletter that his health is progressing, though slower than had he had been expecting. He also reports that he will be having cataract surgery in the fall.
Carla Barlow, daughter of Carlos Barlow and Estelle Loggins has given news that one of her Barlow aunt's has been diagnosed with a cancer. (I'm sorry, I cannot recall the name, and I have lost the e-mail)
I, myself have not had great health news this month. Many of you know that I have a myeloproliferative (bone marrow) disorder, which is more commonly known as ET..essential thrombocytosis, and it has been kept in check with medication for the past several years, but the past few months, it has not been responsive to that medication, and the doctor is talking of putting me on chemotherapy. So ya'll say a prayer for me, as the prognosis without chemotherapy is that it may become leukemia.
I
received the following message from Paul Longa, in New Orleans Louisiana, (John
Wesley Barlow line):
THIRD ANNUAL BARLOW FAMILY REUNION! This year's reunion is booked at,
you guessed it, the same place as the last two, by unanimous vote, Fountainbleu
State Park, Mandeville, Louisiana. The booked date is July 21st,
2001, which is a Saturday. We've got the place from 7:00 a.m., to 9:00 p.m.
If any of you are interested in attending that, contact Paul at: paullonga@hotmail.com
My husband is recuperating well, his foot is still swollen, but the doctor says that is to be expected, he is getting around well, but has to stay off of work for another 2 to 3 weeks. I am putting him in a wheelchair tomorrow and driving him to Florida where we plan to take our 4 year old grandson to Disney World. I have never been, and so I am quite excited about it..I just hope that we can keep up with him. I get tired quite easily...I may have to get myself a wheelchair!
Now,
as many of you know, my great great grandmother, Flora Ann, wife of George Washington
Barlow (son of John and Lydia) has never been proven as a Byrd, though the general
consensus is that she is. Originally, Clara Barlow Woodall had mistakenly
informed another family researcher, Ralph Emerson Barlow, now deceased, that
she was a Hilton. He, being a Mormon, input that information into the
LDS Library, and it cannot be changed. Someone else can input a new lineage,
and give the information that Flora Ann was a Byrd, and then the researcher
can choose whichever he would like, and hopefully try to prove the information.
Some folks though, think that the lineages in the LDS files are proven, while
many of them are not! I would like to add corrected information, but do
not want to do that until we have the proof of her maiden name.
A marriage license has never been found for George and Flora, though I feel
sure the marriage would have taken place in Simpson Co Mississippi, in the very
early 1830's. I have searched the microfilms of Mississippi marriages
at the archives several times, and have not found it. However, there are
several marriage records on the microfilm that cannot be read, and I always
wonder if perhaps theirs is one of them. I hope someday to get to the
Simpson Co courthouse and go thru the actual books in hopes of finding it.
That will give us the proof of her maiden name. (anyone living there wanna take
on that chore?) That would solve a big issue, but not all. Also
needing to be proven is the other two Byrd girls relationship to Flora Ann,
if she is a Byrd. We know that Nathaniel Green Barlow, twin to George
Washington, married Mary Byrd, this information is proven by marriage records,
and from the book "Memoirs of Mississippi" where it also states that Mary is
the daughter of George and Susan Byrd, formerly of South Carolina. I have
learned that the information in that book is not always true either, as it is
"memories", and not always dependable. However, in this case, I do feel
the author is correct. Next, Norval Barlow, son of Bryant Barlow, who
is a brother to George and Nathaniel married an Elizabeth Byrd, this proven
by marriage records. Norval and Elizabeth, throughout their married lives
lived very near to George and Flora, my thoughts had always been that George
and Norval were close. Then when it came to light that Flora may be a
sister of Elizabeth, I realized that may be the reason for these families close
proximity. Nathaniel and Mary were married in Rankin Co, as well as Norval
and Elizabeth. Census records shows that Nathaniel and Mary lived near
George Byrd in Rankin Co until after George' death, and then they moved to Simpson
Co. Living very near to George and Norval Barlow, and their wives, I find
a John Byrd, whose age leads me to believe he might be the brother of George
Byrd. Thus, I came to believe that perhaps he is the father of Flora and
Elizabeth, and George the father of Mary...and that the Mary is a cousin of
the other two girls. Now remember, this is just my thoughts, nothing is
proven. To confuse the matter further, in 1963, a news reporter wrote
a small history of Simpson Co in which she stated that the three girls were
all Byrd sisters, and daughters of John Byrd. I do not know where she
got the information, but I don't think it is a proven fact... And
so you see.... much work needs to be done on the Byrd family. A man, Robert
Earl Byrd, researched the Byrd families of these areas of Mississippi in the
60's and early 70's before his death in a car wreck, and his daughters compiled
his work into a book, "A Byrd Family History," of which I have a copy.
These families are in close proximity to our girls, and they are bound to be
related, but neither he, or any other researcher I have found can prove a relationship.
A few other researchers whom I have worked closely with over the past few years,
also have Byrd families in these same areas, who have not been able to connect
their families to any of those in Mr. Byrd's book either. There are just
so many Byrd's, and the census prior to 1840, only listing the heads of household,
makes it really hard to determine parentage to the children, and especially
to the girls whose names changed at marriage. SO>>>> Since many
of us have worked on these families, and have spent much time searching documents,
census', etc.. and in an effort to tie our families together and to share our
work so that we will not waste time searching the same area's, I have decided
to compile together every bit of information into one database. I know
that all of you have at least one Byrd in your family lineage, please consider
sending any and all information you might have for them, even if you think it
is unimportant, and if you have nothing but a name ... every tidbit counts.
I will sort thru it all and make sure we don't have repeats, unless dates, etc..
are different, and then I will use all information, thus letting us compare
and prove which might be correct. Once something is documented,
the bad information will be removed. This will not be a one month job,
it will be a continuing effort .. and hopefully we will find some answers.
I have also written to the girls who compiled the book of Robert Byrd's and
asked for permission to transcribe the book to the internet, will let you know
the answer when it arrives.
"Charley Byrd" has sent me his gedcom of his many years work on his Byrd family,
another lady, "Patsy" is sending me her information via snail mail, I will put
all of my Byrd's into the database, as I have several as yet unconnected to
one another, and I do hope you all will share if you can.
Got a letter from Mike Little, he has found a Georgia B. BARLOW married to his G-granduncle, James Russell WILLIAMSON (April 22, 1871 - September 05, 1943). J.R. was from around the Pinola - Bridgeport area of Simpson Co. His father Samuel Marion Williamson was ordained as preacher at Strong River Baptist Church which is sorta between Pinola and Bridgeport. J. R.'s sister, Pearl Rowena, married Mike's G-grandfather, Charner Isaac Little.
---Do any of you know who Georgia might be? I don't have her in my database!!---
Well, it is quite late, and I must get some rest before my trip to Florida. Have a wonderful month..I am sure looking forward to Spring and the color "GREEN"..
Love, Susan
Ainsworth
Family
Includes photographs, contributed by Lora Beth Barlow Wright