I have been doing family history research for my family since 1987. In Febuary of 1997 I decided I would start my own company and help others locate their family.
The company is WillowEnterprises, 5506 So. State RD. 263, Williamsport, Indiana. The phone number is (765)893-8064. But WillowEnterprises is more than a genealogical research company. WillowEnterprises is a multi-faceted company. As a freelance advertising consultant and Public Relations Specialists, I am skilled in design and creation of the right ad campaign for your company. As sales associates, {where no license is required} my company will do telecommunications which includes temarketing to set appointments, setting and confirming appointments for many types of businesses. Data Entry may include us spending some time in your office entering information into your data bases. WillowEnterprises does many temporary office functions, filling in for workers that are on leave of absence such as maternity leave or sick leave, or vacation, some duties are done in your office like the data base, such as filing, receptionist, and mass mailings, as well as other office duties. The research aspect of WillowEnterprises may include research for mailing lists, to Genealogy research.
In this way by being a homebased company I am able to keep my cost at a minimum and pass these savings on to you. Are there any duties you would like to have a homebased company handle for you................ ...............LET'S TALK!!!!!
As a child I was always told that I had Native American blood lines. But when I questioned this farther, I was told no one really knew. It was just something that they had also been told all their lives and they were just repeating what they had been told. Once I was told it was Cherokee and another time I was told it was Creek. Then once I was told it was both that the Native American heritage was on both my Popaw and Mamaw's side of the family. Not much help is it?
So as you can see I didn't have much to go on. I have since learned that the Native American heritage on my Popaw Sullivan's side is probably from his mother Theodocia Hardin Sullivan.
I have heard that Docia is a Cherokee name but, this too I have not been able to verify. Docia was the daughter of John Wesley Hardin (no this is not the famed outlaw that shot a man for snoring to loud, no relation that I have been able to prove),and Manly Johnson. Manly Johnson is where I believe I should start. Manly is the daughter of William and Elizabeth Livingston Johnson, William was born in 1820. William was born in a part of North Carolina that the boundries were constantly changing from North Carolina to Tennessee. I believe it is now what is known as Overton, Tennessee. William's parents are Joel and Mary Polly Elliot Johnson. Joel was born in 1783 in Rutherford Co., NC. He died in Blount Co., AL.,in 1860. Joel married Mary Elliott Sept. 9, 1818. After her death he married Sarah Cullwell. On December 1, 1841, William married Elizabeth M. Livingston in Blount Co., Alabama. Elizabeth is the daughter of William and Elizabeth Livingston of Tennessee.
William and Elizabeth Livingston Johnson had six children. Ludema A. Johnson was born in 1841, Willam was born also in 1841, Jane Johnson was born in 1845, James Johnson was born in 1849, Mary Ellen Johnson was born in 1851, the census says Manly was born in 1853, and then another says she was born in 1855. I won't quibble over 2 yrs. This is my great great grandmother the wife of John W. Hardin. The last child that I have for William and Elizabeth M. Livingston Johnson is Orlena Johnson born in 1857. All these children were born in Alabama.
These are the names I have checked on the Quion/Miller rolls. I now need to find the parents of William Johnson that was born in 1820 and married Elizabeth Livingston. I will also search for the spouses of their children and their families.
Can you help...do you have any of these names in your family tree.......then email me!!!! We can help one another in our discovery of our heritage.
(Research continued ...MORE JOHNSON NAMES BELOW)
The Search Continues
A friend of mine in Alabama has put me in touch with a cousin. They are both members of the Cherokee Eckota Tribe. I have talked with him and he says that his Great Aunt Opal has told him positively that there is Cherokee on his Hardin side of the family. Manily Johnson was a Cherokee. She has the family bible. He is going to get me a way of contacting her. She spends the summer in Alabama with a son and her winters in Texas with her daughter. He is going to get that address and phone number for me.
Soon I can fulfill the promise I had made to Popaw Sullivan before he died. I will be able to start a book I have planned on my Sullivan line.
Popaw's mother died when he was very young. He told me once that he knew when he died his mother would be forgotten. I promised him that I would not let that happen.
After speaking with the Aunt I spoke of I have found I am no closer to proving Native american heritage this way than I was before. The Aunt doesn't remember any of the conversations that were related to me by her nephew. But I am not giving up and I am sure I am on the right track......up dates to follow.
Hardin/Johnson Lines
Thompson Hardin born 1810 Rutherford Co., NC, married Viana Brooks Febuary 2, 1833 in Rutherford Co., NC Thompson Hardin died in 1898.
Thompson and Vianna had 6 Children know to this researcher:
Robert Coleman Hardin born October 10,1834 in Cherokee Co., GA., died May 9, 1898, married Sarah Elizabeth Singleton on December 27, 1853 in South Carolina. Robert is buried in Lawerence Co., AL. at the Old Methodist Church.
William R. Hardin born 1838 in Forsythe Co., GA., James Madison Hardin born August 2, 1840 Forsythe Co., GA
Susan B. Hardin born 1848 in Forsythe Co., GA. Thomas Jefferson Hardin born May 8, 1852 Forsythe Co., GA
George B. Hardin born 1856 Forsythe Co., GA
Robert and Sarah Singleton Hardin had 8 children:
John Wesley Hardin (no this is not the outlaw that shot a man for snoring), April 25, 1851 in Cherokee co., GA. John died May 1, 1925 in Lawerence Co., AL. He married Manila L. "Manley" Johnson ( More on this later), born in 1853 in AL.
Harriet M.C. Hardin born December 10, 1855, Lumandia S. Hardin born November 20, 1858, Fredonia e. Hardin born October 10, 1862, Robert Harvey Hardin born July 25, 1862, Married December 13, 1883 in Nector, Blount Co., AL. to Mary Eveline Jenkins they had 11 children. Robert died in Locust Fork, in Blount Co.,AL., Jabez Bascomb Hardin born November 20, 1864, Henry T. Hardin born June 14, 1867 married January 23,1887 blount Co., AL to Elizabeth Blackwood, Leanorah Hardin born July, 10,1869, married November 14, 1886 to William E.McClendon, All were born in Alabama.
Robert Coleman Hardin was married 3 times, the story is that his first wife was an invalid, name unknown, no children. Second wife was Sarah E. Singleton and third wife was Sara Isabele Mardis.. One of his wives is supposed to have drowned crossing the Warrior River on horse back during flooded times, at Locust Fork in Blount Co., AL. This is believed to have been Sarah E. Singleton. No proof of this has been found.
Johnsons
Manila Leanorah Johnson born August 1853 in Alabama was the daughter of William and Elizabeth M. Livingston Johnson . William Johnson was born in 1820 in Tennessee, and his parents names unknow were born in North Carolina. Elizabeth M. Livingston was born about 1820 in Blount Co., AL. She was the daughter of William and Elizabeth (maiden name unknow) Livingston both of Tennessee. Elizabeth and William were married December 16, 1841 in Blount Co., AL. they had 7 children:
Ludema A Johnson born 1841 married ?? Johnston, William Johnson Jr. born 1843, Jane Johnson born 1845, James Johnson born 1849, Mary Ellen Johnson born 1851, Orlena Johnson born 1856 married ?? Cox, And Manila born in 1852 married John Wesley Hardin
Johnson's continued:
The parents of William Johnson born 1820 in Tennessee was Joel and Mary "Polly" Elliot Johnson. Joel Johnson was born in Rutherford County, North Carolina in 1783. He married Mary Elliot September 4th, 1818 in Jefferson County, Alabama. Mary Elliot was the daughter of James and Sarah Elliot.
Children of Joel and Mary Elliot Johnson:
Susan Johnson born 1819 married John Wesley Marsh
William Johnson b. 1820 married Elizabeth Livingston
Rebecca Johnson born 1823 married Joesph Stanwych Cullwell
James Johnson born 1827 married Ludema Livingston
Alfred Johnson born 1831 married Mary Ann Bently
John Johnson born 1833 married Mahallia Pannell
Caleb Johnson born 1836 died young
Joel Johnson 1839 1839 married Arsenth and Carrie L.
I live in West Central Indiana, in a town called West Lebanon. It's not a real big town, but I guess that's a relative term, depending on what you are comparing it to. I was originally born in Birmingham, Alabama, but my family is from around the Warrior, Al. area (now that's a small town). My family moved north to Indiana in 1953. I am told I came North kicking and screaming all the way and I have been kicking and screaming every since. My heart has always been in the south and I guess it always will be.
I have always been interested in genealogy every since my Grandfather Sullivan, I called him Popaw, began his family stories. I always wanted to know more about his father and mother. His mother had died when he was very young and his stories painted a picture of a loving and idealic mother. His stories of his father however were not so idealic. I knew my Great Grandfather just a little as a child and I remember that he too enjoyed telling stories. But for some reason these stories were never as vivid as my Popaw's were. In 1971, I began writing down the family names, checking the family bibles and making sure there were no blank spots that needed to be filled in. At first there was no order to the information I collected but I knew someday this was going to be very important. I have these bibles now, when my Grandfather died in 1989, I was given his family bibles. I was delighted to see that he had written his whole war record in very great detail. Reading of when and where he was stationed in the Army and the metals he received made his stories all so vivid again. But as for the recording of the family names and place and births the man had contradicted himself so many times I wanted to cry. Before he died I was able to get recordings of some of his stories, of his childhood, the mines in Alabama, his time in the war and the story of his purple heart. It was at this time that I learned that my grandfather was also a poet. Below are some of the peoms that he gave me just before he died. Because of his love for his church Popaw was often called Deac. My grandfather did not have much of an education, as a matter of fact he was taken out of school and put to work in the coal mines at a very early age, so his grammer and his poerty are from his heart not from a lot of knowlege of the mechanics of poetry. I will rewrite it just as he has it written, hope you enjoy it.
TREASURES FROM THE HEART OF DEAC
NEIGHBORS
By: Roy E. Sullivan
Why is it people ain't neighbors anymore
Ya just don't hardly know the folks next door
I guess we are too busy doing our own thing
Sometimes we don't see them from Winter til Spring
But if we should see them, we let our tongues run loose
try to make them think we like them, but it ain't the truth
Neighbors get sick or need a helping hand
We should be good neighbors and help all we can
They shouldn't have to wait for us to see them now and then
We really ought to let them know ,
we're their neighbor and their friend
Being a good neigbor is more than just talk
We can prove we are their neighbor in our daily walk
Does your neighbor next door act like you
maybe that's why you aren't getting the message through Go over sometime and do him a chore
And tell him "Hey I'm your neighbor next door"
By doing a good deed, you may change his mind
He just might say he's been YOUR neighbor all the time
When you get the time with nothing to do
Just go over to the neighbors and say "What can I do"
You can go to the neighbors and lend him a hand
Try to get aquanited and help all you can
Neighbors are people just like you
So be kind to you neighbor in what ever you do.
A COAL MINERS BOY ALWAYS ON THE ROOM
By: Roy E. Sullivan
When I was a boy a long time ago
As I can remember well I have lots of things I'd like to say But there's lots I can not tell
Then we were poor, really poor
We lived in a coal mining town Things were tough. I mean rough And we always wore a frown
Everybody had to work back then
And we never had any fun All of kids had our chores And our work was never done
We did not have very much then
And sometimes not enough food We hardly had a change of clothing And we always were in a bad mood
My mother died at Christmas time
And left five of us kids To be given away like cats and dogs Like an auction with it's bids
Dad took another woman and her son
And he forgot we were his own So, he hardly ever came around to see us If he did he was soon gone
He bought them clothes and other things
And he made them a real good living He forgot about the things we kids needed Not anything was we given
When I grew up at the age of thirteen
He put me to work in the coal mine Without pay or anything else Not even his words were kind
So, I ran away at the age of sixteen
Not knowing where I could go So I walked all day no where to stay And no on did I know
At the end of the day the sun was going down
I met a couple of guys They took me to their house And the welcome was a surprise
Their mother was nice, she took me in As if I were her own son She gave me supper and put me to bed Then them worries I had none
They became my family, as time passed by Like they had adopted me to them So I had a good life while staying there And things were never dim
I'm telling you this story because I know What it is like to have no home I've slep in more different beds than any other kid And always on the roam
God wants you to be good to your kids
And have them to know you love 'em
Stick together all through life
And you are bound to think more of 'em.
LOST MEMORIES
In 1952, a young man left the coal mining area of Jefferson County, Alabama, where he had worked in the commissary for one of the mining companies. He went North to Gary, Indianato find work and left his wife and 2 small children in Alabama. He didn't stay long, in a couple of weeks he was back in Alabama with his family. Then early in 1953, he returned to Indiana and began working in the steel mills of Hammond, Indiana. He did later send for his family, his wife Wanda, daughter Donna and son Richard. I am that daughter, Donna Sullivan. I have been in Northeast, Indiana area since I was 6 years old, but my heart has always been in the south.
It was my grandfather, Roy Sullivan, who first sparked my interest in family history. He would tell me stories about his time as a miner in the mines around Kimberly, Alabama. he talked about his childhood, his mother and how she had died when he was very young. His stories always painted vivid pictures in my mind. these stories just made me want to know more and more about all my ancestors. I have good success with the Sullivan side of my family. And this year I had great success with the Watson side. I even met a lot of new cousins no one in the family knew exsisted. But this leads me to my great challenge.
That would be the ancestors of my Mother and Grandmother. Grandma's name was Ollie Bell Allison, she married Wm. M. Watson of Jefferson County, Alabama. Grandma's dad was Austin Allison, he was born in 1860. I never knew Austin Allison, he died long before I was born, on May 5, 1923. He died of lock jaw, when he got a nail in his foot in the mining camp on Beltona Mountain. He is buried in Morris Cemetary, in Morris, Alabama, in an unmarked grave. We only know he is there no one remembers which unmarked grave is his. Austin allison was married to Bella Franks, and again no one knows where or when. Austin and Bella Franks Allison had three children, Jenny Allison was born July 23, 1881, and died at the age of 15 of pneumonia, I have no idea where she is buried. Their son Lee Allison was born January 1, 1886, he died at about 18 or 19 years old in a mine cave in on Beltona Mountain. He is buried on Beltona Mountain, in an unmarked grave. My grandmother Ollie Bell Allison Watson died in East Chicago, Indiana. Much to my dismay she never wanted to talk about her parents.
Belle Franks Allison was born June 2, 1863, no one knows where she was born. Some family members remember her making referance to "out west". I have pictures that belonged to the Allison Family, but very few of them have any identification on them. There are names of two place, Grand View, Texas. There is another picture of two ladies sitting on a porch, on the back of the picture it says" Goldie Allison, OKALAH, as if someone were trying to spell Oklahoma. My mother remembers she was living in Birmingham with relatives, Bill and Gertude Six, when she died, November 15, 1952. She is buried across the street from her Austin in Morris Cemetary. When we buried her there ,there was not enough money for a headstone. But now she has one, but we have no idea where this headstone came from. Bella Franks Allison is buried next to Allie Smith. Mother thinks this was a relative of Belle's. Allie and Grandma Allison have the same type of headstone and the same type of planters. I'd like to meet the people responsible for erecting this monument to my Great Granmother Bella Allison. I can remember Grandma Allison, but just barely. I remember a quiet, proud woman. she recieved a small check of about $30 a month, and scrubbed floors to supplement her income. She small house she lived in was in North Warrior, Alabama, and had only a dirt floor.
Some of the other names on the pictures I have are, Mrs.Calvin Deers and Mrs.Lolem Franks,this is a picture of two ladies standing together is a slight imbrace the way sisters would imbrace. There is a wonderful picture of a little boy in a sailer suit,it is identified as Roland Winnett in Royalton, Illinios. The picture identifies my grandma Allison as his aunt. I have a picture of Clyde Smith, it says he was Paul smith's son. other names are Mae and Wanda Smith, Gertrude Six, Dorothy Harlen just to name a few.
These pictures are so wonderful I wish I could identify all of them. It's like the unmarked grave of my Great Grandfather Austin Allison there is no list of who is buried in this part of the cemetary in these unmarked graves. How many of them are forever lost to us.
Found
On my recent trip to the library in Birmingham, AL. I not only found Austin Allison, his wife Bella, and my GrandmotherOllie Belle Allison in the 1920 Federal Census for Jefferson County, Alabama. I found that they and my great great grandparents were born in Tennessee.
On a trip to Wallace College in Cullman County, Alabama, I found the death index for Alabama. I looked up the death of Austin Allison and found an A. A. Allison who died 5-19-1923. This A. A. Allison lived in Kimberly, Jefferson County, Alabama. The index only said A. A. Allison, died 5-1923, Jefferson County, Al. Well, as you can imagine since Austin died 5-16-1923 and lived in Jefferson County I was sure I had found the death certificate of my Great Grandfather. I als found the death certificate of my great Grandmother Bella Franks Allison. We took the numbers and raced out to our motorcycle and headed for Cullman, Al., to order copies of the death certificates. We gave the document numbers to the clerk and was told that it may only take an hour or it may be at least 24 hours. I paid for the copies and we went to lunch. When we returned I was told that they could not get the certicates until the next day. I told them to mail them to my home in Indiana. The clerk suggested that I call the next day and if my plans not to come back to Cullman County, Alabama had not changed then she would mail them. When I called from the Birmingham Library the next day to tell her to go ahead and mail them, she told me that the parents of A. A. Allison were J.T. Allison and Sarah Campbell, that he had lived in Kimberly, Alabama. Bella Franks Allison's death certificate revealed nothing I did not already know I was excited I thought I had found the parents of Austin Allison and my search intensified. My search led us to Selbyville and Unionville, Tennessee, Then to White County, Tennessee for the Franks and the Allison's.
When we returned to Indiana and picked up our mail, I was horrified when I looked closely at A. A. Allison's death Certificate it said his wife was Susie White...it was the wrong certificate.
FRANKS
I did find who had placed the headstone on my Great Grandmother Bella Franks Allison's grave and had been caring for it. I was at the Morris Cemetary, in Morris, Alabama, when I was placing a note on the headstone a relative droave by. As we were getting back on our motorcycle to head back to Birmingham a truck pulled up beside us. the young man opened the window, " uhhh I was wondering if I'm supposed to know you, " he said puzzeled. "Maybe", I smiled and replied, " why"? He said, "because those graves you were taking pictures of are my grandparents". I was elated.... I told him that the grave of Bella Allison buried next to his grandparents was my Great Grandmother. I asked him if he knew how the Allison and the Smith's were related. He said no but his mother would and gave me her phone number. When we got back to Birmingham I called Patrica Swan. Her grandmother had been Bella's twin sister Della.
We met the next day and I met a Great Aunt named Louise, my mother thought she was dead also. They gave me another name and number of Great Aunt Louise. We went to see her the next day. Louise is 74 years old and has a very sharp mind and a good memory.
However some of the stories Louise told me have some flaws in them. But to every story there is always a ring of truth. I search these stories for the clues to the paths that lead to my ancestores. One such story is below..........
DESERTED AGAIN
Bella and Della Franks were twins born June 2, 1863, somewhere in Tennessee. They lived on a farm with their Mother , father and an older brother.
When Bella and Della were five years old their parents died. They were left in the care of the older brother. He was much older than the twins and he was told he was left the farm and any money available for as long as he took care of his two small sisters.
The girls helped their brother on the farm, doing what small children of the times could do. They helped in the fields. he promised them if they would help him he would buy them something nice when the crops were sold. The girls had never had a doll they thought perhaps he would buy them a doll. Then one day their brother came home with their gift. It was a feather bed for each of them. They were disappointed, they had been counting on getting a doll.
One day when the girls were about nine years old their brother got on his horse and told Bella and Della that he was going to town and would see them in a couple of hours. He never retuned and they never heard from him again. Until one day they heard he had gone to Texas and started a Jitney business and had made his fortune.
It was neighbors that got the girls to relatives. It isn't known exactly where these relatives were or who they were. These two young girls must have felt as if they had spent their life being deserted, first by their parents and now by the only other relative they had known care from their brother.
Bella married Austin Allison of Tennessee and her sister married a Smith and moved to Royalton, Illinois. As Bella and Della grew older and sick a Grandaughter of Della wrote to the brother in Texas and asked if he could send some money to help care for the elderly women. He did reply and he send $18 and a note saying I hope this helps.
Now I know this story sounds harsh. But lets put this into perspective. If they never heard from the brother ,except, that he had started a business somewhere in Texas, then how did the granddaughter know where to write. This was not during a time when you could just pick up the phone and ask the operator for someones phone number. I have several pictures of the Franks. Some of them identified and some not. If the two girls were just send off to relatives by neighbors then how did these pictures happen to follow them. Someone took the care to see to it that these pictures followed the girls.
To us today $18 doesn't sound like a lot of money. The phrase "he made his fortune" doen't say he was a millionnaire. I believe there is more to this story. Perhaps the brother didn't tell the girls of his plans to leave. But, perhaps he did make arrangements for a relative or a neighbor to care for the girls until he could send for them.
I plan to find this brothers family in Texas, to find out what his family says about these stories. Perhaps he did send for the girls and the relatives and theyever told the girls, or perhaps the girls were so hurt by his leaving that they would not go to him.
These are some of the mysteries that furture research will uncover.
SURNAME LIST Allison Adams Beatlily Boone Brooks Calvert Cannon Clayton Cummins Coppinger Ellison Franks Gruely Harrell Hallmark Hardin Head Hooper Huffstutler Hays Hawkins Johnson Lake Lauderdale Leanner Livingston Loggins Mardis Mullins Muttoon Mynott Nodding O'Neil Pemberton Parker Parvin Schultz Self Singleton Skelton Sullivan Smith Tussey Vass Ware Watson If any of these names are in your family LETS TALK! I APOLOGIZE IF THIS PAGE AND IT'S CONTENTS SEEM TO BE A LITTLE UNORGANIZED RIGHT NOW I AM IN THE PROCESS OF COMBINING TWO SEPERATE WEB PAGES . BE PATIENT IT WILL READ A LOT EASIER AS THE MONTHES GO BY. <
