Our Native American Ancestor (?)

People may know that within the Clark family for many years it has been said that we had a native American ancestor. I have heard it was Mama's mother, then I heard it was Papa's father. I have never found any real evidence of it though, and put that question on a back burner.

Last week I was contacted by a man (Michael Moody) from Wichita Falls, Texas. Mike was responding to a bulletin board note I had posted a long time ago trying to find info about Henry Clark, Papa Clarks paternal grandfather.

Mike and I quickly identified we were talking about the same Clark. Mike sent me a terrific piece of work he had done defining all of Henry Clark's descendents and on our branch down to William Richard Clark (Papa's father).

I noticed that Henry's wife, Elizabeth Peak, had a comment alongside her name: "said to be Cherokee".

I traced through his 12 pages and six generations to find there is a living female ggggrandaughter of Elizabeth Peak living in Garland Texas. her name is Lisa Wier. I contacted her and she agreed to a mitochondrial dna test. I heard from Lisa last night and she has submitted the kit. When her mtdna is evaluated and her haplogroup known, we will know if Elizabeth Peak was Native American. We would expect to see Q3 as a haplogroup for Native American. Western European Ancestry, which Connie and I are, would be R1B.

I have since found these other clues:

1. The 1835 Alabama Rolls of Cherokees East of Mississippi has an "Elizabeth Peck". ( She is listed on the same page as "Man Killer","Mink Widow","Money Cryer", "Nick Skin", "Sour Mush". "Stinking Fish", but also with more common names (to us) like John Pelone, John Riley, Andrew Ross, and Rising Fawn (Rising Fawn?). There are also some cool Tsalagi names such as Ooh la neah tah, and Naw ea luke.

2. Per the 1850 Federal Census, she could neither read nor write. I find this unusual as her neighbors could read and write. Is it because she grew up speaking Tsalagi?

3. I already had the name "Elizabeth" from somewhere else.

4. In the early 1800's, it was common for white men to marry Cherokees in North Georgia because there were lots of single men who came to mine gold. Northern Alabama was a part of North Georgia immediately before 1819.


5. When the Trail of Tears migration commenced in 1835, Cherokees who were married to white men could remain legally with their families. In 1835, 31 year old Elizabeth would have had a 6 year old (Josiah) and a 4 year old (William Richard Clark, my great greatgrandfather)

6. I now have her daughter Martha's Texas Death Certificate and see Martha's Mother (Elizabeth) was referred to as "Betsey".

I find this very exciting!

Mike

2007 Moore Memorial

Connie, John W. Moore, Mary Moore and I flew back to the MM this year and had a great time. Connie and I had some genealogy work to do at the Phillips Freewill Cemetery near Sumiton looking for papa's grandparents. Maeola and Jerry picked us up at our hotel and we spent the day at that cemetery and in Dora with them.

That night Annette had us all over for dinner.

Thursday afternoon we picked up John and Mary at BHM. Friday we went back to Dora with John and Billy Waters as John is still trying to find Yerkwood where he and my dad lived as a child. (Some may know that I almost got run out of Dora last year when I scared a lady who was living in the house Patricia was born in and Dad and John grew up in, and I thought was vacant!)
Friday night we had a dinner party at Becky's and JCs. Saturday was quieter. Connie and I spent the morning taking some photos for Ken Jones (a Texas historian who is trying to identify as many CSA burials as he can), and also for two new Turner family friends I met; one is Ft. Worth Texas

(Rhonda) and one in Virginia (Tami Ramsey). We are cousins as we all descend from Cynthia Turner, James Bonaparte Moore's wife.
We also met a cousin Jason Moore, descended from Peyton Moore, from the George Washington Moore branch. He will be out here next week or so. We have volunteered to jointly take over the Moore Web Page Charles Johnston had built.

Saturday night there was a barbecue at the cabin. Some of us went to the Tannehill Opry House down near Bucksville. This is something I look forward to every year.

The Memorial service Sunday was a time to remember all our loved ones while picking up credit for going to churchon Sunday. It was run by the G Washington Moore's branch and was very nice. It was the first time I remember when the veterans were honored.

Sunday Evening, John and Mary treated us all to a special dinner at the Bright Star which was most enjoyable.

I met a gentleman (Mr. Nabors from Bessemer) on the plane from Dallas who gave me some names of contacts at the Birmingham Municipal Water District. He thinks I should be able to arrange a tour of the Cahaba Heights Pumping Station, where out ggrandfather James Trott worked. I plan on seeing if we can do that.

Graduation; Marriage

Hey everybody! Just wanted to shoot a quick post since I am finally catching my breath after the past few weeks. As many of you know, Shea and I were married in a small ceremony at Dad's house on Friday evening, May 4th. The following day, I graduated from Faulkner University with my BBA, which I didn't attend, BECAUSE the next day Jessica graduated from the University of South Florida - St. Petersburg with her education degree. I am so proud of her, not only because she was by far the most beautiful graduate in the building, but because I have seen first hand the hard work she put into it. In three days, our family gained a sister and two college degrees! Jessica and I are both already headstrong into our Master's programs and Shea is busy knocking out her elementary education degree at UAB.

As for married life, we moved in two weeks ago and things are great so far! We have both been busy with school, work, and getting settled, but finding time to spend with each other. There is still some adjustment, but I couldn't be happier and I am somewhat sure she feels the same :) I will send each of you wedding pictures as I get them from the CD. Look for them in the mail in the next few weeks!

<-----Shea and my lil bro, Perry!

We love you guys and hope to talk to everyone soon!

Marye Albritton Selected!

I am so proud of my little sister Marye!
Marye, as you know is an RN.
I recently found that she has been selected as a Crew Resource Manager for a program her hospital is instituting called "LifeWings." Here are the issues: recent studies show that going into a hospital is more dangerous than commercial aviation. 98,000 people each year die due to hospital errors. The United States rates right at the bottom of the western world in this type of error. The purpose of Life Wings is to reduce those errors. They do it by the same type of team training, cross checking, and awareness of circumstances used by astronauts, pilots etc. In fact, the company was founded (1999) by a US Navy Top Gun pilot and a commercial pilot for FedEx. A partner is Rhea Seddon, MD, who flew on three shuttle missions.
From what I can tell, Marye has her work cut out for her; I imagine the interpersonal skills involved in this must be challenging. I am sure Marye's patient, sweet , and non-judgemental approach to people will carry the day for her! Let's all wish her well.
I get more enthusiastic about this the more I read about it. (Our family doctor said everyone's objective should be to stay OUT of the hospital!)
A typical improvement I have read about is to cut surgery errors doen from 1 every 60 days to 1 every 619 days-a 90% reduction!
Just imagine this-if a doctor did a heroic measure on someone and they made a miraculous recovery, he/she would be a hero. But the lives, even if only one, which may be saved in Marye's hospital are every bit as important and she will have a direct connection to delivering that training. The difference is that no one will know about the accidents that never happened because of the LifeWings training. She has a big responsibility.
You can google "LifeWings" and find lots of good information about this fine program. I merrily plagiarized all that I've stated here from that resource.
Love to All,
Mike Moore

Our Ancestor Mary Janie Johnson Clark

MARY JANIE JOHNSON was born Sept 7 1888 to Alsey Johnson and Martha Ann Marilla Watson Johnson. Alsey was 62, Martha’s age is unknown. Martha died in 1890, Alsey died in 1898 at age 72. We think Alsey had remarried and she had also died before Alsey, but we don't that wife's name.

The 1900 Federal Census finds Mary J Johnson, 11, living in Zion, Walker County, Alabama, with William H. Norris, 53 and his wife, Nancy J Norris, 53. William is head of the household, Nancy is his wife; Mary J Johnson is listed as “boarder”. William’s occupation is listed as “miller”. She likely would have lived there ever since Alsey died in 1898. Mary’s is listed as a “servant”. (Maeola Smith recalls Mama saying that her father dropped her off there.)
Notes I found in Lettie Moore’s documents included a 5 page transcription of an interview with Mama Clark. Some of the things Mama Clark said now make more sense. “William” in her notes, was probably William Norris. “Aunt Nans” was probably William Norris’s wife, Nancy J. Norris.
In the spring of 1898, William Norris moved across Blackwater (Creek) and was engaged in farming with Alsey Johnson. Alsey became sick that spring, before the crop was in, and died by June of 1898. 10 year old Janie was left with the Norrises, her stepmother also having died.
She said that although she liked Aunt Nans, she says William was not good to her at all. At one point she said William had her go to Jasper to buy him wine. She alludes to worse treatment by William.
She eventually ran away, I surmise because of William. She left the Norrises with her clothes in a box and got a job with Lettie Bowers in Hassell, Tuscaloosa County. She was paid $2 for the first week, then $1.50 week.
Lettie Bowers husband, Edgar, was a Civil Engineer, and also owned a mill. I would guess that he was still an engineering student when his wife, Lettie, hired Janie who was probably between 12 and 15 years old. The Bowers family seemed to flourish as Edgar had an Engineering Consulting Company by 1910, and they had several more children.

I wonder if Lettie Clark Moore was named to honor Lettie Bowers, who must have been a bright spot in young Janie Johnson’s life.

She married Vander Clark, 3 months before her 16th birthday. By the 1910 Census, Janie Clark was 21, mother of Lattise and Audry Clark (spelling per the census!) Her husband, JS Clark, 21, was a coal miner.

Their nearby neighbors were Oli Joe Clark and his family, the next house down was Vander’s father and mother, William Richard Clark, 69 and Elizabeth (Matilda Rice) Clark son Chalmer, 25 was living with them. Both William Richard and Chalmer were coal miners. William Richard Clark had formerly been a farmer.
On the other side of the parents house was papa’s brother, Marion, 42, and his wife Daisy, 38 and their children.

One of the mysteries I don’t understand: In the 1920 census, Lambert Rice 33, is head of a household. His wife is Viola, 29. Their next door neighbor is Marg Rice, 52 and her daughter Bertha (?) and son Henry. Marg is listed as head of the household. There is also a 72 year old female named Margret Clark who is listed as “mother”. Clearly she is mother of Marg Rice, 20. Margret Clark, 72 is William Richard Clark’s sister. She and her 14 year old daughter, Marg, show up in the Henry Clark household in the 1880 census as Margret Clark and her daughter Marg Clark, along with a 5 year old named Annie Roggers. What were the workings of that relationship? Were those Rice’s related to Papa’s mother Elizabeth Matilda Rice? I expect they were. If anyone can add to this, please do!

Mary Janie Johnson Clark died on 10 January, 1976, and is greatly missed.

Our Ancestor William Richard Clark (1841-1921)

We find William Richard Clark listed in the 1850 Federal Census, as an 11 year old living in Walker County, Alabama with his parents Henry Clark, 44 (b South Carolina.) and his mother Elizabeth Clark, 36,(b Georgia). Both of the parents’ birthdates pre-date Alabama’s statehood. State boundaries were wildly changing immediately before Alabama Statehood, so we don’t know how far the parents were from their birthplace. William Clark lived with brothers Josiah 18, James A 14, Jerrymiah 12, and sisters Mary 16, Margaret 9, Milly 7, Martha 3, Sarah 6 mos. All the children were born in Alabama. They had a 54 year old named Millie Williams living with them who is listed in 1850 as a “spinster”, but in 1860 is a “domestic”, Millie Williams can neither read nor write and was born in South Carolina. By the 1860 census, John, 8 had been added. Millie Williams is now listed as 75 years old. The father, Henry’s occupation was listed in 1850 and 1860 as a farmer. Henry Clark, William Richards’ father, appears in the 1880 census living with Elezbeth, 65, Margret A Clark, 38, and Marg S. Clark 14, Mary Clark 13 and Annie E Roggers, 5. (What happened to Margret’s husband? The war? Why is the youngest called Roggers and the other kids Clark?) In 1860, we find William Richard Clark, born in Dora near the Forks of the Sipsey and Mulberry Rivers, enlisted at Jasper as a Private in Company G, 26th Alabama Infantry under Captain B.M. Long. In March, 1865, he transferred to the Cavalry and was cut off at Milledgeville, Ga, while in the escort party to Jefferson Davis. He later escaped and made his way home. By the 1880 Census, 39 year old WR Clark was living with his wife, Elizabth M Clark 30,and Richard L. 14, Marion Y. 12, Elizabeth D. 10, Arrena 7, Robert RG 5, Joseph R 2. By 1900, the household included Richard 58, Elyzabeth 52, Nauder 18, Vander 15, Chalmer 13, and Mardie 10. In the 1920 census, William Richard Clark, 77, was living with his son 33 year old Chalmer in Dora. A next door neighbor is Marg Rice, 52, Her mother, 72, lives with them. Her name is Margaret Clark. My guess is that she may be William Richard Clarks sister. William Clark died the next year, on April 7 of 1921. He is buried in a Church of God cemetery on the opposite side of Highway 78 from Dora, but on the same road as I recall. Maeola Smith has found his grave one year for us. His wife, Elizabeth Matilda Rice Clark (per Mama's Bible) had earlier passed on 20 April 1919.

Our Ancestor, Nehemiah McAshan

I’ve just completed my SAR (Sons of the American Revolution) application with the help of our cousin Becky Earnest. We are privileged to be eligible to join either the DAR or the SAR thanks to Becky’s years of research in learning about our ggggGrandfather, Nehemiah McAshan (b 1750 in Va, d 1787 or 1802). His daughter was Mary “Polly” McAshan, who married John Benning Moore and became our gggggrandmother. They are both buried in the Moore family Cemetery in McCalla.
Nehemiah provided the Continental Army with beef and pork, not a lot, but it is documented and qualifies us all as being descendents of a Revolutionary War Patriot. The other thing he did, which further qualifies him as a patriot and I find more interesting are the petitions he signed in 1786 and 1787.
Prior to the Revolution, in Virginia you had to belong to the Established (Church of England) Church. “Dissenters”, mostly Presbyterian and Baptist , could not hold office and suffered at the hands of the authorities (who were Anglican). After the Revolutionary War, Virginia (Thomas Jefferson wrote it) passed a law in 1786 saying that no man should be forced to worship in a particular way. This became the First Amendment to our Constitution. Since the Established Churches were supported by taxes, the non-Episcopal people of Virginia expected that the property of the established Churches should be liquidated and used to pay the huge post-Revolution debts all the states had. The Virginia government though was still run by entrenched Anglicans, and instead, they transferred all the property to the newly-formed Episcopal churches. Our ancestor, Nehemiah McAshan, signed at the very top two petitions to have the property sold and the funds given to the government. I don’t know the details of how it worked out, but I know it was solved by 1799.

The Browns in Virginia and Tennessee

Mike was encouraging his sister to blog, so here goes. Sharon is going to try it out. I am just finding out what is going on with all the Moore Family while Russ and I are trying to stay warm here in Virginia. I can't remember the last time I was warm. We have enjoyed having our older daughter,Christy and her husband Robert visit from Richmond this past week while they were on their way to Disney World. They and their Trey 8, Janie 6, and Henry 18 months had a cold, but wonderful time. Janie and Christy were priviledged to get to travelon the bus to the Grand Floridian with The Steve Irwin Family, the Crocodile Hunter's Family. Janie especially enjoyed a wonderful talk with the daughter. Christy was thrilled. Of course the boys were all at the ESPN center and missed this adventure. Russ and I dog sat! This week our daughter,Natalie,her husband Shane,their son Logan, and daughter Mattie will all be traveling to Disney World from their home in Knoxville. They look forward to being a little warmer than we are here while having an exciting time.
Our daughter Leslie, her husband Danny, their daughter, Morgan, and son, Reece are keeping busy in Nashville. Danny will finish residency at Vanderbilt University Hospital a year from June. They will be busy with interviews in the next few months. While Danny is busy, Leslie is president of the House Alliance (the Spouses group)for the hospital.
Russ is still working at Empire Machinery while I teach 4th grade in Virginia Beach. We both enjoy seeing family, staying warm, eating out, staying warm, and visiting with good friends. I scrapbook with friends and enjoy sewing for the house. Wait a minute! Did I just write a Christmas letter? Is this a blog or a Christmas letter? I am not sure I get blogging, but someone else better show me what we are doing. I liked Whitney's, but I can't go back and check that. Oh well, I will try to do better.I look forward to reading your blogs!

Sydneys Splendid Birthday Party!

Sydney and her friends recently celebrated her 14th birthday at home in Dallas. After getting face make up by a visiting make-up lady, they all attended a school dance together.



They later returned and spent the night at Sydney's where they all got a restful night's sleep.

Hello from Largo!!!

This is a wonderful idea that my big brother came up with! I think it will really help us to all stay more connected.
It has been cooler down here in FL and actually, I've been a bit of a recluse. Jeremy updated y'all on he and Shea and their endeavors. I'll update you on the rest of my family. Jessica has just started her student teaching 2 weeks ago and seems to be getting herself together. Jeremy graduates on May 5th in Alabama and she on May 6th in FL from USF. SO that should be quite an exciting weekend! LOL Jameson is attending St Pete College and is doing well. He is an avid golfer and works fulltime at the ER at my hospital. His girlfriend, Jenny Johnston, will start working as a unit clerk on my unit on 2/5. She is a lovely young lady who is attending USF on a full scholarship. Jordan is in his sophomore year at Clearwater HS. He still plays basketball for the rec center and is working parttime at Little Ceasars to pay for his car insurance.........yes, my last baby is now a licensed driver! We still share my vehicle until we/he can afford to do otherwise.
I still work at the hospital delivering babies and still paint murals. I've been rather lazy the past couple of months but am trying to get myself in gear to get some things done.
Great to hear from everyone.

A Not-so Sunny Day

Today has been a cool and rainy day in California. It is also our Wedding Anniversary. We had planned on going out to a nice place for dinner, but instead went out for Dim Sum at our nearby Ginger Cafe because of the rain. We are anxious to hear how Sydney's great dance and birthday party sleepover tonight goes! Barry and Sandy recently returned from a vacation in Hawaii . Tom and Jeanne are visiting in Birmingham and then up to Pigeon Forge for a vacation. Becky Earnest has been helping me a lot with my Sons of the American Revoluton paperwork. I get inducted next month. Here in California, school kids do not sing songs like "America the Beautiful", "My Country tis of thee" etc. in school and generally patriotism is seen as war mongering. I am impressed by many of the activities SAR has to try to help counter that. It also helps me appreciate the history of our family. One of the reasons our ancestor Scots-Irish left Ulster in the 1700's was the Test Act which basically disenfranchised the Presbyterian Church as well as any other non-Anglican Church. The Test Act was brought home the other night by our (Methodist) Minister. She had flown to Birmimgham, England, at the request of a family there to conduct a funeral there for a member of our church who was from Birmingham. They could not allow her to conduct a service because she was not a Church of England Minister. They offered though to make her a member, but she would have had to pledge allegiance to the Queen! They finally reached a compromise and the service went on.

Our Christmas Pinata

Here are some pictures of the great pinata this Christmas!





Each year at Christmas, we have a pinata. The first year we did it, we (Mike and Connie) didn't realize we had to put candy in it.Someplace there is a video of some lttle kids who look puzzled by the absence of any candy!

Barry, Lisa and their Families and John and Mary too!

My father's brother, John and Mary at the reunion last year. At the far end of the table are Bill and Annette Waters.





Here are Luke, Lisa, Ron and Laura. They live in Ventura, California where Ron is President and owner of a successful telcom company. Lisa is a Probation and Parole Officer for Ventura County.







This is Connie, Sydney, Barry and Sandy. They live in Dallas Texas where both Sandy and Barry have successful careers.Barry is owner of a Mechanical Engineering Contracting company, Sandy is a Senior Executive of a competitor of Ticketron.
Our grandson, Carson was unable to come out for this trip.

Hello from South Florida

Jeanne, my lovely mommy, beat Uncle Mike to the punch and forwarded me the invitation so here I am. I happen to have a blog on here on which I have posted some pictures (have not posted on there in a while) to share with family and friends. (If I recall, they are all family friendly, ha ha.)

Chad, my husband, and I are both doing well. He works at the Marriott Harbor Beach (love those discounts, don't we guys?) in Fort Lauderdale. Just Sunday he had to stay late to tape the first episode of "24" for Mr. Marriott. I think the Marriott slogan is, "The answer is 'yes', now what is your question?" I suppose you would not tell Mr. Marriott he should look into purchasing a Tivo.


My step-daughter, Kylie, will be 13 in May (my how the time flies! I met her when she was turning 3.) She lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan with her mother, step-father and little brother, and she is expecting the arrival of a new sibling any day now (no, not from me.) She enjoys rock climbing, baseball, soccer, and other assorted 12 year old girly things like glitter nail polish, fruity lipgloss, and t-shirts with slogans. She still thinks boys are rude and gross, and I think this makes her father happy. Kylie also happens to be exactly like her father, so when they get into arguments I have a hard time keeping a straight face because they are basically just arguing with each other, and I find it hysterical.


Chad and I ventured to Colorado this year at the end of September, and I saw snow for the first time while we were in Vail. (Why were we in Vail, you ask? Because they have a Marriott there and it was off-season so we could get an employee rate. It makes vacation planning fun!) Chad helped me make two different little bitty snowmen. Also, I don't think it was fair that he taught me how to make snow-balls by whinging them at my head.

Anyway, that's all the really extra super fun stuff from me for right now. Still practicing law with my dad, and it's really nice to get to be with my family all day at work. Other than that, I'm enjoying the dearth of french canadians this tourist season.


Love to all.

Hello from Bama

Hey guys! It seems that Uncle Mike worked his technical magic again, and gave me a chance to blog online. Following the theme and nature of this blog, I will update everyone on what is happening with me. I graduate from Faulkner University in May (classes wrapped next month) with my Bachelors in Business Administration. I will be able to start my Master's program in March, and by trucking through the summer term and taking an extra class each semester, I will be able to get my 12 classes done in about a year, in contrast to the two years normally needed. My graduate degree will be a Master's of Science Management - very similar to an MBA, but focuses a bit more on corporate management and technology systems along with finance and general business practices such as ethics and theory.
Shea is doing great. We celebrate our 11 years of dating in June, but we are looking to get married VERY soon. I dont think we will end up with the big wedding initially planned, but I will make sure to keep everyone posted. I am excited for her to meet everyone. She is currently back in school pursing her bachelors in elementary education (she has an associates in computer technology).
It's blogged!

It seems to be working!

I will now proceed to say something newsy. I spoke with Uncle John and Mary, and they are doing well. They are looking forward to Katies Wedding in June of this year. We have met her fiancee and parents and they are really nice people. We had a great Holiday Season and were able to see Ron, Lisa,Laura and Lucas who arrived shortly after Barry, Sandy, and Sydney arrived from Texas. A short but fun visit. Barry and Sandy are off to Hawaii next week. I invite you to email me the addresses of anyone else, and here I am thinking of matt, Andy Whitney, Jessica and Sharon's family so I can ass them to this list. Also, Annettes and Patricia's kids might like to join this group. I can see it being pretty useful to stay connected with the family all at once (like the reunion!).

Hello from Connie

Hi, This is my first note to Mike's new blog. I made it on & hope everyone else can do the same.....CL

Hello Moores and spouses of Moores!

I thought I'd give this blogging a whirl and see how it works. I've restricted access to our family (descendents of James Harris Moore). I want to encourage everyone to post and let us all know what's going on in their life!