Eliza Melinda Harrison (Jones) (Brinegar)

Eliza Melinda Harrison was born the daughter of William Harrison and Nancy Shepherd (Harrison) of Maries County, Missouri. She was the sister of my great-grandfather John Milton Harrison. 

When Eliza Melinda Harrison was born on October 8, 1848, in Maries County, Missouri; her father William was 40 and her mother Nancy was 33. She had one son and three daughters with George Washington Jones between 1868 and 1873. Her first husband passed away in 1909.  Her 2nd husband was Captain John Thomas Brinnegar.  Eliza died on July 10, 1930, in Phelps County, Missouri, at the age of 81. She is buried at the St. James Cemetery in Phelps County, also known as the Old Masonic Cemetery. 

Eliza's funeral was held on July 12th, 1930.  Her direct descendant, my 4th cousin Linda Bland, has provided the following documentation and photos, and permission to use them in this blog post. Ms. Bland is now the owner of the home her ancestors Eliza and "Wash" Jones built in Phelps County, Missouri, and is in the process of completing renovations and restorations on the historic home.  A future blog post will detail the house-history of the property, with before and after photos of the restoration. 

Proclamation by the Mayor of St. James, Missouri

On the Day of Eliza's Funeral

July 12th, 1930

Eliza and her horse Digger

Eliza and her parrot

Eliza Melinda Harrison Jones

Eliza and George Washington Jones' home

Phelps County, Missouri

Circa 1910 

Tombstone Tuesday: Charles Drumm (1917 - 1928)

Copyright 2015, The Hopelessly Hooked Genealogist (B. Harrison)

Charles Drumm         Born: 1 September 1917, St Louis, Missouri Died: 3 July 1928. Cape Girardeau, Missouri (photo by Andrew, Find A Grave volunteer)

This post is to memorialize a cousin I never met, who only made to age (almost) 11 years.  Some of the following information is from the Find A Grave Memorial page that I personally created for Charles. (Find A Grave Memorial #46995296).  His story is based on oral family history shared with me by my Dad, a newspaper obituary, and a Missouri death certificate. Charles Drumm was the son of Edna Katherine Harrison Drumm Loraine (my paternal aunt) and her first husband, T. J. Drumm. He was the grandson of John P. Harrison and Susan Allen Harrison. He was the great-grandson of John Milton Harrison and Mary Jane Coppedge Harrison. Charles was my dad Marvin's nephew, being the child of Marvin's older sister Edna.  Charles and Marvin were close to the same age and playmates. Charles was thus my first cousin, though he was born and died decades before I was born.  Charles died tragically from accidental drowning shortly before his 11th birthday. He attended a family-community holiday picnic on July 3rd, 1928 at Apple Creek, Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Some of his cousins and other children (including my own Dad) went to play at a pond of water by the dam at the mill. Charles was unable to swim, as were most of the other children in attendance that fateful day. Charles was either wading or fell in the deep water, and was pulled under by the currents. He struggled briefly, but there was no one within reach who could swim and rescue him in time. Someone threw him something to grab onto to try to float with, probably a piece of driftwood, but by then it was too late. My Dad was haunted his entire life by the memory of seeing only Charles' one hand grasping and thrashing above the water for something, anything....and then it slowly faded and the water was still. Charles Drumm's obituary was published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, page 23, July 5, 1928 . Stubbs Mortuary in Chaffee, MO handled final arrangements.  He is buried at Saint Ferdinand Cemetery in Hazelwood, St. Louis County, Missouri.   Rest In Peace, young Charles.  Below is his death certificate: Tragedy was to befall much of the rest of Charles' immediate family as well.  His step-father Joseph B. Loraine, Edna's 2nd husband, was electrocuted by lightning; his only sibling, a half-brother John B. Loraine was killed in WWII; and his mother Edna died of Leukemia. My research to date has been unable to determine what happened to his biological father, T. J. Drumm. That may be another line in the tree to pursue "some day" to solve yet another mystery.

Friday's Faces: William Jasper Harrison

Copyright 2015, The Hopelessly Hooked Genealogist (B. Harrison)

Friday's Faces: Spotlighting Some Faces In My Tree;

William Jasper Harrison

William Jasper Harrison 

1852 - 1917, Missouri

My Great-Grand-Uncle

There are some people in my tree that I know are related to me but that I don't know a great deal about, other than census records, birth or death records, marriage records and maybe a fuzzy photo or two. I am still piecing together their life stories. 

I don't know a lot about great grand-uncle William Jasper Harrison, other than that he was the brother of my great-grandfather John Milton Harrison, and the son of my 2x-great-grandparents William Harrison and his wife Nancy Shepherd Harrison. He was born in 1852 and died about 1917. 

Jasper married Annie Elizabeth Mosher in 1871 in Maries County, Missouri. He was the father of at least 5 children, and raised his family in Johnson Township, Maries County. He would have been too young to serve in the Civil War, at the age of only 9 years in 1861 when the war commenced. However, his older brother John Milton Harrison served in the Union Army, and many of their other relatives and neighbors also joined the Union Army.  Missouri was technically a neutral territory, but there were Confederate sympathizers and Bushwackers among their Maries County and Phelps County neighbors, and tensions ran high throughout the war. 

The photo and some information on Jasper comes from a local area history book: "History Of High Gate Missouri, the First 125 Years, 1850 -1975" by Glenis L. Southard.  This photo and various articles from the publication have been widely circulated on the internet. Other information comes from his Find A Grave Memorial page (reference F.A.G. memorial # 61286311).  He is buried at High Gate Cemetery in Maries County, Missouri.

I definitely see the Harrison family resemblance in this photo, fuzzy though it is. Based on my scant family history photo collection, he looks a lot like his older brother, my paternal great-grandfather John Milton Harrison. He also greatly resembles my paternal grandfather, John P. Harrison, who would have been Jasper's nephew. He reminds me quite a bit of my own brother as well, John David Harrison.  Jasper physically resembled his own father too, William Harrison (my 2x-great-grandfather), who was tall and lean; though somewhat less than he resembles his brother and nephew. This suggests that some of his (and their) physical features are probably inherited from the maternal Shepherd side of his genetic tree. Jasper was about age 65 when he passed away, and rests near many other Harrison kin at High Gate Cemetery in Maries County, Missouri. 

Headstone of William Jasper Harrison and Anna "Annie" Mosher Harrison

Find A Grave Memorial# 61286311

Photo by Gravefinder1

High Gate Cemetery, Maries County, Missouri

Photo by Find A Grave contributor/volunteer SteveZ

Cemetery notes and/or description:
At the intersection of State Hwy H and State Hwy U. This cemetery is 1000 feet east-southeast of the High Gate Baptist Cemetery.

Throwback Thursday: Fond Memories of Cruising With My Brother

Copyright 2015, The Hopelessly Hooked Genealogist (B. Harrison)

Throwback Thursday:

Fond Memories of a 2009 Cruise

Photo Dated May 7, 2009

 John David Harrison (1947 - 2009), Jackie Jackson, Bev (The Hopelessly Hooked Genealogist)

The cruise was a spur of the moment trip. There was a flu epidemic and lots of last-minute cancellations, so some relatives and I decided to take advantage of the sale the cruise line was running to fill some cabins. I literally booked my cabin 3 days before the cruise departed. What was supposed to be a Mexican Riviera cruise turned into a West Coast cruise, due to a flu outbreak in the Mexican ports. That was fine with us, and is actually the main reason I decided to book. Besides the great deal; we got to cruise conveniently round-trip from Long Beach, California and got to stop off in Seattle, San Francisco, and Victoria, B.C.  It is one of my favorite cruises, of the nearly 30 I have been fortunate enough to take so far.  

Carnival Splendor

The 3 of us had a great time: myself, my divorced brother Dave (who went by John in his later years, but to me he will always be just "Dave"), and my step-niece Jackie.  We spent a full day in San Francisco, dining at a favorite restaurant on Fisherman's Wharf, riding the cable cars up and down the famous hills, sightseeing, shopping, and snacking on shrimp cocktails. Cruising under the Golden Gate Bridge was a highlight. Another full day was spent in Seattle, returning to all my favorite places from when I used to live near there, including of course the flower market at Pikes Place Market and the Space Needle.  I love the Pacific Northwest. Last but not least, another full in-port day was in Victoria, B.C. Sightseeing that day included a carriage ride through a beautiful flowering garden park, and High Tea and the lovely and famous Empress Hotel. 

San Francisco Cable Car

Empress Hotel, Victoria, B.C.

Empress Hotel and Flower Gardens, Victoria, B.C. 

Puget Sound, Seattle, Washington

On board ship, we all sang casual karaoke every night, Dave gambled a lot in the casino, and Jackie and I hung out around the ship doing stuff one does on a cruise.  Dave and Jackie both decided to compete for spots in the big Karaoke Idol show to be held on the main showroom stage on the final night of the cruise.  Dave was "voted" in by other passengers to portray Elvis in the show, and Jackie was voted in to portray Madonna. I will never forget seeing my brother up on that big stage, in full Elvis regalia; singing his heart out to a packed audience, and backed up by the ship's full band and professional dancers. Dave was serious about his karaoke, had done a lot of it by then, and was comfortable performing.  This was SERIOUS karaoke! They were competing for the title of Karaoke Idol. The huge ship's audience intimidated Dave just a little though. It was not his best performance, but it is one of my favorite memories of him. Jackie did a pretty good job too as Madonna.  There were a few other singers, and the show was a big hit with the audience.

Carnival Splendor

Sadly, little did I know at the time, it would be the last time I would see either of them.  They lived in California, I lived in Arizona, so get-togethers were not frequent. We kept in touch via Facebook, mostly. My brother Dave passed away suddenly just a few short months after our cruise adventure, in December of 2009. Jackie was gone within a few years after that, claimed by a complicated illness.  I am still here. I miss them both. I have fond memories of our time together on this cruise that I will cherish forever. I am so very glad we went. 

Things I learned from their untimely passing:  Carpe Diem. "Seize The Moment". Do it now, don't put things off, for we never know what tomorrow may bring.  Hug your loved ones close, and mend fences before it is too late. Work on doing your Bucket List things now, not later. Most of all, learn forgiveness. It is healing and freeing, even if those you forgive still hold their own grudges.  

I am sure they are both smiling down, saying :"Dang, we did have a pretty good ride and a lot of good times on earth, especially those cruises!". 

Tombstone Tuesday: A Daughter's Sacrifice For Her Mother - Georgia Ann Harrison Finn (1861 - 1923)

Georgia Ann Harrison Finn

Daughter of John Milton Harrison and Mary Jane Coppedge Harrison

Wife of John R. Finn

Copyright 2015, The Hopelessly Hooked Genealogist (B. Harrison, A Genie In Arizona)

Georgia was my grand-aunt.  According to oral family history passed down to me by my aunt, Lona Harrison Curtis; Georgia passed away from an apparent heat stroke while walking to go visit her mother at the St. James Soldiers' Home for invalids. Her mother, Mary Janes Coppedge Harrison (who was known simply as "Jane Harrison"), had suffered from some form of senility (possibly what we now know as Dementia/ Alzheimers today) and had been placed in the care facility then known as the Soldiers Home for Veterans and Dependents in St. James, Missouri. Previous to that, Georgia was her mother's primary caregiver. Once Jane Harrison had reached the point of needing a nursing home, Georgia walked several miles a few times per week to visit her mother there. The last time she made that walk was on a hot humid summer day in July. She never made it to her destination. 

Find A Grave Memorial # 62303110

Copy of John P Harrison 1865 - 1942

 John P Harrison 1865 - 1942

Copyright 2014, The Hopelessly Hooked Genealogist (B. Harrison)

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The above is a link to a video photo montage on the life of my paternal grandfather John P Harrison of Maries County and St Louis County, Missouri.  A previous detailed article was posted about him in this Blog and can be found in the Blog archives.   John left behind few photos of himself. He passed many years before I was born. What I know of him is from researching his brief journal and his career with the FRISCO Railroad.

Below is a screenshot of page 1 of the HistoryLines timeline ancestor story that I created on the life of John P. Harrison. Additional information on his life can also be found in this Blog's archives (use the "search this blog" box option to the right side of page next to this article to search previous articles).  

Surname Saturday: THORNTON- Margaret "Peggy" Kitchen Thornton Coppedge

Copyright 2013, The Hopelessly Hooked Genealogist (B. Harrison)

Margaret Kitchen Thornton Coppedge, 1805- 1886

Burial  1886 Dillon Cemetery, Maries Co, Missouri Headstone Inscription: "Margaret, wife of Geo. H. Coppedge - died Oct 8, 1886, aged 81 yrs. Adieu my companion, adieu, How sadly I bid thee farewell". - Info provided by Jean Beckham in 1993. Find A Grave Memorial# 54005698

Margaret "Peggy" Kitchen Thornton was the daughter of Thomas Thornton III and Nancy Kitchen. She was my 2x-great-grandmother on the paternal side of my tree, though my father's grandmother's line. She was born about 1805 in Louden County,Virginia, and died 8 October 1886 in Maries County, Missouri.  The Thornton lineage has been traced back to Richmond, Virginia in the late 1600's and to Yorkshire, England in the early 1600's. There is still documentation work to be done to complete and verify the lineage of this direct line of Thorntons. 

Margaret was married to George Helm Coppedge. Their daughter, Mary Jane Coppedge married John Milton Harrison- these were my paternal great-grandparents. 

Margaret's direct-line paternal ancestry includes the surnames of Thornton, Peyton, Randolph, and Ryland; her maternal ancestry includes Kitchen, Harrison, Butler, Grayson, Wiggington, and Crume. Margaret's parents were Thomas Thornton III (1781- 1848) and Nancy Kitchen (1780- 1815). 

The reference book entitled "Coppage-Coppedge Family 1542-1955", on pg 81- indicates that Margaret was the "daughter of Thomas Thornton III by his 1st wife, a Miss Kitchen, sister to the 2nd wife of Thomas Thornton II".   If accurate, this means that her mother was the sister of  Elizabeth Kitchen, 2nd (or 3rd) wife of her grandfather, and that her father had married the sister of his own father's 2nd wife. 

Margaret's maternal grandparents are believed to be William H Kitchen and Nancy Anne Harrison. Nancy Anne Harrison was a descendant of Burr Harrison III, immigrant ancestor from London, England who went to Virginia about 1664 as an early settler and member of House of Burgess. He  died in Stafford, Virginia in 1706. 

Family Recipe Friday- Scalloped Potatoes and Holiday Meal Traditions

          Copyright 2013, The Hopelessly Hooked Genealogist (B. Harrison)

As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, thoughts turn to the traditional holiday feast.   There is comfort in enjoying favorite family recipes at holiday time, evoking warm memories of holidays past and the people connected with those recipes. 

When I was growing up, my parents typically hosted pot-luck family gatherings at our family home in Orange County, California;  where the extended clan and assorted friends who lived in our area of Southern California would gather at our house.  My parents would usually provide the turkey and ham main courses, rolls, one or two side dishes, tea, coffee, and soda; while everyone else would bring an appetizer and a side dish or dessert to share.  Kids would be running around noisily everywhere, chasing and playing games, while the grownups would gather into two groups- the men in the living room gathered around the tv watching football; the women alternately busily fussing in the kitchen or drinking coffee around the kitchen table as dishes baked in the oven. 

As my parents aged and my siblings and I grew up and married, starting families of our own, these holiday gatherings gradually shifted from my parents' home to one of the adult children's homes.  And so this pattern continued within our own families, as it has for many others.   Today our society is so mobile that families are scattered far and wide, from coast to coast, as ours is now.  These large clan gatherings just aren't as feasible anymore.  Everyone is busy with their own lives in different states; working, going to school, pursuing outside interests, juggling different schedules; as in mine and my husband's extended families, and we rarely all can gather together anymore in one location even at holiday time. 

Since we are now empty-nester retirees, my husband and I often choose to take a vacation over the holidays and enjoy a non-traditional Thanksgiving or Christmas, free from all the hustle and bustle.  We may visit with relatives before or after the holiday, but often just enjoy "escaping" for the actual event. Sometimes we got to a beach resort in Mexico, other times we may go to Las Vegas or Laughlin, or take a cruise.  We still have family in California, mostly on my husband's side now,  and sometimes go there for the holidays.   Sometimes we just stay home to avoid inclement weather and travel hassles of holiday-traffic snarls and jammed airports.  I usually say, every year, that I am not going to bother putting up a tree or any lights or decorations this year.   I say that every year, and yet I always end up doing the tree and decorations anyway, and I do still enjoy it. 

Whether we are eating out for the holidays, or on a non-traditional vacation somewhere, or at a relative's home, or just staying home; it is a time of year that  I do still enjoy cooking a few traditional dishes myself, even for just the two of us; decorating the house a little, and getting into the festive spirit of the season. I do not and never have enjoyed hosting big gatherings or company for dinners myself at our home, and all of the work involved, so I rarely do that and prefer the "let's eat out" option if it involves entertaining guests.  I leave the big feast holiday cooking and fussing to others who do enjoy doing it, and the younger generations who have the energy for it. My ideal Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner these days is on a cruise ship, traveling to someplace warm with tropical breezes, and with fruity-tooty froo-froo drinks on the side with little umbrellas in them.   Holiday joy!

Still, I like to have the traditional foods for us at home also during the holiday season.  Aside from the traditional ham and turkey, there are side dishes that have always found their way into our holiday meals, year after year since I was a kid.  These are probably the same dishes that many others look forward to, and there is comfort in this tradition of familiar foods:   Deviled eggs, green bean casserole, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, fresh-baked rolls. One dish that never failed to grace the holiday table when I was growing up was that of home-made scalloped potatoes.  I must admit, I am not one for a lot of cooking-from-scratch these days.   There are good quality frozen prepared versions that suffice, with a lot less work involved, they just need to be popped into the oven or microwave.   But, if the mood strikes...I have been known to peel some potatoes and do a baking dish full of the homemade version. Here is a link to a good recipe, from the website "Taste of Home", for scalloped potatoes either plain or incorporating leftover ham from the holiday meal. This is very much like the traditional family recipe version I grew up with. Double or triple this recipe for a larger gathering.


www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/scalloped-potatoes-with-ham

TOTAL TIME: Prep: 15 min. Bake: 1 hour 20 min.

MAKES: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 3 cups 2% milk
• 6 cups thinly sliced peeled potatoes
• 1-1/2 cups chopped fully cooked Boneless Carving Ham
• 1 small onion, grated

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons butter. Stir in flour, parsley, salt, thyme and pepper until smooth. Gradually add milk; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes.
2. Combine potatoes, ham and onion; place half in a greased 2-1/2-qt. baking dish. Top with half of the sauce; repeat layers.
3. Cover and bake at 375° for 65-75 minutes or until potatoes are almost tender. Dot with remaining butter. Bake, uncovered, 15-20 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender. Yield: 4 servings.

November 2013- Being Thankful, and Looking Forward

Copyright 2013, The Hopelessly Hooked Genealogist (B. Harrison)

I seem to have taken a few months hiatus from writing in this blog, or else posts I did write have disappeared.    Nevertheless, I am back.  We approach the holiday season of yet another year's end.  November is traditionally a time when we focus on what it is we have to be thankful for.  Facebook friends have been posting their daily "I am thankful for....." status updates.   I too, have much to be thankful for, and try to remind myself to focus on the positives and not let the irritating negatives get out of proportion.   Looking back, I cannot say that 2013  has been a spectacularly great year on a personal or economic level or for this country, but it has not been a horrid one either. Some horrid things did happen in this county and in the world in 2013, it is true....some were natural disasters, some were man-made tragedies.  These types of things do happen, it seems, every year, that affect us deeply; much as our ancestors were affected by tragedies beyond their control in their own time.  It is part of the human existence.   Loved ones are lost, babies are born, and life goes on.  Things are looking up, and I am optimistic that 2014 will bring further recovery of the U.S. economy and to the region where I live in particular, with new growth and construction once again taking place.   I will refrain from overtly-political comments since this is primarily a Genealogy blog, but will say that I believe the current administration in the White House has made some positive changes that will benefit all Americans in the long term.

Back to the subject of Genealogy:  There is a new ongoing genealogy project among my Facebook group of genealogy associates, that I intend to begin working on soon; along with many among my genea-friends who are also participating.   It is called "The Book of Me, Written by You"....the brainchild of genealogist Julie Goucher. It is intended to be a series of prompts to help genealogists and journalists everywhere take the time to sit down and write their own life stories.   We spend so much time delving into the life stories of our ancestors, to document those as much as we can for posterity, that we tend to forget that each of us has our own story to tell.  Each of us will eventually become "the ancestor" that future generations of descendants and kin will be curious about.    Who better to tell our own stories, than ourselves?   And so, I encourage each and every one who may read this Blog post, to journal about yourself.    Whether in a paper notebook, pen to paper the old-school way, or typing it into an online Blog or private journal, or recording your voice telling your story....just do it.  Record and share your life stories and experiences, before they are lost forever.  No one knows the facts and nuances, trials and tribulations, tragedies and triumhs of what really happened along your pathway in life, better than yourself.  I may be sharing the "Book of Me" prompts in future Blog posts, along with some of my responses. I have a lot of catching up to do on that project!

My hopes for the coming year include enjoying my new early-retirement status, and hopefully being able to do a little more traveling.    One or two genealogy-research trips are on the tentative agenda, including a big genealogy conference in Richmond, Virginia in 2014 that I "hope" to be able to attend.  I have a great deal of ancestry in Virginia going back many generations to colonial America, and in the Richmond area in particular. I'm greatly looking forward to that adventure. More time for socializing with friends locally is also on the agenda.  Much work remains to be done on my family tree, and more time devoted to this Blog as well.  Perhaps I will finally make that long-dreamed of genealogy trip back to Missouri to visit my roots there as well, and meet distant-cousins that I have connected with over the past few years who share my interest in genealogy and our family history. So, here is my toast to a happy and thankful Thanksgiving season, followed by a spirited Christmas and Hanukkah season, and finally to a most welcome New Year in 2014!

Travel Tuesday: The FRISCO Railway and my Missouri ancestors

Copyright 2013, The Hopelessly Hooked Genealogist (B. Harrison)

My Harrison ancestors in Missouri had a long association with the FRISCO Railway in the late 1800's through the mid 1900's.   My paternal grandfather, John P. Harrison, had a lengthy career with the FRISCO, many of which were spent in the capacity of Engineer driving steam locomotives prior to his retirement in 1935 at age 70. He drove long-distance passenger trains on cross county routes to and from Missouri. He was very proud of his job, and wrote about it in his journal. What fun he must have had,  watching the scenery go by from his engineer's station in the cab of the locomotives.  I have written about my grandfather previously in this Blog- see http://genieinarizona.blogspot.com/2009/06/remembrance-legacy-of-john-p-harrison.html


John had many other relatives who were employed in some capacity by the railroads in Missouri.  The railroad was in their blood.  John's own father, John Milton Harrison, had harvested trees and sold lumber from his own farm to make railroad ties for the FRISCO. John P.'s eldest son, David Essex Harrison, married the daughter of a FRISCO executive.  At least 2 of his daughters married men who worked for the railroad in St. Louis at the time of their marriages.   Many of John's nephews also had railroad jobs in various parts of Missouri.  John's youngest son, Marvin Milton Harrison (my father) worked for the railroad too for a few years, until the advent of diesel engines made the job he had been trained for (fireman on steam engines) obsolete and forced a career change and a relocation to California in the mid 1950's.  The FRISCO is no longer in existence today, having merged with another rail line after my grandfather''s retirement.

To this day, railroads are in my blood too.   From the time I was a little girl, train trips were a welcome adventure.  I have re-discovered train travel in my own "early golden" years.  One of my favorite adventures today is to hop a ride on a cross-country Superliner train, which today consists of Amtrak trains that are now government-regulated.   One of my favorite trains which services the area I live, is the Sunset Limited which travels east and west between Los Angeles and Chicago.  Another favorite is the Coast Starlight, which travels north and south along the coast between San Diego, California and Portland, Oregon.   I love nothing better than riding a long distance train, sitting in the sightseeing lounge watching the scenery go by.

William Harrison (1807-1896) and his bride Nancy Shepherd Harrison (1815-1900)

Copyright 2013, The Hopelessly Hooked Genealogist (B. Harrison)

Above are photos of my great-great-grandparents, William M Harrison and Nancy Shepherd Harrison, taken in their late middle-aged years or early "senior" years. There are no known portraits in existence of them in their younger years. They were married on 24 November 1834.  Their marriage is recorded in Greene County, Missouri.....however it is not known if they ever lived there.   They settled in Maries County, Missouri. Not a lot is known about their roots prior to the time period when they settled in Missouri as newlyweds.   Nancy Shepherd's family was from Kentucky.   Her parents were John William Shepherd and Mary Polly Clayton Shepherd, of  Shelby and Mason County, Kentucky.

William's family is more of a mystery.    Generations of descendants have remained mystified as to the origins of this line of the Harrison clan, despite recent DNA testing of descendants (circa 2012 and 2013). An old  family bible was purported to be in existence which stated that William was born in a place called "Sura", North Carolina, about 1807, near the headwaters of the Dan River. William and Nancy's photos and other heirlooms were recently discovered to be in the possession of a female descendant of this line.   It is this distant cousin who provided the above photos of these ancestors, as well as a copy of a page taken from what we believe may have been the fabled family bible (see below). The page came out of a worn book that had been referred to as "Nancy's bible", and had been handed down through the generations to this descendant.

Unfortunately, the top left corner of the page is torn off, which would have indicated the county of William's birth.    Some descendant's have interpreted the often-quoted "Sura" as referring to Surry County.   However, my research has led me to believe that it referred to a settlement known as Suaratown.   This was a historic settlement near the ancient Saura Mountains in North Carolina, near the Dan River. In the 1700's and early 1800's, there was an Upper Sauratown and a Lower Sauratown, located approximately 2 miles south of what became known as Leakesville, and is the present-day town of Eden, in Rockingham County, North Carolina (at one period it was part of Stokes County). It also not far from the town of Walnut Cove.  The following information can be found on the Eden Chamber of Commerce website: 

Source:   Eden Chamber of Commerce
http://www.edenchamber.com/history.html
"Eden was so named by William Byrd in 1728 when he led a survey party seeking to establish the boundary line between North Carolina and Virginia.  Byrd called the area "Land of Eden" because of its beauty.  He had his own strong-minded ideas for its use: tillage; grazing; the growing of hemp, flax, cotton, grapes, peaches, apples and rice; and the cultivation of raw silk through the production of white mulberry trees for the feeding of silk worms. Eden, originally three townships known as Leaksville, Spray and Draper, was one of the first cities to be established in the Piedmont area of North Carolina as an economic center.  Here the Piedmont's textile boom began with the establishment in 1837 of the Leaksville Cotton Mill - Morehead's "Factory," it was called - by John Motley Morehead who was to be a two-term governor of the state from 1841 to 1845."

The above historical marker can be found on US 311 at Dan River bridge northeast of Walnut Cove, North Carolina.   It marks the site of part of the old historical settlement of Sauratown, which was originally inhabited by the Saura Indians, and later by American pioneer settlers.   With changing territorial boundaries over the decades, this region was at varying times considered part of Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. It may have even at one point been part of what was referred to as the early Kentucky territory. Settlers in the remote mountain regions often were isolated from communication with the rest of the country and lived in assumption that they lived in one territory or state, even after it had officially become part of another territory or state.    This could account for the varying responses to "birth place" give by William Harrison and his brothers Lewis and Tyree Harrison to census takers over the years.    While William appears to have consistently referred to his birthplace as being in North Carolina, his brothers sometimes indicated they were born in either Tennessee, Virginia, or Kentucky.    It is possible the family moved around a lot, but is more plausible that they were simply confused as the official name of the territory the family lived in at the time of their birth's.  DNA testing has connected our line of Harrison to Lineage # 1 on the Harrison DNA Patriarch's Study website, with roots in North Carolina and Virginia.  We are line H206 in that study.  http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/harrison/pats .  As yet, we have still been unable to identify the parents of William, Lewis, and Tyree Harrison and their sisters.  They remain known only as the mysterious "Widow Harrison" and possibly a William Harrison Sr.  Research continues on this Brick Wall in our tree. 

William and Nancy Shepherd Harrison are buried at Bowles Chapel Cemetery in Maries County, Missouri.  They share a headstone, with William's inscription on one side and Nancy's on the other. 

Memorial pages can be found for them on the Find A Grave website, with links to other family members. ( William's is Find A Grave Memorial# 53273047.  Nancy's is Find A Grave Memorial# 40376051).

William Harrison's Farm: Finding The Original Homestead Of My Great-Great-Grandfather

Copyright 2013, The Hopelessly Hooked Genealogist (B. Harrison)

The above photos are recent pictures (taken April 2013) of some of the original farm land owned by my great-great-grandfather William Harrison, circa 1853 to 1896 in Maries County, Missouri.  The photos were taken by my distant cousin, T. Cadenbach, who shares some Harrison ancestry with me and still lives in the general vicinity of our Missouri roots.

William Harrison's Land Patent:

 In 1853,  my ancestor William patented 40 acres in Section 20, Township 39-N, Range 7-W, 5th Meridian, Maries County, Missouri.  He later added to this land, and his brothers Lewis and Tyree Harrison owned adjacent farm lands and acreage.  With the help of a plotting tool utilized through Google Earth, and the legal description coordinates from the original land deeds, we were able to pinpoint the exact location of the original farms of these three Harrison brothers, as shown below. 

My cousin has recently met the current owner's of my ancestor's original acreage, who gave their permission for photos and further exploration.   The acreage is kept in immaculate condition by the current owners, and is still undeveloped rural farm-ranch acreage, much as it was back in my ancestor's time. The difference would be that the land is now far less forested.  Though many beautiful trees do remain, in my ancestor's era most forested acreage was cleared for planting of crops,  as well as later to sell the wood for railroad ties to the Frisco Railway. There is a large modern home now inhabited by the current owners.  However, remnants of historic buildings and foundations still remain, to be further explored and documented.  One of the brothers of my ancestor, Lewis Harrison, deeded part of his land that encompassed the Harrison family cemetery for the formation of what is now known as Rock Spring Cemetery. It is there that many of our Harrison ancestors and kin are buried.  We believe it may be the final resting place of our mysterious Brick Wall ancestor, the "Widow" Harrison and possibly her husband (parents of William, Lewis, and Tyree Harrison and their sisters) who may rest there in now unmarked graves.

Below is William's farm is it looks today (2013):

Below is William's farm, the only known photo of the old original old farmhouse, taken circa 1883.

Marker for a Great-Grandmother: Mary Jane Coppedge Harrison 1840 - 1923

Copyright 2013, The Hopelessly Hooked Genealogist (B. Harrison)

Mary Jane Coppedge Harrison 1840 - 1923 

We don't know if my paternal great-grandmother ever had a marker for her gravesite, or if she may have originally had some sort of wooden or stone marker that has long since deteriorated into oblivion.  But, at long last, this ancestor in my tree has a legible headstone to mark her final resting place next to her husband, John Milton Harrison, Civil War Veteran.  They were my paternal great-grandparents, long passed before I was born.

Mary Jane Coppedge Harrison (1840 - 1923) and John Milton Harrison (1836 - 1899) are both buried at Dillon Cemetery in Phelps County, Missouri. Mary Jane also has a memorial page on www.findagrave.com ,  Find A Grave Memorial# 53272446 . She was the daughter of George Helm Coppedge and Margaret "Peggy" Kitchen Thornton Coppedge. She was the granddaughter of Travis Coppedge and Elizabeth Helm Coppedge, and Thomas Thornton III and Nancy Kitchen Thornton. Her great-grandparents were Moses Aaron Coppedge and Mary Jane Catlett Coppedge, George Helm and Mary Frances Calmes Helm, Thomas Thornton II and Lucinda Waters Thornton, and (possibly) William Harrison Kitchen and Nancy Anne Harrison Kitchen. Among her great-great-grandparents were Charles Coppedge and Lucy Sarah Lunsford Coppedge, John Catlett and Mary Ann Grayson Coppedge, Captain Leonard Helm (Revolutionary War) and Elizabeth Calmes Helm, Thomas Thornton I and Lettice Peyton Thornton, and Thomas Harrison V and Mary Ann Butler Harrison.  It appears, thus, that Mary Jane was a Harrison descendant herself as well as marrying a Harrison, her distant cousin several generations removed. I doubt that she even realized there was a chance that they were distant cousins.

The cemetery where May Jane and John Milton Harrison are buried is on private property in Phelps County, Missouri. It is a small country cemetery that is well-maintained by the current owner of the property. For generations, John Milton Harrison had an original Civil War Veteran's headstone that was gradually deteriorating from age and exposure to the elements, but there was no visible marker for his wife who was laid to rest beside him.  At the time of Mary Jane's passing, her husband had already been gone for a few years. Mary Jane died as a resident of the Soldiers Home hospital-nursing home in St. James, Missouri.   She had been placed there for long-term care after being found incapacitated by a local court. This appears to have transpired when her senility became too much for her caretaker daughter, Georgia Ann Harrison Finn, to deal with. We may surmise that she may have been afflicted with something akin to Alzheimers disease as we know it today. As a tragic side note, George Ann Harrison Finn died of a heat stroke or heart attack while walking to visit her mother in the Soldier's Home on one hot summer day. Mary Jane passed away shortly thereafter.   We can only guess that financial constraints may have been a reason that no individual permanent marker was placed on Mary Jane's grave. The death certificate confirms that she is buried at Dillon Cemetery.

In 2012, with the assistance of my 4th-cousin on the Harrison side of my tree who lives in Phelps County, Missouri; we were able to get a new headstone placed for John Milton Harrison (see above photo).   His original headstone had deteriorated beyond repair and was no longer legible due to being covered with algae, mold, and fungus.    Recently, in 2013 we were able to set a new marker in place for his wife, Mary Jane, as well.   Their markers now stand side by side, as their souls rest for all eternity.

I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas!

             Copyright 2012, The Hopelessly Hooked Genealogist (B. Harrison)


On this rainy December day in Arizona, a blog post is long overdue.  Today is "Blog Carol" Day, a genea-blog prompt coordinated by our genealogist friend Footnote Maven. We are to write about a favorite Christmas Carol.

Mine has got to be "I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas", preferrably crooned by none other than the iconic Bing Crosby.   Having grown up in sunny Southern California where there were lots of beaches and much sunshine, but no snow, I cannot remember having ever having experienced a White Christmas as a child.  Our house did not even have a fireplace; we used one of those fake cardboard fireplaces that went up with the tree every year.  I was well into my adult years before ever being in snow at Christmas time on trips, and even those occasions were rare. Once, during a period when I lived in the Seattle, WA area for a few years, we got some lovely, soft fluffy white snow for Christmas...and that is a magical memory. Now I have lived in Arizona for many years, in an area that does not get snow, but as I write this blog entry- snow is falling up in the northern part of the state in Flagstaff.   There will soon be some snow south of us too on Mt. Lemmon near Tucson.  So, though we won't likely have a White Christmas where I live, we can take a day trip to play and experience the winter beauty.

Here are the lyrics to this favorite Christmas Carol:

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas,
Just like the ones I used to know.
Where the tree-tops glisten,
And children listen
To hear sleighbells in the snow."

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas,
With every Christmas card I write,
"May your days be merry and bright,
And may all your Christmases be white".

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas,
Just like the ones I used to know.
Where the tree-tops glisten,
And children listen
To hear sleighbells in the snow."

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas,
With every Christmas card I write,
"May your days be merry and bright,
And may all your Christmases be white".