A Treasure Trove of Family and Community History

Family, I‘ve been in genealogy heaven for a little over a month now, and I have to tell you why! (Or, at least those of you who haven’t already been cornered by me. Sorry/Thanks!)

 

ONE stack of funeral programs from the Willie Mae Davis Allen Genealogical Collection, generously shared by Cousin Barney Allen.

Back in February, I had to head down to DC for a work event. Now, I love visiting DC for so many reasons – the museums, the libraries and archives, the architecture, the history, and just strolling through some of the fun and funky neighborhoods. But one of the best things about visiting the city is that I have family there, and a lot of it. You see, my mom was born in DC, and through her mother, father, and step-mother, there are cousins upon cousins upon first- and second- and half- and step- and twice- and thrice-removed cousins there. So, when I head down, I’ll often make an effort to hang with family.

Finding Gilbert Wilkerson: My 3x Great-Grandfather

We all know we “come from people,” but to learn their names and to begin to imagine their lives is a powerful thing. They become real.

I’m excited to have one more name to speak aloud, one more life story to dig into: my newest 3x great-grandparent, Gilbert Wilkerson.

Visiting the Cooper-Thomas Cemetery, Burke County, GA

**This looks like a long post, but it's full of pictures!**

Last July, my mother, sister and I traveled to Georgia to meet up with her siblings and extended maternal family at the Cooper-Cummings Family Reunion. While there were lots of nice moments at the reunion, some of which are pictured here, the highlight for me was absolutely getting to visit the family cemetery on our final day in Georgia.

Driving toward the cemetery, in Burke County, Georgia.

I've Got Mail!

Something came in the mail today! I've known for a while now that my mom's cousin, France Davis - France, not Francis, mind you - wrote a book. I remember it being talked about at a family reunion a couple of years back, but I was too cheap poor and in college or a recent graduate and didn't buy it. Welp, you guessed it, I went ahead and ordered the book online a few days ago and when I came home today, it was waiting for me!

Cousin France is actually my mom's first cousin, once removed. What does that mean? Mom's maternal great-grandfather, Reverend July Cooper, was Cousin France's grandfather, or put another way, Mom's maternal grandfather Noah Cooper and Cousin France's mom Julia (Cooper) Davis were siblings. So, yeah, I get to use the fancy term "first cousin once removed" for them and if you throw me in the mix, he's my "first cousin twice removed."

Sings to self: I'm so fancy, you already know...Just kidding. I had to look it up on this chart to get the terminology right.

Anyway, I bought the book because at our last reunion, last summer, the suggestion was made that the next reunion be held in our ancestral town, Gough, (Burke County) Georgia. Then we could visit the land the family still owned, see the family cemetery, and really connect to the place we came from. (My great-grandparents Noah and Nancy (Thomas) Cooper moved from Georgia to Washington, DC in the 1930s.) And I remembered someone saying, on several occasions, that there was even a town named after us down there, a Cooperstown or Coopersville. It popped up in my mind a few months ago and so I did what everyone else does - I googled it. Lo and behold, France's book popped up as a hit, with the names of a bunch of my family members! So, I took a really long time to get around to it and bought the book.

One of my favorite photos of my great grandparents, Noah Cooper and Nancy (Thomas) Cooper.

I unwrapped the package, but my mom opened the book before I did! She very generously closed the book again until I sat down, though. Then we dove in and started looking at the pictures. (Just doing what I was taught in school - skim a thing first to get the general idea and then go back and read for details!)

It's pretty cool to see family members that I recognize in a published book. And of course my mom has more memories of these folks, especially of the older ones who've passed. There's even images of pages from my 2x great aunt Julia's family bible (earliest date 1858)! How neat!

I'm looking forward to sitting down and really reading this, both to learn about our Cousin France (who is still living, and is a pastor out in Utah as far as I know), and to learn about my Cooper roots. I haven't researched this branch of the family as much as I have others, because several other folks are already very capably doing so, but, hey, I want to know the stories, too!