Windows to the Past

     Today, my mom and I drove to South Carolina (Greenwood, Edgefield and Aiken Counties) to visit cemeteries.  We don't just learn dates and burial locations when we do this, we also get a snapshot of their world as we travel through their community.

     This is especially true in the church cemeteries, where we can see the churches that they worshiped at. I snapped this photo of my mom, peaking into the window of Bethel Methodist Church in Callison, South Carolina.  Gazing into the church in which generations of my ancestors worshiped is somewhat surreal and rather powerful.

Save Yourself Some Time and Grief: Ask For Help

     I have found all of my dad's direct ancestors in the 1940 Census, as well as a few collateral folks too. On the other hand, I have found only my mom's mom and maternal grandmother. I had no success finding any of her father's family or the rest of her mother's family. The problem comes from them being mill workers and moving often. It's difficult to find the correct address, especially when they were living in smaller towns without online city directories. I'd browsed through about eight EDs looking for my mom's dad and his family to no avail.

     I'd meant to call my Great-Aunt Ree earlier in the week for help, but got side tracked with searching for my dad's people.  Today I asked my mom to call Aunt Ree, to which she responded that I should call her. She's making me work on my social skills... sigh. So I called her and very quickly realized why I couldn't find her or her brother, my Grandaddy: I was looking in the wrong city. I thought that she's said before that the family was in Greenville, SC in 1940, but today she said that they had been living on Greene Street in Greenwood, SC.

     I chatted on the phone with her while I browsed the two EDs that contained Greene Street. I learned that they moved to Greenville in '42 and that her father, who died in '47, had never owned a car. Oddly though, he had driven a taxi cab for a few years. After the family moved to Greenville, they often visited family still in Greenwood by riding the P&N Train back and forth.  Her parents had worked in mills in Greenwood and for other mills in Greenville that were all owned by the same company. She can remember so many little details about her childhood and was more than happy to tell me everything she could.

     Unfortunately I did not find her on Greene Street, so questioned her some more. Before that they had lived on Pelzner. And that's where I found them: 515 Pelzner Street.

    I'm really glad that I called my great-aunt, otherwise I probably would not have found this family until an index became available. And it looks like South Carolina is going to be late on the list.  So do yourself a favor: if you're having trouble finding your family and there's someone you can ask for help, do so.

Surname Saturday - Witt

My Witt Family line can be traced back to David Jefferson Witt, born 1833 in Abbeville County, South Carolina. David J's wife was Sara Walker, also born in 1833. They married around 1850 and lived in Edgefield County and later Greenwood County, South Carolina. According to census information, David was a farmer and unable to read or write.

David died on 21 Jan 1901 and was buried in the Bethel Methodist Church Cemetery in Callison, Greenwood, South Carolina.

David J & Sara had five children, including James S, David Jr, Moses P, and Martha. I descend through David Jr, who married Alice Miller. Their son, William David married F Iola Quattlebaum, who had my Great Grandmother, Auline Witt.

The Witt family continued to live in Greenwood Country, with many of the family buried at the Bethel Methodist Church Cemetery and the Bold Springs Baptist Church Cemetery.

I would love to share information with anyone connected to this family.

Tombstone Tuesday - Witt

William D. Witt and Frances Iola (Quattlebaum) Witt are buried together at the Bethel Methodist Church Cemetery in Callison, Greenwood, SC.

William was the son of David Jefferson Witt and Alice Miller (who are buried just up the road at Bold Springs Baptist) and Iola was the daughter of Millege E. Quattlebaum and Mary Jane "Mamie" Dorn. Both native to neighboring Edgefield county, they were married around 1898 and lived most of their lives in Greenwood County.

Tombstone Tuesday - Quattlebaum

Milledge Evander Quattlebaum and Mary Jane "Mamie" Dorn are buried in Bethel Methodist Church in Callison, Greenwood, SC. They were my 3x Great-Grandparents and lived their lives in Greenwood and Edgwood Counties, SC.

Milledge remarried around 1910 and is pictured below with his second wife, Martha "Mattie" Reagan.

Tombstone Tuesday - Witt

David and Alice Witt are buried in the Bold Springs Baptist Church yard in Callison, Greenwood, SC. They are my 3x Great Grandparents.

Tombstone Tuesday

This little infant's identity is unknown to me. He/she is buried in the Albea family plot in Edgewood Cemetery, located in Greenwood, Greenwood, SC.

Buried in the same plot are Charles Vernon Albea (1903 - 1947) and his parents, William A. Albea (1872-1936) and Nina Sprouse Albea (1878-1962).

I've thought that the infant probably died after William (1936). Would the family have bought an entire plot for an infant's death? It seemed more likely that a baby in the family died and was buried in an extra plot. There are two empty plots remaining, so perhaps the child's parents thought be be buried her too.

William and Nina's sons were Johnny, Melvin, Charles, Henry and Coleman. Charles's infant is buried a city over, in Callison, so I doubt that his is his child.

Where do I go from here? I haven't been able to find an office for this cemetery, but there is a church nearby. I could try contacting them to see if they know anything.

I've searched the new SC Death Certificates on ancestry.com, but haven't been able to find an infant death that belongs to anyone in my Albea line.