The Oklahoma Scott Family Reunion 2015

The first Sunday in June is the time, and the park in Wynnewood, Oklahoma is the place of the Oklahoma Scott family reunion. We heard about it just in time to go. Wynnewood was the home of William Charlie Scott, my great great grandpa, and for years dozens of descendants of his ten kids would gather for the day.

The family of William Charlie Scott taken on the day of his funeral. He died April 20, 1933. His wife, Judia Isabelle Lard Scott is front left. Nancy Scott, his daughter with Nancy Qualls is next, then his oldest sons Jesse Andrew and Avery Albert. Apart from Mamie, I’m at a loss as to who’s who  on the back row. Any cousins out there who can help?

When I was a kid we filled the park. Food covered all the picnic tables in the pavilion and we spread out across the park on lawn chairs and picnic blankets. The food was all homemade, except a couple of loaves of the mandatory Rainbow bread. White bread and butter went with every meal. There was fried chicken, potato salad, deviled eggs, baked beans, cole slaw and tons of other stuff. Banana pudding was a mandatory dessert, sometimes several versions, cakes in all flavors, and lots of pie. Apple pie, cherry pie, pecan pie, peach cobbler, blueberry cobbler, and there was probably a pan of brownies.

Someone brought a set of horseshoes and after selecting the biggest shady spot they could find, the stakes were measured off and pounded into the ground where the men would congregate, most of them smokers. The clank of horseshoes and smell of the air, stopping only long enough for one of the eldest attendees to say grace before the meal. Well the clanking paused for a minute or two, the smoke was continuous. The women folk—that’s old-timey talk for moms and grandmas—set up lawn chairs and spread pallets—usually handmade quilts—under the shade of a different tree. Every patch of that shade was covered with a picnic blanket, usually anchored by a picnic basket or thermos to keep them from blowing away in the Oklahoma wind.

Us kids were left to fend for ourselves so we made use of a few swings, a couple of wooden teeter-totters, and one of those old merry-go-rounds you have to get a dad to push to go really fast, and if you don’t hang on you’ll slide to the edge and get slung to the ground, Probably why most parks have taken them out in recent years. I always sat  in the middle and squeezed my eyes tight to keep from getting sick.

There might be seventy or eighty kin gathered for the day. And that didn’t include the kids. But times have changed. This year there were maybe thirty or so adults at the park. There were just a few smokers (all the old-timers died of smoking related causes, mostly heart attacks) and no one brought horseshoes. Much of the food was store-bought. We even picked up chicken at Homeland on our way down. And after the food  was spread out (there was plenty!) there was still room for all of us to sit and eat at a picnic table in the shade of the pavilion. No need for lawn chairs or pallets on the ground. Alas.

As far as I know there were only two of Charlie’s ten kids were represented at the reunion with descendants of Jesse and Avery in attendance.

Jesse Andrew Scott, the oldest, born in 1886, had lived in Wynnewood near his folks and some of his kids and grandkids still live in the area. It’s that bunch that organizes the reunion and keeps it going. Some of them came up from Texas just for the reunion. The second son, Avery Albert, born in 1889, was my great grandpa. There were four of us there. Mom, one of her cousins, Kay Scott Talley, her husband Lester, and me.

I printed the ancestry.com person pages for each of William Charlies kids and took it to use as a reference point for introductions. It was very helpful. I wrote the barest bit of family history I could put on a half-a-sheet of paper for those who might not know where we came from. I overheard someone say “They came from Alabama?” so the history was also helpful.  Here’s what I wrote.

A Brief Scott Family History

John Scott was born in 1800 in Buncombe County, North Carolina in the vicinity of present day Ashville. About 1820 he moved to Alabama (opened for settlement in 1818) by way of Tennessee where his two brothers settled. John and his sister Isabelle Scott Lambert settled in Lauderdale County in the far northwest corner of the state. John was single when he obtained his land, but in 1823 he married and started a family. He had ten kids when his wife died so he remarried and had four more kids. All 14 of his kids were born along Bumpass Creek near Waterloo, Alabama in Lauderdale County.

John donated some of his land for the Bumpass Creek Free Will Baptist Church, which still has an active congregation. My mom, Darlene Miller painted a picture of the church from a photo taken during a visit to the area. I photographed the painting and have made some postcards of the church.

Jeremiah Franklin was born in 1834, one of John’s of the first ten kids. “Frank” married Mary Harriett Serelda Steely and they started a family in Lauderdale County.  They would have 13 kids, all born in Alabama.

William Charlie, born in 1860, was Frank’s 2^nd son. Charlie married Nancy Qualls and after they had a daughter Nancy died. Charlie then married Judia Isabelle Lard (Laird) and they had nine kids, eight sons and one daughter.

The Scotts had filled up most of their neck of the woods along Bumpass Creek in Lauderdale County and started moving west.  Jeremiah Franklin’s oldest son moved to Texas where he married and had three sons. Of the remaining nine kids, six came to Oklahoma—the others stayed in Alabama—Charlie was one of the six who came and brought his family.

Charlie and Judi had three sons, then between 1891 and 1894 they moved to Oklahoma, near Box in Cleveland County, and had six more kids.

Avery, Charlie’s 2^nd son, was my great grandpa. “Aunt Lela” was my grandma. My mom is Darlene Rose Miller and I’m Jan Miller Stratton.

The William Charlie Scott Family, circa 1900. On the front row from the left: Rayford Charley, 1900; William Charlie, 1860; Eldry, 1896; Judi Lard Scott, 1867; Ernal Mason, 1896. On the back row from the left: Jesse Andrew, 1886; Colbert, 1894; Stanley Luther, 1891; and Avery Albert, 1989

This is a picture we’ve had and apart from Charlie and Judi, we didn’t know who was who. But thanks to mom’s cousin Kay Scott Talley, we think we figured it out.  She knew for sure the one on the back right was Avery, her grandpa, and the one on the back row with the ruffled collar was Colbert. Based on that we made an educated guess and named the others.

Avery and Colbert would grow up to marry sisters, (Doan and Chub Crouch) so we were double cousins with Colbert’s kids and grandkids.. Colbert and Avery both lived in far southeast Cleveland County near the community of Box so we knew those cousins better than some of the others. Charlie and Judi first settled in Box when they came to Oklahoma, but after all the kids were born they moved south to eventually settle in Wynnewood.

That’s about the sum of it for this year. Colbert and Chub’s kids (there are just a couple of their eleven kids left), grandkids and great grandkids have a “Scott Cousins Reunion” is what  they call it. We’ve been invited to that  later this summer. There’s talk of a reunion in Waterloo, Alabama as well which I would love to turn into a family research trip if the timing works out for me to go.

Seems like there aren’t as many family reunions as there used to be. How about you? Got plans to see family this summer?

Jan

John Scott > Jeremiah Franklin Scott > William Charlie Scott > Avery Albert Scott > Lela Scott Rose > Darlene Rose Miller > Jan Miller Stratton

 

 

Mid-Century Style

No matter what’s going on in my life, when February 16 pops up on my computer screen or date book I think of  Grandma and Grandpa. It’s their birthday today. Grandma would be 104 and grandpa would be 106. I’m talking about  Thomas Edwin “Ed” Rose  and Lela Mae Scott Rose.

This was Easter Sunday and I was just a few weeks past my first  birthday. Grandma was 43 and Grandpa was 45.

I love grandpa’s double-breasted suit. According to mom he was quite the dandy. As a construction worker he wore dungarees, similar to, but not quite jeans, and  chambray or flannel work shirts; but on Sundays he was always in a suit and tie. I never thought of President Eisenhower as a trendsetter, but here in the midst of the “Eisenhower Years” that military-style jacket Grandma is wearing has to be influenced by the General. There’s something very practical about the waistband at the bottom of the jacket. In a military uniform it would keep the tail of your jacket out of the way of your sidearm. The matching shirt cuffs tie the look together. On the battlefield the flapped pockets protected military orders and maps, but here thy add an element of style. The jacket looks perfect with  the slim a-line skirt. High-heeled pumps would look out of place with this suit, so grandma completes the look with fashionably updated oxfords.

And then there’s me, with my cute little dress coat over my Easter dress.

So Happy Birthday to my Grandma and Grandpa!

 

Two Working Oxen

In 1860 John Scott–my 4x great grandpa–farmed 90 acres and owned another 300 acres of unimproved land along Bumpass Creek in Lauderdale County, Alabama. His farm was worth $1,600. He owned another $200 worth of farm equipment.  He owned 6 horses, 4 “asses and mules”; 5 “milch cows”; 2 working oxen; 20 other cattle; 15 sheep; and 35 swine. The livestock was valued at $1750 on Schedule 4—Productions of Agriculture in the Western Division of Lauderdale County, Alabama.

The previous year his farm produced 45 bushels of wheat; 1000 bushels of Indian corn; 35 pounds of wool; 16 bushels of Irish potatoes; 30 bushels of sweet potatoes; 50 pounds of butter; 4 tons of hay; and 70 gallons of molasses. The value of his homemade manufacturing was $10 and the value of his slaughtered animals was $170.

John at age 59, had a personal estate valued at $4500 in addition to the $1,600 real estate. His wife Harriet had a personal estate of $700 with $600 of real estate. She and John had four children. Mary Ann was the first, born in 1845 and she died at the age of five. The other children were listed on the 1860 census: Thomas, age 12; Camille, age 9 and Robert, age 5.

1860 census includes John Scott Jr, his wife and kids; Frank, my 3x great grandpa, Jeremiah Franklin with his wife and son; Harriet Scott and five of her children; her son George Thompson and his family; James Scott who was incorrectly identified as “Thompson” with the ditto marks the census taker continued down the page. The last entry is John Scott Sr., also incorrectly identified as Thompson.

 

Harriet Thompson Scott, John’s second wife, had an 80-acre farm of her own which she inherited from her first husband. Her farm was worth $600 with $100 worth of farm equipment. She had 3 horses, 1 milk cow, 2 oxen, 5 other cattle, 15 sheep, and 20 swine with a total value of $400. Her farm produced 12 bushels of wheat, 475 bushels of Indian corn, 35 pounds of wool, 25 bushels of Irish potatoes, 50 pounds of butter, one ton of hay, $25 worth of homemade goods, and slaughtered livestock valued at $135.

This detail lists sons John Jr. and  Frank (Jeremiah Franklin); Harriet, his second wife; son James; John Scott Sr., and another son, William Scott. Next is John Lamb Sr. and his son John Lamb Jr.; then another Scott son, Poindexter, who married a daughter of John Lamb; Spencer Lard or Lord, who has no farm, but $15 in farm equipment. I haven’t placed him yet, but it seems he might live on the farm of one of the Scotts. Next is Weatherly Haines, and William Scott, a brother of John Scott Sr.

Further down the page I found John’s sister, Isabella Scott Lambert. Her husband Abner, has died leaving her the farm.

I included the columns for Improved acres, Unimproved acres, Value of farm, Value of farm Implements.

 

The page included other familiar names, Black and a couple of Webbs..

John’s youngest son Rufus, 22, was a newlywed. He and his wife Elizabeth, 18, were listed in the same household with his father.

John’s youngest daughter, Elizabeth married John W. Haines (Weatherly). When she died he married her sister Catherine Tennessee, Tennie, Scott.

John’s first wife was probably Mary Carson and Jobe Carson is also listed further down the page. At 40-years-old he might be a nephew if there’s any connection at all.

I know there are other relatives I’ll find when I take time to look at more pages of this census. I’m fascinated with the details of their lives on the brink of the Civil War.

Jan

 

Scotts Creek

I’m reading a lot of North Carolina history lately, trying to get a handle on what life was like about the time my 4X great-grandfather John Scott, was born. He was born in Buncombe County in 1800. Ashville is the county seat of modern-day Buncombe County, but at the time it was just a wilderness at the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Buncombe County was formed in 1792 and encompassed the entire western end of North Carolina. There were a few trading trails crisscrossing the county, and a few scattered settlements, but it was rough rugged land and settlers were on their own. As soon as the county was established the flood gates opened and pioneers, especially veterans of the Revolutionary War came to stake a claim.

Huge land grants were issued and in 1796 over a quarter of a million acres was granted to David Allison. This huge parcel was outlined by “Hominy creek, Mill’s and Davidson’s rivers, Scott’s creek, Big Pigeon and down it to Twelve-Mile creek to the French Broad and to the beginning.”

Did you catch Scotts Creek there in the land description?

I found all this on a history of western North Carolina website and a few paragraphs later I found another reference to Scotts Creek.

SCOTT’S CREEK. As this creek was on the eastern border of the Cherokee country from which the Indians were removed, and as Gen. Winfield Scott was in charge of their removal in 1835-38, some suppose that the creek took its name from him; but in two grants to Charles McDowell, James Glascow and David Miller, dated December 3, 1795, (Buncombe Deed Book No. 4, p. 104) the State conveyed 300 acres on the waters of Scott’s creek, waters of Tuckaseegee river, including the forks of Scotts creek and “what was said to be Scott’s old lick blocks,” and on the same date there was a further grant to the same parties to 300 acres on the same stream, including a cane brake, with the same reference to Scott’s old lick blocks. (Book 8, p. 85.) But a careful search revealed no grant to any Scott in that section at or near that time; and the Scott who gave his name to this fine stream was doubtless but a landless squatter who was grazing and salting his cattle on the wild lands of that day. He probably lived in Haywood county, near the head of Richland creek.

Haywood county was formed in 1809 just west of Buncombe, going all the way to Tennessee, but when I googled Richland Creek I didn’t find one in the area.

There’s no way to know if this might have been one of our Scotts, but whoever it was didn’t stay long enough to leave a trail.

The American Revolution ended in 1782, eighteen years before John Scott was born. That’s an awfully long time for his father to have fought in the war, but maybe his grandfather did, depending on how old he was between 1776 and 1782. Never the less, sometime late in the century, John Scott’s father was in the mountains of western North Carolina. Since the area was so sparsely populated, it seems to me he brought his wife with him, although she may have arrived in the area with her family about the same time. The young couple would have established a home there in the 1790s.

They would have cut down trees, probably along a creek, to make room for a log cabin where John and his siblings were born. The Scotts wouldn’t stay long in North Carolina but head west to settlements in newly opened lands in Tennessee and then south along the Natchez Trace where our John Scott would cut down trees along Bumpass Creek, and carve out a home north of Waterloo, Alabama. He would have 15 kids of two wives and fairly cram that section of Lauderdale County with Scotts, so many that eventually many would pick up and move west again to settle in Texas, and then later in Oklahoma.

Seems we were trailblazers all along the way, arriving in new areas with the first wave of settlers.

Jan

 

 

Fifteen Kids!

Sometime before 1823 John Scott of Buncombe County, North Carolina established his home in Lauderdale County, Alabama just a few miles south of the Tennessee state line. I have that he was born August 25, 1800, but I don’t know where that date came from so speak up if you have better information.

He’s the ancestor that donated the land for the Bumpass Creek Baptist Church I wrote about a few posts back.

In 1823 he married Mary Elizabeth Carson in Lauderdale County. She was born in 1807 in North Carolina. John was 23 years old, and Mary was 16. I wonder if John knew Mary back in North Carolina and he was waiting for her to grow up so he could marry her. On the other hand, the county was newly opened to settlers and many of them came from the Carolinas so when he was ready to settle down their paths crossed and they set up housekeeping together.

Their first child, a son, was born in Lauderdale County in 1825. They named him William Moore Scott. It’s one of the few unique names in the family tree. It’s hard to know where the name came from, but a popular naming custom was to name sons after military leaders, and more specifically after the captain of a father or grandfather’s regiment. Maybe we’ll find out more about the Scott family during the American Revolution one of these days and see if something shakes loose along this line of thinking.

It was also popular to name sons after presidents and the Scotts have done this through the years. John and Mary picked the name James Monroe Scott for their second child born in 1826.

Next they had a daughter, Charlott Matilda who was born in 1827 and unfortunately died three years later. We don’t know if she suffered ill-health or was the victim of an accident, something that was all too common in new settlements.

Another girl arrived a year later, Catherine Tennessee “Tennie” Scott was born in 1828, and in 1830 Caroline Malinda Scott arrived. Saleta Jane Scott,  born in 1831—she would die at age 15—was the fourth in a run of daughters.

In 1833 John Madison Scott was born and Jeremiah Franklin “Frank” was born in 1834. Poindexter D. Scott—another easy-to-track name—was born in 1836 and a year later, in 1837, another son, Rufus Carmack Scott was born. After having ten kids in 12 years, Mary was just 30 years old. It was four years before her last child, Elizabeth was born in 1841.

Mary Carson Scott died in 1842 leaving John with ten kids ages 1 to 16. The older boys, at 15 and 16 were obviously helping farm the land. Keeping house and tending to the baby probably fell to 13-year-old Tennie and her sisters, ages 11 and 10.

It was a couple of years before a new mom joined the family. John married Harriet Frances Ferrell June 9, 1844. She was born in South Carolina in 1810. She was 34 years old. Her first husband, Samuel Jack Thompson, died about 1843. I don’t have her children on my family tree, but there are Thompson family trees that say there were eight Thompson children ages 1–16 who joined the Scott family, making a blended family of 20. And then they had four more kids! Talk about yours, mine, and ours!

Mary Ann Scott, the first of John and Harriet’s children, was born in 1845 and she died at age five in 1850. In 1848, Thomas Jefferson Scott (another presidential name) was born. Camilie Alabama Scott was born in 1850, and the baby of the family, Robert Neal Scott, was born in 1854.

John Scott received a land grant for the Bumpass Creek farm in 1832. He shows up in the US Census of 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880. In 1866 he’s listed on the Alabama State Census listed along with the families of Frank Scott (Jeremiah Franklin), John Scott (John Madison?), Billy Scott (William Moore?), Betsy Scott (a widowed spouse?), and James Scott (James Monroe?).

Here are the names and dates as I have them. Please don’t take them as gospel until I can add records to substantiate them. And If you have different information, I’m all ears.

Generation 1

JOHN¹ SCOTT was born August 25, 1800 in Buncombe County, North Carolina, and died March 27, 1884 in Lauderdale County, Alabama.  In 1823 in Lauderdale Co., AL he married 1) MARY ELIZABETH CARSON, b 1807, North Carolina; d. 1842 in Waterloo, Lauderdale Co., AL. June 9, 1844 in Lauderdale Co., Alabama John married 2) HARRIET FRANCES FERRELL Thompson b. Nov. 4, 1810, South Carolina; d. Dec. 8, 1880, Lauderdale Co., AL.

Children of JOHN SCOTT and MARY ELIZABETH CARSON were all born and died in Lauderdale Co., Alabama with two exceptions as indicated.

1. WILLIAM MOORE SCOTT, b. February 24, 1825; d. March 24, 1866.
2. JAMES MONROE SCOTT, b. April 22, 1826; d. 1884.
3. CHARLOTT MATILDA SCOTT, b. 1827, d. 1830. Died at age 3
4. CATHERINE TENNESSEE “TENNIE” SCOTT, b. 1828, d. 1902.
5. CAROLINE MALINDA SCOTT, b. 1830, d. 1863.
6. SALETA JANE SCOTT, b. 1831, d. 1847. Died at age 15
7. JOHN MADISON SCOTT, b. 1833.
8. JEREMIAH FRANKLIN² “FRANK” SCOTT, b. Sept. 5, 1834; d. Nov. 11, 1884.
9. POINDEXTER D. SCOTT, b.  Sept. 2, 1836; d. May 3, 1911.
10. RUFUS CARMACK SCOTT, b. Nov. 27, 1837; d. Aug. 4, 1907.
11. ELIZABETH W SCOTT, b. Sept. 9, 1841; d. Aug. 2, 1872.

Children of JOHN SCOTT and HARRIET FRANCES FERRELL Thompson are:

1. MARY ANN SCOTT, b. March 3, 1845; d. 1850. Died at age 5.
2. THOMAS JEFFERSON SCOTT, b. April 30, 1848; d. April 18, 1933, Barton, MO.
3. CAMILIE ALABAMA SCOTT, b. June 26, 1850; d. May 20, 1932.
4. ROBERT NEAL SCOTT, b. Oct. 4, 1854; d. Jan. 17, 1909, Hardin Co., TN

Whew! There’s so much more to say about the folks listed on this page, but we’ll tackle this a little at a time. If you’re descended from one of these Scotts I want to hear from you.

Stay tuned!

Jan

4x great-granddaughter of John Scott > Jeremiah Franklin Scott > William Charlie Scott > Avery Albert Scott > Lela Mae Scott Rose > Darlene Rose Miller > Jan Miller Stratton

 

 

John Scott from North Carolina

Lela Mae Scott was born 1911 in Wanette, Oklahoma. In 1928 she married Thomas Edwin “Ed” Rose and later she became my grandmother. We called her “grandma.” No cutesy nickname, just grandma or Aunt Lela to the nieces and nephews—but she also answered to “Aint Leler.”

But this story isn’t about her. It starts with her great grandpa, John Scott who was born in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Southern Appalachians. Buncombe County to be exact. Buncombe County is in western North Carolina on land the Cherokee occupied until European settlers pushed them out at the end of the 1700s.

After the American Revolution the new country had no money but lots of land. Land was granted to Patriot veterans as payment for services rendered and western North Carolina, on the eastern edge of the mountains was doled out in these land grants. John Scott was born here in 1800 or 1801.

Some sources list Black Mountain, NC—on Interstate 40 just east of Asheville—as his place  of birth, but the town wasn’t incorporated until 1893, more than 90 years after John Scott was born. Regardless of where exactly he was born, the area of western North Carolina soon filled up and it wasn’t long before many headed “over the mountains to see what they could see.”

The Scotts, John and his siblings (more about them at another time), headed west across Tennessee with some settling in the area of Nashville, others settling further south in Tennessee, and our John Scott continuing south, probably along the route of the Natchez Trace, to Alabama. In the 1830 US Census he shows up in Lauderdale County, AL,  just across the Tennessee state line.

The Scotts probably weren’t traveling alone. Familiar names—Haynes and Lamb come to mind—show up in North Carolina and again in Alabama, frequently as Scott spouses.

So now I am on a quest to assemble, and then write, the story of John Scott. Fortunately I’ve recently connected with lots of Scott cousins on a facebook page, Descendants of Waterloo, Alabama Scott Family. A few cousins have done some very detailed family research so I have a pretty good starting point when I add that to the research my mom has done.

The Scotts have been quite fruitful, and have multiplied significantly in just a few generations. It doesn’t take long to multiply when many families had ten or eleven or a dozen kids, who then went on to have another ten or twelve or so.

So stay tuned.  I’ll post what I have on John Scott, his two wives—Mary Carson and Harriet Farrell—and his fifteen children soon. At this stage, everything should be scrutinized and if you descend from some of these people and know more about that line than I do I want to hear from you.

If you’re a Scott descendant follow me by email so I can get in touch with you and we can share family details off-line.

Thanks,

Jan

 

Reuben Belue—Another Patriot Found

I found a new cousin a few days ago. She read my post about John Wesley Belew and since she has Belue ancestors in her line she asked for more information and we’ve been untangling a little snarl in a branch of my tree.

Turns out we both descend from Renney Belue, Revolutionary War soldier, who lived in the area of Union, South Carolina. He’s my 6th great-grandfather. He was married to a woman named Ann who apparently left him during his illness at the end of his life. Here’s what he says about her in his will:

First I give and bequeath unto my wife Ann the sum of one dollar and whereas she has Eloped from me – and left me in my sickness and been gone some time and has formerly Trangressed in such like manner and has practised dealing Greatley to my loss and disadvantage & for other good causes me thereto moving. I do deny her being a wife to me and hereby debar her from any further claim to any part of my Estate as by Dower or Otherwise.

We don’t know if she was the mother of his children, or a second wife, but it appears she was not faithful to her husband. Renney wanted to be sure she didn’t receive any of his estate after his death.

Renney had nine children who are also named in his will.

…my Nine Children Namely Zachariah, Rubin, Susan, Renny, Sarah, Judith, Elizabeth, Jesse and William

In my previous post about John Wesley Belew I had Zachariah as next in line in my tree, but turns out my line descends from Reuben. It goes like this:

Renney Belue
Reuben Belue
Jacob Belue
William Pierce Belew
John Wesley Belew
Bessie Jane Belew m.Will Rose
Thomas Edwin Rose m. Lela Scott were my grandparents

I had Jacob Belue as son of Zachariah, and curiously I also had Jacob Belue as a son of Reuben. Previously I noticed that and while the birth dates were different, the date of death was the same. It wouldn’t be unusual to have cousins with the same name born about the same time, but dying on the same day—except in time of war—is unusual. I made a note to look into it when the answer fell into my lap this week.

Paul Belew, one of Zachariah’s descendants, has researched and written an extensive history on Renney Belew and his family. His book, Our Belew Line, lays it all out.

As for my line, I haven’t found everything laid out so neatly, but I’ll do my best to flesh out the family history and tell it here. Not in this post here and now, but eventually.

I’ve found out Reuben was a saddle maker while his brothers were farmers. Reuben also served—with his brother Zachariah—in Col.Brandon’s South Carolina Regiment during the Revolutionary War.

Jacob Belew, Reuben’s son, moved the family to Tennessee ending up in Carroll County. His son, William Pierce Belew was born in Lauderdale County, Alabama, just across the Tennessee state line but evidently lived most of his life in Tennessee. It was his son, John Wesley Belew, who would later move his family—including my great-grandmother Bessie Jane—west again to the newly opened Oklahoma Territory

Any comments or corrections?

Jan

 

Bumpass Creek Free Will Baptist Church

Once upon a time—in the early 1800s—John Scott (1800–1894) moved from his birthplace in Buncombe County, North Carolina to newly available territory in Lauderdale County, Alabama.

He established his home in northwest corner of the state, just a few miles from Tennessee. His land was along Bumpass Creek, which fed into the Tennessee River at Waterloo, just a few miles south.

A church was built on a piece of his land and then he donated that land to the church.

My mom painted this picture of the church from a photo taken during a trip to the area in 1990.

Our knowledge of the church history is a bit vague. I know the big picture, but not the details. I’d like to know more so we can label this accurately.

What is the name of the church? I found Bumpass Creek Free Will Baptist Church when I googled Baptist Churches in Lauderdale County. It’s in the right spot on the map, but that may not be how it’s known locally.

Does anyone know when it was established, and what are the chances any part of this building is original? If it’s not original when was this building built? Was the first preacher a Scott?

I’m counting on my Scott cousins to help fill in the blanks.

Jan

John Scott > Jeremiah Franklin (Frank) Scott > William Charlie (Charlie) Scott > Avery Albert Scott > Lela Mae Scott Rose > Darlene Rose Miller > Jan Miller Stratton