Wiregrass Daughter Consulting

12/04/2025

Have you watched Ken Burns’ new docuseries The American Revolution? It is a masterpiece! Although I studied American history in high school and have read biographies over the years of many of the Founding Fathers, I had forgotten a lot of the details. It is obvious to me that without George Washington and the help of the French, we would not have a country today!

Sons of Liberty founder/member Samuel Adams wrote in 1772 that, “Among the natural rights of the Colonists are these: First, a right to life; Secondly, to liberty; Thirdly, to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can.” Four years later in 1776, Adams castigated those colonists who sided with the Crown,” “If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom—go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you.”

My 4th and 5th great-grandfathers, did not favor the Crown and, instead, answered the call to fight for independence from Great Britain. I have about a dozen Patriots, mostly on my maternal side. William Dowling (1752-1783) served with Francis Marion (the Swamp Fox) in South Carolina. Reuben Hickox (1760-1850) was a drummer with Colonel Ho**er of Connecticut. Thomas Altman (1750-1835) served with Col. William McIntosh in Georgia. Major General Robert Howe was the highest-ranking North Carolina officer in the Continental Army. Other Patriots include Seymour Catching (1750-1833), William Daniell (1743-1840), Robert Dowling (1730-1794), William Gillespie (1758-1799). Thomas Griffin (1740-1803), Jacob Highsmith (1755-1829), John Strickland (1750-1838), and Thomas W. Stone (1734-1806).

I am so proud to have so many Patriots in my family tree and plan to write and share short individual sketches about their Revolutionary War service in the months ahead as we approach the 250th Anniversary of the founding of the United States. They were just a few of the thousands who joined the cause, but its important to remember their stories.

09/10/2025

I've read many stories over the years like this one. You never know what valuable or historic item you may discover in the trash.

The National Archives has recovered the volume, which includes more than 500 pages of data from March 1941 to June 1942. It had been tucked away in storage for half a century

09/07/2025

The Georgia Trust fall ramble will be in Valdosta and Quitman. During my years at the GA DNR's Historic Preservation Division, I made site visits, many overnight, to both towns. They have many interesting historic resources to see..

FallRamble Sneak Peek: Nocturne, the 1892 Henry Gray Turner House

Designed by Munn and Company of New York and completed in 1892, Nocturne was home to Henry Gray Turner, a distinguished Georgia statesman who served in both the State House and U.S. Congress before his appointment to the Georgia Supreme Court in 1903. Though Turner passed away just a year later, his legacy lives on in this remarkable home.

After decades in the Turner family and years of vacancy, Nocturne was lovingly restored—first in the 1970s, and more recently through a meticulous, multi-year effort by its current owners.

Explore this home during our Fall Ramble in Valdosta and Quitman! Just a couple of highlights to look for:

🗣️ Original, working speaking tubes connecting rooms to the kitchen
🛁 Admire an original zinc-covered copper bathtub in one of the home’s bathrooms

📅 Join us Sunday, October 12, 2025, for the Georgia Trust’s Fall Ramble to Quitman, featuring 18 historic sites including Neel Reid-designed homes, camellia gardens, and landmarks by John Wind and Lloyd Greer.

🎟️ Tickets MUST be purchased in advance! Full tour details and ticket information are available at:
https://www.georgiatrust.org/tours-events/fall-ramble/

c.1970 image courtesy Nocturne FB page, current photo by Georgia Photography Fanatic

08/20/2025

Finding Your Roots is one of my favorite TV shows! Henry Louis Gates is so deserving of this nomination, and I hope he wins!

For Your Emmy® Consideration for Outstanding Nonfiction Series or Special | Stream Season 11 of Finding Your Roots on the PBS Passport app now!

08/04/2025

Sometimes gifts arrive unexpectedly! A friend who is downsizing offered me this 12-volume set Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia by Huxford. I’ve always wanted this set of genealogy books, but it’s out of print and expensive if you are lucky enough to find them at used book stores.

All of my maternal ancestors-Hickoxes, McClains, McClellans, Stricklands, Stones, Highsmiths and Altmans living in the Wiregrass region of Georgia in the 1700s and 1800s are profiled in these books. Previously I’ve had to go to the library to research them.

I’m so honored that my friend thought of me and hoped that I would want these valuable books.

07/07/2025

I remember when I heard about the devastating fire at the Hancock Courthouse, a historic landmark in Sparta, Georgia. Within two years the courthouse was rebuilt, an absolutely amazing architectural feat! I did not attend the grand reopening, but was able to drive by and see it a few months afterwards on a site visit to the area.

An amazing transformation! Listed twice on The Georgia Trust "Places in Peril" list, the Hancock County Courthouse was destroyed by fire in 2014. With great community support, reconstruction of "Her Majesty" was completed in 2016, receiving top honors at the Trust's 2017 Preservation Awards.

06/18/2025

More interesting information on Pope Leo's ancestry.

Chris Child delves into the French-Canadian roots of Pope Leo XIV, tracing his lineage back to the Boucher family of colonial Quebec.

02/27/2025

Over the years we've all heard new stories and seen the movies and documentaries about returning the N***s' stolen art to their rightful Jewish owners or descendents, but I was not aware there was a similar undertaking for Jewish-owned books. As a lover of books, this is a fascinating read.

The project has come to the aid of Leibl Rosenberg, an official representative of the Jewish community in Nuremberg, Germany, who has made it his life’s mission to restitute 9,000 books that were looted from victims of the N**i regime and found in the library of a notorious N**i, Julius Streicher,...

01/08/2025

I spent several months in 2023 and again in 2024 researching, pro bono, a turn-of-the-19th-century missionary named Charlene "Charley" Warnock from St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Atlanta (my church). Her story is one that demonstrates courage, determination and an independent spirit. She forged her own path, experiencing the unexpected adventure of a lifetime, working as a missionary in China and Japan throughout the almost 20-year period of her middle adult years.

I am pleased to share that The Historiographer magazine, published my article on Charley Warnock in its autumn 2024 issue as its front-page story! The magazine is published quarterly by the National Episcopal Historians and Archivists, the History Society of the Episcopal Church, and the Episcopal Women's History Project.

The Story of Charley Warnock

Charley Warnock was born to a life of comfort and privilege in 1863 in Bullock County, Alabama. But sometime in in the late 1890s, she made the extraordinary decision to give that up and become a foreign missionary. At age 36, in the fall of 1899, her dream became reality, when she left Atlanta as a representative of the national Order of the Daughters of the King and St. Luke's Episcopal Church for a long and arduous journey to Shanghai, China. There she would be a missionary teaching girls and young women Bible studies and needlework. She remained in Shanghai until 1903, living through the Boxer Rebellion and contracting malaria. She returned to missionary work in 1908, travelling to Japan, where she would remain, with periodic visits to the U.S., until 1919, when she made her final return to the U.S.

Charley never married, lived all her adult life with her married sister, Lillian Warnock Tucker and her husband, Henry St. George Tucker (who later became the 19th Presiding Bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church), and died in 1941 at age 78.

Without Charley's personal diaries or correspondence, we may never know precisely why Charley became a missionary or what she thought about the Chinese and Japanese people and culture. Yet, clearly, she wanted something different in her life and perhaps to make a difference in others' lives.

Charley had long been forgotten, but my research has re-discovered her significant role as a woman in the Episcopal Church.

12/09/2024

Does your non-profit organization have a project focused on a Revolutionary historic site or a museum featuring a Revolution-era collection? The Preserving America grant program, which awards funding from $5,000 to $10,000 closes applications this weekend. Take a look at their website.

Americana Corner was created to remind Americans of our nation’s wonderful past. We would like to assist other organizations that are focused on telling the incredible story of America from its founding era through its first century as a nation.

01/30/2024

Are you interested in railroad history? You may want to visit the Atlanta History Center's new collection.

The Southern Railway records are now open to the public at the Atlanta History Center's Kenan Research room! Donated by Norfolk Southern Corporation in 2021, these records document the inner workings of Southern Railway and its predecessor railroad lines from 1828 to 2007. The records, which span nearly 250 linear feet, include annual reports, inspection trips, speeches by executives, construction contracts, correspondence, company publications and rule books, passenger train brochures, tickets, railway passes, timetables, records of employee associations, and meeting minutes and subject files of predecessor lines, including including South Carolina Canal and Railroad, Richmond and Danville Railroad, East Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia Railway, Louisville, Evansville and St. Louis Consolidated Railroad, Central of Georgia Railway, and Cincinnati, New Orleans, and Texas Pacific Railway.

In addition to the records, the Atlanta History Center has digitized over 11,000 photographic images from the collection. These images will be added to our website throughout 2024. Over 2,000 are now available.

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Kenan Research Center is open by appointment, Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00am–5:00pm. To request an appointment, please call 404.814.4040, or email reference@atlantahistorycenter.com.

01/24/2024

What a fascinating and detailed ship's log this would be to read this mid-19th-century informative journal kept by a sea captain's wife! One of her entries began,
"Left home and all endearments to accompany my husband on a voyage by sea. ... The day is fine, the family in good health, the boys will be provided for, everything seems favorable to my taking this journey, which I have desired all my life, and now for the first time have the opportunity.”

This unusual ship log was written by a woman—Elizabeth Bray, who accompanied her husband, Captain Stephen Bray, on a few voyages in the mid-19th century. Her writing provides a wealth of genealogical information, as well as personal details about her journey and experiences.