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Archiver > GABARTOW > 2009-01 > 1232404023


From: Millie Rempel <>
Subject: Re: [GABARTOW] GA names in TX
Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:27:03 -0600
References: <200901190214.CDP92661@consolidated.net><216A7E9E549041BD9F318D63DB016B4C@D2QJVX41>
In-Reply-To: <216A7E9E549041BD9F318D63DB016B4C@D2QJVX41>


I first got interested in the family history because of an old photo, it
turned out to be a gg uncle that went west. Not to Texas, though. This
one went to the Chickasaw Nation, in what was to become Oklahoma. He
did have a brother that also went west - to Texas.

In case anyone is looking, the names involved in these two families are
Guyton, Chapman, and Smith.

Rex Kirby wrote:
> Diane,
> Your note regarding your Puckett family, Bartow Co, GA, family coming to
> Texas in the late 1800s and your looking for reasons why prompted me to look
> at some of my data on my Kennedy line. My grgdfa James Marion Kennedy was
> born near Cartersville in 1856 but married in Smith Co in 1878. His
> parents, John Kennedy, Jr [br 1828 SC] and Elizabeth Catherine Johnson
> Kennedy lived near Cartersville where all six of their children were born.
> They all moved to Texas at the same time -I think. However, John Kennedy
> Jr's parents John Kennedy Sr [br 1801, Ireland] and Barbara Kirkpatrick
> Kennedy [br 1798, Ireland] died near Cartersville in 1865 and 1869. They
> are buried in the Puckett Cemetery near Cartersville which I am sure you are
> familiar with. That cemetery used to be called Friendship Presbyterian
> Church Cemetery. At the moment I don't recall what happened to the Church
> and why or when the name was changed to Puckett. I do know there are a
> number of Puckett family members buried there.
>
> Sometime ago Laurel Baty very generously sent me several articles published
> in the Cartersville Free Press and/or Cartersville Semi-Weekly Express
> newspapers back in 1869 and 1880 pertaining to the Administration of the
> Estate of John Kennedy, Sr and the sale of his 750 acre farm "within two
> miles of Cartersville". I am told by another Kennedy researcher [but can't
> find my notes] that the Kennedy farm was near the Puckett Cemetery. The land
> sale notice published Oct 18, 1870 mentioned a "Tan Yard with good Currying
> House and Dwelling and out houses". Unfortunately I did not have those
> articles when I visited Cartersville and the Puckett Cemetery in July 05.
>
> Although John Kennedy Jr died in Smith Co in 1880 there was an obit
> published in the Cartersville Free Press on Nov 4, 1880 which mentioned that
> John came to Cass [Bartow] Co in 1837 and lived there until 1870 when he
> moved to Smith Co. Texas. The obit mentioned that John was brother to James
> Kennedy, Bartow Co Sheriff. James's obit [Feb 1880] made reference to his
> living on the "old family homestead". I can't help but believe that the
> Pucketts and Kennedys were probably neighbors and somewhere along the way
> may have been kin. [More research needed here]
>
> Many of the Kennedys stayed in Bartow Co but I can't help but wonder if
> Sherman and Johnson's civil war battle in 1864 at Kennesaw Mountain which
> was pretty close to where they lived might have had a devastating effect on
> all the families there which prompted them to hang the wooden sign "GTT" on
> their front doors. GTT stands for Gone To Texas and I saw one of those old
> signs when I was in Cartersville.
>
> The 1870 census for Bartow Co has John Kennedy, Jr and other family members
> still there but I think the census was taken in June 1870. So I guess they
> loaded up their wagons and headed for Texas in the fall of 1870 [if the year
> in his obit is correct] The "why" is what has puzzled me for many years.
> They were farmers there; they were farmers here. They owned 750 acres
> -described in the paper as one of the most beautiful places in Bartow Co-.
> Here they owned nothing and lived for several years in what might be
> described as a share-croppers house. Of course, John Jr's parents had just
> recently passed away there in Cartersville and almost before the flowers had
> wilted on their graves at the Puckett Cemetery, two of the younger boys took
> out an Administration and apparently sold the farm through Court proceedings
> sometime between 1869 and 1880. I don't have copies of the deeds so not sure
> of date. I suppose if the "old family homestead" was being sold John Jr and
> family had to find somewhere else to move to. But why Texas? Why Smith Co?
> I'm glad they did but can't help but wonder why. To my knowledge they had
> no other relatives here at the time.
>
> Incidentally you mentioned your Pucketts being in Wood Co. That is not very
> far from where the Kennedys first settled in Smith Co. Surely several of
> these families made the trip together from GA. I can't imagine a single
> family with small children traveling that distance by themselves.
>
> I will keep your inquiry in mind as I go tromping through the forests of
> yesteryear looking for answers and ancestors.
>
> Rex Kirby
>
> PS. Forgive my rambling. I have been told more than once that I don't know
> when to shut up.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [mailto:]
> On Behalf Of Diane Ethridge
> Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2009 8:14 PM
> To:
> Subject: [GABARTOW] GA names in TX
>
> I'm researching PUCKETT, ROBERTS & DEWEESE in Bartow GA & Coweta Co. GA (as
> well as other GA counties where my families lived) & I live in Conroe, TX.
> Some of my Pucketts left GA went to Cass, Upshur & Wood Counties, TX in
> the late 1800s. I'm not sure of the reason why but would love to find more
> info on them. Corresponding names, that I know of in E. TX, are Cornett,
> Nipper & Fuller.
>
>
>
> I have old photos & more info to share with anyone researching the above.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
>
>
> Diane Puckett Ethridge
>
>
>
>
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