1965 Arrowood Reunion ~ The Ladies

This photo was enhanced as best I could get it to go. The original is a less than two inch square photo!
Hilda was in possession of this old photo. I was just a baby girl when this was taken.

I hope I have the names attached to the right lady, if not, please let me know!

Hilda really favored her Mom at this age.  So neat to get to see this one.

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A Walk Back in Time~ Antioch Baptist Church

We travelled to Blacksburg, Cherokee County in South Carolina to visit a church where I was sure family was buried.  I did not know that the connections were deeper than I first thought.

David M. Hull (1815-1902) is buried here. David is the son of William Hull and Catherine Cline Hull, who  are both believed to be buried at Mount Vernon Church in Vale, Lincoln County, North Carolina.

William of course, was a brother to my ancestor, Abner Hull. Both of whom are sons of Benjamin Hull and Sarah Hutchison Hull, buried at Hulls Grove.

Catherine "Catie" Ellis Hull Owensby  ( b. 1843 - d. 1935)

David M. Hull and Nancy Hoyle Hull's daughter was Catherine Ellis Hull.  Catherine married Thomas Newton Owensby and they are both buried in Antioch, near David Hull.  They do not have markers bearing their names, sadly, but descendants verify they are indeed buried here.  Nancy is buried at Pisgah.

Finding David was exciting and placing him in his rightful space on my tree,  was just wonderful.  This link linked me to a friend of mine, who is also my neighbor.  Just a few doors away from me and we are linked several ways in our trees, forever friends and also family.  Her family and mine intermarried through the years, and wove a colorful tapestry from the country land of South Carolina to Gaston County and Cleveland County in North Carolina.  The story just keeps on going.

I recently went to a family reunion up in the  mountains of North Carolina very near the Tennessee border. Never thinking that I was related to these fine folks, just sharing in friendship by accepting their gracious invitation.   I got to talking to a nice couple,  and sure enough..found a relative..This relative and I have several ties to the same families and the list just continues..Amazing stuff, this family tree searching.

Thomas Newton Owensby
Catherine "Catie" Ellis Hull Owensby

 My path of searching had taken me to the graves of the ancestors of this sweet lady, in years past,  and my path and her path were definitely supposed to link up, eventually. It was just ordained in the stars, no doubt.

 Now, we can share all of our wonderful finds together. Join forces, so to speak. Now, how wonderful is that?

Her grandmother married a relative of mine, her grandmother's two sisters married into my tree, and her grandmother's brother married the daughter of my 3rd great grandfather.. Mind boggling that we never knew the connection before...

Can't wait to see where this will take me next!  Stay Tuned.

Beautiful Epitaphs~ Of Souls Long Gone ~

In a meadow of daisies, in a sunny patch of country land, lies an old cemetery.  The ones buried here were from a different era than us. 

The markers are ancient, leaning over and some stones are not even legible.  I wandered out among those in this field of silent souls,  and found a gem to take back home with me. A gem carried not in my hand, but in my heart.

"She lingered brightly, by our side,

It seemed but one brief hour.

And then the chilling frost of death

fell on this fair, sweet flower.

The petals of this tinted bud

opened not for our delight.

But bloom upon her Saviour's breast,

Bathed in immortal Light."

Beautiful words. etched on a stone,  for a cherished lady named Lida.

Some markers are finely made and elegant and alongside are crude, hand carved stones, made with love.

Each one tells its own unique story.

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John Henry Arrowood ~ Son of Samuel JR

My mind drifted back, once again, up to those beautiful hills of Mitchell County, North Carolina.


I thought about the 'other' John Henry Arrowood, buried there in the Arrowood Cemetery in Poplar.


This John Henry was the son of Samuel Arrowood, Jr.

John Henry married a gal named Mattie Cooper and they had at least eight children that I have found so far.

I searched for anything really, thinking I could locate the final resting place for Mattie. I did not find her there in that tiny Arrowood Cemetery on the mountain of Green.


I typed in their names and up came an obituary for their daughter, Pearl Lee Arrowood. Pearl married a Robert Flowers. Sadly, Pearl passed away on the second anniversary of my Dad's  death, July 20, 2010.

She is buried at the Monte Vista Cemetery in Johnson City, TN. We passed by that huge cemetery on the way to find Uncle John Henry and I so wished for a week or so of time, just to go through it.



 I just knew that we had family buried there and of course, we do.



In Pearl's obituary was a wealth of clues. First, her descendant's names and those that survived her were listed there.


I saw that her sister Helen was still living and on a whim, I did a search on 'People' search and found a matching listing. Excited, I called the lady. I told her that we were related and what I was doing and she exclaimed.."Oh, you sound like my son, David". He is researching, too.

BOY HOWDY! was that ever exciting.


Turns out that David does search for the tree and is living in Knoxville, TN. I called him up and he has a bad case of pneumonia and could not talk much for coughing. Bless his heart.

He and I are Third Cousins! We exchanged just enough info to get us both excited. I hoped to see an email from him soon.


Well, the email came the very next morning and attached was a great photo of John Henry, wife Mattie Cooper Arrowood and two of their daughters, Pearl (back row) and Helen, the mother of David that I have spoken with.
 

You can sure see the Arrowood resemblence in John Henry.




Finding his grave atop that little mountain was thrilling and so was finally being able to put a face to his name.

Honeycutt Connection ~ Big Crabtree~ Estatoe

I have been searching recently for Mariah Elizabeth Arrowood Honeycutt.
She was the daughter of Samuel and Sarah Ellender Winters Arrowood .

My generation's Great Grand Aunt. She was closest the sibling, in age, to our Welzia;  a slightly older sister. The census records through the years, show her name as 'Mary Elizabeth', 'Mariah', 'Maria', and simply as 'Eliza'. Even as "Miriar". So the search is not made easy, with all those differences in names.

I found her marriage record to Joseph P. Honeycutt. They were married on October 21, 1877, in Mitchell County, North Carolina. Joseph was the son of Moses "Mosie" Honeycutt and Susannah "Sukie" Tipton.

Yes, the same Tipton family that our Correll family married into, the ones that first settled up in Cades Cove, Tennessee. Not too far from Happy Valley in Blount County.


Joseph and Mariah had at least seven kids that I have found records for.


Aaron Honeycutt , their son, was born July 31, 1880 and was a preacher man. He is buried at Big Crabtree Church Cemetery that I visited up in Estatoe. At the time, I did not know he was kin! I am just amazed at the path this search takes me on..I stood at his grave and took the picture of his headstone and remarked that 'those Honeycutt's married in, you know', grin.   I will go back and pay proper respects one day soon. Not even realizing, when I was there,  that he was my first cousin, twice removed!

Mariah and Joseph are found on the 1900 Census record, living in Harrell's Township, Mitchell County with six children , ranging from age 12 to age 1 year.

They had children: Susan, Aaron, Nathaniel, Russell, Lydia, Naomey, and Joseph.

Aaron's death record indicates:

Name: Aaron Honeycutt


Gender: Male


Age: 79


Birth Date: 31 Jul 1880


Birth Place: North Carolina, United States


Death Date: 3 Jan 1960


Death Location: Spruce Pine, NC Rt #2, Mitchell


Spouse's Name: Nancy Tolley


Father's name: Joe Honeycutt


Mother's name:   Miriar Arrowood

Aaron's death certificate states he was not seen by a doctor, but was believed to have been suffering from cancer.



It also states that he was a 'non-believer' in medical science, right on the death certificate, something I have never seen before .  May you rest in peace, cousin Aaron.