Amanuensis Monday

 This is a 1758 survey of the 402 acres involved in last week's post about the 1756 land grant to Hosea Tapley in Orange County, North Carolina.

"North Carolina 
Orange County}

This plan represents a track of land surveyed for Hosea Tapley lying on both sides of the No. Fork of little river, Beginning at a hickory on the east side of the river running thence North 60 cha: to a Pine then West 67 ch to a Pine then South 67 Cha to a Red Oak then East 67 chain, to the first station Containing four hundred and Two Acres.

Surveyed the 3 of October, 1758

___ Cha Carr : {Hosea Tapley 
                               { ____; _____  

W. Churton (Surveyor)"

"William Churton was a well-known surveyor who mapped large portions of Lord Granville’s proprietary district in colonial North Carolina. This survey captures a nice, neat rectangular 402-acre block straddling the river with corner markers noted as Pine and Hickory."

                                                    - Google Gemini

Please note: I am unable to make out the words where blanks lines are.  It seems that Google Gemini could not make them out either!  If any of my readers can tell me what those words or abbreviations are, I would be most appreciative!

Black Sheep Sunday - Part 6 (1941-1943) of From small town Georgia boy to notorious Texas (and beyond!) con man

 This post is the 6th in a series of posts about the life of Elridge Solomon Price, Sr.  You can find the other installments here:  Part 1,  Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5.

At the beginning of 1941, Elridge has a warrant out for him for perjury and had disappeared.  The first whisper we hear about the situation comes in March 1941.

Newspapers.com, Kansas City Journal, Kansas City Missouri,
Friday, March 28, 1941, Page 26

The article states Elridge was at this hearing, but it doesn't say whether he was located and arrested or if he came to the hearing of his own volition.  What I want to know is why is he in Texas?

Then in June...

Newspapers.com, Miami News-Record, Miami, Oklahoma,
Friday, June 20, 1941, Page 2

Wait a minute. In 1940, Elridge was living in Kansas.  Then in March 1941, he was in Texas at a hearing.  Now in June, he is in Oklahoma??? And he was arrested in Oklahoma on the perjury warrant out of Kansas.  I guess Texas was going to extradite him so he fled to Oklahoma??  When he was caught there, I guess he gave up on the idea of fighting extradition to Kansas.  It was time to face the music.

Did you catch the part where he had his little girl with him in a hotel room in Oklahoma?!  Then when he was arrested, he was angry that three people came and took the child?  Well of course, someone had to take the child!! I don't even know how he took the child away from her sister, who had temporary legal custody of her.  Sounds like parental kidnapping to me. I can understand Broadhurst, the probation officer from Kansas who originally had custody of the child, going and retrieving her.  Elridge claims he and Edith were meeting in Oklahoma.  That would explain her presence there.  I do not know why she was meeting him.  The possibilities are endless when it comes to the Price family.

Newspapers.com, Miami News-Record, Miami, Oklahoma,
Sunday, June 22, 1941, page 7

Newspapers.com, The Kansas City Star, Kansas City, Missouri, 
Sunday, June 22, 1941, page 12

Just a couple of weeks later...

Newspapers.com, The Kansas City Star, Kansas City, Missouri,
Wednesday, July 2, 1941, page 6

What?! If Elridge was sentenced to 6 months in jail in Olathe on June 21, how was he on a highway at the state lines of Kansas and Missouri on July 2? The Feds got him again.  

If you are like me and did not know what the Mann Act was, I asked my friend Google Gemini for an explanation:

"The Mann Act, formally known as the White Slave Traffic Act (Pub.L. 61-279, 36 Stat. 825, codified at 18 U.S.C. § 2421 et seq.), is a federal criminal statute in the United States enacted on June 25, 1910. It was introduced by Congressman James R. Mann of Illinois.

Purpose and Scope

The primary intent of the act at the time of its passage was to address concerns over human trafficking, specifically the interstate and international transportation of women and girls for prostitution, debauchery, or other "immoral purposes."

Key Legal Provisions

• Interstate Commerce: The statute relies on the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, making it a federal crime to transport an individual across state lines (or into/out of the United States) for illegal or immoral purposes.

• Broad Application: For much of the 20th century, the statute's vague wording—specifically the phrase "immoral purpose"—gave federal prosecutors wide latitude. It was frequently used to prosecute individuals for consensual relationships that crossed state lines if the couple was not married, or in cases where morality laws were perceived to be violated.

Historical Context and Evolution

• Notable Prosecutions: In its early decades, the act was sometimes used selectively or controversially. A prominent early example was the 1913 prosecution of heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson, whose conviction under the Mann Act for traveling across state lines with his white girlfriend was widely viewed as racially motivated.

• Modern Amendments: Over time, the scope of the act has been narrowed and updated by Congress to focus squarely on modern definitions of human trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation, and coercion, removing its application to consensual adult behavior. Today, it remains an essential federal tool for prosecuting sex trafficking."

Newspapers.com, The Suburban News, Merriam, Kansas,
Thursday, July 03, 1941, Page 4

Again, since I am not an attorney, I had to ask Google Gemini what is an alias warrant.

"An alias warrant is a legal order issued by a court when a defendant fails to appear, respond, or comply with a previous warrant or court command (such as a summons or initial arrest warrant). In legal terms, "alias" means "second" or "another"; therefore, an alias warrant is a subsequent warrant issued to replace an earlier one that went unexecuted or unanswered.

In the context of the clipping provided, the alias warrant from Missouri was filed against Eldridge S. Price after he was already facing legal actions (such as his sentencing for contempt in Kansas), signaling that a previous effort to bring him before the court or address the perjury charge had not been completed, prompting the issuance of this secondary warrant."

Newspapers.com, Kansas City Journal, Kansas City, Missouri,
Saturday, July  05, 1941, Page 4

It was no time before Elridge was on the road again but this time he has an escort.

Newspapers.com, The Suburban News, Merriam, Kansas,
Thursday, July 10, 1941, Page 2

Elridge's troubles keep growing...

Newspapers.com, Kansas City Journal, Kansas City, Missouri,
Tuesday, July 15, 1941, Page 2

Score one for Edith...

Newspapers.com, The Suburban News, Merriam, Kansas,
Thursday, August 14, 1941, Page 5

Elridge is sued again, but this time, Edith is also sued.

Newspapers.com, The Suburban News, Merriam, Kansas,
Thursday, September 4, 1941, Page 2

So Elridge was taken to Missouri and everything is quiet about that until September.

Newspapers.com, The Kansas City Star, Kansas City, Missouri,
Saturday, September 20, 1941, Page 3

The following article is confusing to me in that it appears Elridge is being held in Missouri on The Mann Act violation charge, but then it says "has been arrested in Kansas City and gave bond for appearance before the sheriff of Jackson County October 7." This would be on the perjury charge connected with the custody case. So I am confused - when was he arrested in Kansas City?  Before Missouri picked him up? The article is not clear at all.

Newspapers.com, The Kansas City Star, Kansas City, Missouri,
Thursday, September 25, 1941, Page 9

So dear readers, this is where I have to disappoint all of you.  There are NO more articles about the child custody case.  Nothing.  Nada.  Zilch.  I do not know why. What I can tell you, is that by late 1942, Elridge and Edith are back together. No divorce and child custody is no longer an issue.  

If you will recall, Elridge was sued in 1940 for alienation of affection.  The case was wrapped up at the end of 1941:

Newspapers.com, Kansas City Journal, Kansas City, Missouri,
Tuesday, July 22, 1941, Page 2

Newspapers.com, The Kansas City Star, Kansas City, Missouri,
Tuesday, December 9, 1941, Page 8

Newspapers.com, The Kansas City Star, Kansas City Missouri,
Friday, December 12, 1941, Page 2

So the jury found for the plaintiff, but only ordered Elridge to pay $1.  Hmmm...

Elridge had financial troubles the beginning of 1942.

Newspapers.com, Standard-Times, San Angelo, Texas,
Wednesday, January 7, 1942, Page 1

On May 25, 1942, a newspaper article appeared regarding Frank D. Hedrick, Jr., a former Johnson County, Kansas prosecutor, who had been charged with bribery and was currently on trial.  He testified that all of his actions responsible for the accusations resulted from his efforts ("acted like a detective") to find out who was protecting gambling in his county and stop it. He asserted that someone in the Statehouse was a "Pay-Off Man."  During his "investigation," he met Will Johns, who at the time was a special investigator for the attorney general's office.  Then lo and behold, Elridge's name was brought up during the trial.

Newspapers.com, The Kansas City Star, Kansas City, Missouri,
Monday, May 25, 1942, Page 3

Mic Drop.

I'm going to leave this right here.

By the end of the year 1942, The Prices are living in Austin, Texas, and Elridge has found something new to get excited about:  "mines representing huge potential war mineral resources, located in Mexico." Let the schmoozing and entertaining begin.

  

Newspapers.com, San Antonio Light, San Antonio, Texas,
Tuesday, December 15, 1942, Page 14

Newspapers.com, San Antonio Express-News, San Antonio, Texas,
Sunday, December 20, 1942, Page 52

Newspapers.com, Austin American-Statesman, Austin, Texas,
Tuesday, December 29, 1942, Page 2

On to 1943 and they are off to Washington:

Newspapers.com, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas,
Saturday, January 2, 1943, Page 3

Newspapers.com, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas,
Saturday, January 2, 1943, Page 5

Newspapers.com, The Marshall News Messenger, Marshall, Texas,
Wednesday, January 6, 1943, Page 1

That is all I could find on ole Elridge in 1943.  Stay tuned for 1944 and beyond.

Sympathy Saturday

 Sympathy Saturday will be where I share the obituaries and my condolences for members of my family tree who passed recently.  When you get to be a certain age, you begin to read the obituaries every day.  As the days go by, you read about more and more of your friends and family members who have died.  You compare their age to your own and get a jolt. "That could have been me." 

    For genealogists, checking obituaries and visiting cemeteries is as normal as breathing. I learn so much from an obituary, i.e., maiden names, parents' names; children's' and grandchildren's' names, funeral and burial locations, sometimes even a cause of death.  I want to learn these things not for any purpose but to put it on the family tree for future generations to see and learn about the family that went before them. I admit, most of these relatives I have never met, but I think it is important to share that they were here on this Earth, and they were important.

    So I am signed up with at least three funerals homes from Swainsboro, Vidalia, and Wrightsville to get daily notices of obituaries sent to my email.  Every day, I peruse them and with the help of the family tree, figure out who is related to me and add any new information to the tree. Some weeks there are several, and some weeks there are none. This week there are two who actually passed away a few months ago as I got behind on email for while. So I may be doubling up for a several weeks.

    Please join me in offering condolences to their families and holding them in the light.

George Saffole Kight

February 15, 1934 - July 11, 2026

Cochran - George S. Kight, age 92, passed away Saturday, July 11, 2026 at 6:00 A.M. in Pinewood Healthcare Center in Hawkinsville. Funeral services will be held Monday, July 13, 2026, at 10:00 A.M. in the Chapel of Mathis Funeral Home with Pastor Robbie Passmore officiating. The family will greet friends from 7:00 P.M. until 9:00 P.M. Sunday, July 12, 2026, at Mathis Funeral Home. Burial will be private in Cedar Hill Cemetery.

Saffole (as he was known by most of the family), born in Kite GA. had lived in Cochran GA. since 1974. He was the son of the late George Marcus and Madeline Fortner Kight and was preceded in death by his wife of 50 years Roberta Maddox Kight. He was a graduate of Kite High School and was retired after more than 33 years as an Avionics Mechanic at Warner Robins AFB. A 65-year Freemason and Past Master of Cochran Masonic Lodge No. 217 he had been a member of the Scottish Rite Valley of Middle Georgia for more than 38 years. He was a U.S. Army Veteran. One of his greatest joys was being “Poppa” to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

His sister, Robbie (Forrest) Meeks and nephews, Forrest Colon Meeks Jr. and Daniel Marcus Meeks, preceded him in death.

Survivors include two sons, George S. (Lora) Kight Jr. and Edward O. (Kathy) Kight; two granddaughters, Christina (Jonathan) Ayers and Amanda Kight; two grandsons, Christian (Shelby) Kight and Colin Kight; two great-granddaughters, Hadleigh Ayers and Ella Kight; several nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to the Masonic Home of Georgia, 1417 Nottingham Drive, Macon, GA 31211, or online at masonichomeofgeorgia.com/donate in memory of George S. Kight.

Mathis Funeral Home has charge of the funeral arrangements. This is a courtesy announcement of Stanley Funeral Home and Crematory/Wrightsville Chapel.

Peter Lynn Tapley

April 4, 1967 - July 28, 2026

Peter Lynn Tapley, of Opelika, Alabama was born in Alexander City on April 4, 1967 and passed away on July 28, 2026. He was 59 years old.

Lynn is survived by his wife of 18 years, Rachelle Tapley, and his 2 children: Camden Tapley and Clayton Tapley.

He is also survived by his sister, Beth Waldrep, his brother, Matt Tapley and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, J.W. Tapley and Jeanette Tapley, his brother Kevin Tapley and his niece, Destiny Tapley.

Lynn was a devoted husband, proud father, loyal friend, and hardworking businessman whose life was defined by faithfulness, perseverance, and a deep love for his family.

Lynn dedicated 38 years of his career to D&J Enterprises, where he earned the respect of his coworkers through his strong work ethic and unwavering commitment. In 2010, alongside his wife, Rachelle, he pursued a lifelong dream by founding Lynn Tapley Trucking, LLC. What began as a shared vision, grew into a thriving business built on integrity, determination, and a genuine care for the people he served and worked alongside. Lynn poured his heart into creating something that would outlive him; a legacy measured not only by the company he built, but by the lives he touched, the relationships he formed, and the opportunities he created for others.

Above all, Lynn loved his family. He worked tirelessly to provide for those he loved and believed in giving his very best in everything he did. His strength, generosity, and unwavering dedication to his family, friends, and the work he loved will be remembered by all who had the privilege of knowing him. His legacy will live on through the family he cherished and the business he built with love, vision, and determination.

Services will be held Saturday, August 1, 2026 at Fredrick-Dean Funeral Home at 3:00 and will receive family and friends immediately following.

Frederick-Dean Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.

Friday Funny

 

Pssst... I cannot express enough how "me" this statement is!  Happy Friday!

Wedding Wednesday

 

Pauline Dudley Powell

(1909-1990)

and

Vernon Eddie McDaniel

(1909-1934)

(Pictured above on their wedding day)

were Married

1933

in Kite, Johnson County, Georgia, USA

Sadly, Vernon Eddie McDaniel passed away just a year later from malaria. I had not seen malaria as a cause of death before so I asked Google Gemini and of course, learned something new.

Malaria is transmitted by infected mosquitos.  We have plenty of those here in the South.

Was Malaria Common in the U.S. in the 1930s?

Yes. During the 1930s, malaria was still a significant public health problem and a notable cause of illness and death across the Southeastern United States.
Geographic Spread: The disease was endemic throughout much of the American South—stretching from Texas and the Mississippi River Valley up through parts of the Midwest and along the Atlantic seaboard. Rural, low-lying, and swampy regions with high mosquito populations were hit hardest.

Economic hardship during the 1930s due to the Great Depression exacerbated the crisis, as many families could not afford window screens, quinine treatment, or proper housing repairs to keep mosquitoes out.

Malaria remained a persistent threat until the federal government launched intensive eradication campaigns during and after World War II. Utilizing widespread mosquito control (such as draining wetlands and spraying DDT) alongside the distribution of effective treatments, the U.S. Public Health Service successfully eliminated endemic malaria from the United States by the early 1950s.

Their child, Eddie Allen McDonald, was born less than a month before his father passed away.

Time Capsule Tuesday

 Julia A Kea Sumner was born on this date in 1850 in Adrian, Emanuel County, Georgia, USA.  Let's see what was going on the month and year she was born.

August 25, 1850, was a Sunday.

In the United States, the most popular baby names for the era were absolute classics: Mary, Elizabeth, and Sarah for girls, and John, William, and James for boys.

The generation born around this midpoint of the 19th century belongs to what historians often categorize as the Victorian Generation. Americans of this era experienced a rapidly expanding nation on the brink of profound sectional conflict, navigating a farming-to-industrial transition, the expansion of the railways, and the westward movement.

The President of the United States was Millard Fillmore, who had just unexpectedly taken office a month prior following the sudden death of President Zachary Taylor. Because the office of the Vice President remained vacant under the constitutional rules of the era (Fillmore's elevation left the seat empty), there was no Vice President.

On August 25, 1850, the United States was in a period of intense political friction and sweeping transformation, most notably driven by the debates surrounding the expansion of slavery.

While no single massive, day-defining breaking news event occurred precisely on that date, the country was wrapped in several major historical contexts:

The Looming Compromise of 1850: Congress was deep into the grueling legislative battles over what would become the Compromise of 1850. Led by figures like Henry Clay and Stephen Douglas, lawmakers were attempting to defuse sectional tensions between North and South over territories acquired from the Mexican-American War. The resulting package of bills—which would soon admit California as a free state, establish popular sovereignty in Utah and New Mexico, and enact the stricter Fugitive Slave Act—was being fiercely debated.

The California Gold Rush: California was rapidly hurtling toward statehood (formally achieved just a couple of weeks later on September 9, 1850). Towns like San Francisco were experiencing explosive, chaotic growth, dealing with the daily realities of the Gold Rush, including rapid infrastructure buildouts and massive influxes of prospectors.

Cultural and Scientific Currents: Around this exact era, American science and literature were making quiet leaps. For instance, amateur scientist and women's rights campaigner Eunice Newton Foote was conducting her pioneering experiments on atmospheric gases in upstate New York, and literary giants like Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville were preparing masterworks of mid-19th-century American fiction.

Historical Events Around August 25, 1850

• July 9, 1850: President Zachary Taylor dies in office, and Millard Fillmore is sworn in as the 13th U.S. President.

• August 6, 1850: President Fillmore sends a special message to Congress officially throwing his support behind the landmark Compromise of 1850.

1850 Estimated Prices 

(Note: Exact government tracking of daily consumer goods like milk or bread didn't exist in modern formats in 1850, but typical contemporary values reflect an economy where $1 had roughly the purchasing power of about $28 today.)

• New Home (Northeast/Brooklyn): ~$2,500

• Good Quality Piano: ~$195

• Doctor's House Visit: ~$2.00

• Pound of Coffee: ~$0.80

• Bottle of Imported Port Wine: ~$0.11

Notable Books Published Around 1850

• The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

• David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

• The Prelude by William Wordsworth

• Representative Men by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Notable Birthdays on August 25

    

• George Wallace (1919-1998)

• Sean Connery (1930-2020)

• Blake Lively (38 years old)

• Billy Ray Cyrus (64 years old)

Google Gemini and Onthisday.com were used to write this post.