Mappy Monday

 

Johnson County Highway Map, 1932, State Highway Board of Georgia, Held by Georgia Archives, Morrow, Georgia, Digital Collection: County Maps, Surveyor General, RG 3-9-66

    My family's roots run deep in Johnson County, Georgia.  Since it's Monday, I thought I would try to show a map of  the general areas where three of my ancestral families settled.

    My branch of the Tapley family lived near Fortner Mill Pond which is near Powell's Chapel United Methodist Church. As a matter of fact, that area was named Powell on census records.  This area is between Kite and Bartow (Jefferson County) off Highway 221.  The land had originally belonged to the Solomon Page family but when my great-grandparents married - Jim Tapley and Becky Page, it became Tapley land.  Each one of their married children was given a plot of land so they were all neighbors.  

    My Drake family was from Adrian. Now Adrian straddles the Johnson and Emanuel County lines.  Some Drakes lived in each county, but my line - the children of James William Drake and Mary Ann Brantley - were born and spent their childhoods in Emanuel County.  Unfortunately, I do not know where their land was exactly.  They attended Poplar Springs Church which is in Johnson County.  

    George Schwalls settled outside of Kite near the Tom community.  He and his family attended Minton Chapel church and many are buried there. I do not know the location of their homeplace. Since George is my biggest brick wall, and my friend says he was a spy, I guess way out in the country in Johnson  County is as good a place as any to hide.  

Mappy Monday: My Tapleys and Drakes in North Carolina

 After being inspired by my genealogy friend, Annette, I decided to map my Tapley and Drake families' origins in North Carolina.  It was an experiment in using the Paint program, so don't expect perfection!   But it gives you the general idea.  The Tapleys migrated from Virigina and arrived in North Carolina first, in the late 1740's.  The Drakes also migrated from Virginia, but about 30 years later, in the late 1770's.  The Tapleys left North Carolina about the time the Drakes arrived and migrated to South Carolina for a few years and then ultimately to Georgia.  The Drakes left North Carolina in the early 1820's and headed straight to Georgia.

Please click each map to view them larger in another window. 

Hosea Tapley was my 6th great-grandfather.  His son, Joel, of course, was my 5th great-grandfather.

 

Exum Drake was my 5th great-grandfather, with his son, Richard, being my 4th great-grandfather.

Maps courtesy of Catawba County NCGenWeb site at http://www.ncgenweb.us/catawba/countyfm.htm.

Mappy Monday: Department of Transportation Maps

Recently I discovered Department of Transportation (DOT) maps.  How I lived 43 years without knowing the usefulness of them for the average genealogist, I do not know!

These county maps show roads, whether they are paved or unpaved, and most importantly to me, they show cemetery locations.  Even those cemeteries out in the woods, on a dirt road, that you only have vague directions to, from some family history book you read. They also show the locations of courthouses, city halls, libraries, schools, national parks, etc., depending on the county.

For those of who do volunteer photographs for FindAGrave, these maps can be very helpful in finding a small, country cemetery that has no address listed on the site.  

The Georgia DOT offers the first map for free, and they even include a recent highway map with your order.  Their site from which to order is here.  You can also download county maps here, but I prefer the LARGE version that I can take with me when I cemetery hop.

Here is the downloaded map of Johnson County, Georgia in .pdf format:  http://www.dot.state.ga.us/maps/Documents/County%20maps/Johnson.pdf.  Of course, you can enlarge the map to see all the details.

I have ordered from the South Carolina and Florida DOTs, and they only charged a nominal fee to cover postage.  Just do a search for your state's DOT Maps and order away!