Military Monday posts are made to honor those in my family tree who have served in the United States military.
Ollie Whitton "O.W." Tapley, Jr.
Sergeant, U.S. Army, World War II, Disabled
O.W. is my 3rd cousin 2x removed. Our common ancestors are Archibald Odom III and Isabella Elizabeth Anderson.
Thank you for your service.
From Randy (my cousin) over at Genea-Musings:
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.
✦•······················•✦•······················•✦
Mr. Clements was born on February 7, 1950, in Dublin, Georgia. He was a member of the Mt. Olive Church of the Nazarene where he served as a work and witness team member. He was a licensed contractor, electrician and plumber and later worked for the Department of Transportation as a general trade craftsman foreman. He was preceded in death by his parents, Marvin and Ruby Foskey Clements and siblings Kenneth Clements, Ronnie Clements, David Clements, Charles Clements, Troy Clements, Aurelia Clements Garnto and Lois Clements Poole. Mr. Clements passed away on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, at his residence.
Mr. Clements is survived by his wife, Mary Frances Clements of Kite, 2 daughters, Ramona Clements (Alan) Smith and Karen Clements (Garyth) Everett of Tennille; 2 brothers, Gerald Clements and Wadell (Betty) Clements of Wrightsville; sister, Elizabeth Tyson of Dublin; sister-in-law, Ann Tyson of Dublin; grandchildren, Spencer (Josephine Hedrick) Smith, Carson Everett, Ethan Smith, and Mallory Everett; and a host of nieces and nephews. Pallbearers will be Jim Musselwhite, Stanley Clements, Stevie Clements, Jay Foskey, Elliott Tyson and Joe McCullough.
Stanley Funeral Home and Crematory/Wrightsville Chapel has charge of the funeral arrangements."
- Official Obituary courtesy of Stanley Funeral Home & Crematory, Wrightsville Chapel
Please join me in offering condolences to Mahon's family and holding them in the light.
Sympathy Days 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.
Lonnie was my 3rd cousin. Our common ancestors are William Robert Harrell and Catherine M. Odom Harrell.
Please join me in offering condolences to Lonnie's family and friends and holding them in the light.
Today, I asked ChatGPT, "Can you share the origins of the surname "Barwick" in the southeast of the United States, including Georgia?"
It did not disappoint.
"The surname "Barwick" in the southeastern United States, including Georgia, traces its origins to the early settlers William B. Barwick Sr. [should be Jr] (1755–1807) and his wife, Elizabeth Phillips (1760–1820). Originally from North Carolina, they relocated to the Cheraw District (later Darlington County), South Carolina, around 1785. William Sr. [should be Jr] was a Revolutionary War soldier, serving in the Dobbs County, NC Militia during the late 1770s and early 1780s. Find a Grave, Freepages
The couple had fifteen children, nine of whom were sons who carried on the Barwick name. Following Elizabeth's death in 1820, disputes over the family estate led several of their sons to migrate southward:
William B. Barwick Jr. (1795–1855): He moved to Thomas County, Georgia, where he became one of the first settlers in the area now known as Barwick, Georgia. The town was named in honor of the Barwick family. Find a Grave
Nathan, Benjamin, and Redden Barwick: These brothers also relocated to South Georgia, contributing to the spread of the Barwick surname in the region.
The town of Barwick, Georgia, established in the early 1890s with the extension of the railroad, is divided by the county line between Brooks and Thomas Counties, and it was named after R.H. Barwick, a Primitive Baptist leader, further cementing the Barwick legacy in the area. Wikipedia
Today, many individuals bearing the Barwick surname in Georgia and Florida can trace their ancestry back to these early settlers, reflecting a rich family history intertwined with the development of the southeastern United States."
My further research this afternoon indicates that this information is true and (mostly) correct.
In following the sources that ChatGPT used, I found the Surname DB (The Internet Surname Database) which gives some information on the origins of the name Barwick. According to the site, the name Barwick is an English locational name from Barwick in Norfolk and Somerset. Its place name variations include: Bereuuica (Norfolk), "Berewyk" (Somerset), Berrick, Berwick, and Borwick. All of these derive from the Olde English pre-7th century "berewic," a corn farm, composed of "bere," barley, corn, and "wic," an outlying farm; as in "granary lying some distance away from the main village." Names based on location were originally given as a means of identification to those who left their village or place of origin to settle elsewhere. Barwick is first recorded in the 13th century. Of course, surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England, this was known as the Poll Tax. Surnames have continued to "develop" over the centuries, often leading to surprising variants of the original spelling.
William B. Barwick Jr.'s son, Nathan Barwick (1782-1868), moved to Emanuel County shortly after marrying his wife, Elizabeth Whiddon (1782-1880), in 1810. Their son, William Whiddon Barwick (1819-1869) married my 4th grand-aunt, Winnford 'Winny' Odom (1821-1864).
 |
| Logo of the City of Barwick courtesy of cityofbarwick.org |
Amy Johnson Crow from Generations Cafe is again hosting the blog writing prompt this year called 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2021. I'm going to try to participate more fully this year. I like that she gives us "permission" to interpret the prompt however we wish and share it however we wish. It doesn't have to be a blog post; it could be a family video, a letter to a child or grandchild, an e-mail, etc.
The Theme for Week 14 (Apr 5 - Apr 11) is Great.
My GREAT grandmother, Emma Vermell Harrell Drake (1867-1935), was my paternal grandmother's, Nealie Drake Tapley (1895-1970), mother. I know almost nothing about Emma. If I could meet her, I would have so many questions.
Emma was born September 4, 1867 in Emanuel County, Georgia to William Robert Harrell (1838-1908) and Catherine M Odom Harrell (1841-1875). Robert was born in South Carolina, as was his father before him. Catherine's family, on both of her parents' sides, had been residents of Emanuel County since at least the late 1700s.
Emma was one of three children born to Robert and Catherine. She was the oldest. Her sister, Nancy Jane (1869-1901), was 2 years younger, and her brother, John Milledge (1872-1951) was 5 years younger.
Emma also had an older "half" brother. Roan Perry Riner (1860-1941) was Catherine's child from her first marriage to Lawson Riner (1837-1863). Lawson died in the Civil War.
In 1875, tragedy struck the family. Emma's mother passed away just 13 days after Emma's 8th birthday. Catherine was only 34 years old. Her obituary states that in her last moments, she turned "her attention to her four small children, [and] said many things to them." I cannot imagine how heartbreaking and confusing this would have been for the children.
So Robert was left with three small children to raise. In those days, the men had to go out and work to make a living to support their family. So usually, in the case of a baby, another relative would take that child and raise it or the the man would remarry quickly. Just a little over two years after Catherine's death, Robert remarried. On January 1, 1878 in Emanuel County, he married Winford "Mimie" Barwick (1853-1939). Turns out that Catherine and Winford were 1st cousins. Again, it wasn't that unusual for a widower to marry a member of his late wife's family, even her sister!
Robert and Winford had a baby boy in 1881, Robert Lanier Harrell (1881-1947). Emma would have been 13 years old when this new baby brother was born. As the oldest (and a girl), I am sure she had to help take care of all the other children. In 1885, another brother was born named Grover Cleveland Harrell (1885-1928).
Emma married William John Drake (1857-1927) on July 30, 1883. She was 15 years old. John had been married before (his wife had passed) and had a baby girl, Samantha Augusta Drake (1881-1966), who was only 2 1/2 years old at the time of their marriage. Fifteen months after marrying, Emma gave birth to the first of their nine children:
Hattie Lay (1884-1912)
Kenneth Catherine (1886-1973)
William Lovick (1892-1912)
Nealie Vermell (1895-1970)
William Robert (1897-1927)
James Weldon (1900-1977)
Keland Lawton (1903-1972)
Nancy Mary Ann (1906-1931)
Martha Lou (1908-1986)
In my opinion, Emma had more than her share of tragedy during her life. In addition to losing her mother so young, she lost two of her children, Hattie Lay and William Lovick, to typhoid fever within a few months of each other in 1912. She experienced double tragedy again in 1927 when her son, William Robert, was murdered in June and her husband was accidentally shot and killed by their son, James Weldon, in August. Then 4 1/2 years later, in 1931, her daughter, Nancy Mary Ann died at only 25 years of age. (I do not know her cause of death.)
In addition, her daughter, Kenneth Catherine, moved away to South Carolina, and I don't know how often Emma got to see her.
My grandmother, Nealie Vermell, "ran off" with a man twice her age with three children, and from what I can tell, Emma may have never seen her again.
Nealie's husband, Lusion K Tapley (1870-1935), passed away in July 1935. Emma passed in October of that same year. My father was shocked when I told him that because he said he had absolutely no memory of his mother attending Emma's funeral. Of course, he was only age 7 at the time, so he may have just not remembered. He also didn't remember ever meeting his grandmother.
However, I am led to believe that perhaps some of Daddy's older brothers may have met their grandmother because my first cousin, Gary, who is the son of Daddy's brother, Hugh "Dorsey" Tapley, told me that Emma was a little "off." I am theorizing Gary got that from his father, but I don't know if Uncle Hugh witnessed it for himself or was just repeating what he had heard. Either way, who could blame her if she was?
I do not know that I have any pictures of Emma or her husband. I do have this picture that belonged to Grandma Nealie and is unidentified. Could this be the Drake family?
Family Search sent me an email today with a timeline for my 2nd great-grandmother, Catherine Odom Harrell. This is interesting information, and I thought it would make an excellent blog post. I support any way to get my family stories out there.
This is my connection to Catherine Odom Harrell:
Liz (that's me!)
↓↓↓
Gilbert Earl Tapley, 1928-2008 (my father)
↓↓↓
Nealie Vermell Drake Tapley, 1895-1970 (my grandmother)
↓↓↓
Emma Vermell Harrell Drake, 1867-1935 (my great-grandmother)
↓↓↓
Catherine M Odom Harrell, 1841-1875 (my 2nd great-grandmother)
Time Line for the life of Catherine M. Odom Harrell
|
1841 Age 0 |
Birth |
26 Jul 1841 Emanuel
County, Georgia |
|
1846 Age 5 |
Historical Event |
U.S. acquires vast tracts of
Mexican territory in wake of Mexican War, including California and New
Mexico. |
|
1850 Age 9 |
Residence |
Emanuel
County, Georgia |
|
Bet. 1858-1859 Age 17-18 |
Marriage |
31 Dec 1857 Married
Lawson Y. Riner (1837-1863) |
|
1860 Age 19 |
Residence |
Emanuel
County, Georgia |
|
1860 Age 19 |
Birth of
Child |
Roan Perry
Riner was born in 1860 in Johnson County, Georgia. |
|
1861 Age 20 |
Historical
Event |
Civil War: “Some
11,000 Georgians gave their lives in defense of their state - a state that
suffered immense destruction. But war’s end brought about an even more
dramatic figure to tell: 460,000 African-Americans were set free from the
shackles of slavery to begin new lives as free people.” |
|
1863 Age 21 |
Death of
Spouse |
Lawson Y. Riner
died in a hospital in Richmond, Virginia on 11 Jan 1863. |
|
1863 Age 21 |
Historical Event |
The Battle at Gettysburg 01 Jul 1863 - 03 Jul 1863 “The Battle of
Gettysburg involved the largest number of casualties of the entire Civil war
and is often described as the war's turning point. Between 46,000 and 51,000
soldiers lost their lives during the three-day Battle. To honor the fallen
soldiers, President Abraham Lincoln read his historic Gettysburg Address and
helped those listening by redefining the purpose of the war.” |
|
1864 Age 23 |
Historical Event |
Arlington Cemetery |
|
1865 Age 24 |
Marriage (2nd) |
Married William Robert Harrell
on 21 Dec 1865 |
|
1867 Age 26 |
Birth of Child |
Emma Vermell Harrell was born 04
Sep 1867 in Emanuel County, Georgia. |
|
1868 Age 27 |
Historical Event |
The Fourteenth Amendment “As one of the Reconstruction
Amendments, the Fourteenth Amendment addresses the rights and protections
that all citizens of the United States have. The amendment also limits
actions of state and local officials in all states.” |
|
1869 Age 28 |
Birth of Child |
Nancy Jane Harrell was born 10
Dec 1869. |
|
1870 Age 29 |
Historical Event |
The Fifteenth Amendment “Prohibits the federal
government and each state from denying a citizen the right to vote based on
that citizen's race, color, or previous condition of servitude. It was the
last of the Reconstruction Amendments.” |
|
1870 Age 29 |
Death of Parent |
Her father, Elijah Samuel Odom
(1816-1870) passed away at the age of 53. |
|
1873 Age 32 |
Birth of Child |
James Milledge Harrell was born
in 1873 in Emanuel County, Georgia. |
|
1875 Age 34 |
Historical Event |
A New Civil Rights Act “During the response to civil
rights violations to African Americans, the bill was passed giving African
Americans equal treatment in public accommodations, public transportation,
and to prohibit exclusion from jury duty. While many in the public opposed
this law, the African Americans greatly favored it.” |
|
1875 Age 34 |
Death |
Catherine M Odom Harrell passed
away on 11 Sep 1875 in Emanuel County, Georgia. |
|
1875 |
Burial |
Harrell Cemetery Norristown Junction, Emanuel County, Georgia |
From Randy over at Genea-Musings:
From Randy over at Genea-Musings:
