Gwinnett Historical Society: www.gwinnetths.org.
Being from South Carolina, I was intrigued to learn recently of family born and raised right here in Gwinnett. With that knowledge, and curiosity about my husband’s deep Gwinnett roots, I went on a search to the Gwinnett Historical Society. I was hoping to find ancestors and confirm we were not somehow distant cousins.
I already knew Paul’s grandfather Paul V. Kelley had owned a store on the square in Lawrenceville. Granddaddy Kelley operated the Ideal Silent Movie theatre in this location. When the Great Depression closed the theatre, and as he navigated the challenges of World War II, the same location served over the years as a drug store, an appliance store, a bowling alley and at one time even an ice cream shop.
Mother Kelley, or Annie Hood, and her parents James R. Hood and Maddie Loveless Hood were families with a long history in and around Dacula. Highway 316 now splits farmland once owned by the family just east of the Loveless cemetery off Harbins Road.
Had I not had Paul’s mother Anne and uncle Paul to tell me these stories, I could still have found more than a few clues.
The Gwinnett Historical Society occupies a portion of the second floor at the Historic Courthouse in downtown Lawrenceville just across the street from where Daddy Kelley made his living.
The non-profit organization relies primarily upon the dues of approximately 300 members, individual and corporate donations, funding from Gwinnett County and the occasional grant money from organizations like the Daughters of the American Revolution.
The GHS operates an office, genealogy library, map collection, book store, microfilm research room, cemetery records, collection of family photos and memorabilia and maintains the 19.2-acre Elisha Winn property and Winn house built in 1818.
Nothing can quite describe the feeling of seeing an official record of the marriage license or death certificate of a family member you’ve heard about your whole life. Suddenly, this person who shares DNA with you is no longer a fictional character in your life story. You begin to piece together the struggles they might have faced, the joys and sorrows life threw their way.
According to GHS volunteer and co-president Betty Warbington, families who can provide documentation they were living in Gwinnett dating back to between 1820 and 1850 can receive designation as one of the county’s First Families.
We know John Griffin Loveless was born in 1831. He was buried not long after his 87th birthday in Dacula on a hot summer day in 1918. He lies beside his wife and daughter who died much younger. All we need to do is spend a few hours tracking down where he was born or when he moved to Gwinnett.
As for me, I’ve learned of quite a few ancestors from the Flowery Branch area. Names like Pirkle, Lawless, Cantrell and Coker are the ones I’ll be researching. To my children’s relief, so far I’ve found no common ancestry with my husband. Even so, I’m pretty sure his people knew my people.
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