The family tree is often full of surprises

In the soon-to-be 60 years that I’ve been studying and researching genealogy, I have learned of some long-forgotten family connections, as well as interesting kin, both living and dead.

In the 1844 estate of an ancestral uncle, E. J. King, I saw where half the copyright to the Sacred Harp was being sold. I had no idea what the Sacred Harp was. Later, I learned that King was co-author of a song book used in Sacred Harp singing. Once, when I went to a family dinner party in Henry County, I learned that one of the attendees, the wife of a distant cousin, was Ursula LeGuin, noted author. This year, she was featured on a U. S. postage stamp. Another time, during some genealogy correspondence, the writer insisted that we had shared ancestors. She turned out to be the aunt of one governor and mother of a U. S. senator. Many people researching their family history always claim that their line is the same as that of someone famous, but they often don’t have proof. My maternal grandmother, whose father was a Russell from Eufaula, Alabama, once told me that we were kin to then-Georgia Senator Richard B. Russell. By chance, I sat next to Russell’s niece at a state youth assembly shortly after and got the full scoop. We were not kin in any way shape or form. So you can’t even believe your grandmother.

Native Americans topic of Lunch and Learn

Native Americans in Georgia and land issues is the theme of Georgia Archives Collections Manager Hendry Miller’s October 8 Lunch and Learn talk. The free event starts at noon, online, via MicrosoftTeams. See the Georgia Archives website, GeorgiaArchives.org, for signing in instructions and to view previously taped lectures. For more information, call the Georgia Archives at 678-364-3710.