dallashistory

Diane Sawyer's special, A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains, is showing on 20/20 tonight, and I was wondering whether anyone else might have branches of their family tree reaching into Appalachia.

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=6865077&page=1

The documentary focuses on contemporary challenges and struggles ... and sadness, but their roots are deep-set in these beautiful, ancient mountains.

"'I think the mountains are like your mother's arms around you. They're holding you in one place,' said Whitesburg, Ky., resident Nell Fields."

And I miss Mother ~ never having been a contented creature in the level-lands Take the dulcimer and run ... maybe. And sing ~ always sing.

"I was wondering whether anyone else might have branches of their family tree reaching into Appalachia."

I'd bet that a high percentage had ancestors that lived in, or went through "Appalachia" - as the ARC describes it at http://www.arc.gov/index.do?nodeId=27

My Hurst line spent about their 1st 100 years in the "new world" - mid 1600s to mid 1700s - just east of Appalachia, in Northumberland, Stafford & Shenandoah Counties VA. In about 1750 they moved into Wythe County VA, "officially" in Appalachia. They stayed there just over 50 years before "heading west" to Hawkins TN & Claiborne TN (a few years each) then to Morgan TN & later Rhea TN (after the not so civil war). By 1885 my grandfather & his siblings were in Dallas County - Lancaster.

I don't really "know" a lot of them, but I know of relatives that still live in all of the places mentioned. I never made it as far north as Northumberland & Stafford, but have spent a lot of time in other counties, doing research. Beautiful country, but it would be really hard to make a living & life is pretty rough for man/most that live there.

If you go by the counties listed by ARC, I lived in Appalachia from 1978 to 2003, in Gwinnett County GA - suburban Atlanta.

The earliest Ragsdale (from England) was at Jamestown VA in the early 1600s. He and wife were killed in the Indian massacre there, but the baby boy survived and was raised, most probably, by the maternal grandparents. Decendants migrated to NC, then TN, KY, MO, AR, etc., with mine coming to TX from AR in the late 1880s.

My Clore/Glore, Crawford, Pearson folks all arrived in the Carolina and VA Colonies, too, so their eventual migrations South and Westward probably had them in the Appalacians.

Not sure about the Human family, through which Ernie and I are very distant cousins. We do know they lived in GA, and as Ernie indicated previously, some areas of GA were considered Appalacia.

Fred

Fred

Bazzle Human came to the area that is now Madison County GA (it was then Wilkes County) in about 1784 - his first "surveyor's warrant" for a 200 acre grant was dated 9 Aug 1784. Madison County is listed by the ARC as being in Appalachia. Before coming to GA, he lived in Caswell County NC & probably Orange County (before Caswell was created), beginning in the late 1760s. Neither NC county is considered to be Appalachia. Before that, he lived in Maryland (according to children's census records & oldest son's RW pension file), but I have not been able to determine exactly where in Maryland.

Fred, I have been intrigued by your first babe on these shores, Godfrey Ragsdale, ever since you first told his story. What are some of the other details of his life?

And remember, you and I are cousins But our Clores migrated from Culpepper County, Virginia to Boone County, Kentucky ... and eventually, to Missouri and (of course ), Texas.

Most of my Appalachian folk lived in Floyd County, Kentucky before making their moves. Our Lemons and Hills were from Blount County, Tennessee; attended the Methodist church in Cades Cove and left a little one buried in the cemetery there. I need to get out my records ....

Oh ~ but we did have some beekeepers in that Smoky-Mountain Lemons line, which is kind of neat Preachers, too ...

Fred Ragsdale wrote:The earliest Ragsdale (from England) was at Jamestown VA in the early 1600s. He and wife were killed in the Indian massacre there, but the baby boy survived and was raised, most probably, by the maternal grandparents. Decendants migrated to NC, then TN, KY, MO, AR, etc., with mine coming to TX from AR in the late 1880s.

My Clore/Glore, Crawford, Pearson folks all arrived in the Carolina and VA Colonies, too, so their eventual migrations South and Westward probably had them in the Appalacians.

Not sure about the Human family, through which Ernie and I are very distant cousins. We do know they lived in GA, and as Ernie indicated previously, some areas of GA were considered Appalacia.

Fred

Thanks for interest, Holly. .....I've made a note to get a couple of my notebooks out this weekend and give you some more info on both Ragsdale and Clore. ......It's been awhile since I've reviewed them.

http://tinyurl.com/yd3x3dv