I was delighted last week when my 11-year-old grandson, Daniel, came for a three-day visit from Covington.

I was even more delighted when Daniel showed an interest in genealogy and history. When I mentioned visiting an old cemetery, his eyes lit up. It didn't take much effort for me to grab my camera, a map and my sack of corn meal, hop in the car and head for Carroll County and Powell's Chapel cemetery, a place I had been meaning to visit for some time.

I am stumped on my Payne family and I was hoping the cemetery would give me some clues, since that's where my great-grandparents, Joseph Joshua Payne and Louisa Elizabeth Boyd Payne, are buried.

Driving to Carrollton, I explained to Daniel what we were looking for. He was soaking this stuff up like a sponge and I was amazed at his interest. We made a few wrong turns, but finally found the church and drove into the cemetery.

"There's a Payne, Mimi ... and Boyds ... and McWhorters," Daniel said excitedly as we drove in. I had no idea so much of my family history was here. We went through the whole cemetery, using the corn meal to bring up the inscriptions that were too worn to read. We found the grave of Joseph Boyd who was born in 1791 and, when I told Daniel that this man was born when George Washington was president, both of us were a bit awed.

Joseph was the brother of my GGGgrandfather, Hugh Boyd, born in 1797. I took a photo of Daniel beside the grave marker of his GGGGgrandfather, Moses McWhorter, born in 1802. And, although we looked and speculated, the cemetery didn't shed much light on the family I was looking for, the Paynes. And I don't have much to go on at this point.

Joseph Joshua Payne was born in Georgia in 1854, said to be the son of Jasper Payne and Polly Ann Wood of Tennessee. Joseph was a circuit-riding Methodist preacher who was never formally trained or ordained. "You didn't have to be ordained back then," my great-aunt Milie told my mother many years ago. "You just went out and preached."

Joseph is said to have been the twin brother of "Kale" Payne, who was also a preacher ... but Baptist. I have speculated that "Kale" may have been short for "Caleb." I have no facts to base this on except that there were a number of Biblical names in this family.

In 1877, Joseph married Louisa Elizabeth Boyd, daughter of Robert Boyd and Sarah Ann LeGuin, who had moved from Meriwether Co. to Carroll Co. sometime after 1850. Joseph and Louisa Payne had five children: Coie Lonzo (pronounced "Coy"), b. 1878, d. 1962, who married Annie Belle Hyde; Robert Stephen b. 1882, married Delia ; Milie Ann, b. 1885, married Will White; Sarah Jane, b. 1888, d. 1952, married John Allen McWhorter, son of William Leroy McWhorter and Eliza J. Wren (Sarah and John are my grandparents who lived in East Point); and Gooly Ross Payne who died in infancy with typhoid fever.

Joseph Joshua died in 1891 at the age of 37, also from typhoid fever. Louisa Elizabeth Boyd Payne lived to the age of 92 and spent most of her last years with her daughter Milie Ann and her husband, Will, in Austell.

I have found one "Paine" in Carroll Co. in 1870: Mary, age 38, born in Tenn., and her daughters, Rachel age 14, Elizabeth age 17, and Hannah age 8. I am hoping this Mary Paine is my "Polly" Ann Wood, since "Polly" was a nickname for "Mary" back in those days. Daniel and I have both tried to unscramble this puzzle with little success. I sent him home Sunday with a folder full of computer printouts. We had a great weekend.

This week's e-mails included one from Trent Howell who is looking for Howells in Georgia and, since I know there were Howells in Fayette, I thought someone might connect. Trent writes:

"Dear Mrs. Kilgore: Your genealogy column in The South Fulton Citizen has been of interest to me for some time. I have been working with others in my Howell family on our ancestry for almost 40 years. We have been able to trace our line to a James (W?) Howell who was born in Ga. 12 Feb. 1812. This information comes from his tombstone in Chambers Co., Ala., and from the 1850 Census in which he states he was born in Ga. We do not know where he was born.

"Many in the family have believed for years that he was a child of Wiley Howell and Sarah Wiggins Howell. They were married in Greene Co., Ga. in 1803, and Wiley says he was born in N.C. in the 1850 Census. There is a Wiley Howell who moves around in Ga. to some degree, and winds up in Talbot Co. in 1830. He next shows up in Chambers Co., Ala., on the 1840 Census.

"I also, in looking on the Internet site for Talbot Co., found that a James Howell and a J.W. Howell were in a unit organized to fight the Indians in the late 1820s and early 1830s. I was not able to get any information on either of these men as to family or anything else.

"James (W?) Howell shows up first in Chambers Co., Ala., in the late 1830s where he is a witness to a property transaction. Our family has felt strongly that he is one of the children of Wiley and Sarah Howell, and that the possible "W" in his name stood for Wiley. I have only found a record of this "W" in one place, and that is on his marriage license it is not on his tombstone.

"I realize this is not much in the way of information, but I would be most grateful if you can make any suggestions of where I might go, or what I might do to find further information ... and to push my line further back. Sincerely, Trent Howell, Austell, Ga."

Trent, if you have been doing this for 40 years, you've got me beat by several decades. I wouldn't begin to make suggestions, but I can toss your information out there and see if there are any connections among our readership. Trent's e-mail address is Jtrenth@aol.com.

Are you trying to find your ancestors? I'd love to print your story too. Send mail to The Citizen, Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214; e-mail jkilgore@thecitizennews.com or jodiek444@aol.com.

Until next week, happy hunting!

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