"...and the green grass grows all around, all around "

There is a song we all sang when we were children about "the bug on the leaf and the leaf on the twig and the twig on the branch and the branch on the tree and the tree in the ground and the green grass grows all around all around, the green grass grows all around." It was one we sang on those school bus trips after we had finished "Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall." Remember?

Well, I'm here to tell you that genealogy is like that song. By the time you get through adding cousins, in-laws, cousins of in-laws, and everyone else connected to your family, you are the bug on the leaf and your earliest ancestor is the tree in the ground. The problem is, some of those branches and twigs get all tangled up along their way back down to the tree and there may be some surprises at the junctions where they connect.

I received a total surprise last week when I was filling in information in my family tree on the Wood family I wrote about recently. All I could do was sit and stare at my computer screen and say, "Well, I'll be darned." And I said it more than once.

Odd words and rhythmic names have always fascinated me. Years ago, when I first went over my Blake book, I came across a name that stuck in my head. It was "J.S.L. Sappington" who married Dicey Elizabeth Wood, daughter of William Thomas Wood and Nancy Blake. Odd name, I thought. Wonder what the "J.S.L." stands for?

Last Saturday I was poring over the 1880 Heard County census book, entering information on the Wood family, when I happened to glance at the facing page, and, guess what? There he was ... "Joshua S.L. Sappington," living with his parents, the Rev. Dr. Joshua S. and Susannah Sappington. As long as I was there, I added Joshua's family information to my tree (Dicey is, after all, my first cousin, twice removed, and he was her husband).

When I finished, out of curiosity, I did a quick Google search on the net for Joshua Sappington ... and I was not prepared for the genealogical journey that followed. J.S.L. stood for "Joshua Starr Lake Sappington," I found out. He was the son of Joshua Starr Sappington and Susannah Whaley. Uh oh. Was Susannah a part of my Whaleys? That was only the beginning.

Joshua Starr Sappington Sr. was the son of William J. Sappington and Martha Hardwick Starr who died in Troup County in 1875. Martha was the daughter of the Rev. Joshua Starr. Starr, I thought. Hmmm. Wonder if they are the Fayette County Starrs of Starr's Mill? I am still researching that one. There is little to nothing in the Fayette County History Book about that family. My friend Carolyn Cary tells me that the Starrs were not among the earlier settlers in Fayette, but that I might find something about them at the Fayette County Historical Society's library. I made a mental note to do that.

Okay. That took care of the Starr name, but what about the Lake? And how do the Whaleys come into the picture?

Well, Susannah Whaley was the daughter of James Adolphus Whaley and Nancy Lake. I pulled down my Whaley book and found her there (more about this book in a minute) but her Whaley grandparents are unknown. However, I knew for a fact that there was an Elisha Lake in Walton County who was the grandson of Hester Whaley Pepper, my 4th great-grandmother. So all is not lost. There may be a connection yet.

Then I was reading the "footprints" for James Adolphus Whaley (Susannah's father) in my Whaley book (this tracks him year by year where records are found) and nearly fell off my chair when I came to the bottom of the page. It seems that James Adolphus Whaley bought land in Putnam County, Ga., from Green Wood, one of the administrators of the estate of Ethelred Wood. And Ethelred was the brother of Richard Wood who married Tabitha Glass and who was the great-grandfather of Dicey Elizabeth Wood who married Joshua Starr Lake Sappington, son of Susannah Whaley Sappington, daughter of James Adolphus Whaley ...

" ... and the green grass grows all around, all around ... "

So, now J.S.L. Sappington not only had a full name but some family history ... and maybe more than one family connection.

Well, I'll be darned.

About the Whaley book: this little jewel is no less than a masterpiece of genealogy. Jackie Weeden of Wisconsin and Ruby Nelson of South Dakota have done exhaustive research on the Whaley family (from all over the place) for years and years. It's not just about one Whaley family, but many of them. Those they couldn't connect they simply call the "mystery" Whaleys, but much information is given on them too ... including wills, land transfers, census information, and on and on. The book is called "The Georgia Whaleys; A Closer Look," and is constantly being updated. It is self-published on Ruby's computer, is done in MS Word, and she adds family group sheets on Whaleys as information is found. The book is spiral bound and you can add the sheets as Ruby completes a new one. It is truly amazing as a Whaley family resource. Most everything is documented and if it is not, they say so. Yes ... it includes many pages on the Fayette County Whaleys.

If you're interested in the book, contact Ruby at RLNSD@aol.com. You may also see her many answers to Whaley family questions on Genforum.

How about your family? Have you taken several odd genealogy journeys in doing your family tree? I'd love to hear about them. Send stories about your southside Atlanta ancestors to The Citizen, Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214; E-mail jkilgore@thecitizennews.com or jodiek444@aol.com.

Until next week, happy hunting!

(Judy regrets that time does not permit her to do personal research for others. She will willingly share research information on her own family lines, including collateral and allied lines.)

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