Finding Your Folks

By JUDY FOWLER KILGORE
jkilgore@thecitizennews.

I am pleased to announce that, after years of hard work and research, my dear friend Carolyn Cary has published her book on William Thomas “Billy” Overby, the young Confederate hero from Newnan who chose to be hanged rather than reveal the location of his comrades. He has been called the “Nathan Hale of the Confederacy.”

Billy’s story is fascinating. Born in Virginia to Martha L. Stith and William H. Overby, he came to Georgia as a toddler. His parents followed his grandparents, Thomas and Martha Sykes Overby, who came to Coweta about 1833, and settled in the Sixth District of Coweta County, Longstreet Community, about 1839. Subsequent land purchases by his parents landed them in the area of what is now the Thomas Overby subdivision off Ga. Hwy. 34 near Thomas Crossroads.

Carolyn tells Billy’s story compassionately and accurately, from his growing up in Coweta County to the return of his remains from Markham, Virginia, where he was first buried in 1864, to his childhood home in Newnan. In 1997 — more than 130 years after his heroic death — he was interred in the Confederate burial section of Oak Hill Cemetery. Bringing him home was not an easy task. That story is included in the book also.

The price is $21 and the book is available now. There may be shipping & handling charges for mailed copies. Contact Carolyn at CCCary@aol.com. if you’d like a copy. Or, you can reach her at C.J. Cary & Associates, P.O. Box 495, Fayetteville, GA 30214.

My other topic this week really doesn’t concern Georgia people at all, but the story is so weird and coincidental that I couldn’t resist telling it to you. The person who told it to me lives in Newnan, so I guess it is a Georgia story after all.

Those of you who pooh-pooh the Internet for genealogy purposes had better think again. Here’s the e-mail I received from Jill Prouty of Newnan:

“Judy:

“I am a newbie at genealogical research and have appreciated your articles, especially the information contained in “When not to share” (2/6/04). I am, by profession, a librarian and couldn’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t share information with others. But I totally agree — I would have a BIG problem with a company making money off of my research. I am happy to share what I have for free to other researchers, but that’s it! Thanks for the info.

“What I really wanted to tell you about was a recent ‘connection’ I made with a man in Beverly Hills, Calif.

“I’ve been going through some of my mother’s boxes (sadly, she passed away last year), which included old photo albums and the genealogy research her mother (my grandmother) put together. My husband was quite fascinated by some of the old photos.

“One that caught his eye in particular was of a baseball team. He said, ‘Who is Alpheus Chandler?’

“I was feeding our six-month-old son at the time, so I wasn’t paying much

attention and quickly answered, ‘I don’t know. Probably a distant cousin of my grandmother’s.’

“Later that evening I was poking around the Whitney family forum on Genealogy.com when I saw a posting labeled, ‘Minnesota and Maine Whitneys.’ My Whitney ancestors are from Maine, so I read the message.

“The message was posted by a Robert Chandler in Beverly Hills, Calif. In his message he said his father was Alpheus Spring Chandler from Columbia Falls, Washington County, Me., b. 11 May 1903. His father’s father was Alpheus Henry Chandler, also from Columbia Falls, Me., b. 6 July 1871.

“I sat there wondering where I’d heard that name before. It finally occurred to me that my husband had spoken the same name earlier!

“I got the photo albums back out and started looking for the baseball team. When I found the photo, I turned it over and confirmed that it was indeed the same name. Upon closer examination of the photo, I noticed that the team’s jerseys said, ‘C.F.’ Of course it had to be Columbia Falls!

“I emailed the gentleman telling him I had this photo which I figured to be taken somewhere between 1885-1895. Of course, he wondered if it might be his grandfather.

“I scanned the photo and e-mailed it to him. He also e-mailed me an old family photo of his with his grandfather at age 39. Sure enough, we were able to make a match. We figure his grandfather to be between 15-17 years of age in the photo.

“We were both astounded that we’d made this connection through the Web. What a wonderful tool modern technology has given us! Just 20 years ago, we would have never crossed paths.

“Consequently, I looked through some of my grandmother’s papers and found a whole page on Mr. Chandler’s mother’s family. Our families apparently crossed paths back in the 1700s. Mr. Chandler asked me how I came by all this information. My guess is that one of his uncles may have come in contact with my grandmother when doing his research, or vice versa. I know she networked around the Washington County, Me., area and enjoyed helping others with their research.

“Anyway, I just wanted to share this extraordinary story ...

“Jill Prouty, Newnan.”

Now, I ask you, is that not amazing? It also turns out that Jill and I are practically neighbors, both living near Thomas Crossroads ... which, coincidentally, is near where Billy Overby grew up. (Boy! Did I pull the topics of this column all together, or what?)

I welcome your letters about genealogy and info on south metro Atlanta families. Send them 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.)