Finding Your Folks

By JUDY FOWLER KILGORE
jkilgore@thecitizennews.

One of the more interesting letters I received this week was from Dickson Grimes of Lilburn who picked up on a tiny little innocuous remark I made about my land in Coweta County. The land lot was originally drawn in the 1827 Land Lottery by the orphans of Thomas Dickson. In 1988, part of it fell into my hands when I bought my house.

Dickson writes:

“I just want to thank you for the wonderful articles you’re writing in the Fayette newspaper. I discovered them while doing a search for Thomas Dickson. Apparently, in 1827, his orphans drew the land you live on.

“My Dickson ancestor that moved to Coweta about 1827, Stephen Dickson, was Thomas’ brother. The Dixon/Dickson family is truly an interesting one ... if you can call muddled and unclear interesting.

“We know that Stephen’s father was Thomas Dixon, who lived in Halifax County Va., and we know his father was Benjamin Dixon, who came to this country around 1740. After that it gets very tricky. Apparently some of the sons of Thomas Dixon moved to Hancock County and became very prosperous farmers there.

“The Thomas Dickson who drew your land had two sons, Thomas and David, who were two of the wealthiest men in the state.

“David is a truly interesting story. He had a daughter with one of his slaves (Amanda America Dickson was the daughter's name) that he left most of his estate to at his death in 1885.

“The family took the case all the way to the Georgia Supreme Court and Amanda ended up prevailing. I can only imagine the heated feelings at the time.

“So, David’s father, Thomas, is the Thomas whose orphans drew your land. I’d have to say that the father of Thomas is still debatable, but he’s definitely in the same ball park as my Thomas Dixon.

“I still haven't figured out which of his children ended up with the land — more research needed obviously — but Thomas died in 1827 and had numerous orphans under 21 (including Thomas and David).

“I doubt the Dicksons ever lived on your property. I would bet they sold the property instead of moving there. I think that’s what a lot of the winners did. Not a bad way to make some easy money.

“Did you ever think what might have been if our ancestors had kept the land that they traded around back in the 1830s and ‘40s? They had 200 acres and it was nothing to them. I look at buying one acre now in Coweta and realize I can’t even afford that.

“My grandmother Dickson, who married a Grimes, did a lot of genealogy work and sometimes would take us little grandkids to cemeteries with her. I only wish I had had more interest at the time. She and my grandfather were constantly talking about family history, and I couldn’t have cared less at the time. Oh, to replay just a little bit of time.

“My family was mostly on the other side of Coweta ... out in Handy and Welcome, and the Grimes line moved there from Meriwether in 1843.

“Anyway, Judy, thank you so much for your work and your articles. The ones I could get to online were really fantastic. I’ve been working on my Grimes (originally Graham) and Dickson lines for about ten years, and it never ceases to be amazing. Just thinking about what they were doing (kind of quoting one of your articles) at any given time is a great treat.

"Dickson Grimes (dicksongrimes@bellsouth.net).”

I really appreciate Dickson’s taking the time to write and I’m sure he would love some help on the ancestry of his Dicksons. Contact him at the above address if you'd like to share.

The other topic this week is a correction to the Norris family information which was included in the articles on the Norris Candy Company we ran quite some time ago.

I received an e-mail from Norris Ahern (that’s one correction ... his surname was spelled “Ahearn” in the article) who is the grandson of Arthur Leland Norris, founder and first owner of the Norris Candy Company.

Norris told me that, contrary to what I had been told, his grandfather was never called “Buddy” except by his grandsons. So, anyone who put that into your family tree just delete that name right now.

Another correction: the three Norris children mentioned in the article were actually five. One (1) died at or shortly after birth and another, (2) Arthur Leland Norris Jr., died at age 5 or 6. The others who lived to adulthood were:

(3) Marie King Norris (b. 1895, d. 1966) married E.A. Massa, who died. They had one son. Marie later married W.E. Letts and had another son.

(4) J.D. (Joel Davis) Norris (b. 1899, d. 1958) married twice and had one daughter by his second wife.

(5) Martha Amelia Norris (b. 1902, d. 1982) married twice to James C. Ahern (note correct spelling) and had two sons — James C. Ahern Jr. and Arthur Norris Ahern.

Norris adds, “I’m not sure if all of this (or any) is of interest but I did strongly feel the need to set the record straight. He was a man not many people would have called ‘Buddy.’”

Norris, any errors are always worth correcting before they get passed on too many times and are almost impossible to change. I really appreciate your writing and helping us set the record straight on your family (and mine). I might add for genealogy purposes that Arthur was the son of Joel C. Norris and Amelia King, who were married in Fayette County. Joel C. Norris was the son of John “Jethro” and Mary Johnson Norris, my GGGgrandparents.

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. Any letters and/or e-mails I receive are subject to being used in the column.

Until next week, happy hunting!

(Judy regrets that time does not permit her to do personal research for others.)

(Judy regrets that time does not permit her to do personal research for others.)