Genealogy: Finding Your Folks

Readers write about McIntosh, Whaley, Holley, Boyd families

By Judy Fowler Kilgore
Genealogy Columnist

Judy Fowler Kilgore is the religion editor and genealogy columnist for The Citizen. She regrets that time does not permit her to do personal family research for others. She may be reached at jkilgore@thecitizennews.com or jodiek444@aol.com.

I want to thank all of you who responded to the column on writing a query. I have been overwhelmed with e-mails and several have asked for permission to reprint it in their genealogy publications. Our reprint policy is the normal one — ask for permission and give the newspaper credit (giving the name of the newspaper and the date the article was published), and your wish will be granted. All material in The Citizen is copyrighted, so you must ask for permission. Just drop me a note, ask, and I’ll tell you how to word the credits.

You may also quote small portions of the columns, once again, giving credit to me as the author and the newspaper as the published source. Include the date the article appeared in the paper.

Linking to Web sites does not require permission and neither does passing the Web address to others via lists and message boards. The most important thing is that The Citizen receive credit for articles it publishes.

As you probably have noticed (and I mentioned it in the “query” article), we prefer not to use short queries here but prefer that you send us a little about your south metro Atlanta family (along with your query) which makes for more interesting reading.

When I do receive short letters, I save them all and may run some of them in a future column. Below are a few of the e-mails we have received within the past few months.

Max Moody of Peachtree City wants to know about the McIntosh connection to Peachtree City. Max writes:

“ ... I'm not from here, but I have been doing some rather lengthy and intensive research on the Chief McIntosh Jr story, just personal fascination.

“I have spent hours online and at the local libraries, and even was lucky enough to speak with Ms. Carolyn Cary.

“The only hole in all my efforts seems to be the actual Peachtree City connection. Records point only to a General Ware, and I can't seem to find anything to explain him, or their relationship, in a clear way.

“Have you ever had any information regarding him, or might you know of some specific references that may be useful?

“I would be very grateful if you can assist, and even if not, I appreciate your time reading this.

“Thanks, Max Moody, Peachtree City.” (Useratl@bluebottle.com)

I’m sorry I can’t help Max with his research since I have no information other than the fact that Chief William McIntosh (for whom McIntosh High School in Peachtree City was named) is responsible for signing the treaty as representative of the Creek Indian nation, ceding the land upon which Peachtree City now stands. I’m sure Carolyn gave him a lot more information, since she is the Fayette County expert.

If anyone has information about General Ware or a more specific Peachtree City connection to the McIntosh family, I hope you will let us know.

Regarding the Whaleys, Sandra Moody of Sharpsburg writes:

“ ... I read your column every Friday, and in your last two columns you mentioned the Whaley family. The Stricklands were in my Davis Family line by marriage.

“The Stricklands had a Whaley in their family line by marriage, although I didn't mention that line when I submitted my Davis Family information a while back.

“The family information I have for that particular Whaley was taken from the LDS information for Elizabeth Whaley (her father was listed as Samuel Whaley, death/burial aft. 1814, Ga.). Elizabeth was married to Elkamah "Cain or Caney" Strickland. The Stricklands I knew lived in Clayton County. Also, related by marriage in the Strickland family was a Mary M. Mundy. The Mundy Family had a mill, Mundy's Mill, but it was torn down years ago. I have heard there is an old Mundy Cemetery off Mundy's Mill Road, but I have never been there. I thought this may be of interest to you.

“Sandra Moody, Sharpsburg, Ga.” (smoody47@yahoo.com)

Sandra, the Whaleys were definitely in that area of Fayette/Clayton County (Mundy’s Mill area) and your Whaley is probably a member of the Fayette Whaleys. The Whaley book does have Elcanah Strickland as appearing in the 1840 and 1850 Fayette censuses, and states he was married to Elizabeth Whaley. I have not yet been able to find anything in the book on Elizabeth’s family. I’ll keep looking.

J. Paul Rutter III wants to know more about the Boyd, McCrary and Sasser families of Coweta and Spalding counties, stemming from Milton Boyd of Meriwether County. He writes:

“ ... Col. Boyd is my great-great-grandfather. Your information is accurate from the lore and details that my family knows.

“I, too, am interested in knowing more about Milton Boyd's parentage in Chester District, S.C. I've visited the graveyard of his in Griffin and seen Milton's resting place that mentions Chester District, S.C.”

“Regards, J. Paul Rutter, III.” (jpr111@adelphia.net)

I'm still interested too. I hope we get some response on this.

Responding to a really old column on the Holley family, Julie Gray writes:

“ ... I come from (the northeastern states) Holley line. However, here is a site that may be of some help finding the Holley south lines: http://www.hawleysociety.org/geneology.html.

“I understand that they have information on all the spellings of Holley, Holly, Hawley and so on. They also have people that are connected and can help on the south line.”

“Good luck, Julie.” (jfgrayjewels@bellsouth.net)

I appreciate and welcome all letters and e-mails 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!