Genealogy: Finding Your Folks

Sharing your ‘pedigree’

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.

As a former breeder, trainer and exhibitor of German shepherds, I am very familiar with the word “pedigree.” Some erroneously use it as meaning “well-bred,” but that is not necessarily the case. A pedigree is simply a record of direct ancestors (of animals or people) and tells from whence one came.

Early in my German shepherd days, I became fascinated with pedigrees and pedigree research. Don’t laugh, but when I first started doing genealogy, I recorded many of my ancestors’ pedigrees on old blank dog pedigrees I had lying around.

Many of us share information on our common family lines through genealogy reports, but sharing a pedigree may lead you to more connecting ancestors.

A pedigree is done sort of like a chart, with you as the root person on the far left, and ancestors above and below, depending on their sex, extending to the right as far back as you have room for on a sheet of paper. Your paternal line is always on the top and your maternal line is always on the bottom.

If you turn a pedigree sideways with yourself at the bottom, it resembles a tree. You are the trunk and your ancestors are the branches. Each generation doubles the number of ancestors in the previous one, that is, you have four grandparents, eight great-grandparents, 16 great-great-grandparents, etc.

Pedigrees give basic information and include only the names of your direct ancestors, their birth and death dates (and locations), burial places, and marriage dates (and locations). The wealth of information, however, comes from all the different surnames shown on the chart. After I received a pedigree from a researcher I had been working with on one of my family lines, I discovered we actually had two ancestors in common and were double cousins.

In hopes of finding more cousins, I’d like to share my “pedigree” with you.

I am, of course the root person, born in Atlanta (I’m not saying when) and raised in East Point.

Above me is my father, William Jethroe Fowler (1914-1975), born in Hightower, Ala., but also raised in the Atlanta area. He is buried at Sharon Memorial Gardens in Tyrone.

Below me is my mother, Marian Payne McWhorter, born in Atlanta and, again, raised in East Point.

My grandparents are:

(1) Luther Clarence Fowler (1885-1937) and Lula Gadsey Blake (1887-1948), both born and raised in Cleburne Co., Ala., both buried at Hillcrest Cemetery in East Point.

(2) John Allen McWhorter (1882-1938) and Sarah Jane Payne (1888-1952), both born and raised in Carroll Co., both buried in the College Park Cemetery near the airport.

My great-grandparents are:

(1) William Jethro Fowler (1849-1919) and Lucinda Caroline (Lula) Owens (1847-1886). William was born in Gwinnett Co., met Lula in Campbell Co. (she was born in Meriwether), married in Meriwether Co., and died in Cleburne Co., Ala. Both are buried in Ranburne.

(2) Isaac Blake (1850-1911) and Mattie Dorman (1859-1942), both buried in the Blake cemetery near Ranburne. Mattie’s folks were from Chambers Co., Ala. Isaac was born in the part of Randolph Co. that became Cleburne.

(3) William Leroy McWhorter (1857-1900) and Eliza J. Wren (1859-1894?), both of Carroll Co. Eliza’s folks were from Heard. William is buried in Cullman Co., Ala.

(4) Joseph Joshua Payne (1854-1891) and Louisa Elizabeth Boyd (1858-1950), both of Carroll Co. Both are buried at Powell’s Chapel UMC Cemetery near Villa Rica.

My great-great-grandparents are:

(1) John Fowler (abt. 1826-abt 1877), born and raised in Gwinnett, buried at Shadnor in Union City, and Sarah Ann Norris (1828-1896), born and raised in Gwinnett, buried in Ranburne.

(2) Martin Owens (abt. 1800-1852), of Upson and Meriwether, and Martha Kennedy/Kanady (abt 1808-aft. 1860) of Upson, Meriwether and Fayette (lost her there).

(3) Thomas Blake (1800-1880) of Jackson, Hall, Carroll (Ga.), Randolph and Cleburne (Ala.), and Delaney Young (1807-1895) of Hall (Ga.) Randolph, and Cleburne (Ala.), both buried in Blake cemetery.

(4) Allen Dorman (1835-1908) of Chambers, Randolph and Blount (Ala.) and Aurilla Vickers (1836-1915) of Troup and Heard (Ga.) and Blount (Ala.), both buried in Marshall (Ala.)

(5) Moses Allen McWhorter (1820-1902) of S.C. and Carroll Co. and Sarah Kinney (1830-1915) of Habersham and Carroll, both buried at Powell’s Chapel.

(6) William H. Wren (1835-1895) of N.C., Heard and Carroll (Ga.) and Cullman (Ala.) and Martha Wilson (1836-1923) of Heard and Carroll.

(7) William Jasper Payne (1832-1862) of Monroe (Tenn.) and Carroll (Ga.), buried in Richmond, Va., and Mary Ann Woods (1833-1898) also of Monroe and Carroll.

(8) Robert B. Boyd (1827-1894) of Newberry, S.C., Meriwether and Carroll (Ga.) and Sarah Ann LeGuin (1825-1889) of Meriwether and Carroll, both buried at Powell’s Chapel.

So there you have it ... a four-generation pedigree with all my ancestors. I might mention that at least two more generations behind many of these folks also were in Georgia, so we were here early on.

Those of you with Georgia ancestors, particularly those on the south side of Atlanta, might want to share your pedigrees with us too. Who knows? Your neighbor might be your long-lost cousin.

I 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!