Finding Your Folks: Byrams, Tidwells, Brocks, Lees, Todds and Hammetts

I received sort of an odd lot of responses from last week’s column, as you can see by the title above. And, since I have already started on the Byrams, I would like to continue their story in future columns. Many of them remained and are buried in Coweta County. Others headed for Carroll County and points west ... very west!

Gloria Yarbrough of Sharpsburg said she found last week’s column interesting and picked up on the name “Brock” in the estate settlement of John Byram.

Gloria writes:

“ ... I noticed something at the last column about Campbell County and Allen Brock. I don’t know of him but there is an old Brock Plantation home, the back of which can be seen from the store at the intersection of Palmetto-Cascade (Ga. Hwy. 154) and (Hwy.) 92 on the northwest side of the intersection. The house fronts on an old dirt road that winds by a home on the river and dirt river road that used to belong to my aunt, Sarah Hammett Lee and her husband W.H. Lee Sr. There are old churches and cemeteries up there and probably family burial plots, I would guess.

“You may not need this info now but might use it later. The articles catch my eye. I scan them looking for descendants of Samuel and Elizabeth Todd and also H.N. and Sabra Ellen Wingo Hammett. These are my great grandparents on my mama’s side.

“I will send more later. Sincerely, Gloria Yarbrough.”

Gloria, I appreciate the information on the Brock Plantation. John Byram’s sister, Amy, married John R. Brock, probably a member of Allen’s family. Mary Tidwell Byram’s half brother, Benjamin Jones Tidwell (son of Benjamin Tidwell and Martha Moody), ended up in Douglas County and that’s only a short hop from the area you described.

I would be happy to include your ancestors in a future column if you’ll give me a little more information. As you know, I don’t do your research, but I can pass on what research you’ve done in hopes that someone out there may have your answers.

Your mention of the Lees caught my eye since one of my dear friends had told me that her stepfather’s parents were buried at Campbellton Baptist near the 92/154 intersection. Her stepfather was Wiley Lee. I e-mailed her immediately and she said she thought Wiley’s father, Oliver Lee, and your W.H. Lee were brothers. (This world is getting smaller and smaller.) Her name is Jackie Lee Porter and we have been friends for more than 50 years. I never dreamed that one day I would be writing about her ancestors.

Send me what you have on the Todds and the Hammetts, we’ll do a story on them, and maybe someone out there will have the information you need. Thank you so much for writing.

I also received an e-mail from Cynthia Archer, a descendant of Upton W. Byram, an older brother of John F. Byram of last week’s column. Cynthia writes:

“After reading your genealogy articles for many years, I finally read an article with a family connection!

“I would really love to hear more about the family of John F. Byram.

“My great-great-grandmother was Sarah J. Byram. Her father was Upton Williamson Byram, which, according to some family trees on Ancestry.com, is John F. Byram's brother.

“Sarah J Byram's husband was James H. Archer of Carrollton. Many of the Archers living in Coweta County now have a connection to the Archer family that lived in Carroll County.

“You mentioned other articles about the Byram and the Tidwell family. When did those articles appear? I would love to read those as well.

“Sincerely, Cynthia Archer”

Cynthia, all the columns I have ever done are on the Web site. The columns go back to last October and include all those I did on the Tidwells. We brought in the Byrams within the last few weeks. Older columns are accessible through a special link.

I’m looking forward to doing stories about the Byram family, starting with a puzzler that I think I may have just solved. It concerns Nancy Camilla (Camilly in the marriage record) Byram and John Tidwell whose 1832 marriage record appears twice in (Coweta) Marriage Book A at the courthouse. In one, her name is spelled “Birom” and in the other “Briam.” I believe the John Tidwell is the same John J. Tidwell who was son of William Tidwell and Mary Amelia Jones. John married a second time in 1838 to Martha Westmoreland.

I believe this is much the same scenario as that of the Benjamin Tidwell and Nancy Boyd/Martha Moody marriage, where the young wife dies after just a few years of marriage, the timing is in between censuses and it’s hard to tell if she ever even existed. I believe Nancy was the daughter of James and Hannah Byram and the sister of last week’s John. Fortunately, we do have a clue.

In the will of James Byram, written in 1857, there is mention of a grandson named James Tidwell. We all know that James Byram’s daughter, Hannah, married Benjamin Tidwell, son of Benjamin Tidwell and Milly Grimes. James Byram (deceased) provides a portion of his estate to his daughter Hannah Tidwell who also had a son named James Tidwell.

Did James single out Hannah’s son for a special gift? I don’t think so. I think the James Tidwell named in the will was the son of James Byram’s deceased daughter, Nancy Camilla Byram Tidwell.

Chew on that until next week.

Stories about your ancestors who lived in the south metro Atlanta area are most welcome. Send them to The Citizen, P.O. Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214, or e-mail jkilgore@thecitizen.com or JodieK444@aol.com.

Until next week, happy hunting!