Happy Independence Day! July 3, 2013

My heritage has been my grounding,

and it has brought me peace.

~Maureen O'Hara

Happy Independence Day tomorrow!

July 4th is not only a day to celebrate the birth of our nation, it is also a time to celebrate our family heritage in America, a heritage that predates the United States. All four of my grandparents had ancestors who were around to witness the birth of our country in 1776. Here are just a few:

• Jane (McKnight) Shannon, born 1759 in Rockfish, Amherst, Virginia, was the GG grandmother of my grandmother Nola Shannon Gower. Jane was a young woman of 17 on Independence Day 1776.
• Matthew Gower, born 1762 in North Carolina, was the GGG grandfather of my grandpa Leroy Gower. Matthew was just 14 when our country was born.
• James Shepard, born in 1775 in Hagerstown, Maryland, was the GG grandfather of my granddad William Shepard. He was just a year old on the first Independence Day.
• Drusilla (Forrest) Davis, also born 1775, was from Anne Arundel County, Maryland (about 20 miles from DC) and was the GGG grandmother of my grandmother Bura Davis Shepard. She too was just a year old in 1776 and may have been able to see the first fireworks from Washington in the distance the night of that first July 4th. (Okay, she probably couldn't actually see them, but she was still pretty darn close!*) 

This is just a sampling of the many folks in our family tree who were around on Independence Day, 1776 when our nation was born. Our roots go very deep and are very broad in our country. In a few instances I can trace our descendants back much farther than 1776. For example, Jane McKnight (listed above), though born in 1769, was a 4th generation American, whose GG grandmother Jane Alexander McKnitt had immigrated to American from Ireland in the late 1600s. (Read more about her here and here.) Matthew Gower (also listed above) though born in in 1762, was a 5th generation American. His GG grandfather Abell Gower (the child of English immigrants) was born in Henrico (Richmond), Virginia in 1640 when American was little more than frontier wilderness. (Read more about him here and here.)

As you celebrate the holiday tomorrow, know that you are part of a long, long history of family members who not only looked back in gratitude to 1776. In some instances they anticipated Independence Day by several generations. Ours is truly an all-american family from way back.

Birthday wishes to Desiree! Happy Birthday this Saturday, July 6, to Desiree Ortiz of Blue Springs, Missouri. Desiree and husband Jeremy are the proud parents of 5 young children. Jeremy is one of the G Grandchildren of Will and Bura Davis Shepard.

Happy 11th Birthday this coming Sunday to Nathaniel Sauvage of Weatherford, Texas. Nate is the older brother of Kyle whose birthday was just 11 days ago. Best wishes to Nate for a wonderful birthday! The second picture shows Nate a few months ago with a medal he won at the end of his basketball season.

Elvira Owens Shepard (1865-1931). Two days ago, July 1, was the 148th anniversary of the birth of my G Grandmother Elvira Owens Shepard of Madison County, Illinois. Born in 1865 just as the Civil War was winding down, she and my great grandfather William Elmer Shepard were married in Madison County in 1886.

In about 1905 when their children Sadie and William were young, Elvira and husband William Elmer moved their family to Beaver County, Oklahoma. The second picture, taken in Beaver County in the early 1920s, shows a smiling Elvira with her daughter-in-law Bura Davis Shepard on the right.

William Elmer died in February 1915, just a few months before their son William Shepard and his bride Bura Davis (my grandparents) were married. Elvira outlived her husband by 16 years, and spent her last few years with second husband Cal Williams. She is buried in Sophia Cemetery in Beaver County.

G Grandmother Elvira Owens was originally from another all-american family, one rooted in Madison County, Illinois. Following the July 4 theme of this post, I can mention that her G Grandmother Sarah Rives Owens was born in 1769 in Bristol Parish, Prince George, Virginia. She was a young girl of just 7 years old on July 4, 1776.

*Footnote: For the sake of historical accuracy, I need to mention that there were almost certainly no fireworks in Washington or anywhere else, on July 4, 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was signed and our nation was born. The signing was not even in Washington, but in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Church bells rang out in Philly that day, but the work of independence had only begun with the signing of the Declaration. The real celebration would follow much later.
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Steve Shepard

18th and 21st Century Patriots, Nov 17

Genealogists never die.

They just lose their census.

Hello Family and Friends,

Greetings from Waialua, Hawaii, where the sun is warm, the surf is up, and the living is easy. We are having a great time on a family vacation with Nathan, Chenda and our littlest family member Preslea. See some vacation pictures here.

Last week in my post regarding Veteran's Day I mentioned Marmaduke Davis, who I have referred to in several previous blog entries, most recently on October 4. He is the oldest Davis ancestor that I know about. At least he was, until recently when some new data became available to me.

I Pledge Allegiance. One of Marmaduke's GGGGGGG grandchildren is Emma Wilk who can be seen in the first picture. In a green shirt with hand over her heart, Emma is attending a Patriotic observance that took place earlier this year. She and her mother Shannon Wilk live in Atchison, Kansas.

Cousin Jerry Davis (actually my second cousin, once removed) of Grand Prairie, Texas, mentioned to me a while back that he has visited the grave of Marmaduke Davis in the Methodist cemetery of St Clairsville, Ohio. He tells me the gravestone states that Marmaduke was a captain in a Virginia Regiment in the Revolutionary War.

One of Jerry's genealogical interests over the years has been to visit the graves of ancestors. He has tramped through numerous cemeteries in Indiana, Ohio, Maryland and the Virginias, gleaning information that cannot be discovered any other way. I am indebted to him for the invaluable information he passed on to me regarding Marmaduke. This info spurred me to search more diligently for our ancestor with the cartoon dog name. (At least in this 21st century it is a cartoon dog's name. In the 18th century it was a name every bit as honorable as George or Thomas or Benjamin.)

A Soldier and Patriot. And Tailor. As a result of my efforts I came across "The Official Roster of the Soldiers of the American Revolution Buried in the State of Ohio." On page 103 of that roster one can find Marmaduke S. Davies. ("Davies" is the old spelling of the name Davis.) It says Marmaduke is buried in the Methodist Cemetery in St Clairsville, Ohio, and was "A Soldier and Patriot of the Revolution". Further, it says he served in 1781-82 in the 4th Virginia Regiment, and again in 1790-93 in Ohio under General Wayne. In addition it mentions that he had been trained as a tailor, and after his military service resumed that occupation.

This record also lists his parents, "John and Jane (Underwood) Davies", but no other information about them. The roster also refers to Marmaduke's first wife Drusilla Forest, and his second wife Eleanor Wilson, who he married Jan. 30, 1816.

As with all family research, the hunt continues for other information about Marmaduke and his ancestors and their connection to us.

The second picture from 1975 shows some other descendants of Marmaduke: Bura Davis Shepard on the right, and her daughter Pauline Shepard Russell on the left. Also in this picture, upper left, is my father Eugene Shepard.

300 Years of Marmaduke's Kin. Here then is an 11 generation lineage beginning with Marmaduke's parents and continuing to young Emma Wilk, who is pictured above.

John Davies, b. early 1700s (married Jane Underwood)

Marmaduke Davies/Davis, 1760-1855 (married Drusilla Forest)

George Davis, 1779-1843 (married Rozilla)

Alexander Davis, 1819-1866 (married Jane Buskirk)

Charles Edward Davis, 1849-1926 (married Melinda Wright)

James Brooks Davis, 1870-1928 (married Caroline Spear)

Bura Davis, 1896-1986 (married William Shepard)

Pauline Shepard, 1916-2000 (married Willie Davis Russell)

Beverly Russell, 1939-1974 (married Phillip Wilk)

Shannon Wilk, b. 1973

Emma Beverly Jean Wilk, b. 2005

2011 Family Reunion. We are still searching for the best date and place for a family reunion in the summer of 2011, perhaps sometime in July or August, possibly in Washington. Any thoughts or suggestions?
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Steve