How Tidbits of Genealogical Information Create the Real Story

By Jeannette Holland Austin

As genealogists, we are forever excerpting information from the records which relates to our ancestors in a small way. In other words, we copy the documents and names of witnesses. It seems like everywhere that we look, there are neighbors and friends. It is not unusual to see the same person witnessing a number of situations for the family. When this occurs, we should take pause to recall the other situations which this person witnessed and to learn more. The possibility of this person having married one of the daughters is pretty strong. And, it is easy to find out by searching the marriage records of that county or other counties where the family also resided. Also, we should be deligent In researching all of the wills and estates in the county (during the lifetime of the our ancestor)! That means reading all of the wills, etc. If you cannot do that, then search (the wills and estates) for all the tidbit witnesses found on various documents, especially in deeds and wills. This sort of research will help to assemble more family group sheets of family members and fill in the gaps, which is what every genealogist should do to assure that they are on the right track!

Answers to our Genealogy Lie in the Wait

As genealogists, we quickly gather names, dates and places. But do we really understand the personal struggles of our ancestors during their presence upon the earth? For one, past generations were swamped with problems of immigration and the voyage to America. They all came for various reasons. Learning these reasons is an excellent beginning for the genealogist as it provides some interesting clues. Do we not ever-watch and observe our contemporaries to learn their route to wealth and happiness? How much more rewarding is it, then, when we learn of the history and struggles of our very own families? Sometimes we are overwhelmed. Yet never should we forget that our ancestors walked the long rutted road before us. The knowledge of how so great a task of immigrating and fighting in the War for Independence was accomplished is invaluable. It opens up a vast arena of history never before published, and unfolds like an ornate fan as new names are added.

Fort Oglethorpe

The 6th Cavalry occupied Fort Oglethorpe during World War I and it was the home of some 4,000 German Prisoners of War. It served as an induction and processing center during World War I and II Also it was a training center for the Women's Army Corps during World War II. Fort Hollingsworth Ft. Defiance and Camp Hope on the Georgia Frontier

The General Locomotive Chase Monument

The Andrews Raid of April 12, 1862 delivered the first Union soldiers into north Georgia and led to an exciting locomotive chase which lasted seven hours and included about two dozen men. It actually began during the spring of 1862 as the Northern forces advanced on Huntsville, Alabama, heading for Chattanooga, Tennessee when a civilian spy by the name of James J. Andrews led a Union raiding party behind Confederate lines to Atlanta. The force stole a locomotive and racing northward, destroyed track, telegraphy lines and bridges toward Chattanooga, Tennessee. The exciting event become known as the Andrews Raid. They intended to knock out the Western and Atlantic Railroad which supplied Confederate forces at Chattanooga. The twenty-two volunteers were taken from three Ohio infantry regiments and wore plain clothes as they slipped through the lines to Chattanooga and entrained to Marietta. Two of the men overslept on the morning of April 12th as the Andrews party boarded the northbound train and traveled eight miles to Big Shanty (Kennesaw). While crew and passengers ate breakfast, the raiders uncoupled most of the cars. At about 6 a.m. they steamed out of Big Shanty aboard the locomotive General, a tender, and three empty boxcars. Three railroad men noted the action and began their pursuit, eventually overtaking a platform car. Meanwhile, the Andrews raiders steamed out of the Big Shanty depot aboard the locomotive the General. For the next seven hours and 88 miles, Anthony Murphy and William Fuller persisted in their chase, first suspecting the train thieves to be Confederate deserters. Andrew's men cut the telegraph lines and pried up rails. Murphy and Fuller switched locomotives and picked up more men to keep up the chase. When the train theirves reached the Oostanaula River near Resac, that attempted to burn the bridge, but the pursuers were too close behind and could only take on only a little water and wood. At about 1 p.m. it ran out of steam two miles north of Ringgold, as the Southerners aboard the Texas, caught up. All of the raiders were rounded up, but only eight (Andrews included) were tried as spies and executed in Atlanta. The rest either escaped or were exchanged. Nonetheless, the Union train thieves in the Andrews Raid were hailed in the North as heroes, receiving the Medal of Honor. Today, a monument marks the site of the final stop of the Locomotive Chase, approximately one mile north of the Ringgold Depot on the former Western and Atlantic Rail Line.