Thomas Gilley, Jr.

Last week I was looking in Google Books for anything I could find about my family. I looked up Jowers first, as I usually do, and ended up with nothing, as I usually do. Then I tried Gilley. Jackpot! I found several things about Thomas Gilley, Jr.

Thomas Gilley, Jr. is my great-grandfather, the father of my grandmother, Annie Gilley Jowers. He seems to have been an interesting person. In Aunt Nita and Uncle Henry's research, I found he owned a lumber business with his brother, Jere (Jeremiah). He was the Superintendent of Education for Dale County, AL in the 1890's (according to a piece of stationery). I haven't found the exact years yet. There's also a story in my family that he was a doctor. My cousin, Edgar, said he'd heard that TG, Jr. was an optometrist. He was also an ordained minister in the Church of Christ at Goodwater in Dale County, AL.

That brings me back to my Google Books search. I found several interesting pieces of information about Thomas Gilley, Jr.  At the meeting of the Medical Association of Alabama in 1894 it was recorded in the section of the county medical associations reports:  "Examinations -- for the study of medicine, John A. Steed and Thomas Gilley; Gilley was rejected."

Thomas Gilley, Jr. was about 36 years old at the time, and Annie Gilley was about 2 years old.

Then, in the Journal of the House of Representatives, State of Alabama, 1896-97, on the 39th day of the session, Thursday, February 4, 1897, I found this:

Introduction of Bills.

"On a call of the counties, bills were introduced, severally read one time, and referred to appropriate committees, as follows:
By Mr. Killebrew -- [W. B. Killebrew, representative of Dale County]
H. 1129.   To authorize and empower Dr. Thos. Gilley, Jr., to practice physic within a radius of ten miles of Wicksburg, and to make charges for service and collect the same."

I couldn't locate within the book (journal), what happened to this bill. I'm not sure why he was referred to as Dr. Thos. Gilley, Jr. I'll be looking into both issues at a later time to see if I can find some answers.

I wanted to put copies of the actual pages here, but I don't know how at this time. It's SO exciting to me to see our family's ancestors' names in documents.

Jane's Treasures

When I was in Tallahassee last July, the husband of my cousin, Jane, came to show me where my aunt and uncle were buried. We chatted about genealogy and he mentioned he had a box of genealogy information and research that my aunt and uncle had done. When Jane came to visit me at my hotel, she brought the box with her. It was full of treasures - 2 unidentified tintypes of family members, pages from our great-grandfather Gilley's Bible, research, and more. She let me bring the box home with me, and today I spent several hours today copying the things that were apropos for my research. Last month I scanned some things. What a treasure trove.

Quilt

The quilt in the photo where the blog name is was made by my grandmother, Annie Gilley Jowers. Aunt Era has it. It's a beautiful quilt and in very good shape. Aunt Era also has another of Grandmama's quilts which is also in good shape.

Names I'm Researching

Here are some of the surnames I'm researching:

Jowers, Gilley, Pritchett, Hicks, Colley, Mully (in the United States - mostly SE Alabama, Florida, and South Carolina)

Langdale, Kirkpatrick, Rampton, Denny, Bilton, Brown, Crooks, Lenny, Taylor, Blackstock (all in England - mostly London and Hertfordshire)

Kirkpatrick and Langdale (in Scotland 1700's and earlier)

First Post

Since I retired from teaching first graders two years ago, I finally had more time to put into genealogy research of my family and my husband's family. This blog will deal with my side of the house.

I actually started researching in the 1990's, dabbling here and there, but not on a consistent basis. I went to the Orange County Library from time to time and managed to find a little bit of information. I took a class or two in Winter Park, FL. My Aunt Nita and Uncle Henry shared some of their findings with me. My sister, Kathi, gave me a copy of pages from a Bible where someone had copied births and deaths in my daddy's family. My mother gave me a few names. Over the years I asked some questions and have since discovered not nearly enough.

So, being retired, I started taking genealogy classes at the local community college in Murphy, NC. What a blessing that has been! Beginning in the fall of 2009 and during subsequent semesters I've taken these classes: Beginning/Intermediate Genealogy; Genealogy on the Internet; Advanced Genealogy; Legacy (the computer program I use); and my current class Genealogy: Researching Your Family History on the Net (an updated version of my previous class - things change rapidly in the computer world). I've had the same instructor for all the classes . . . the very knowledgeable and experienced genealogist, Larry. In our first class this week, he encouraged us to blog about our genealogy. This is my attempt.

My purpose is to let my family know what I find out as I go on my treasure hunts and to share what I've already found out. Since I'm just beginning, this blog is starting out with a spare look, which I hope will change as I learn more about the mechanics of setting up and maintaining a blog.

So, here goes . . .