Ancestry

[popeyespappy]

I have an aunt who has kept good records. I need to spend a day with her.

If you are interested in this kind of stuff you should probably spend a lot more than a day with her. A couple of years ago my mom's youngest aunt died. She had been the last surviving family member from her generation. When she passed knowledge of people and events that no one else knew was lost forever.

As for me I have a good bit of that Cherokee-Irish on mom's side of the family. Her family comes from the Southeast Tennessee, Southwest North Carolina and Northern Georgia area that was and still is home to some of the Cherokee. Her mother was born in a dirt floored log cabin on Hanging Dog Creek outside of Murphey, NC. The other side of the creek was and still is part of the Qualla Cherokee lands. Another interesting bit of history about that piece of dirt is that one of the last battles east of the Mississippi River related to the civil war was fought there well after the Confederate States had surrendered.

On dad's side of the family on of my distant cousins spent many years researching our family. He traced our roots back to 13th century Germany, and published a couple of 1200 page plus genealogy books on the subject.