Did You Know #45

While driving through East Tennessee I noticed a sign pointing out the Cordell Hull Dam on the Cumberland River and the Cordell Hull Lake which the building of the dam created. Knowing that my Great-Great Grandmother was Rebecca Hull, I naturally wondered just who Cordell Hull was and if they were related.

As for the first question, Cordell Hull (1871-1955) was a Spanish-American War veteran who represented Tennessee in the United States Congress, but is best known as serving F.D.R. as Secretary of State for 11 years (which means that he held that post longer than anyone else in American History). He was also received Nobel Peace Prize in 1945 and was recognized by his boss as the "Father of the United Nations" (which was established under his leadership). Hull was born in a log cabin but grew up to become a lawyer and political leader on a national scale.

On his mother's side he was descended from Isaac Riley, a Revolutionary War veteran who, for his service, was given 200 acres of Tennessee land this family holds the "distinction of the most documented ancestors to have fought in the Revolutionary War" by the Daughters of the American Revolution.* You can catch Cordell Hull being portrayed by actor George Macready in Tora! Tora! Tora! and by Charles Trowbridge in the film Sergeant York.

Regarding the second question, Cordell Hull and our Great-Great Grandmother Rebecca Hull (wife of William Bragg) were 8th cousins, making Dad and Cordell Hull 8th cousins three times removed.

Thomas Hull b.1547
Joseph Hull b.1594	George Hull b.1590
Samuel Hull b.1645	Lieutenant Cornelius Hull b.1628
Samuel Hull b.1678	Cornelius Hull b.1655
Samuel Hull b.1703	Nathaniel Hull b.1694
William Hull	Nathaniel Hull b.1726
Jesse Hull	Ezekiel Hull b.1765
Allen Brock Hull b.1811	Platt Hull b.1787
William Pascal Hull b.1841	Ezekiel Hull b.1813
Cordell Hull b.1871	Rebecca L. Hull b.1841
	Frank Martin Bragg b.1867
	Orval Bishop Bragg b.1895
	Don Cicero Bragg b.1920

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hull,_Cordell

Just a Note of Interest (April 6, 2022)

According to the website wikitree, an excellent genealogy site, we are more closely related (by marriage) to Cordell Hull on Mom's side of the family. 

Samuel Peters (abt. 1753 - 1808) married Mary Taylor (abt. 1760 - 1813)
Zachariah Peters (1780 - 1864)	Hannah (Peters) McCart (1783 - 1854)
James M. Peters (1820 - 1897)	Rachel (McCart) Peters (1805 – 1889)
Margaret N. Peters (1851 - 1901)	Hannah D. Peters (1828 - 1907)
Zachariaous I. Standerfer (1871 - 1936)	Frances (Davidson) Hull (1847 - 1873)**
Mercedes (Standerfer) Ethington (1892 – 1955)
Mary Jean (Ethington) Bragg

 **Wife of Nathaniel Riley Hull (1843 - 1923) brother of William Pascal Hull (1840 - 1923),

who was the father of  Cordell Hull (1871 - 1955)

Merry Christmas

It is hard to believe that 2012 is nearly history. Thank you for all those who have visited these pages and for the discussions they have generated.

To all my family and friends, I wish a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years!!! Have a safe and joyous holiday season.

Did You Know #44

I have recently completed Lisa Alther's book entitled Blood Feud: The Hatfields and the McCoys: The Epic Story of Murder and Vengeance. While the feud may have arisen from lingering animosity from the Civil War, or allegations by Randolph McCoy of a Hatfield relative, Floyd Hatfield, having stolen one of his pigs, there is no denial that the violence that stretched across these two families from 1865 to 1891 has made this the ultimate family feud.

The first official casualty of the Hatfield/McCoy feud was Harmon McCoy on January 7, 1865, recently returned from Union's service in the Civil War. Harmon's brother, Randolph (Ranel) and later Harmon's children would seek vengeance from the Hatfields since it was widely held that Jim Vance, and uncle to the Hatfield clan, was responsible for this murder. Eventually three of Ranel's sons, Bud, Tolbert, and Pharmer McCoy would murder Ellison Hatfield, younger brother of Devil Anse Hatfield (who orchestrated the Hatfield side of the feud). The three McCoy boys were captured by the Hatfields and, following Ellison's death, would be tied to trees and executed by the Hatfields on August 9, 1882.

William Anderson (Devil Anse) Hatfield	Randolph (Ranel) McCoy

A 1888 New Year's Day raid by the West Virginia Hatfields against Ranel McCoy's Kentucky cabin would result in the death of two more of Ranel's children, Alifair and Calvin. Ellison Hatfield's illegitimate son, Ellison Mounts, would hang for the murders of Alifair McCoy on February 18, 1890 with the feud drawing to a close in 1891.

This is just a general outline of a very interesting story. But it did leave me wondering if, and how, these tragic events may have impacted our distant family relatives. After doing some digging I wanted to introduce you to the family of David and Mary Bragg. David was born about 1834 in Virginia, the son of David and Susannah Martin Bragg. Mary Meadows is thought to have been born in Virginia (also around 1834). The couple married on April 28, 1852 and this union would bring about at least five children. Sometime prior August 1882 the family seems to have moved into the feud area because on the 9th of that month (the day that the three McCoy brothers were murdered) their daughter, Sara Bragg, was married to Sanford Hatfield, a first cousin of Devil Anse. Sanford and Sara would produce nine children.

Another of David and Mary's children, however, was Francis G. Bragg (born in Virginia in 1853). Frank would marry his first wife about 1870, and would be blessed with seven children. He would also have seven additional children with his second wife (whom he married on June 15, 1889). Her name was Mary Polly McCoy, you guessed it, she was the first cousin of Ranel McCoy.

One of Frank and Mary Polly's children, Elzie Bragg, would also marry a Guy McCoy (he was born in 1900, almost a decade after the feud officially came to an end). Guy McCoy was also a first cousin (2 times removed) of Ranel McCoy.

A third child of David and Mary Polly Bragg, Mary Susan Bragg, also had three children (apparently out of wedlock as each child bears the Bragg name but Mary Susan had no known husband). Her oldest son, Julius O. Bragg, was born in April 1879. He would grow up to marry, on November 4, 1897, Mary E. Hatfield. Mary was the granddaughter of "Preacher" Anse Hatfield (a local Justice of the Peace widely respected for his honesty and clear sense of justice), the first cousin of "Devil" Anse, making her the second cousin of the latter of the two Devil Anse Hatfield (late in his life Devil Anse was baptized into Christ and became a member of the Church of Christ).

The following table illustrates the intermarriage of David and Mary Bragg's family with both primary agitators of the Hatfield and the McCoy families:

David and Mary Bragg's Children	Their Spouses
Sara Bragg	Sanford Hatfield, first cousin of Devil Anse Hatfield
Francis G. Bragg	Mary Polly McCoy, first cousin of Ranel McCoy
David and Mary Bragg's Grandchildren	Their Spouses
Elzie Bragg	Guy McCoy, first cousin (2 times removed) of Ranel McCoy
Julius O. Bragg	Mary E. Hatfield, first cousin of Devil Anse Hatfield

So, how is David Bragg, the father of Frank, Sara and Mary Susan, and the grandfather of Elzie and Julius Bragg, related to our Bragg family? David and our Dad are third cousins three times removed. The following chart illustrates the connection.

Joseph B. Bragg
Joseph B. Bragg (b.1719)	John Bragg Sr.(b.1733)
Joseph B. Bragg (b.1756)	Richard Bragg (b.1762)
David Bragg ( b.1803)	Hugh Lewis Bragg (b.1795)
David Bragg ( b.1833)	William Bragg (b.1834)
	Frank Martin Bragg (b.1867)
	Orval Bishop Bragg (b.1895)
	Don Cicero Bragg (b.1920)

Sources:
Altered Dimensions
Blueridge Country

Did You Know #43

Wyatt Earp

When it comes to names synonymous with the "wild west," few are more familiar than Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp. He is best known for his participation in the gunfight at the O. K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona Territory on October 26, 1881. Wyatt and two of his brothers, Virgil and Morgan, along with Wyatt's friend, Doc Holliday, confronted the Clanton brothers (Ike and Billy) and the McLaury brothers (Tom and Frank). The Earps and Doc Holliday won that gunfight, but as a result of that conflict Virgil would be severely wounded in a nighttime ambush and Morgan would be assassinated. This was then followed by a manhunt that would conclude with Earp's running down those who he felt were responsible for the attacks on Virgil and Morgan.

Wyatt wore many "hats" in his life: buffalo hunter, law man, gambler, boxing referee, etc. However, his image and life story has been the subject of many books, movies and television shows. But did you know that Wyatt and his brothers were Dad's great-great grandfather's 15th cousins?  Here is how the connection is made:

Richard Fitzalan and Elizabeth Bohn
Elizabeth Fitzalan (Duchess Of Norfolk) b.1366	Joan D'Arundel Fitzalan b.1374
Elizabeth Goushill b.1402	Joan De Beauchamp b.1400
Henry Wingfield b.1434	James Butler (Earl of Ormond) b.1420
Robert Wingfield b.1490	Peter (Piers) Butler (Earl of Ormond) b.1475
Robert Wingfield b.1523	Thomas Butler b.1500
Dorothy Wingfield b.1565	Agnes Butler b.1520
John Claypoole b.1595	Edmund Sherman  b.1548
John Claypoole	Edmund Sherman b.1572
Ann Claypoole b.1652	Esther (or Hester) Sherman b.1606
William Budd b.1679	Esther Ward b.1623
Mary Budd	Daniel Burr b.1660
William H. Earp b.1729	Elizabeth Burr b.1696
Phillip Earp b.1755	Nathaniel Hull b.1726
Walter Earp b.1787	Ezekiel Hull b.1765
Nicholas Porter Earp b.1813	Platt Hull b.1787
Wyatt Earp	Ezekiel Hull b.1813
	Rebecca L. Hull b.1841
	Frank Martin Bragg b.1867
	Orval Bishop Bragg b.1895
	DAD b.1920

Master's Degree in Music

Congratulations to Kari Bragg upon receiving her Master's Degree in Music from the University of Central Missouri on May 4, 2012. In August she will return to the classroom teaching music and choral directing at the middle school, and as assistant band director at the high school in the Knob Noster, MO School District.

In addition to receiving her degree, Kari was also selected to sing the school's alma mater at the graduation ceremony.

Kari will be married to Jonathan Adams, originally from Iowa but currently serving in the U.S. Air Force reserve at Whiteman Air Force Base near Warrensburg, MO, is also a student at the University of Central Missouri pursuing a bachelor's degree as a professional pilot. The couple will be married at Smart Road Church of Christ in Lee's Summit, MO on July 21st.

Did You Know #42

He was the last U. S. President to be born in a log cabin. He was assassinated. He was a professor, a Civil War general, a congressman from Ohio (for 18 years), and he was a preacher. And, he is Dad's 14th cousin (3 times removed).

James A. Garfield was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, on November 19, 1831. He was elected the 20th U. S. President in 1880, but he would never complete his first term. Garfield's life would be cut short by an assassin's bullets. "On July 2, 1881, in a Washington railroad station, an embittered attorney who had sought a consular post shot the President." [1]

Over the coming weeks President Garfield languished in the White House as frustrated doctors searched and searched for the bullet lodged in his body. Famous inventor Alexander Graham Bell put together a metal detector in a fruitless attempt to locate that bullet. [2] However, the probing of unwashed fingers and instruments caused Garfield to develop infections and ultimately his death on September 19, 1881. [3]

So how exactly is the relationship of our Bragg family and President Garfield? The table below illustrates that connection:

Edward Tyrrell and Anne Pashley [4]
Philippa , Heir Tyrrell b.1425	Anne Tyrrell b.1432
Sir William Cornwallis b.1460	Jacquet St. Leger b.1466
Sir John Cornwallis b.1485	Elizabeth Fortescue b.1503
Margaret (Mary) Cornwallis b.1506	John Hare b.1526
John , of Nayland Warren b.1525	Elizabeth Hare b.1555
John Warren b.1552	Richard Ward b.1575
John Warren b.1585	Gov. Andrew Ward 4 b.1597
Mary Warren b.1624	Esther Ward b.1623
Samuel Bigelow b.1653	Daniel Burr b.1660
Martha Mercy Bigelow b.1686	Elizabeth Burr b.1696
Thomas Garfield, Jr. b.1713	Nathaniel Hull b.1726
Solomon Garfield b.1743	Ezekiel Hull b.1765
Thomas Garfield2 b.1773	Platt Hull b.1787
Abraham Garfield b.1799	Ezekiel Hull b.1813
James Abram Garfield b.1831	Rebecca L. Hull b.1841
	Frank Martin Bragg b.1867
	Orval Bishop Bragg b.1895
	Don Cicero Bragg b.1920

Notes:

[1]  The White House [http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/jamesgarfield]

[2] Rick Beyer, The Greatest Presidential Stories Never Told, Collins, New York, 2007, 100.

[3]  Rick Beyer, The Greatest Presidential Stories Never Told, Collins, New York, 2007, 101, in fact, assassin Charles "Guiteau used their incompetence as the centerpiece of his defense, saying he didn’t kill Garfield; “The doctors did that.  I simply shot at him.”"

[4]  The PEDIGREE of Anne PASHLEY [http://fabpedigree.com/s055/f082755.htm] suggests that Anne Pashley was possibly direct ancestor of Prince Charles (15th Great-grandmother), his late ex-wife, Lady Diana (15th Great-grandmother), and Winston Churchill (14th Great-grandmother).

Welcome to the World!!!

Congratulations to Nathan and Carissa Bragg on the birth of their son, Aaron David, on Friday, July 15, 2011. Aaron was born at 11:24 PM (EST) at Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem, NC. He arrived just 36 minutes before his mother's birthday. But what a wonderful birthday present he was when his mother first held him in her arms just one minute after midnight.

Aaron weighed in at 7 pounds, 12 ounces and was 20 3/4 inches long. Baby, Mother, and Father are all doing well.

Aaron is the grandson of Dave and Ann Bragg (of Cape Girardeau, MO), nephew of Kari Bragg (of Warrensbrug, MO), and great-grandson of Don and Mary Bragg (of Sullivan, IL).