Posts Tagged ‘Wythe County Virginia’

Motivation Monday ~ On The Hunt

Posted: July 29, 2012 in Ancestry, Family, Genealogy, research
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brick wall

brick wall (Photo credit: Muffet)

Most days, I stay motivated by working with other family researchers, who just so happen to be my own family! Family I never knew I had until recently. They have become my rock so to speak. They know what hard work it can be to try and track down our ancestors. The thirst for knowledge we have about our family’s past. The ache of not knowing where one family members’ life may take us. It could be down an old, beaten path or it could be down a road less traveled. So much so that we have to cut our way through and make the path passable. At the end of the day, a genealogist or family historian still has names, dates, agendas, to-do lists, research plans and logs, documents to find, dusty attics to search through– all this and much more goes running through our minds at any given time. Most of the time I suffer from insomnia and find myself wide awake at different hours of the night, or should I say early morning? It seems like my best writing ideas comes to me at 3 a.m.! I guess it’s my quiet time with no interruptions or anything else that would distract my thought process. It’s just me, my cup of coffee which is flavored with my favorite hazelnut creamer, my laptop, and my thoughts!

I have even found myself dreaming of what I needed to do regarding my genealogy research. I recently had a dream of ancestors and antique shops, where I found something from the 1700’s that had their name and date of birth written on it. It was a simple Christmas ornament, but the shop keeper wanted an arm and a leg for it and it was way out of my price range. ($7500 to be exact) What do you think triggered this dream? It had to be the email I sent to this antique shop in Virginia just a few days ago! If I were to interpret the dream, I would say that I am feeling out of touch, feeling that my ancestors are just out of my reach. So close but yet so far! I can dream up some really strange dreams, but this one I actually remembered in vivid detail for some odd reason.

Today, I feel like I need more motivation to keep up with all the block walls that I seem to be running into blindly. If you can just picture this: a woman running along a winding road, the wind blowing through her hair and the sun shining down on her. All of a sudden she collides into a brick and mortar wall, her face slamming right into it, as it just appeared out of nowhere. She’s stunned. She looks around to see if anyone saw her. Oh, how embarrassed she would be! Mortified to say the least 🙂

In my most recent search for my fathers documents, I didn’t know the city or county he was born in until Sunday afternoon. I received an email from my aunt, telling me that my father was born in Wythe County, Crockett, Virginia. He wasn’t born in a hospital, but born at home. Even though all that is good to know, I need concrete evidence so I am able to move further back into my family tree, nourishing those roots with some good old TLC and begin my thorough research on my grandfather. One of my goals is to become a member of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) through one of my patriot family members. But to do this, I need all the documents that I can get my hands on. With any luck, I will accomplish this goal! For those of you who don’t know me personally, I am determined, strong willed and stubborn like my father. I admit I am sometimes too patient but at the same time, I can also have a mean temper. Just ask my husband he’ll tell you what it’s like! 🙂

 

What’s The Deal, Lemon Peel?

Posted: July 9, 2011 in Alexander Sutherland, British Army, Dunrobin Castle, Highland Clearances of Scotland, Jane Barbour, Lineage, Margaret Bryan, missing links, surnames
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Searching high. Searching low. I’ve been researching Alexander Sutherland for some time now; I can’t seem to get the man out of my head. I have been scouring the internet for anything to do with the Sutherland surname. Alexander would be my 4th great grandfather who was born June 3,1743 in Sutherland, Caithness, Scotland, and died in the year 1843 in Grayson County, Virginia. I know that he married Margaret Elizabeth Bryan, who was from Culpepper, Virginia sometime in the year of 1784. I’m not sure of the exact date, but I do know it was supposedly during that year. Alexander’s father was Samuel J. Sutherland born 1717 in Scotland and his mother was Jane Barbour born 1719, also in Scotland.


I have heard a few different stories as to how he came to the United States. While in Scotland he served in the British Army. One side of the story tells us that he switched sides and fought for the Revolutionary forces, and another story says that he deserted the British Army, (or even right after the war) to settle in the rugged mountains of Virginia. In my own opinion, I believe he and another man may have deserted and come through the lines of the American Revolutionary soldiers and ended up coming to the mountains of Virginia by way of North Carolina, as the border was very near but were first in Wythe County, Virginia.Wythe County is where he would have met Margaret Elizabeth Bryan, his future wife. Margaret was the sister of a man that Alexander had befriended. Back then the mountains were considered a wilderness, untouched by the people as far as farming and settling this land. Later, Alexander married Margaret, whom the family called “Peggy” (Peggy Bryan). They may not have married in Culpepper, Virginia but in Wythe County. I just have to find proof if there is any.  


I imagine that I will have a pretty difficult time finding any legal documents because at that time during the war, many of the homes and even the courthouse itself, was in fact, burned to the ground. So any records they may have had, were destroyed. 


During the time that Alexander came to America, the Scotland Clearances were in full force; so Alexander inevitably felt that he should join the British Army and come to the states to escape the risk of starvation. The Clearances was the clearing of people from Scottish lands so that sheep could be raised instead. It sounds horrible to let your own people die of starvation in order to raise sheep. The clearances took place in the Highlands, which is where some of the Sutherland family comes from. Some from Caithness; but most others came from the coast to coast band across Scotland.


The Sutherland family actually had their own clan; the Sutherland’s were also intertwined with the Campbell’s, since the Countess of Sutherland married into the Campbell family. 
I recently received an email, name is private, sorry. But in this email, I was told that the Campbell’s are now very close to the Queen of England; and that the original Sutherland Duke was killed by his wife and her family- whose last name was Gordon and the Sutherland Castle is now Dunrobin. But Sinclair Castle, near Edinburgh, is where a lot of Sutherland information is now.


I will definitely be investigating the link between the Sutherland and Campbell families. It seems an interesting story as to how or even why the Sutherland Duke was killed by his own wife and her family. Were they the devious sort, marrying their daughter to a titled man and then killing him off so they could gain his property and the castle itself? Very interesting indeed!


Image Source: Lemons
Photo Credit: Photographer~ James and James