Terri Ballard

Terri,

Noticed you appear to be crafting your sources manually. (And that's perfectly fine!)

Popping in to mention that WikiTree Sourcer can create source and inline citations from Ancestry, FamilySearch, and a couple dozen other websites with a single click . That may represent a big time savings for you.

All the best,

Jeff

OhMyGoodness, Terri! Your information is close to mine. I'm descended from Solomon (Sol) Castleberry

Husband of Rebekah (Lovett) Castleberry — married 14 Jun 1806 in Warren, Georgiamap

Father of Mahala Sarah (Castleberry) Jeffreys, who was my grandmother's great-grandmother and family history and my studies (and a picture of her) is said to be Cherokee. I have a picture of her gravesite as well as her picture.

Among her descendants was James Hughs Dobbins who was married to Mary Elizabeth McGriff. I have a letter from ___ Dobbins who was looking for other descendants maybe 30+ years ago.

I have more info on the Castleberrys (sometimes spelled Castelberry) but it's late here in CA and I can't find the paperwork I did after my aunt Thelma Farnsworth handed over her (our) family tree to my mother. Thelma married a Mormon, so there are more or less meticulous records. I've traced the Castleberry name back to the (German?) Kastleberry but it's family lore (and I believe I may have proved it that Mahala Castleberry was full Cherokee, a source of great pride for me. I have another line of Cherokee from James Hughes Dobbins wife Mary McGriff (and a picture of their gravesite outside Carbon Hill, Alabama (Fayette County) when I travelled to follow up on research on my family tree on my way from San Francisco to Miami, FL and back.

Mary McGriff's mother Sarah Beasley was full Cherokee and the "second" wife (meaning her husband Thomas McGriff had a white wife at the same time as her) (sigh).

All the earlier ancestors were from Georgia and Alabama, having come down from the East Coast. Yes, my white ancestors married or took as "second" wives my (our?) Cherokee great-great-greats.

I see the tragic irony in that our "red" people were here, our white people came over (mainly from England and a bit from Ireland) looking for a home and a better life for their children. The tragedy is of course that our (my?) Cherokee side was forced from Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, etc. on the Trail of Tears. The major passion of my life has been finding a place that feels safe, a HOME.

I myself haven't had one until just very recently; I bought a house at age 63 eleven years ago and it JUST recently (June 26th?) became a home with the ouster of my abuser. I'm busy trying to make it a safe place for my ancestors because I welcome them here ("red" and "white"), my daughter and two amazing grand-children and eventually for my descendants. May it be so, as I am nearing 74 and I've learned I deserve to feel safe and to feel "at home."

Whether we are personally related or not, Terri, what caught my eye besides the names Rebecca Castleberry and "Dopson" is that my birth father was John Elisha BALLARD of Tanglewood, Texas. I didn't meet him until I was 21.

I have MUCH family history on the Ballards. I have two (half) brothers who were born Ballard after my sister Connie and I were born to our father's second wife, Sylvia (a Romani gypsy) he met while stationed in London after he and mama divorced. Sylvia remarried and the boys are Michael and Keith Turpin. I met them maybe 3 or 4 years ago; what an emotional meeting as our baby brother Rick and his wife, Maria del Campo Ballard were visiting from Houston.

I'm sure John E. Ballard was smiling broadly to see FOUR of his children together for the first time ever! Of course there are pictures!

My baby brother (he hates it when I say "half-brother" Rick Ballard (whose mother was from San Luis Potosi, Mexico) lives in Houston and he was born to our father after my own daughter was born. She's 52 now and her uncle is years younger. Johnnie Ballard, as he spelled it was a bluegrass guitar player, the leader of "The Dixie Ramblers" and they were the only American band that played an international music festival back in 1952 out of 83 countries represented at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England. Being a tall, lanky Texan and good looking by 1950's standards he told his band mates that he was going to shake the (very) young Queen's hand.

And he did! I have pictures of him on stage, photographed by the US Air Force of which he was a member. He said to my brother-in-law that he had perhaps 12 - 14 sons and I've met 5 of them. More stories to follow when I'm not exhausted.

I HOPE we are connected, one way or another: I've never made a connection here for my mother's side and I have TONS of family history on both my mom's and my "real" dad's side. My niece and brother-in-law are both amateur genealogists, so they may have additional info.

My mom was an early rock&roller who married a bluegrass musician so I am ... guess? A singer, songwriter. Find me on Facebook or YouTube by looking for Linda XYZ Band. I'm a total dork, but my band backs me up 100 %.

Thank goodness for the internet, right?

"Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" comes to mind right about now ...

Sending my love whether we are related or not,

Linda Xyz

(I've been legally "Linda Ann Ballard Anderson Feldman Skolnick Xyz Hoffman" ... yep, if you're keeping track: 3 Jewish husbands.

I like to say, "It's my cross to bear!!"

Hi Terri!

Congratulations on certifying to work on pre-1700 profiles! It’s very important to read and understand the Help:Pre-1700 Profiles page. These profiles for deep ancestors are shared by many, and collaborating on them works best if we all follow the guidelines in the certification quiz.

Primary sources should always be added to pre-1700 profiles at the time they are created. If you don't have a source for a pre-1700 profile, it would be best to ask for help in the G2G forum before creating the profile.

Staci ~ WikiTree Pre-1700 Greeter

Thank you for your note, Terri. Please forgive my assumption that you contributed to Agnes’s profile. Just saw your DNA info and thought you had since it was completely different from the last time I checked it and this time was correct info. I have a note book on Mullins with some info, a good part of which is the genealogy of John’s family. It’s sometimes hard to follow but is quite long. I would like to be more active in research now but since I am a very senior citizen am not able to do so. In the past I enjoyed going to NC, GA, VA, Eng., etc, to do research but all good things come to an end, as they say. There is a Fambrough Family Society which I belong to and their historian had made a life’s work of doing Fambrough research, for his son, publishing a book of it some years ago. If you ever want to follow Anderson’s line back, I have quite a lot of info which goes back to England, maybe you already have it? When the Covid thing came along, it really disrupted the meetings of the Society, which met every year in a different state. It was so much fun to go and meet new Fambrough cousins. I hosted it twice and it was a real joy. I so thoroughly enjoy WT and will stay with it as long as I can. My best to you. Lula Tuttle Sinnott

HI TERRI, hearty welcomes to WT. It’s good to have you join in and be really active from the start. Even though you didn’t collaborate with me, I really appreciate the additions you did for The profiles of my (our) Agnes Mullins, my(our)5th great grandmother and great grandfather Anderson Fambrough. Through Agnes Mullins we are 5th cousins once removed, In case you didn’t check it out. I don’t have a lot of info on the Mullins but there must be copious amounts. From something I read I got the idea that they were connected to the Mullins of the Mayflower. Do you know anything about that? I have been trying for years to find a Mayflower ancestor but so far have drawn a blank and I don’t think it would be through them., anyway. Since my Tuttle family were in the colonies(CT) from 1635, one would think somebody would have married into ones family? Again I thank you for your valuable info on Anderson and Agnes. Glad to welcome another cousin to. WT. By the way, my mother was a Fambrough.

Lula Tuttle Sinnott

Hi T.,

We are so pleased you decided to upgrade to the Family Member level.

Please visit our tutorial pages to learn how to use WikiTree: How To Use WikiTree. They will save you time, energy, and frustration as you add your family profiles.

Exploring the site is the best way to learn. One way to do that is to check out the drop-down menus on the top right side of your profile page. Finding a known ancestor and collaborating with the profile manager is another great way to start.

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David ~ WikiTree Greeter

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