"Tracing Our Roots" Newsletter Archive (A monthly genealogy newsletter written by the late Brenda Kellow, dec'd, for the Plano Star Courier newspaper. We've included all the ones we could recover.)
What sudden and intense events preceded the horrendous act that would bring James Andrews to kill another that last hot day in August 1864?
Davidson County, Tennessee records don’t tell us the motivation, but the records do show that he was convicted by a Military Commission of committing murder and shooting with intent to kill and sentenced to two years in prison.
There must have been more to this crime than meets the eye because just two months later, the President of the United States commuted James Andrews’ sentence from two years to only six months, but in December 1864, the President pardoned him and he was released.
We don’t know any more about James Andrews, but having the above information available to us in printed form is something dreams are made of. Although many of the crimes in the book are various degrees of larceny, the information found within the second volume of “Tennessee Convicts” is varied and thorough.
For instance, thirty-seven year old Tar Heel Bard (also written Bird) Johnson was convicted of rape in Davidson County, and sentenced to ten years in prison. He was discharged ten years later after serving his sentence. Johnson was number 1420 in prison ledger 86. The information on this man goes on to say that he was raised in Roane County, Tennessee, but his wife and children lived in Van Buren County, with her father, Mr. Summerson. Johnson has a mother and three brothers living in Coffee County; a widowed sister in White County; and a brother Andrew Johnson in the Penitentiary; and an uncle John Gosset living in Anderson County.
Finding this treasure trove of information makes all of us want to dig up those family skeletons. And who knows, maybe you have one? To find out if you have such a skeleton during 1850-1870, volume 2 of Tennessee Convicts, Early Records of the State Penitentiary, by Charles A. Sherrill can shed some light on such a skeleton. Order from Charles A. Sherrill, 1023 Waters Edge Circle, Mt. Juliet, TN 37122 or order from his web site at www.angelfire.com/tn3/sherrill/. It is $30 plus $2.50 shipping and handling. If you have questions, email Mr. Sherrill at Books4Histry@cs.com.
All-Day Saturday Workshop: The four speakers are offering a variety of topics to help all levels of researchers. The theme is: IMPORTANT BUT LITTLE USED RECORDS. The lecture topics are:
- Using Criminal Records to Find Those Bony Old Skeletons: Barbara Coakley
- Adoption Research, Making Order Out of Chaos: Bill Hallas
- Postal Directories, a Little Used Resource: Ned Hoover
Come to the workshop this Saturday at the Harrington Library. The doors open at 9:10 and the lectures begin at 9:30 until noon, and from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. Bring your lunch and eat in the program room. Sometimes the room gets cool so bring a sweater.
Attendees of the All-Day Workshop are asked to donate $25 for members, and nonmembers $32. To inquire, call 972-783-8484. You may sign up at the door. The donations go toward the purchase of the remainder of the 1850 U.S. Census. The next workshop will be June 22, 2002.
6100 LIBRARIES: Link easily to 6,100 libraries in 100 countries! http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Libweb/ [now at https://www.lib-web.org/.
NEW, BUT STILL IN CATALOGING: A new (2002) publication in book form donated to the library this week is the 1910 Arizona Territorial Index. It should be on the shelves shortly.
Brenda Kellow, dec'd, Certified Genealogist and Certified Genealogical Instructor, had a Bachelor’s Degree in history and taught genealogy courses at the local Community College and computer genealogy at the University.
