Sally Jo HanceThe daughter of Sallie E. Latimer and James Washington Hance, Sally Jo is my maternal great-grandmother. Born in Turin, Georgia on December 27th, 1859, she was the third of four daughters; her sisters were Blanch Corainne, Daisie Eugenia, and Mary Alice Elizabeth (called Mamie).
When Sally Jo was three, her father was killed at the battle of Gettysburg, while serving as Lieutenant Colonel for the 53rd Regiment, Georgia Infantry. He had earlier served with the 19th, and appears to have been made Colonel on the day he died, July 2, 1863. James Washington Hance never saw his youngest daughter, and Sallie was left with four little girls. She applied for a Confederate widow's pension in 1891.
Sally Jo Hance Arnold is buried with her husband in Greenwood Cemetery, Atlanta. In old age, she lived with my grandmother, Lila Eugenia Arnold Morris, and she died at our family home in Collins, Georgia on June 28, 1939. My grandmother is shown next to her mother here. More about her anon, because she appears in other strange and wonderful pictures...
Your mother was beautiful. Its amazing what people can live through.
ReplyDeleteMiss Susanna, you are making me entirely too old! I can do well enough on that front without any help!
ReplyDeleteThe woman on the right is my grandmother--my mother was her ninth and very belated baby... In fact, she was regarded as something of a miracle.
I'm sorry. Thats how all our old pictures look. My grandmother was born in 1903. I didnt think about anthing like that. I am a silly dilly.
ReplyDeleteYou are very charming to wear your hat when you are being a silly dilly!
ReplyDeleteMarly,
ReplyDeleteI must say you resemble the grandmother on the right.
--Donna
B. Q.,
ReplyDeleteFace shape, flaring left eyebrow... I dunno. Definitely got my hair via the Arnold line.
Susanna,
Apologies! I had my great-grandfather dying in 1963! No wonder...
Very sombre, and yet not, photograph. They don't look anything alike! How clever of you to have these photos and to know so much family history!
ReplyDeleteI don't know; they're both square-heads, and they might have the same eyebrows. Maybe even the nose. Old lady noses are bigger than young lady noses.
ReplyDeleteI'll ask my mama.
It's strange, but what immediately struck me was how alike they seem! Funny how two people looking at the same photo can have exactly opposite opinions. I think part of the similarity for me is the way they look so identically alert and intelligent.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think that's true... My grandmother was the first person I know about in that family with any college education, though there were certainly professional people who came in generations before her. She was a bright woman. Then she moved to the boonsticks in Collins and started out with a one-room house that eventually grew into a big Queen Anne.
ReplyDeleteWas heartened to stumble on your site and to see family faces staring out. I am great grandson of Blanche Corrine Hance. My father was de Teel Patterson Tiller, his father Theodore Hance Tiller - one of a "raft" of children to Blanche (his mother) and John Winston Tiller. So that makes us relatives of some sort - never clear on the "once and twice removed business". Pleasure to meet you. My name (like my father's) is de Teel Patterson Tiller (no sign of the Hances in the names I am afraid). But I go by Pat. Live in suburban Washington, DC. I suspect you know that not only was James Washington killed in the Civil War but his two brothers as well (Theodore and William Word at Chickamauga and Spotsylvania respectively). Thought I would stop and give regards.
ReplyDeletePat Tiller
Hi Pat, my cousin of some sort or another--
ReplyDeleteI've got some other family photographs that I'll post from time to time--my mother is scanning some curious old ones, and I pop one on now and then. There are others elsewhere here, though I can't recall how many so far. Four, maybe?
"de Teel Patterson Tiller" is an interesting name, so I think you're fine without the "Hance." "Hance Tiller" has a good ring, though! I often use names from the family tree in stories.
Regards to you (and yours) as well. I'm glad you found me.
My oddest case of a discovered relative so far is one of yours, as well--the pediatrician in the little northern village where I now live. When I moved here from South Carolina, I look great pains in deciding who would be my children's pediatrician. A year or two later I was talking to him at a party, and he asked me about my background in South Carolina and Georgia. And it turned out that we both had direct common ancestors in that fiery little Welsh fellow, Colonel John Thomas, and his ride-to-save-the-Spartans wife, Jane Black Thomas. Very peculiar that I picked so carefully and chose my own distant cousin.
I'll try to post some more pictures soon. I don't think any other Hance descendants have left comments except for Frank Morris, one of my cousins. I've also posted some of his pictures, as he has loved photography since he was a boy. And will post more...
Hurrah for cousins!
Best,
Marly
P. S.
ReplyDeleteThe spelling of "Blanche Corrine" in your note is prettier and more "regular" than what is in my family history. Is that correct, do you think? Of course, without spelling reform, I suppose people could spell as they chose.
I came across a post on your blog dated September 7, 2006 and another one dated November 29, 2006 and I discovered that you and I are cousins of some sort. Sally Jo Hance's father, James Washington Hance, was the brother of my great great grandmother, Eugenia Hance who became a "Crews" when she married my great great grandfather, Thomas Bissell Crews. In fact, James Washington Hance's mother, Sarah Word Hance, is our (yours and mine) 3rd great grandmother. All of this is from my mother's side of the family.
ReplyDeleteI am so happy to discover another cousin of mine! ... I have so many, I thought that I knew them all. This is a pleasant surprise.
My name is William Wallace Tabbot. I actually go by Bill. My mother is Barbara Ann Wallace, her mother was Mary Alma Crews, whose father was James Theodore Crews, then his father was Thomas Bissell Crews who I mentioned earlier married Eugenia Hance who is the sister of James Washington Hance and the aunt of Sally Jo Hance. So, that is how I am connected to your Hance Family.
My mother's family was from Laurens, SC. My grandparents moved to Spartanburg, SC. I was born and grew up in Spartanburg and I still live there today with my wife Vicky (Who was Vicky Ann McHone from Asheville, NC) and our 3 children. 2 daughters (9 & 2 years old) and 1 son (age 7). We had our children later in life (We are 46 & 44 respectively). So, as you can see, they are very young and we are very old and tired! :)
Once again I am very pleased to meet you!
I have a family history question that I think you can help me with. It is actually based on your other post in your blog dated November 29, 2006. When you related the story of your oddest discovery of a family relative through your children's Pediatrician.
...With my being from Spartanburg, SC; I think you can tell where I am going with this...
You were discussing with Pat Tiller, who had responded to your blog, the conversation that you had with your children's pediatritian concerning your background in South Carolina and Georgia. You said... "And it turned out that we both had direct common ancestors in that fiery little Welsh fellow, Colonel John Thomas, and his ride-to-save-the-Spartans wife, Jane Black Thomas."...
This reference of yours really piqued my interest and curiousity since I am also from the same family line that you were refering to.
I have always been interested in Col. John Thomas and his wife Jane Black Thomas and their connection with the "Spartan Regiment" which took part in many battles of the American Revolution including the famous battle of Cowpens under Gen. Daniel Morgan which took place, as I am sure you know, near Spartanburg, SC. Also, the Thomas' homesite was in the Spartanburg area on property that is now part of Croft State Park.
I never imagined that our family may possibly be related to John and Jane Thomas in some way until I read this reference of yours.
Here is where I could use your help and thus brings me to my question...
How are we all related to Col. John Thomas and Jane Black Thomas?... Exactly how does our family connect to theirs? I assume through the Hance line in some way?... Could you please "walk me through" each of our ancestors that lead back to Col. John Thomas and Jane Black Thomas?
I would really appreciate any information that you could provide me on this.
Best regards from your newly found cousin,
Bill Tabbot
Hi Bill--
ReplyDeleteEleven years ago I was living in Greenville, South Carolina, so it's too bad we didn't link up then! I do know about Sally Jo and the Hance line, and my mother (youngest of nine, eight of whom survived to adulthood) remembers her well.
Yes, I can walk you through that chain, if I can dig up my mother's family history, cobbled together by my Uncle Louis, my mother's oldest brother, who turned 101 last Tuesday. Somewhere in it I made a list of the steps backward.
I also have a cousin in North Charleston who is very well informed about the family. She had a huge amount of information--a room full--and then her house burned down! But she still knows an awful lot. In fact, I have quite a few cousins on that side. Seems to me there were originally sixteen of us born. Several siblings had no children, and several died as children.
I'm pretty booked up tonight with children's homework (I'm also an older parent!)and so on, but I'll look tomorrow and meet you back here, okay? I have some other photographs scanned that I want to post, eventually.
Hi Marly,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the response! I appreciate your help with this. I look forward to learning about all you are able to dig up on our family. ...
I'll be happy to meet you back here tomorrow.
See you then,
Bill
Bill,
ReplyDeleteWhew! I could not remember what post we were on...
I have found (at last) the book and am searching.
More soon!
Marly,
ReplyDeleteThanks! :) ...
I look forward to hearing what you have on Col. John Thomas, Jane Black Thomas and the rest of our family.
See you soon,
Bill
Hi Marly,
ReplyDeleteSorry that I have not been back in touch with you before now. ...
I got a little side tracked with the children's activities, my research, etc. ...
I wanted to check back with you and see what you have been able to come up with on our family history? ...
Were you able to find what you were looking for on Col. John Thomas and Jane Black Thomas? ...
I assume that they branch off from somewhere on our Hance family line. I have been stuck with the Hance's. I have not been able to get any further back than William Hance and his wife Sarah Word (yours and my common 3rd great grandparents). ... Actually I can trace the Word family all the way back to the Jamestowne Colony but the Hance line comes to a dead end for me at William Hance. Hopefully you can help me find more on the Hances as well as Col. John Thomas and his wife Jane Black Thomas. ...
Anyway, hope everything is well with you and your family. ...
Look forward to hearing from you soon.
Thanks,
Bill
Hi Bill,
ReplyDeleteI haven't forgotten! My eldest son came home from college and a thousand other things kicked in at once, including deadlines. Let me hit the one I'm on, and I'll sit down and read it. Meet me back here in three days!
Marly,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your help. No rush... just wanted to check in to see how things were going.
This time of year gets busy with children in school along with everything else we all have on our "plates." ...
Take your time,... I don't think our ancestors are going anywhere! :) lol
See you in three days...
Take care,
Bill
Honestly, what a madwoman--Bill, I just remembered! A year late. Hope you are still there... But I have some interesting ancestral news.
ReplyDeleteHi Marly,
ReplyDeleteI'm still here. ... I just saw your post. I would love to hear what ancestral news you have come up with on our family. You may post here or you may e-mail me at tabbot@earthlink.net .
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Thanks,
Bill
Marly,
ReplyDeleteI did not know if you saw my post so I wanted to try again. You had said that you have information on our family history. I look forward to hearing your news. I will check back here today and tonight for your reply. You may post here or you may e-mail me at tabbot@earthlink.net .
Hope all is well with you and yours and I am excited to learn what you have discovered about our ancestors. Especially Colonel John Thomas and Jane Black Thomas and how exactly we trace our roots back to them.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Bill
I am not really as feckless as our contacts suggest! My belief is that I'm just over-busy. But perhaps it is simply fecklessness...
ReplyDeleteI've had some new news--contacted by a writer doing research on a physician who marked graves at Gettysburg. I'll let you know what comes of that.
You asked to be walked through our links to Jane Black and John Thomas Black. How about I do that today, and I'll dig on some of the other questions later. Here is what I know about the progression from there to here:
Col. John Thomas, Sr.
b. April 5, 1720 Cardiff, Wales
d. October 2, 1811
&
Jane Black
b. July , 1723
m. 1740
d. April 16, 1811
Her parents were Robert Black and Ann Waters (Cumberland County, PA.) Robert Black was born circa 1700 and died in 1746.
You probably know a lot about them already--anyway, there are some pieces on line about his role in the war and about Jane Black's ride to save the Spartans from ambush when her husband was being held at Old Ninety-Six.
They had nine children, many of whom were active in the Revolution and the Spartans Regiment.
Our direct ancestor among the nine:
Jane Anne Thomas
b. January 15, 1757
m. March 9, 1779
d. March 17, 1826
She married Joseph McJunkin.
The McJunkins (Robert and his wife Margaret Caldwell) moved from Scotland to Northern Ireland to this country in 1741. Their son Samuel (1725-1808) married Ann Bogan (1737-1781) in Wilmington, Delaware. Their eldest of eight children was Joseph McJunkin, who married Jane Ann Thomas.
Major Joseph McJunkin
b. June 22, 1755
d. May 31, 146
Jane Ann Thomas McJunkin headstone: "Sacred to the memory of Mrs. Ann McJunkin, the wife of Maj. Jos. McJunkin and daughter of Col. John Thomas, who departed this life March 17, 1826, age 69 years. The deceased as an intrepid heroine of the Revolution, who with the aid of her mother, brother and brother-in-law defended her father's house with success against the attack of the 300. Tories."
The next generation is
David Wates McJunkin
His middle name may actually have been Waters or Watts, but it said "Wates" in the family Bible, evidently... He studied medicine in Charleston.
b. May 2, 1801
d. late 1869 or January-early February of 1870
and
Elizabeth Ann Daniel
b. 1811?
m. December 18, 1828
They had six children together, and David had five more with his second wife.
The direct-line ancestor is a daughter, Sarah Ann McJunkin,
b. July 17, 131
d. June 12, 1861.
Sarah Ann married Richard Perteet Arnold, April 3, 1851.
Richard Perteet Arnold
b. December 2, 1820
d. ? He clearly died long after his wife.
Robert had six children with Sarah Ann and five with his second wife.
Their eldest child was Andrew Lane Arnold.
b. May 5, 1853
m. November 13, 1877
d. January 21, 1926. He is my maternal line great-grandfather.
Sallie Jo Hance married Andrew Lane Arnold.
She was the daughter of Col. James Washington Hance(all three of William Hance and Sara Word's sons died in the Civil War) and Sallie Elvira Latimer. Your ancestor Eugenia was the fourth child in the family. First was James Washington Hance (died at Gettysburg), then William A. or William Worth Hance (died at the Battle of Fredericksburg), then Theodore Hance (died at Chickamauga), and then Eugenia
b. May 5, 1853.
m. November 13, 1877
d. January 21, 1926.
So that is where we part ways a little, I think.
By the by, family lore says that Sarah Word was engaged to Andrew Johnson and taught him to read and write to some degree.
My grandmother, Lila Eugenia Arnold Morris, was the middle child of the next generation; she married William Leceister Morris, and her ninth child was my mother, Mary Sue. Luckily for me she married Hubert Lafay Youmans and produced me!
Whew, I hope I got that right. If anything seems confusing, just ask. Hope that helps--it's a tangled web out there in time.
I'll do some more Hance digging later on.
Oh, I just realized that you gave me your email! However, I shall send a link to my mother and ask her to check this, so maybe it's better here anyway. And it'll be there for the geneaological nuts of the world...
ReplyDeleteBill, I should have had my mother contact you--she and my eldest went to King's Mountain and then on to Old Ninety-Six last week, and they wandered around Laurens looking for graves. You might have known more about where to look than they did.
Marly,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad we were able to connect again. Not only because of my interest in our family's genealogy, but also because I enjoy the opportunity to chat with distant cousins when I can.
We both have in common that we connect through our mother's family lines respectively. All of my cousins on my mother's side and I were very close growing up. I think it is wonderful that we have another cousin in you that we never knew but probably would have known if your part of the family had remained in Laurens, SC. I am sure some of my older aunts and great aunts that I knew growing up, who are no longer living, would have known your part of the family very well.
All of the cousins were more like extended brothers and sisters really. There were a lot of us as well. There were 11 children in my mother's family. There were ten girls and one boy. They all married. So that gave us 22 aunts and uncles just from one set of grandparents. Then they had on average about four children each. So, that's roughly 44 first cousins alone not to mention second cousins, etc.
We all played together as children in Laurens County and in the upstate in general. I think you and I were probably born in about the same year. I was born in January of 1963. Just think, if your branch of the family had remained in the upstate of South Carolina, you and I would have probably grown up as playmates like all my other cousins. For some reason our family always seemed to have more girls than boys. Even I have 2 girls and only 1 son. I had all brothers but that was unusual for our family in general. I had lots of girl cousins to play with growing up so you would have fit right in.
By the way, that reminds me, I finally was able to determine what relation we are to each other. We are 4th cousins. Our closest common relative would have been both yours and my 3rd great grandparents, Sarah Word & William Hance.
Unfortunately, out of all those 11 children in my mother's family, only 4 are still living. My mother and Aunt Sarah are probably the frailest of those that remain while my Aunt Caroline and Aunt Martha are still very active.
You mentioned your mother was in the area recently. I know my aunts would love to meet her and get to know her. Did she ever know any of our "branches" of the family? The surnames would have been Word, Wolff, Hudgens, Crews, Wallace. All from Laurens, SC. Ask your mother sometime if she remembers any family members from those surnames. I will see if I or my aunts remember any of our common relatives. We may even have some old pictures.
Thank you very much for the information on Col. John Thomas and Jane Black Thomas. I look forward to hearing more about the Hance family and others. Please let me know anything new or old that you discover.
Bill
Bill,
ReplyDeleteI'll send you a note at your email next week... Right now I have to shoehorn some children into bed! One is a jack-in-the-box.
But first I'll send your note to my mother and see what she says. She and her sister Julia Eugenia Morris McComb are the last of that generation of the family. Three of the brothers died last year, the eldest at 101.
I'm going to be in Spartanburg this summer in July--doing a stint at Wofford's "Shared Worlds."
Oh, and I can loan you my Morris-Arnold geneaology book if you promise to send it back!
ReplyDeleteMarly,
ReplyDeleteThat's great about you comming to Spartanburg this summer!
My father, two uncles, and my first cousin on my father's side's daughter all graduated from Wofford College.
In fact, one of those uncles was my mother's only brother, James Young Wallace, Jr. He was a brilliant man. He was valedictorian of his Spartanburg High School class which included the famous Gen. William Westmorland known for being the commander of the forces in Vietnam. My uncle was himself a retired Army Colonel and WWII Veteran as well as an educator. He also graduated at the top of his class at Wofford ("the little Harvard of the South" as it is known) and was a star basketball player for the Terriers while he was in school there.
Most people have never even heard of Wofford. It's great that you will be there. How did all this come about?
Bill
I'm going to be writer-in-residence at Hollins for a couple of weeks, and then I'll be moseying down to Wofford to be one of many writers at their summer writing camp for teens. Should be lively. I'm not sure how it happened--Jeff Vandermeer asked me.
ReplyDelete