Matilda Caroline and Minerva D. Leonard and Husbands Cordy Claiborne Clifton and Samuel Johnston: Interesting Civil War Records of a Family Dispute

April 6, 2026

Or, Subtitled: “He has recently been hated as an enemy by Mrs. Clifton and Thomas L. Clifton the other Security” As the previous posting shows, Thomas Leonard and Sarah Lauderdale’s daughter Matilda Caroline married Cordy Claiborne Clifton on 12 July 1831 in Limestone County, Alabama, and then moved with him to DeSoto County, Mississippi, where … More Matilda Caroline and Minerva D. Leonard and Husbands Cordy Claiborne Clifton and Samuel Johnston: Interesting Civil War Records of a Family Dispute

Thomas Lewis Leonard (1781-1870) and Sarah M. Lauderdale (1785/6 – abt. 1866): Children — Aletha, Hannah, Milbury, Cynthia, Matilda, Maria, Minerva, Alfred, Thomas, Martha, Sarah, and Mahala

April 4, 2026

Or, Subtitled: “Thus ends the children of Thomas and Sally Leonard” Here’s a brief summary of information about the ten daughters and two sons of Thomas Lewis Leonard and Sarah M. Lauderdale (for the continuation of this posting, please click the numeral 2 below):

Thomas Lewis Leonard (1781-1870), Son of Thomas Leonard and Hannah James: Nacogdoches and Cherokee County, Texas, Years, 1839-1870

March 28, 2026

Or, Subtitled: “Situated in Cherokee County on the waters of the River Neches north of the San Antonio Road and about 6½ miles SE from Rusk” So on to Texas, the final destination in the life journey of Thomas Lewis Leonard and wife Sarah Lauderdale: as the previous posting shows, on 6 May 1839 Thomas … More Thomas Lewis Leonard (1781-1870), Son of Thomas Leonard and Hannah James: Nacogdoches and Cherokee County, Texas, Years, 1839-1870

Thomas Lewis Leonard (1781-1870), Son of Thomas Leonard and Hannah James: Limestone County, Alabama, Years, 1830-1839

March 11, 2026

Or, Subtitled: “The said Thomas absconded so that the ordinary process of law cannot be served upon him” This posting is a continuation of a previous one in which I documented the life of Thomas Lewis Leonard, son of Thomas Leonard and Hannah James, in Limestone County, Alabama, in the decade 1820-1830. This posting will … More Thomas Lewis Leonard (1781-1870), Son of Thomas Leonard and Hannah James: Limestone County, Alabama, Years, 1830-1839

Thomas Lewis Leonard (1781-1870), Son of Thomas Leonard and Hannah James: Limestone County, Alabama, Years, 1820-1830

March 8, 2026

Or, Subtitled: “Credit appeared to be turning enslavers’ Alabama dreams into reality. Alabama was already third in the United States in total cotton produced and first in per capita production” ~ Edward C. Baptist, “The Half Has Never Been Told”: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism (New York: Basic Books, 2014), p. 93 In … More Thomas Lewis Leonard (1781-1870), Son of Thomas Leonard and Hannah James: Limestone County, Alabama, Years, 1820-1830

Thomas Lewis Leonard (1781-1870), Son of Thomas Leonard and Hannah James: Early Years in Maryland, South Carolina, and Tennessee

February 14, 2026

Or, Subtitled: “He was one of Limestone’s best citizens, no man stood higher as a good man than Thomas Leonard. His wife was his equal in all duties of a companion.” Thomas Lewis Leonard, son of Thomas Leonard and Hannah James, was born in 1781 in Washington County, Maryland. This date of birth is based … More Thomas Lewis Leonard (1781-1870), Son of Thomas Leonard and Hannah James: Early Years in Maryland, South Carolina, and Tennessee

Pat Ryan: Family Stories and Our Obligation to Share Them

February 6, 2026

Or, Subtitled: “Everywhere in the world people led their lives unrecorded”~ Elizabeth Strout, Tell Me Everything (NY: Random House, 2024), p. 79 Stories; stories handed down in families; family stories: these are precious gifts that demand to be shared, if not in our family circles, then more widely, since stories told within a family circle … More Pat Ryan: Family Stories and Our Obligation to Share Them

Aletha R. Leonard (abt. 1803 – abt. 1845), Wife of James G. Birdwell

February 5, 2026

Or, Subtitled: “That James Birdwell and Lethe Birdwell his wife have both departed this life” With my last posting about James Lauderdale (abt. 1707 – 1796/7), I’ve drawn to a close, for now at least, my series of postings on my Lauderdale family line. With this posting, I’m inaugurating a new series about another of … More Aletha R. Leonard (abt. 1803 – abt. 1845), Wife of James G. Birdwell

James Lauderdale (abt. 1707 – 1796/7): Will and Children

January 31, 2026

Or, Subtitled: “James Lauderdale his mark wafer seal” In my previous two postings (here and here), I shared the subtance of what I know about my earliest proven ancestor in the Lauderdale line, James Lauderdale, who died at an advanced age between 24 September 1796, when he made a codicil to his will in Botetourt … More James Lauderdale (abt. 1707 – 1796/7): Will and Children

James Lauderdale (abt. 1707 – 1796/7): The Virginia Years, 1744/5 – 1796

January 28, 2026

Or, Subtitled: “Run away from the ſubſcriber, near Buchanan’s ferry, the 5th inſtant” In my preceding posting I focused on establishing when James Lauderdale (abt. 1707? – 1796/7) arrived in Virginia, and, insofar as this can be documented, where he was living prior to his arrival in Virginia. That posting showed that there’s sound documentation … More James Lauderdale (abt. 1707 – 1796/7): The Virginia Years, 1744/5 – 1796