I'm a retired academic, with a Ph.D. and M.A. in theology from Toronto School of Theology, an M.A. in english from Tulane University, and a B.A. in English from Loyola University, New Orleans. Published work includes Fiat Flux: The Writings of Wilson R. Bachelor, Nineteenth-Century Country Doctor and Philosopher (Fayetteville: Univ. of Arkansas Press, 2013), and (with William L. Russell and Mary Ryan) A Family Practice: The Russell Doctors and the Evolving Business of Medicine, 1799–1989 (Fayetteville: Univ. of Arkansas Press, 2020).
My apologies to readers of Begats and Bequeathals. I was recently in contact with WordPress customer support folks about some changes I wanted to make to this blog, and as the changes were made, it seems my blog got set for private viewing — that is, only I could see it. After the WordPress team told … More Apologies! Blog Now Set for Public Viewing Again
Or, Subtitled: “Four instruments of writing purporting to be relinquishments of a tract of land in Davidson County” With this posting, I’m finishing my series of postings about the children of George Birdwell (bef. 1725 – 1781) of Augusta and Botetourt Counties, Virginia, and Sullivan County, North Carolina (later Tennessee). My initial posting in this … More Children of George Birdwell (bef. 1725 – 1781) by Wife Mary (3): William, James, Joshua, Mary, and Jane
Or, Subtitled: “Died at my father’s house near Mt. Enterprise, Texas, at the age of 84 years. He was never sick in his life, never had a chill nor a fever” This posting continues a series of postings discussing the children of George Birdwell (bef. 1721 – 1781) by his first wife, whose name is … More Children of George Birdwell (bef. 1725 – 1781) by Wife Mary (2): Joseph, Moses, and John
Or, Subtitled: When DNA Unearths a Previously Unknown Relative I’d like to add a few notes now to two postings I made previously (here and here) about an Isaac Lindsey (abt. 1776 – 1833) whose male descendants’ DNA matches that of other males who can trace their ancestry to the immigrant ancestor of my branch … More Additional Notes about Isaac Lindsey, Who Died in St. Helena Parish, Louisiana, in April 1833
Or, Subtitled, “They traveled mostly by keel boat down the Ohio River. Thence into Missouri like all other pioneers by covered wagon” This posting continues a discussion I began in a previous one in which I discussed the children of George Birdwell (bef. 1725 – 1781) by his first wife, whose name is not known. As … More Children of George Birdwell (bef. 1725 – 1781) by Wife Mary (1): George, Elizabeth, and Benjamin
Or, Subtitled: DNA Doesn’t Lie In a previous posting, I noted that after researcher Edythe Rucker Whitley linked George Birdwell (bef. 1725-1781) to a Bridwell family of Stafford County, Virginia, in research she undertook in the 1950s for Texas descendants of George Birdwell, it has been persistently claimed that George was a Stafford County Bridwell, … More The Claim that George Birdwell (bef. 1725-1781) Was a Bridwell from Stafford County, Virginia: DNA Evidence?
Or, Subtitled: “Thirty Lashes on her bare back well Laid on” In this posting, I’d like to start winding down my discussion of my family line stemming from George Birdwell (bef. 1725 – 1781) by providing an outline of basic information about his children. As two previous postings have shown (here and here), George is … More Children of George Birdwell (bef. 1725 – 1781) by His First Wife
Or, Subtitled: The Potential of FamilySearch’s New AI All-Text Search Tool to Discover New Information The following are several new pieces of information I’ve uncovered recently regarding a Benjamin Green Junior who was son of Benjamin Green Senior of the Long Cane settlement in what became Abbeville (and McCormick) County, South Carolina. As a previous … More Benjamin Green (abt. 1766 – after 1805) of Abbeville and Pendleton District, South Carolina: New Information
As you can see if you’ve visited Begats and Bequeathals in the past, the blog has a new look. I’ve just added a search feature here, and doing so required me to select a new template for the blog with a different color scheme. I hope the slightly new layout and color configuration will be … More New Year, New Look — And a Search Feature
I’m grateful to Brian Anton for recommending this blog and my research regarding Patrick Colhoun/Calhoun, progenitor of the American branch of the Calhoun family to which Vice-President John Caldwell Calhoun belongs. In his latest posting on his first-rate Genealogy of the Calhoun Family blog, Brian states,
BEGATS AND BEQUEATHALS 