I FOUND THS ARTICLE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MONCTON WHILE I WAS DOING RESEARCH . IT WAS TOLD BY A MISTER ANDREW CORMIER SON OF SYLVAIN CORMIER,MAN OF EXCELLENT MEMORY ,AND BEST INFORMED ON THE ACADIANS WHO SETTLED IN MEMRAMCOOK AND THEIR CULTURES. THIS STORY WAS TOLD IN 1875.
THE YEAR FOLLOWING THE CAPTURE OF QUEBEC, A FRENCH FRIGATE DOCKED AT POINT LEVIS. THECOMMANDING CAPTAIN MADE AN APPEAL, TO GET VOLENTEER RECRUITS. AMONG THE HUNDREDS OF FAMILIES REFUGED IN QUEBEC AND SURROUNDINGS, 160 YOUNG MEN, (SOME MARRIED, OTHERS STILL SINGLE) ANSWERED THE CALL. ONCE THEY HAD SIGNED UP AND ABOARD THE FRIGATE, THE CAPTAIN ANNOUNCED TO THEM, HE WOULD PROBABLY TAKE THEM TO FRANCE. ARRIVING AT THE JACQUES-CARTIER ROCK, THE FRENCH FRIGATE WAS ATTACKED BY TWO ENGLISH WAR SHIPS. THE FRENCH SANK ONE SHIP, AND CONTINUED THEIR JOURNEY. BUT UNFORTUNATELY THE FRENCH SHIP HIT A ROCK AND BROKE UP, AND RATHER THAN SEEK HELP FROM THE ENGLISH SHIP,FOLLOWING THEM, EVERYONE ABOARD THE FRENCH SHIP CARRYING THE FRENCH FLAG JUMPED IN THE GLACIAL WATERS IN THE MONTH OF APRIL TO TRY AND MAKE IT TO SHORE. ONLY 60 SURVIVED THE ORDEAL, AMONG THESE WERE THREE BROTHER CORMIERS; PIERRE,JACQUES AND FRANCOIS (WHO HAD A HARD TIME MAKING IT) . THE THREE BROTHERS LATER HAD LARGE FAMILIES SOME WENT TO LOUISIANA , CAROLINAS, AND SOME REMAINED IN CANADA............... TREES_42 |
MY DAD HAD A MOONSHINE STILL IN HIS HOUSE LONG AGO, ONE DAY THE COPS RAIDED OUR HOUSE FOUND THE STILL, THEY CARRIED A LOAD OF MOONSHINE OUT AND PUT IT IN THE TRUNK OF THEIR CAR...WHEN THE COPS WENT IN FOR ANOTHER LOAD OF MOONSHINE, MY DAD AND SOME OF HIS FRIENDS WENT OUT TO THE COPS CAR AND TOOK THEIR MOONSHINE OUT OF THE TRUNK........... JLEGGEUSA.. |
ONE OF THE STORIES MY DAD TELLS ME OFTEN OF HIS CHILDHOOD DAYS REVOLVES AROUND CHRISTMAS. MY DAD ,HIS FOUR BROTHERS AND PARENTS HAD GATHERED AT MY GGRANDPARENTS FOR THE HOLIDAY. THE WEATHER WAS WARM AND PLEASANT. AS THE DAY GREW ON , THE MEAL WAS SERVED AND THE KIDS PLAYED, A FEW OF THE PEOPLE WERE DIRECTED TO GO GET THE PRESENTS, SO THEY OPENED THE DOOR TO STEP OUTSIDE, AND THE SNOW WAS UP TO THE DOOR---NO WAY! IT WASNT SUPPOSE TO SNOW, TOO HOT BUT NO WAY WAS ANYONE GOING ANYWHERE IN THIS WEATHER..... NO SANTA! SO THE KIDS THOUGHT. GGRANDMA HAD THE KIDS GET READY FOR BED AS DARKNESS FELL, SHE LAID AS MANY AS SHE COULD IN EACH BED CROSSWISE UNTIL THE BEDS WERE FULL, THE ADULTS SLEEPING ON THE CHAIRS AND FLOOR. AS MY DAD SAID, YOU WERE HOPING NO ONE WOULD ROLL OVER OR YOU WERE A GONER. NEXT DAY WAS CHRISTMAS, THE KIDS WOKE UP NOT EXPECTING A SINGLE THING TO BE UNDER THE TREE...BUT SOMEHOW, SOMEWAY THERE WERE GIFTS UNDER THE TREE LOTS OF EM....SANTA HAD MADE IT......... VICKYAL124 |
MY GRANDMOTHER ELIZABETH JANE KEMP WAS BORN IN 1874 IN A LOG STRUCTURE SHORTLY AFTER HER PARENTS ARRIVED IN SOUTH WESTERN MANITOBA CANADA, AS ONE OF THE FIRST SEVEN FAMILIES TO SETTLE WEST OF THE RED RIVER. SHE WS THE FIRST WHITE BABY BORN AS THEY SETTLED ON THEIR LAND NEAR PILOT MOUND MANITOBA AFTER ARRIVING FROM SCOTLAND SOME MONTHS BEFORE. THEY PAID THE GRAND SUM OF $7.00 FOR ALL THE LAND THEY WANTED IN THE WILDERNESS, WHICH TODAY IS EIGHT SECTIONS AND STILL IN OUR FAMILY................. CAROLROSE2000. |
BOTH MY GRANDPARENTS HAD THEIR OWN BUSINESSES, ONE WAS A GREEN GROCER (SOLD FRUITS AND VEGETABLES). AS A CHILD THERE WERE MANY LESSONS TO BE LEARNED FROM HELPING IN THE SHOP. I REMEMBER BEING SMACKED SHARPLY ACROSS MY EAR FOR FEEDING A ROTTEN POTATO TO THE MILKMAN'S HORSE.....BECAUSE IT COULD HAVE BEEN SOLD "ACCIDENTLY" IN A BAG WITH THE REST...I ALSO LEARNED NOT TO PICK OUT THE SMALL STONES FROM THE POTATO SACKS FOR THE SAME REASON. IN THOSE DAYS IT WAS NORMAL TO STAND SACKS OF POTATOES OUTSIDE ON THE PAVEMENT(SIDEWALK) OPENED FOR DISPLAY..... AND I WONDER HOW MANY PEOPLE TODAY REALIZE THAT IF A CHALK LINE IS DRAWN AROUND THE SACKS IT WILL KEEP THE DOGS FROM PEE'ING ON THEM. DOGS WON'T LIFT THEIR LEGS OVER THE CHALK LINE, SO IF YOU WANT TO STOP THEM FROM USING YOUR GATEPOST, IT REALLY WORKS.......... ARTMAN SCOT.. |
I WAS RAISED IN NEW HAVEN CONNECTICUT, AND HAD THE BEST OF TWO WORLDS. MY FATHER WAS A NEW ENGLAND YANKEE WITH A LONG HERITAGE THERE AND MY MOTHER WAS AN IMMIGRANT COMING FROM FINLAND IN 1910. MY DAD WAS AN AVID FAMILY TRACER AND GOT ME INTERESTED WHEN I WAS VERY YOUNG.I THOUGHT ALL CARS TURNED INTO CEMETERIES WHILE TRAVELLING AND DID SO AUTOMATICALLY. BECAUSE OF MY CEMETERY SEARCHING, I MADE A COLLECTION OF EPITAPHS, AND IN THE EIGHTIES PUBLISHED A BOOK OF EPITAPHS THAT REMAINED IN PRINT FOR MANY YEARS. I AM AN INNETERATE GENEALOGIST AND HAVE DONE PROFESSIONAL GENEALOGY OVER THE YEARS. MY BEST JOB WAS AN ASSIGNMENT TO SEARCH IN GERMANY, ALL EXPENSES PAID, AND I FOUND WHAT MY CLIENT NEEDED TO HAVE. I AM VERY PROUD TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH A GROUP THAT IS SERIOUSLY INTO GENEALOGY AND ONE NOT DEDICATED TO MALICIOUS GOSSIP.... RIGHT ON!! DICKMIL31 |
I HAVE BEEN DOING GENEALOGY SINCE 1976, MY SON STARTED IT AS A SCHOOL PROJECT, AND I WAS INTRIGUED ,, HE FOUND MY GRANDPARENTS WEDDING WOW WHAT A THING IT WAS FOR ME..... SO HE SAID MOM YOU CAN DO RESEARCH FREE!!! SO HE TOLD ME TO GO TO THE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH CENTER... AND LO AND BEHOLD HERE I WAS IN A UNIVERSITY WOW... EXCITING AND THE BOOKS AND THE FILMS.... THIS WAS A NEW WORLD FOR ME...DIGGING AND SEARCHING I LOVED IT.... IN ALL MY YEARS IN SEARCHING AND DIGGING NOTHING COULD HAVE TOUCHED ME MORE THAN ABOUT EIGHT YEARS AGO... I HAD GIVEN SOME INFO TO A MAN WHO WAS WRITING A BOOK ON THE PAST. AND I HAD TOLD HIM MY PARENTS WERE ONE OF THE FIRST FAMILIES TO GET A LAND GRANT IN THE COUNTRY.... THE LAND GRANTS WERE GIVEN PROVIDING THE OWNER WOULD CLEAR SO MANY ACRES OF LAND.... AND I TOLD HIM MY MOM AND DAD BUILT A LOG CABIN THERE THIS WAS AROUND 1936 OR SO. MY MOM AND DAD BUILT IT JUST THE TWO OF THEM...MOM WAS AROUND 18, DAD 26 YEARS OLD.. THIS MAN LISTENED TO MY STORY AND SAID DID YOU SEE??? I SAID WHAT ? HE SAID COME WITH ME TOOK ME TO A ROOM SHOWED ME A FILM... THIS FILM SHOWED THE AREA MOM AND DAD LIVED IN.... POOR PEOPLE , HOUSES LOOKED SO BAD ,,TAR PAPER ON THE ROOF. ETC.. THERE WAS THIS ONE LOG CABIN , LOOKED PRETTY GOOD WITH COW NEAR A WINDOW..... A PRIEST WHO WAS BUILDING A CHURCH TOOK THE FILM..OF IT.... WE LAUGHED AT SEEING THE COW. SO THINKING NOTHING MORE I WENT HOME TOLD MOM WHAT I HAD SEEN DIDNT MENTION THE COW....... MOM SAID YES I CAN TELL YOU WHO LIVED THERE AT THE TIME ALONG WITH DAD AND I..... AND SHE SAID WE HAD THIS COW... SHE WOULD COME TO OUR BEDROOM WINDOW EVERY MORNING SAME TIME. AND SHE WOULD MOO....AND DADS NAME IS EDMOND AND MOM SAID IT SEEMED TO SAY EDMOOOOOND...... AND DAD WOULD REPLY SHE'S CALLING ME . BETTER GET UP. SO THIS WAS THEIR LOG CABIN... THEY HAD BUILT TOGETHER AROUND 1936. WHAT A GREAT FIND................TREES_42. |
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JAMES H.BASHAM WAS BORN AROUND 1815 IN TENNESSEE,HE WAS BECAME A LARGE LANDOWNER, SLAVEHOLDER AND FIRST POSTMASTER ,AND OWNED A STORE IN BASHAM GAP.
IN THE EARLY DAYS OF AMERICAN HISTORY,, WHEN THE WHITE SETTLERS BEGAN PUSHING THE NATIVE AMERICANS FURTHER AND FURTHER WEST,MANY SCHEMES WERE DEVELOPED TO ENCOURAGE THE COLONIZATION OF THE VAST TERRITORY OPENING UP THROUGH WESTERN MIGRATION. THE SETTLERS BOUGHT LAND ALONG THE TENNESSEE RIVER, AND A HORDE OF MEN BOTH GOOD AND BAD FLOODED THE REGION.ABOUT 30MILES SOUTHWEST OF DECANTRU,ALITTLE GAP IN THE MOUNTAIN LED ON DOWN TO JASPER ALABAMA SOME 40MILES SOUTHWEST. TO THIS MOUNTAIN GAP CAME MANY EARLY SETTLERS WHO BUILT HOMES, AND BEGAN FARMING AND HUNTING.,AND SETTLING UP THE REGION. THIS SETTLEMENT TOOK ITS NAME FROM A FAMILY BY THE NAME OF BASHAM. JIM BASHAM AND HIS FAMILY WERE CONNECTED WITH A STORY OF EARLY PIONEER LAWLESSNESS, AND TRAGEDY THAT IS STILL TOLD FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION. A NOTORIOUS OUTLAW BY THE NAME OF JOHN A MULLELL IS REPORTED TO HAVE ORGANIZED AN EXTENSIVE NETWORK OF HORSE AND SLAVE THIEVES FROM KENTUCKY THROUGH TENNESSEE,DOWN THROUGH NORTHERN ALABAMA,MISSISSIPPI AND EVEN NEW ORLEANS. MURELL POSED AS A TRAVELLING PREACHER HOLDING REVIVAL MEETINGS UP AND DOWN THE VALLEY.WHEN THE SETTLERS FLOCKED INTO CAMP MEETINGS TO HEAR MURRELL PREACH,HE SECRETLY LOOKED OVER THE CROWD,SPOTTED THE FINEST HORSES AND SLAVES AND INTRUCTED HIS MEN TO STEAL AND SELL THEM.GULLIBLE NEGRO SLAVES WERE OFTEN OFFERED BRIBES OF A PART OF THEIR SALE PRICE IF THEY WOULD ASSIST IN THE THEFTS BY RUNNING AWAY TO JOIN THE GANG. JAMES BASHAM WAS SUSPECTED BY HIS NEIGHBORS OF BEING A MEMBER OF THE JOHN A MURRELL GANG AND A LAST IMPORTANT OUTPOST IN ITS OPERATION BETWEEN DECANTUR AND JASPER. SEVERAL STORIES WERE CIRCULATED AROUND THE GAP ABOUT JAMES BASHAM BEFORE HE AT LAST MET HIS TRAGIC FATE. ONE STORY CONCERNED A YOUNG MAN WHO LATE ONE AFTERNOON, CAME RIDING UP TO MR BASHAM'S PLACE ON A FINE BLAZED-FACE HORSE. HE AND HIS HELPERS HAD WITH THEM 12 FINE HORSES, THE TWO SPENT THE NIGHT AND THE NEXT MORNING WENT ON THEIR WAY TO MISSISSIPPI. IN A FEW WEEKS THE YOUNG MAN RETURNED ALONE RIDING HIS BLAZE-FACED HORSE AND AGAIN WAS SEEN BY TWO NEIGHBORS MR DUTTON AND MR HUNTER TO STOP OVER FOR ANOTHER NIGHT WITH MR BASHAM. LATER THE NEIGHBORS WHO WATCHED SAW THE FINE HORSE BUT NEVER THE YOUNG MAN AGAIN.............TO BE CONTINUED................REDFIN_2 |
THIS CONTINUING STORY DEALS WITH THE STORY LEADING UP TO THE DEATH OF JAMES BASHAM..... IT CONCERNS AN OLD SLAVE WHO BECAME HIS SLAVE LATER ON.
MR BLEVIN OWNED THREE HUSKY SLAVES, HARRY, DICK AND ZION. HARRY WAS MR BLEVINS FOREMAN, AND AS SUCH WAS ALLOWED MANY PRIVILEGES. HE WAS ALLOWED TO MAKE FOOT MATS, SHUCK COLLARS AND MAKE COTTON BASKETS IN HIS SPARE TIME. THESE HE OFTEN SOLD FOR 50 CENTS A PIECE. ALL HIS MONEY HE SAVED TO ONEDAY BYE HIS WIFE OLD AUNT ANN WHO BELONGED TO MR SIMPSON, AT LAST HARRY'S SAVINGS GREW TO $1800.OO IN GOLD. MR SIMPSON REFUSED TO SELL AUNT ANN SINCE SHE WAS A GOOD SLAVE. HARRY HID HIS MONEY IN THE DEEP WOODS BACK OF BASHAM GAP IN A HOLLOW STUMP UNTIL A FOREST FIRE FRIGHTENED HIM INTO GETTING IT OUT. HE CARRIED THE MONEY TO MR AND MRS PENNS HOME WHO LIVED NORTH OF MR SIMPSONS AND ASKED THEM TO KEEP HIS MONEY TILL HE RETURNED THE FOLLOWING SUNDAY. ON THE FOLLOWING SUNDAY HARRY AGAIN TOOK HIS MONEY DEEP INTO THE WOODS TO BURY IT BACK OF BASHAM GAP. FINALLY MR BLEVIN DIED AND HARRY REALIZED HE WOULD BE SOLD, HE WENT BACK TO MR PENN ASKING MR PENN TO BUY HIM, MR PENN REFUSED AS HE DID NOT BELIEVE IN OWNING SLAVES. HARRY ASKED SEVERAL OTHERS TO BUY HIM IN ORDER TO PREVENT JAMES BASHAM TO BUY HIM. NO ONE DARED BUY HIM. ALTHOUGH HARRY SAID HE FEARED MR BASHAM WOULD BUY HIM , FIND HIS GOLD AND KILL HIM JUST FOR HIS MONEY. AT THE SALE MR BASHAM BOUGHT HARRY FOR FIFTY DOLLARS. THE NEIGHBORS WATCHED FOR HARRY BUT HE WAS NO LONGER SEEN AT THE GAP. ONE DAY JOHNNY HUNTER WENT HUNTING WILD TURKEY AND STUMBLED UPON HARRY'S BODY, NEIGHBORS ALWAYS BELIEVED MR BASHAM KILLED HARRY FOR HIS MONEY... MR. HUNTER RETURNED AND REPORTED HIS HORRIBLE DISCOVERY TO HIS NEIGHBORS IN THE COMMUNITY. SINCE THE COMMUNITY FELT THAT JIM BASHAM WAS A MEMBER OF THE JOHN A MURREL GANG AND A DESPARATE CRIMINAL, IT WAS DECIDED TO EXECUTE HIM. ON THE NIGHT OF THE DISCOVERY OF HARRY'S BODY, FIVE MEN, MR.PENN,MR LOONEY,MR CUMMINGS,MR BLACKBURN AND MR SWAN WENT THAT VERY NIGHT TO BASHAMS HOUSE. THEY CALLED OLD JIM OUT, WARNING HIS WIFE NOT TO FOLLOW. THESE FIVE MEN TOOK JIM BASHAM AND HANGED HIM TO A LOG PROJECTING FROM THE CORNER OF HIS OWN CORN CRIB. FEELING HIS SON WAS ALSO INVOLVED IN THE CRIME, THEY MADE HIM CONFESS TO THE CRIME AND HE WAS LED AT A DISTANCE AND THE FIVE MEN EACH HAVING A GUN AIMED AND FIRED , NO ONE KNEW WHICH BULLET WAS THE ONE THAT KILLED MR BASHAM'S SON.................. REDFIN_02 |
MICHEL BERGERON DIT NANTES |
HERE IS AN INTERESTING STORY ABOUT MICHEL BERGERON DIT NANTES PRINTED IN A LOUSIANA JORNAL IN 1872.
WHEN THE ENGLISH UNDER THE COMMAND OF COLONEL MONKTON WERE ORDERED TO CAPTURE THE FRENCH (ACADIANS) SOME OF THE ACADIANS FLED IN INTO THE WOODS NEAR ST.JOHN RIVER IN NEW BRUNSWICK. THESE FAMILIES WERE ORIGINALLY FROM GRAND PRE AND BEAUSEJOUR NOVA SCOTIA. THEY LIVED AMONG THE INDIANS (TODAY NATIVE AMERICANS)FOR A FEW YEARS. THESE FAMILIES WERE HOPING THAT THE NATIVE AMERICANS WOULD MOVE FAR ENOUGH FROM CANADA SO THEY COULD SETTLE DOWN BUT THE NATIVE AMERICANS NEVER WANDERED FAR , THE ACADIANS DECIDED TO LEAVE THESE NATIVE AMERICANS AND TRY THEIR LUCK THRU THE WOODS. COLONEL MONKTON ORDERED HIS MEN TO FIND THESE REFUGEES SO THE REFUGEES DECIDED TO FLEE TO QUEBEC. IN 1758 THEY BEGAN THEIR JOURNEY UNDER THE GUIDE OF MICHEL BERGERON DID NANTE WHO WAS A TRAPPER AND COUREUR DE BOIS...MICHEL WAS 56 YEARS OLD AT THE TIME...THERE WERE MANY MEN WOMEN CHILDREN AND BABIES. SOME OF THE FAMILIE NAMES WHO MADE THE TREK WERE BELLLIVEAU,GAUDETS,POIRIER,BERGERON,BOURQUES,BECASSE ,LA MONTAGNE. THEY TRAVELLED THROUGH THE WOODS ALL DURING THE SUMMER, WOMEN CARRYING BABIES ON THEIR SHOULDERS, WHILE THE MEN CARRIED THE BAGGAGE,SEARCHED THE WOODS, HUNTED AND MADE THE CAMPS FOR THE NIGHT. THEY LIVED ON BEAVER, PARTRIDGES AND OTHER ANIMALS THAT THEY CAUGHT IN THEIR TRAPS SINCE ALL THEY HAD AS TOOLS WERE HATCHETS AND KNIVES.THEY SPENT THE WINTER IN CACAUNA , IN THE SPRING THEY ALL BOARDED CANOES THAT THEY HAD MADE DURING THE WINTER AND SAILED UP THE RIVER TO ST. GREGOIRE QUEBEC WHERE MANY SETTLED.\ TREES_42 |
THOMAS JEFFERSON RHODES WAS BORN IN GEORGIA IN 1849. HE CAME FROM A LITTLE COMMUNITY NEAR CLEVELAND ARKANSAS AROUND 1880 CALLED SUNNYSIDE.... HE WAS ALSO THE YOUNGEST FREIGHTER IN LAWRENCE COUNTY ALABAMA. HE FREIGHTED WITH A TEAM OF 6 OXEN FROM DECANTUR AND OFTEN FERRIED ACROSS THE GREAT TENNESSEE RIVER TO HUNTSVILLE.. IN 1869 YOUNG TOM SAT ON HIS HORSE IN THE TOWN SQUARE AND NOTICED A TINY YOUNG LADY GETTING OUT OF A CARRIAGE IN A WHIRL OF STARCHED PETTICOATS. JUST THEN A GUST OF WIND BLEW HER BONNET FROM HER HEAD. HE LEAPED FROM HIS HORSE TO RETRIEVE IT AND MET HER STRICKEN EYES.....FEVER HAD LEFT HER TOTALLY BALD. IT WAS THE FIRST MEETING WITH HIS FUTURE WIFE,ELLEN HARVILLE, AND THEN HER HAIR GREW AND SO DID THEIR LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER WHICH WAS TO REMAIN STRONG FOR AROUND 67 YEARS...............REDFIN_02 |
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