Alabama Day 2 - Research, Photocopies and Lions

An eleven hour day is over and while I didn't find what I was looking for, new discoveries were made. And I think more importantly, I met some really nice people!

I picked up cousin Randy from his hotel about 9 am this morning. We went to the Lauderdale County Courthouse looking for the Circuit County records from 1852. We hoped these records would provide us more information about Abner's murder. After trips to the fifth floor, fourth floor and back to the fifth, we were able to speak directly with the Circuit Court Clerk. She spent about fifteen minutes with us trying to locate the records. Unfortunately, due to some renovations for asbestos removal, all of the records have been moved to an off-site storage unit. She offered to take my phone number and contact me when she located the records. It might be a couple of weeks, but they were all so very nice and accomodating at the courthouse, I can deal with the wait.

We then went over to the library so Randy could meet Lee and take a look at the Thrasher family files. Many Thrashers married into the Lambert family so the files contained lots of great information. Randy spent the greater part of an hour making photocopies for us to read later. Meanwhile, two other volunteers in the genealogy department were very excited to learn about a murder in Lauderdale County and starting searching some additional files. We discovered that the accused murderer, Burrell Warren, was shown in the 1850 census as living in Williamson County, TN with his wife and five children. This is important because Abner and his wife were married in Williamson County. It may be possible that Abner and Burrell knew each other.

Kitty, a volunteer at the library, also helped me decipher the Probate Records I had copied on Wednesday and we figured out that Abner had died prior to October 1851, probably August or September. We also realized that the murder probably took place near Abner's property, which was actually located in the most north western part of the county, actually very close to Tennessee. Therefore, it is possible that newspapers in Savannah, TN might have mentioned the murder. We will check this theory out when we go the Hardin County Library on Saturday.

Cousin Carolyn met us at the library around 12:30 and took us on a tour of the area. We grabbed some lunch and then went to Helen Keller's birthplace at Ivy Green in Tuscumbia. It was very cool to see the little cottage where she and Anne Sullivan spent time and especially to see the water pump that changed Helen's life.

We spent some time seeing where Carolyn grew up - her church, family home and the homes of other relatives on the Hitchcock side.

We also went back to the courthouse to see if the Probate packet had any additional papers (it didn't) and went to University of Northern Alabama (UNA) campus library to look for 1851 Florence newspapers (there were none). Funniest thing - the mascot for UNA is the lion. Believe it or not, there is a lion habitat on the campus that contains a male and female lion. That's right!!! Lions on campus - so funny!!!

Carolyn headed home and Randy and I spent a little more time in the library. I was looking for some land deed records but by this point my eyes were so tired from looking at microfilm that I propbably missed it. That's okay, just another piece of the puzzle.

After a nice dinner (7 oz sirloin, baked potato and a frosty Coors Light, we met Carolyn at the local Office Depot where we proceeded to spend another hour making photocopies. Carolyn brought all of her records and we made many copies of photos, military records, newspaper articles and obituaries. Too much data to review tonight but I am sure I will enjoy reading it all later.

Tomorrow, we will head to Waterloo and the Panther Creek area where the Lambert family lived in the 1850's. We will then go to Walnut Grove, TN to met cousin Mac. Carolyn is bringing bbq pulled pork sandwiches for a picnic lunch and we will also check out some cemeteries in these areas. Carolyn has warned Randy and I that the area of Tennessee where we are heading is extremely rural, perhaps even "backward". We are also told that cell phones don't work in these hills. Oh boy - I am sure I will have stories to tell tomorrow night!! Util then...