Ken over at It Comes In Pints? has been posting old family photos and has posted a few times about researching his family tree. All his posts got me thinking about my family tree.

I’ve been into my family’s history since I was about 10 years old. There are two main reasons why researching my family tree has been so important to me. The first is history. I love history and knowing that my family came from a part of Virginia rich in history, I was curious if any of my ancestors participated in any historic events. It turns out that as far as I can tell, no they didn’t, but it was still fun to research. The second reason is probably the more important of the two, I wanted to know where I came from and what my place is in history. This is very important to me, because so much information has been lost about my family. My attempt to trace my line is in many ways the only information I have on my ancestors.

The Internet has made searching for your ancestors much easier, but when I started, I did it the old fashioned way, I hit the courthouse in the county where most of my ancestors lived and died. All I had was a few names, dates and whatever information my Dad could remember. It was frustrating and exhilarating all at the same time. Each book would give another lead or solve part of the puzzle. In the end, I was able to get back to around the mid to late 1700’s. The main issue with going further is that my family seems to have migrated up the James River peninsula towards Richmond and then West to Louisa County. I can find most of the information on my family who lived in Louisa because Louisa escaped damage during the Civil War. The other courthouses closer to Richmond did not do as well. I hope to spend some time in Richmond one day looking for any other information that will allow me to trace my line further back.

In a nut shell here is my line: Nathan, William, Anderson, Nathan, Lester, Elmer, James, Me. Then there are my three kids Nathan (my oldest), Charles (my 2nd son) and Madilyn (my daughter).

My great grandparents died in the flu epidemic after World War I when my grandfather was only 2 years old. He was sent to be raised by his maternal grandparents. My grandfather died when I was only 9 years old. Those two facts are partly why so little is known about our family. There was no one to tell the stories. There was no old Matriarch or Patriarch to hand down the legends and traditions. I know my ancestors names, but I know nothing about them.

That is incredibly sad to me. Were they good people? Were they fun to be around? How did they do as farmers? What did they do for a living? Did they have any incredible stories to pass along? And the list of questions just keeps going on.

All I have is a few names and a few pictures.

Here are the pictures I have of my direct line:

Anderson Talley

Nathan Talley

The caption said “Aunt Lula, Daddy and Mother” That would be Lester Talley, his sister Lula and his wife Sadie

Elmer Talley - my Granddad

James Talley - my Dad

Michael Talley - Me with family - Jennifer Talley (wife), Charles Talley, Madilyn Talley and Nathan Talley

The farm that Anderson Talley lived on was passed on to Nathan Talley. Nathan and his wife lived there until his wife died in 1940. Nathan’s son, Lester, bought a farm just down the road from his parents place.

After Lester and Sadie passed away, their sons farmed the land until they all grew up and moved to the City. The City being Washington DC and growing up was World War 2. The old house fell into disrepair and was eventually torn down. In the 1960’s, my Grandfather and his brothers built a hunting cabin on the foundation of the old house. As a kid, Granddad would take us there. We called it going to the country.

Growing up, my Dad told me that when he was a small child, his parents took him to see the old Talley homestead, Anderson’s old farm. He said there was an old cemetery located near where the old house once stood (it burned in the 1940’s). He could not remember who was buried there, but he said that outside that cemetery was an old slave cemetery. The slave cemetery had no grave markers, as they had been made of wood, but he remembered his Dad pointing out the location.

It became my goal in life to find the old Talley Homestead and to find that cemetery. I finally got my chance about 8 years ago. Searching in the courthouse records, I came across the plat of the Talley Homestead. My heart skipped a beat when I saw a cemetery outlined on the plat and the deed giving ingress and egress rights to the cemetery.

I found the current owners of the land who happened to live right next door to the property. I went up to their front door and politely explained who I was and what I wanted to do. She told me that she remembered seeing a cemetery up there but that no one had been up there in years. Making my way down the dirt path, I reached a clearing where the owner told me the old house once stood. Dad mentioned it was near the house, so I started looking in the woods. Miraculously enough, I found it. It was fenced in with a 4′ high chain link fence. A tangle of vines obscured what was inside the gate. I started pulling and stomping vines and finally made it over the fence and into the cemetery. More struggles with the vines ensued and I had to clear leaves off many of the headstones. But I found it. It was an amazing day for me.

Here I am at the headstone of Nathan Talley and his wife Maud:

I would love to go back in the fall or winter when the underbrush has a chance to die back and visit the cemetery again. My great Grandparents are not buried there, they were buried in my great Grandmother’s family plot. I want to find that cemetery as well.

There is one mystery though, where is Anderson Talley buried? I found a headstone for his wife, but there is nothing for him. Most of the headstones look new, like from sometime after 1940. It is my guess that the family updated the stones after Nathan’s wife (my Granddad called her Granny Talley and looked after her as a child) passed away in 1940. The headstone for her and Nathan is one solid stone as seen in the above picture. Again, there is no stone for Anderson. Seeing how the cemetery was on his land and that his wife was buried there, I don’t understand why there is no marker for him. It’s a mystery.

That’s what I know about my family line. I wish I knew more and maybe one day I will.

Here is a write up I did for a lady who helped fill in the gaps in my line. She did not have information on my direct line, but she had almost all the off shoots. It was fun to help her and in return, I now know about every Talley from the first Nathan in the mid to late 1700’s. If only I could get back further.