Excerpts from the HALLMARK FAMILY HISTORY HOMEPAGE at (To Show the Connection from George Hallmark to L

Excerpts from THE HALLMARK FAMILY HISTORY HOMEPAGE at http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ranch/1820/ (to show the connection from George Hallmark to L. L. Wikle of Madison, Alabama – see highlighted areas) ------------------------------------------------------------ Welcome to the Hallmark Family History Homepage, a place designed for all Hallmarks in America, providing important information dating back to George Hallmark (1742-1809/15), the known primogeniture of all Hallmarks in America. We hope you can benefit from this site. My name is James Hallmark, the son of Carl Hallmark. I am from the East Texas city of Crockett, which is the county seat of Houston County, the oldest county in the state of Texas, and a well known one for genealogist. It is to Houston County that three sons (or branches) of the Hallmark family first came in the 1830s. They and some of their sons even signed the famous petition that created Houston Co., before any other counties were organized. The county also included the modern-day counties of Anderson and Henderson. I am part of branch #3 (which you will learn about below). Adam Hallmark, who helps me with much of this, is the son of Rodney Hallmark, and is a distant Hallmark cousin from Tuscumbia, Alabama. He is from branch #2 (see below). We also try and combine our efforts with Bill Hallmark (branch #5), Gloria Hallmark Johnson (branch #7), and James Scott Hallmark (branch #1). There are many others as well. Of the 10 branches in our family tree, most stayed in and around Alabama, while three were blessed enough to make it to Texas (#s 3,4,and 5). Over the last few years, we have all watched this homepage grow, as well as the family association. It has been very rewarding. As a family, we hope it is also beneficial to you. If nothing else, we just hope to get all our relatives familiar with the basic story of George and Leannah Hallmark -- as well as his 10 children. If you have any questions, comments, or problems figuring out from which of the 10 branches you are descended, please send us an email and we will try our best to help. Email for James is http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ranch/1820/[email protected] while the real address is: Hallmark Family History, c/o James & Carl Hallmark, P.O. Box 11, Crockett, Texas 75835-0011. If you have a specific question concerning Alabama, you might also want to email Adam at [email protected]. Whatever you do, we will try our best to get back to you in a timely manner (though all of us work and the correspondences do tend to "pile-up" at times). Good luck with all your research. God Bless. Goals of this Homepage: 1) to encourage interaction between all Hallmark ancestors; 2) to promote awareness of our family history; and 3) to eliminate reoccurring errors that are out there. Subjects of this Homepage, in Order of Appearance: Part 1: The History of George Hallmark (Timeline At End) Part 2: The 10 Family Branches of the Hallmark Family Part 3: The Hallmark Historical Quarterly Part 4: Hallmark Family Association 3 Part 5: Latest Family News (as of Fall 02) PART 1: HISTORY OF GEORGE HALLMARK (OUR COMMON ANCESTOR) (A summarized timeline appears at the end of this narrative) George Hallmark, the presumed progenitor of all the Hallmarks in the United States, is believed to have been born in 1742 in Marbury, England, the illegitimate son of Mary Hallmark. He died some seventy plus years later in northern Alabama, having fathered some ten or eleven children who survived to adulthood. In 1989 there were 1231 family units with the last name of Hallmark listed in phone directories throughout the continental United States. All these families are believed to be descendants of George Hallmark and his wife Leanna Mynatt (Hallmarks Across America). The first reference we have to George is his baptismal record dated 23 June 1742. He was listed in the church records of St. Oswald's (Anglican) Church, Malpas, England, as the "illegitimate son of Mary Hallmark", and as such was given her sirname. St. Oswald's Church rest on a small hill in the center of the small town of Malpas, Cheshire County, east of Wales. It is an old Norman town built during the Middle Ages with the duty of keeping the peace in the nearby Welsh borderlands. Inside the church at the back wall, one can still find the stone baptismal font with its oak cover on which is carved the date of 1627. It was here that the infant George Hallmark was brought to be baptized. Along the tops of the columns in the central aisle are embellished family crest. The nave ceiling has a rich array of carvings, bosses, and angels. (Malpas, Chester History Sheet 3) George Hallmark's family lived and probably farmed in Marbury (also in Cheshire), a small rural community east southeast of Malpas. At the center of this town is St. Michael's (Anglican) Church. This was likely to have been the center of the life of the town when George lived here. St. Michael's is outwardly similar in appearance to the church at Malpas, the latter probably being used for special occasions such as baptisms and weddings. This smaller church at Marbury was used for regular services and is still used today on a regular basis by the small surrounding community. (St. Michael's Church Pamphlet) The next reference of George can be found in the records of the Crown Court Papers, February 9, 1766, Shrewsbury, County of Shropshire, Oxford Circuit, where George is charged with stealing a linen hankerchief containing monies [money]. He pleaded "not guilty". The Summer 1764 to Lent 1767 court records show that "George Candiland, alias Hallmark" was indicted "for Felony [of] Stealing One Linnen Hankerchief Value 2d, half a sovereign in gold and eleven shillings in monies of Andrew Mansell the Younger at the Parish of Whitchurch, North Shropshire on the borders of Cheshire, 12 January, sixth year of the reign of George the Third." (1766) "Proved Guilty. No goods. To be transported for seven years... At the Assizes of Shrewsbury held 22 day March, sixth year of Lord Sovereign George III King of Great Britain..." Oxford Circuit of Crown Paper. (Source: Olwen Allmark Taylor) In Bonded Passengers to America, 1663-1775, by Peter Wilson Coldham, a three volume set, there is a volume sub-titled "Western Oxford, Norfolk, Northern and Midland Circuits" which mentions George Hallmark. His name is to be found in Shropshire, page 57, where he is listed as "Candiland, alias Hallmark, George" or on page 60 as "Halmark, George see Candiland". It is assumed by some that Candiland was his real father's name. Olwen Allmark Taylor reports that there were families of that last name in this area at the time. There is no evidence, however, to support or dispute this supposition which has been further perpetuated by entry into the Ancestral File, TN Vers. 4.2, of the Latter Day Saints Genealogy Files. The ship of his transport is not given [though it is possible to narrow it down to several ships that left during this time frame]. It is assumed that he served his seven years as an indentured servant, in the colony of Virginia. 3 The first documented reference to George Hallmark in America was in Virginia in what is now Botetourt County (then Fincastle County) where he appeared on a list of delinquent tax payers returned by Daniel Trigg, Deputy Sheriff for the year 1773. (Fincastle County was created in 1772 from Botetort and abolished in 1777) At a court held for Fincastle December 6, 1774, a list of delinquents in the New River and reed Creek Area was recorded by the court as that part containing tithables that ought to be received by the vestry of the Parish of Botetort. George Holmark [Hallmark] was on this list. (Kegley, pp. 103-06) By circa 1773, George had married or "taken up with" Leannah Mynott. There appears to be no recorded documentation of a marriage. Marriages at this time, however, were performed by the Episcopal (Anglican) Church and were very expensive, often not within the means of most people. Leannah was the daughter of Richard Mynatt and Sarah Cummings, also English immigrants. Richard had been indentured at the age of 20 for four years as a cook to the honorable Thomas Lee, Esquire of Virginia. He earned eight pounds sterling per year cooking in the kitchen of the Lee's, a good wage for a cook. His place in history is secured by his being the first indentured servant to sue successfully for release from his master, Phillip Ludwell Lee, heir of Thomas Lee, July 31, 1754. (Kamikaw and Westmoreland Orders) George Hallmark's claim for payment for services rendered as a drover [driver] and butcher during the American Revolution were ordered to be paid at a meeting of the Botetourt County Court, on April 11, 1782.(Public Service Claims, Botetourt Court, p19) Again on July 30, 1783 George Hallmark was granted a warrant for horsehire services to the militia in January of 1781. (Public Service Claims Commission Book I, p166) According to DAR documentation of Mary Spence Wooters, DAR National #562047, George "rendered patriotic service in Botetourt County, Va." She cites the same reference, page 167. It would appear that George had trouble getting paid for delivering goods to the militia of our revolutionary army. According to a list of North Carolina Land Grants in what was then called "The Western Lands", #1843 shows that George received 350 acres "on both sides of Lick Creek" (in what is now Greene County, TN).

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