Granville County Genealogical Society 1746, Inc. www.gcgs.org Officers for 2016 President - Mildred C. Goss Vice President – Vacant Treasurer - Allen Dew Recording Secretary – Bonnie Breedlove Society Chronicler - Bonnie Breedlove Corresponding Secretary - Velvet Woodlief Publication Editor – Allen Dew Membership Membership is open to anyone with an interest in the genealogical research and preservation of materials that might aid in family research in Granville County or elsewhere. Membership in the Society includes: individual membership $20.00 (digital journal), individual membership $25.00 (mailed journal) and family membership (receiving one mailing) $25.00. Members in the Society receive the Society Messenger Newsletter and the Granville Connection Journal. Membership is for one year and renewal date will be one year from joining date. These are mailed out in March, June, September and December each calendar year. Editorial Policy The Granville Connections Journal places its emphasis on material concerning persons or activities in the area known as Granville County in 1746. This includes present day Warren, Franklin, and Vance County. Members are encouraged to submit material for publication. The editorial staff will judge the material on relevance to area, interest, usefulness and content. Members are encouraged to submit queries for each journal. Each submission should be fully documented, citing the sources or it will not be printed. Submissions will not be returned, but will be placed in the North Carolina Room at the Richard H. Thornton Library in Oxford, North Carolina, which is the repository of the Society. The Society publication committee cannot assume responsibility for errors in submissions for publication. Corrections will be noted in subsequent issues. Correspondence Please notify the Society of any change in address as soon as possible. Send change of address card to GCGS, P.O. Box 1746, Oxford, NC 27565-1746. Address all mail concerning the Society to: Granville County Genealogical Society 1746, Inc., Post Office Box 1746, Oxford, NC 27565-1746 or contact the Board through www.gcgs.org Copyright 2014-2016 by the Granville County Genealogical Society 1746, Inc. All rights reserved. Granville County Genealogical Society 1746, Inc is a non-profit tax exempt under 501 (C) (3). Granville Connections Journal of the Granville County Genealogical Society 1746, Inc. Volume 22 Number 4 December 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS The Society Messenger .................................................................................................................................. i Death Notices for September, October, November ........................................................................................ 112 Recent Acquisitions, North Carolina Room, Richard Thornton Library ...................................................... 115 Wish List for the North Carolina Room, Richard Thornton Library ........................................................... 121 Leroy Lafayette Crews and Ellen Hamill Crews .......................................................................................... 122 Mr. J.M. Cotten Dead .................................................................................................................................. 122 Bible Record of Samuel P. Wilson and Martha Baker ................................................................................. 123 Obituary for Mrs. Caroline Smith ................................................................................................................. 125 Granville County Marriages (continued) ...................................................................................................... 127 THE SOCIETY MESSENGER Volume 22 Number 4 Published quarterly - March, June, September, December Website wwww.gcgs.org From the President— Fully name indexed. 142 pages. from 78 different bibles. Available in Hard Cover and Here we are finishing off the 22ndn year of our Paperback. Society. What a story! We have had many very interesting programs, found many lost Youu may order your copy from our web store: ancestors, published many books on our WWW.LULU.COM/spotlight/GCGS17446 families and the list goes on. I hope we have given each member a small bit of information that they could use to fill in a When you are renewing your membership to the gap in their family history through our Sociiety don’t forget to state if you want your Journal and Newsletter over the years. Journnal and Neewsletter printed or digital delivery by E-mail. We strongly encourage the When I set up the first meeting to organize digital version since it saves you and the society the Society in 1994, I never in a million a lot of money. Costs of printing and postage years thought we would be in business 22 have gotten very expensive. The best thing about years later. Our speakers have come from all the digital copy is it being searchable. over the United States to share their information with us. All of them had family Please refer to the price changes on the website befoore writing your check so you will have the roots in Granville County. correct amount in the check. Allen has the price changes on the website to make it easier for you. We as a Society have helped build the North Also it is inside on the back page of your Carolina Room at the R.H. Thornton Library Journnal. from a small room to a huge room with thousands of volumes of information to help Make sure you haave your corrrect address and the researcher find their missing zip code as well as your EMAIL address so we information. The North Carolina room is will have no probllem getting the mailings to you. known now as one of the best places in the If you have not renewed your membership, do so nation to do research. As a Society we will now continue to help the North Carolina Room. If you want to contribute an article for the Journnal please email it to me at this email More information on our Society will appear address, [email protected] in future editions of the Newsletter. ___________________________________ A reminder: visit our website often. Our Announcing Our Newest Publication webmaster surprises even me with his updates and changes. Also visit Lula.com Bible Records of Old Granville County to see what puubblications that we have for North Carolina sale to add to your collection. Until next Names, birth and death dates, marriage dates, within old family bibles. You will not time. find this information elsewhere. Happy researching, Mildred PASSPORT ISSUED IN 1821 OWNED BY PRESSLEY DAVIS With a single guess, what state, or what county within a state would you place the holder of U. S. Passport No. 77? No need to guess for W. Pressley Davis of Route 4, Oxford, Abrams Plains, a retired engineer, has the answer. The passport, which bears the signature of John Quincy Adams, who later became president of the United States was issued to John Granville Smith of Abrams Plains and bears the date of April 5, 1821. In those days, no identifying picture was required but the face of the passport provided details of the appearance of the applicant. Smith was five feet, eight inches tall, had hazel eyes, dark hair and fair complexion. The passport reads: “I, the Secretary of State of the United States of America, hereby request all whom it may concern to permit safely and freely John G. Smith, a citizen of the United States and in case of need give him all lawful aid and protection. “Given under my hand and the impression of the seal of the Department of State at the City of Washington the fifth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and twenty one, in the year of Independence of these United States.” Signed: John Quincy Adams. The passport, on the opposite side, reads "Approved to embark for France from London Dec 11, 1821" and also a seal of each of the nations in which Smith traveled, returned to the U. S. in Feb. 1822. Note: Also on same page was the following; John Granville Smith born March 5, 1772 at Abram’s Plains, Granville County, NC. Son of Col. Samuel Smith, 1729-1800 and wife Mary Webb Smith, 1740- 1827. Died Oct 2, 1828 at Abram’s Plains. Richmonod, VA Mar 31, 1821. Dear Mother: I shall leave this place tomorrow morning for New York and intend to sail for Liverpool in the Ship Nester, Capt Macy, on the 10th April, etc. I am Dear Mother Your son. John G. Smith W. Pressley Davis had the letter and passport at Abram’s Plains November 30, 1975. This information was taken from the publication “Smiths of Abram’s Plains” located in the North Carolina Room at the R. H. Thornton Library in Oxford, NC. Editor note: Imagine how many passports have been issued since Number 77 was issued. Mine has a number over 13 million 25 years ago. I would say close to 100 million today. That is a lot of work and travelling. GCGS Deaths for September, October, November 2016 Editors Note: This listing shows the deaths from the obituaries of three newspapers (Oxford Public Ledger, Butner/Creedmoor News, Henderson Dispatch) for the specified time. Names are listed as they appear in the papers. Their listed age, whether they were Buried or Cremated (many people would be looking for a tombstone and gravesites with burials, but with cremations they need to look for a death certificate or an obit). The date of death and parents if listed. Some Funeral Homes do not list the parents. Adcock, George Thomas 94 B 9/16/2016 Robert T. & Mattie Mangum Adcock Allen, Bessie Mae 84 B 9/2/2016 Gilbert & Addie Lyons Allen Allen, Inez 84 B 11/18/2016 Marshall & Ellen Royster Howard Balmer, Patsy Jean Dean 69 B 9/17/2016 Lillie Propst‐raised by Spencer Dean Berry, Marianna Daniel 79 B 8/28/2016 Sam & Gladys Daniel Blalock, Ralph Thomas Sr. 85 B 10/22/2016 Jean Howard Blalock & Mabel Parrott Blalock Boyd, Christy Ann 39 C 10/22/2016 Robert (Bob) & Sophia Boyd Bragg, Louise Strother 90 B 11/14/2016 B. Thorne Strother & Zelma Holmes Strother Brown, Larry Alston Sr. 64 C 9/2/2016 Lawrence & Vera Brown Bryan, Lynwood Sessums Jr. B 9/29/2016 Lynwood Sr. & Sallie Taylor Bryan Bryant, John Lewis 61 B 10/10/2016 Joe Leonard Bryant, Jr. & Lydia Daniel Bryant Bullock, Alan 91 C 10/12/2016 Hillary & Pauline Johnson Bullock Bullock, John R.