3-28 Tuesday- Calvary Cemetery and the Groveton HIstorical Museum

                                         Calvary  Cemetery- Nogalus Prairie

This is the resting place of many of my ancestors:

 g-g grandfather-AJ Womack who died in 1867 (no recognizable gravestone) and his son- James Cornelius Womack- my great grandfather.

James Cornelius Womack

Gravestone of my great grandparents- James Cornelius Womack d 1895 and his wife Nancy Frances Taylor d 1943.

James Cornelius and Nancy Frances Womack

Nancy Frances Taylor Obit from the Houston Chronicle

g-g-g grandparents-Levin Ainsworth d 1861 and his wife Mary "Polly" Garrett d 1870
g-g grandparents- Robert Ransford Taylor d 1874 and his wife Jennie Ainsworth Taylor d 1906

New marker for Jennie Ainsworth Taylor- mother of Nancy Francis Taylor Womack

The original graves of RR Taylor and Jennie Ainsworth are now falling into ruin

My great-grandmother (Nancy Francis Taylor Womack) has brothers and a sister buried here; Lee Murl Taylor d 1891, Jim Taylor d 1888, William Taylor d 1929, John Taylor d 1876, and Matilda Taylor West d 1906. Matilda's husband was killed in the civil war.

My grandmother's sister Emma Womack Garrison is buried here as well with her husband and children. This is the mother of Lester and Pearl who were good friends of my parents when they lived in Houston.

Emma Garrison front left with my grandmother Mattie Garrison and great grandmother Nancy Frances Taylor Womack- with other the Womack sisters standing

                                     Groveton Historical Museum
We spent a few hours with Susanne, the president of the historical society. She was trying to catch up on the history of the Womack's so we had a lot to share.

                                                   Womack Ranch

We turned down Womack Road and found the Womack Ranch. We could see the old log cabin from the road- also a huge brahman bull among the cattle in the field.

                                 
                   Holly Bluff on the Neches River- near the Womack Ranch

3-27 Monday- Town Bluff and Woodville- a blast from the past!

After a beautiful sunrise on the lake we left our campsite this morning to continue westward. The Neches River was dammed up to form this lake. On the far side, the bluffs were once the place of Town Bluff- a bustling community that once held hopes of becoming the "Natchez of the Neches." AJ Womack and Rebecca Franklin stopped here on their way west to visit with their uncle, James B. Franklin, who was residing here with his family in 1850.

We stopped by a historical village in nearby Woodville Texas to see buildings and exhibits of life at that time.

The general store had an interesting coffin with a window for the face of the deceased!

We drove on to Lufkin and stopped at the library which has a wonderful genealogy section. Then we drove on to Davy Crockett National Forest where we found our campsite at Ratcliff Lake Campground. 

3-26 Camping on the Neches River

Drove to Texas! Stayed at Sandy Creek Campground on the banks of the Neches River.

3-25- Saturday- Day 2 on the Trace

We found a beautiful campground last night- Rocky Springs Campground right on the Natchez Trace. We parked in a lovely spot. Best of all- this is a free campground!

Rocky Springs Campground on the Natchez Trace

We had a heavy thunderstorm last night and our site was pretty wet this morning. We were really glad that we weren't in a tent! It only took a few minutes to organized the camper and we were on our way!

A soggy morning- but we were dry inside!

We stopped by the Sunken Trace, where the footsteps of so many travelers had worn down the trail.

A section of the sunken trace- worn down by thousands of travelers

Next we drove to Port Gibson and wound our way down some back roads to find the Windsor Ruins. This plantation survived the Civil War, only to burn in 1894. These were some of the most impressive ruins I have ever seen in North America.

Our little camper was dwarfed by these magnificent columns

By then we had worked up an appetite. We drove to The Country Store in Lorman, Mississippi- made famous by Alton Brown claiming they had the "best fried chicken I ever ate!" A huge buffet greeted us with fried chicken, fried pork chops, smothered chicken and pork chops, and every side dish you could wish for. We were greeted by "Mr. D," the owner, who reminds me of the southern version of Chip Chase. Besides greeting everyone personally, he walked around singing songs about his grandma's cooking. Dinner with a show!

Me and Mr. D

From there we drove to Washington, once the territorial capital. We visited Jefferson College, established in 1803 to educate the young men of the territory.

Jefferson College, Washington, Mississippi

It was just a short drive from there to Natchez. We took the bridge over to Vidalia, Louisiana, where we have a campsite right on the Mississippi River overlooking Natchez. We had a nice walk along the river and spent the evening watching the tugboats push their cargo up and down the river.

The view from our camper last night shows the bridge to Natchez lit up for the evening.

3-24- Friday- The Natchez Trace Day 1- Vicksburg

           We started out at our roving "office" to catch up with technology!

Senior coffee- 50 cents with free re-fills!

Free wi-fi- our mobile office! Thanks, McDonalds!


Heading out on the Natchez Trace today.

For you Floridians, did you know that West Florida once stretched all the way to the Mississippi River, and some of our ancestors lived there?

We turned off the trace to visit Vicksburg National Military Park. A number of our relatives died or were captured at Vicksburg. Several were close relatives of my great-great grandparents, AJ Womack and Rebecca Franklin. One was AJ Womack's nephew- Thomas Beasley Dent. He died in February 1863- age 17. His brother was captured when Vicksburg surrendered. Two of their cousins- Ferdinand Dent Kennedy and David Jasper Kennedy, were killed on June 23, 1863.  All four of these young men were grandsons of Sarah Dent Womack- wife of Richard Womack, who raised AJ Womack from the time he was a baby. Many other relatives fought in the siege and battle of Vicksburg.

Canons at Vicksburg

3-23- Scott County Mississippi Courthouse and Bluegrass in Polkville

                           How do you spell soul food? Forest, Mississippi!

Giant Roosters seem to be the theme animal in Forest

But they have cute fire hydrants, too!

At the Scott County Courthouse we found land records. The earliest land books contain a mass tragedy....the land records note the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit and are filled with page after page of names of Choctaw citizens who made their mark to sign away their rights to this beautiful countryside. The Choctaw who had fought against the Creeks to protect the settlers and fought along Andrew Jackson in New Orleans to chase out the British and save American from re-colonization were now being chased out by the American government and President Andrew Jackson himself. Page after page of unfamiliar Choctaw names, followed by book after book of new names of settlers taking over the lands- including the names of my grandmother's grandparents, Robert R. Taylor, and his wife Jane.

Although I know that they were married in Scott County, the land records show them as being from Simpson County. Records show them selling land in March, 1839. One interesting record is noted below-

"Personally appeared before me, A. Graham, Justice of the Peace.....Jane Taylor, wife of Robert Taylor, who on a private examination from her husband acknowledged that she signed sealed and delivered this deed....as her voluntary act and deed freely, without any fear, threats, or compulsion of her husband."
I have seen this before; apparently it was the norm at the time; an early attempt to protect women's rights!


After our research we stopped by "The Garden Patch"- an unassuming building in Forest that was packed with cars and trucks. This simple but delicious buffet is served from 11-2 daily. We had fried chicken, barbecued pork, cornbread, fried okra,greens, turnips, lima beans, baked beans, black eyed peas, mashed potatoes and gravy, potato salad, green salad, deviled eggs, and a selection of desserts. For WVU football fans, on the way out the cashier said she heard we were from WV and told us that her sister's ex was head football coach at WVU! He was at Ole Miss first. Everyone is friendly and polite. It is easy to get used to.

Now an afternoon nap is in order!
Here is the campground pet...

Evening found us at a bluegrass festival in Polkville, Mississippi- a town about 7 miles from our campsite, and the place where my 3rd great grandfather, Henry Franklin, a justice of the peace and master Mason, died before he could make the trip to Texas to join his daughters. The festival place was full of campers that come here for the whole week. We set up our chairs in the "Music Barn" a nice building with a stage, ceiling fans, and lighting. The music was a combination of bluegrass and gospel, with a special comical selection of 50's music complete with costumes, an Elvis, Willy Nelson, and bobby soxers (now in their 70's) who danced to the music. One old man in his 90's who could barely walk got up there and danced like he must have in the old days. He was as good as the show!

"Elvis" and his blue grass band at the Music Barn in Polksville, Mississippi