The beginning

I have decided to start using a blog after having visited my niece's blog.

My primary purpose is to record a trip my wife and I took several years ago to discover my father's family history.  This journey took us from country stores to country churches with a fire station and cemetery thrown in as well.  Once I have it started, I plan to share it with all of the descendents of Thomas Hardy Ingram, who was my grandfather.  We will visit North Carolina and Virgina as we follow the family migration from Winston Salem through Bassett, Virgina and over to Ingramville, Virginia.  That's right, our family home place is located smack dab in the middle of Ingramville.

Join me on the journey........

My Father talks about Stokes County

As I began to think about tracing back my family history, I talked to both my mother and my father about their childhood and their memory of the family as they grew up.  Dad told me a lot more about this than my mother did so I began to focus on his history.  It all began with some conversations about Stokes County, North Carolina.  He talked about Sandy Ridge, Germantown and Walnut Cove.  And he told me his grandmother was buried at Northview Primitive Baptist Church which was somewhere in Stokes County.  So, I thought if I ever decided to go research our family history, it had to start in Stokes County.  All of these conversations took place prior to 1990 when I lost both my father, Johnnie Creed Ingram,

and my mother, Mary Louise Ingram.

The pivotal event that made me act on these stories and go discover my family was that my grandfather, Thomas Hardy Ingram, died.  I took his obituary and used it to begin the trip.

More on that later.

Before we begin the journey......

This trip is about finding my ancestors on my Father's side.  Before we begin, I'd like to add the family who can trace their roots back though Johnnie Creed Ingram and Mary Ingram.  Here's a view of that family:

Descendants of Johnnie Creed Ingram and Mary Louise Huckabee

Johnnie Creed Ingram  - Mary Louise Huckabee

            Peggy Ann Ingram  - Mike Tardif
                        Deborah Ann Tardif 
                                    Mary Lauren Tardif

Betty Jean Ingram - Harry S. Archer III 
                        Michael Alexander Archer

                        William Creed Archer  - Glenda Clanford 
                                    Hannah Grace Archer

                        David Lee Archer - Kimberly Dawn Hamlett

                                    Noah Wesley Archer

           Larry Creed Ingram – Wanda Boyette
                       Jeffrey Creed Ingram - Valerie Coleman

                       James Patrick Ingram

           Donald Glynn Ingram - Addie Virginia Walters

                       John Bradford Ingram - Margaret Elizabeth Parker 
                                   Caroline Elizabeth Ingram 
                                   Parker Creed Ingram
                       Amy Elizabeth Ingram

           Dalton Lynn Ingram - Sandra Sue Mayer

They had two daughters and three sons, 8 grandchildren, and 5 great grandchildren.

Creed and Mary's Parents and Siblings

As we move backward along the family tree, I thought I might add the next generation of family as we go.  Here is Daddy's family:

Thomas Hardy Ingram 1889 - 1986 - Matilda Fountain Anders 1890 - 1924

              Dorothy Ingram
              Robert Ingram
              Luvie Ingram 1912- 1990
              Johnnie Creed Ingram 1917-1990 - Mary Louise Huckabee 1919 - 1990
              LiIIie Ingram

Granddaddy married again to Ruth Carpenter
 Thomas Hardy Ingram - Ida Ruth Carpenter
              Joe Mac Ingram
              Billy Ray Ingram
              Louise Ingram

And, here is Mama's family:

William Henry Huckabee 1887 - 1962  - Eveline Peele 1898 - 1931 (or Evelyn)
               Mary Louise Huckabee 1919 - 1990 - Johnnie Creed Ingram 1917- 1990
               Buddy Henry Huckabee,Jr.
               Annie Lee Huckabee 1924 - 1991
               Pearl Peele Huckabee
               Ethel Huckabee
               Martha Evelen Huckabee

I don't have much information on Mama's parents.  The record I have is her father, William Henry Huckabee had a father named Eli Huckabee.  I don't have his wife's name.  Her mother was the daughter of Thad and Mary Peele.

I did not realize that I was missing so many dates so I will try to clear that up as I go alone.  Our next step will be to go up one generation to see the father, mother and siblings for Thomas Hardy Ingram.

Grandaddy Tom

Grandaddy Tom died on January 24th, 1986.

Here is his obituary:

Thomas Hardy Ingram, 96, of 1018 Deluca Street, died suddenly Friday, January 24, at his home.

Funeral services were held at 2 p.m. Sunday at the McDougald

Funeral Home. officiated by Rev. Lewis McLean.

Burial was. In Hillside Memorial Park with his grandsons, Glynn Ingram, Lynn Ingram, Larry Ingram, Robert Ingram, Jr. ,Richard Ingram and Tommy Fuller serving as pallbearers.

Born November 3, 1889 in Stokes County he was a son of the late James Ingram and Minnie Gann Ingram.  He was. a: watchman for Morgan Mills until his retirement in 1963.

Survivors include his wife, Ida Ruth Carpenter Ingram; four sons, Robert Ingram of Ellerbe, Johnny Creed Ingram and Joe Mac Ingram of Laurinburg, and Billy Ingram of Wagram; three daughters, Luvie Morgan of Vass, Dorothy Varner of Greensboro, and Louise Hayes of Ocean Isle; two brothers, Jack Ingram and Raymond Ingram of Winston-Salem; five sisters, Maggie Dalton of Greensboro, Eunice Bowman and Idell Bowman of Walnut Cove, Mince Ingram and Pearl Ingram of Pittsburgh, PA; 18 grandchildren; 23 great. grandchildren; and 5 great great grandchildren.

Sandy and I used this obituary to start our journey to find my ancestors.  We went in 1986 to find Grandma's gravesite and to visit the Church Daddy grew up in. 

As noted, there are references to Greensboro, Walnut Cove and Winston-Salem.  In 1998, we decided to strike out for Walnut Cove and try to find Idell Bowman, one of Granddaddy's sisters.  Along the way, we also decided to find the church where Granddaddy's father and mother were buried.  We really had no idea where we would go from there but we wound up getting back to Alexander Ingram who lived in the 1700's.  I'll write about him as we continue the journey.

Finding Grandma Anders' Grave

Based on some research from Daddy and visiting courthouses and cemeteries, I pieced together this information on Granddaddy's family. 

James W. Ingram 1868 - ?- Minnie Holland Gann 1869 - 1959

     Maggie Ingram Gilbert - 1892 - ? - Gilbert

     Jack Ingram

     Thomas Hardy Ingram 1889 - 1986 - Matilda Fountain Anders 1890 - 1924
              Johnnie Creed Ingram 1917-1990 - Mary Louise Huckabee 1919 - 1990

     Raymond Ingram 1909 - 1997 - Mary Margaret Matthews 1918-1991

     Mencye Ingram

     Laura Ellen Ingram 1898 - 

     Lena Pearl Ingram 1901 - ? - Foster

     Bertha Renna Ingram 1902 - 1958

     Willie Sampson Ingram 1904 - ? - Ida

     Mary Idell Ingram 1908 - ? - Lindsay Bowman

     Eunice Irene Ingram - 1911 - Bowman

     Maggie Ingram - Ray Dalton

     

In 1986, Sandy and I decided to try and find Northview Primitive Baptist Church near Walnut Cove, NC.  This is where Daddy's mother, Matilda Anders, was buried.

And Daddy went to this church as a child.  On our way to find it, we stopped at an old country store and spoke to the gentleman who ran it.  His voice and intonation was an exact copy of Granddaddy.  If I had closed my eyes, I would have thought he was speaking to me.

When we went in the church, the pews were worn from the members sitting so long on Sundays to hear the sermons.  I remember Daddy telling me that did not have Sunday school.  Also, there were hymnals but no music - they just sung the psalms.  Up by the pulpit, we found a well worn Bible and a pitcher for water.  We could imagine the preacher in the Spirit on Sunday.

Grandmother Anders grave was just out the back door in the cemetery.  Across the street, there was a shady spot with a creek.  I would imagine they had gatherings after Church here and did their baptisms in the creek.

Starting the trip up to Stokes County

In 1998, Sandy and I decided to drive up through Stokes County to find Granddaddy Tom's Father and Mother.  We had Great Granddaddy's James Obituary and we wanted to try and meet Granddaddy's sister, Idell.  Here is the obituary:

JAMES W. INGRAM 

DANBURY, Dec. 30 — James Ingram, 97, of Route 2, Walnut Cove, died today at a Winston-Salem hospital.  Surviving are seven daughters, Mrs. W. L. Bowman, Mrs. J. T. Bowman and Miss Laura Ingram of Walnut Cove, Miss Mencye Ingram, Mrs. J. P. Gilbert, Mrs. Pearl Foster, all of Pittsburgh, PA and Mrs. J. A. Dalton of Greensboro; four sons, Tom Ingram of Laurinburg, James Ingram of Winston-Salem, Raymond Ingram of Pittsburgh, and Will Ingram of Walnut Cove; one sister, Mrs. Emma Koger of Bassett, Va.; 35 grandchildren, 43 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at Pine Ridge Primitive Baptist Church by Elder V. V. Willard. Burial will be in the church cemetery.

My father told me that James ran a sawmill in Walnut Cove.  We found the land deed for his property as we did our research on this trip.  More on that later.

We also got to meet Idell and that is a wonderful story.  I'll talk about that on my next post.