My Thanks to Everyone

My blog has proven to be one of the greatest tools that I have ever used in the research of my family. I have been contacted by so many family members that it has been incredible. I have been sent stories and pictures and family trees. Words cant express how wonderful this has all been.
I was recently contacted by a cousin on the Dowdy side. Her name is Pam and her Great Great Grandfather was Marcus (Mark) Luke Dowdy. Mark was the brother to my Great Great Grandmother Rebecca Francis Dowdy. I am going to start posting some of the information I have on the Dowdy family plus the information that Pam has shared on her family.
I have also been in contact with a cousin named Vickie. Her grandmother Grace Smith was the sister of my grandfather Elmer Smith. Vickie has shared so many stories with me about the family. Most of these stories I feel are special between her and I only. Some stories I will not share (its cool that way, its like we grew up together and we have secrets.)She did share some family knowledge that I never knew. This totally changes some of my Smith history, so I will be re-writing some of this to share with you all too. Hint: Andrew Jackson Smith Sr. appears to not to have been the son of John Joseph Smith and Lucinda Cunningham as once believed.
I also owe Leah Siegel, whom which I always misspell her name for some reason and if I did it again I apologize. Leah is the person who had sent me all the pictures of my great grand parents Andrew Smith Jr. and Cora Baggett Smith and my great great grandparents Robertson Baggett and Rebecca Dowdy and their family. Leah's boyfriend so happens to be another cousin on the Baggett side. What a great gift from her for sure. Thanks Leah!
I have also been sharing with Tony and Phyllis whom are cousins to me also, on the Baggett side. They have shared their family story with me and contributed the picture of Walter Baggett and Artie Smith. In fact we are double cousins, because they descend from Walter Baggett whom is my Grandmother Cora's brother and his wife Artie is the daughter of my great great grandfather Andrew Jackson Smiths Sr's son Thomas Smith.
And there's Debbie, who is related on the Fox side. She has shared her tree with me too. Together we are looking for information on the Fox Family.
I want to thank everyone for their pictures, stories and family information. I will be adding and revising to this blog with all this new information.

Excuses for Me Being a Slacker Here Lately

As everyone has notice, I haven't made a post in several weeks. This is partly because I have been very busy here lately with my grand baby and working some overtime. Also, I haven't received any input or comments from anyone so I was wondering if maybe no one was even reading this blog. I will get back to posting as I was when I started this. So hang in there if you do follow my blog as I get back to sharing my family history. I will try to make a post tomorrow. Also, here is the number one thing that keeps me busy. Baylee Renee Tate, aka: Baylee Bug and/or Tate'R Bug

General Information

Hi all, I want to introduce myself and explain what this blog is all about. My name is Marty and I am the daughter of Jerry Don McConnell and Lillian Lorena Smith. My mom Lillian was born in Dover on 8 August 1944. I lost her to a heart attack in 2006. She loved Dover and all the little surrounding towns, she just loved Stewart County in general. We visited her mother Leona whom lived in Dover quite a bit when we were kids, but it was not till I was an adult that I came to appreciate Stewart county and the legacy my people and others contributed to the area. The loss of these people's land to the government has always caused pain and anguish in my heart. I have dedicated about 20 years so far into researching my mother's family. I will continue to do so through all means and with the addition of this blog maybe I will be able to hurdle some of the brick walls I have encountered.
I know some people will not want to join the blog network in order to contact me, so I will allow people to email me at soonerbred66@yahoo.com in order to share information. If you do however want to join the blog scene to make contact with me and others, simply get a google account (which is free) and then join this blog spot (which is also free). You can keep your same email address ect... It's very simple and only takes a few moment.
I will post pictures and family information here as often as I can. I will also make this page a little more pleasant to look at in due time.
So welcome to my Stewart County Meetin Place. Come on in and sit a spell and lets talk about the good ol' times in this great county and people we love.