Dear David,

Thanks again for your question and I’ll send links to the pix to your email.

I’m sorry to disappoint you on Princess Mary “Bluesky” Cornstalk Adkins, she married Parker Adkins and mothered Littleberry & Charity Adkins. Rumored two others, just rumors at this point. You’re down from William V’s son – William V Adkins, sorry to have to disappoint.

Its a toss up at this point for me. It depends on which side of my family wins out. Half say App’s was the son of Thomas & Ollie Morgan the other half say Joel & Rachel. Since names tend to cycle in a family like “Winwright,” “Pricey,” “Dicey,” and “Sabra” just to name a few chosen favorites from Joel Adkins’ line. And ours have no Joel’s to speak of.  Lots of Drusilla’s and Ollie’s. I did just name my dog Suki (Sukie) another Adkins favorite, she’s a Chinese Pug, but that’s another story.

If you trace the lines, “Thomas” goes up to William V. II and Joel goes back to Parker Adkins. Both sons of William V Adkins.  My uncle’s DNA proves William V lineage, so the fight is on. The sad part is – it was a small town and all intermarried so it could still go either way. We’re actually tied to both sides.  But for me… I’m sticking with Thomas and Ollie until the Rachel Emerson and Joel’s line prove otherwise. I hope someone comes up with some concrete proof soon.

Now for the “Melungeon” tri-racial comes in at William V II’s stage. His son Benjamin built the first and still standing salt mill. See Salt Mill post… I’m still not clear on that since they claim Benjamin’s grandfather was Peter Atkinson. I have links to their websites on the side on the blog.
Sorry, I looked for link and had trouble finding it myself. Try this one to start: http://www.pantherslodge.com/sand.html. Some except it and others dismiss it as pure hooey. I’m fine with it myself.

I talked to author Ronnie Adkins and he said that there is no real evidence nor paperwork around that age. Just here say and what the family says happened. So we’re all still looking for what can be found.

In years past, Virginians used to name their son’s after their lineage. Billy Joe Jim Bob etc. So that they would know from whence they came, but they never wrote that down any where. I remember kids in grade school with 8 first names and the teacher would say, PICK ONE! So they would settle on Samuel, Jim or David, etc. and roll with it. But it sure would have helped settle a lot of the confusion. But that is neither here nor there.

I can remember as a teenager being fascinated by that and would spend hours writing down what I would name my children if I had to choose 8 names and was positive I’d do that. It always had a Terry DeShawn or DeShane, William, Alexander, and an occasional exotic name in it. But when it came time to name my own children, I used the old standards. LOL Craig after his father and Steven Ross after Stephen in the bible that was stoned to death for his beliefs and Ross after my aunt Sadie (my mom’s first cousin). She was a corker,  nickname Spitfire. She always made me laugh.  We all choose names from the family out of habit and wanting to carry on a tradition.  He was to be named after Anthony’s dad but the family already had so many William’s it seemed to be too many for me. Everyone made Stephen jokes so I spelled it with a “v” instead of the “ph”  did not matter he dropped the “n” off his name and goes by Steve.

I went into all of that to say, “This is what makes tracking genealogy,  so hard.”  Regardless of what we name our kids – they may choose to be called something entirely different and lie about their age to get into the military.  Names and dates seem to be merely a suggestion at times. I know a guy named Humphrey. He has been called that since the day he was born. No one knows that he was born Guy Beau, expect a handful of people. That will make some poor family genealogist in about 50 years nuts. We have hundreds of stories just like that one in our family. So we keep plugging away to separate the who’s, what’s, when’s , where’s and why’s.

All the links are on the side of my “Blogroll” see “Genealogy.” I have one to my family tree at Ancestry there. I’ve lost count as to how many people are on it. I only add those that have sent me data or asked questions at this point. But there are so many more to be found. Most day’s it makes me want to pull my hair out and I loose a lot of sleep trying to sort out people with the same names and birth dates;  I’ll keep at it.

Only today, I went for a job interview and was asked about my criminal background. I had put on my application I had never been convicted of a felony, but when I went in, the woman asked me about my intoxication and assault charges. WHAT?  I had to laugh. Imagine my shock, since I hadn’t committed either one. She only checked the name and not the birth date, which I was quick so show my drivers license to clear that one up. But if others had checked online they would assume it was me as well.  If only they had had to show more identification before now,  there would be no mystery.  Who knows, that might take most of the fun out of the hunt?

I do appreciate your stopping by and I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to swing off a branch of your family tree.  I didn’t take the time to see if we were 9th cousins or whatever, its been fun.  Stop back and just let me know how you’re doing and where your search has lead. I’m satisfied just trying to keep up with the noobie’s and adding them to the tree.  I hear there is one born every minute, but from a genealogists stand point that’s years of information to add: Birth, death, marriages, residences and so on.  Its the thrill of the hunt.

Thanks as always,
Sheila Jean Adkins Metcalf

The more obligations we accept that are self-imposed, the freer we are. ~ John C Schroeder