Bringing in 2007

Saddam is dead. Dead before 2007. The only other person I know who has been rushed to their death, so fast, was Timothy McViegh. Now investigators are wishing McViegh was alive to answer questions about his ties to the extreme terrorist in the Phillipines. Maybe Saddam did deserve to die, but maybe he could have sat on death row for twenty years like our prisoners in America. At least he could have written his memoirs, and answered, some unanswered questions.



James brown is dead. Over the years he has done "I Feel Good", "Sex Machine", "Get Up Offa That Thing", "Papas got a brand new Bag", " Get On Up". I like that one and that one, ahhhh shucks I like them all. I remember in the 70's, Saturday Night Live did a skit called "The James Brown Home Security
System".......ooooohwwwwwwoeeeeee......get out of here!......its was hilarious!...............I will miss James brown..........Song of the Week.......... one of my favorites "It's a mans World", by James Brown.


Gerald Ford is dead. He was appointed Vice President by Richard Nixon, when then, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned. Then was appointed President when Richard Nixon resigned as President after the Watergate scandal. I always thought that our presidents were elected officials. Its not surprising that I have been lied to again. But then the best part of this journey is that Gerald Ford aquitted Richard Nixon for his crimes. Quite frankly, the American people should have demanded an elected president, after an administration of scoundrels. I guess we were too busy dancing Disco, and oh yes, we wore bell bottoms back then. Without even thinking conspiracy, I see Ford was appointed the scapegoat for Nixon. Don't get me started on the "Watergate Plumbers", that is a whole other story. J. Edgar Hoover would have been ecstatic to know that such powerful men had fallen. If you think I feel bitter over watergate, Your Right! I was with a Marine Detachment that watched over Richard Nixon. He was a very nice man, quiet to us Marines, but very respectful. In my heart, I never blamed Nixon for the scandal, I blamed the Party who corrupted him.

Happy New Year
Daniel

Merry Christmas 2006

Included in my story tonight is the biography of John Donne, and his famous Christmas Poem "Nativity". Equally, his Poem "Crucifying" is just as powerful, and should sit beside his "Nativity" Poem. This, of course, the story of life and death of young Jesus.
John Donne (1572-1631) was the most outstanding of the English Metaphysical Poets and a churchman famous for his spellbinding sermons.
Donne was born in London to a prominent Roman Catholic family but converted to Anglicanism during the 1590s. At the age of 11 he entered the University of Oxford, where he studied for three years. According to some accounts, he spent the next three years at the University of Cambridge but took no degree at either university. He began the study of law at Lincoln's Inn, London, in 1592, and he seemed destined for a legal or diplomatic career. Donne was appointed private secretary to Sir Thomas Egerton, Keeper of the Great Seal, in 1598. His secret marriage in 1601 to Egerton's niece, Anne More, resulted in his dismissal from this position and in a brief imprisonment. During the next few years Donne made a meager living as a lawyer.
Donne's principal literary accomplishments during this period were Divine Poems (1607) and the prose work Biathanatos (c. 1608, posthumously published 1644), a half-serious extenuation of suicides, in which he argued that suicide is not intrinsically sinful. Donne became a priest of the Anglican Church in 1615 and was appointed royal chaplain later that year. In 1621 he was named dean of St. Paul's Cathedral. He attained eminence as a preacher, delivering sermons that are regarded as the most brilliant and eloquent of his time.

NATIVITY.
Immensity, cloister'd in thy dear womb,
Now leaves His well-beloved imprisonment.
There he hath made himself to his intent
Weak enough, now into our world to come.
But O ! for thee, for Him, hath th' inn no room ?
Yet lay Him in this stall, and from th' orient,
Stars, and wise men will travel to prevent
The effects of Herod's jealous general doom.
See'st thou, my soul, with thy faith's eye, how He
Which fills all place, yet none holds Him, doth lie ?
Was not His pity towards thee wondrous high,
That would have need to be pitied by thee ?
Kiss Him, and with Him into Egypt go,
With His kind mother, who partakes thy woe.

CRUCIFYING.
By miracles exceeding power of man,
He faith in some, envy in some begat,
For, what weak spirits admire, ambitious hate :
In both affections many to Him ran.
But O ! the worst are most, they will and can,
Alas ! and do, unto th' Immaculate,
Whose creature Fate is, now prescribe a fate,
Measuring self-life's infinity to span,
Nay to an inch. Lo ! where condemned He
Bears His own cross, with pain, yet by and by
When it bears him, He must bear more and die.
Now Thou art lifted up, draw me to Thee,
And at Thy death giving such liberal dole,
Moist with one drop of Thy blood my dry soul.

Song of the Week
When it came to Christmas music, I think Nat king Cole over the years had the best. One of my favorites is "O Holy Night". When you listen to this song, it will give you goosebumps. What a voice, so powerful, and inspirational.

Merry Christmas Everybody

Violet Susan Roberts....My 2nd Great Grandmother

John Price Gaddy and Violet Susan Roberts


My 2nd Great Grandmother was Violet Susan Roberts who married John Price Gaddy. Their daughter was Nancy Caroline Gaddy who married Albert Pike Word. Violet Susan Roberts was my Grandmother's (Mamaw's), Grandmother. The following is a letter that has been transcribed written by Florence Myrtle Gaddy, who descends from John Henry Gaddy. This letter is a very visual insight on Violet Susan Roberts in her later years, written by her Grandaughter Florence.


I, Florence Myrtle Cook Wilson, born September 2, 1897, am the last living one of the family of John Henry Gaddy and Susan Alice Cook. I shall try to relate a few things that happened while I was growing up on our 40 acre Farm which was 3/4 of a mile north of Newport, Barton County, Missouri.

My maternal grandmother, Susan Violet Roberts Gaddy, lived with us all the time I can remember while growing up. She was very stern about discipline. I remember one time my mother was gone mid-wifering and my grandma was left in charge. At noon time I mixed too much cornbread and molasses on my plate and could not eat it. Grandma put it up on the cupboard and said I had to eat every bit of it before I could have anything else to eat. I wasn't stubborn, I just couldn't eat it. So I got nothing to eat for my supper. The next morning Mama was home and she said I didn't have to eat it. To this day I can't eat anything sweet on cornbread.

Her husband, my grandfather, John Price Gaddy, who was born in Lexington, Kentucky on August 24, 1827, died at an early age from cancer long before I was born. He is buried in Round Prarie Cemetery but has no marker so we can't find the grave.

Grandma told us a little about her growing up. Her family lived on a cotton farm in North Carolina and had two black slaves, a man and woman who were married to each other. They were called Aunt and uncle. They ate at the table with the family and shared in the profits of the farm.

My grandmother was 24 when she married and had a big hope chest filled with handmade linens and hand-pieced quilts. Marrying so late she had time to make so much. Girls were considered old maids at that age.

My grandma was a Christian and embarrassed my mother in church by shouting when she felt the spirit. A Shouting Methodist. After she got too old to go to church she would have her own service every Sunday afternoon. She would set her chair in the middle of the living room with her Bible and hymn book, then read some scriptures and sing some hymns in her old cracked voice. Mother would not let us kids bother her at all. If we had company, we had to keep them quiet too.

She raised sweet potato plants in what she called a hot-bed and every year she sold them to the neighbors in early spring. She covered them every night with old quilts and sacks, then in the morning she would take them off so the sun could get to them. One morning she went to lift the covers off and underneath was a copperhead snake all curled up ready to strike. She jumped back and it missed her but how she yelled. By the time my dad got there the snake had gotten away, never to be seen again.

With the money she got from selling the sweet potato plants she bought a pair of black laced old lady's shoes and calico for two dresses which she sewed by hand. We had a Singer sewing machine but she would not use it. She made the dresses the same, without a pattern, a tight fitting bodice with long sleeves and a gathered shirt which fell to her shoetops. For years she had ready her clothes to be buried in. They were made of black taffeta in the same style as her calico dresses. She made a bonnet of the same black material. Several times a year she would take them out to air them. It would give us kids the shivers.

Every time she had a sick spell she would say that it was her last and that she was dying. She would take on and groan and carry on. She slept in the same room with us kids and it would scare us, but when she did get her last sickness she was very quiet. They brought her bed down to the living room so Mama wouldn't have to climb the stairs. We all watched her die. She had been in a coma for a while. I was standing at the foot of her bed, my sister, Mary, and her husband, at one side. Grandma suddenly opened her eyes and said, "I want you to join the church." We all three did that after she passed away. She went back into the coma and never spoke again.

The neighbor-men hitched up their wagon and went to Lamar to get the coffin while the women came and bathed her and dresses her in the black taffeta dress and bonnet. Other neighbors dug the grave and the burial service was held that afternoon as it was very hot weather. No one in those days thought of embalming. Years later another grandson and I got together and had a stone put on her grave. It is still there in the Newport, Mo. cemetery which is next to the Baptist Church.


Thinking back now!
Does anybody remember climbing the firetower up on Hwy 64 over in Dallas County, MO. This area was also called Jack Rabbit pass. Anyway, you could see for miles from the top of that tower. There were no towns within 20 miles. When I was younger we would climb the tower and drink beer, and other dispicable things......! We would spit off the top of the tower, and count how many seconds it took to hit the ground.

Song of the Week
My brother and my sisters were raised around the rivers of Missouri. My dad had this obsession with rivers and fishing, of which we all joined in. We had a canoe, I believe to be 18 foot , and aluminum. We would float, on some days 5 to 10 miles, we would fish, and swim. I remember one float we just picked up trash, to clean the river up. My Dad was an environmentalist long before there was such a thing!!
Natalie Merchant must have been raised not far from the River. On her Tigerlily album, she has two songs that are wonderful songs of words and music. "The River" is a classic song, but the one I like most is, "Where I Go"......................... Enjoy!

THOMAS RICE....The Emigrant, Our first known ancestor in America

Lord Rhys of Wales

Thomas Rice was an Englishman by birth, of Welsh extraction. He came to America aboard the Bristol Merchant in 1679/80 assigned as an apprentice to John Stephens.

From The Rice Family 1680 to 1793 compiled by William Gunn Calhoun, 1973, p. 3.
"Stephen Rice, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, had sons Thomas, Hezekial and Ibjan who migrated to Hanover County, Virginia when it was a colony."

From The Thomas Rice Family Home Page: Family Tree Maker. com. Internet site.
In the later part of his life, he owned a small plantation in the lower part of what is now called Hanover County, Virginia. He received this land from King George II by deed, dated April 29, 1693, for 1, 200 acres of land in Hanover County, on both sides of Cub Creek and Dirty Swamp, bounded by the lands of Col. Davis Meriwether, James Goodall and Richard Brooks.
Tragedy overtook Thomas Rice when he let his wife, with nine sons and three daughters, and went to England to receive a considerable estate which had been left to him. He did not return. The sailors reported that he died at sea. It is supposed that he was assassinated. Nothing was ever heard regarding the inherited English estate.

"His family was left destitute in a strange land....." "The family being left without an earthly father, were distressed, but they were, in the good providence of 'God, provided for." Memoirs of the Reverend David Rice, published by Thomas T. Skillman, Lexington, Kentucky. 1824, pg. 420. (B.R. 55K 46, rare Book Division, Congressional Library, Washington, D,C.

From the World Connect Project at Roots Web. Barnes - Rice Family by. Sharon Barnes.
"Thomas Rice, the emigrant 1680 had nine sons and three daughters. His son David married Susannah Searcy and had David, "The Apostle to Kentucky" who married Mary Blair 1762." Based upon this we know that the line of descent is direct. "A Thomas Rice was in Kingston Parish, Gloucester County, VA April 29, 1693. One record states he came to America the latter part of the 17th century. His people were from Wales and bore the Coat-of-arms with the motto: FIDES NON TIMET. In old Welsh the name is spelled "RHYS." a copy of the old Coat-of-arms once belonged to the widow of John Holt Rice D.D., son of Benjamin Rice and Catherine Holt. "The Vestry Book of St. Paul's Parish, Hanover County, VA 1706-1786 on page 213 gives the returns made March 14th 1708-09 from the surveyor of the 39 precincts. "The lands of David Crawford, Thomas Rice, John Sims and Thomas Crenshaw lying adjacent to each other being made one precinct of which the said Thomas Rice and John Sims were appointed overseers." p.4

Again, the William and Mary Quarterly (Vol. 21) gives the record of Hanover County 1734-35 as follows: "12/3/1734-- Thomas Rice (St. Martin's) to David Crenshaw 400 acres both sides north branch of Cubb's Creek in St. Martin's. wife Joyce to Thos. Jackson." (page60)

"The Dictionary of American Biography (Vol. XV, page 537) tells us that Thomas Rice, an Englishman of Welsh extraction emigrated to Virginia at an early date. Upon a return trip to England, possibly to settle an inheritance, he was either lost at sea or murdered. In any event he was never heard from again."

From Genesis in Virginia: Exodus to Illinois compiled by Christine Rogers rice, 1995. pp. 2-3
"Thomas Rice first appeared in county records of New Kent in colonial Virginia in 1686, and by the start of the 18th Century he can be found in land records of both Hanover and Gloucester Counties of that state. He is thought to have come from Shirementon Bristol in the British Isles and to be of the Welsh family known as Thys, descendants of chieftain kings of the 7th and 8th centuries.
"Tradition says that Thomas Rice and a brother, Hezekiah, fled to Virginia about 1685 as a result of the rebellion against King James. One story that concerns Thomas is that earlier in England an old man named Rice died with only a daughter to survive him. He left his estate to her providing that she promised never to change her name. Later upon marriage, her spouse took the name Rice. It was this mother's property that Thomas Rice, then of Virginia, returned to claim upon his mother's death.
"Thomas was never heard from again and several very early documents attest to Thomas' disappearance if not the rest of the story. His brother Hezekiah was said to have been murdered when returning from Jamestown, Virginia, where he had gone to sell his tobacco crop. Each man left several children and was an ancestor of many residents of the South. "

"The Sarver Collection of genealogical material in the State Archives of Tennessee contains a document which states that Thomas Rice was a physician, but his famous grandson, David Rice, does not mention that Thomas was of that profession. Thomas' wife was named March, some say her maiden name was Hewes. Her given name is sometimes written Marie or Mary, varied interpretations of ancient manuscripts. The family has carried down Marcy through family nomenclature which seems to indicate that it is correct. Baptismal records dating from 1685 to 1702 can be found fro some of Thomas Rice's children. These parish records are from St. Peter's of New Kent." p.4

The Virginia rent rolls of 1704 list a Thomas Rice in Parish of St. Peters and St. Paul.

"The parish records of Hanover County mention Thomas Rice as late as 1711/12 as a processioner. In 1716 the bounds of his land were placed in the hands of an overseer, indicating some problem, likely his death."
"David Rice in his memoirs stated that the family of Thomas Rice was left in poor circumstances and part of the family, including his father, the elder David, moved 40 miles upcountry in Hanover to a smaller plantation on a branch of Cub Creek. David, Thomas, and Edward Rice all were known to live in this general vicinity. Old Thomas' widow Marcy last called "widow Rice" and in 1722 when a child was indentured to her. Recounting the struggles of the Rice family, preacher Rice characterized David Rice, his father, as a poor farmer, with no slaves, who thought they were more trouble than worth. His mother, Susannah Searcy, was depicted as a most religious woman who opposed slavery on principle. The memoirs state that 4 or 5 of old Thomas' children became preachers.
[Thomas Rice.ged]

ID: I3048
Name: Thomas Rice
Sex: M
Birth: in New Kent/Hanover County, VA
Death: ABT. 1716, died at sea while returning to UK for inheritance
Note:
Thomas came to America aboard the Bristol Merchant in 1679/80 assigned as
an apprentice to John Stephens. Thomas died at sea when he returned to UK
for his inheritance.
Rice Families of Caswell County, North Carolina -
http://www.ficom.net/members/wolfslayer/rice.html
Thomas and Marcey Rice were Welsh immigrants.
-----------------------
From The Rice Family 1680 to 1793 compiled by William Gunn Calhoun 1973
p. 3
Thomas Rice
"Stephen Rice, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, had sons Thomas, Hezekial and Ibjan who migrated to Hanover County, Virginia when it was a colony." We are inclined to believe that the above Thomas is our first known ancestor. Another source tells us, "Thomas Rice, the emigrant 1680 had nine sons and three daughters. His son David Married Susannah Searcy and had David, 'The Apostle to Kentucky' who married Mary Blair in 1762."
Based upon this we know that the line of descent is direct.
"A Thomas Rice was in Kingston Parish, Gloucester County, VA April 29, 1693. One record states he came to America the latter part of the 17thcentury. His people were from Wales and bore the Coat-of-arms with the motto: FIDES NON TIMET. In old Welsh the name is spelled "RHYS." A copy of the old Coat-of-arms once belonged to the widow of John Holt Rice D.D., son of Benjamin Rice and Catherine Holt.
"The Vestry Book of St. Paul's Parish, Hanover County, VA 1706-1786 on page 213 gives the returns made March 14th, 1708-09 from the surveyor of the 39 precincts. "The lands of David Crawford, Thomas Rice, John Sims and Thomas Crenshaw lying adjacent to each other being made one precinct of which the said Thomas Rice and John Sims were appointed overseers." p. 4
"Again, the William and Mary Quarterly (Vol. 21) gives the record of
Hanover County 1734-35 as follows: "I2-3 1734--Thomas Rice (St. Martin's) to David Crenshaw 400 acres both sides north branch of Cubb's Creek in St. Martin's, wife Joyce to Thos. Jackson." (page 60) "The Dictionary of American Biography (Vol. XV, page 537) tells us that Thomas Rice, an Englishman of Welsh extraction emigrated to Virginia at an early date. Upon a return trip to England, possibly to settle an inheritance, he was either lost at sea or murdered. In any event he was never heard from again."
------------------
From Genesis in Virginia: Exodus to Illinois compiled by Christine Rogers
Rice, 1995.
pp. 2-3
"Thomas Rice first appeared in county records of New Kent in Colonial Virginia in 1686, and by the start of the 18th Century he can be found in land records of both Hanover and Gloucester Counties of that state. He is thought to have come from Shirementon Bristol in the British Isles and to be of the Welsh family known as Rhys, descendants of chieftain kings of the 7th and 8th centuries.
"Tradition says that Thomas Rice and a brother, Hezekiah, fled to
Virginia about 1685 as a result of the rebellion against King James. One story that concerns Thomas is that earlier in England an old man named Rice died with only a daughter to survive him. He left his estate to her providing that she promised never to change her name. Later upon marriage, her spouse took the name Rice. It was this mother's property that Thomas Rice, then of Virginia, returned to claim upon his mother's
death. "Thomas was never heard from again and several very early documents attest to Thomas' disappearance if not the rest of the story. His brother Hezekiah was said to have been murdered when returning from Jamestown, Virginia, where he had gone to sell his tobacco crop. Each man left several children and was an ancestor of many residents of the South. "The Sarver Collection of genealogical material in the State Archives of Tennessee contains a document which states that Thomas Rice was a physician, but his famous grandson, David Rice, does not mention that Thomas was of that profession. Thomas' wife was named Marcy, some say her
maiden name was Hewes. Her given name is sometimes written Marie or Mary, varied interpretations of ancient manuscripts. The family has carried down Marcy through family nomenclature which seems to indicate that it is correct. Baptismal records dating from 1685 to 1702 can be found for some of Thomas Rice's children. These parish records are from St. Peter's of New Kent."p. 4
"The parish records of Hanover County mention Thomas Rice as late as
1711/12 as a processioner. In 1716 the bounds of his land were placed in the hands of an overseer, indicating some problem, likely his death. The vestry book of St. Paul's Parish, which was the parish created from a portion of the old St. Peter's, gave a return on 14 March 1708/9 for its 39 precincts, "The lands of David Crawford, Thomas Rice, John Sims (sic), and Thomas Crenshaw laying adjacent to each other being made one precinct of which the said Thomas Rice and John Sims were appointed overseers." Of
interest in this early record is the mention of neighboring lands of
Symes and Crenshaw, both of whom figure in later Rice marriages.
"David Rice in his memoirs stated that the family of Thomas Rice was left in poor circumstances and part of the family, including his father, the elder David, moved 40 miles upcountry in Hanover to a smaller plantation on a branch of Cub Creek. David, Thomas, and Edward Rice all were known to live in this general vicinity. Old Thomas' widow Marcy last called "widow Rice" and in 1722 when a child was indentured to her. Recounting the struggles of the Rice family, preacher Rice characterized David Rice, his father, as a poor farmer, with no slaves, who thought they were more trouble than worth. His mother, Susannah Searcy, was depicted as a most
religious woman who opposed slavery on principle. The memoirs state that 4 or 5 of old Thomas' children became preachers.
From Genesis in Virginia: Exodus to Illinois compiled by Christine Rogers
Rice, 1995.p. 5
"Another descendant of old Thomas Rice of Hanover was Nathan L. Rice, born in 1808, who also would become the national moderator of the Presbyterians. Born and reared in Mercer County, Kentucky, he went on to serve as pastor of churches in our largest cities including Chicago and New York City. In the last years of his life following the Civil War he became …p. 40
The property of the Rices actually lay in both counties although the
homeplace of Thomas Rice was actually in Caswell on Cabin Creek. Most of his records are entered in that jurisdiction. Thomas Rice arrived in 1775. [Note, I believe this is a descendant of the old Thomas.]
p. 41
Records of the Superior Court of equity for District of Mero, 11 August 1808, transcribed in part by WPA Historical Record Project, Davidson County TN, the case was pursued for over 30 years in Tennessee courts; Caswell Deed Book O, pg. 221, indicates heirs of John Rice names William H. Rice, Williamson Rice and John Windsor filed powers of attorney to sue in behalf of rights to land of John Rice as early as 26 May 1804. Wilson County, TN. Probate Settlements, Book 5, pg 27, property sale by Patterson Miles and Frances Underwood. note due estate from George
Underwood; book 6, p. 6, administrator's settlement, Thomas Miles, Jr., recorded 27 May 1830; pg 234, Thomas Miles, guardian for Joshua, Clary, Betsy, Polly, Patsy and Newton, reports in June 1831, expenses for bonnet and shoes for Betsy, Polly, and Patsy.
p. 45
. . . "A record in Gloucester, Virginia, home of the early Gwynns,
indicates that a Thomas Rice owned 30 plus acres in that county.
[Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 32, pg 259.]
p. 46
. . . "The Hanover Rices claim a coat of arms said to be the same as that of the Rice and Thomas families which stem from Sir Rhys ap Thomas, a natural son of George Plantagenet. This line had a peerage granted by Bloody Mary in 1555. Earlier figures of interest in the lines are Sir Griffith Rice, Catherine Howard, who descended from William, the Conqueror, and Vryan Reged, lord, of South Wales. [Coat-of-arms data; for genealogy of Welsh Rice family, see A History of Wales by Sir John Edward Lloyd, condensed in Rice and McGhee Families History.]"
"The childhood home of Sarah Rice Gwynn would have been in Hanover as proved by her brother William H. Rice's pension papers. She, born in the early 1750's, was likely a great-granddaughter of Thomas, the immigrant. Her father, Thomas Rice's own birth would be in the 1720's, to make him
of the generation of the immigrant Thomas Rice's grandsons."
------------------------------
On 1704/05 Rent Roll of Virginia from Wertenbaker, Thomas J., The
Planters of Colonial Virginia, Russell & Russell New York, New York
Rice, Tho Parish of St Peters and St. Paul, 1704
Rice, Thomas Glocester, Kinston Parish
---------------------------
The Welsh Rices of Dynevor Castle - from Shelby Rice Sutton of St.
Georges, Delaware.
This goes back to the 11th century to give the background of those
ancient Welsh princes whose given name was Rhys (Rice). There were times in the pre-Norman period when the Deheubarth kings were
unable to maintain their hold on all parts of the kingdom. Rhys ap
Tewdwr, the last independent Deheubarth king to rule the whole kingdom, was killed in a 1093 skirmish with Normah forces. His death marked the end of an era. By the early years of the 12th Century The three provinces of Deheubarth became part of a territory of lordships ruled by Normans who enjoyed a power derived by conquest from the Welsh kings they displaced.
Rhys ap Tewdr left a son, Gruffudd ap Rhys, brought up in exile in
Ireland, Gruffudd returned to try and regain his father's kingdom. He managed to secure a foothold in Ystrad Tywi from which he launched a powerful Welsh campaign after the 1135 death of Henry I. Gruffudd fell during early stages of the struggle and his three elder sons were in due course eliminated. A fourth son, Rhys ap Gruffudd, survived. By 1171 he had secured control not only of the greater part of Ystrad Tywi, but the whole of Credigion and parts of Dyfed. The same year Henry II, anxious to secure settlement of the Welsh problem, recognized the position Rhys had won for himself. Rhys, from his chief castle at Dinefwr, ruled a
Deheubarth which - though less extensive than the pre-Norman kingdom - was still a major political entity.
The earliest surviving redaction of Welsh law emanates from Deheubarth and is very probably to be attributed to the years of Rhys' supremacy. …
At this gathering - proclaimed the previous year throughout Wales,
England, Scotland and Ireland - Rhys set two contests, one for the poetry and another for "the harpers and the crowders and the pipers and various classes of music" and chairs were awarded to the winner of each contest. It was after the 1189 death of Henry II and Rhys's failure to secure rapport with Richard I that major conflict broke out. Rhys turned first to those lordships on the perimeter of his principality and then to the frontier central sections, but the ageing warrior's vigorous campaigns did not solve these issues. Before Rhys ap Gruffudd's 1197 death, Deheubarth itself was rent by the conflict which arose between his sons.It seems likely Rhys intended his eldest son, Gruffudd, should succeed him as ruler of the entire kingdom, which he had ruled from Dinefwr, but
within a few weeks of the Lord Rhys's death Gruffudd's position was
challenged by three of his brothers, Maelgwyn, Rhys Gryg and Maredudd.Maredudd and Rhys Gryg were the first to gain possession of Dinefwr, but on July 2, 1201, Maredudd was killed fighting against the Normans. Rhys Gryg managed to hold on to Dinefwr, but Gruffudd seized Cantref Bychan and its main castle at Llandovery. Then on July 21 Gruffudd died at Trate Florida, leaving two young sons, Rhys Ieunac and Owain. IN spite of their
youth, the two sons continued the struggle against their uncles to hold on to at least some of their father's territory. During the next few years Dinefwr changed hands often but Rhys Gryg gradually asserted a hold on Ystrad Tywi.
There were no surnames in the days of the Welsh "Rice" princes. The name "Rhys ap Tewdwr" means Rice, son of Tewdwr, with Rhys (or Rice) and Tewdwr both being first names. Thus Gruffudd ap Rhys is Gruffudd, son of Rhys, and his son, in turn, is Rhys ap Gruffudd. All their descendants could just as legitimately claim as a surname Tudor (Tedwdwr) or Griffith (Gruffudd), instead of Rice (Rhys). Later, when surnames became obligatory, some descendants adopted the Rice surname.

John WORD was my 3rd Great Grandfather

Cynthia "Nettie" Faynetta Word, daughter of John Word and Margaret Prewitt.


John WORD was born 1780 in Charlotte Co., VA, came from Ky. to Center Point, Hempstead Co., Ark. about 1820. He brought his family of nine children and several slaves. His children were: John, Matt, Jim, Tom, Orville Crawford, Elizabeth "Betsie", Peggy, Polly and Martha. His first wife died in 1821, and he returned to Ky. in 1823 and married a widow named Margaret (Peggy) Prewitt LATIMER. Their children were Nettie and Sam. John Word died in Center Point, Ark. in 1843. His widow Peggy died in Center Point, Ark, in 1864. (This information from Lloyd M. Rice Jr., Uncle Jack)

Hempstead County, AR, Will Book B, Pages 45-46; will written 20 Oct 1836; filed 27 April 1844 and settled.

WILL OF JOHN WORD
In the name of God, amen: I, John Word, of the county of Hempstead and State of Arkansas, being in good bodily health and of sound and siposing mind, calling to mind the frailty and uncertainty of human life, and being desirous of settling my worldly affairs, do make this my last will and testament herby revoking and making null all other last will and testaments by me heretofore made. First, I give and bequeath to my beloved son Orvil Word one hundred dollars. Second, I give and bequeath unto William Henry, my Son in law, One cow and calf. Third, it is my will that my beloved wife Peggy A. Word shall possess and hold all the remainder of my estates, real, personal, and mixed during her natural life after paying my funeral expenses and other past debts I may owe at and after the time of my decease. Fourth: It is my will that from and after the decease of my said wife, that the said remainder of all my estates, real, personal and mixed shall be equally divided between my beloved daughter Cynthia Finnetta Word and my beloved son Samuel H. Word. In testimony whereof, I, the said John Word have here subscribed my name to this, my last will and testament, this 20th day of October 1836. Signed, sealed in the presence of J.W. Finely / Andrew C. Roberts
/s/ John Word (seal)


[I was told by descendents of Cynthia Faynetta Word, Orvilles step sister, that they could not find any evidence of the rest of the Word family, other than Orville. Our family notes say John Word had children from his first marriage. Thomas, John, Mathew, James, Elizabeth, Polly or Mary, and Peggy. None of these children were in the will of John Word, which is somewhat puzzling. The will only mentions Orville, and his son-in-law William M. Henry, and leaves the rest of his estate and affairs to Margaret. This may make since if some of the children are still living with Margaret, and the rest of the children had married and moved away.

The search for John Word has been exhausting and quite complicated. In family research, everyone has their brickwalls. John Word happens to be mine, and I have spent many, many hours researching him.

I have found new information, which I find very interesting. It seems that the Henry's intermarried with the Word family. They also migrated together. Martha Ann Word b 1817 in Mo., married William M. Henry. Wiliams father, John William Henry, first married Ann Alexander, then married second Elizabeth "Betsie" Word. Elizabeth was the sister of Martha Ann Word. John Word married Margaret Latimer (Prewitt or Pruitt in later years). She was the widow of John Latimer. Margaret and John had a son Isham P. Latimer, who married Mary Caroline Henry. I have found on a 1840 census in Pike Couny, Ar, in the Brewer Township, Thomas Word, John Word, James Henry, and Isham P. Latimer. They all live within five houses of each other. The census shows John Word 30 to 40 years old, another female 20 to 30 years old, and a female 60 to 70 years old. I suspect this to be Margaret Word. The family records show John Word died in 1844, if this is true then he should have been on the 1840 census, which tells me that he died much earlier, before 1840. I suspect that John and Thomas are the sons of our John Word and brothers to Orville Crawford Word. James Henry is the brother of our William M. Henry who married Martha Ann Word. I have found some information where I believe John Henry and John Word may have lived in Missouri, and then migrated together to Arkansas. The following are land certificates issued to John Ward and John Henry. In all of my research, the Word family has been documented as Ward Family. It shows John Henry widowed, this would explain the death of his first wife, Ann Alexander. I do not know if these are French or Spanish land certificates. It is one or the other, because Federal Land Patents were not issued until after 1812. Here is why. Those lands of Missouri were either owned by France or by Spain. After the Louisiana Purchase of 1804, it took the Federal Government many years to survey the land they had bought. These surveys were not fully completed until the early 1820's. These lands that were bought from France or Spain between these years were fully recognized by the US Government, once they had completed their surveys.

John Henry and John Word's families intermarried. John Henry eventually married John Words oldest daughter, Elizabeth. It seems quite clear that John word and John Henry were traveling companions. First in Kentucky, then Missouri, and then to Arkansas. John Henry was a famous "Methodist Circuit Rider". He traveled a lot of territory in the early 1800's, and preached the word of God.

The real question is, what was John Word doing in Missouri before 1804, prior to the Louisiana Purchase. These lands were owned by the French. Was he a "Longhunter", like Daniel Boone? Was he traveling with the Prewitts, or Henry family? There are several Word families for which our John Word may descend from, but I have no proof of who his father was, or which family he descends from.

John Ward
LAND CERTIFICATE FOR MISSOURI BETWEEN 1808 AND 1812
03/18/1809 CERTIFICATE NUMBER 206
John Henry
LAND CERTIFICATE FOR MISSOURI BETWEEN 1808 AND 1812
05/29/1811 CERTIFICATE NUMBER 668
WIDOW

The records show that Orville and Martha Ann Word were born in Mo, or KY. There are no records to prove for sure. But John Henry had a son James who was born in Belleview, Iron County, Mo., in 1803. There is some indication that they may have came from Howard County Mo. The following excerpt is from the History of Howard County. We find a trading post owned by none other than a man named Prewitt. I believe this to be Isham Prewitt Sr., Margaret Prewitt's grandfather. I also believe that this is where the Henry's and the Word's are also from in Missouri. Isham P. Prewitt II, was Margarets father, they were from Harrodsburg Ky. I believe this is also where John Word and John Henry's roots were from, both families migrating from Virginia to Kentucky first. This would also explain why John Word went from Mo to Ky to marry Margaret Prewitt, and then took her and her kids onto Arkansas and settled around the mid 1820's. By the way, the prewitt family in America of which Margaret descends, dates back to 1624, Cape henry, and the first settlements at Jamestown.

The following history of Howard County, Mo., is from The History of Howard and Cooper Counties, St. Louis: National Historical Company, 1883, pp. 88-99.

The French settled Canada and the northwestern part of the United States, as well as the country about the mouths of the Mississippi river. They came into the upper Mississippi and Missouri valleys in 1764, under the lead of Pierre Laclede Liguest, who held a charter from the French government, giving him the exclusive right of trade with the Indians in all the country as far north as St. Peter's river. Laclede established his colony in St. Louis in 1764, and from this point they immediately began their trading and trapping excursions into the unbroken wilderness. Their method of proceeding was to penetrate into the interior and establish small local posts for trading with the Indians, whence the trappers and hunters were outfitted and sent out into the adjacent woods. In this way, the country west and northwest of St. Louis was traversed and explored at a very early day, as far west as the Rocky mountains. But of the extent of their operations, but little has been recorded; hence, but little is known of the posts established by them.
That these daring Frenchmen had explored that portion of Howard county lying contiguous to the Missouri river, even prior to the year 1800, there can be no doubt; that there existed within the present limits of the county a trading post, for several years before its settlement proper, there can be no doubt. The names of the streams, such as Bonne Femme, Moniteau, etc., attest the fact that they were of French origin, and had been seen and named by the French pioneers.
Levens and Drake, in their condensed but carefully prepared history of Cooper county, say: "While Nash and his companions were in Howard county (1804), they visited Barclay's and Boone's Licks, also a trading post situated about two miles northwest of Old Franklin, kept by a white man by the name of PREWITT. The existence of this trading post, and the fact that 'Barclay's and Boone's Licks' had already received their names from the white persons who visited them, show conclusively that this portion of the country had been explored, even before this, by Americans. But no history mentions this trading post, nor does any give the name of Prewitt; hence, we are unable to determine when he came to the Boone's Lick country, how long he remained, and where he went; he evidently left before the year 1808, as Benjamin Cooper, who moved to Howard county in that year, said there was then no settlement in this part of the state." Boone's Lick, from which this region of country took its name, is situated about eight miles northwest of New Franklin, in Boone's Lick township, on section 4, T. 49, R. 17, on land owned by William N. Marshall. This place was visited by Daniel Boone at an early date, - the time not known. Here he found several salt springs, and as such places were frequented by deer and other game, he not only often hunted in the neighborhood, but, according to John M. Peck, who visited the old hunter at his home in St. Charles county, a few years prior to his death, pitched his camp there for one winter and put up a cabin. Mr. Peck does not give the date. The presumption is that he got his information from the lips of the old hunter himself, and he would further suppose that he camped there between the years 1795 and 1807.


Ok........keep in mind that Daniel Boone did not go to MO. until 1799. I suspect the Henry's, Word's, and the Prewitt's were right there with him. Later they migrated to Arkansas. The Federal Land Records show John Henry and John Word buying land in 1827, Hempstead County, believe it or not, only 10 days apart in the month of August. John Henry led a large Methodist congregation from Missouri to Arkansas, and settled in Centerpoint, AR. I'm sure John Word was right with him. The story I read of this migration, says they crossed the river at Little Rock, when the town of Little Rock had not been built yet.

It might be interesting to note that William M. Henry who married Martha Ann Word was a first cousin to Patrick Henry. Patrick Henry was the 4 time elected Governor of the independent State of Virginia. William M. Henry's Great Grandfather was Hugh Henry, and his brother John Henries Henry was the father of Patrick Henry. Patrick Henry first married Sarah Shelton and second married Dorothy Dandridge. Dorothy was a first cousin to Martha Washington. Between the two marriages, Patrick Henry had seventeen children. Patrick was named after his Uncle, Rev. Patrick Henry. He was outspoken in his opposition to British policy towards the colonies, particularly on the subject of the Stamp act(1765), and he made the first speech in the Continental Congress (1774). You can read his most famous speech "give me liberty or give me death" at this website.
Daniel Rice]


HEMPSTEAD CO., ARK., FEDERAL LAND RECORDS
Bureau of Land Management land records and includes Homestead and Cash Entry Patents before 1908 for what is now Hempstead Co, AR.

WORD JOHN 8 11S 25W 80 1827/05/10
WORD JOHN 12 11S 26W 0 1837/08/01
WORD JOHN 12 11S 26W 0 1843/03/01
WORD SAMUEL H 5 10S 26W 161.23 1857/12/01

Song of the Week
You have heard of the one hit wonders. This song, by Jay Ferguson was a big hit, "Thunder Island".