Shakin' the Family Tree

This is a death certificate for Sarah "Sallie" Pettit Jones.

I cannot make out the name of the cemetery, shown in the lower right-hand corner of the document.

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I've thought J A R something Graveyard...

Any thoughts?

I love it when little details come together. They start to knit together that third dimension of my ancestors and other family members.

See, that third dimension is important to me.

Genealogy purists would say that I am not a genealogist. There's much more to my family tree than just who married and begat whom, and what year they did that, in what location, and which piece of paper I have to back that up.

Check.

But dead people don't have to be - and were not in life - two dimensional.

Flat, ya know.

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A very neat thing happened this morning.

I slept until I woke up (I love those days), and then I got coffee, a cigarette, fed the cats, and fired up the laptop.

I had the coolest email from my cousin. (I know, I am dating myself by saying something was cool, but go with it, okay...)

She scanned a bunch of the things her mother had given her related to our family history, in particular, our grandfather, George W Burris, and sent them to me.

They are *way* cool, and help to flesh out our (respective) third dimension of our grandfather.

Both of us knew Granddaddy when he was still living, and each of us has detailed remembrances of him. And naturally, both of us are pumping our own parents for their remembrances of their father.

And so we are seeing the evidence of the stories that Granddaddy was a licensed school teacher, and a licensed attorney in Pope County.

He was.

He was licensed to teach for 1912-1913.


He got his license to practice law in 1917.


I don't think he ever used either one to make his living.

But still.

I had always heard that, but only that he was licensed to practice law. Not about the teaching.

Our grandfather evidently placed a high degree of emphasis in acquiring knowledge.

Maybe he viewed both of these licenses as opening the door to other possible careers if necessary.

Maybe not. Maybe he just liked learning and wanted to see if he could get the licenses. I know people like that.

Whatever the case, he valued education. According to one of his daughters, the reason he decided to live in Arkadelphia when he returned from Panama was education.

He hoped to marry and raise a family. If they lived in Arkadelphia, his children would have easy access to either of two colleges in the town, Henderson State College, and Ouachita Baptist.

So Granddaddy was also very much a big picture guy...

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Part of my delight in receiving the email from my cousin was a two page letter to Granddaddy from Lee, written in 1950, and talking about their time they worked together at the Post Office in Russellville. In 1910.

Lee was writing the letter to help Granddaddy gather information to complete an application for retirement from the United States Postal Service.

Granddaddy was trying to get credit for the time he worked at the Post Office before it became a civil service job. Lee was supplying him with an affidavit, saying he worked with George also in 1910 at the Russellville Post Office.

Page 2 of the letter...


So I am sitting here, at my grandma's table, thoughtfully sipping coffee, and thinking about Lee.

Who has to be Lee Jones.

Who appears in at least two of my family photographs, one at the Russellville Post Office, and one family photo of a bunch of Burris men at the G W Burris, Sr home in Russellville about 1915.

Lee's the guy to the far left, wearing the dark suit.


So Lee must have been important to my family. He had a connection with Granddaddy that lasted at least 40 years.

Kinda like part of the family.

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Yep.

Just like family.

Robert Lee Jones was Granddaddy's first cousin.

Lee's mother was Margaret Jane Burris, sister of George Washington Burris, Sr. Margaret married Cass Jones on 20 Dec 1874 in Pope County. Robert Lee Jones was born 29 Jan 1889 in Appleton, a little community in Pope County. (He must have preferred his middle name - I've never heard him referred to as anything other than Lee.)

Lee died in Sebastian County on 28 Jul 1957, seven years after he wrote his 1950 letter to Granddaddy. He is buried in Forest Park Cemetery in Fort Smith, AR.

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Now I have to try and figure out if he married and had kids. If there are descendants, they may want some photos.

And they may have some, too...

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The journey is good.

30 Jan 1823 - 21 Jun 1919

This photo of my great great grandmother was taken when she was 92 years old, five years before her death.

Adeline was the daughter of Andrew Sawyer and Elizabeth (McCarley) Ashmore. She was born in Giles Co., TN, and married James Littleton Burris on 12 Nov 1840 in Pope Co., AR.

Adeline was the mother of 10 children:

• Infant son Burris was born and died in 1841 in Pope Co., AR. His was the first grave in Old Baptist Cemetery in Center Valley.
• Nancy Elizabeth Burris was born on 1 Apr 1845 in Pope Co., AR. She died on 26 Jun 1926 in Collingsworth County, TX. Nancy married William Calvin Jones on 2 Nov 1865. William was born on 8 Sep 1837 in Conway County, AR. He died on 31 Jul 1879 in Conway County, AR. He was buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery, Conway County, AR.
• John Thomas Burris was born on 22 Jan 1849 in Pope Co., AR. He died on 18 Mar 1919 in Pope County, AR. He was buried in Oakland Cemetery, Pope County, AR. John married Margaret E Burris daughter of Franklin Marion Burris and Sally Charlotte T Osburn in 1870 in Pope County, AR. Margaret was born on 11 Jul 1850 in Tennessee. She died on 1 Nov 1915 in Pulaski County, AR. She was buried in Oakland Cemetery, Pope County, AR.
• James Franklin Burris was born on 4 Feb 1851 in Pope Co., AR. He died on 21 Apr 1918 in Pope County, AR. He was buried in Atkins City Cemetery, Pope Co., AR. James married (1) Malinda J Moore, daughter of William N Moore and Mary Ann Riggs on 10 Feb 1876 in Pope Co., AR. Malinda was born in 1854 in Tennessee. She died on 30 Jul 1904. She was buried in Atkins City Cemetery, Pope Co., AR. James married (2) Mattie J Sibley daughter of William L Sibley and Margaret C Graves on 30 Jan 1906 in Pope Co., AR. Mattie was born in 1866 in Louisiana. She died in 1917 in Pope Co., AR. She was buried in Atkins City Cemetery, Pope Co., AR.
• William Andrew "Bill" Burris was born on 13 Oct 1853 in Pope Co., AR. He died on 20 Nov 1943 in Mountain View, Kiowa County, OK. William married Maria Isabelle Wharton, daughter of John Poudin Wharton and Sarah Emaline Cochran on 10 Mar 1878 in Pope County, AR. Maria was born on 10 Aug 1853 in Springfield, St. Charles County, AL. She died on 20 Oct 1939 in Mountain View, Kiowa County, OK. She was buried in Mountain View Cem, Mountain View, Kiowa Co., OK.
• George Washington Burris Sr was born on 18 Jan 1856 in Isabel Creek, Pope County AR. He died on 9 Mar 1929 in Pope County AR. He was buried in St Joe Cemetery, Pope Co AR. George married Mary Mathilda Wharton, daughter of Thomas Jefferson Wharton II and Ruth(ie) Evaline Coleman on 7 Oct 1877 in Pope County AR. Mary was born on 5 Oct 1859 in Alabama. She died on 26 May 1938 in Pope County AR. She was buried in St Joe Cemetery, Pope Co AR.
• Margaret Jane Burris was born on 27 Mar 1858 in Pope Co., AR. She died on 15 Jun 1944 in Sebastian County, AR. Margaret married Abraham "Cass" Jones on 20 Dec 1874.
• Jefferson William "Jeff" Burris was born on 13 Mar 1860 in Pope Co., AR. He died on 15 Jan 1941 in Pope County, AR. Jefferson married Margaret Malinda Wharton daughter of Thomas Jefferson Wharton II and Ruth(ie) Evaline Coleman (and younger sister of Mary Mathilda Wharton Burris) on 13 Mar 1881 in Pope County, AR.  He was buried in Oakland Cemetery, Russellville, Pope Co., AR.  Margaret was born on 14 Jan 1862 in Huntsville, Madison County, AL. She died on 14 Aug 1927 in Russellville, Pope County, AR. She was buried in Oakland Cemetery, Russellville, Pope County, AR.
• Lucinda Adeline Burris was born on 27 Sep 1866 in Pope Co., AR. She died on 26 Jun 1954 in Reydon, Roger Mills County, OK. Lucinda married William Middleton Easterling, on 16 Nov 1884 in Pope Co., AR. William was born in Jul 1863 in Arkansas. He died in Reydon, OK.
• Richard B Burris was born on 9 Apr 1868 in Pope Co., AR. He died on 14 Aug 1875 in Pope Co., AR. He was buried in Old Baptist Cemetery, Center Valley, Pope Co., AR.

Elizabeth Adeline (Ashmore) Burris is buried in St. Joe Cemetery, Pope County, AR.