And then, there was Frank.

[SoAlaNorthGeorgian]

Who was this man? From where did he come? How did he end up in South Alabama?

Frank was born in 1842. That makes him the unlucky timeline man. Reality calls and timeline means everything. I mean, you could be too old or too young to serve, to do you your duty. Duty and Honor. My, how those words mean things to my family. But, for Frank, the timeline was more important. He was born in Texas, but his family migrated through Alabama. They were movers. God bless them. What can I devine from everything that is available to me? His Momma sent Frank back to the safest place she knew at the time: Souf Alabama. She sent him to hide out, to stay away from the people who didn't understand, nor care for Frank and his outcome as fodder to the war machine.

Frank grew younger with every census. 1870, by 1880 he was born in 1857, we all know what happened to the 1890 census. He found a woman that kept him, and he kept her. He was living with this woman as a farm worker in 1870. I have come to find this rather normal, post war, now that I look at it without the glasses I was using when this search first started. Women took in boarders to help them do the things they couldn't do alone, because their men would never return home. This was different. He was married to this woman in 1880 and 1900, 1910, so she was hiding him in the war years. My Grandmother did not like this woman's family. She called them a disgrace and a blight upon her existence. In fact, her mother, Rhoda, was one of the most scandalous women in Souf Alabama in the early nineteen hundreds. Rhoda's approach to government involvement in her family delayed my research for months, making me chase false leads, based upon her involvement with record keeping. Funny lady, and I have her picture. Her name is pronounced "Roadie" for you Yankee types.


I had initially tied Frank to a family from Upson county, Georgia, but I was mistaken. Frank was born in Texas, 70 miles east of Dallas, TX. How do I know he's not the Frank from Upson county, Georgia? That Frank was killed, DED, at Chickamuaga. It wasn't him, for Frank lived. Thank you Grandpa Frank and Grandma Mollie. If you hadn't have done what you did, my son wouldn't be here.

Grandpa Frank was a draft dodger. In the south. In 1861-1865. Grandpa Frank gets the high five from me, so does Mollie. Haters are going to hate.

So, I was born of orphans who wouldn't admit this fact. We are the world, white picket fences, and all of that nonsense. I married a Spanish woman who is half Mescalero Apache to insure I didn't perpetuate the inbreeding stereotype of Souf Alabama. I couldn't think of possibly being involved with family by making a mistake in these choices that must be made. But, now, I'm pretty sure my wife is the off-spring of Frank's Grand-parents, and she's my third cousin once removed. Her brother in law has figured it out, as well. We do not talk about it. Try as we might, we still fail, as humans. My son is still the greatest man I've ever met. Thank you, Lisa, and **** you Mr. Lincoln.

Joe

 

[Zella]

It is interesting that he was sent back to Alabama from Texas, though I don't have any theories as to why.

 

[SoAlaNorthGeorgian]

It turns out that this family is one of the most researched families in the U.S. There are three different families in the U.S. with this name, all of them trying to find a match to this one guy. They are all southern families. It's really odd that Americans try so hard to attach themselves to someone who is really just a footnote in American history, but there it is. Visible to all. This was the easiest portion of my family to find information about, because there is so much of it available on them. It's everywhere. Really strange. They're not even among the most interesting that I've found in my tree. What an odd people we are.

 

[Will Carry]

It's not "Souf Alabama". It's "Souf Alabamer". I went to Faulkner State College in Bay Minette for a while. My mother's family is from Stockton in Baldwin County and my father's family is from Clayton in Barbour County. I love the way the old people talked down theya. Accents are going away now. I can tell a Johnson County gal from her accent but they have to be over 50. I remember when nobody would claim to have any Indian blood in them. Now every white person in the South seems to be part Cherokee. Note: Don't tell a Native American you are part Cherokee. It is an insult. They may laugh at you or they might scalp you.
Good luck in your endeavor. I think Frank's story is very interesting, keep us posted.

 

[sailorjoe]

I read your interesting story and wound up kinda puzzled about a number of things that are not clear to me. Are you saying this man named Frank is your grandfather? Are you saying that he was a draft dodger from the Confederate draft whose mother and another woman played a role in his evasion when he was about 20 years old when his mother insisted he leave Texas and return to Alabama? Are you saying that you married a woman who happens to have a mixed racial background in order to avoid some kind of stigma? Are you saying that Frank after returning to Alabama lived with a woman who he married several years later who previously had hid him from the draft when he was around 20 years old? Please, don't feel the need to answer these questions for me because I really don need to know the answers but if you wish to that is fine. If I have these questions perhaps other readers will as well. I just wanted to let you know that your story was unclear to me in a few places.

 

[SoAlaNorthGeorgian]

SailorJoe. Frank is one of my GGgrandfathers. I'm saying he evaded service with the assistance of his Mother and a woman who later became his wife. The timeline of his life was an interesting tale to unravel. Yes, his future wife hid him from the draft.

I married the woman I did, because my paternal grandfather was adopted and we knew nothing of his family. I didn't want to risk running up against family accidentally. Well, I've found his family now. Skeletons don't like to be kept in closets. They were from Georgia. But, it appears I still ran up against family. My wife's maternal ggrandmother was Frank's first cousin, once removed. Strange world. Muddy enough? I now call us the aristocrats...

ETA: A DNA site shows us with about 40 cM of shared DNA, which would be this match. It also has people out there who are related to both her and myself. I know why, now. It was spooky when I first saw it. Oh, well. I tried. Who would have thunk. I went to the other side of the country to pick a mate. Picked the farthest type person from me as was possible. She's my cousin. It is also the clue that proved who Frank was and when and where he came from. His life and death was pretty much a complete fabrication. I'd have never figured it out without it being what it is. But, why didn't he change his name? I can answer that. He really liked his name.