Son of Rose Berryman
Buried at Mt. Nebo, Georgia
Inscription:
JOHN
TALIAFERRO
CAPTAIN VA. BN.
REV. WAR
APRIL 7, 1821

Rose BERRYMAN--our GGGGGGgrandmother

Rose Berryman is our G6 grandmother. She was the mother of Richard Taliaferro, the colonial architect, Charles Taliaferro, the carriage maker and Dr. John Taliaferro, Revolutionary War surgeon and Baptist minister, and many others. Her ancestry was from Berri (Devon) England. Rose's father was a man from Berri.

I.) Capt. Richard TALIAFERRO and wife Rose BERRYMAN.

Capt. Richard TALIAFERRO was born at The Mount, Virginia, in 1706, the son of Zachariah TALIAFERRO. He married Rose BERRYMAN, June 10, 1726, in Caroline County, Virginia.

Rose BERRYMAN was born in the historic County of Westmoreland, Virginia, probably in the year 1708. She came of distinguished ancestry, her father, Major Benjamin BERRYMAN, being a man of prominence in the Colony.

Rose BERRYMAN was one among a family of seventeen children, and she spent her girlhood days on the BERRYMAN estate in Westmoreland County. On June 10, 1726, she was united in marriage to Captain Richard TALIAFERRO of Caroline County. Their home was blest with thirteen children, one of whom died in infancy. * Children's names listed below.
This family resided in Caroline County and probably belonged to St. Thomas' Parish, the records of which have been destroyed. Captain Richard TALIAFERRO was a large landholder and patented 10,000 acres in the present counties of Amherst and Nelson. He passed away on September 27, 1748. The cause of his death is unknown; although traditional accounts in the family of his granddaughter, Anna TALIAFERRO McCRARY state that he was killed while crossing the Potomac on a flatboat, and only a few of his men escaped death.

The sad loss of her husband left Rose BERRYMAN TALIAFERRO with entire responsibility of her home and the rearing of twelve children. She reared and educated them according to the standards of the old Virginia Colony; breathing into their lives love in its truest form; love for one another; love for their fellowman; love for their country; and love for their God. Several of her sons and grandsons served with honor and distinction in the Revolution; one son, Dr. John TALIAFERRO, was not only a soldier, but a prominent physician and a Baptist Minister. In her declining years, she could have pointed to these boys with pride and said, "These are my Jewels." Her parents could not have chosen a more fitting name for her than Rose. In the garden of life she lived and grew and bloomed, not for herself, but for the pleasure of others. Though she sleeps today in an unmarked grave, she is not forgotten.
*Rose's children:

•Sarah Taliaferro
•Benjamin Taliaferro
•Zachariah Taliaferro
•Richard Taliaferro
•Dr. John Taliaferro
•Colonel Charles Taliaferro
•Beheathland Taliaferro
•Peter Taliaferro
•Elizabeth Taliaferro
•Rose Taliaferro
•Mary B. Taliaferro
•Francis Taliaferro
•Richard Taliaferro

Bartolomew Taliaferro--the Merchant of Venice

Bartolomew Taliaferro was our direct ancestor, 13 generations back. He was born in 1530 and died in 1601. He was a citizen of Venice, then a powerful city-state off the coast of what is now northeast coast of Italy. It is important to note that he was not Italian as the country of Italy was not consolidated and organized until the mid 1850s. He was Venetian and was appointed an official trade representative of the Doge (Duke) of Venice to the Royal Court of London, making him a Merchant of Venice. He was a contemporary of Shakespeare and while there is no direct evidence of their friendship, Bartolomew could very well have been the model for the famous play.

8.Bartholomew TALIAFERRO #5225 b. 1530,abt, Venice, Italy,[11]
Occupation Court Musician to Q. Eliz., m. 1-Jan-1583/84, in St.
Michael's, Cornhill, London, England,4 [4] Joane LANE LANEJoane
#5226, Buried: St. Olave's, Harte St.,London, England.
Bartholomew died 1601, London, England,7 [7] Buried: 22-Sep-1601,
St. Olave's, Harte St.,London, England,4 [4] 1601, Will was
probated in London. "A subject of the Duke of Venice," removed to
London, England, by or before 1562. Virginia Magazine, Vol. 77,
Jan., 1969, pp. 22-25, Sir Anthony Wagner Garter Principal King of
Arms, one of the greatest of the English genealogists stated that
'The Virginia Taliaferros have their origin in a Venetian Family
that settled in England before 4 March, 1562." Correspondence of
Pres. Thomas Jefferson in the Archives Dept. of the Congressional
Library, Washington, D.C. document the Italian link. Or buried 2
Sep., 1602 in Canterbury, Eng.

9.Joane LANE #5226 m. (1) 1-Jan-1583/84, in St. Michael's,
Cornhill, London, England,4 [4] Bartholomew TALIAFERRO #5225, b.
1530,abt, Venice, Italy,11 [11] Occupation Court Musician to Q.
Eliz., d. 1601, London, England,7 [7] Buried: 22-Sep-1601, St.
Olave's, Harte St.,London, England,4 [4] 1601, Will was probated
in London., m. (2) 15-May-1602, in England,4 [4] THOMAS GRAYE
#5227. Joane Buried: St. Olave's, Harte St.,London, England.
Joane may have been the daughter or granddaughter of John
Lane/Laynere of Cornhill, London, court musician, whose family
owned much property on Hart Street where Bartholomew & Joane
Taliaferro lived. Bartholomew's will is on file at the Prerogative
Court of Canterbury, Eng. Bartholomew was made a denizen of London
in March,1562. By tradition the Taliaferro family originated at
Mugello, Italy, where there is a place called Tagliaferr.

---

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Taliaferro has many spellings, and in English is generally pronounced Tolliver. The families with that surname are from the same line of families. Taliaferro in Venetian is iron worker. He never set foot in the New World but his grandson, Robert "the Immigrant" did and sired a family known far and wide in the South who helped build America into the new world. Among his progeny is Dr. John Taliaferro, a Revolutionary War surgeon and Baptist minister who died just outside Macon, GA in 1821. Also a grandson, Richard Taliaferro, was the primary architect of colonial Williamsburg, VA and a mentor and teacher of Thomas Jefferson. He designed the governor’s mansion and several of the homes there. His brothers (or uncles) were also prominent in Williamsburg. Charles was a carriage maker and has a restored home on the main square. Another is mentioned on a plaque in the town church.

His son-in-law was George Wythe (pronounced With) who was Jefferson's law partner and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Booker T. (Taliaferro) Washington was probably a slave of one of our ancestors. That’s nothing to brag about certainly, but probably a fact.

Our closest Taliaferro relative was Elizabeth, known as Bettie, Taliaferro, a grand daughter of Dr. John and married to our Reese Porter. She probably is buried in Mt. Pleasant, TX.

Bartolomew's father was Bartolomeo Taliaferro and that is all we know of him. Probably all of the Taliaferros in the USA are related in some way and there are numerous websites and blogs dedicated to their memories.

Back in the geneological saddle again

It's been some time since I posted any information about the Porters. At the family gathering after Christmas in Dallas, Richard suggested I start publishing family biographies. Here's one about Mary Bowen--our earliest matriarch. She was born some 30 years before the American Revolution, so lived during very interesting times. If you have any questions or suggestions of what you'd like to see on this blog, let me know at jantweiler@msn.com/

MARY BOWEN'S GRAVESTONE UP CLOSE
(The best that we could tell, it reads:

Sacred to the memory of Mary Bowen Porter Wife of Wm. Porter Mother to eight sons and five daughters

William Bowen Campbell, governor of Tennessee

We visited his plantation, which is staffed with guides in period costumes demonstrating life in the 1800s. He related to the Porters through his aunt who just happens to be our G7-grandmother, Mary Bowen Porter.

Mary Bowen 1748, mother of Reese Porter

Mary Bowen, born in Augusta County VA 1748

was the mother of our Reese Porter and the wife of William Porter Jr.

She was the daughter of John Bowen and Mary (McIlhaney) Bowen. The name Bowen was Welsh and was a derivative of an old Welsh name "Ap Owen" meaning "son of." The Owens and Bowens are from the family.

She drew a military pension for knitting wool socks for the soldiers at the pivotal Battle of Kings Mountain which turned the tide of the Revolutionary War. After the death of her husband in 1804, she and five of her sons, including our Reese, migrated southwest into southern Tennessee where she lived until her death in 1820. We dug her headstone out of the mud and scraped it off enough to read "mother of nine sons and five daughters". She is our GGGGGGGrandmother.

John Bowen, father of Mary Bowen Porter

John Bowen was the father of our Mary Bowen Porter. He was the grandfather of Wm Bowen Campbell, the governor of Tennessee from 1851-1853.

Mary Bowen is not listed in this post as she was #1 a woman #2 never did anything famous except to knit wool socks for the soldiers at the last pivotal battle of the Revolutionary War (Battle of Kings Mtn) We saw the gravestone of Mary Bowen in southern Tennessee on our genealogical trip last May.

John Bowen, a wealthy planter of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, as was the custom of the times, at harvest, gathered the lads and lassies of the surrounding country to his harvesting. One of these, Lilly McIlhenny, by her grace and beauty, so attracted the old bachelor's heart that he bowed at the shrine of matrimony. From this marriage came Captain William Bowen, the Indian fighter, and the more celebrated Reese Bowen, who was killed at King's Mountain. Captain William was one of the early settlers of Sumner county; the father of John H. Bowen, lawyer, and idol of his county of Sumner, and of whom the venerable Judge Thomas Barry says, he was the best and most loved man he ever knew. Such was his reputation for probity, that the juries gave him credence when he differed with the court on a point of law; he was elected to Congress before he was of the age to take his seat. His sister married David Campbell, a son of Colonel David Campbell, and brother of General John Campbell, of the war of 1812. This David Campbell and Catherine Bowen were the father and mother of Governor William B. Campbell, of our good State of Tennessee. Speaking, therefore, for our home, your annalist and his wife, daughter of W. B. Campbell, represent, of the Scotch-Irish blood, the united strains of the Kelleys, the Thompsons the Montgomerys, the Hamiltons, the McIlhennys, the Cunninghams, Hays, and Adams.

The Porter Trek across the South
5,000 miles behind the wheel, 1,000 of which were U-turns
or
“It didn’t look that far on the globe!”

End of the road in Wetumka

At the grave sites of Stell Porter Jaynes and G-granddad Double-Thumb Jim and G-grandmother Joan Landers Porter

Days 14 and 15

In Branson:

It was a restful couple of days here. We were able to unpack and rearrange and repack, do laundry and just kick back and relax. The back of the minivan had begun to look like the Clampetts. All we needed was a rocking chair and Liz strapped to the roof of the car.

We went to see Leatherheads with George Clooney and Renee Zellweger. It was probably a good choice for Bob. He actually remembers playing in leather football helmets when he was a freshman and sophomore. Richard had never even seen one, except in museums.

The second day, we explored our Irish roots by attending Spirit of the Dance and the Twelve Irish Tenors. Both were entertaining, but could have included more Irish protest songs for Bob and me. Where was The Rising of the Moon?

Saturday was Bob's 74th birthday. We left Branson about nine o'clock and cut across to Wetumka, Oklahoma to visit the grave sites of our great-grandparents: Double-Thumb Jim Porter and Joan Landers. We saw many Darnalls (the cousin we had lunch with in Gallatin, Tenn. He is the descendant of Grandad Hugh's brother.

When I was a kid and acting my usual boisterous self, my grandmother would tell anyone who would listen that I was just like Stell Porter, my granddad's sister. It was no compliment. We have photos to post, but I think I'll wait until I get back to Colorado to do that.

We arrived back in Rockwall in time to have a surprise dinner for Bob. Two of his children (Bonnie and Bobby (Dr. Banjo) came over, and Leslie (Richard and Liz's daughter) and her family came, too.

Bob and I came home with Bonnie to spend the night to let Richard finally be done with us. Bob left at the crack of dawn to get home to San Angelo. I had a luxurious sleep in and plan to teach Bonnie to purl this afternoon.

I intend to fill in all the blank spaces on the blog when I have a bigger keyboard and bigger screen. My laptop is great, but all the extras on my desk help me work better. So, look for photos and more details in the near future.

So, ends the Porter ancestral trace and the 5000-mile round trip. Thanks to Richard for organizing the trip and being our tour guide, chauffeur and social director. He was a natural.

Day Thirteen-April 23

We spent the night in Nashville and visited the Gibson Guitar Center and the Country Music Hall of Fame this morning. The CMHOF was a trip down memory lane for all of us. We grew up listening to the radio with Hank Williams, Lefty Frezzell, Red Foley, Bob Wills, Jim Reeves, Willie Nelson, Kitty Wells, Patsy Cline, Gene Autry, the Carter family and more. It’s as big a part of our history as the Porters and the Taliaferros. Some of my earliest memories are of Bob or Richard playing guitar and singing these old songs. On Saturdays in particular, Mother would play the radio and sing along with Jim Reeves and Willie as she cleaned house.
After the Hall of Fame, we went over to the Gibson store. Richard has been asking Santa for a blue Gibson ES-335 with F-holes. They only had red ones. How sad! If anyone knows where he might find this left-handed monkey wrench, let Richard know at rlp4129@aol.com/
We stayed in Nashville until about noon and then headed out for Branson via Memphis. It was a long, long day, but we stopped in West Plains, Missouri for dinner for some very good chicken-fried steak and smashed taters with the skins on—my favorite. As we left the restaurant, it started to rain gently; as we got closer to Branson, it rained cats, then dogs, then donkeys. It will be nice to be able to relax for a couple of days, repack and reorganize everything.
We plan to attend one show, go to Silver Dollar City and see if we can find a movie that suitable for Bob’s innocent view of the world. (He’s not as jaded as the rest of us.)

Day Twelve--Gallatin/Nashville

Today, we picked up R&L at Eloise and took off for Gallatin, Tennessee, where we toured the Bowen Plantation. The plantation was established by Samuel Bowen, Mary Bowen's brother. His son was governor of Tennessee right before the Civil War. It is now a working plantation with re-enactors giving lectures about the carpentry, gardening, etc. While we were there, one of the gardeners was hoeing a plot right outside the main house; he dug up some blue and white pottery shards. I REALLY wanted them, but alas, now they're artifacts to go in the museum.

After we left the plantation, we drove about 10-20 miles toward Nashville to the Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's home. (He was the seventh president.) It was a beautiful plantation, too. Just a bit grander than the governor's! He had a little over 1000 acres where he raised cows, pigs, chickens, geese, ducks and all manner of livestock. It was a long, hot walk around the grounds, but well worth it.

I have a new roommate now that Liz is traveling with us. All the gang is piled in our room; we're watching the Pennsylvania primary and eating pecan brittle.

Tomorrow we plan to visit the Gibson Guitar factory and the Country Music Hall of Fame. No more ancestral trekking until we get to Oklahoma. If anybody is reading this, drop me a comment; I'm beginning to think I'm the only one checking the blog.

Day Eleven--Louisville, Kentucky

Day Eleven

Monday was a travel day; we were trying to get to Louisville, Kentucky by dinnertime to hook up with Eloise Lening and Richard’s wife, Liz, who was visiting Eloise. I wish I had words to describe this 81-year-old hoot. She is a great friend to Richard and Liz and everyone who meets her, wants to adopts her.

She had lived in Evergreen for years and had gone to the same church with R&L. She moved to Kentucky shortly after we moved to Evergreen. We were sick that she left. We wanted her to build a log cabin on our property.

We went to Outback last night; R&L spent the night with Eloise; Bob and I went back to the hotel. I did laundry, so we all have clean clothes again. Yippee.

Day Ten—Sunday in Lexington, Virginia

Lexington is the home of the Virginia Military Institute and Washington & Lee. It’s a beautiful little college, looks a lot like an English village. Today, we spent the day in Rockbridge County, where the Porters had their homestead. The cabin pictured at the side was built here and moved to San Antonio in the 1950s. Bob and I are standing by a cabin built at the same time and was on the hotel property where we stayed. The next photo tells that Sam Houston was born here and his dad gave the land for the church. Mr. Robert Houston was an elder at the same time as Wm. Porter, Sr.; and Sam Houston was born the same year as Wm. Porter, Jr. We attended church at the Timber Ridge Presbyterian Church—the 250-year-old church where our ancestors attended and were elders, deacons or whatever the Presbies call them. It was a lovely service and had all familiar hymns. The members were very friendly; many were descendants of some of the originals. Probably a couple of them were sixth cousins, twice removed. It had a cemetery, but we found no recognizable ancestors.

However, we met the church historian who showed us to their library where the artifacts were displayed. We found a reference to William Porter Senior and Junior, Benjamin Porter and his wife, Jean Black Porter; her family ( Rev. Samuel Black) started Blacksburg and Virginia Tech. I digress, so back to the church.

A group of Scot-Irish came across the Blue Ridge Mountains and settled in the Shenandoah Valley. It’s absolutely gorgeous and I cannot believe they left this lush, green valley to go to points West. The Porters were contemporaries of Sam Houston’s family whose homestead was very close to the church. Robert Houston donated the land for the church. Since they were celebrating their 250th anniversary, they had made commemorative plates with a drawing of the church on them. Bob and I bought one each. (Correction from Richard: The Scot-Irish didn't cross the Blue Ridge. The Brits were in the Tidewater I(coastal) areas and the SI on the other side of the state . They'd gotten there by sailing up the Delaware River into what is now southeastern PA, around York. Whilst they were there, one Benj. Borden got a huge grant and to encourage settlements in that area opened it to ONLY those who were not presently living in VA. The SI were the recipients of this largess. The only folks who crossed the formidable Blue Ridge Mtns in those days were surveyors and soldiers.)

After lunch at the Southern Inn, we went back to our rooms, had a quick nap and then went out to the Natural Bridge. George Washington had surveyed this area (which was the untamed West at the time). He carved his initials in the side of the canyon; we could where it was, but I couldn’t make out the initials. We walked about three miles yesterday from the visitors center, under the natural bridge and on to the waterfall at the very end of the trail. The creek (more like a river) was called Cedar Creek. Along the trail, we saw a reconstructed Monacan Indian village, a butterfly garden, a green snake chasing a little frog and about a gazillion gnats.

We loaded up on Virginia ham and wine, then we made our way back to the hotel where we picnicked in the boys’ room. We’ve had way too much fun making fun of each other and calling each other by our nicknames. Our granddad, Hugh Porter, had a nickname for everybody, except me. Bob was Chongo, Gary was Cholo, Richard was Beau-Dick, our Mother, Lillian, was Susie. Go figure! He didn’t give me a nickname, so Bob has started calling me Jay-Roo. If you don't know the reference, I'm not going to tell you!

Bob also told me a story about Granddad: when Bob and Gary were little, if Granddad made them cry, he would take off his Stetson and offer to let them hit him on the head. They always said, “no, no, Granddad, we love you; we wouldn’t hit you.” Evidently, he made me the same offer when I was about two years old; he gave me a golf club and I cold-cocked him. I suppose that was the last time he offered to let any of us hit him on his old bald head.

Day Nine-Monticello and Shenandoah Valley

Day Nine

We were very tired after our busy day yesterday, so slept in (until about 7:30). We had intended to spend another day in the DC area, but had pretty had it with the traffic. I’m sorry Bob didn’t get to see the Holocaust Museum, but we had been to Auschwitz when we traveled to Eastern Europe together some years ago.

There seemed to be an inordinate number of people for this time of year. We thought perhaps that people who had come to see Pope Benedict had stayed in DC for the weekend. Larry said that it’s just always that bad. It’s a little bit different from riding the Metro from a downtown hotel to the IRS office. Guess I got a little spoiled.

We took our time leaving Gainesville, Virginia and meandered through the countryside. One village called Culpeper (one p, not Culpepper) was celebrating Remembrance Day. We stopped at a yard where Loyalists and Patriots were re-enacting. Their costumes were authentic; some played the fifes and drums.

This site just happened to be the county museum; it had quite a selection of historic books about the county, including one on the church register. About a dozen Porters and that many more Taliaferros were listed in the index. In the museum, we found a crib that been crafted for a baby in the Taliaferro family.

We stumbled across a German bakery (reminded us of F’berg, Texas). We bought some spice cookies and three croissants that the ladies sliced for us, then Richard and Bob ferreted out some goodies to stuff in the buns for our lunch. (They found some pimento cheese for me; I had been whining for some time for a pimento cheese sandwich.)

We picnicked in a little garden/fountain area and on the way out of town; Richard saw a sign for historic ruins. The ruins happened to be in a vineyard, so we turned in and drove down the little country road. We saw a tiny cemetery, not a group to by-pass the opportunity to kick over a tombstone; we went for a stroll through it. I think there were about a dozen graves; lo and behold the two biggest grave sites were Mary and John Taliaferro! This is crazy.

We were actually on our way to Monticello, but stopped on several serendipity sidetracks that we got to Thomas Jefferson’s home too late to take the tour. We went through the museum, which was incredible. It had tons of TJ’s handwriting: his expense accounts, his pithy sayings, and his farm records. Very interesting.

Tonight we’re in Lexington, Virginia, home of Virginia Military Institute. We’re going to the Porter homestead tomorrow and to Natural Bridge. The Shenandoah Valley is a beautiful place. I drove over the Blue Ridge Mountains this afternoon while Richard and Bob took their naps. We’ll soon be looking for a place to have dinner. More tomorrow. J

Day Eight--Mount Vernon

Day Eight
Left Williamsburg heading for Washington DC. We stayed out in the western suburbs so that we’d be close to Larry Warner and Dulles Airport. We dropped off Bonnie at Dulles about ten o’clock this morning and went to Mount Vernon for the day.

George Washington wrote, “No estate in the United American is more pleasantly situated than this . . .”
I'd have to say he was right. It’s a beautiful estate; he acquired about 8000 acres and spent about 50 years improving the land. It helped that he was a slaveholder (279 people who lived at Mount Vernon, including the household, the slaves, free Blacks, the Scottish gardener and other servants.)

The grounds were stunning with an upper garden, lower garden, fruit garden and nursery, salt house, stables, paddocks, slave cabin, servants’ hall (where the visitors’ servants were housed), smokehouse, wash house, coach house, spinning house and on and on. We were just mesmerized by the attention to detail and how beautiful everything was. Some of the trees looked to be original; three people couldn’t reach around them.

Poor George died a hard death; he had a throat infection that made his air passages swell shut and he suffocated. He was 67-years old.

After we left Mount Vernon, we started our three-hour trek back to the hotel. It should have been a 45-minute drive. Needless to say, we were all whipped, tired and dusty from walking all over MV and waiting in line in the hot sun and just want to lie down for a nap. Unfortunately we had about ten minutes to wash up and get over to Larry’s.

It was well worth the hurry. Larry and his wife, Desi, his Brazilian wife live in an architectural wonder themselves. Larry collects cartoon cells, posters, storyboards and has MANY originals in his home. I think he had cells from every Disney movie ever made and many cartoons. I saw Peter Pan, Cinderella, The Tigger Movie, Leghorn Foghorn, Mickey Mouse, Minnie, Lion King, Pirates of the Caribbean, ET, Star Wars, Star Trek and more that I won’t name here. Then, he took us to see his wine cellar; he had around 2,200 bottles of wine. (Picture below) It’s too bad we are all pretty much ambivalent toward wine and can’t tell the difference from a $10 bottle and $100 bottle. We would have been much more impressed. For dinner, we went to a Russian restaurant. The beef stroganoff was outstanding. Larry ordered the wine; it was pretty fantastic, too.

Day Seven--Williamsburg/Jamestown

How cool is it to see the Governor's Palace and two other buildings in Colonial Williamsburg that were designed by a family member? Pretty cool! Richard Taliaferro was the architect of the palace and the home of George Wythe and of Wythe summer home. Williamsburg is an incredible place--really not a one-day visit, certainly not an morning event. We had no idea of the magnitude of this place. If we hadn't needed to be in the DC area tonight, we could have stayed longer, but we need to put Bonnie on a plane from Dulles in the morning.

Williamsburg had several references to our family. In the Parish Church, some part of it was dedicated to a Taliaferro. Thomas Jefferson and George Washington attended church here. TJ was an alderman. TJ is mentioned with the Taliaferros on more than one occasion. He was taught architecture by a Taliaferro and he dated a Taliaferro daughter. (I think we need to check the male line of the family for TJ's DNA.) Just kidding, I'm sure it was all chaste.

Another edifice designed by Taliaferro was the Governor's Palace. It's a magnificent building. A home for George Wythe (pronounced With) is one of the major sites at the settlement. Mr. Wythe was evidently quite wealthy because he had an exact replica of his Wmsburg house built in the country. We went out there, too.

It's been enlightening to see how my brothers interact. I expect that the way they call each other nimcompoop and idjit and yahoo is a reflection of how they traveled when they were young. It's been great for Bonnie to have the time with her daddy. Bonnie and I just sit in the back seat and roll our eyes. I hate to see her leave since I won't have anyone to play with or share a room with.

Day Six--Wilmington, NC and onward NORTH

Today has been exceptional. We got to Wilmington fairly early and went straight to the USS North Carolina. (Photos below) We spent hours going through the battleship. I can see how easily it would have been to fall down the ladders (stairs) if you were in a hurry. Daddy was aboard the ship when it was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. He was mid-stairs and fell the rest of the way down. His knee was really torn up, but it didn't break the skin. Evidently, he was a little hacked because it didn't draw blood (the criteria for getting a Purple Heart). We found our way down to the ship's curator/archivist. She had several items with info about daddy. She burned a CD for me, which I will load as soon as I find what I did with it. We saw his quarters and dining room. Since he was a Chief Boatswain's Mate, he and the others dined separately from the regular sailors and lived in different quarters. I wouldn't call it luxurious by any means. But then, it was a war ship after all. The ship saw many battles in the Pacific--all the major engagements. The one really serious hit on it was the torpedo that torn up Daddy's knee. I can remember that he often used a cane, even when I was really young.

After the battleship, we headed out for Williamsburg at a clip. We tried to connect with Patsy Patterson (Sherry and David's mother), but she had a doctor's appointment and we had to be in Williamsburg by dark. We were all sorry to miss a visit with her. We had dinner tonight in Wmsburg at the King's Arms Tavern. It is beautifully restored house that was an inn in the mid-1700s. Tomorrow we'll tour the village, Jamestown and Yorktown, then on to DC. We have to put Bonnie on a plane back to Texas. I'll sure miss her.

I expected to write much more extensively about the trip, but by the time we get to our room every night, I'm whipped and just want to brush my teeth and crawl in bed. We've traveled at a pretty steady clip all week.

Day Five

All tombstones were safe from the Porter clan today. We didn’t kick over a single one. We spent last night in Highlands, North Carolina, one of the prettiest little towns I’ve ever been in. It seems that every house had a wrap-around porch. Are we in MAYBERRY? We all slept in (even Bob) after sampling some rather special Jack Daniel’s medicine last night. Today, we drove to Greenville, South Carolina to have lunch with Warner Bouzek, a family friend. Along the road, we saw dogwoods and azaleas in bloom. It was incredibly beautiful.

After lunch, we drove on to King’s Mountain, the site of a pivotal battle in the American Revolution. The visitors center had an informative film showing a reenactment of the battle. We also saw displays of life in the colonial times. Evidently, when the Scots Irish got into the battle; that was the end of the Loyalists. They just kicked butt and took names.

We’re headed for Wilmington, North Carolina now, the home of the USS North Carolina. It’s been a beautiful day, bright and sunny, no wind and MUCH warmer than the last couple of days. I knitted Bob a hat yesterday because he shaved his head and now it gets cold at night; Bonnie is knitting a blanket for her Chihuahua, Ricky. We expect to stay in Laurinburg, North Carolina tonight. It's about 70 miles on to Wilmington.

We finished reading all of Mother's life story. We decided that both sides of the family were dysfunctional; I think that proves the theory that's there no such thing as a functional family. Oh well, that would be so boring, wouldn't it?

DAY FOUR--HIGHLANDS, NC

IF you tried to read day three and couldn't find it, neither could I. It went into cyberspace. We blew across Ark. Miss., Tenn. and Alabama. We didn't have much luck finding Benjamin and Reese Porter, but today we hit pay dirt. We found the grave of Mary Bowen, (photo below) who was married to the second generation William Porter. (We think.) Richard bought a brush, baking soda and a bottle of water for us to clean the tombstones. We took several photos and I'll try to post. We went to Lynchburg, toured the museum at Jack Daniel's distillery (photo below), bought some of his best products and are enjoying them tonight in the room with the boys. The caretaker at the Porter homestead gave us a case of SunDrop, which must be the state drink of Tenn. It's pretty good with the JD. Tomorrow we are going to King's Mountain and on to Greenville, SC.

Day Three

Richard beat me to the punch tonight, writing a note to the family. I'll post his note and add a few thoughts.
Dear ones
Bonnie, Jackie, Bob and I took off Sat am, drove to Mt Pleasant to look in the cemetery there for Reese of Benj Porter. There were only 2-3 dozen in the county. We found a ton of Porter headstones but no Reese or Benj. We drove on and stayed in West Memphis, AR. It's been very cool. Did not get over 50 all day today. Bob left his hooded jacket in the motel last night (gloves also). Luckily he brought another jacket and some long johns. We drove down Elvis Presley Blvd this morning to show Graceland to Bonnie. We'd seen it. We didn't take the tour. We drove on to Town Creek, AL where Dr. Reese Porter lived and practiced medicine. Again too many cemeteries. We knew where his farm had been but it's only a trailer house and a field of maize now. We are in Fayetteville, TN now and have made arrangements to go to the Porter/Sandifer cemetery to clean up the headstones of Mary Bowen Porter, widow of Wm Porter II and a GGGGGGGrandmother of ours. She died in 1820 and is buried next to two of her sons and their families. The other brothers came on to Mt Pleasant in 1843 when Texas was an independent republic. Tomorrow after we visit this cemetery we are going up to Lynchburg to tour the Jack Daniels distillery. We'll try to make it on to Gastonia, NC to visit the Kings Mtn Battlefield on the border of NC/SC. It was the last pivotal battle of the Rev War and was actually the end. It was American revolutionaries and American Tories (loyalists to the crown). Our people were involved in this battle and Mary Bowen Porter drew a Federal allotment for knitting warm wool socks for the soldiers.More later.Richard

We weaved (wove) back and forth across Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama and Tennessee today, crossing the state lines often and one time in the middle of a little hamlet. Even the little abandoned towns have more personality than all the LBS** towns in North Central Texas and New Mexico. As we traveled, Bonnie learned a bit more about knitting and I finished a ruched scarf. I brought our mother's journals along with us to read aloud. I had asked her to write her story for us about 20 years ago. I bought her a box of legal pads and a box of #2 pencils (that's what she wanted). She had a remarkable memory and filled details about her life, growing up in Texas, her marriage to our daddy, the births of her children. Bob remembers much more about the early days since he lived it; Richard and I had just heard the stories on the most part. It's such a gift to have these memories. She left us quite a legacy.

This is a wonderful trip. I thank God for my family, for my wonderful brothers and Bonnie.
More tomorrow. Good night, J

**Little-bitty-shitty

Day Two--on the road

Starting out about 9:30 this morning with the Porter boys and Bonnie. Our first big stop was Mount Pleasant, Texas where a butt load of Porters were buried in the cemetery. Some of the tombstones were so old that we couldn't read them, but I'm confidant that our direct ancestors Reese and Benjamin Porter are buried there. We went to two other cemeteries where NO Porters were buried, so by process of elimination we can assume that at least one of the unreadable graves was GGrandfather or GGGrandfather. We had a movable feast of Richard's famous tuna sandwiches on croissants. He makes the tuna salad with pecans and apples. Very tasty.

After lunch, I drove the rest of the way across Texas and most of Arkansas. While I drove, Richard filled us in on some more details and passed around photos of some of the ancestors. This is everything I expected and more. It's fun and educational at the same time; I do love to multitask. Later in the afternoon, after his nap, Richard took over driving again and Bonnie and I took turns reading aloud from Mother's memoirs. I had encouraged her to write down her life story after she broke her hip. It kept her occupied and we now have four legal tablets full of her story, written in her own hand. It's amazing; she was a good writer, very entertaining and her tales are full of details that none of us had heard.

I spent a good portion of the morning teaching Bonnie to knit. That's a laugh, not her knitting (although that's fairly amusing), but my trying to teach her when I get so distracted and knit when I should purl and can't follow a pattern worth a darn. I'm sure I'm not the best teacher, but she's determined if nothing else.

We stopped in a little town called Pine Bluff for dinner. It was outrageous, a little family owned buffet that featured downhome with a capital DH cooking. They served catfish, fried chicken, crawfish, hushpuppies, pea salad, banana pudding-all homemade. We are in West Memphis tonight, just six miles from the Mississippi River.

Day One--flying into Dallas

I hope this is the only morning I have to 'bust out' to get on the road. That's not my idea of a vacation, but in order to get to Denver International Airport for a ten o'clock flight, we had to leave our house at 7 AM. Thank goodness I was flying Southwest since American has cancelled so many flights. It was a breeze going through security and my row on the plane didn't have anyone in the middle seat. Bonnie picked me up and brought me to her house where I had a chance to visit with 'poor unfortunate Rebecca' and her daddy, Adrian. If you haven't had a chance to meet Rebecca, you've missed a hoot wrapped in beautiful packaging. I guess I could say the same thing about Adrian. I'll see if I can attached a photo of his van that advertises his business. They are both featured on the sides of the van. Scroll to the bottom for a bigger picture.

We're going to make Reubens for dinner. I made them for the family the last time I was here and now it's a family tradition: Reuben Tuesday. Here's my recipe for a perfect Reuben:
Dark rye bread (without caraway seeds for me)
Pastrami (can be turkey pastrami)
Swiss cheese
Sauerkraut
1000 Island dressing
Grill the rye and swiss like a grilled cheese sandwich. Heat the meat separately. Mix the sauerkraut and dressing together and heat in the microwave. After the bread is toasted and the cheese all melty, add the meat and sauerkraut mixture. It's yummy. We leave in the morning, so you'll read more later. Jackie

Porters/Taliaferros involved in these pivotal battles

http://www.nps.gov/guco/

http://www.tngenweb.org/revwar/kingsmountain.html

Porter Trace Itinerary (tentative)

Mt. Pleasant cemetery Porter gravesites

Memphis, TN Graceland and Sun Studios

Town Creek, AL (25 miles W of Decatur, 100 S of Nashville) Homestead of Dr. Reese Porter, son of Reese Porter, bro of Benj. Porter

Fayetteville, TN (30 miles N of Huntsville, 70 S of Nashville) Porter/Sandifer Cemetery, Mary Bowen Porter and sons gravesites.

Lynchburg, TN Visit Jack Daniels' distillery

Gastonia, NC (20 west of Charlotte) Visit the site of the Battle of King's Mtn, the last pivotal battle of the Rev. War. Porters and Taliaferros were involved. Mary Bowen Porter received a pension for her support in knitting socks for the soldiers.

Greenville, SC See Warner Bouzek

Wilmington, NC (on the coast) Battleship USS North Carolina and museum (daddy was on this ship when it was commissioned during WWII; it participated in more battles than any other ship)
http://www.battleshipnc.com/index.html


Charlottesville, VA (approximately 70 miles northwest of Richmond and 100 miles southwest of Washington, D.C. ) Monticello Home of Thos Jefferson

Wash DC See Larry. Visit historic sites in DC

Lexington, VA (32 miles NW of Lynchburg, 145 miles N of Raleigh) Natural Bridge, Timber Ridge Presbyterian Church (Wm Porter Elder), birthplace of Reese Porter
Colonial Williamsburg, VA (20 miles NW of Newport News, 47 miles NW of Virginia Beach) Visit architectural sites Richard Taliaferro designed (he taught T. Jefferson architecture)

Louisville, KY Visit Eloise, pick up Liz

Gallatin, TN (24 miles NE of Nashville ) Visit Bowen-Campbell Natural Historic Register of Homes (Governor of Tennessee) Cousin Tom Darnall

Nashville, TN Country Music Hall of Fame

Branson, MO Condo and maybe a show or two

Wetumka, OK (61 miles SW of Broken Arrow, 64 S of Tulsa) Gravesites of Double Thumb Jim (Great-grandfather and a Sooner from Texas) and family
Back to Rockwall

Dr. John Taliaferro's grandad, Benjamin Berryman

He was born here. Probably our earliest progenitor in the New World. His father was probably in the first wave after Jamestown to come into Virginia. He was from Devon, England. This was not the Scot-Irish line but pure England. The English immigrants settled on the east coast of Virginia whilst the Scot-Irish came up the Delaware River into what is now south Pennsylvania and then down into the Shenandoah Valley. The two factions of immigrants didn't much like one another. The English Anglicans really looked down their noses as their more poverty stricken Scot-Irish Presbyterian neighbors. Folks rarely crossed over the Blue Ridge Mountains in those days. A rare exception was a young George Washington, a surveyor who spent time at the Natural Bridge and carved his initials (which we'll see) in the limestone under the bridge.

xoxo

Bro (Richard Porter)

P.S. Aside: interesting to note he married a Newton. I just noticed this and have not made an attempt to connect this with Ma's family (our paternal grandmother). Just like our ancestors to be cousins. We should have been from Arkansas.



Benj. Berryman

Rose Berryman

Dr. John Taliaferro

Charles Taliaferro

Elizabeth Taliaferro marries into the Porter clan (Reese Porter)

Benjamin Porter (born in TN)

Double Thumb Jim Porter

Hugh Porter (our paternal grandfather) Born in Spanish Fort, Bend, Texas











650. Capt. Benjamin BERRYMAN33 was born on 7 Dec 1669 in Westmoreland Co., VA. In 1699 he received a Grant from proprietors of Northern Neck of VA. "60 acres in Westmoreland Co. to Benjamin Berrman." In 1703, Benjamin was a Capt. in the Militia of Westmoreland Co., VA. He was named as a Justice of Westmoreland Co., VA on 25 Jun 1712 in Westmoreland Co., VA.191 (Westmoreland Orders 1705-1721, Pg 185.) In 1715 he was a Sheriff in Westmoreland Co., VA. During the years 1726-1729 he was a Justice of the Peace in Westmoreland Co., VA. He signed a will on 4 Aug 1729 in Westmoreland Co., VA. Association of Westmoreland

Benjamin Berryman died before 27 Aug 1729 in Westmoreland Co., VA.33

He married Elizabeth NEWTON about 1707 in Washington Parish, Westmoreland Co., VA.33 ,187

If I can just figure out how to add new messages everyday, I'll be thrilled. Am I really too dumb to learn how to blog when every 14-year-old kid in the world can do it?

Home in Evergreen

Friday, April 4

Today, I established a blog. For a 61-year-old former Luddite, I think that's pretty exciting. I'm attempting this step into the 21st century in order to chronicle an exciting upcoming event. I'm preparing for an trek across the South with two of my older brothers, Bob Porter and Richard Porter and my oldest niece, Bonnie Porter Kirby.

Richard has planned the trip, which will take us to the sites where our ancestors fought in battles, settled for some period or are buried. Our family is primarily Scot-Irish/English, having immigrated to America before the Revolution. They settled in Virginia and then across the South until they landed in Texas, where some proceeded to cross the Red River as Sooners to settle land in Indian Territory (Oklahoma). Our trek will take us along their migration. This is what I hope to capture in this blog.