The Only Ones Going To Heaven

I was born into the Church of Christ, so to speak.  My family were  faithful members of the Sansom Avenue church of Christ in Gadsden, Alabama.  I attended various other congregations of the church of Christ well into my forties.  I guess it took me that long to study my way out and evolve, religiously speaking. 

I’m going to give you my two religious world views based on my earlier years and those of today.  In my youth I learned that members of the church of Christ were the only ones going to heaven.  I was told the church had the true message of Holy Scriptures and we were the “ark” of the world.  Everyone else needed to come to us to be saved.  Members of the church didn’t consider themselves a denomination.  The argument was that we were not part of the church, we were the TRUE church of Jesus Christ.  Supposedly, our correct interpretation of scripture had moved us, not to the number one position, but the only position!

We were the only religious body who sang acapella (voice only), took the Lord’s Supper EVERY Sunday, and most importantly, the only religious entity that believed a person was saved at baptism.  That baptism had to be a complete immersion in water too, or it didn’t count.  If you were traveling on your way to be baptized, had a heart attack and died, you weren’t saved either!  Intention didn’t count in the eyes of most preachers. 

We supposedly had the only proper scriptural organization as well.  There were Elders, who shepherded over the flock, and Deacons, who served the church in whatever capacity the elders required.  In reality, the Elders served as super-deacons.  I rarely saw them so concerned over non-attendees that they went out to urge their return.  Those lost sheep might get a “withdrawal” letter but little else.  As “those who watch over your soul” the elders actually were more of a “those who watch over your money”!

Deep down, I always had questions, but relied on the pat scriptural answers given me by the village elders/teachers/members.  Gradually, those answers just didn’t work any more.  I suppose the tipping point came after having children and joining a support group of homeschooling families.  I was very impressed with the religious attitudes of people who, in my earlier years, I would have said were lost. 

After visiting a few Baptist churches, my perspectives completely rolled upside down.  I heard the same scriptures but with different interpretations.  I heard a focus on grace and love.  I learned the importance of a belief in Jesus and that anyone dying on their way to be baptized, was okay!  I also learned of the security of a believer in Jesus.  God wasn’t angry all the time and that we don’t bounce from saved to sinner with one unprayed “forgive me for that one”.

Today, I worship at Church of the Highlands, a multi-campus mega-church.  It is the largest church in Alabama and incidentally, have a group which meets in Gadsden, my old hometown.  We attended that campus recently and the auditorium was packed!  In contrast, many of the churches of Christ I had previously attended were “out of business”.  I guess many of the others woke up too!

If you still attend a church of Christ, I urge you to break free.  Those chains come off easily and you’ll never regret leaving.  You can enjoy worship and absolutely NOT go to hell for it.  Highlands is also online, as are many other churches.  Freedom is awesome!

This Battle will Never End

An awful event has occurred which cannot be undone!  It was a Pandora's box which should never have been opened.  I'm talking about the invasive plant problem.  Our ancestors invited them in, dreaming they would be of great benefit.  Since then, they have become a nightmare!  You already know most, kudzu, privet, honeysuckle, Chinese tallow, mimosa trees, bamboo, and the list goes on and on.

I believe the catalyst which began the downfall was the industrial age.  Farming has always taken an intensive labor force.  Whether a family with several children or one with cheap laborers, farming isn't easy work.  As more money was to be made with jobs in the cities, children and other laborers moved there, leaving farmers facing a daunting task, raising food with little help.  So most family farms were sold to big conglomerates which replaced cheap labor with chemicals.  Some farmers even use genetically engineered plants that contain a built in herbicide, which isn't healthy for us.  It seems there are articles every day warning us of the dangers of eating food which isn't organic.

Going back to folks leaving the farm and moving to subdivisions, all those yards needed to be landscaped.  Companies, eager for profit, were quick to comply with all the beautiful plants those good salaries would buy.  Since folks now had a regular income, they didn't need to think of edible plants, grocery stores would supply their food.  They purchased most of their plants for aesthetic value only.  The seeds from those plants were then spread in a myriad of ways,  including wind, birds, and people.  It didn't take long for our terrible problem to develop.  One person maintaining a small lot can handle a few invasive plants.  However, when those same plants invade the rural areas, their multiplication is astronomical.

Take privet for example, a flowering plant in the genus Ligustrum.   There are about fifty species of the evergreen shrub which grow into a small tree if left alone.  One plant may produce thousands of seeds, which are eaten by birds and spread widely.  If you cut down one plant, ten will spring up from the roots.  It's complete eradication is no longer possible.  In Alabama's twenty one million acres,  it is estimated at least one million are lost to privet.  Many try to control the plant with herbicides, but with the health dangers chemicals pose to both people and native plants, other methods are more desirable.

I've found cutting, removing, and burning the largest clumps help control the spread.  Goats and sheep both enjoy eating privet as well.  If the soil is moist, pulling small plants up by the roots is fairly easy.  The sad thing is that the plant is still being sold by some stores today. 

So, the never ending battle with invasive plants will go on.  We gain some ground, then lose it again.  What we need is a change in our thinking.  What if we all converted those nice lawns between our privet fences to something different.  Yes, those lawns which require fertilizers, reseeding, hours of mowing, dethatching, aerating... and then, after that, you still can't eat it.  Why not think about having your very own food forest!  Imagine, walking outside and picking your own blueberries, tomatoes, okra, grapes, apples, pears, and all kinds of great food!  Let's bring the farm to the city.

Yes, I know plants are expensive, but so is all that lawn maintenance.  Plus you'll know the history of the food you are putting in your body.  It wasn't sprayed with chemicals or fertilized with human waste! I'll even give you a good tip on the planting expense.  Many of the fruits you purchase at the store have "seeds" in them.  If they were grown in the United States, they haven't been radiated as they crossed the border, so they are probably still viable.  Google the variety, and get some good tips on planting the seed.  Also, seeds are very inexpensive where plants are a bit costly.  Order a few seed packets and start your own locally grown harvest.  I've heard gardening is cheaper than therapy and you get food.  The exercise is also excellent for you, so you can save on the gym membership.  All that excellent healthy food is going to make you feel good, look good, and have a great attitude about yourself.  The benefits outweigh any cost!

Once you really get excited about growing your own food, search YouTube for "Permaculture" videos.  Its a great method to help maintain your garden with less effort, less cost, and allowing nature to pitch in as a twenty-four hour assistant.   I'm always disappointed when I ask a farmer or, even recently, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System Agent, if they are aware of Permaculture.  I've yet to get a "yes" from anyone.  They are still steeped in the big mono-farming method where all food is grown with chemicals.  Things have got to change.

I'll leave you with a few good links if you are interested in doing some more research.  I hope you'll check out the list of invasive plants and spread the word about their dangers.  We should all be an environmentalist, because we only have one environment!

Alabama's Worst Invasives
The Privet Warriors
Dealing with Invasive Plant Species
Why Food Forests?

William P Whitt 1775-1850

Today I'd like to write about my wife's Whitt family origins. Her sixth generation Grandfather was Shadrach Whitt, who was born in 1741 in Charles City, Virginia.  He married Mary Elizabeth Rogers and they had six children; William P, Artie, Nell, Archibald, Middleton and James. 

Shadrach Whitt(White in archives) served with the 15th Virginia during the Revolutionary War.  The 15th was organized February 1777.  He no doubt participated in the Battle of Brandywine, where the British General Sir William Howe defeated one of my relatives, General George Washington.  More troops fought at Brandywine than any other battle of the American Revolution.  It was also the longest single-day battle of the war, with continuous fighting for eleven hours.  Next, for the 15th was the Philadelphia defense and a loss at the Battle of Germantown on October 4, 1777.

Shadrach would have marched with the 15th Virginia, entering Valley Forge on December 19, 1777.  Estimates have total numbers of 10,000 to 12,000 troops trying to survive a harsh winter with little food, clothing, & shelter.  Sickness decimated the encampment with Shadrach included.  He died in February of 1778 and was buried in a mass grave.

Shadrach and Mary's Son, William Whitt lived in South Carolina as early as 1798.  In 1799, He married Feroba Middleton.  They migrated to Franklin County, Tennessee around 1810.  In 1818, William purchased 20 acres of land in Franklin from Leroy May.  

With the War of 1812 & The Creek War, William had the opportunity to see more of the South, especially Alabama.  He served with two different units from Franklin County. First, in the “Record of Commissions of Officers in the Tennessee Militia 1812,” William Witt is recorded as a Lieutenant who served in the 32nd Regiment from Franklin County, Tennessee.  This regiment comprised the army under Andrew Jackson that undertook the expedition to Natchez.  Second, William Witt is also listed on the Dec. 10, 1812 muster roll for Captain Caperton’s Company, 2nd Regiment of Tennessee Volunteers, which is on file at the National Archives in Washington. The 2nd Regiment was composed of about 400 men and participated in the Battle of Talladega on November 9, 1813.

William supposedly migrated south even before the Indians were removed.  Between 1820 to 1824 he moved into Dekalb County and purchased 20 acres of land in Sand Valley near Leeth's Gap.  The area later became part of Etowah County. 

He and Feroba had seven children, who according to an article in the Messenger newspaper married into some of the better known families of that day. Quoting from the author, Danny Crownover, "Rachel, the first wife of James McClendon, son of Burwell and Nancy Crump McClendon of Gallant; Elizabeth who married Roland Crump, uncle of James McClendon; Nancy married a Benjamin Camp (By 1837, Nancy was already a widow; her husband died an innocent victim of a lawless mob. Nancy and her children moved to Little Rock, AR before 1860); William P. Whitt, born in 1817, married Sarah McClendon, a sister of James McClendon; Shadrack M, born in 1814, married Caroline Horton; Manerva, married Allen Smith; and Celia Whitt McCormack, who seems to have died before marrying."

The marriage of William Pinkerton Whitt and Sarah McClendon produced the Great Grandfather of my wife, Franklin Pinkerton Whitt Jr. born in 1846.  And in a marriage performed by A. C Ramsey on Thursday, October 30, 1879, Franklin married Mary Jane Symonds.  It is interesting that their marriage entry, on Etowah County Records, is the one before the marriage of Albert H. Cox to Emma Cox, who I wrote about in my last blog.

Also, note the close proximity from Cox Gap to Leeth Gap, they were only about a mile apart.




Our history of family is just too important to be forgotten.
Over time, trails go cold, and the information is buried or forgotten.  Critical knowledge gets splintered between families who no longer have contact due to distance or other concerns.  Why not turn back the clock in your own heritage and become a time unraveler.  A great, free place to start is Family Search.  Click the link, choose free account, and immerse yourself in ancestors.  See you next time!

Emma Florence Cox 1862-1941

In an older blog I wrote, entitled Genealogy Bug Bites Me I mentioned not knowing the maiden name of my Great Grandmother Emma Cox.  I still haven’t solved the mystery of her family past.  Being an amateur at this, I thought I’d toss it out to the experts who have done this for years and are very good.  Also, looking at the trees on Ancestry and Family Search, others have this same missing limb.

First of all, I’ll tell you what I know. 

Emily Florence Cox, called Emma by her family, was born December 5, 1862 in Cherokee County Alabama.  Sadly, the Cherokee County courthouse suffered fires which destroyed records in both 1882 and 1895.

She married Albert Henry Cox, b1857, in Etowah County, Alabama, on Sunday November 2, 1879 by H. M. Brock who was the Justice of the Peace.  Emma would have been 17 years old.  Etowah Courthouse records have her last name as Cox on the marriage records. 

The 1880 United States Census has them residing alone, at Beat 10 & 17(same page of records) Duck Springs, Attalla, Etowah, Alabama.  I believe this would have been near the Cox Gap home of Albert’s Dad, Thomas Gale Amis Cox.  The 1880 Census has her name spelled Emely F. Cox.  Every other census only lists her as Emma Cox.

Albert and Emma had the following children;

Ollie Cox                        1882-1914

James Willie Cox            1884-1975

Eula Cox                         1886-1971

Wallace Henry Cox         1888-1981

Knox Cox                        1891-1968

Claudia Ann Cox             1894-1985

Alva Mae Cox                 1896-1987

Albert died in 1915 at 58 years old, in Etowah County Alabama.  The 1940 census has Emma living with her son, Will and his wife, Amy in Alabama City, Alabama.  She passed away October 29, 1941 at 79 years old.  I have a copy of her death certificate that has parents as “unknown”.   Emma & Albert are buried in the Cox Family Cemetery on Cox Gap Road in Etowah County.

 Last week, I traveled back to Gadsden to visit the Nichols Memorial Library, which is home to the Northeast Alabama Genealogical Society.  They had four folders on Etowah County Cox families.  Most contained information I already had.  The last folder was compiled by the late Jerry Jones.  Jerry was a well known historian and genealogist.  Most of his entries for Emma were the standard “Emma F. Cox” I’ve seen everywhere, except for the last page.  Almost out of place, even.  He had Emma’s maiden name as “Wester”.   So, if this is correct, I need to find Emma Florence Wester’s family origins from Cherokee County, Alabama.

An interesting coincidence is the 1880 census I mentioned earlier.  In the house almost next door to Albert and Emma resided a Ms. Wester with two sons, Franklin and Thomas.

One other note, our son had an Ancestry DNA test done.  In his results, there were no direct connections to a Wester, but two of those listed had a Wester in their tree.  A Milly Wester, born 1770 in Warren, Georgia and Nancy Sarah Wester, born 1736 in Franklin, North Carolina.  I struck out on connections to either.

Hopefully, this will help someone solve this mystery for the rest of us.  If you are the Sherlock Holmes for Emma Cox, I will make sure everyone knows who to give the credit to.  Just leave me a comment and we'll talk!

I’ll close with a quote on genealogy I came across from an unknown author.  Some family trees have beautiful leaves, and some have just a bunch of nuts.  Remember, it is the nuts that make the tree worth shaking.

Making Memories

My Grandparents were Wallace Henry and Serepta Cox.  They were my mother’s parents who gave dad the land to build his house.  We lived directly behind them in a two-story cinder block house.   I know now what a blessing it was to live so close, to at least one side of my third generation.  I have so many memories of them that I consider priceless.

They were both born in the late 1800’s and married in December of 1919, only two months after his military discharge from the Army.  Granddaddy had served in World War I as a military policeman in France.  He had many occupations as he traveled around the Southeast seeking income for his young family.  Grandmother would often joke every time they passed through a small town, “Wallace said he helped build that plant”!  They grew up in harsh economic times.  Granddad was forty-one years old when the depression hit.  By that time, he owned a dump truck and was able to make ends meet hauling whatever he could.  He was able to open a small grocery store in Alabama City, near their house on Dozier Street.  Mother said he didn’t make much money because he would over extend credit to those who were in desperate need. 

He closed that store and opened a larger one near the Dwight cotton mill at Canterberry Station.  By the time I came along in 1958, he had retired and was only selling Watkins products, and those mostly to the black community near Forrest Cemetery in Gadsden.  My early driver training was helping him deliver orders to his clients.

He loved to go fishing.  He would walk out to our house and ask Mom if I wanted to go fishing.  Of course, I always did.  His favorite spot was Lack’s fish camp, on the low side of the dam at Leesburg.  He liked to go early and fish till mid-afternoon.  We’d tie up, usually not too far from the dam.  He fished with three rods to my one.  We rarely left with an empty cooler.  He would clean and cook the fish when we got home.   Grandmother always refused to cook fish.  She didn’t like the smell of it cooking but she usually ate some.

She was probably the best cook I’ve known.  Her back door was the kitchen door and I was there often.  I still remember the blackberry and apple cobblers she would make.  They were just the best!  I remember eating simple lunches such as pinto beans and cornbread, butter beans and rice, or just a tomato sandwich.  She would cook a big spread with mother’s help if company were coming.   Oddly, Granddaddy always fixed breakfast.  I’ve always known that, but for some reason I have always given her credit for those great leftover biscuits I grabbed, as I passed through the kitchen.

I probably spent as much time at their house as I did at mine.  I remember watching Bonanza on TV, along with Hawaii 5-0 and Perry Mason.  Granddaddy would also listen to the Braves play baseball on the radio while Grandmother sewed or cleaned house. 

My Grandfather served as an elder at the Sansom Avenue Church of Christ for over forty years.  He loved studying the Bible and I remember listening in on several conversations with preachers, who came to visit and discuss scripture.  He had cataract surgery when he was in his eighties, and it distressed him that afterwards, he couldn’t read his Bible as well.  Grandmother was a member of the Sansom church but still had most of her Primitive Baptist blood still in tact.  She was from a   Sand Mountain family named “Wootten”.  Famous for their sacred harp singing or “fa-so-la” as some call it.  We usually attended the Spring Decoration at Antioch Baptist and enjoyed the dinner on the ground afterwards.

In our neighborhood, we knew everyone’s name on our side of the street and most of those on the other side.  We would sit on the front porch like greeters.  If a passer by saw anyone on the porch, they would usually stop and chat.  It was just a friendlier time with friendlier people.  The front porch was also our family gathering location.  As the youngest, I remember being the “gofer”.   If someone wanted a coke from the corner store, I’d take the money and run get it.  Herdon’s was at the end of our block and they sold drinks for 10 cents.  They were in a coke display box filled with cold water.  You identified the drink you wanted by the cap and then slid it to the end to remove.  Bringing the empty bottle back also got you three cents, so I could sometimes get a drink just by returning bottles.

I’ve been mind wandering a lot since working on family genealogy again.  We tend to think of history as the Crusades, famous battles, or the birth of nations.  Family history is a treasure that is hidden in each of us.  Don’t forget where you buried it.  Even more important, new treasures are formed every day.  Still got your grandparents?  Go make some memories!

Endless Possibilities

Sipping on a fresh homemade strawberry kombucha, I’m sitting in a 600 square foot room we call “the cave”. It’s snowing outside, while I’m watching flames in the woodstove through the glass door.  The contrast of extremes is interesting.  My charcoal gray T-shirt states, I’m currently unsupervised.  I know, it freaks me out too.  But the possibilities are endless!  My long gray beard matches it well. 

My wife says that I’ve evolved into a hippie.  Yes, I do hunt mushrooms in the woods.  I also make my own herbal teas and medicines. My ROKU is playing Tibetan meditation music in the background… so she probably isn’t far from the truth.  But not a hippie, I see that culture as leading us to the drug induced, sex craved culture we see today.  I do, however, like the peace and love aspect.

It’s okay to mellow a little as we age.  Even explore new ideas and hobbies.  I wish I had discovered my older self at a younger age.  I believe the Creator cuts us some slack as we age.  I don’t believe He’s as mean as I once thought.  I really won’t get struck with lightning if I don’t attend church this week. Today, I even find a forty five minute Bible study lasts all day.  It just seems to never end.  When did Sunday school get soooooo long?

I still go to church. I just get more religion working outside, in nature, than I do in attending.  I’m at the point in life where I need more than a church, which is obsessed in the past, can give.  I like Romans 1:19-20, For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made. Give me a class study on string theory, quantum mechanics, or near death experiences.  We are eternal beings of light!  If we don’t stop studying Jewish history, science will discover the real Creator before the church does.  I understand the preoccupation with the past, but is it at the cost of our present, or possibly our future?

I do have many questions about God, which remain unanswered.  But I’m looking for those answers.  It’s the person who doesn’t seek that’s in real danger.  Rejecting completely the concept of a divine creator is not even an alternative answer.  Looking at nature, the only correct one is that God is real. Design is everywhere!

The problem, is that the church has presented to us an active communicating God who has our best interest at heart.  It’s nice, but He is often silent and passive when we call.  Our pleas go unanswered as we struggle through life seemingly unaided.  It makes people reject that business model and opt for another, less religious and less churchy.  I’m not anti-church.  I am anti a church, which cannot change, especially one that claims to have all the answers.

The Bible is Religion 101.  It should make you thirsty for more knowledge, more seeking of a Creator where possibilities are endless!

Philippians 2:12-13 says to Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is producing in you both the desire and the ability to do what pleases Him.   Is there a “holistic” religion?  Edgar Cayce said, “Then, to be able to remember the sunset, to be able to remember a beautiful conversation, a beautiful deed done where hope and faith were created, to remember the smile of a babe, the blush of a rose, the harmony of a song—a bird’s call; these are creative.  For they are a part of thyself, they bring you closer and closer to God”

The temperature outside is 23 degrees with a wind chill of 11.  The snow is still falling along with the temps… guess I’ll go watch some UFO videos.  Just kidding!