ZippityDoDa...There's Z's In My Family Tree

A to Z Family Tree...The Letter 'Z'

Her name was not Zinnia, although I'm willing to bet she wished it was at times. Zilpha was the seventh child of John and Mary Polly Rowe Pittman, my 5X Great Grandparents.  Of their twelve children, daughter number seven appears to be the only child given a really uncommon name.  Their other children  had relatively simple and traditional names like Martha, Grace, Timothy, and Lucy...so how and why Zilpha?  As I looked down the list, I noticed several of their children had names found in the Bible like John, Sarah, and Mary.  I had never heard of a Zilpha in the Bible, but I gave it a 'Google' and BINGO...EUREKA...ZILPHA!!!

Zilpha was the handmaid of Leah and the concubine of Jacob.  Her sons Gad and Asher were the founders of two of the twelve tribes of Israel.  It is Hebrew in origin and means dropping or sprinkling.  Now I know that John and Mary were not of Hebrew descent, and perhaps they could not come up with another girls name so to the Bible they went.  We've all done it, ya know....the closed eyes and stab a finger to a verse and the first name that pops up is the one.  Can you imagine their hesitation?  I'm sure I would have said, "Once more...for heavens sake".

Zilpha was born January 16, 1762 in Amelia, Virginia.  She was a young girl during the American Revolution.  Her father and brothers were soldiers and Virginia Patriots.  Zilpha was with her mother when the Tories raided their home and threw Mary Polly off the porch leaving her with a broken hip and a cripple for the rest of her life. 

When Zilpha married in 1782 at twenty years of age, I imagine she had thoughts of at least getting a new last name with a different letter of the alphabet other than 'P'.  But, no....it was not to be...she  married Simon Peacock.  Her initials remained the same...ZIP.

Zilpha and Simon had fifteen children.  Two of them had names that started with Z...Zadock and Zilpha.
Bible Naming history repeated!!!    Bless their hearts! 

Zachariah Andrew Marley, the brother of my Great Grandmother Martha Jane Marley Carroll, was named after a long line of Zachariah Leatherwoods...his Mother's Family name.  The first Zachariah Leatherwood was my 6X Great Grandfather born on November 5, 1735.   Zack the First did not give the 'Z' name to any of his thirteen children, but his son George Holland, my 5X Great Grandfather honored his father by naming my 4X Great Grandfather Zachariah Perry born in 1807 in the state of South Carolina.

Zachariah Andrew Marley was the first Texas born Zachariah.  My Great Great Uncle Zachariah was six years younger than his sister, Martha Jane, my Great Grandmother,  having been born on December 15, 1883.  He is pictured above with his bride,  Mollie Ideliah Jacobs on their wedding day May 4, 1909.

And although, they don't look overjoyed as newly weds, things must have worked out okay as 2XGreat Uncle Zachariah and Mollie had seven children..two girls and five boys.  None of them were given the 'Z' name.  So ends 277 years of Zachariahs in the Pittman-Carroll-Marley-Leatherwood Family Tree...or so I thought until recently.

Zachariah Andrew Marley was 'Googled' by someone other than me.  So thanks to the Letter 'Z',  I have a NEW COUSIN to add to my Family Tree. Texas Zack's Grandson found Me through my posts about The Pittman-Carroll-Marley-Leatherwood Family Tree on CollectInTexas Gal~Tracks of My Texas Ancestors.  He and I are First Cousins 3x removed, and from what I gather, there is the possiblity that 2XGreat Uncle Zack will not be the last of the Zachariahs born in Texas.


Always regard with esteem the name you were given with praise and renown that it should endure.

To View All AtoZ Posts....click on Apple.

PARTICIPANTS LIST

X and Y...It's All About Genes and Skirts!

A to Z Family Tree...The Letters X and Y

Perhaps nothing is more of a determination of one's Ancestorial Branching of the Family Tree as the Letters X and Y.  Before the Science of Genetics and the XY Chromosomal discovery, ancient scholars believed that the sex of an infant was a matter of male and female insemination. 

 Whew...I was dreading this 'Birds and Bee's explanation of my Family Tree's Genes Jeans and Skirts, and I only had to use the 'S' word once.  It's pretty well know that the 'S' word was not used in the explanation of the 'Birds and Bees' during the times of my ancestors and that X and Y were known primarly as Letters of the Alphabet.  The Letter X was more versatile in that it could mark a spot or serve as a signature.

The X's and Y's  of my Great Great Marley Grandparents resulted in  eight boys and five girls with all living to adulthood except for a set of infant boy and girl twins and a one year old boy.  I doubt if they ever heard of the X and Y Chromosome Theories and were more than happy to have each and every one of their children...regardless of whether they wore pants or skirts.

   Oh wait....the pants or skirts thing!!!!  It's not always the way to tell!!!  Here is the oldest daughter of the above mentioned Great Great Marley Grandparents and my Direct Descendent Martha Jane Marley Carroll with her husband...my Great Grandfather Stephen Bennett Carroll and their three children.  When first this photo was found in Martha Jane's Photo Album their identities were not known, and I tagged it  "couple and three daughters".

This photo, also in the Album, had written on the back "sons and daughters of MJ Carroll".  So, let's do some 'Photo Detective" work and compare the above photo with this one. 

*First...look at the background.  The photos were taken in the same studio.

*Now look at the faces of the two boys in pants here and the two girls in skirts standing beside their father.  Same eyes, same faces.

*I'm looking at Stephen B. and  Martha Jane's June 14, 1900 Census Record now...hope you are still with me...it says:

 Stephen (27) and Jannie (23) Carroll, married 3 years, Othella (2) daughter and Merritt (1) son. 

 Well, that explains ONE of the skirts and makes the above photo a strong maybe as being Stephen, Martha Jane, Merritt and my Grandmother Estella born June 22, 1900...she's the baby and the photo was probably taken late 1900 or early 1901.

'To make a long story short' or 'short work of 'Photo/Census Research', I'll tell you that the 'couple is indeed Stephen B. and Martha J. Carroll and their three children taken in 1901 before my grandmother's first birthday.  And that Othella is really a boy that the 1900 Census Taker  mistakenly put an A at the end of his name instead of an O.  One look at him in that skirt, and I'd have done the same thing.

The photo labeled 'sons and daughters of MJ Carroll' was taken in the fall of 1903 after the death of their father, Stephen, on June 23, 1903 at 30 years of age.  The fourth child, Mary Ella was born the year before on July 14, 1902.

I imagine that my widowed Great Grandmother was very grateful to have these four children, and never gave a thought to the 'How's and Why's of their X's and Y's.

I know...I sure am!!!

To View All AtoZ Posts....click on Apple.

PARTICIPANTS LIST