Last weekend Denny and I drove down to Lawrenceburg, Tennessee to visit my dad. My family is from there.
Several years ago, I research my family tree on my mom's dad's mom's side back to the 1600's and found out that in 1816, Jacob Pennington and his family were the very first settlers in Lawrence County! I ended up writing a whole book about it and self-publishing it (it's even in a couple of libraries).
Anyway, here's what my family tree looks like:
HENRY PENNINGTON
Henry Pennington married Elizabeth and they had a son
ABRAHAM PENNINGTON(1)
Abraham Pennington(1) married Mary Elkton and they had a son
ABRAHAM PENNINGTON(2)
Abraham Pennington(2) married Katerina Weister and they had a son
JACOB PENNINGTON(1)
Jacob Pennington(1) married Mary Cannon and they had a son
JACOB PENNINGTON(2)
Jacob Pennington(2) married Mary Tuttle and they had a son
DAVID PENNINGTON
David Pennington married Elizabeth Kirk and they had a son
YOUNG M. PENNINGTON
Young M. Pennington married Emily C. King and they had a daughter
LOUIDA PENNINGTON
Louida Pennington married Allen J. Hayes and they had a son
(Louida died shortly after my grandfather was born and Allen married her sister Marier who raised my grandfather.)
OSCAR CLINT HAYES
Oscar Clint Hayes married Mary Okalona (Lona) Mosley and they had nine children
Leo Nathaniel Hayes
James Leon Hayes
Virgil Ordell (Bud) Hayes
Gerald Carmon (Dutch) Hayes
A Stillborn Baby
Ivadell (Dell) Hayes **
Kathleen Hayes
Terry Clinton Hayes
Gary Ford Hayes
--------> So ... Ivadell (Dell) Hayes ... is my mom : )
So now, whenever I go to Lawrenceburg, I always visit the old cemetery where my grandma and grandpa are buried, which is right across the road from the little white church that my grandpa helped build so long ago and my mom grew up in. I love it there. Some of my aunts and uncles are buried there too. And my great-grandpa and great-grandma who I never knew.
My great-grandparents Allen and Marier Hayes in the foreground.
My grandparents Clint and Lona behind them on the right with aunts and uncles to the left.
Barnesville Methodist Church in the background.
**********
But here's the really cool thing that happened: I found the grave of my great-great grandparents, Young and Emily C. Pennington! It is totally hidden in the middle of a wooded area, and took some research and climbing through trees to get to ... but it was worth it. Wow! Amazing.
Young Pennington was 20 years old when he married Emily C. King in 1820. They had 11 children together, one of which was Louida Pennington, who married Allen Hayes and were my great-grandparents.
----------------> And here are the pictures of their graves.
Their graves are located in the wooded area in the background.
It blends into the trees, sticks and leaves.
Emily C. Pennington 1834-1902
Young Pennington 1831-1896
Amazing.
[generations spanned]
Pam, this is really interesting. My Pennington family came from England, went to Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, then Kansas. I would need time to search my information (and I'm out of town right now), but I'll keep your e-mail site and get back in touch. Fun to check into these things. Many of my ancestors were Sam or Isaac Penningtons.
Posted by: DeAnna Pennington Harvill | October 16, 2008 at 09:32 PM