Remodel

I decided to remodel the Photo Album pages of my site. And I think I'm just about done. Added alot more of the Bracey family, as well as some more Lambert's. Also added a new album. It has photos found with the Bracey family photos but they are unknown. Some were marked but none of the names fit anyone I know.

Thomas Harrison Bracey

For years there has been an old ledger in a box in my house. Never really noticed it until I started working on this site again. Well, a while ago I was going through the ledger and noticed a few names I recognized. Thomas R. Hendrick, father of Nannie Hendrick, wife of Alvis Orville Bracey, Sr., and Thomas Harrison Bracey, son of Samuel Bracey of Brunswick County. The ledger is from 1885 and is a record of births and deaths in the South Hill district of Mecklenburg County. It doesn’t have all the births and deaths, I’m sure of that; it isn’t large enough. But yesterday I was looking at it again and was looking around the Internet, and I realized that I couldn’t find Thomas Harrison Bracey’s death date anywhere. Ancestry.com doesn’t seem to have it or Ed Dunn’s site. I believe this ledger is probably a copy of the information that was sent to the state and presumably it is the same as Bureau of Vital Statistics records.

Interestingly enough, it seems that Harrison Hyram Bracey died the same year as Thomas Harrison Bracey.

I now have a Family Tree on Ancestry.com so more people can see the information on the tree, since not a lot of people have found my site yet. And I have now added Thomas Bracey’s death to it.

Samuel and Tabitha Bracey, Part 2

Just got back from the Library of Virginia a few hours ago. Spent most of the day looking up marriage records for the Bracey's. And I now have 110% proof that Samuel Bracey and Tabitha Hicks were married in 1795! Ancestry is wrong. I looked at the index and the original documents on microfilm and it said 1795 both times. 

I also now have all of Paschal Bracey's marriages, still can't find two of Adolphus Bracey's marriages. I'm wondering if he married in North Carolina. Which would mean a road trip no one can afford right now. Also found Hugh Davis Bracey's marriage to Frances O'Brian. Didn't have the date before.

Also looked at the Guardian Accounts for Mecklenburg County for Viola A. (Bracey) King's daughter. Viola it seems died around 1871 and her husband John Wright King died in 1877. A. H. Bracey was Viola B. King's guardian. She was in his household on the 1880 census.

The master list

A few weeks ago when I started working on the Bracey genealogy again, I started forgetting what I had done before and what information I already had and what did I need to look for, but now I have a master list! Every name to do with the Bracey family I have in the genealogy. (I know there are possiblely a few hundred names missing) Right now I have about 540 names in two files. I broke it up into two files. One for the ones with the Bracey last name and the other for the non Bracey names. Course that last one is the longest. About 400 names. I use it to know birth dates, death dates, marriage dates, who they married, who their parents are, where they are buried, and which records I’ve searched. Like SSN (social security death index), the wars (Civil War, WWI, and WWII), and which censuses they were on. I’ve also added columns for which names need updating on the site and if the person has been indexed. On this list I have birth dates I don’t have on the site due to the fact that they are still living.

Samuel and Tabitha Bracey

While looking at the Brunswick County Guardian Accounts for more details on Samuel’s kids I noticed that we seem to have forgotten two members of this family. Hugh Bracey and Rebecca H. Bracey. I have at least two copies of the pages of Samuel’s kids and failed to notice those two names before. Now I know my grandmother saw these pages...one of the copies was hers. Yet she left them out of the genealogy. I’m not sure why. In the 1820 Guardian Accounts the four children left have under each of their names “1/4 price of coffin in 1814 for HB.” They don’t seem to have anything on the death of Rebecca. But she would have to have died before 1820 since she is not listed in the accounts. The childrens names are also listed in a chancery suit in Brunswick County, Virginia.

Another problem I have is when Tabitha Hicks Bracey was born. She married Samuel Bracey on April 1, 1785 in Brunswick County, Virginia. According to the marriage record on ancestry.com. But my grandmother had it as 1795. The next time I am at the library I will check the records myself. I have quiet a few marriages I want to check on. The latest she could have been born is 1770 at least. And I’m not 100% convenced that the Tabitha King in TN in 1850 is her. The age doesn’t seem to fit. There is a Will for Tabitha King in TN and again I don’t believe it. Why would she leave out all of her Bracey grandkids? Did she and Benjamin King have kids after they moved to TN? If so it seems unlikely that they could have grown and had children of their own that quickly. But alas, I can’t go to TN to research it myself.

"Cap"

When I started working on the Bracey genealogy last month I had decided to fill in the blanks. Quite a few details were missing on a few people. Namely, Virginius Bracey, son of Paschal and Angelina Bracey. In the published genealogy, my grandmother has his name being Virginius Cameron Bracey, not even mentioning when he was born. It was like he was one of the forgotten members of the family. His entry in the genealogy is the smallest it seems. And it seems 70% of the information given is wrong. Sadly most of what my grandmother has isn't referenced so I have no idea where she got her information from....some I know are from my grandfather who loved to talk about the old days. His mother would tell him things that Mont, his father, told her about the area and his family. When looking at the Civil War records for the Bracey's, I noticed a Virginius S. Bracey, and a V.S. Bracey in the records. That's Cap. In the Riddick bible records of Nansemond County, he is listed as Virginius S. Bracy (We will forgive them for leaving out the e) I don't know where the name Cameron came from... There is a Virginius Cameron Bracey, but that is one of Caps nephews. ("Packs" son) While going through files my grandmother had on the Bracey family, I found a letter from A.W. Bracey, Sr. The first part of the page is a letter from someone in Arkansas about the Bracey family he remembered. It seems he was from Virginia and was recalling what history he knew on the Braceys. The letter had been sent to Hugh D. Bracey, Jr. in Deland, Florida. And I guess he sent it on to "Doll". The last paragraph is written by Doll. In it he gives information about his siblings. Including his brother, Caps, full name! Virginius Samuel. Judging by my grandmothers handwritting on the page saying "much of this is wrong" she had seen this page.. now why she ignored Caps name I will never know. I had yet to find a official document naming Cap as a Cameron so I will not be listing him as such. I have found more references as him being a Samuel so that is how he will remain. Sadly we don't have a family bible for Paschal... His house burned in 1916 so I'm sure the bible was lost. If it was still around we may have been able to have his correct name all along. 
Sadly, some of the Bracey genealogy has been published in a new book and in it at least twice they have made an error with his name. But it seems I am one of the few who has looked up his history. 
I have more news on Cap, but will hold off till later so I will have something to talk about. ;) Course if you go to the site it's all on there but here you can hear the back story on how the information was found.