HOW THE SITE GOT IT'S NAME Because of the photo of the headstone shown to the left that came to me from a great-uncle and got me started researching my family. It is the headstone of my Great-Great Grandfather Thomas Jefferson Mercer and is located in Greenlawn Cemetery in Gulfport, Mississippi. The thumbnail on the right hand side is also of him.
Standing beside it is my Great-Great Grandmother Amanda Melissa Stephen and two of their daughters, Emma and Louella.
The picture was taken sometime between 1911 and 1926 with one of the old camera's where the picture became a postcard. You will find a picture of this same stone on Thomas Jefferson's individual page that I received in 2010.
WHAT THE SITE CONTAINS It is basically a master database of the work of numerous researchers who have donated their material and/or time to put it together, especially one of the members of my Parker Family line. The majority of individuals are from two counties, Daviess, Co., Kentucky and Crawford Co., Illinois where my Watkins and Ford lines settled in the early 1800's.
With 200 years of individuals to filter through in these two counties to find all the descendents of these lines you will find numerous individuals on the site whose information was also put together that are not related but lived in one or the other during that time.
PATERNAL WATKINS LINE This line is referred to as the Watkins Ferry line as my 6th great-grandfather, Evan Watkins, owned Watkins Ferry across the Potomac, a registered National Historical Landmark. George Washington, General Edward Braddock and Daniel Boone as wagonmaster crossed the Ferry in 1755 on their way to the battle of Fort Duquesne.
In the papers of George Washington located at the University of Virginia he mentions Evan, the Ferry and Evan's home Maidstone on the Potomac.
This was my Watkins line first recorded association with the Boone Family. Later on there were marriages between the two lines which made me a double 1st cousin to Daniel. In 2010 a book was written titled "Descendents of Josiah Boone I and II" detailing my connection to him. If you are interested in purchasing a copy of the book it is available on the site lulu.com
The Watkins line has been traced back into England where a connection to it has also been found to one of my maternal lines, Nuttall, that shows my parents as 9th cousin's.
Daviess County Kentucky lines: Watkins, Fuqua, Horseman, Bristow, Karn, Barnhill, Boone, Hite and Henton. Traces of my maternal lines also found here: Terrell, Nuttall and Ditto.
There are two Boone lines found in Daviess Co., Kentucky, my George Boone and Mary Milton Mogridge line and what is referred to as the Isle of Wight Boone line. There has been no connection found between these two lines even though they have lived in the same area at different times.
MATERNAL FORD LINE A connection to this line outside of the United States hasn't been confirmed but a DAR book written on the family in 1955 states family tradition is that it is of Irish Origin. It has been traced back to Virginia and my 6th great-grandfather Warner Ford as a Culpepper Minuteman traveled with George Rogers Clark on two expeditions during the Revolutionary War into the Illinois Territory.
On one of those expeditions, Robert Terrell, whose two daughters, Jane and Elizabeth, married two sons of Warner's, Robert and Jarrett, traveled with him. These expeditions also included member's of the Boone Family.
Robert Ford and Jane Terrell were my 5th great-grandparents and the Terrell line has been traced back to Walerain, Count of the Vexin and his wife Eldegard, great-granddaughter of Alfred the Great of England.
My Parker line traces back to Edward Doty a passenger on the Mayflower.
A descendent of this line and my cousin has been instrumental in helping to maintain this website.
Crawford County Illinois lines: Ford, Mercer, Branson, McDaniel, Parker, Nuttall, Miller, Highsmith, Weger, Rich, Midgett, Tohill and Terrell
If you have any questions or comments about the information on this site, please