My Family Tree is Full of Nuts

Just kidding. In the 3rd grade I think it was, I was selected to be in the Tom Thumb wedding. This is my cousin Johnny Lester Scogin. He was the son of Margaret Epps Scogin and Zack Scogin. Margaret was the daughter of my grandfather, Samuel Huey Epps.  Johnny was born October 28, 1953 and he died December 2009.

Jason Scogin, son of Johnny Scogin and Gary Wheeler digging Aunt Margaret Epps Scogin’s tiny grave. She was cremated and we only had to dig 2 x 2 foot. She is buried between her mother and father, Hannah Carroll Vanzant Epps and Samuel Huey Epps Sr, at Highland Cemetery, Piedmont, AL 

Johnny Lester Scogin.

February 14, 1952.   First Baptist Church of Piedmont, Alabama

Miss Fitzpatrick Married.

Miss Retha Dean Fitzpatrick, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Fitzpatrick and Billy Epps, son of Mr. and Mrs. Sam Epps were married on Thursday evening at 7:30 o’clock. The marriage was solemized in the First Baptist Church with the Rev. Mr. Brank Bowman reading the vows.

The church altar was banked with ivy and magnolia leaves which formed a background for candelabra holding white tapers and baskets of white gladioli.

Mrs. Orville Ginter was organist and Miss Elaine Atkinson sang “Because” and “Ah Sweet Mystery of Life.

Miss Janice Fitzpatrick, sister of the bride, and Miss Janice Savage lighted the candles.

The ushers were Stanley Conway and James Bice. Wilbur Studdard served the groom as best man.

Miss Margaret Epps, sister of the groom, was bridesmaid. Her dress was of blue and her flowers were a corsage of carnations.

The bride was given in marriage by her father. She sore a suit of beige woolen gabardine with brown accessories. She carried a prayer book topped with a purple orchid.

The parents of the bride entertained with a reception at the Woman’s Club following the wedding.

Melda Maddox, niece of the bride, kept the bride’s book and others assisting in entertaining were Mrs. F.K. Maddox and Mrs. Raymond Hammond.

Mr. and Mrs. Epps left during the evening on their wedding trip through the south.

Aunt Wynette Rose Ray Epps, Aunt Katherine Epps Maddox and Aunt Marion Fitzpatrick Studdard. 

Aunt Winnie was married to Uncle Sammy Epps daddy’s brother,  Aunt Katherine is daddy’s sister and Aunt Marion was mothers sister.

L to R  Hannah Carroll Vanzant Epps, my daddy’s mother, Retha Dean Fitzpatrick Epps, my mother the bride, Sadie Mae Taylor Fitzpatrick, mother’s mother and my grandmother,  Marion Fitzpatrick Studdard, mother’s sister. Coming in the door Aunt Katherine Epps Maddox, daddy’s sister and one of her boys, Aunt Wynette Rose Ray Epps, daddy’s brother Sammy’s wife.

Sadie Mae Taylor Fitzpatrick my grandmother , Retha Dean Fitzpatrick Epps, my mother, Hannah Carroll Vanzant Epps, my daddy’s mother. Check out the light bulb hanging from the ceiling. Sad thing..this house still is standing today with that same light fixture hanging from the ceiling. This picture was made at 205 Anniston Avenue, Piedmont, Alabama, home of Sam and Hannah Epps. This was at my mothers bridal shower February 4, 1952.

Mothers engagement announcement.

Retha Dean Fitzpatrick Epps and William Thomas Epps, Sr. My parents. Lord, I hope they were married in this picture. She would have killed me and my sister if she caught us sitting in a boys lap!

Born 12 August 1868   Died 13 September 1943

This is my mother Retha Dean Fitzpatrick Epps.  She was the daughter of Roy Lee Fitzpatrick and Sadie Mae Taylor Fitzpatrick.

She died May 8, 1994 in Piedmont, Alabama

This is a picture of Geneva Lilly Fitzpatrick. 

Geneva was born 1 October 1879  in Athens, Georgia and died 28 March 1936 in Piedmont, Alabama. She was the wife of Arthur Eugene Fitzpatrick.  Arthur was my paternal Great Grandfather.  Geneva was the daughter of Thomas Lilly and Elizabeth Youngblood.

Obit of Geneva Lilly.

Mrs. Geneva (wife of A.E. Fitzpatrick) died Saturday midnight at her home in Piedmont following an illness of over a year.

Funeral services were held Sunday afternoon at Holiness Church, the Rev. B.L. Cox officiating. Interment was in Piedmont Cemetery. Usrey in charge.

Six sons were pallbearers.

Surviving are the husband, six sons, Eddie of Georgia, Frank of Anniston, Harold, Roy, Ollie and Rufus , Piedmont, AL. Four daughters, Mrs. Grady Powell of Georgia, Mrs. Tobe Whitehead, of Georgia, and Mrs. John Clark and Mrs. R.L. Smith of Jacksonville. She has a brother E.C.Lilly of Acmar, Alabama.

Mrs. Fitzpatrick was born and reared at Athens, GA and had been a resident of Piedmont for 11 years.

The young man in the picture was her brother Emmett.

Hannah Carroll Vanzant Epps     Samuel Huey Epps, Sr

This is my paternal grandmother and grandfather.

Samuel Huey Epps, age 79 of 205 Anniston Avenue, Piedmont, Alabama died  Monday 2:30 pm at Piedmont Hospital, May 1, 1967

Funeral services were held Wednesday at 3 pm at Northside Baptist Church, with Reverand Ross Minton and Charles Rutherford officiating. Burial was in Highland Cemetery with Mickelson Mortuary in charge.

He is survived by one daughter, Mrs. Margaret Epps Scogin of Piedmont; two sons, Billy Epps of Piedmont and Samuel Huey Epps, Jr of Winter Park Florida. One sister, Mrs. W.A. Shearl of Titusville, Florida.  12 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren.

Active pallbearers were masons. Masonic graveside rites were conducted by Lozahatchee Masonic Lodge No. 97 of which he was a member.

A native of Tennessee, Mr. Epps was a resident of Piedmont the past 51 years. He was a member of Northside Baptist Church. He was a retired machinist.

Top left was Hannah Carroll Vanzant Epps and Samuel Huey Epps on their wedding Day.  Bottom right was Samuel Huey Epps and Hannah Carroll. Vanzant Epps.

Mrs. Hannah Carroll Vanzant Epps Died May 10, 1960

Mrs. Hannah Carroll Epps, 63 of 205 Anniston Avenue, died at her home Tuesday afternoon following a long illness.

Funeral services will be held Thursday at 2 pm from the First Methodist Church with the Dr. J. A. Gann and the Reverand J. Holland Thomas officiating.

Buril will be in Highland Cemetery with Gray Brown Service of Piedmont in charge.

Survivors include the husband Sam Epps of Piedmont, one daughter Mrs. Zack Scogin, Jr of Piedmont; two sons, Billy Epps of Piedmont and Sammy Epps of Fort Benning, Ga; 11 grandchildren and two great grandchildren. One brother Frank Farley Vanzant of Austell, Georgia.

Active pallbearers will be Donald Wilson, Ralph Casey, Horace McDowell, Roy Formby, R.P. New and Carmie Davis.

She was formerly of Jacksonville, Alabama and was a resident of Piedmont for the past 44 years and was a member of the First Methodist Church.

She was born in Chester , Pennsylvania. Daughter of William Kay Vanzant and Mary Jane Cowan Vanzant.

Samuel Huey Epps was born 26 January 1888 in Petersburg, Tennessee.

Samuel was the son of Hiriam Thomas Epps and Martha Ann(Annie) Chesser. They are bottom left in the photo above.

Hannah Carroll Vanzant was born  21 August 1896 in Chester, Pennsylvania.  

Top right of this photo is my father William Thomas Epps.   He was born 29 December 1929 in Piedmont, Alabama and died we November 1976 in Piedmont, Alabama.

This is a picture we got from Elleda Rule and Steve Epps was gracious enough to let me copy it off his Facebook account. This is Epps Hollow where our ancestors lived  in Lincoln County Tennessee.

I bet there were some good times there!

I just wanted to post something while it was on my mind.  I started researching my family lines 23 years ago and I still have a great love for it.

When I was working on the research I for whatever reason copied everything I could find with the name I was working on whether I thought it was going to pertain to me or not was not important at the time. I just copied it and filed it away for later use. 

I have found over the years the more I research the more it DOES PERTAIN to me and I can use the information and a lot of times when I could not use it  I would be able to give it to someone that could use it.  I never for the life of me could go back and find it again so I am glad I have it. Plus I always tried to write where and when I got the article, just a regular reference to it so I could go back years later if I needed to.

I kept a log of correspondence. Names, addresses, phone numbers, letters and such. I know a lot of people that I contacted are no longer with us but maybe some of their children are carrying on the tradition.

Today I cleaned out my genealogy closet here at home. I am amazed at the tons of boxes full of information and pictures. I am greatful for every piece of paper and photo I have.

It is all fitting in to the puzzle called my family!

“Some family trees have beautiful leaves,
but some just have a bunch of nuts.
Remember it is the nuts that make the tree worth shaking.”

~ Unknown ~

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These pages are dedicated to all those who have gone before us and paved the way for us to be where we are today. Our ancestors truly are a part of us and who we are.

Searching for my roots has brought much enjoyment into my life. I’ve especially enjoyed meeting relatives that I didn’t even know we had.

Genealogy is something that I’ve always taken seriously because if it wasn’t for our ancestors we would not be here today. I want to educate myself and my family to the best of my ability about our history and PROUD heritage. I want to present our ancestors as “real” people by placing some of the “Flesh” back on their “Bones.” I want my children to know that those two people whose names and dates appeared on a piece of paper were “Real” people.

I’ve been trying to learn more about the history of different periods of time to better understand their personal histories. I want to know more about the things that hurt them and the things that gave them pleasure.

Although wars, fashions and customs change, some things are eternal…love, pride in children, devotion to country, sadness at the death of loved ones and joy at the success of a crop or a new job. I have discovered that deeds can sometimes tell us of their financial histories. Church records can tell us for whom they mourned or celebrated. Court records can tell us how well they got along with their neighbors or civil authorities.

My heart cries for them when I think about some of the enormous pain they must have felt and had to endure during their lifetimes. I think how terrible it must have felt to leave their parents behind who knew they’d never see their children again or have a share in their grandchildren’s lives and fate.

I can only imagine the pain they must have felt when they left their settled homelands and moved to a new land where many dangers faced them and their children. “Back home” was seething with wars and rumors of wars. We can only imagine the fear and worry they felt for their families and friends back home.

They must have also had many fears for their children in the new land as well. There were so many deaths of newborns and young children. Too many mothers died during childbirth. There was so much sickness and disease because of the lack of proper medical care.

We have no idea of the unremitting labor it took for the first settlers to just survive. What did they do to survive? Unless they were wealthy and could have certain goods shipped over here, they had to do without or make it themselves. What did they do for fun? Go to church, sing, dance (if religion permitted it), tell stories, visit, and make descendants.

I truly love all my ancestors, even those whose names I don’t know. I want to allow them to rise from their anonymous mists to become “flesh” once again, to give them the due honor they deserve.

I truly hope that you too, get the “Genealogy Bug”…it is very satisfying to learn about your ancestors, since without them, you would not be where you are today!!!

To end with a bit of Genealogy Humor….
“There once was a man who paid a genealogist $500.00 to look up his family history … then paid another $1,000.00 to keep quiet about it!”

Good Luck in your family research adventures and remember, “Life is lived forwards, but understood backwards.”

Until next time,

Kevin Agan