Houston, We Have a Brigance

As I mentioned in my last post, I spent yesterday at the Clayton. I stumbled upon a Roots Magic presentation, so I sat for it. When it was done, I was really hungry and tired, but I didn't want to squander the rare opportunity I had to visit the library so I forged on with the mental thought, "just 20 more minutes..."

This is where we pause for a back story: I've been working on the Williamson clan for a while now, specifically William Woodberry Williamson (1853-1942). His first wife was Sarah/Sallie Brigham. She is my great-great grandmother. I have all this information on Williamson going back may generations. I have little on Sarah: a census where she's an adult and an obituary transcription. She died at 25, leaving four children and that's all I know. It's always bugged me that my Brigham line began and stopped with Sarah.

Back to yesterday. In the "20 more minutes," I browsed the History of Pope County, vol. 1 book. It's helped me sort out all the Williamsons in the past, so I thought I'd scan the pages for other names I recognized.

One of those people was John Clingman (1844-1923). I recognized his name from all the Shiloh Cumberland Church minutes but I never had any indication there was a deeper connection to my ancestors other than church mates. The article had a photo of him, so I studied it for a while and scanned the words. He had two sisters, Mary and Margie. The piece goes on to say that Margie married John Brigance and they had five kids. One of those kids was Sarah Brigance...who was the first wife of Wood Williamson.

So my Sarah Brigham is also Sarah Brigance (1862-1887). Woo hoo! I didn't jump up and down in the library and scream like I won the lottery, but I did make the universal sign for touchdown.

Last night I took the info from the Pope County book and hunted around for more on Sarah Brigance. Having her siblings' names helped me find her as a child "Sarah Briganel" in the 1870 census.

Now Sarah has a history and parents. They apparently died young and the children lived with John Clingman and his wife for a while. The article says John Brigance died in the Civil War. At some point, I'll investigate that claim, but for now it's back to the Williamsons...

It's just really nice to see my tree with the Brigham/Brigance line extended now.

And that's why you stay at the genealogy library just 20 more minutes.