Blog Caroling ~ Sing We Noel

Not much brings me out of my blogging hibernation, but I cannot resist the chance to sing the music of Christmas with friends. Footnote Maven has again invited us to share our favorite carol. I was challenged this year to find the one I most wanted to share, a traditional French carol that opened every Candlelight Concert at Staples High School when I was growing up. This year was the 73rd concert, and for the 73rd time the high school choirs entered the darkened theater carrying candles and singing Sing We Noel. I wish I could have been there. 

This is not the popular Noel Nouvelet (another favorite) that begins "Sing we now of Christmas", but a choral anthem arranged by H. B. Gaul in the early 20th c. It is more solemn and deliberate, a song that brings quiet to the noisy days of preparation. And it does, of course, remind me of the Christmases when I was young, celebrating first as a wide-eyed child and later as a proud choir member. Christmases before Santa and I became fast friends and co-conspirators. 

I was startled at how out of favor Gaul's arrangement is. Google delivered little more than posts by former Staples choristers mourning the lack of YouTube videos or readily found lyrics. YouTube is flooded with cheery versions of Noel Nouvelet. I was finally able to find references using Bing (a new experience for me since I am not actively researching right now) and to hear a lovely version on Spotify (you must have Spotify installed and an account to listen). Eventually (50 or 60 versions in) I did find a video of a Deland High School (FL) choir performing my chosen Sing We Noel. They are good, but not quite as good as the anthem of my memory. 

Moses and Sarah, bought and sold by Joseph Duncan ~ A Friend of Friends Friday

I recently spent a couple days at the library in Jonesborough, TN reviewing some of their microfilm records. I was startled to find two bills of sale recorded at the same November 1810 Session that involved a Joseph Duncan buying and selling two slaves. Duncan (either the Joseph born in 1751 or his son, Joseph, born 1788) purchased a man, Moses, and and woman, Sarah, in November 1809 and sold them two months later to Elias Bowman. The Duncans were closely associated with the Allison family, though I do not have Frank Allison listed in my database. Joseph the younger was married to Polly Allison, a daughter of Robert Allison.  

It is not a surprise the Duncans owned slaves. They appear in census records as slave holders. But they also signed a petition around the same time as these sales asking the State Legislature to abolish or reform the slave laws. Here they appear more as slave traders. 

November Sessions 1810

A Bill of Sale from Joseph Duncan to Elias Bowman for a Negro man named Moses and a Negro woman named Sarah, dated the 22d day of January 1810  Acknowledged in open court by Joseph Duncan & recorded            50  

November Sessions 1810

A Bill of Sale from Frank Allison to Joseph Duncan for two negroes a man named Moses and a woman named Sarah, dated 23 day of November 1809  Acknowledged in open court by Frank Allison & recorded          


Sources
      Washington, Tennessee, Quarterly Court Minute Books Minute Feb 1809-Jan 1826: 90, Joseph Duncan Bill of Sale, 22 Jan 1810; Washington County Library Roll No. 130_Washington. 

      Washington, Tennessee, Quarterly Court Minute Books Minute Feb 1809-Jan 1826: 93, Frank Allison Bill of Sale, 23 Nov 1809; Washington County Library Roll No. 130_Washington. 

Henry's Store ~ Wordless Wednesday

Once again I am digging into the photographs from Grandma Bonnel's photo album. This photo is captioned "Henry Whitaker's store at Lancaster, __".  Whitaker was Eva Bonnel's father-in-law. He purchased the store in 1882. The photo was damaged and faded, making it a challenge to date. Whitaker died in1902 so I believe the photograph is late 19th century. 

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun with the Nolichucky River

Randy Seaver is one of the few geneafolks who can get me back to blogging, if only briefly. His SNGF posts are always entertaining, but this one, using the extraordinary interactive Streamer map from the U.S. Department of the Interior, is irresistible for Nolichucky Roots.

Nolichucky River in East Tennessee

My mother's family lived along the Nolichucky River in East Tennessee for more than 200 years so  they did not follow the river downstream to live other spots. But they certainly traveled on it. My great-grandmother ran the Conway Ferry (near the west edge of this map) as a girl. My Hampton and Mulkey ancestors settled along the river or up Limestone Creek in the 1780s and certainly used the river to travel through the area.

I used the "trace downstream" feature to see where the Nolichucky flows. The map shows it flowing into the French Broad River, the Tennessee River and then to the Mississippi.

Nolichucky River traced downstream to mouth of the Mississippi River.

Many Conway and Killian cousins migrated from Greene and Cocke Counties to Arkansas and Missouri in the early 19th century. It is easy to see a water migration path for those who moved to Arkansas. A little less easy to see a path for the Missouri settlers though they may have landed at the boot heel and moved inland from there. However...

The establishment of the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1933 and the subsequent dam building changed the waterways of Tennessee to such a degree that this map does not fairly represent the waterways my ancestors or cousins would have traveled. The Tennessee River was notoriously challenging to navigate due to the rapids, shoals and hostile Chickamaugans controlling its banks. Many of the family members leaving East Tennessee for points west went by land through the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky. From there some may have used the Cumberland River to travel west. More research needed, but in the meantime I am having a wonderful time exploring the Nolichucky and Tennessee watersheds.

Stanley & Mary in Wyoming

I love this photograph of my husband's grandparents. It was new to both of us when we saw it in Grandma Bonnel's album. Mary Whitaker moved to Wyoming after high school and taught school on the Wind River Indian Reservation outside Lander. She met Stanley Clark there. This photo from the early 1920s was most likely taken in Fremont County, either at the school or at one of the Clark family homes. There were lots of them. Stanley's mother called her children The Wild Bunch. 

That grin of Stanley's was perpetual. If you see a bit of mischief there, that was perpetual, as well.