Thompson and Smith Family Research

After taking a hiatus for the month of October to conduct research, I've uncovered some interesting new information and new family connections on both my maternal and paternal families. I'd like to thank my newly discovered cousins, Philip and Margaret of Michigan for introducing me to the history of the Smith Family of Dallas county, Alabama. Thank you so much for your genealogical research of our family. I'd also like to thank the staff at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., without their research I would not have the information I have about my Thompson Family.

This month will highlight the new information discovered in my family tree.

- The Family Griot

"Stroll Down Memory Lane" Sunday: Mama Sarah Galmore-Thompson

Mama Sarah's final resting place, Mount Sinai Baptist Church Cemetery on Hwy 61 in Sibley, Adams Co., Mississippi

Sarah "Mama Sarah" Galmore Thompson pictured with her children, Ethel, James, Anderson, Clara, Margaret, and Joseph. (Missing is deceased son, Calvin Thompson Jr.)

Today's Stroll Down Memory Lane is dedicated to my maternal great-grandmother, Sarah Galmore-Thompson of Adams County, Mississippi who lived to be 104 years old. I was fortunate enough in this lifetime to have known this strong willed, god-fearing, family woman.
Sarah Galmore-Thompson was born to Kendy and Clara Boyd-Galmore in Adams County, Mississippi on December 30, 1893. She married Calvin Thompson in 1917. They had eight children together; Calvin Jr., Ethel, James, Benjamin, Margaret, Clara, Anderson and Joseph. Mama Sarah, as she was affectionately known by her offsprings, was a strong willed, hardworking, proud woman who fiercely loved her family. She and Calvin "Papa Lovie" Thompson Sr. were able to purchase land in Sibley, Mississippi where they raised their family.
In her 'retired' years, Mama Sarah enjoyed being with her family and working around her home and in the church. She often made preserves from fruit from the fig and pear trees on her property.
Mama Sarah lived a long, productive life being the last of her siblings to pass away. She died on January 2, 1998; just days after her son Anderson passed away. Sarah and her son Anderson are interned at the Mount Sinai Baptist Church cemetery in Sibley, Mississippi.

My personal memories of my great-grandmother were of a no-nonsense little petite old lady who had to put a smart-alecky teenager in check more than I care to remember. LOL The summer I turned 15, I was fortunate enough to spend the summer out in "the country" of Adams county, Mississippi. When I wasn't out kicking rocks, I was talking with my great-grandmother. We sat and talked alot. She introduced me to the Galmore Family by allowing me to look through her many photos. One of the most memorable photos was the funeral photo of her older sister Nannie who had survived a bout of meningitis as a child. I was intrigued at how much she and Mama Sarah looked like twins. She also showed me a potrait of her father, Kendy Galmore; which hung on the wall behind her potbellied stove. She had a hodge podge of calendars, documents and photos all around her small tin-roof home. Up until she moved in with my grandfather in the last 3 years of her life, she often used that potbellied black stove to cook biscuits to go with my favorite fig preserves that she used to make like clockwork every year in the summer and early fall. To this day, figs are one of my favorite fruits. I even remember the chickens and chicks that used to run around her yard and the big white rose bush that always seemed to be in bloom whenever my family visited during the summer. I miss Mama Sarah and treasure all the warm memories I have of her.

Charity (Dickerson) Lanier

In continuing the research on my Lanier family line, I have been making some great progress actually more than I had anticipated. While browsing through online Alabama Death records, I came across the death certificate for Charity Lanier, wife of Burrell Lanier. The estimated year of birth for Charity on the Death Certificate was 1840 and the date of her passing was 12 September 1912. The most exciting information is that her parents were named and even their birth locations! Her father was Jerry Dickerson of Madison County, Alabama and her mother Rhoda Dickerson. I was unfamiliar with the location of Madison County, AL I decided that the next thing to do would be to located Madison County on a map of Alabama. It turned out that Madison County has a very interesting history of its own. It was the first county of Alabama and is the home of Huntsville, AL. Seemingly mundane details, but during the early 1800's Huntsville was part of the gateway to the West and carried on a great deal of commerce. This may have been how Jerry made his way to Madison County. I also noted the close proximity of Madison County to Tennessee; it is a border county to be exact. I then went through the census records that I for Charity and Burrell Lanier. On the 1900 census, I noted that Charity Lanier's father is listed as having been born in Tennessee.
Could Jerry Dickerson have been born in Tennessee and relocated to Northern Alabama because of the economic opportunities in Huntsville? Now to determine if he came there as a slave, slave owner or small farmer.
One other note, I was able to find a Rhoda Dickerson in Giles County, TN with her brother G.W. (George Washington) Dickerson. Could this be the Rhoda referred to on the census records? Could Rhoda Dickerson have been her mother as well and she carried her name?
Seems as if I now have more questions than answers and as well as a new family branch to research!