Hi Al,

We just got back from our Obadiah trip to Alabama and Mississippi. We had a great time and met some very nice people. I have a lot to tell and an interesting map to show you.

First, we stopped in Epes and went to the Henagan Cemetery to view Obadiah's step-children's graves (William Godfrey and Martha Myers). The headstones were easy to find and still in pretty good condition for their age. After that we went down to the Livingston courthouse to get a copy of Obadiah's will, as I had a transcription but no actual copy.

We went back to Epes to meet the current owner of Obadiah's old property there. They were very nice, and welcomed us into their home before giving us a tour of their extensive property. The owner took us in his truck to the base of the hill where the family believes that Obadiah had lived. We walked along an old wagon road before turning uphill along a recent logging road. Both went by an old pond, fed by a natural spring. The pond was artificial, he said, and suggested that the spring might have been dammed by Obadiah, as it was at the base of "his" hill. The owner pointed out that the logging road followed an old "driveway" that led up to the "Old Hand Place." The driveway is now only a long depressed area in the forest, full of leaves and trees growing out of it - not noticeable to me at first, but once it was pointed out by the owner and his trained eye, I was able to follow it at points through the dense forest. We soon arrived at the top of the ridge, to a flat area about 50 yrds by 50 yrds. This had been the site of the home. A beautiful huge tree stood offset, almost in the center, and I imagined it might have very well been a part of Obadiah's yard when he lived there. After kicking around, the owner found a part of the foundation buried in the leaves and several bricks that he said have always been there, as long as he could remember. He graciously let me have a brick to take home.

What impressed me about the owner was his immense knowledge of the land, both regional and local. He began pointing out ornamental trees at the old house site that were not wild, but had been planted. Some, like the crepe myrtle, had become profuse, but had to have been planted long ago by whoever lived there. And there were many flowers that had taken over a side of the property, as if planted long ago as house decoration. These bulbs, too, were not local, but ornamental - their descendants increasing in number and spreading out from the original site. It was a very moving analogy and he suggested that we bring back a shovel and take some of the bulbs with us as a reminder, which we did.

After we left the home site, he took us to a graveyard atop another hill - I believe the one you had seen along the fence when you were there on your visit. There was one stone, so recently toppled that he didn't even know it had fallen until our trek there, but he did not know any names of the other deceased other than the William Lewis of the marked grave. There were many unmarked graves.

We traveled back to the "driveway" and logging road and back to the truck. Once at the wagon road, I asked where it led and he believed, though had never tried, that it came out over near Henagan Cemetery. Very interesting. He then took us to the lower pasture, which was owned by Obadiah and would have been where Obadiah farmed, if he did at this point in his life. The path that you had taken along the fence and into the woods on your walk many years ago was pointed out to us. Apparently the owner has a letter that you sent to his father, after your visit there, which describes the path you took. It sounded like, from his description, much like the one you have on your website that you suggested I read, and did.

The next day, we visited the Millbrook Plantation and got to see Asher's Cabin. The owner of the plantation lives in Asher's Cabin with his wife, and they have done a great job of renovating it. All of the walls and roof are original, but the owners have added several stylistically complimentary rooms onto the back. It was a great living space and amazing to think that Asher and Cornelia Hand Woolverton lived there.

A trip across the street yielded no revelations as the Hand-Woolverton Cemetery was severely overgrown. We were only able to walk 15-20 feet straight into the cemetery grounds for the growth was too much to deal with. The owners admitted that the cemetery had only been tended to a few times in the many years of their ownership, but that its care was to be their next project.

A day was spent in the Waynesboro Library, which is very large now and has an incredible genealogy room. A wealth of information was acquired, some about Obadiah himself. I have a map made by a distinguished Britton researcher that shows the land purchases in Wayne County of all of the Britton associates. At the top of the page is Obadiah Hand. He owned at least FOUR properties around Wayne County, and the diagram shows each location. I will be glad to send you a copy of the diagram in the mail, along with the photos we took of his Buckatunna Creek property that we visited next.

Near the Buckatunna property stands the historic Philadelphus Church: This remains a great old cemetery and does have a memorial to Sarah Britton Hand, John Graham Britton, and Rachel Blalock Britton, but the ambiance that I rememeber has changed. The dark deep woods that surrounded the church and cemetery property have been logged recently, leaving an ugly field full of stumps and sandy weedy soil. Gone is the mystery, the antique and historic feel that made the grounds so special.

After a couple of days researching in Hattiesburg, where I researched other ancestors, we came home via St. Stephens, Alabama. We took a tour of the archealogical site that now encompasses the old town of St. Stephens. I'm sure you already know about George Strother Gaines' book of reminiscences (he the Indian agent at old St. Stephens) in which he talks of Captain O. Hand, who organized the completion of Fort Republic, the citizens fort, during the Creek War there. Gaines also refers to him as the uncle of Vanderbilt. So, we toured the old town site to get a feel of what it was like, walked the marked forest paths of each "street," and enjoyed a very pretty view of the Tombigbee River and its brilliant color. Of course, none of the town structures remain - all gone many years ago - but it, again, was sobering to walk where he did and wonder about the trials of the Indian war.

Carl Tiegreen
ctiegreen@bellsouth.net