4 July 2008 Trip to Wilkes County North Carolina

Given Adoniram Allen, his parents and younger brother came to North Carolina via the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road and settled in Wilkes County, a trip to Wilkes County was in order. For those of you who have not visited Wilkes County, it is God's Own Country; I feel very satisfied to have an ancestor who built a sawmill there. Although I tried to locate the sawmill, which was supposedly built at the fork of Elk Creek and the Yadkin River, I could not get close enough to locate it. Given it was built out of wood, most likely it is not standing today. The road I traveled down was a one lane gravel road named Tom Dula Road, in honor of the legendary "Tom Dooley."

Wilkes County has several beautiful vistas. I was traveling on a two lane road, looking down on level farmland, to the river, and then to tree covered, conical mountain tops, as if someone had sawed off the top of the Great Smoky Mountains and set just the mountain tops down across the river. Beautiful country.

Adoniram Allen's GGGrandmother, Mayflower Passenger

21June2008 is a good day to post Adoniram Allen's great-grandmother was Susan White, who came to Plymouth with her husband, William White and son, Resolved White. She gave birth to a son, named Peregrine White, on board the Mayflower, in November while the settlers were waiting for houses to be built. Resolved White had several children, including a daughter named Anna. Anna White married a man whose last name was Hayward. They had one daughter (that I have been able to look up online) named Sarah Hayward. Sarah married David Allen and David Allen is Adoniram's father. URLs:

Mayflower passenger list:
http://members.aol.com/calebj/passengers2.html

By searching on "Adoniram Allen 1734" on Google, you will come to www.23andme.com which shows the lineage from Adoniram to David Allen,Jr. his father, then David Richard Allen, Sr., who traces back to an Edward or Edmond Allen, Tutbury Castle, England, 1636. Follow Sarah Hayward, David Sr.'s wife, and you trace back to Anna White, Resolved White's daughter. Here is the best URL:

http://www.gencircles.com/users/debbieferguson/2/data/101215

Adoniram born in 1734 was named for his uncle Adoniram, born 1714/1715. Notice Adoniram died young, most likely, which makes it easier to see why Adoniram was named for him.

Nascent Medical Editing LLC

On 2May2008 I founded Riley Medical Editing and will publish progress for building a medical editing portfolio.

Farewells, New Ventures

This morning I visited with Andrew Britton's mother. The service and wake were last Tuesday. Raleigh Memorial Gardens, a military location, is Andrew's final resting place stateside, with an Irish memorial to take place later this year. Annie stated author Brad Thor sent her a thoughtful email regarding his view of Andrew's talent. Annie gave me a memorial service prayer card which I will treasure as I face my own new venture into medical or scientific editing. The new frontier is always fraught with the unknown, so Andrew will be my talisman.

I already have some experience in software technical editing, plus I served as a guest editor for two editions of a student nurse anesthetist publication. Slowly I am building a portfolio. I will know more after the local chapter American Medical Writers Association workshop in May 2008.

Andrew Britton

This morning as I was creating my first blog entry, I thought about novelist Andrew Britton. His web site is www.andrewbritton.com. You can watch his interview with DG Martin on UNC-TV/PBS Bookwatch. They discuss Andrew's first novel, The American, which is a wonderful first novel. If you like Tom Clancy, you will like The American.

I attended Andrew's book signing three weeks ago at Tir Na Nog pub, in Raleigh, NC, for his third novel. I returned today to say Happy Easter to his mum, the pub general manager. It's with sadness and a heavy heart I post my intended entry for Andrew, to share that he died earlier this week, unexpectedly.

You live on in your three novels and in many hearts, Andrew. RIP.

American Revolution

1 Jan 2008 a relative sent me genealogy information. The oldest date was for a gggggrandfather, Adoniram Allen, born in 1734, New Hampshire colony near the Vermont border. His family came to North Carolina and built and iron furnace and sawmill. Adoniram, his father, and younger brother fought in the Battle of Moore's Creek and later in the Battle of King's Mountain. Adoniram traveled on to Georgia, then to Alabama. He lived, with the permission of the chiefs, on the edge of the Chickasaw Indian nation. Adoniram returned to Surry County, North Carolina, and from there claimed his pension grant: 5K acres in Clay County, Kentucky. At the age of 76, he moved his family to Kentucky, built another water mill and house, and lived to be 104.

My ancestors include two different sets of Bakers. One, Robert and Samuel, came from England to be gunsmiths to the colonial Americans. They lived in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and developed the Kentucky long rifle. The other Baker line descends from Pocahontas. Time magazine had a feature article on Jamestown, and I probably will purchase a back edition.