Newberry, South Carolina

On Saturday, we took a daytrip about two hours away from Charlotte, to Newberry, SC. Part of the drive was through the Sumter National Forest and across the Broad River where the Battle of Fishdam Ford was once fought.

Newberry, SC was founded in 1798, although many German, English, and Scotch-Irish settlers including my hubby's 9th great-grandfather John C Wright 1716-1790 were here long before, making this their home in the mid 1700's.

This is the Opera House the marker was referring to:

After a walk around the square, we had brunch at Figaro - which was once an old state bank. They had a lot of fish on their menu - akin to a seaside town, yet we were very much inland. I had the eggs benedict with lump crab meat and hubby had the chicken and waffles.

After lunch, we went to the Newberry County Historical Museum and the Gauntt House which showed artifacts from it's residents over the past century or so. Despite being a small town, our guide mentioned that he was surprised at how unknown the museum is in their community, and because of this, and their reliance on donations - the museum is in dis-repair. They hope to move locations while they restore it to a period house, but are waiting on a grant to do so. 

Our guide gave us directions to the Quaker burial ground where Bush River Quaker Meeting once was. It is here that my hubby's 9th great-grandfather, and great-grandmother John C. Wright 1716-1790 and Rachel Wells Wright 1720-1771 were buried. Despite the markers being worn, and many unreadable we knew that there wasn't one for his great-grandparents, as many Quakers believed in both a simple burial, and looked down on the "showiness" of gravestones.

On our way home, we toured Rose Hill the onetime home of Gov. William Gist 1807-1874.

This may look like a piano, but it is actually a harpsichord.

Notice the exterior door off the dining room, that was to bring in their dinner from the outside kitchen.

The kitchen, of course, was separate from the house. Back in "the olden days" kitchens often caught fire, so they were usually some distance from the house on the grounds.

We ended the day in the Old English area of South Carolina with dinner at a British style pub called The Six Pence in Rock Hill, SC. It was a lovely day tracing our footsteps in those of my hubby's 9th great-grandfather.

Kiki Nakita

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Tunis Hood 5 x Great Grandfather of Elvis Presley

On a sunny day we ventured to the nearby town of Mint Hill, North Carolina. We first stopped by the Mint Hill Historical Society where were three different boy scout troupes working on preserving the Carl J. McEwen Historical Village.

The village will open to the public in the springtime. Afterwards, we went to Daphne's bakery next door. While there we perused the brochures we'd picked up from the historical village. It said Elvis Presley's 5 x great grandfather was buried only half a mile away, in an old cemetery. So off we went to find it.

The memorial grave of Tunis Hood, erected in 1989 at the Rocky Spring Meeting House Burial Ground, first site of the Philadelphia Presbyterian Church cemetery.

Elvis Presley's Genealogy

to his 29th Great Grandfather William the Conqueror, King of England.

William the Conqueror King of England
Henry I King of England
Empress Matilda of England m. Geoffry V Plantagenet Count of Anjou
Henry II King of England
John King of England
Richard 1st Earl of Cornwall,
Richard de Cornwall
Joan de Cornwall m. John Howard
John Howard
Robert Howard
John Howard
Margaret Howard m. Constantine
Robert Clifton
Margery Clifton m. John Hastings Wyndham
Isabell Wyndham m. Simon Wyseman
John Wyseman
Margery Wyseman m. Edmund Beaupre
Annie Beaupre m. Nicholas Wright
Nicholas Wright
Nicholas Wright
Peter Wright
Gideon Wright
Elizabeth Wright m. Isaiah Harrison
John Harrison
Elizabeth Harrison m. Tunis Hood
John Hood
William Hood
Joshua Hood
William Hood
Minnie Mae Hood m. Jesse D. McClowell Presley
Vernon Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley b. January 8, 1935 d. August 16, 1977

Tunis Hood

Tunis Hood was one of Mecklenburg County's most prominent citizens.  He was county commissioner for ten years, and third largest plantation owner, owning 2,000 acres of land along the McAlpine Creek. He provided supplies for the patriots during the American Revolution. He was a Dutch farmer, born in New York, and raised in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. 

Tunis followed his sons to Mecklenburg County, NC, in 1775 where he died in 1797. A sixth cousin of Elvis, and great, great granddaughter of Tunis Hood, Rustee Lane, President of the Mint Hill NC Elvis Fan Club, took the last full measure of honoring our history and heritage by insuring that Tunis Hood, progenitor of the Hood clan, received  a special plaque and dedication, attended by many of his descendants still living in Mint Hill, North Carolina. This was the Hood family tribute to Tunis, whose burial place in an unkempt 200-year  old cemetery was marked only by a fieldstone with the initials  “T.H.”  etched on it.

The Hood family became associated with the Harrison family through Tunis Hood's marriage to Elizabeth Harrison, daughter of Samuel  Harrison and Abigail Smith. The Harrison line gave us three Presidents:  Benjamin Harrison, William Henry Harrison, who died while only one month in office, and Abraham Lincoln, a great grandson of Isaiah Harrison. source

Sometimes, on a sunny day it's good to get out, and see where the day will take you. Today, was one of those days, and look where it led us, to Elvis Presley's 5 x great grandfather's grave. What ventures have you done lately, that have led to a discovery?

Kiki Nakita

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