This One's For You, Lora

A Dear Reader asked about my Boothe line, so now would be an appropriate time to delve into a little detail. Who knows—perhaps we are related!

My Boothe heritage is owing to my maternal grandfather’s mother’s line. I’ve only pushed back the curtain on this line to about the mid-1800s. My story is firmly ensconced in the state of Tennessee, where William Alexander Boothe took up residence after the death of his first wife and the subsequent disintegration of his estate in Virginia.

I have yet to figure out any more about this great-great grandfather, so I guess you can call him one of my Brick Walls. I’m in plenty of company on this one, for William Alexander Boothe has many descendants on his trail.

My search for the Boothe line began with my Davis family Bible. Someone religiously entered the names and significant life dates of every member of Martha Cassandra Boothe Davis’s children, so at least I have a reliable listing of this branch of William’s grandchildren. Since I am researching descendants as well as ancestors, that Bible record became my springboard to launch my investigation into the Boothe line.

It hasn’t been hard to find the other descendants of William’s second family, the Tennessee family that he and Rachel Riley (possibly Honeycutt) raised. I’ve been able to access online records for many of their children—and their children’s children, too. I’ve blogged about this line a couple times—in particular, tipping my hat to one Boothe researcher who spent years carefully documenting and posting online his discoveries regarding this family’s line.

At this point—and this is what I have on my RootsWeb database—I have details on eleven children from William and Rachel’s marriage, including data on descendants of six of these children. I also have found some information on the two sons from the first marriage, including one son’s descendants (this is where our John Wilkes Booth descendant came in). All of this is subject to much correction; frankly, I’d be delighted if a distant cousin were to pop up and set me straight on any errors! And, of course, if all my blanks could be filled in by community effort, it would double make my day!

So, my Dear Reader, if you have Boothe or Booth in your roots, please take a walk through my family tree garden and compare notes. I’d love to hear whether we are long-lost relations!