Here is the story of the Sneeds--as far as I can tell it. (This represents about fifteen years of research--not solid years, mind you.)

In 1805, Ansil (Ansel) Sneed drew for land in the Georgia Land lottery. He had two draws--and what that meant was that he had been a resident of the state for at least one year, that he was married and had at least one child. He didn't get any land in that lottery.

He lived, according to the few tax and land records we've been able to find (there's not much in terms of records in Washington County Ga.--thank you, General Sherman), in Washington County, just north of Sandersville--the north eastern part of the state. In 1804, there was a sheriff's sale of the property of Dr. William Kennedy in favor of Ancel Sneed. In 1816, the sheriff sold off 100 acres of Ancel's to satisfy Glenn and Townsley. In 1814 he was a private in Captain Hopson's Co, 1st class militia.

In 1820, he was listed as head of household in the census. There were two women in his household, both older than 25, younger than 44, a boy between 16 18, and Ansel himself (I assume), aged between 26-44.

And that's pretty much all we know about him. I don't know where he came from, or how old he was, how many children he had, or who he might have been related to.

Except that in the land lottery of 1827, his orphans drew land in Carroll County, Ga. They were not listed by name, but there were only four Sneeds listed as being from Washington County and drawing land: Sarah Sneed from Captain Floyd's district, who had drawn in Troup county, Sherrard Sneed, also from Floyd's district, and the orphan's, also from Floyd's. So Ansel was dead by then. And he did have children. None of which showed up on the 1820 census.

This is pretty much the niftiest bit of research and conclusion I've ever done-- I went through the tax records of Washington County, and I found none of these people in the 1825 or 1826 records--which meant they had no land.

However , in the 1828 records, We see Sherrod Sneed, who suddenly owns land in Lee County, Sarah, who suddenly owns in Troup County (drawn in the lottery) and two boys, S. Sneed and B. Sneed, who own in Carroll County (which is where Ansel Sneed's orphans drew their land), and who have Sarah Snead listed as their agent. Okay--so, I ask myself--why do the two boys need an agent? Because they're minors, and their parents aren't living. So--Ansel Sneed's orphans draw land in Carroll county--S. Sneed and B. Sneed suddenly own land there, and seem to have no parents. My conclusion: these are the orphans in question, and Sarah Snead is taking care of their affairs.

In the 1836 records, all right in a row are listed Sarah Snead, Seabern Sneed, and Boling G. Sneed, having paid pole tax. They're also listed as property tax defaulters. I guess they couldn't scare up the money to keep the taxes paid on their windfall land. Makes you a little sad, doesn't it? If they'd come up with the tax, all of our lives might have been quite different.

Anyway, that's how I put two and two together and figured out that Ansel was Seaborn's father. Man--did I feel like shouting the sky down, I'd been looking for that for so long. Not that I know a heck of a lot even so.

In the 1820 census, Sarah is listed also as head of household. She's a widow. The first guess I have is that she'd been married to Ansel's brother at one time. The census says she had one girl under 10, one 10-15, and then someone else--I think herself, and I think she might have lied about her age. Then she had three boys under 10, one 10-15, one 16-18 and two 18-26 living in her home. I have wondered if maybe she didn't take in boarders or something. I also wonder if the boy 16-18 listed in her house was Sherod Sneed, and if he's the same boy listed in Ansel's home as well--he seems to be tied in to them with all that land stuff, and sometimes people did get listed in two households (Lanissie was in 1910--listed in both her daughter's houses). Anyway, he disappears after this and I've never seen his name again anywhere.

There was another family that lived in the area, the Webbs, who seem tied in somewhere--and the Kennedys, of course. But the records are so few--and that's sad because they kept excellent and orderly records in that county.

Some other things we know: on August 8, 1828, Sarah Snead lost 300 acres of pine on the West bank of Keg Creek, Sheriff's sale, adjacent to Drake, to satisfy V.S. Townsley. (Same name Ansel lost land to)

On July 4, 1830, another Sheriff's sale--150 acres pine, west Keg Creek, bordered by Williams, and other possessions, to satisfy Charles Williams.

On 10/25/32, there was a letter for Sarah at the Sandersville post office. (It was a notice in the Sandersville paper--we don't know where the letter came from or who it was from, just that there was one. A year later, there was one there for Seaborn. In 1835, there were two letters for Sarah, one marked either Sarah Snead or William Webb. And one for Seaborn. And one for Seaborn in '36.
That's the last of our Washington County information.

I guess I'm making a long story longer. But this is research I'm proud of and that I've invested something in. And there is a story here--you have to wonder who Townsley was, and why Ansel's kids weren't living in his house, if they weren't. And what happened to him. Evidently, Sarah fell on hard times. She seemed to have lost a lot. Funny that she doesn't show up on the tax record at all till 1828, when she seemed to have had some property before then...anyway, by 1835, she seems to have aligned herself with young William Webb, which takes us to the rest of the story.

Just before 1840, Seaborn went to Muscogie County, Ga.--right on the south western border across the river from Russell County, Ala. There, he married a girl named Ataline Slaughter. I don't know why he went there--the Webb family has a lot of people in that area. Maybe those letters he got had something to do with it. Or maybe he was passing through and fell in love with this girl, or maybe not. Did he meet her there? Or somewhere else? Don't know. Anyway, they married on November 12, 1840.

In searching the deed books, I find that Lot 123, 10th district, Muscogie County had the names John Webb, Jacob Funderburk, and S.B. Slaughter in 1838. In Book B, pg 368, is a deed that shows Seaborn buying land from John King of Talbot County, adjacent to Jacob Funderburk and another man. By 1845, that land is listed under the names of Funderburk, the other man, John Webb, and William Webb.

By that time, Seaborn and Ataline had had two sons, Samuel, born in 1842 or so, and William, born in 1845.

Seaborn married Lenissa on March 30, 1845, the bond paid by David Kennedy. This is why I assume Ataline died in childbirth, or shortly thereafter. I don't know where Lenissa was from, except that every census says Ga. I don't know whether he knew her from Washington County or not. There was a very well established man named David Kennedy in Washington County who also seemed to have owned land around Muscogie as well. There is also a John and James Kennedy in Washington County. As you may see, Ansil Sneed had evidently loaned money to a Dr. Sneed at the turn of the century. I wish I knew where she was from. If it wasn't Washington County, I might have some chance of finding her. Her father was from Ireland.

In the 1850 census, we find several Sneeds in Muscogee county, where there had been none before. There's a Hiram and a Fletcher--I know what families they came from, but I can't tie them to us, though I wonder why they should show up in Muscogee, hot on the heels of our great great grandfather. They were both young men, just starting out. And there was a Patrick H. Sneed who I believe we are related to--he also drew land in the 1827 lottery, living in Richmond County at the time, which is within spitting distance of Washington County. Of course, I can't even find him on the census--ever.

And there were William Webb and his housekeeper Sarah Sneed--evidently having bought Seaborn's old land, close on to John Webb.

Seaborn had a daughter, Josephine, and a son, Andrew Jackson, by that time--he and Lenissa.

They lived in Seale for quite a while. By the way, there was one Sneed in Russell County in 1840, before Seaborn lived there. His name was William H. Sneed, and I never see him again. I ought to check the tax records for him and see where he owned his place. Maybe somehow, Seaborn got it. I don't know, I keep thinking Seaborn must have had people in that area already. There was also a Hamilton P. Sneed who owned land in section 29, right next to section 28 where Seaborn owned-- and sold it in 1847--also a relative?

After a little time, Seaborn sold half of his i/2 section to William Webb, who is listed next door in the 1860 census, along with Sarah Snead as housekeeper--quite old by this time.

Between 1860 and 1870 came the civil war. There is a family story, told by Ora May Sneed Nance to her daughter Jewel (James Nance's sister--and one wonderful lady), that Seaborn and Andrew Jackson set off across Alabama, more or less on their way to see a relative in Arkansas (WHO??? and Where?), stopping in Mt. Hope on the way. There, Jack met and fell in love with Mahala Ann Smith who lived in a house with cedars around it, and that was that.

The whole Sneed family moved up there, and Jack and Mahala were married in August, 1870. Mahala ended up with a portion of the older Smith's land (I could tell you stories abut the Smiths, too, but this isn't the place), buying it from all the other Smith siblings (and there were many). The Smiths were well to do and established, and the young couple decided to stay in Mt. Hope. They built a house that is still in the family, thanks to Jewel's loving care.

In the 1870 census, the name of the head of house is listed as Samuel. But the age is Seaborn's, and the wife is Lanissa. I don't know why this happened. I don't know if the census taker just heard wrong when he was told Samuel, or if he saw Samuel and said "Who's that?", thinking he must be head of house, and Lenissa said "Samuel," and then the census taker said, "How old is your husband?" thinking he was talking about the same person, and got the age "53."

This is kind of an important question because Samuel was the oldest son, and I don't know whether he was still with the family then, or what. I have no idea what happened to him.(As of June 13, 2000, I've fond out a few things.) I've found a Samuel Sneed in the 1910 census in Henderson County, Tex who was from Georgia, and his son, who was born in Alabama. The ages were right, and the first two children of the son were named "Laura E. and John R." But when I looked him up, the record stated that both this older Samuel's parents were from England. I don't know, maybe Ataline was from England. This having to guess everything is so awful. Why didn't these people keep journals? Or diaries? Or SOMETHING?

At any rate, the Sneeds were not in MT. Hope for very long. I find no evidence of their having owned land there. But I find Sarah and Jacob black, and John Russell Sneed and Lou, his wife, in Arkansas--Perry County--not too many years later. Then Josephine and her husband, William H. Hinson, moved there. Then Lanissa with the children she had left--Eliza, Uriah and Laura.

Hinsons were in Faulkner County, Ark. (right next door to Perry county) in 1873, according to the tax record. In 1875, a Mrs. Messia Sneed is listed. This must mean that Seaborn was dead or disabled by this time. His name never shows up again on any deed or record. But Lenissa's is all over the place. She was not a helpless woman. I was thinking Seaborn must have died right around 1880 in Mt. Hope, but Cousin Jewel, grandaughter of Jack Sneed, thinks this is not so. I figure she would know, having been brought up by a mama who was very family oriented. If the grave had been in Mt. Hope, Jewel would know it. So where did he die? I don't know--I just know we don't see his name on any tax record or deed in Faulkner county. I have no access to tax records or deeds in Lawrence county. We just don't have them up here in our library, which is a little surprising.

In 1877, Eliza married a Mr. Johnson. They had a couple of little kids, but he died early, and she didn't live very long after.

In the 1880 Cencus for Faulkner County, Uriah is listed as head of house, living with Lanissie, his mother--53 years of age, and Laura, 18, who was in school, but was "billious today". Also, Lizzy Johnson is head of household, widowed.

Laura married W.H. Lindsey of East Fork Township, that county (he was 24 years old) on 10 Aug 1880. Uriah (22 years old) married Laura E. Jordon of Union Township, that county Sept 25 1887.

Laura and Josaphine both took care of their mother, but I suspect Lanissie was closer to Laura. By the 1900 cencus, the families were all still in Faulkner, except for U.D. and his wife, and except that Josaphine's husband had died.

Laura had her mom with her, and one of Eliza Johnson's children. About Lenissie Sneed, the cencus says: Sneed, Lanissie M. (this M, if later records are right, is Melissa) Born in March 1825. 75 Years of age. Widowed. Mother of 10 children, five of whom are living. Can't read. She was from Ga. her father was from Ireland. And her mother from Georgia.

By this time, Uriah David had taken Laura, his wife, to live in Grayson County, Tex--somewhere around Dorchester and Pilot Point. In the 1900 cencus, We find him listed as having been born in July of 1859. He was 40 years old, married 18 years, a farmer who was renting his land, and who could read and write. His wife, Laura E., from Tenn., who had been born Sept 1865, had had 6 kids, five of whom were still living. Then came Harvie A. Dec. '88--Archie, Mar '91--Richard Sept '94--Freddie, Sept '96--and Vernie (who I thought was another son until I talked to Ed)Nov 1899.

Laura didn't live till the next cencus. But by then, Laura Lindsey and her family had moved to Texas, and John, our J.D. Lindsey of the letters, was boarding with his oldest sister and her husband, Guy Hovis, in Sherman where they had a "car shop".

I don't know what happened to Seaborn. I don't know what happened to his first two sons, or what finally befell Josaphine or the folks in Perry county. There are so many questions.

But you guys have answered some for me, some I've been trying to answer for a long time. And the really stupid thing is, my family moved to Arlington, Tex. in 1968, and the folks have been living there ever since. If I'd answered these questions earlier, we might have been able to meet JD Lindsey before he died.

I have to tell you, when I read the part in his letters about how Lanissie had told them stories about the civil war, I cried, thinking how I'd never be able to hear those stories or share in that part of my family. I have been living with these names for so long, yearning to put people to them. I have names and dates, but no stories, none of the warm things that make you feel like somebody is part of you.

I have met so many wonderful people, but none of you know each other. A lot of this information has come because of Jim Sneed--a cousin (we don't know how and where we're connected, yet)--and his wife P.J. They are the genealogists supreme of the national Sneed association, and they've been to Alabama and Georgia, looking for our Seaborn and his family. And Jewel Guerro, nee Nance, grandaughter of Jack and Mahala Ann Sneed. We are all cousins together, but second cousins with removals, and it's sad to think we haven't even been aware of each other's existence. In Utah, where I live now, it seems like people can point out their third cousins once removed and tell you everything about them. Family runs through this region like willow roots through damp ground.