TN Research Trip 2009
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 All Loaded Up |
Rig all loaded up. Under the blankets are tools - shovel, rake, hoe, metal detector, pick axe, grave poker. The rest is like a camping trip but with a laptop computer instead of a tent. The first day will be a LOT of driving (500+ miles).
I also have a bucket of flour to help read grave markers, so if I get pulled over by the police,
someone will have to bail me out, and it will cost millions! |
 Roger on the Radio |
XM radio had the Roger Hedgecock talk show playing and I couldn't resist taking this picture.
I drove straight through to Hope Arkansas (Happy birthday Bill) where I stopped to make a nature call, then headed on to Little Rock. |
 Sumner Cemetery | My first date stood me up (Just kiddin Tammy), so I went on to the Sumner cemetery near Cabot where Frank Arick might be buried. My DNA test proves that Frank is a descendant of the Orrick family, as are we Texas Arricks. I called one of the trustees (Toney) who is listed on the sign. He came out and brought the cemtery documentation. In typical Orrick tradition, Frank's grave is not to be found. But Toney did point me to where Don Arick lives down the road and had other interesting information. |
 Adolphus Boyd Grave | This is Adolphus Boyd's grave. He wrote a diary where he mentions Frank Arick's death in 1911, and that he dug the grave. Since he dug other graves at Sumner, it's a good guess that Frank is buried there. But there are other nearby cemeteries too so who knows. |
 Don Arick and Roger Arrick |
I wouldn't normally do this, but I had a sudden impulse of courage and decided to drive by Don Arick's house.
The result was a wonderful visit with Don and his wife Caroyln.
This meeting alone was worth the entire trip.
Next time, I'm going to bring him an extra "R" as a gift! :) |
 Arick Land | This land is near where the Arick's lived, and do live to this day. At one time it was upwards of 1000 acres according to Don. It is beautiful there. |
 Memphis |
Memphis Skyline.
It's getting dark, but if I stay focused, I can get to Jackson TN which will make tomorrow's drive easier. |
 Memphis Bridge |
Memphis bridge.
Looking up while driving under it makes me feel like I'm flying. |
 Pyramid Arena | The Pyramid Arena and random sunset. |
Yep, I made it to Jackson TN at 9:00pm. Found a hotel, requested a quiet room, and got a good night sleep.
Day 2 - Easter Sunday, Apr 12
 Breakfast of Champions |
Sleep last night was fantastic.
Breakfast of genealogy champions (cold Ravioli and apple juice) started the day. Then off from Jackson TN to Parsons to meet Margaret and go to the Denson's landing cemetery. |
 Margaret Allen |
Here's me and Margaret at Denson's Landing cemetery.
It's a great location overlooking the water.
It's great to finally meet Margaret in person after all the help she's been. |
 Fannie Arrick Baugus |
Here's Fannie Arrick Baugus.
(See her research page).
Her mom is Margaret Qualls (my 2ggrandmother,
wife of John Orrick shot at Shiloh).
Her father is (probably) William B. Nunley.
For some strange reason, Fannie used the Arrick name, just like the other kids. Another question is why did Fannie and 2 of her brothers (James and John) move westward to Hardin county in the 1870/80's? I think it might have been because there were Qualls family there, but not sure. |
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After an hour of Baugus chat with Margaret, I let her have her Easter sunday back and
headed off for Manchester where I will stay for the night.
I admit to being lonely, but I guess that's the price of doing something strange like this. So, I'm considering hiring a driving buddy next time. All the potato chips you can eat, and all the satellite radio you can stomach. Send your application to Roger at Arrick dot com :). |
 Tornado Damage |
On the way to Manchester, I swung by Murfreesboro which took the brunt of a tornado a few days ago.
From the hwy I could see a bunch of trees torn down.
See the Video someone made about it. This is a bit strange because last year when I visited for the first time, I noticed billboards torn down and barns half gone - I thought it was NORMAL! But they just had a tornado the week before. I pulled into Manchester TN with exactly 800 miles on the tripometer. |
Day 3 - Monday, Apr 13
 Warren County |
I'm staying in Manchester in Coffee county.
Warren county TN is where the Orricks settled around 1825 and where the Orrick cemetery is,
that's about 20 min down the road.
There are storms headed our way, so we'll see what happens. The goal today is to find deeds for the property and see if a plat exists that shows the cemetery and house location. It will be helpful to have an official document stating this instead of relying soley on witnesses. Sorry for the bug guts. |
 McMinnville |
The offices where the deeds are kept are in McMinnville.
This picture is looking south towards town with the mountain in the background.
I didn't take pictures of the records room, but it looks kinda like this. The books weigh about 15 pounds each and go back to the early 1800s. As about 2 hours, they weigh about 100 pounds :) I did find the chain of owners for the property, but then I went through the index of 85 books one by one and had 32 pages copied. It will take a while to sift through all of these records. I don't see anything earth-shaking yet. |
 Martha Orrick X |
I spent the morning and part of the afternoon at the deed office.
My feet are zapped.
Martha (Hardin) Orrick is my 3ggrandmother. She outlived husband Allen and several children. At least 2 of her sons where killed in the war. She was living in the 1880 census, and I this document is showing me that she lived until 1898. If that's the case, she is well over 100! See that little 'x' there? Martha made that on the piece of paper more than 100 years ago. Apparently no plat drawing for the property exists. I'm finding this hard to believe and am going to keep asking. Maybe my stubborness will pay off. |
 Orrick Farm Survey Giant View |
I had lunch with a fellow researcher then decided to visit the office handling the
auction of the Orrick property on May 2nd.
They had a map showing how the property has been split up for auction. Buyers have the option of putting the pieces back together again. The farm is 76 acres with a modern house, and a couple of barns. Click on the image for a giant version where I've indicated where the cemetery was, and the cistern was. It's possible, according to stories, that the cistern contains headstones with markings. See the satellite images. |
 Orrick Rainbow |
We started out to go see the property but the rain was so strong we had to turn back.
I went back to the hotel in Manchester to get something to eat and rest my feet.
While talking to Sandra on the phone, I got struck by a brilliant rainbow out my hotel window. This was the most intense rainbow I've ever seen. Who knows, maybe it's from the Orricks of yesteryear sending a colorful message of support. The front office called my room about 9:30pm and said there was a tornado warning and would call if there were more instructions. The Fun just never stops around here! |
If this doesn't work, who will go with me to knock on the door of a newly-placed trailer house and deliver the news: "Excuse me sir, your master bedroom is on top of my greatgrandma." Send your application today!
Day 4 - Tuesday, Apr 14
This is difficult. On one hand, I don't want to interfere with the sale, but on the other hand, I don't want a mobile home parked on my 3ggrandpa. Economic times have hit this area very hard and businesses and jobs are being lost right and left. But buyers need to know there is a cemetery there BEFORE they buy it, not AFTER. Most of the people here are good, honest, reasonable people, and my chances of being able to work something out seems excellent in spite of the bizarre and difficult situation.
 Roger and Ladye Jane |
After gabbing on the phone with Sandra so long she missed an appointment, the executive committee
proposed a binding resolution: Today I will go to the auction house handling the land sale
and tell them about the hidden cemetery, and let the chips fall where they may.
I headed over to the auctioneer's office first thing, but he was gone. I piddled around town for another hour but he still wasn't there. Layde Jane took me and Sandra to a local cafe for lunch. I had meatloaf and okra. That's the first real meal I've had since Friday. |
 Cemetery Spot |
Then we went out to the cemetery location. This was my first visit to it on this trip.
We got out of the car and started looking for the old house and cistern location.
Then a man came out to greet us. He called my name, I thought it
was the owner (who I talked to last year on the phone), but instead it was a cousin on my Qualls side.
What a surprise! We had a great conversation.
He had read this blog and just happened to come out at the exact same time we did.
This is all kinda spooky isn't it?.
Come to find out, he is friends of the owner.
There is no visible sign of the cemetery, we knew that, but there are signs of the cistern and the old dog-trot house removed years ago. The old house spot and cistern are together on one section of the property that will be auctioned off. The cemetery is up next to the modern house on another section and they will be sold together, unless something changes. |
Then we went back to town and meet up with a Davenport lady who use to live next door to the Orrick farm. She didn't have much info about the farm, but she brought out all the original records from the church that some of the Orricks attended. Most of the records have it spelled ORICK.
Then we went back to the auctioneer who was back in the office. We had a good talk and I told him about the whole situation. He was understanding and suggested I see if there is a legal record map at the tax office. I'll do that first thing tomorrow morning!
 Sandra and Roger |
We had mexican food (my 2nd real meal of the trip) then looked through 1887 newspapers
at the library till 8pm. Back at the hotel at 9pm, 1 hour to create this web page,
then I'm off to bed. I'm beat but very excited.
I've received several donation offers to help save the property already. It's very nice to know people care. There's little chance to have enough money to buy the whole property which on the tax rolls currently at $270k, but I can probably swing enough to buy the plot where the old house and cistern is. If I can pull that off, I will excavate the cistern looking for markers and preserve the home spot. Wouldn't it be amazing to own the property where your ancestors lived almost 200 years ago! |
There is no way to thank my new found friends and cousins: Ladye Jane, Sandra, and JQ.
This is like an Indiana Jones movie, but without snakes! (So far anyway)
Hey, if anything is mispelled, it's because I'm running on fumes at this point.
Day 5 - Wednesday, Apr 15
Today was very taxing in 2 ways. First, I turned 1000 miles on the tripometer, my backside is sore, and I miss home. Second, with the taxes I paid in 2008, I could purchase the property section that contains the old Orrick homestead and cistern, with enough left over to make payroll for my 10 employees for at least 3 months. Instead, my grandkids will be born into debt.
The goal today is to find a map that can identify the cemetery's postion on the property. Without that, I will have to get witnesses to make a legal case. I have 2 witnesses already and think I can get several more.
 Tax map Giant Version |
First I headed to the tax accessors office to see if they have a map.
I asked "Is there a really old map of properties in that area?".
She said "Yes, all the way back to 68". I said "Great!....Wait, 1868 or 1968?".
She answered: "1968".
By then the cemetery and the house had long been distroyed.
Thanks to cousin Larry for his counsel. Cheers with a cup of tea to you! |
 Farm map Giant Version |
Running out of options, I went to the local farm services office.
They have real old maps, "back to the 1970's" they said. I smiled :)
This map is interesting because it's before the barn was built behind the modern house. And it shows some sort of building by where the old house sat. Interesting, but not much help. The lady who helped me was real nice and we chatted for about 15 min. She has come to Texas many times to show cows with her sons. It's amazing how many people say they have been to Tyler. |
My next task was to find another living member of the Orrick family to see if they could identify the cemetery location, but I could not get anyone to answer the phone.
 Grundy Courthouse |
I stopped into Sonic to avoid real food, then headed to the Altamont courthouse in neighboring Grundy county.
There I meet Sandra and they gave us free access to the old records.
The goal was to find what happened to Margaret Arrick and her second husband William B. Nunley.
The old record room could use some help. There are 2 walls full of old books,
including taxes, marriages, probate, court, etc.
Some are in terrible shape and need to be scanned.
Sadly, nothing previously unknown was found there.
I've gotten all the low-hanging fruit.
The deed office however is the greatest thing I've ever seen. All the good documents have been scanned and are indexed. Apparently Nunley sold off his land to his kids and others before he died, leaving Margaret with nothing. I printed out several and will research them in my "Spare" time :)
|
 Grundy County |
Grundy county is just beautiful.
We struck out on a local cafe and the Coffee county library, but got a good dinner at Cracker Barrel. While leaving I realized my wallet was missing creating an exciting moment (as if I need one), but eventually found it in my truck. |
We've got plenty of hope, now we just need some change!
Day 6 - Thursday, Apr 16
Another very busy day. This whole thing is starting to look a lot like work :)
 Farm map Giant Version | After an evening of thinking about the best way to handle this situation, I decided to go to the auctioneer and make an offer on tract 6. This is the land that had the Orrick farm house and the cistern - 9 acres. It's also the lowest land of the farm, an unusual triangle shape, and of lesser value than the other tracts. He said he would present the offer to the owner and and get back to me. |
Then I took off to find another local Orrick. I did, and showed up at her house. She was very gracious and we talked for about an hour while I played with her new doggie Doc. But, there wasn't much new to learn, and she had never been to the Orrick Farm. Sadly, her father is not well and couldn't help either.
The auctioneer called and said the owner would not accept my offer and will let it go to auction. I'm disappointed, but there's only so much I can do.
Next stop was the deed office. The chain of owners stopped back in 1912 and I wanted to see if I was missing something. They gave me a lot of help and we did forward and reverse lookups, but it's a dead end. This is so typical for Orrick research.
 Auction sign | I stopped at Arbys for a Reuben sandwich and took off to visit the property. This was the first visit where I had plenty of time to walk the whole property, poke the ground and take pictures. |
 Cistern Area |
I located the spot of the farm house and cistern and walked all the way to the back of the 75 acres.
By studying the survey posts, I discovered that the tract the cemetery is on is NOT
on the same as the house, but next to it, Tract 3 (11 acres).
That's good news, because maybe it could be bought separate and it would be cheaper than if it was with the house. |
 Cemetery Area |
I spent an hour and took 100 pictures and a couple of movies.
I admit to being totally mesmerized by the fact I was standing where my ancestors did almost 200 years ago.
My Dad searched for decades looking for where we Arricks came from, and he passed without ever knowing. It would be great if he could stand right here with me. This is the farm where John Riley Arrick was born - ancestor of the Texas Arricks. |
 Orrick Farm Land 75 Acres | The 75 acre Orrick Farm Land has been a working nursery for years. |
After that, I swung by another researcher's house but no luck, then made some calls, then headed back to the library. The library was ready to close but I had a good conversation with Brad who knows these counties and families like the back of his hand.
After getting back to my hotel in Manchester, Sandra called. She was able to get ahold of the lady who lived on the property from 1964-1983?. The road is named after her deceased husband. They built the modern house in 65 and raised their kids there. That part we knew, but what we didn't know was......cliff hanger..... when they bought the property, the old farm house, cistern and a barn was still there!
She described the house as a very old and ricketty farm house with a 2nd story loft, but not a dog-trot style like I had heard. The cistern was right next to the house, and behind the house was a barn. They were about to fall down, so they were torn down so the kids wouldn't get hurt. She also mentioned another cistern behind the modern house and some other details.
Oh, it get's better! Sandra asked, "well, could there be any pictures from way back then?" The answer is "YES!". Can you belive it? There are pictures of the old Orrick farm in a box in McMinnville TN! The next job will be to get with her and get scans of them. I'm just stunned and will probably need medication after all this! :)
I know Sandra is just doing all this for selfish reasons. First, she's gonning to recruit me to help with her Meyer's family, and second, she wants to win another steak dinner which is my standard thank-you payment for people who are especially helpful. Of course, I could never pay her back for all her help, support, and friendship.
I miss home, and the shower water pressure it offers.
Day 7 - Friday, Apr 17
Believe it or not, it's really hard to remember everything I did during the day to create these entries. Try it sometime.
I headed back to the admin building for another missing deed. I told them "Don't worry, I'm going home on Sunday!", they smiled.
Then I went looking for the surveyor's office to see if he had any suggestions about finding an old map of the Orrick farm showing the cemetery. I circled the city center over and over again and could not find it. Finally, I found that a big truck was sitting in front of the door obscuring the sign. But, the office was closed. I tried several times throughout the day without luck. two steps forward, one step back.
 Giant Camera | While at a stop light, I noticed a lady in a car waving at me from across the intersection. It was indeed a lady - Ladye Jane. She invited me to lunch at Monty Wanamaker's Southern Museum and Gallery of Photography, History and Culture on Main Street in McMinnville. Pat brought some great food and I browsed the museum which has some interesting old camera equipment from the Lively Studios. |
 Orrick Mailbox | With a full belly, I looked up a local Orrick family. They were very kind and knew about the farm but had never been there. Very nice people, and the doggie was nice too after he got use to me. |
 Cannon County Courthouse |
Then I took off for Cannon county which is very close to the Orrick farm
to see if any deeds got recorded there.
Some did, and I got copies.
Nothing game-changing but I did find a new name I'd never heard before: Lonzony Orrick, something
like that. I'll have to add him/her to the research list.
I could spend several days there doing research, but only had an hour this time. |
 Greyhound Painting |
While in Woodbury in Cannon County, I couldn't resist stopping by an antique store.
There was this great painting of a greyhound. Should have bought it. |
I got back to the hotel at 4:00 and actually got a short nap. Felt great. Then meet Sandra for dinner. We then headed out to a local cemetery and looked for a missing headstone. Sandra is fearless.
My night is going to be busy. I still haven't had a chance to put together the presentation for tomorrow's genealogy meeting. The other problem is that there is no printer here and the closest OfficeMax is in Tullahoma.
Ok, I gotta quit playing around and get to work!
Day 8 - Saturday, Apr 18
Every day I think can't be more eventful than the previous, then I'm proven wrong. Today was no exception.
 Presentation |
I created notes night and this morning for the presentation at the Warren County Genealogy Association meeting.
It was about 25 sheets including information about the Orrick
cemetery, Orrick history, etc. Most of this is on this website.
Since there is no printer in Manchester, I emailed the the files to an OfficeMax in Tullahoma,
ate breakfast, and started driving. They were quick and had the print job done when I arrived.
Then I headed back through Manchester to take one last look at the Orrick farm, grabbed something to eat,
and got to the meeting room at 1:15.
It took about 30 min to sort the pages - thanks again Sandra!
I counted 22 people in the meeting room. The presentation went good and there were many questions. Afterwards, we all chatted until about 4:00. Ladye Jane said it was the longest meeting she had ever seen. |
 Orrick Farm House Giant Version |
One of the members knew the person I mentioned that talked about old pictures of the Orrick Farm.
After the meeting she called her and told us to go over on over and see pictures.
I just couldn't believe it.
It's not uncommon to find that someone that has a goodie like this, but it's usually a much tougher job to
set up a meeting and make it actually happen.
So, after the meeting, Sandra and I headed over to her house. She was very pleasant and we talked for more than an hour. She gave us all sorts of details about her family's life there, and she described the location of the house, the 2 cisterns, and a big barn. She looked through a giant shoe box packed full of pictures and pulled the ones showing the property. Not only that, she allowed me to take them and make copies. That is very gracious. She didn't know about a cemetery though. |
There are more pictures. I'll put them up on the website soon.
This whole thing is just incredible. How many people have a picture of the house their 3rd great grandparents lived at in the 1850s?
I wish I could write more, but I'm zapped and need to get to bed early to get and early start back home tomorrow.
Day 9 - Sunday, Apr 19
This is my day to drive back home in Tyler Texas. I started out in Manchester TN at 6:30am and drove straight through with a few gas and food breaks. After 13 hours and 700 miles, I was home sweet home. The tripometer says 2120 for the whole trip.
Going through all the deed records and scanning pictures for this website will take quite a while. Keep track on the Front page in the Latest News section.
I updated the Survey Map with details from Glenetta's information. See the Giant View.
Bonita let me borrow the topo map. It was created in 1953 with updates in 1984. It shows Abe Curtis Rd and you can see that it use to go through which confirms another of the stories. I think the dots are buildings but the map doesn't have a legend.
Thanks for all the support and emails!
Day 1 (2nd Trip) - Thursday, Apr 30
I've been going through the Orrick Farm deeds in more detail. This wonderful surprise was found - the Orrick grave yard is mentioned. Another surprise is that it says "5 poles square". That's big, about 80ft x 80ft.
In spite of this new piece of legally important evidence, I just don't have the heart to interfere with the auction. It would be a major hassle for everyone involved, expensive for both sides, and would likely make a bunch of enemies. So, I'm going to take my chances at the auction, and if that falls through, I'll attempt to gain the trust and sympathy of the new owner.
click for larger view
I can't believe it, but I'm headed out to TN again on Thursday. The auction is Saturday at 10:00AM. Either this is a crazy mistake, or a miraculous opportunity. I'm voting for the later and will not let it pass. If I don't, I will regret it forever. Certainly not looking forward to driving 26 hours again.
The way I understand it, the individual tracts of land will be auctioned, then at the end they will be grouped together and auctioned as a whole. So, I might could win the tract, but loose in the end. We'll see.
What's interesting is that my parent's house is now up for sale. My Father worked for many years trying to find out where we Arricks came from but passed before doing so. Wouldn't it be cool if I used the proceeds from his life's work to purchase his mysterious Orrick ancestor's farm land? Just a thought about the strange way life works out sometimes.
Friday I'm going to return the pics to Glenetta and ask if she will go to the farm to pinpoint the cisterns. This is difficult for her because Abe is now gone and she has many fond memories of the place.
Evening update:
I left Tyler TX at 7am and made it to Manchester TN at 7:30pm. 697 miles.
Microtel gave me a handicap accessible room, not sure what they're trying to tell me.
Tomorrow will be interesting.
Day 2 (2nd Trip) - Friday, May 1
Thunderstorms plowing through the area most of the night and still this morning. It might put a damper on the plans to get Glenetta out to the farm to identify the cistern locations. I'll probably end up at the deed office, and maybe try to talk with the surveyor.
I can't figure out hotels. There is no fridge or microwave oven in here. That would only cost about $150. And there is only a sink in the bathroom without a place to sit my razor and stuff. I am pleased with the shower pressure and the flat-screen TV though!
 Rained and Rained |
Today went great. It rained and rained and rained.
I started out trying to find the surveyor but failed - have tried and failed at least 10 times in the past.
Then went over to the deed office.
They were very surprised to see me and couldn't believe I drove all the way back.
I finally found the missing deed from 1901 and it TOO mentions "Grave yard".
Now I have 2 legal documents.
It rained some more. |
Then I went by Glenetta's house and asked if she would go out to the farm to pinpoint the location of the cisterns and she said "SURE!" and told me to come back a 2:00. This is great news because there's no guarentee I'll ever have access to the property again after tomorrow's auction.
It rained some more.
Then I went over to the library and dropped off the farm house pictures for the Orrick file.
 Wreck |
With a few hours to kill, I headed out to the area around the farm and drove
and drove. There are some VERY secluded places out there and I got lost a couple of times.
On the way, I came across a terrible wreck that just happened including a trailer with
a big mower and a couple of cars. There was a guy laying in the grass - I think
he was the driver of the truck.
It rained some more. |
I picked Glenetta up and we went out to the farm. It was raining very hard. It didn't matter because the whole place was just mud and we couldn't walk around anyway. She pointed to where the cisterns, barn and farm house were but not exactly. It would take some excavating or radar to narrow in on them. I've already talked to a guy in Knoxville who has a radar, so if I can buy the plot or get access to it, I'll try to figure out a way to use that. Glenetta told a bunch of stories and the trip was very fun.
Then I went over to check for the surveyor for the last time, and there he was. We talked for a while but he didn't know of any source for a survey of the farm that might show the location of the cemetery. But he did suggest that the USDA might have aerial views of the land back to 1939, so I'll have to put that on the research list.
It rained some more.
I headed back to the hotel in Manchester through driving rain. Sandra called and said there was a tornado warning. Maybe I should take the hint and just go home......NAH!
Tomorrow's the big auction day at 10:00am. Hope it doesn't rain, but I know it probably will.
Day 3 (2nd Trip) - Friday, May 2
 Orrick Cemetery Spot |
Well, it's finally here - auction day.
Sandra meet me out there at 9am. We walked the property and took some pictures. In this picture, I'm standing where Mr. Brewer said the cemetery is. |
 Roger Bidding |
They started by auctioning off small things like chains and tools,
then to the tractors.
About 11:15 they started on the real-estate. They first auctioned tract #4 and the house which went for about $125k. Then the others one by one. When it got to tract #6 (Where the Orrick farm house was and the cisterns) I bid and ultimately won. After all the individual tracts were sold (6 total), I was one of 3 buyers. Then, as is common in these land auctions, they grouped tracts 1, 2 and 6 together and one of the other bidders won them as a group. That knocked me out. Then at the end, they regrouped the whole thing and one buyer bought the whole 75-acre farm for $327k. |
 Auctioneer |
After all that, I made an offer to the buyer for tract #6 higher than my first
bid, but he declined.
On one hand, I wish I could have won tract #6, but on the other hand I'm happy that the 75-acre Orrick farm will stay in one piece like it has been for almost 200 years. The process was fair and quite interesting. I'm glad I went to the effort to try, and would have regretted it otherwise. Now, I'll get to start all over and eventually try to connect with the new owner. Hopefully I can get access to the property to pinpoint the Orrick cemetery and dig out headstones from the cisterns. |
Tonight I'm going to meet up with Sandra at Jiffy's hamburgers in Manchester, then rest up for tomorrow's 12-hour trip back home.
Left Manchester TN at 5:50am and pulled into home at 5:50pm. 1620 miles total this trip. Rained at least half those miles. 484 emails in my inbox.
Thanks for following my little adventure.
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