Redd Research to Recommence
With the success of the Redd reunion behind us we now have funds to initiate further research on our Redd Virginia lines. Professional genealogist Carolyn Nell last completed research on the Redds in 2009.
A new round of research begins this spring. Mrs Nell has written about her plans:
The core documents from which we should establish our baseline are in Report No. 13, dated 20 February 2008. There are deeds where Martha Jordan is deeding to her children properties, etc. This was being done before she remarried to Francis Hodges. From those documents we know she had a son named Samuel Cohoon, James Jordan, and Rachel Jordan. She had property in Nansemond County, Virginia. These deeds were prepared in 1734, and Rachel Jordan was not yet married to Mr. Hodges. The second document of importance is the abstract of James Jordan’s will in 1742 wherein Rachall (Jordan) Reade is recognized as his married sister.
· Martha’s first husband was a Cohoon (of Nansemond County).
· Martha’s second husband was a Jordan (?of Nansemond County).
· Martha’s third husband was a Hodges (of Norfolk County). Married between 1734 and 1742.
Martha’s maiden name is unknown at this time. She would be your grandparent x-number of generations back. The second husband, Mr. Jordan, would be your blood line, unless we locate documents proving otherwise.
From going through secondary sources in my office, I learned there was a Samuel Cohoon on the 1704 Nansemond County Rent Rolls for 240 acres. I think this Samuel is the husband of Martha, and I think the Samuel Cahoon referred to by Martha Jordan is named after her husband; however, additional research might prove this assumption incorrect. Samuel, the son, was a doctor in Nansemond County; he contributed to the Revolutionary War and filed a claim for reimbursement; and he died before 22 September 1792. We know of his death because Robert K. Headley, Jr., compiler, Genealogical Abstracts from 18th-Century Virginia Newspapers, page 69: “Cahoon, Dr. Samuel, dec’d, his saw and grist mills on branches of Nansemond River near Suffolk to be sold by John C. Cohoon (nfi) (VCNPGA 22 September 1792). The relationship of John C. Cohoon is unknown at this time in the research, but he is most likely a son. There are many other facts learned about him, but that information will be written in an official report at the conclusion of this research cycle.
I think many of your family members will be identified in Norfolk, Nansemond, and Princess Anne Counties. That whole region will need to be researched to establish relationships. The more I understand the relationships of the people in the counties of that region, I think the Read/Redd/Red families of Norfolk County will be related to your William Red. Nell said she is also interested in the surnames Cahoon/Cohoon, Jordan, and Hodges, although she does not think the surname Hodges to be in our bloodline since he was a third marriage to Martha.
May God bless us all! Hurrah for Zion!
D. Gordon Wilson, T81 
What a momentous couple of years we have had as a Redd family! As I look back, I am particularly proud of the past two years-plus that I have served as the president of our organization—particularly of the watershed reunion event we organized and executed as a team in September in our ancestral home of New Harmony, Utah. It was a galvanizing event and created a real sense of community within our organization. Over 500 Redd cousins attended and in the process of organizing the reunion we identified over 5,000 Redd cousins and assigned them an RDN (Redd Descendent Number). Thank you, David Hopper, for your foresight, tenacity and energy around the RDN—this methodology is truly something that will stick with the family and provide a perpetual method for identifying future generations of Redd cousins and then link them back to Lemuel Hardison Redd, Sr. I encourage you all to use your RDN in your communication and on Facebook.
All of us I think were enthused to “see” Lemuel, Keziah, and Sariah at the reunion and I personally got the chills as Lem sang “Sweet Bird” on his ol’ guitar. Seeing them and getting a sense of their personalities in the live skit was particularly enlightening to the younger generation whom we are attempting to connect to our organization through social media. Our Facebook page is alive and well. There are 378 members today and most are of the younger generation and for that we are grateful. One of my objectives over the past two years and, in fact, as part of our reunion effort, was to connect our family more effectively through social media with our children and grandchildren. I’m happy with the Facebook members we have, but am confident that we can and must do much much better in using Facebook to reach out to our cousins. Truly, our Redd Family Organization can go increasingly viral if everyone would help by just adding one family member to our Facebook Group. I look forward with much anticipation to the publication of the biography of Solomon Chamberlin (yes, that’s the correct spelling) father to Lemuel's wife Sariah currently under way in Provo thanks to the efforts of the Charles Redd Center. This will be a groundbreaking work and one that will make us even prouder of our heritage (if that is even possible). With much confidence in my second cousin, John R.E. Redd, I turn the reigns over to his able hands. He’s a stalwart in our heritage and really smart. My wife and I now leave for our mission to Ecuador. To quote Solomon Chamberlin, “I am perfectly satisfied with all things as they roll along.”
|
|
Click on Above Image for Tips on Searching Familysearch.org
Be Part of the Action
We need YOU to help with Redd research:
Are you interested in helping with Redd research? You don't have to be an expert genealogist or even have prior experience doing research. We would like to begin work to clean up the plethora of Redd records that are incomplete and inaccurate that now reside online at new.familysearch.org.
We are gathering scanned images of vital records and photographs in order to document our line. The video on how to do effective searches on Family Search will help you get an idea of how you can begin to gather data that is currently on Familysearch.
Volunteers will coordinate efforts beginning this summer at the Family History Library. You don't have to be in Salt Lake to participate. Much work can be done coordinating online and through conference calls. Please let us know of your skills and interest. Email the Redd Geneaology Group jan@reddfamily.org and sign up today.
|
|
Thanks to Redd Cousin in Canada
Alma Mendenhall shared a recent online find "Dear folks, I was on ancestry.com and found these photos of a sigley redd family and home that I thought you might enjoy seeing."
|
|
|
