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The Thumb's Christmas

  Our daughter, Anne, was a prolific artist when she was young. Our refrigerator door was full of her drawings, paintings, and school artwork. She liked to create little books, too, as she was also a natural storyteller. One Christmas when she was about eight years old, Anne wrote and illustrated a Christmas story for her little brother, James. If memory serves, she drew her inspiration from a book she had recently gotten from the library by illustrator Ed Emberley. He wrote and illustrated The Great Thumbprint Drawing Book . In it, Emberley showed how to make a variety of animals and people using a thumbprint as a starting point. The creations are simple and charming. It's amazing what you can do with a blog of ink and a few black lines. It's art that's accessible to anyone. Anne's story is called "The Thumb's Christmas," and is based on our family. There is a thumb with glasses (Anne), a thumb with little hair (toddler James), a thumb with a mustache (Ji...
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Churchwell Kite & the Second Creek War

Churchwell Kite's Georgia Militia Muster-In Roll card.

 

Churchwell Kite cuts a mysterious figure. My husband is distantly related to him through Churchwell's marriage to Mahulda "Huldy" Kite, a daughter of my husband's 4th great grandfather David Kite. But I've been unable to piece together who Churchwell's parents were, or what became of him.

I first learned of Churchwell while researching for my post Tax List Treasures in Fayette, Georgia, where I detailed information besides taxes to be discovered in tax digests. Churchwell Kite appeared in Fayette County, Georgia tax lists twice, in 1831 and 1832; he paid a poll tax each year. This meant that he was over 21 and owned no land.1

On 24 May 1835 Churchwell married Huldy Kite. But in 1837, Huldy subsequently married Major Kite. What happened to Churchwell?

Online family trees assumed Churchwell died in about 1836 and perhaps in the Second Creek War, as he served in that conflict which began in 1836. That year fell between his marriage to Huldy Kite and her second marriage to Major Kite, so it's plausible. Curious if there might be any evidence of Churchwell's death in military documents, I ordered his Compiled Military Service Record.2

I discovered that Churchwell did not die during the Creek War. His service record indicates that he enrolled as a private in the Georgia Militia on 3 June 1836, to serve for three months. He mustered in at West Point, Troup County, Georgia, on 16 June 1836. He mustered out on 31 August 1836, at the same location.3

Churchwell's service record shows he mustered out at West Point, Georgia on 31 August 1836.
 

West Point was located on the Chattahoochee River. Two weeks prior to Churchwell's enlistment, Creek raiders attacked a nearby settlement at Roanoke, massacring fourteen. Two nights later, 300 warriors burned the town to the ground. Their actions were in response to years of illegal encroachment by white settlers into Creek land, as well as the state and federal government's inability or unwillingness to stop the settlers. Churchwell possibly answered a call to arms shortly after these two events. The Second Creek War lasted into 1837.4

While his service record did not reveal Churchwell's death date or circumstances, it does help narrow the window of his death to between 31 August 1836 when he left the militia and 19 October 1837 when his widow Huldy Kite married Major Kite. So, for now, Churchwell Kite's fate remains a mystery.

 

Leaves on the Tree is on hiatus for the next few weeks while I'm on vacation. We'll see you back here in mid-September.

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NOTES

1 Ancestors Unlimited, abstracters, First tax digests of Fayette County, Georgia, 1823-1834 (Jonesboro, Ga.: Ancestors Unlimited, Inc., 1988), 101, 1831, Captain Ginn's District, Churchwell Kite; page images provided by Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. Also: Ancestors Unlimited, abstracters, First tax digests of Fayette County, Georgia, 1823-1834 (Jonesboro, Ga.: Ancestors Unlimited, Inc., 1988), 130, 1832. Captain Compton's District, Churchwell Kite; page images provided by Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah,.

2 "Georgia County Marriages, 1735-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSLX-KS8Z-F : 25 July 2023), Churchwell Kite and Huldah Kite, 24 May 1835, Fayette, Georgia; citing County Courthouse, Fayetteville. Also: "Georgia County Marriages, 1735-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GPPD-DXV : 25 July 2023), Major Kite and Huldah Kite, 19 October 1837, Fayette, Georgia; citing County Courthouse, Fayetteville.

3 Georgia Militia Infantry, Creek War, Compiled Service Record of Churchwell Kite, Pvt., Capt. Stell's Co., Wood's Batt'n, 3 Brig., June-August 1836; citing National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

4 Robert B. Kane, Encyclopedia of Alabama (https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/second-creek-war/ : 14 August 2023), "Second Creek War," last updated 27 March 2023.


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