Back to our Roots

W hen the time came to decide where to go for the 2007 Reunion, the decision was made to go to Georgia - where the southern Whigham journey in America began more than 200 years ago. The choice was between Louisville - the site of the Queensborough settlement of the mid-1700's where Thomas Whigham settled in the 1770's - and the area around Whigham which was settled by two Whigham cousins who had left Jefferson County Georgia in the 1820's.

Faye, Keith and Terry Whigham, descendants of William Whigham and the settlers of Whigham, volunteered to take the lead in deciding on a location in Georgia. Carl Whigham, an Alabama native who now lives in Georgia, volunteered to assist. Myron Whigham, our vice president, who has worked almost alone on our last three reunions is grateful for the help.

Faye moved very quickly to check out Louisville, which she, my husband, Don, and I had visited two years ago. And, almost before our 2005 reunion was over, the decision was made to go to Louisville.

City and business leaders are thrilled with our decision to have the reunion in their town and have pledged to be helpful in putting it together. One of my favorite of the activities Faye has mentioned is a fish fry with Keith and Terry serving as cooks.

While Louisville is a small town, there are a number of other towns in the area with motels, etc., to provide places to stay. As time goes on, we will keep you informed as to those places. Make your reservations early, for it is much easier to cancel than to be looking for a room at the last minute

Notes on the 2005 Reunion

W hile the June reunion in Daphne was not as well attended as previous ones, we once again had another group of first time attendees. Anna Ruth Williams, who was responsible for so much of the early Whigham research, came from Texas, along with her cousin, Cleve Rousser. The Sassers came from Fort Deposit, Alabama. Others came from all across the country.

One of the decisions made by those present was to send copies of “The Whigham Chronicles” to five state archives in memory of Robert E. Whigham, Jr., who was both the co-author of the book and the historian for the association. The states chosen were Florida, Iowa, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Texas. All the states have significant numbers of Whighams.

Florida is the home of many descendants of Alabama and Georgia Whighams who have migrated there and multiplied. Iowa is the state chosen by many descendants of Richard Whigham who came to America in 1840 from Moneyslane in County Down, Northern Ireland.

Mississippi is the final resting place of Joseph Whigham, son of Thomas, who journeyed there in his later years and left behind an ever-growing number of Whighams. In addition, many Whighams in Alabama lived near the Mississippi line and moved from there to Mississippi.

William Whigham, of Pennsylvania, who emigrated about the same time as Thomas, fought in the Revolutionary War. There are a large number of his descendants there. And, Texas is the state chosen by a number of Whighams as their home after the Civil War.

In addition, my sister, Sylvia Chance, purchased a book to put into the Orlando Library in memory of her son, Michael. So, six books have been sent to archives and libraries, making the message of our family available to those who are doing genealogy research.

All the books have been mailed and received by the archives and the library, and I have received letters from each expressing their appreciation for the contribution. We have also received a communication from the New York City Library wishing to purchase a copy for $25. One will be sent to them shortly. So, the information about our family will be available in a lot of new areas of the country.

It was great seeing everyone again. The cake walk went especially well. Myron and David were aided by Virginia Whigham who continually cheered everyone to participate. Joe Johnson made a great presentation once again.

  And, the food was great. Kathy Hall and her assistants did a really great job. A big thank you to everyone who contributed to the success of the reunion - to Myron Whigham who carried the load again; to David Johnson for his music and his brother, Joe; to Carl and Doyle Whigham who were always ready to help out; to Sylvia and Anna Dorrycott, to Nancy Kasper and all those I will forget to mention.

The reunion would not have been nearly as much fun if not for your contributions. And, of course, a great big “thank you” to Lance Russell for keeping up with our money.

                                                                                                                         Missing Pieces

of the Puzzle

 Four new contacts have provided new information about our Whigham family. James Robert Whigham, Terral Lee Whigham, Jr., Joseph Bartoszek have furnished new information about their families. Mary Whigham Morgan provided new additions to our history and supplied corrections for our book.

James Robert Whigham, of Cartersville, Georgia, is the grandson of Lamar Franklin Whigham, Sr., and the direct descendant of Robert Edward Whigham who was the founder of Whigham, Georgia. The family information he supplied is as follows:

Lamar Franklin Whigham, Sr., was the grandson of Robert Edward and Elizabeth Lodge. He married Rosa Jones and had three children - Doris Faith, Eleanor Mae and Lamar Franklin Jr. Lamar Jr. married Janet Elizabeth Chapman and had a daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, and a son, James Robert.

Sarah married Joseph Mills. They have four children, Micah, Jared, Emily and Jesse. James Robert has two children - Kyle and Caroline.

Terral Lee (or Lee, the name he uses) is the only son of Terral Lee Sr. and Shirley Ann Rogers. He descends from the Joseph Whigham line through Joseph Jr., Franklin Joseph, and Joe Lee. He is married to Kathy, who is a nurse, and has one child, Matthew, 5, who plays T-ball. They currently live in Land O’ Lakes, FL.

Joseph V. Bartoszek contacted me in February concerning his family. Joseph is the son of Cynthia Lee Whigham and Robert Anthony Bartoszek. Cynthia was the daughter of Harlan Lamar Whigham, another descendant of Franklin Joseph and Joe Lee Whigham. Joseph lives in Florida and has two brothers, Adam and Alexander. Adam is planning to be married soon.

I also heard from a Katie Whigham, whose husband is a Whigham from Scotland. They currently live in Seattle, Washington. I hope to learn more from her son. Then, this morning, I spoke to a Constance Whigham in Connecticut, whose husband Merton Raymond was born in Scotland and emigrated to the U.S. with his father, John Whigham. This family settled in Massachusetts where there are a large number of Whighams today. She said I was the first non-family member Whigham she had talked to. I hope to get more information on her family soon.

Mary sent several corrections which will be included in the Chronicles’ supplement being pre-pared by Lance Russell and Nancy Kasper for the 2007 reunion. If you have corrections or additions to the book, be sure to send them to me for inclusion in the supplement.

Mary’s husband was Robert William Morgan, II, not Roy W. Morgan.

We continue to both reach out to other Whighams and get contacted by them. Hopefully, the number of missing pieces will grow smaller as the number of found pieces of the puzzle grows larger.

Meantime, I have received a lot of new information from Carl Whigham, our new historian. While visiting the Pine Level Reunion of the William Whigham branch in July, Carl met a Thurmon Whigham, who wasn’t quite sure in which branch of the family he fit. After researching the family, Carl discovered that he is the great grandson of Asa Emanuel Washington Whigham, was the son of William and Elizabeth Donalson. William was the son of John.

This should be good news for J.L. and Mary Nell Thompson. J.L. descends from John Whigham through his daughter, Margaret. Up till now J.L. was the only descendant of John that we had met. J.L. and Mary Nell have attended most of our reunions. All the new information will be in the addendum published for the reunion.

                              New Little Whighams

Kevin and Verouschka Whigham have their second son, Chase, born on August 7, 2005.

        Jeremy and Swan Whigham are the proud parents of their first child, Clay Andro, born January 12, 2006, at the Athens Regional Hospital, in Athens, GA.

Prayer List

A large number of our family members have been experiencing health problems lately. These last months have seen a number of our “cousins” ill, hospitalized, having surgery or just generally not feeling well.

Please remember the following in your prayers:

Dan Benefield, Oleene Whigham’s husband, has cancer of the lungs and is getting Chemo and Radiation Treatments. He gets chemo treatments once a week and radiation five times a week.

Burnell Whigham who recently had open heart surgery to repair and replace heart valves. .After spending several weeks in a rehabilitation center in Dothan, Burnell went home on February 28^th.

Sherman Johnson had a heart attack and has been hospitalized for bypass surgery.

Don Green, my husband, had heart surgery on Tuesday, March 21^st, to have a defibrillator implanted. He will have surgery again in three weeks to reopen the artery to his only functioning kidney.

I had knee surgery on Tuesday, March 14^th, to repair a torn meniscus on my right knee.

J.B. and Millie Whigham have also had a lot of sickness, and I am sure there are others. Please keep me informed, and let me know if there are others we should keep in our prayers.

Congratulations!!

Brian Keith Whigham, son of Keith and Faye Whigham, of Bonaire, GA, was married to Racheal Ann Isenberger, daughter of Gary and Sandy Isenberger of Athens, GA, on December 21, 2005, in Athens, Fulton County, GA.

Just a note for those of you who didn’t make it to the reunion last June -

We still have Whigham T-shirts and caps left over from the Reunion. The caps are not dated - just say “The Whigham Family Association” in white on solid red caps. The T-shirts contain our family crest, and information about the reunion in red and gold on a quality T-shirt.

They are available for a closeout donation of $7 per shirt and $5 per caps. Please contact me if you would like to have one or more. And, add $5 for shipping and handling.

“The Whigham Chronicles” is still available at $49.95 plus $5 for shipping and handling. This is the best history of our family to date, and all proceeds go to the Association. Make checks to: Whigham Family Association”. and mail them to:

Joyce Whigham Dorrycott, 6454 Village Park, San Antonio, TX 78250-4053.