A GATHERING OF GEORGIA COUSINS

AND THEIR ALLIED FAMILIES

APRIL 23 AND 24, 2004

A gathering of “North Georgia rooted” Jay, Bramlette, Wallis and allied families who descended from or were closely associated with the Rev. David Jay, Sr. of Hall/Lumpkin County Georgia was held at the Hopewell United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall in Murrayville GA on April 23 and 24, 2004. This was a very appropriate setting, as in 1836, Rev. David Jay made three acres of his land available to the Methodist Episcopal Church for the purpose of establishing a meeting place for Methodist Societies for as long as there were members who wanted to meet there. The number of registered attendees was 66; however, there were some attendees who failed to register, bringing the total to perhaps 75-80 throughout the weekend.

The Reunion was planned by Vince King, Jeb Bramlette and Jerry Spencer. Kate Hurley Faulkner of Murrayville, GA served as the hostess of the Hopewell United Methodist Church. Kate is a Maddox descendant whose ancestors intermarried into both the Jay and Bramlette families. She welcomed everyone and was most gracious in assisting in many ways throughout the weekend.

Friday, April 23, 2004

The gathering began with Registration and visiting on Friday morning at 9:30 AM. After a brief overview of the day’s activities, everyone spent about an hour just visiting and sharing family information. Vince introduced Jeb Bramlette, who represented the Bramlette Family, and Jerry Spencer who represented the Wallis Family, as presenters of information for our allied families throughout the weekend

The day began with a tour of the Hopewell Church Cemetery conducted by Jeb Bramlette. He pointed out the graves of several Jay and Bramlette family members as well as noting the graves of many Confederate Civil War veterans.

A caravan of approximately ten cars then proceeded to visit the Yellow Creek Church Cemetery. The Yellow Creek Cemetery is very interesting historically as well as being the resting place of Jays and Wallises. It is near the John Jay Land Lot. A very inspiring presentation regarding the church and cemetery was given by Wallis family member Myra Reidy.

Following this visit, the group returned to Hopewell UMC for a lunch of fried chicken and delicious homemade desserts provided by members of the gathering. Kate Faulkner served as the hostess for the event.

The caravan then proceeded toward Dahlonega, GA to the Wesley Chapel Cemetery where many Waters, another allied family, are buried. On the way to Wesley Chapel, we stopped at the Wallis Land Lot, a 250 acre site once owned by William Wallis. Jerry Spencer presented a brief overview of the land owned and

time frame for the group.

Our final stop of the day was at the Hopewell UMC Church and Cemetery near Coal Mountain, GA in Forsyth Co. where Vince King and Jerry Spencer pointed out significant Jay and Wallis Family graves.

The caravan then returned to Hopewell Church in Murrayville and the group dispersed for the rest of the day at about 5:00 PM.

Saturday, April 24, 2004

Presentations began at 10:00 AM with Vince King providing an overview of the history of Hall and Forsyth County GA. It was noted that most in attendance descended from David Jay either directly or through marriage. Vince gave a timeline of David Jay’s life from his younger days in Newberry SC to his death in Nimblewill GA. He discussed David Jay’s association with the Methodist Episcopal Church and spoke of David’s second wife Elizabeth Earp. (David’s first wife is unknown, but believed to be the mother of the Rev. Jay’s first three children). Elizabeth’s father, the Rev. Daniel Earp, was an associate of Bishop Asbury; per the notes in Bishop Asbury’s Journal, he tells of marrying David Jay and Elizabeth Earp in 1795 on one his journeys through SC.

Another highlight of Vince’s talk was related to the beginnings of the Hopewell Church in March of 1836 as recorded in David Jay’s Land deed.

A review of David Jay’s children, their marriages and their home locations was also presented. Vince noted which attendees were descended from each of the children. He gave more detail on John Jay (b.1817) and Isaac M. Jay (b.1820) as these two brothers remained in the Hall County area throughout their lives. John and Isaac Jay married Bramlette sisters, Sally and Mary respectively.

The presentation was concluded with demographic information which illustrated the migration patterns of the descendant families of the Rev. Jay. These Jays had nine large families in Georgia in 1830 and by 1900, from those nine families, there were 30 families in Georgia, 41 in Texas, 3 in Louisiana, 8 in Arkansas and 2 in Missouri.

Jeb Bramlette continued the morning activities with a presentation on the Bramlette family of North Georgia. He spoke of their involvement in Hopewell Church and their ties to the Jay Family. Nathan Bramlette was one of the first Trustees of the Hopewell Church and he bought the surrounding property from William Jay, son of David Jay, Sr.

We learned of fascinating individuals such as Jeb’s aunt Mellie Bramlette who read the Bible, cover to cover, 248 times!!! Aunt Mellie was apparently a frequent winner of radio Bible question quiz contests.

The Bramlette family also had a penchant for long names, as Jeb discussed his grandfather, William Washington Filmore Payne Bramlette.

Jeb brought with him an impressive array of approximately 20 notebooks of information on various branches of the family, that many attendees used throughout the weekend to acquire information on their family lines. At the end of this presentation, the Bramlette family members in attendance were introduced.

At 11:45 AM, the group adjourned the meeting hall to meet on the front steps of the church for a group picture of this historic occasion. Rev. Ned Beatty, a member of the Bramlette family, asked the blessing for lunch after reminding us that getting back to our roots and remembering our forbears, as we were doing, was very important.

Lunch was served by Sharron Spencer and Karon Lemming. Again, lunch was provided by those in attendance with chicken, ham and homemade desserts enjoyed by everyone.

At 1:00 PM, the workshops resumed with Jerry Spencer giving a presentation on the Wallis Family and its connection to the Jays. He noted that William Wallis and Anna Morrow were married in Barren County KY in 1808. In the census at that time were William Morrow, John Jay and John Wallis. Jerry told of how the families were often found together in census records indicating that the families were close and traveled together.

He continued with a review of the family’s locations through the 1800’s and noted that William Wallis deeded one acre of land in Forsyth County for the Hopewell Methodist Church near Coal Mountain GA to trustees, John Jay, John Wallis, Jesse Jay, David Vestal and Thomas P Harris in September 1838. This was one of the cemeteries we visited on Friday.

Jerry also noted how the notation “GTT” was sometimes found at home places ----Gone to Texas. He then gave an overview of some of the Wallis family whereabouts in Texas during the late 1800’s.

Following the Wallis Family presentation, Mike Miller, a local Methodist researcher, was introduced by Vince King. Vince noted that since so many of our Family were involved in the Methodist Church, he thought a brief history of the role of the Methodist Church would be interesting.

Mike proceeded to tell of the early structure of the Methodist Church, its hierarchy, and concluded with a history of the Lumpkin Campground and Camp Meetings. He gave a timeline of Dawson County and the establishment of the Lumpkin Campground (originally in Lumpkin County, which later became Dawson County).

Of note, Mike told how Hopewell was the Community Center as well as a Cultural Center for religious, educational and social activities. He described how the Camp Meeting also played a role in these activities.

Tidbits of interest to the family included information on George Kellogg, the man charged with land valuation for Indian lands in the are. He also was a Trustee of Lumpkin Campground and started several churches in the area. David Jay Jr. had a son and at least one grandson named George Kellogg Jay.

The final presentation was given at the request of attendees. Sharron Spencer gave a brief presentation on how to prepare a “cemetery kit” for the purpose of making old tombstones more readable. The key ingredient is large commercial grade chalk. Sharron is the co-author of a book on the Earp Family in America and has been very active in Jay and Wallis Family research as well. She used her “cemetery kit” on Friday’s cemetery visits, and the group was intrigued enough to ask for help in creating their own kits.

Sue Coffelt, President of the Jay Family Association, invited everyone to Round Rock, Texas on October 2, 2004 for a meeting of the Jay Family Association and genealogical workshop.

Vince recognized Shirley Ashworth and Wayne Ayers, sister and brother, as the attendees who traveled the greatest distance. They are from St George and West Jordan, Utah. He also noted Mary and Larry Robertson, who had come from Missouri. Groups were recognized from Texas, Georgia and North Carolina. The youngest members in attendance were Lewis Miller, aged 10 and Jessica Jay, aged 9. The eldest in attendance was Jemima Shirley of Ringgold GA. Jemima, at age 84, is a descendant of John Jay and one of Vince’s valuable research resources in the N. Georgia area. Vince thanked all who had brought displays, genealogical information, pictures and other documentation to share.

The meeting was adjourned to further sharing and visiting at approximately 4:00 PM on April 24th.

Sunday, April 25

A small group including Jemima Shirley, Vince King, Jerry and Sharron Spencer, Robert and Sue Coffelt, and Lee and Gail Hedden traveled to Nimblewill Gap to the homesite and believed burial ground of David Jay, Sr. The remote area is beautiful and hard to get to, but worth the climb to get there.

Notes Recorded by

Gail M Hedden

Descendant of David Jay Jr’s daughter Mary Catherine Jay

April 28, 2004

Vince King, Researcher and Descendant of David Jay, Sr. Can Be Reached At

Vince King
entech.design@verizon.net

List of Registered Attendees

Ashworth, Shirley

Aycock, Mary Ann

Ayers, Wayne

Bailey, Joe

Beatty, James Ned

Bennett, Wynelle

Biles, Wallace Sr., & Bonnie Beatty

Bramlett, Neal R Jr.

Bramlette, Jewell E. “Jeb”

Campbell, Judy

Campbell, W. Jay “Amanda”

Coffelt, Robert & Sue S.

Dalton, Helen Bramlett

Dugan, Katherine M.

Ellis, Harold W.

Faulkner, Kate Hurley

Gamblin, Harold

Grant, Bernice

Hamby, Denson B.

Hamby, Jacqueline G.

Hamby, Derek

Hamby, Devin J.

Hamby, Luneta

Hamby Geye

Hancock, John & Mary Jay

Hedden, Lee & Gail

Howard, Carolyn & Bob

Jay, Ann

Jay, Joanna

Jay, Lynn E.

Jay, Ronald M.

King, Vince

Lawless, Mark

Lemming, Karon & Glen

Martin, Beverly Jay

Matsunaga, Betty Beatty

Miller, Mike & Louis

Parks, Ellis

Patterson, Clara Opal & Margie Kay

Pitts, Wayne & Wendy

Powers, Opal

Reeves, Evelyn Moore

Reidy, Myra

Roach, Sarah Cash

Robertson, Larry & Mary

Rundles, Jerry

Shirley, Jemima R.

Smith, Randy P.

Spencer, Jerry & Sharron

Swaner, Mary Helen

Vinson, DeMaris Jay

Wallace, Billy M.

Wallace, William David

Wallis, Eugene E. & Mildred

Wallis, Greg

Watson, Betty