Tara This Ain't

Tara from "Gone with the Wind" was a fictional plantation in a Civil War era novel. A facade visualized & constructed for the movie then sat in storage until 2005 because the Margaret Mitchell estate wouldn't grant permission to capitalize on anything from the book. 

Unlike Tara – there is a real plantation in our lines - the Oakland Plantation in South Carolina that came into existence way, way, way back. 

Oakland Plantation - courtesy of US Library of Congress

Around 1704, a little under 1000 acres of land was sold to John Pierre, who commissioned a fella name John Abraham Motte to settle the land. Motte established the plantation and named it the Youghal Plantation after Pierre's Irish homeland. 

Fast forward to 1852 when Mary Barkdale McBeth took ownership and changed the name to Oakland - historians believe she built the oak alley seen in the picture above, hence the name Oakland.

Generations later, descendants of Charles Barksdale, the Gregories, still hold the land. This article in the Moultrie News, "Oakland Plantation: One of Mount Pleasant's Treasures" by Suzannah Smith Miles, 21 Feb 2013, covers a good part of the history of the conservancy.

How do we fit in? Well by marriage of course!

1944, Fort Dix - courtesy of Esther Gilmore, Ancestry

A fella named John Judson Gray married Esther DuPre Gregorie in 1950. 

He's a descendant of Hezekiah Rogers Jr & Hannah Vincent and the son of Everett Gray & Garnet Vollertsen. 

Esther was the daughter of Ferdinand Gregorie & Esther Royall.  

Together they had 4 kids - Esther, Sarah, Julian & John.

John died in 1973 in Florida where he relocated after Esther's death in 1962. They are buried together at the Christ Church Cemetery at Mount Pleasant, SC - photos courtesy of Linda Ullom Buchanan, Find A Grave

The Moak Family

Harold Nelson Moak married Altha Estella Harria in 1916 at Clifton Park, NY and had two children, Donald & Ellen.

Harold was the son of William C Moak & Ella J Nelson; she was the daughter of Stiles Harris & Harriet E Flagler ~~ the Flagler line tracing back to the Johnson line to Hezekiah Rogers Jr & Hannah Vincent.

Harold was an accountant and according to his WWII registration card, he worked for the Albany Home for Children.  But it is deceptive that his next of kin is Mrs Harold Moak as Harold had remarried in 1937 one Alta Cramer.

Schenectady Gazette, Mon, 5 Oct 1953
Harold N Moak Dies, Was Accountant With Rent Control Office
Harold N Moak, 58, of 22 Saratoga Road died yesterday in buffalo after a short illness. He was an accountant with the state rent control office in Buffalo. Born in New Scotland, Mr Moak had lived in Schenectady the past 50 years and had worked in Buffalo the past four years. Survivors are his wife, Alta Mae Cramer of 22 Saratoga Road; his mother, Mrs William Moak of Schenectady; a daughter, Mrs Ellen Hunter of Schenectady; a son, Donald Moak of Altamont; a sister, Mrs Earl Harris of Schenectady; and three grandchildren, William and Donna Hunter and Patricia Moak. Funeral services will be held Wednesday at 2 o'clock from the Ellis Funeral Home and burial will be in New Scotland Cemetery. The funeral home will be open tomorrow evening after 7 o'clock.

Altha also remarried.  She married Mark Manderville II in 1941, he was the son of Mark Manderville & Elizabeth Stearns and died in 1993.  He was previously married and had 6 children with his first wife, Florence Cavell and I mention this so as not to confuse all the children mentioned in various obits for the families.

Schenectady Gazette, Sat, 17 Dec 1988
MANDERVILLE - On Thursday, December 15, 1988, Altha E Harris Manderville of Seabury Road, West Berne, New York, formerly of Droms Road, Scotia, New York.  Wife of Mark Manderville.  Mother of the late Donald Moak and Mrs Ellen Hunter. Stepmother of Mrs Robert (Gwendolyn) Morrison, Mrs Clyde (Ethelyn) Phillips, Mrs Marilyn Mead all of Schenectday, New York, Mrs Donald (Roslyn) Moser of West Berne, New York, Mrs Walter (Carolyn) Everhardt of Selkirk, New York and the late Mark Manderville. Grandmother of Mrs John (Donna) Savage of Boxford, Massachusetts and the late William Hunter. Also survived by 3 great-grandchildren, several step-grandchildren, several step-great-grandchildren and several nieces & nephews. Funeral services to which relatives and friends are invited will be held 11 am Saturday morning at the Bekkering-Ellis Funeral Home, Inc, 1 Mohawk Avenue, Scotia, New York with the Rev Eric B Walton officiating. The funeral home will be open Saturday morning at 10 am prior to the funeral service for the those who wish to call.  Memorial contributions if desired may be made in her name to the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Assn, Inc, 5 Samaritan Road, Albany, New York. Interment Park View Cemetery, Schenectady.

Harold & Altha's son Donald Watson Moak was born in 1917 and married Lillian Mae Lewis, the daughter of Harry Lewis & Nellie Agan and had one child, Patricia.

Schenectady Gazette, Mon, 24 Nov 1969
Moak Rites Are Slated Tomorrow
Funeral services for Donald W Moak, 52, of 1956 Westside Ave, who died Friday at St Clare's Hospital after a long illness, will be held at 11 am tomorrow at the Ellis Funeral Home. A native of Elnora, Mr Moak had lived in the Schenectady area all his life. He had been employed at Alco Products for many years until his last employment at the Albany Casting Co. A veteran of World War II, he was a member of the Hilderbrand-Davis VFW Post. Survivors include his widow, Mrs Lillian Lewis Moak; a daughter, Patricia Ann Moak of Schenectady; his mother, Mrs Moak+- Manderville of Roanoke, VA; a sister, Mrs Ellen Hunter of Schenectady. A niece and a nephew also survive. The Rev Ralph Booth, pastor of State Street Presbyterian Church and the Rev James K Hilton, pastor of St John's Lutheran Church, Altamont, will officiate. Burial will be in New Scotland Cemetery. The funeral home will be open after 7 tonight.

Their daughter Ellen Ruth was born in 1919 and married William Andrew Hunter and had 2 children - Donna Ellen & William Roger.

Schenectady Gazette, Fri, 10 Jun 1988
HUNTER - On Wednesday, June 8, 1988, Ellen R Moak Hunter of 223 Droms Road, Glenville, New York. Mother of Mrs John (Donna) Savage of Boxford, Massachusetts and William A Hunter. Daughter of Mrs Mark (Altha) Manderville of Glenville, New York. Grandmother of Lynn Ellen Savage of Portland, Maine; John K Savage and Kathleen A Savage, both of Boxford, Massachusetts. Also survived by one niece. Funeral services to which relatives and friends are invited will be held 11 am Saturday morning at Bekkering-Ellis Funeral Home Inc, 1 Mohawk Avenue, Scotia, New York, with the Rev Eric B Walton officiating. The funeral home will be open Saturday morning at 10 am prior to the funeral services for those who wish to call. The family suggests that memorial contributions be made in her name to the charity of one's choice. Interment Park View Cemetery.

Fred Ganger & Rose Kline

Frederick Irvin Ganger was the son of Dewey Ganger & Bertha Andrews, born in Jackson, MI ~~ his line traces back to Hezekiah Rogers Jr & Hannah Vincent. In 1939, he married Rose Marie Kline, the daughter of Charles Kline & Ila Porter and together they had 3 children – Fred Jr, Robert & George.

Fred Sr served in the Navy during WWII aboard the USS Custer which engaged in the Pacific Ocean theatre by carrying troops into invasion areas

courtesy of NavSource - photo by Stan Svec

Fred Sr died in 1981 and I was unable to find an obit or a burial location for him. Rose died in 1989.

The Daily Telegram, Fri, 26 May 1989
Blissfield - Rose Marie Ganger, of 4220 South Blissfield Highway, Blissfield Township, died Tuesday, May 23, 1989, from injuries sustained in an auto accident. She was born April 22, 1922, in Ann Arbor to Charles and Ila (Porter) Kline.  She married Frederick Ganger, who preceded her in death. Survivors include three sons, Frederick Jr of Belleville, Robert of Harrison, and George of Blissfield; three brothers, William, Nelson, and Burn Kline; one sister, Anna Rupert; 13 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be Saturday at 11 am in Ypsilanti at the Start Funeral Service Moore Memorial Chapel with Captain Cinthia Shellenberger of the Salvation Army officiating.  Friends my call at the funeral home from 4 to 9 pm today.

Thomas Wells Hall

I will not be able to do the Hall family justice given the absolutely fascinating history of the clan from Skaneateles, New York - to such an extent that their stories are now a part of the Skaneateles Historical Society Museum. Further, we have a wide selection of pictures on Ancestry thanks to Thomas Wells Hall, II, the great-grandson of David Hall, II,

We start with David Hall, II, born in 1817 at Skaneateles, NY who married Mary Louisa Allis - they had 2 boys, Thomas & John. 

David left New York for Australia in the winter of 1852 to find gold in Australia leaving Mary alone with two boys.

While he wrote his family for a few years, he never found gold, never raised enough money to return to NY, and disappeared until his death was discovered in 1996.

 

Philip W Hall, Jr penned the revelation in the Press/Observer, 12 Feb 1997

 

Despite the hard start, Thomas & his brother John went on to be successful businessmen (John & Thomas, 1913 CT above)

As it relates to the Vincent lines, Thomas Wells Hall is the connection.  

  

He married Ellen Josephine 'Nellie' Graves - the daughter of Joshua Bradley Graves & Ann 'Eliza' Rosekrans - the Rosekrans linking back to  Capt Benjamin Jacobus Rosekrans & Phebe Vincent.

Thomas & Nellie had 8 children - Loring Bradley, Clara Louise, Lucille Winifred, Philip Wells, Nellie Isabel, Beluah Marion, Thomas Wells Jr, & Ellenor Rosecrans.

Starting with a $25 loan from his uncle, Thomas went on to become the President of the American Hide & Leather Co.

He died in 1913, Ellen died in 1923. While Thomas is buried with his mother & brother at the Lake View Cemetery in Skaneateles, NY, Ellen is buried in the Lakeview Cemetery in New Canaan, CT.

 
The New York Times, Wed, 14 Nov 1923
HALL - at New Canaan, Conn, Nov 12, 1923, Ellen Josephine, widow of Thomas Wells Hall, aged 76 years. Funeral private. Kindly omit flowers.

Thomas' obit ran in several papers, the one below was from the New York Herald, Wed, 3 Dec 1913 (pg 9)