Welcome To The Abernathy Legacy Project
The Rays. The Ralphs. The Abernathys.
Three Families, notes to a narrative by Ms. Pat Abernathy... March, 2006 Interview. SEE INTERVIEW PAGE with Dr. Marshall Thomas.
INTRODUCTION
The chapters of a family's history can be written in prose and poetry, painting and music - a theatrical light cast upon many generations to illuminate a great story.When we find that voice, the story of the Abernathys in America may stir this line of hardy stock and their many admirers.
To bridge the gap, this writer's task is easy on one hand and daunting on the other. For you see, the cast - all those that have been found - are assembled... as deep as 24 generations. The stage is the present... an emerging industrial-retail-logistics-distribution firm that spans three centuries. For all its strengths, Abernathy Company, like its family, is a resiliant, growing albeit fragile thread in the fabric of a nation built by outcasts, dreamers, innovators and strong backs, and by families known for their sacrifices, perserverance and wit, by the characters who have long breathed success and failure, leadership and weakness, charity and faith.
What may, at first, appear to be a common tale, is, time and again, an extraordinary story of hard work, vision, loyalty, luck and promises kept. It is the American dream shared by fellow immigrants, farmers, labourers, scientists, merchants and moguls alike. It is America's tomorrow, would that the families that follow heed the lessons learned, discern the truths shared and draw upon the wisdom of over 400 years of recorded hard work, difficult travels and opportunities met.
We could use fancier or simpler words to tell this remarkable story. The honorifics could help establish the Abernathys as captains of industry, merchants to powerful interests; but, the essential words written plainly and clearly will suffice. For what we know about hard work, difficult travels and opportunities met is true by instinct -- the intellect follows. The clear truth, the strength of fiber is known to all Abernathys - kith and kin alike. For their word has been good from the riverhead in Scotland, the shores of Ireland, the hills of Germany to the states of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Texas and Arkansas.
We welcome you to follow along, as we leave the wars behind in Scotland to enter the New World, grasping the essential character of a single driven man who arrives in the British Colony of Virginia. His story of over-achievement can serve as the spine that unfolds the Abernathy Legacy.
The Abernathy Legacy Project
THE SEARCHES, all URLs beginning with www.
- ancestry.com
- ancestry.com/soundex/index
- clocations.com/cviewmap
- familytreemaker.genealogy.com
- genealogy.com
- i.roots.net
- rootsweb.com
- usgs.usgov/research
See the updated Source List on the Catalog page in this site. Thank you.
THE OUTLINES
- Pat Abernathy, See INTERVIEWS PAGE
- Ray Abernathy
- Richard Abernathy
How to add your story to the Abernathy Legacy
ORIGINS & CROSSINGS
SETTLEMENTS
WORK & VENTURES
COMMUNITY
HOBBIES, PASTIMES
LANGUAGE & EDUCATION
IDENTITY
LINEAGE
FAITH
POLITICS
TURNING POINTS
CHARACTERS
HEALTH ISSUES
A LEGACY
Information, additions, corrections with sources? Please contact Dr. Marshall A. Thomas III, a distant relative of the Abernathys via the Clines, at drthomas19@hotmail.com
The History
The approach we're taking...
Interviews notated and edited by Marshall A. Thomas III, D. Phil.
Collected newspaper articles, public record inquiries, family bible entries, letters...
To contact the compiler:
Collecting Images & Photographs
What we have on hand.
- Crests: Abernethy (courtesy of both Geneology.com & familytreemaker.com)
- Photographs
- pdf files of photocopied entries in Abernathy, Ray and Ralph family bibles
- Family trees from many sources
- Maps of Abernathy Spring, Mena, AR (courtesy of USGS): 70404 AR Abernathy Spring, near Caddo Spring -- "B"; directions to Abernathy Spring; and, annotated remarks from the Stanley survey of the spring area
- Reviews: Halbert's: A Review of The Amazing Story of the Abernathys in America, by Sharon Taylor, a text detailing the "generic" origins of ancestors; how the family surname came to be called Abernathy, what the name means; how the early generations of Abernathys were granted a coat of arms (Halbert notes five different images, possibly for five different branches of the family), along with "a very good reference for the symbols, colors, and slogans of many Heraldic devices;" a description of the Abernathy population in the USA, by state; a general guide as to how to begin collecting, organizing and publishing a suitable genealogy; a general section devoted to the tools of genealogy, including a family history questionnaire, a pedigree chart and a personal notes section accompanying a guide as to how to use these tools to obtain to family data and information; a general 'jargon of genealogy' terms - especially those terms which often appear in old documents and papers; a resource listing to help trace the family tree; a directory of Abernathy households in the USA (that is, Abernathy households with phone numbers listed in 1983 - organized by state and zip code); and, he takes note of Ms. Taylor's compilation outcomes listing "a very large concentration of Abernathys in California and Missouri." His review ends with a note about this book being a suitable source guide for beginning genealogical inquiries and for starting a family history project.
What we're seeking: certificates of births, deaths, marriages; ship, train and covered wagon manifests; business records; data from Montgomery County, KS; Lewiston (Lewistown), IL.
How to submit: Send all copies of sought items to Abernathy Company, c/o Mr. Ric Abernathy, CFO, 3600 Abernathy Drive, Texarkana, AR 71854.
UPDATES UNDERWAY: We are currently uploading records from bibles, government documents, sourced findings, will and probate records, cemetery records, newspaper articles... Submit any and all materials to the 7 Arts Foundation, www.7artsfoundation.org or fax a copy to 309.343.7574; after all, when recording a great legacy, let no stone go unturned.
Contact:
