Houston County Family Histories
“Tis something akin to the immortals that makes us long not to be altogether unworthy of the fame of our ancestors.”
E. Burson
Let me introduce you to the history and people of Dothan, Houston County, Alabama.
I love this old sign. It tried to situate us into the larger world. Our population now is probably between 65,000 to 70,000 people. However, Dothan is really the hub of the "Wiregrass" area with surrounding communities in Houston County adding significantly to the population that does business in this community. (Wire grass was a type of grass that was distinctive to this area during our pioneer era and now only exists in local history museums and agricultural facilities to show what once was significant. I actually hate using that word now because no one in the bigger world would ever think of using that as a "search" word for this area.)
When you grow up in a town seeing the same people frequently, the names become familiar. We Southerners like to make the family connections. Our favorite salutation is "How's your mom n 'em ?" (translated "How are your mother and the others in your family?" )
Our elders knew all of the relationships. However, as those elders pass away, that "knowledge" of the relationships passes away leaving the rest of us curious and in need of guidance in understanding our "roots.". Being one of those inquisitive people and being married to a member of a "pioneer family" (Dowling/Ramsey) that became a topic I became interested in. So, I decided to remedy that in our little corner of the world...Houston County... in a small degree.
I started with my husband's Dowling family line (Dowling Family of the South by R.A. Dowling) and simply connected as many as possible to that line. You'd be amazed at how many connections there truly are.
I then became curious as to how these people connect to the development of our community
If you look to the left you will see many family names. These are "pioneer" families of Dothan.
I used the books and resources listed below in my research, in addition to just picking up and calling folks I thought would know the answers.
Early Mayors of Dothan
These Genealogies are incomplete, but they reflect the continuity of
these pioneer lines in the cultural, economic, political and social arenas of
Houston County. You may send additions or corrections to
Sharman Ramsey.
If you want to add your .ged file to this, I use Legacy as my genealogy program. You can create a Legacy with the File: Export selection and I could import your Legacy of .ged file.
Your
pictures would be a welcome addition to our files. You can go to the
website for Jesus Christ of the Latter
Day Saints and download a free copy of Personal Ancestral File that would
get you started in organizing your family history. You can create a .ged
file with this program.
"Lives of Great Men all remind us
We should live our lives sublime
And Departing leave behind us
Footprints in the sands of time."