This Day In History...

On November 5, 1914, my grandmother, Bertie Lorene Adams Bird, was born to John Elbert & Rosie Lee Winkles Adams. Ninety-nine years ago! Grandmother died at the age of sixty-one in 1975, before I was born; but I have heard so many wonderful things about her! Happy Birthday, Grandmother!

Exciting New Project!

I am excited to announce that The Alvie McKenzie Family is currently in production of their second album, which has yet to be named! The "theme" of this album is bascially just good old church songs that we grew up with!

Tracks include:
Mountains of Glory
I'll Go
Let's Meet By the River
When I Feel God's Great Hand
Following Jesus
When We Meet Beyond the Sky
There's a Better Day Ahead
Then I'll Have Everything
Child of the King
I'd Never Miss Heaven for the World
And More!

Some of these songs are very special to me, as I remember hearing and singing them as a child growing up at the Big Cove Free Holiness Church!

Vocal tracks have been record by Cassie, Kellie and myself; and our core band for this album includes Jesse Gray on the piano, Dustin McKenzie on the bass guitar, and Rusty Walls on the drums. Additional instruments are being recorded in the coming weeks; and we hope to have the project mixed, pressed, and ready for your listening pleasure around the first week of December!

If you have any questions about this project and would like to learn more, please feel free to contact me at shannondbyrd@gmail.com!

-BYRD

Marking History...

Yesterday was a very exciting day for me! For many years, it has been my desire to mark the graves of my great-great-grandfather, John William Bird, whose grave has been absent of a headstone since his burial in 1902, and my great-great-great-grandparents, George Marshall & Martha Clark Bird, whose graves have been marked by a simple limestone rock for more than 100 years. This mission has finally been accomplished!

Yesterday morning, I met Bros. Keith and Zack Sutton (Klassics Memorials, Scottsboro) at Campground Cemetery in Big Cove, where G.M. & Martha Bird are buried. They carefully hoisted the original limestone rock into the air and moved it to the feet of the graves. It was a surreal moment, as all I could think of was that the rock had been placed their 100 years prior to this day, and has probably not moved since. It was very heavy - I'm assuming more than 500 pounds; and the conversation came up "reckon how they got this rock here back then?" I guess they probably pulled it on skids with mules; but I can imagine that it was definately a chore. As the Suttons began placing the new headstone on the graves, more of my family began arriving at the cemetery, including my grandfather's first cousin, Lonnie Byrd, and his wife, Jean. It was Lonnie's writings about the history of the Bird Family that first got me interested in ancestry, some twenty-plus years ago. It was very special to me for Lonnie and Jean to be present at this occasion. Next, my mother arrived with my breakfast in-tow! I was REALLY glad to see her - and the bacon egg and cheese bicuit and coffee that she broght me. Then my aunt and uncle, Peggy and William Knight, arrived to watch the tombstone take shape.

After the Suttons finished had finished the tombstone set-up and left, my dad arrived; and we were off to our next location - Mount Zion Cemetery in Monrovia. Here, we honored the final resting place of John William Bird (my g-g-grandfather) with a nice tombstone. It was the first time I have ever been to this cemetery.

Today, we were supposed to have an "unveiling" and dedication ceremony at Campground Cemetery for the G.M. Bird headstone; however, we we had to cancel because of the rain. We may still get together and do this at a later date; but as of now, I am just happy to have finally completed this journey by "marking" history, and preserving some of the heritage of the Bird Family.

-BYRD

Lonnie & Shannon Byrd at the graves of G.M. & Martha Clark Bird.
Lonnie & Shannon Byrd at the grave John William Bird.

Mr. Bobby Owens

Mr. Bobby Owens passed away yesterday. Bobby, a distant cousin of mine, was the son of Mr. Arlon Owens and Sis. Thelma Bunch Owens. More information regarding his funeral arrangements can be found below. My deepest sympathy to the Owens Family.

Obit:
Bobby M. Owens Nov. 27, 1943 - Sept. 17, 2013 Bobby Marlon Owens, 69, of Union Grove passed away Tuesday at a local hospital. Bobby was a native of Huntsville and a resident of Marshall County for the past 13 years. He retired from SCI Corp. in 1996 and also was a jailer with the Madison County Sherriff's Department. Survivors include his wife: Amy Owens; one sister: Wanda Mason; one brother: Kenneth Owens and a special nephew: Randy Mason. There will be no visitation. Graveside services will be held Thursday at 11:00 a.m. at Green Valley Cemetery in Big Cove with Lee Lawson officiating, Berryhill Funeral Home directing.
Published in The Huntsville Times from September 17 to September 18, 2013

Good-bye, Sis. Doris...

Sis. Doris Howell, a Godly woman of whom I have such cherished memories, finished her battle early Saturday morning, at the age of 80 years old. She was the daughter of Bro. Roy & Sis. Lucille McAllister and was the beloved wife of Bro. Robert Howell for sixty-three years. Bro. Robert and Sis. Doris has lived at the same residence on Terry Drake road for decades (exactly how long, I'm not sure - but one neighbor assured me that it was more than 40 years); and of my endearing memories of Sis. Doris, I would have to include her blue Christmas lights which were proudly on display for all the years of my childhood and up until her health no longer permitted her to drape her home and yard with the glowing strands of blue. She was a precious woman; and I know many from the Big Cove Community will mourn her loss, but none anymore than her faithful husband of more than six decades. Sis. Doris will be laid to rest today at the Green Valley Cemetery. And as one life leaves the beautiful community of Big Cove, another has taken up its abode there (or at least she will soon). My first cousin, Keith Cowan, is again a proud grandfather today as his son, Jeremy, welcomed his daughter, Autumn Rose, into the world this morning. Jeremy and Carrie plan to call their new 7+ pound bundle of joy "Rosie", in honor of Jeremy's late grandmother, my aunt Rosie Lucille Byrd Cowan. She would be SO proud!! Congratulations to the entire Cowan family for their new addition!

Happy Birthday, Paw-Paw!

Today is my Paw-Paw's 81st birthday. Luther Eural Stapler was born September 12, 1932, in New Hope, Alabama, to Raymond Hobert and Mary Lee Vann Stapler. And, he was born on HIS grandfather's birthday! Today is also the 150th birthday of my great-great-grandfather, William Silas Stapler! Silas was a member of the Big Cove Free Holiness Church and is buried in the Neal's Chapel Cemetery in Big Cove. You can check out his profile on Findagrave.com by clicking HERE.

George Marshall Bird Tombstone Dedication Ceremony

For the past couple of months, I have been coordinating a project in which I rallied members of the Bird Family to make donations towards the purchase of new tombstones for my great-great-great-grandfather, George Marshall Bird, and his wife, Martha S. Clark Bird. This is something that I have desired to do for quite a long time, as their graves at the Campground Cemetery are currently marked with a simple hand-hewn limestone rock, on top of which the name "BIRD" was chiseled by my great-great-great-uncle, Dick McPeters. The new tombstones will not only mark the graves of our grandparents, but will also pay homage to the fact that it was this ancestor who first brought the Bird Family into the Big Cove Community in 1904. As a project within a project, we also purchased a tombstone for my great-great-grandfather, John William Bird, who was shot and killed in a well dispute near Monrovia in 1902. He was buried in the Mount Zion Baptist Church Cemetery; however, his grave has been unmarked all of these years. The tombstones have been purchased; and I actually went by Klassics Memorials in Scottsboro on Friday evening to get a sneak-peak of them. They look GREAT! I can't wait for everyone to see them! We will have a small dedication ceremony at the Campground Cemetery at which time we will "unveil" the new headstone, memorialize our ancestors, and visit with kin! Everyone (Bird or otherwise) is invited to this event, which will be held at 2:00 p.m. on September 21, 2013. For more information, give me a call or send me an email! -BYRD

Happy Birthday, Mom!

This day in history, 1954 (a LONG time ago), my mother, Pamela Jane Stapler Byrd, was born in Orlando, Florida, where her parents had relocated in the early 1950's. Mom grew-up far away from Madison County, where both of her parents were born; but sometimes visited the Big Cove Community where her aunt, Mary Hinshaw Long, lived and attended the Big Cove Free Holiness Church. It was on one of those visits that she caught the eye of a young Big Cove boy - my dad, Ronald Dale Byrd. Several years later, March 25, 1977, they stood in the Big Cove Free Holiness Church and exchanged vows before Bro. Hoyt Dalton. And in those vows, Mom became not only a Byrd (Bird), but also a Big Covian. The rest, as they say, is history! Happy Birthday, Mom! I love you very much!!! -BYRD

Big Cove Women

I love old photos; and I LOVE old group photos! I have amassed a pretty large collection of old photos over the years (mostly just copies of the originals); and of the things I would grab first if the house was on fire (besides my wife and kids), my old photos are numero uno! This is a really cool photo I came across a few years ago. If features several of the women of the Big Cove Community. SOMEWHERE, I have the names of all of these women - thanks to a few friends like Sis. Catherine Simmons (affectionately known as Goody). I know several of them by heart - including my great-grandmother, Josie Hunter Bird, and great-great-grandmother, Rachel Bass Hunter. The photo was thought to have been made at a shower held for Julia Owens Pinkerton (kneeling next to the older lady in the chair). Julia Owens married John Pinkerton on August 23, 1930 (license date); and so the photo is from around this time. Or perhaps the photo was from a couple of years later, when John & Julia were expecting their first child. Others faces in the photo include Hattie Pinkerton Howell, Sally Howell Layne, Lizzie Simmons Drake, Kitty Hone, Mary Drake Howell, Bertie Ellett Terry, Lena Bird Pinkerton, Thelma Bunch Owens, Donnie Stone, etc. If anyone is interested in a full "who's who", let me know! -BYRD

George Marshall Bird

This is my great-great-great-grandfather, George Marshall Bird. He was the first of my Bird ancestors to settle in the Big Cove Community. Now before I go on, I'll answer the question that some of you are already asking - "Why is his name spelled 'BIRD', and yours spelled 'BYRD'?" My family gets this question a lot. My grandfather, Walter Bird, was the last of my direct line to use the spelling 'BIRD'. Eight of his ten children, including my dad, was given the spelling 'BYRD'. In the early part of the 20th century, many of our ancestors could barely read and write - much less spell correctly. Some of the school teachers started telling the kids in Big Cove that "'BYRD' was a person, and 'BIRD' was an animal". Some were convinced, some weren't. My grandfather always preferred 'BIRD'; however, my grandmother, Lorene, preferred 'BYRD'. That being said, our name WAS originally 'BIRD' - all the way back to when we came here from England in the 18th century; however, there was also a distinctly separate family in the country at that time, who spelled their name 'BYRD'. I guess that's where the confusion began. Anyhow, back to my g-g-g-grandfather - he was born the son of a wealthy Georgian doctor, Dr. George Lee Bird, in the pre-Civil War era of Crawfordville, Georgia, in Taliaferro County (pronounced locally as Tolifer). His mother died when he was a baby; and his father died a few years later, when G.M. was still a young teenager. He left home and supposedly joined the Confederacy, relaying stories to his children and grandchildren of how he was wounded in the Battle of Chickamauga. Note that no actual evidence of his involvement in the war can be located. After the war, he settled in Walker County, Georgia, where he married and had several children. Around 1894, he and his family loaded up in wagons and ventured west in search for a better life; however, what they found was death and misfortune. After a few years of this, the Bird's decided to return home to their native Georgia, and was found themselves in the area of Huntsville, Alabama, in 1902. They had stopped for a season of farming, during which time G.M.'s son, my great-great-grandfather, John William Bird (I'll blog about him later), was shot and killed in a well dispute. Because of this incident and the subsequent trial of the men that killed him, George Marshall Bird and his family remained in Madison County longer than expected. In fact, they never returned to Georgia as planned, but instead settled in beautiful Big Cove, Alabama, in 1904. George Marshall Bird died there in 1906, and his wife, Martha Clark Bird, in 1907. They were buried in the Campground Cemetery, where their graves are marked by a simple limestone rock with the name "BIRD" chiseled into the top. The stone was said to have been carved by their son-in-law, Uncle Dick McPeters. A project is currently underway in which the Bird Family will be marking the graves of George & Martha Bird with a new modern headstone, which they plan to dedicate with a short ceremony later this year. I'm sure I'll post more about that later! So, that's pretty much how the Bird's came to Big Cove! Talk to you later! -BYRD

First Post

Big Cove is a name that for me is synonymous with “home”. I lived there, on the same farm that my father and grandfather grew up, from 1978 until 1999. And when I hear the words “Big Cove” my mind instantly goes back to a simpler time in life. Of course back then, it was a whole different Big Cove. I’m part of the last generation of Big Covians who can remember the "pre-Hampton Cove" Big Cove. I plan to blog about all of that later! I’m starting this blog simply as a place that I can go and rehearse to the ages my memories and love for this small community in Madison County; and in doing so, creating a place that my children may one day look back over my posts and realize why I have such a love for the land of my fathers. Several branches of my ancestors – the Birds, Hunters, Adams, and Hinshaws – all settled in Big Cove in the early twentieth century; but my maternal grandfather’s family – the Staplers and Vanns have been in Madison County for many generations prior to 1900. In fact, through that connection, I am the great-great-great-great-great-grandson of John Clay Grayson – Big Cove’s first white settler, and the man responsible for giving Big Cove her name. So I have a deeply rooted ancestral connection with the community; and with that being said, I am also related – however distantly it may be – to a LARGE majority of the inhabitants of “old” Big Cove. So that’s pretty much my first post! I hope to post much more interesting stories and pictures in the near future – so if you’ve found your way here, be sure to check back often! -BYRD