Saturday, June 12, 2010

Surname Saturday (on Sunday) - McCutcheon

Not only has my mind been on the McCutcheon surname this Saturday, it's something I've been looking into all week long, and I'm amazed at how this once neglected branch of my tree has just blossomed! Thanks to my new friend and distant cousin, Sarah of mccutchentrace.org I have more information than I could have dreamed possible.

To begin with, let me show you how I fall in line with the McCutcheon name:




My grandpa has always encouraged me to learn more about his mother's family, the Sprouses and McCutcheons, but I always put them on the back burner. However, a couple of weeks ago, I came across a picture, and a document that sparked my interest, and started my journey.

This picture is of my great grandmother, Bessie Virginia Sprouse, sitting with HER mother, Sarah Catherine (Sallie) McCutcheon Sprouse.


Great Great Grandmother Sallie died in 1964, so this picture could quite possibly be one of the last she had taken.


But who was she? What was her legacy? I had heard stories about circumstances in her life, that made me believe she was a strong woman, one who deserved to be remembered and honored, and as the self-appointed family genealogist, it was my duty to start digging in.


The other source of information that intrigued me was a one page memoir my grandfather gave me, written by a Henry Lee McCutcheon. I knew that this man must have been related to Sallie in some way, for this memoir to come into our possession, and hopefully some of the contents in it could give me a lead into Sallie's family. (These memoirs are saved to my ancestry.com page, and you can read them here.)


To make a long blog post short, it didn't take me long to come across the mccutchentrace.org, and now not only can I begin getting to know Sallie, but also many generations before her. And since this is a surname post (although on Sunday, rather than the geneabloggers suggested Saturday!), I will end by giving you an overview of the McCutcheons of Augusta County, Virginia, Sallie's birthplace. This information was given to me by Ms. Sarah Splaun of mccutcheontrace.org: