Morgan County

This is my grandmother Julia Miller Jackson and I was terrified of her. She was born in Syracuse, MO and lived there her entire life.  I was her youngest grandchild and the one who unfortunately knew her the least, however looking back on it, I am so glad I got to know a little about her first hand,  because as an adult looking back on what I remember I now know that she was a strong lady who must have been somewhat independent in nature and a “do it yourself kind of woman” which is very similar to myself.

There are a few things about my grandmother that I remember telling my friends about when I was a young kid that I thought was “no big deal” until they all started laughing at me. The first thing I remember is that she smoked a pipe. Come to find out years later as a teenager, that was not a very fashionable thing for a woman to do. Secondly, she had no toilet inside her house, until she was finally forced to have one put in by family. Yes, that’s right even in the 80’s my grandma had an “outhouse”. Oh, I so hated visiting grandma every weekend and thinking about how I would have to use the outhouse and that stench.  She also, had chicken’s everywhere, which I didn’t quiet understand, but I sure did love chasing them around. She also had this little dog, named Candy that constantly barked at you if you even came close to grandma. Why was I so afraid of this woman as a child? Thinking back to it, is that she always wanted me to kiss her and all I saw was this old woman who smelled like tobacco and constantly yelled at the TV when wrestling was on. Yes, my grandmother was an avid wrestling fan. Something that still makes me laugh hysterically as I thinking about it today,  especially as I think how Grandma and my husband Kyle would have kicked it off!

I wish I could have had an adult conversation with Grandma and picked her brain and got as many family stories as possible. My grandma’s mother was Georgia Miller Roberts and it has been said through family stories that my grandmother’s father was white. This was one of the reason’s why I wanted to take a DNA test to see if who the father is from family stories is true. I have not tied the surname of Keevil to my DNA lineage and I think the family story may be incorrect. Let me re-phrase that, I think the family story got altered throughout the year’s, however, the family story led me to a huge clue and coincidence in my research. I am going on a theory right now, but I believe my grandmother’s father is actually connected to the family of the Keevil’s, but actually the wife of Mara T Keevil, Gladys Hubbard. How did I come to this theory? First, my DNA connects to no Keevil surname, which I find suspicious since it would be from the male line which would have been carried down for many generations. Secondly, I keep coming across the surname Hubbard in many of my DNA connections. What a coincidence that the Mara T Keevil was married to a Gladys Hubbard? Gladys had a brother about the same age as Mara T Keevil. My great grandmother Georgia Miller was supposedly working for the Keevil’s family store.

I continue to keep getting more questions on this quest. I wonder if I will ever find the answer. I think when we look at the DNA of my uncle, it will give me more definitive answers.

IJK