Burke County GaArchives Biographies.....Royal, John Wesley 1872 - 1932 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Marion Royal marion.royal@gmail.com May 2, 2007, 5:45 pm Author: Marion Royal Introducing John Wesley Royal A Journey in Genealogy By Marion A. Royal It was pouring down rain in Jacksonville, Florida on Friday, March 02, 2007. I had not been in Jacksonville for over 45 years. My last trip here was with my parents to visit my grandfather, aunt and her family who lived in Ponte Vedra. It turned out that visits to my grandfather were to be a rare occurrence in my lifetime. And visits with my Aunt Virginia were just about as rare because she and my father seldom were on speaking terms. I, along with my wife Debbie and my brother Clyde Royal had driven to Jacksonville to see the known grave sites of my ancestors. Earlier that morning, armed with umbrellas, we located the graves of my grandfather, Marion Albert Royal Sr., and my great grandmother, Leila Mae Griffin Royal. They were in the Evergreen Cemetery, just north of Jacksonville. The flurry of rain seemed appropriate as punishment for not getting here a long time ago. My feet stayed wet the entire day. Now, approaching noon, the rain had stopped though the sun was not quite ready to make an appearance. We were at the Edgewood Cemetery and looking down at the marker on the gravesite of John Wesley Royal, my great-grandfather. The marker was new. It had not been here yesterday. It was my birthday. I paused to think of the journey that had led me to this destination. I thought about those who had helped me to arrive. I wondered what kind of man John Wesley Royal was when he was alive. I suppose I will never know. But I have learned some facts and I have discovered at least circumstantial evidence that connects my family – connects me – connects my sons and daughter - to the Royals of Burke County, Georgia. When I began my genealogy “research”, I knew that Wesley was my great- grandfather. I thought that he was born around 1868, but I didn’t know when he died. Later, I found out that he died 22 years before I was born. I have two pictures of him. In one, he was dressed in a policeman’s uniform with a bicycle as his “squad car.” I had been told that he was a policeman in Augusta Georgia, but I haven’t been able to confirm it. The other was a family picture which can now be dated because it doesn’t have his youngest son Harry in it. I have a couple of obituaries from my father’s scrapbook, so I had a few clues about Wesley’s immediate family. I found Jerome Tew. I had tried contacting others who apparently had been researching the Royal’s, but most of those emails were returned undeliverable. But Jerome did respond and in one of his early messages, he said: “Marion, we will have your connection (to the known Royal lines) within….. 14 days.” And he did! He discovered that census records proved that Wesley was living with Berry Royal in Burke County, Georgia in the mid-1800s and that later; Berry’s wife was living in Wesley’s household. Not only that, Jerome began churning out facts surrounding Wesley’s family and surprising me often with tidbits like “Did you know that your grandfather (Marion Sr.) was blind in one eye?” Well, yes I knew that, but I had forgotten that. Jerome had found and attached Marion Sr’s draft registration. If you are reading this in The Royal Newsletter, you already know that Jerome Tew is a tireless “unpaid professional genealogist.” I have the utmost respect for him and I consider his research results to be authoritative. I am so appreciative and grateful that he took the time to not only provide results, but also to guide me along this journey. Wesley grew up in Burke County and married Leila Mae around 1892. They lived in Aiken, South Carolina in the early 1900s and then in 1920, they were living in Augusta, Georgia. Wesley moved with his family to Jacksonville, Florida around 1923. At the time, I was not sure where Wesley had died, but I knew for certain that my grandfather (Wesley’s son) was buried in Jacksonville. I began stumbling around online resources for that area when I struck gold a second time. I found a volunteer genealogy researcher named Jon Ferguson (jonadineferguson@aol.com). Without hesitation, Jon agreed to check out the names and dates that I had. He searched (and found) obituary notices and he visited several cemeteries looking for my ancestors. He quickly found Marion Sr. and Leila Mae at the Evergreen Cemetery. John Wesley was a little harder to find, but after Jon discovered Wesley’s obituary, we knew that he was in the Edgewood Cemetery. It is truly a joy to find people who are willing to spend their own free time helping others in their search for lost relatives. Between Jerome and Jon, we pieced together the “nuggets” of information and arrived at accurate dates of births, deaths and other events in the life of John Wesley and his family. On Monday, December 4th, Jon Ferguson emailed me to say that he had found the grave site of John Wesley Royal at Edgewood cemetery in a single grave in section C-256-1. He wanted to surprise me with a picture of the marker. However, he said he had some bad news - there was no marker. After giving it some consideration, I concluded that in the depression of 1932, my family in Florida just could not afford a marker. However, I resolved myself to correct this situation. Today, thanks to Jerome and Jon and others, John Wesley Royal has a marker with definitive dates that will survive me and perhaps generations of Royals. And my family tree will now be preserved and stored in several locations and hopefully will be maintained so that my great, great grandsons, granddaughters and their children will know who their ancestors were. Here is the data that I am pretty confident about. There are persons who I have omitted because they are or may be still living. For example, I have three lovely sisters living in South Carolina and college age children of my own. Here is the data that I am pretty confident about. There are persons who I have omitted because they are or may be still living. For example, I have three lovely sisters living in South Carolina and college age children of my own. I’ll start with Berry Royal, since I believe he was Wesley’s father. Berry was Martha’s second husband. She was first married to Archibald M. Herrington (b. 1816 d. 1853) and then to Berry around 1855. Descendants of Berry Royal 1 Berry Royal 1827 - 1880 +Martha Ann Johnston 1826 - 1860 .. 2 William Herrington 1843 .. 2 Martin Herrington 1845 .. 2 Nancy Herrington 1846 .. 2 Seaborn Herrington 1847 ... +Nannie H Herrington 1859 .... 3 Annie L Herrington 1890 .... 3 Seaborn R Herrington 1891 .... 3 Frank Herrington 1893 .... 3 Flay Herrington 1895 .. 2 Thomas Herrington 1850 .. 2 Mary Herrington 1852 .. 2 Isabella Royal 1856 .. 2 Alice Royal 1858 .. 2 James C. Royal 1860 ... +Lela M. 1865 .... 3 Mattie Royal 1885 .... 3 Maude Royal 1892 .... 3 James E Royal 1893 - 1961 ..... +Janie Thompson 1895 ....... 4 Eula Royal …... 4 Katherine Royal 1922 .. 2 Joanna Royal 1862 .. 2 Lilly Royal 1866 .. 2 John Wesley Royal 1872 - 1932 ... +Leila Mae Griffin 1869 - 1953 .... 3 Benjamin Franklin Royal 1892 -1962 ..... +Elsie Lewis Kendrick 1898 ...... 4 Frances Elizabeth. Royal 1914 - 1977 ........ +Alton Clyde Briggs 1905 - 1977 ...... 4 Lewis F Royal 1916 ...... 4 Elsie L Royal 1918 ........ +Oscar Nelson ...... 4 Benjamin Franklin Royal 1921 ..... *2nd Wife of Benjamin F. Royal ..... +Anna F. Royal 1903 - 1989 … 3 Marion Albert Royal Sr. 1895 - 1964 ..... +Mamie Virginia Morris 1898 - 1983 ....... 4 Virginia Royal 1925 - 1999 …... 4 Marion A. Royal Jr. 1920 - 1997 .........+Living Royal 1922 - ……. 5 Clyde Furman Royal ……. 5 Sherry Dean Royal 1947 - 1951 ……. 5 Marion A. Royal III .... 3 Nina Royal 1899 - .... +William R. Jones 1897 - .... 3 Harry L. Royal 1905 - .... +Vivian F Royal 1909- The data that we have circumstantial clues about is that Berry Royal (1827- 1880) was the son of Arthur Royal (1798-1839) and Mary Hayes (b. abt 1798). Arthur (1798) was probably the son of Samuel Royal (b. abt 1756 d. bet. 1825- 27) and Sarah Royal (b. abt. 1758 d. aft. 1830). I believe that this Samuel (1756) is the son of Arthur Royal (b. abt. 1727 d. 1798) and Susannah Cox. Jerome has documented that this Arthur was the son of Charles Royall (1690) and grandson of Thomas Ryall (1648). Additional Comments: If you have any questions, corrections or additions to my family tree, please contact me at marion.royal@gmail.com . File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/burke/bios/royal926gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/gafiles/ File size: 9.2 Kb