Little Giffen of Tennessee Part Three

This is the conclusion of the research into establishing who was probably the real Little Giffin of Tennessee. Here are the facts discovered from online resources.

The American Civil War Soldiers on ancestry.com list includes:

George Giffin, Tennessee Union, Corporal

John Giffin, Tennessee Union, Private

Volney Giffin, Tennessee Union, Private

William Giffin, Tennessee Union, Corporal

All served in Company A, 6th Infantry Regiment, Tennessee, except William who enlisted in Company C. There is a regimental history, including some of the battles fought found within this collection at ancestry.com.

Who Was the Real Giffen of Tennessee? Part Two

While the family of Volney Giffin felt he was the Giffin written about in the poem Little Giffen of Tennessee by Francis Orray Ticknor, there is reasonable question of doubt that he was. In the city where Francis Ticknor lived and died there is a historical marker containing the following:

"TORCH HILL"

On the summit of the rise to the east is the site of "Torch Hill", home of Dr. Francis Orray Ticknor (1822-74), author of the famed war story, "Little Giffen of Tennessee". Dr. Ticknor was a physician at the Confederate Hospital on Upper Broad St. in 1861-1865.

Giffen, a 16 year old Confederate soldier, was treated at the hospital for serious wounds. Dr. Ticknor took the boy to his home where Mrs. Ticknor nursed him. Before his wounds entirely healed, "Little Giffen" voluntarily took up his rifle and returned to battle. He was never heard of again.

The Creek Indians used "Torch Hill" for signal fires, giving the hill its name.

106-2 GEORGIA HISTORIC MARKER 1989

© Carl Vinson Institute of Government, The University of Georgia

http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~tignor/william2.htm

Ruby M. Harvey Collection and Little Giffin Poem

Recently our Family History Center has been cleaning house. We were able to purchase some very nice books from a local genealogist and then we were given some other books, so we needed more space. Some of the books and other materials went to the FHL in Salt Lake City and others went to a local group planning to set up a major research library in the Portland, Oregon area. There were two items that I am still considering what to do with them. They are more in the line of personal genealogical information compiled by individual researchers.

Father's Day Week 2012

For our family this has been a very interesting week leading up to Father's Day. For my husband this week probably seems surreal. On Monday he had surgery and spent the night in the hospital, which was a first for him since birth. No matter who is having surgery, or what type it is there is always a sense of apprehension about the outcome. I am very happy to say he was home early the next day and is having a very good recovery. He slept a good part of the day. We are grateful for very nice recliner chairs and a sleep number bed, which makes it very comfortable for him to rest. The refrigerator and cupboards are stocked with food, so he pretty much has everything he needs for the next week.

Rex McEntire Texas Attorney- Serendipity Moment

Tonight our granddaughters are coming and will be here for three days. That means that for all practical intents and purposes the genealogy side of my life is put on hold. So, last night I decided to work on a research request of my good friend who was adopted at birth through an illegal adoption. What she wanted was to locate a couple of articles about the late Rex McEntire who was the lawyer for the adoption. There is a group of adoptees, for which he was the lawyer, who are trying to find out answers about their adoptions. While I don't do research for adoptions, I was willing to help my friend with this request. In doing so I had an unusual serendipity moment.

SCGS Jamboree in Oregon 2012, My Notes

Last week Barry Elwell sent out an email notice about the webinar classes that were being made available by the Southern California Genealogical Society during the Jamboree on Saturday and Sunday, June 9 & 10. Using the link he provided I quickly signed up for all ten classes. When signing up I had no idea if it would be possible for me to view all of them. Then informing my family about attending genealogy classes online for the weekend I hoped they would understand my not being available during those time periods.

Technology and Genealogy Blessings

Today I stayed home as we were having a new furnace and air conditioner installed. With a thirty-year-old furnace and a twenty-year-old ac unit we have gotten our moneys worth out of them. Now that the new equipment is installed, it will be interesting to see just what type of savings we might enjoy. It's like buying a new car, with a nice mpg rating, and hoping to see a savings in gasoline expenses. When we recently made a trip to Medford, Oregon on a genealogy trip, we only had to fill the gas tank when we arrived and when we were home again. In the past there would have been at least another fill up in between our destinations. With the price of gas these days, it can truly impact how much we can afford to travel.

Balance and Keeping Our Lives in Synch

This week has been crazy. When the week starts with a holiday I usually feel out of synch for the week. Monday started off with Memorial Day, when we had our children, family and friends over for a barbecue. My husband and sons are great cooks, so I never touch the grill; actually I do very little cooing anymore. For the meal we had homemade hamburgers (none of the pre-formed patties), baked beans from scratch, fruit salad with all fresh fruit, corn on the cob roasted to perfection on the grill, and my mother's wonderful deviled eggs which everyone is hot to have. We even had our homemade grape juice to drink. It was a very relaxing day. After we ate we played two different card games. One of our guests had never played either of them and he did very well, winning the first game with his partner our son in law. Our granddaughters were delightful entertainment for everyone. We even visited with our daughter, son in law and grandsons via Skype, which helps when they are far away.