Sam and Amanda Smith Bates (Charlton and Nancy O'Kelly Bates Grandson)

Sam Bates was born July 7, 1874 in Hall County, Georgia. He is the son of Mary Bates. Grandson of Charlton and Nancy O'kelly Bates. Sam married Amanda Elizabeth Smith, the sister of Newton Alexander Smith. She was the daughter of James and Mary Ann (Polly) Hovis Smith. They had seventeen children among them. His grandchildren said that he was a rounder and she was a God-fearing Christian. They are both buried with a daughter in unmarked graves to the right of  the Bates lot in the New Home Baptist Church cemetery.

Bethel (Buster) Bates

Bethel (Buster) Bates was born February 27, 1923.  He is the son of Lem and Lillie Smith Bates. Buster is the twin of Ethel Bates.  He was a born farmer until he died August 1, 1993. Buster had a road side market for his own fresh vegetables at that time. He married Mildred Gravitt, the sister of James Elvin Gravitt.  James Elvin Gravitt married his twin sister Ethel (Deedle) Bates.

Cheek Family as Pertaining to James Shockley Bates Line

I’m not sure if this is of value to any of you, but I came across it in my research and knew that some of you were interested in the Cheek lineage as it pertains to the Bates. Notice how the spelling of the last name varies throughout the entries. No wonder the censuses have such inconsistencies!

Shown here is a page from a family Bible where the Cheeks and the Bates are mentioned together. The text had been copied to a sheet of three-ring notebook paper, which is how we found it on Ancestry.com

Since the photo of the old document is hard to read, we transcribed it as best as we could. We cross-referenced these names and dates with the Bates we know we are related to, and other than having a few names in common with his children, we could not find a connection to our Charlton Bates (m. Nancy Kelly).

William Cheek was borned September 29, 1752
William C. Cheek was borned January 20, 1815
William Cheek Jr. was borned September 27, 1785
Willie Cheek was borned January 3, 1800
Barbara Crider was borned July 1, 1820
Sally A Baite was born February 7, 1829
William E. F Baits was born October 17, (1853 or 1833?)
John C. Baits was born July 31, 1836
James C Bate was born February 28, 18?? (tore off)
Lydia Bate May 7, 18??
Elizabeth Coker died February 1836
Linda? Gordon died July 2, 1844
Lydia Bate died June 15, 1841
Barbra Cheek died February 28, 1853
M__y Adeline Cheek died July 25, 1833
Charles W. Cheek died October 27, 1857?


Additional interpretation of this list of names was provided by Jessie Cheek.


The following is information from these three Cheek Bible pages. The order is changed around so that you can see the relationships between people.

CHEEK FAMILY NAMES

James Alexander Cheek born 2/12/1850. His siblings are:

• Lydea Parmeady Cheek born 9/20/1847
• Syntha Samantha Cheek born 8/26/1852
• Christopher Columbus Cheek born 9/26/1857
• Charles Edward Cheek born 12/13/1854; died 7/19/1857

Charles Wootson Cheek born 1/21/1826, died 10/27/1857 married Sara A. Baits on 4/3/1845
 (full brother of Charles W. Cheek:)

Major Lewis Cheek was born 6/26/1822 (changed his name to L.M. Cheek)
    married Barbara Crider 1/31/1839 (she was born 7/1/1820 and died 2/28/1853)
    married Polly Coker 6/12/1856

W.J.L. Cheek born 1864  ???  (still haven't figured out who this one is)

Father of Charles Wootson Cheek:  William Cheek born 9/29/1752
married Sintheari Coker on 9/13/1821  (this was his third wife)

other  (1/2) relatives of Charles and Lewis M. Cheek:

John Cheek born 4/24/1785  (John Vines Cheek, son of William Cheek b. 1752)
    Burgess Cheek born 11/1794
    married Miley Adeline Cheek on 11/19/1818
    she was born 2/25/1795?, died 7/25/1833

William C.Cheek born 1/20/1813  (William Chesley Cheek, son of  Ellis Cheek)

William Cheek Jr. born 9/27, 1785 (son of William Cheek b. 1752)
William Cheek died 4/16/1845 (the William Cheek born 1752)

Willis Cheek born 1/3/1800 (son of William Cheek born 1752)


Bates Family Names

Samuel E. Baits born 11/22/1831 (brother of Sarah A. Bates)
James Bates born 6/15/1810 (father of Sarah A. Bates, also husband of Priscilla Cheek)
J.C. Bates born 11/24/1846 (brother of Sarah A. Bates)
Sally Bates born 2/7/1829 (Sarah Coker Bates, wife of William E. Bates.)
Sally Bates died 8/7/1863 (was this Sarah Coker Bates, w/o William E. Bates?, some think this was Sarah Bates Cheek)
Sary Bates died 11/17/1857)  should this be 11/17/1859??, was this d/o Samuel A. Bates?
Perryman G. Bates born 8/17/184 6? (1/2 brother of Sarah A. Bates)
William E.F. Baits born 10/17/1833 (brother of Sarah A. Bates)
John C. Bates born 7/31/1836  (brother of Sarah A. Bates)
James C Baites born 2/28/183? (brother of Sarah A. Bates)
Lydia Bates 5/7/18??, died 6/15/1841  (was this wife of James S. Bate??)

Samuel A. Bates married Nicy Elender Coker on 3/20/1856 (brother of Sarah Bates)
S.A. Bates married N.E. Coker 3/20/1856   (same as above)

Coker Family Names

• Dicy A Coker born 4/8/1834  (sister of Sarah Coker, w/o William E. Bates and Polly Coker w/o L.M. Cheek)
• Polly Coker married Lewis M.Cheek 6/12/1856
• Elizabeth Coker died 2/1836 (don't know which Elizabeth Coker this is, possibly w/o Jacob Coker?)

Other Family Names somehow related?

Linda Jordan died 7/2/1844
Samuel B. Jordan born 6//7/1824
(we haven't figured out who the Jordan's are??)

James M Floyd born 2/13/1867
Sally Floyd born 6/30/1869
Caldona Floyd born 10/20/1871
(these were children of James Alexander Cheek's sister, Lydda who married a Floyd)

William L Page and Georgia Hix married 12/10/1879 (don't know who this was)
Ellah J. Page born 2/19/1881 (probably son of William and Georgia)

James M. Lackey and Dicy Coker married 2/14/1854  (Dicy, sister of Sarah and Polly)
James M. Lackey born 5/27/1836
James W W Lackey born 4/18, 1855
John Lewis Lackey born 7/17/1887
Watson Lackey born 8/12/1862

Below are more photos sent to Yvonne Perry from Jessie Cheek that are from Jessie's cousins Roland Cheek and Ronnie Cheek. Roland descends from James Alexander Cheek's son, Hill Solomon Cheek and Ronnie descends from James Alexander Cheek's son, Charles Edward Cheek. We don't know for sure whose Bible these were taken from, but we suspect it may have belonged to Sarah Adeline Bates Cheek, wife of Charles Woodson Cheek. Sarah Adeline Bates was the oldest daughter of James Shockley Bates.

Can you help us fill in the missing info on this topic? Please leave a comment below this post or send us an email with any material you would like us to publish pertaining to the Bates family.

Dr. Jesse Green Plantation Ball Ground, Georgia

This is presently what is left of a shanty where slaves once lived in the 1800s. This was part of a plantation owned by Dr. Jesse Green on Flat Bottom Road in Ball Ground, Georgia. In 1850, the census showed him living in Missouri. Did he go there for slaves? He was back in Ball Ground by1860.

This reprint was originally a hand-painted portrait of the Green Plantation during slavery days.

Here is how the house on Green Plantation looks today. These photos were taken in 2008.
 

Dr. Jesse Lovask Green born in North Carolina 1802, came to Cherokee County in 1824 and purchased land along the Etowah River among the Cherokee Indians. During the 1800s and until his death in 1875, he owned a plantation on Flat Bottom Road in Ball Ground, Georgia. Doctor Green used Indian wisdom and herbs as part of his patient treatments.

Dr. Green was Jenny Bates Meadow-Sauls' great-great-grandfather on her mother Lois's side of the family. (Lois Sims was the wife of  J.B. Bates.) Lois's grandmother Martha (Matt) Green Rich (1866-1940) was the daughter of Dr. Green. Martha Green married James Riley Rich, who came over from Ireland during the potato famine in 1850. Martha and James donated the land and helped brick the original Old Noonday Church, traveling to and from Atlanta hauling brick in a wagon. They were the first people to be buried in the Old Noonday Cemetery in back of the church on Hwy 5 in Woodstock, Georgia.

Dr. Green's first wife Cynthia Dupoi may have been an Indian. We have no census or other information about her. There are no children on record for this marriage.

Dr. Green's second wife was Mary Stephens (married 1823, died in 1851) with whom he had 13 kids.

Dr. Green's third wife was Louisa Johnston (1832-1908). They married in 1851 and had 12 kids, one of which was Martha Green Rich.

Dr. Green and his wives and several of his children are buried in the family plot on the property known as the Green Family Cemetery across the road from the house on Flat Bottom Road in Ball Ground, Ga. 

Lem Bates son of Thomas Bates and Sarah Elizabeth Ward

Lem Bates c. 1913

Lemuel Harris Bates (a.k.a. Lem) was born in Homer (Banks County), Georgia on March 15, 1883 and died in Woodstock (Cherokee County), Georgia on September 21, 1954.

On May 25, 1907 Lem married his cousin Lillian (Lillie) Margaret Smith Bates. He was 24 and she was 14 years old. They had nine children (eight lived to adulthood) between 1910 and 1920 and one (Martha Louella Bates Jackson) who is still living at age 97.

Lem was the grandson of Charlton and Nancy Kelly Bates and the son of Thomas F. Bates and Sarah Elizabeth Ward Bates. His sister was Indy (Endy) Bates.

Book Progress Report

Well, we have finished the research and verifying facts. The developmental writing is done! The next step is to edit the manuscript. I am doing the first round myself to catch as many errors as possible and to rewrite any awkward sections. Then, it will go to another editor and on to several proofreaders.  

When the text is as clean and concise as possible, it will go to Jenny for the insertion of photos. Then, I will format the book for 8" X 11.5" print size and upload it to Createspace for publishing. 

We are getting close. Wish us luck!

Indy (Endy) Bates Barfield

Indy (Endy) Bates Barfield was born in 1890. She is the daughter of Sarah Elizabeth Ward-Bates (Big Granny) and Thomas F. Bates. Indy married Petty Barfield in 1904 at the Cobb County Courthouse and left for Vernon Texas. Free from the poverty level of her family's rural farm life, she only returned to Georgia one time. However, she kept in touch with  her Georgia family sharing glimpses of her life with letters and pictures to her mother.  In this picture, found in Lillie Bates (wife of Lem Bates) personal belongings after her death, Indy wanted her mother to see her new $35 pearl necklace.  Looks like she did quite well for herself.

Three Generations Descending from Thomas F. Bates

Sarah Elizabeth Ward Bates (Big Granny) is the wife of Thomas F. Bates (son of Charlton and Nancy Bates). Here, she is pictured with her daughter-in-law Lillie (Grandma) Bates, who is the mother of the children shown: Cora, J.B. (Jay), and Mary Bates (circa 1914).

Roany (Roena) Bates and Elisha Smallwood

Roany Bates was the daughter of Charlton and Nancy Bates. Her name on the 1880 census was Roena but she was also known as Roany or Gennie Bates (September 27 1845—February 16, 1900). Roany is listed as living with her parents, Charlton and Nancy Bates, in the Mount Yonah District of White County, GA in the 1860 census. Her family lived next to Elisha Smallwood’s family. Roany married Elisha “Bud” Smallwood, Jr. (January 22, 1843–May 8, 1914), who was the brother of her sister Martha’s husband, William (b. 1844). Elisha’s father was Elisha Smallwood, Sr., who was born in 1826 in Habersham County and died prior to 1900, and Mary Clark, who was born around 1825 and died between 1855 and 1860. 

Nancy Smallwood and her husband Mark Czar Whitlock

In the 1880 census, Roany and Elisha Smallwood enrolled the following children:  • George Washington Smallwood (May 15, 1866–April 27, 1927) • William Alexander Smallwood nicknamed Uncle Aleck (June 28, 1870–August 17, 1923) married Charity Olivia Walden, known as Aunt Arleevy. • Nancy Jane Smallwood (1873-1948)


George Washington Smallwood and his wife Sarah Elizabeth Walden

 Featured in the photos here are George Washington Smallwood and his wife Sarah Elizabeth Walden (Nov. 1, 1862–June 16, 1921). Nancy Jane Smallwood and her husband Mack Cazer Whitlock (1881-1951).

Indiana Ward Wilson

Indiana Ward Wilson (Oct. 27, 1868–Nov. 9, 1969)

The first born daughter of David and Nancy Ward was Indiana (India) Ward. She was the sister of our Big Granny, Sarah Elizabeth Ward Bates, and Marion F. Bates. Indiana was born October 27, 1868. Her death certificate misspelled her name as Indinaner Wilson and incorrectly reports her death at age 94 on November 9, 1960). Obviously, based on her birth year, she would have been 92 in 1960. She is buried at Oakgrove Baptist church in Panthersville, Georgia. Her death certificate also incorrectly listed her father as Marion. Marion was her brother. Indiana married Cicero M. Wilson (1864–1895).

Cicero M. Wilson (1864-1895)

Cicero M. Wilson (1864-1895) married Indiana (India) Ward, the daughter of David and Nancy Ward. Indiana was the sister of our Big Granny, Sarah Elizabeth Ward Bates, and Marion F. Bates. Cicero was killed at age 31.

Jack Turner and Cora Bates Tirplets

David "Jack" Turner and Cora Bates-Turner's made the news as the first triplets born in 1945.

Indiana Ward Wilson

Indiana Ward Wilson (October 27, 1868–November 9, 1960) and her granddaughter, Obera. Indiana is the daughter of David and Nancy (Martin) Ward and the sister of  Sarah Elizabeth Ward Bates (known as Big Granny to her grandchildren).

Old Grogan Homeplace owned by Charlie and Granny Leevy

Leavy Grogan  (Granny Leavy) and Charlie owned the large farm known as the Old Grogan Homeplace on Wiley Bridge and Cox Roads. Charlie died young and left Leavy with seven small children to raise. She had to sell off parcels of the farm until it was completely gone.

 Charlie Grogan

Dr. T.J. Vansant of Woodstock, Georgia (c. 1940-50)

Dr. T.J. Vansant and his wife Birdie came to Woodstock about 1910. He was the only doctor in town. During the 1940s and 1950s, he delivered babies for the Bates family and made house calls throughout the county. We had no phones, but he always came when he was summoned in person.

Reverend Herbert Brown and Wife Opal

Pastor of Sunlight Baptist Church (1949-65) Reverend Herbert Brown and his wife Opal and their grandson while visiting with Grandma Lillie Bates and her daughter Ethel (Deedle) Bates.

Bethel (Buster) Bates

The Bethel (Buster) Bates children Barbara, Floyd, Thomas and Gene.

Lemuel Harris Bates and Lillie Margaret Smith Bates

Lem (Pap) and Lillie Margaret Smith Bates (Grandma Lillie)

New Home Baptist Church, Holbrook

Old Preacher Holbrook was the pastor of New Home Baptist Church in Georgia in the 1940s. Shown here: Jetty Pruitt and Nita Pruitt and others after baptizing.

If you recognize others in this photo, please leave a comment below.

Mary Bates and Frances Pruitt, Georgia Family

Three generations descending from Mary Bates and her husband Frances Pruitt. Shown here are Frances, Amos, and Stanley Pruitt.

Viola Pruitt and Johnny Smith

Viola Pruitt Smith with her husband Johnny Smith, who was Lillie Smith Bates' brother. Lillie, Johnny and their many siblings were born in the late 1800s and early 1900s to Savannah Bates and Alexander Newton Smith. They are all mentioned in our book, Angels Among Us.

Mary Lizzie and Jessie Suggs

Mary Lizzie and Jessie Suggs at Dee Waters Grave 1948. The old schoolhouse at New Home Baptist Church is in the background.

Woodstock Elementary in the 1930s

 Amos Pruitt's class at Woodstock Elementary in the 1930s. Do you know any of these kids?

Yvonne Mauldin (Perry) and Jenny's daughter Jane at Sunlight Church Homecoming in 1964.

Martha Bates Jackson Family

 Doris Jackson Mauldin is Yvonne Perry's mother. Yvonne is the coauthor of the family genealogy, Oh, Come Angel Band ~ The History of the Georgia Family Descending from Charlton and Nancy Bates. 

Twins Doris and Dorothy Jackson with their elder brother Edmond Jackson. Their mother is Martha Louella Bates (photo below) and their father is Fred A. Jackson.

Martha Bates Jackson

Alex and Savannah Bates Smith

Alexander Newton Smith with his wife and Savannah Bates Smith.

Sarah Bates, Daughter of Jay and Lois (Sims) Bates

Sarah Bates is the daughter of Jay and Lois (Sims) Bates. This photo is her 1950 graduating class at Mt. View School in Cobb County, Georgia.

Lois Sims Bates with daughter Sarah and Vada Bates Grogan

Sarah Elizabeth Ward Bates

Sarah Elizabeth Ward Bates  was known to her grandchildren as Big Granny. Her husband was Tom F. Bates of Cherokee County, Georgia.

Elijah Smallwood and Roany Bates

Roany Bates Smallwood's husband Elijah and a relative. Roany is the daughter of Charlton and Nancy Bates.

Help from the Ancestors in Spirit

My cousin Jenny and I have been working on our Bates family ancestry for nearly a year now. What a huge undertaking this has been. Hours and hours of research, interviewing family members, visiting graveyards, collecting photos, writing text, and editing and formatting. we are still not done!

I believe that everything we do is supported by beings of love and light. Many times those beings are our "deceased" loved ones who are on the other side of this veil of reality. And, on this genealogy project our ancestors (angels, as Jenny calls them) have been a tremendous blessing. There were times when we searched and searched for a person, unable to find them or any evidence to prove of our hunches. Jenny and I would call upon our loved ones for answers, and they have come through time and time again. We are still missing the parents of two key members of our lineage, but I do believe that in due time their story will come forth.

So, I'm wondering if anyone reading this has had an experience where you asked for help from your ancestors and they showed up with answers. Please leave a comment and share your story.

Sarah Elizabeth Ward Bates and Lillian Margaret Bates

Sarah Elizabeth Ward Bates is the one our family referred to as Big Granny. She is the second-born child of David Ward and Nancy Martin-Ward. Here she is standing above Lillian Margaret Bates, the wife of Lemuel Harris Bates, whom we called Grandma Lillie.

 

Welcome to Charlton and Nancy Bates Ancestry Blog

I've started this blog in order to have a place where the entire Bates family can gather online and contribute information about our ancestry. Starting with our earliest proven ancestors, Charlton and Nancy Bates, Jenny Meadows-Sauls and Yvonne Mauldin Perry (both descended from Charlton and Nancy) are about to publish and release a book about the Bates family genealogy. It will include personal stories and photos as shared by cousins and other relatives in many states.

We invite you to share your stories and help us trace and document the line back even farther. Feel free to post comments. If you have a lot of information to share and would like to be an administrator for this blog, please let us know.