#27 of 52...John Colvin Bussey

UPDATED:  24 Dec 2020  Updated links and added information for Esther Alley Bussey Smith

John Colvin Bussey is my great-grandfather.  He is my grandmother Alice's father.  He died the year before I was born so I never got an opportunity to know him in person.  I did hear lots of fabulous stories about him though.  I also was able to hear his voice because my daddy made a cassette recording of him when he was a teenager.

John Colvin Bussey was born 19 November 1892 in Atlanta, Georgia to Samuel T. Bussey and Louella "Ella" Ledbetter.  He was their 3rd child.  His mother was 19 years old when he was born.  The children of Samuel T. and Ella Bussey were:

1). Willis Collier Bussey SR (1887-1966)
2).  Samuel T. Bussey JR (1890-1905)
3).  John Colvin Bussey (1892-1976)
4).  James Jefferson Bussey (1898-1959)

John Bussey grew up in Atlanta, Georgia.  His father was a stable boss for many years.

John spent some time in the Army in WWI.  He was drafted.  Below is a snippet from his service card.

WWI Statement of Service Summary Cards, CLM-396, Ancestry.com

John first married Esther J. Alley, daughter of William and Lizzie (Brown) Alley, 19 December 1919 in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia.  They were divorced 9 October 1928 in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia.  As far as I've been able to ascertain there were no children from this marriage.  Esther married T.M. Smith by 1930 as I found them together in the census.  Unfortunately, Esther died of suicide on, Tuesday 10 Dec 1935.  She was 32 years old.  

Second John Bussey married my great grandmother Troy Eugene Waller 17 August 1934 in Decatur, DeKalb County, Georgia.  It was a second marriage for both of them.  John adopted Troy's daughter Cora as his own.  John and Troy had the following children together.

1). Ella Alice Bussey (1935-2022)
2). Colvin Troy Bussey (living)

John Colvin was an artist.  He created stained glass windows in churches in the Atlanta area.  He had a fabulous vegetable garden and kept chickens.  He sustained an injury to his left eye rendering him blind.  He was left-handed.

He passed away at home of a massive heart attack on Jan 4, 1976, he was 83 years old.

John Colvin Bussey, unknown date, original owned by Alice Bussey Curran

#26 of 52...Richard Tennant

This marks the halfway point of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.  Today I'm going to talk about one of my 6th Great Grandfathers Richard Tennant.

Richard D.Tennant II was born sometime between 1739 and 1744 in Glasgow, Scotland to Richard Tennant Sr and Janet Wark. I have not found documentation of other siblings.  When Richard was about 16 years old he immigrated to Virginia with his parents.  The following is an account by Richard D. Tennant II's son Joesph taken from the book, "West Virginians in the American Revolutions" accessed from Ancestry.com.

West Virginians in the American Revolution [database on-line].

Richard D. Tennant II married Elizabeth Haught, daughter of Peter Haught Sr, in 1769 in Mooresfield, Hardy County, Virginia.  Elizabeth is thought to have been born in Holland.

Richard served in the Revolutionary War as a drummer, as per this snippet from the same book as above.

Richard and Elizabeth had the following known children.

1). Mary "Polly" Tennant (1770-1824)  **my 5th great grandmother

2). Peter Tennant (1773-1847) 

3). Elizabeth Tennant (1775-1860)  This findagrave.com memorial has a different birth date. 

4). Richard Tennat III (1777-1824) 

5). William Tennant (1778-1869) 

6). Alexander Tennant (1780-1869)

7). Joseph Tennant (1782-1872)

8.) John Tennant (1783-unknown)

9.) Adam Tennant (1784-1878) 

10. Abraham Tennant (1786-1875)

11. Margaret Ann Tennant (1788-1857)

12. Sarah Catherine "Kate" Tennant (1790-1863)

13. Jacob Aaron Tennant (1792-1874)

Richard passed away 18 Dec 1822. 

#25 of 52...Henry Martin Reid...

Ancestry.com has a new thing connected with the DNA results called "DNA Circles".  It connects you with others probable descendants of a single ancestor.  It uses DNA matching as well as actual family trees.  I'm in a big ol' circle for Henry Martin Reid.  There are 36 of us in this circle, including me, my Aunt Janet, and my two boys.  We're referred to as the Shirley Ivey family group since she is who we descend through.

Henry Martin Reid is my 5th great grandfather on my mother's maternal side. There are many family trees out there with Henry Martin Reid in them.  I am only putting information here that I'm fairly confident in the accuracy.  I'm leaving much out, as I've not been able to verify all of it yet.

Henry Martin Reid was born 3 Feb 1773 in Rowan County, North Carolina.  His parents were George Reid Sr and Margaret Chambers.

Henry Martin Reid married Edith E. Harrison who was born in 1782 in North Carolina.  They had the following children.

1). Lydia Reid (1802-1890)
2). Catherine "Katie" Reid (abt 1803-Unknown)
3) William Davis Reid (1806-before 1890) **this is my 4th great grandfather
4). Reuben Reid (1808-1852)
5). Elizabeth Reid (1814-1885)
6). Robert A Reid (1817-1873)
7). John Reid (1823-1904)

Henry Martin Reid passed away in 1853.