Some years ago I asked my grandmother about her grandfather and all she could remember is that his name was Primus Anthony and that he was from Brownsville in Haywood County, Tennessee. I had never heard of anyone being named Primus before. I repeated it to her to be sure, and she was sure -- Primus Anthony was his name. I don't have the best memory and a lot of times I have to dig through notes to find a particular name, but his is one name I never forgot. In 1999 I began searching for him in the Haywood County, Tennesse census and quickly grew frustrated after only finding him once, in the … [Read more...]

Sam Anthony is my maternal great-grandfather. According to legend, when he was a sickly walking baby he was left behind when his family moved out of the cabin they lived in and on to another farm. A man named Primus Anthony moved into that cabin and adopted Sam, raising him as his own. That's when he became known as Sam Anthony. In 1976 the Currie's and Gray's of Haywood County, Tennessee began having an annual reunion and invited Sam's descendants after claiming him as one of their own. When I asked my family about the  connection to the Currie-Gray's, I was told that Sam's father was … [Read more...]