Researching My Quillin/Ewing Line

 My daddy was Truman Bryan Quillin, Sr.

 Surnames involved: Quillin, Ewing, Sprowls, Wright, Woodall, Elliot, Adams

 Researching Daddy’s lineage has been fraught with complications. I have not had the same support system to develop these lines. There were no older relatives that were able to give me the much needed past history, and it seems that the gaps are created by not knowing the small tidbits that could open a door for me. Daddy helped me immensely by taking me around the countryside to see all the old places. He carried me to cemeteries and took me to courthouses, but there were no older relatives to visit….except for one. B.M. “Buster” Quillin. See my information about him.

The Quillin Line

Daddy did contact “J.B” James Beverly Quillin (1917-2004) because he recalled that J.B. had a family history book. J.B. was the son of Horace Cleveland Quillin, brother to our Paul Bryan Quillin.  J.B. informed Daddy that indeed he did indeed have a book that could help me with the Quillin history, and he generously offered to send the book by mail. However, J.B. did want the book back. I hit the jackpot with that book and it became my “bible” for the Quillin history. I refuse to stray from the information given in the book. Daddy, of course, could always track down anything. He found a place where he could order the book, so he promptly made an order, and I still have it in my possession. We lucked out as that was truly the last time it was produced in bulk by the Quillin family. It is now online, I believe, but that is nothing like having the book in hand. CAUTION: be careful of family heritage books that are no more than something like a telephone book, just names listed. That was common back then. It was incredible to receive this information in the winter prior to our summer visit to Ireland. I had no idea that we had such roots to that part of the world through the MacQuillin clan. There is much more about that in my Quillin history.

The Sprowls Line

Besides seeing the gravestone of Polly Ann Sprouls who was buried with Beverly Johnson Quillin, I had no clue about her until Buster filled in a few tips. These tips have not produced much in the way of tracking down this family. Sprowls had many spellings, just as Quillin does. That doesn’t mean it isn’t accepted; however there just hasn’t been enough for me to fill in this line. I feel that the Sproul/Sprowls (or however it is spelled for us) line was interconnected a LONG time ago with the Ewing line, but I can not make my immediate connection, therefore always falling short.

The Wright Line

Buster always said that Polly’s mother came to live with them for a while. He identified Polly’s mother as Milly Wright. Milly would have married a Sprowls. I have only found one single source that could confirm that, but it was not enough to carry me onto the next level. Milly could be a nickname. There were some Sprowls that lived in Seymour, probably Polly’s brother James. There obviously has been no one in that family that was interested in family history. My theory is that somewhere along the way, a male Sprowls family member fell out of favor and was disconnected from family. This could make researching this man difficult.

 The Ewing/Dillard Lines

The Ewing line has fallen into place because there have been some “big guns” doing research for the Ewing Family Association. These men and women have access to family notes from the early 1800s, journals, Bibles and support from Historical Societies, etc. They have done a tremendous job piecing it all together. There is not much more that I could add to the “way back” history. In the more current lines, I have spent hours substantiating the tidbits I have found. I never know if it is the correct direction. (Before 1850, censuses only list the numbers of people in the households. They are not listed by names. It becomes a guessing game.)  But I will say…looking back. I have done some good research, enough so that Wallace K Ewing has added my branch to his Ancestry tree all the way down to Daddy. That means something!

The Dillards…well, I found some credible information on the web by a man name Chris Kraft and others. They had built tremendous trees, not so much with sources, but these “world connect” trees have been taken down, I think by Ancestry. Ancestry has promised that these websites will return. It seems we live in a world where something that is good is always gobbled up by the greedy people who want to own it all. But in the meanwhile, it has disrupted my research. The Dillard line involved a marriage by a Ewing lady to the Dillard twins. When one twin died, she married the other. And I believe that there may be some double cousins. Interesting note: as I was putting this information together, I found amid the Ewing pages, some small print about Orrin Dillard. I’m anxious to go back to and review more closely. I also wondered why our William P Ewing was born in Kentucky. The notes mentioned above may show me why/how the Dillards or Ewings had land in Kentucky. I am hopeful with a new DNA connection to Patricia about the Ewing/Dillard connection.

 The Woodall/Adams/Elliot Lines

I have made an honest attempt several times in the past at these lines. It seems that there has been no real commitment by anyone to record their history, and unless I could go to the area and visit the archives, courthouse, etc., I may never be able to solve these lines. The trees I see are all jumbled with no sources or research. I have given up putting too much time or energy into these lines. I am hopeful about having Patricia’s DNA, as that may help unveil the mysteries. My initial attempts with this DNA, though, has be futile. It is disappointing to see trees all jumbled with no research done, nor sources given. Maybe in time, more will be revealed.