Saturday Night Genealogy Fun

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:

It’s Saturday Night again —

time for some more Genealogy Fun!!

Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!):

1. The life of every person has events and decisions that carry a risk factor and can significantly affect their future.
2. Describe a risk that one of your ancestors took. How did it affect their life, and how did it all turn out?

For my example, I’m looking at my 3rd great-grandfather, Alexander Briles.

In 1850, Alexander and his wife, Sarah Rush Briles, were living in Randolph County, North Carolina, with six children. They had established a farm on the Little Caraway Creek and appeared to have a stable life. Then, in 1857, Alexander made a decision that would change the future of his family for generations: he sold his North Carolina land and headed west.

By March 1858, Alexander was living in Neosho Township, Coffey County, Kansas Territory, where he claimed a homestead and began building a new life on the frontier.

This move involved significant risks:

• It separated Alexander and Sarah from the network of relatives and neighbors they had known in North Carolina.
• It reduced their land holdings from approximately 240 acres in North Carolina to a 160-acre homestead claim in Kansas.
• It placed the family in a territory that was still being settled and had recently experienced the political and sometimes violent conflicts associated with “Bleeding Kansas.”
• It required the family to travel hundreds of miles and start over in a region with few established services, roads, and communities.

Despite those risks, the decision proved to be a successful one. The Briles family established deep roots in Coffey County, and the homestead remained in the family for generations. In fact, the original homestead is still owned by one of Alexander’s descendants today.

Looking back, Alexander’s choice to leave the familiar surroundings of North Carolina for the uncertainties of the Kansas frontier was a gamble. Had the move failed, the story of the Briles family might have been very different. Instead, his willingness to take that risk helped shape the future of his descendants and created a lasting family legacy on the Kansas prairie.