Places Where My Ancestors Lived: Skyland, NC

My great-grandparents Floyd and Maggie Searcy lived and raised their brood in a little place they called "Booger Bottom", which is in the unincorporated town of Skyland.

When I think of Skyland, I think of hills of trees and grass; of hairpin curves and convex mirrors at the end of every road. Traffic is usually light, but can be harrowing on ice-covered roads.

My Grandpa Searcy bought the home place for fifty dollars and a mule, or so I have been told. There was a log cabin on site and this is where the Searcy family lived, until each child grew up and married off. Grandpa Searcy lived there after Grandma Searcy passed away, in 1977, and continued to live there until he couldn't take care of himself [and the home started falling down.]

As a child, I remember my grandparents driving up and down the beaten path that led to the home place when we came to visit. I vaguely remember my Grandpa's milking cow, Bessie and trying to get out there to pet her. I will always remember the sight and smells of this little slice of heaven.

Thomas Herbert Cook, Sr.

Well, well. It looks like I have broke through a brick wall concerning Grandpa Tom. I have never really had much luck tracking information down on him, just scant census reports and names on his children's death certificates.

A few days ago, I reopened his file and was doing what I always do, and that is scrolling through the Family Search and Ancestry sites, plus Googling. Low and behold, his name appeared in some things from Jamestown, NC. I clicked on a couple of links and found out that he was one of the proprietors of Logan Manufacturing/Oakdale Cotton Mills! How exciting is that? The icing on the cake is that there is a book out there written by Mary A. Browning called, "Oakdale Cotton Mill" which goes through the history of the business from its earliest beginnings to when it officially shut its doors in the 2000s. Even better was that the author enclosed a copy of a tintype with Thomas. I was nearly in tears when I saw his face for the very first time. I could definitely tell parts of me came from this man.

If you are interested in purchasing this book, you may click here to find book sellers who carry it.

Now, on to Mary Jane Preddy Cook, his wife....