My great grandmother, on my maternal side, is Cornelia Dye Kirkland. Some years ago when I began searching for my ancestors my grandmother’s brother, Frank Kirkland, provided me with the names of his mother’s siblings. They were Harriet, Nancy, Lula, Alynda and Amanda. Their parents were Green and Tabby Dye.
I’ve located Green and Tabby in the 1870, 1880 and 1900 census but not with all 6 children listed. Green Dye first appears in the 1870 census living in Flat Rock Township, Kershaw County, South Carolina with his wife, Tabby, and 4 children, Nancy aged 19, Louisa aged 16, Cornelia aged 13, and Linda aged 11. His oldest daughter, Harriet aged 20 was married to Abram Brown,aged 24, living in DeKalb Township with their 3 children, Green aged 4, Mary aged 2, and Abram aged 2 months. In 2009 I established contact with Karen C. Martin, the great granddaughter of Amanda Dye. Karen provided the genealogical information about Amanda and her family that enabled me to link them to the family. Additionally she provided a photograph of Amanda and her family. Amanda was married to John Perry and was living in Monroe, Union County, NC in the 1880 census.
Green Dye does not appear in the 1880 census for Flat Rock Township, Kershaw County. Instead I found him and Tabby living in Amelia, Orangeburg County, SC with two grandchildren Claburne and Scipio Dye. The grandchildren were the children of Nancy but I could not locate, and have not located, Nancy. Uncle Frank told me that Harriet and Nancy had married men named “Brown”. Finding Harriet and her husband Abram Brown in the 1870 census confirmed his information. I was never able to confirm Nancy’s spouse. Alynda was spelled different ways (Belinda or Malinda) but she married Ross Drakeford. In the 1880 census I was able to locate Harriet, Cornelia and Malinda living in the Camden, Kershaw County, SC area. I was not able to locate Nancy or Lula.
The 1900 census finds Green and Tabby living again in Kershaw County along with their daughters Harriet (Brown), Cornelia (Kirkland) and Malinda (Drakeford). Sometime after the 1900 census Ross and Malinda Drakeford relocate to Augusta, Richmond County, Georgia with their family. Oral history says they followed Malinda’s nephew, Jeremiah Kirkland and his family to the Augusta area. These two families until today call Augusta, Georgia home. It is interesting to note that the relocation of Ross Drakeford and family to Georgia affected the spelling of their name. The "Drakeford" name in Kershaw County, South Carolina, with few exceptions was spelled as I have written. However, in Richmond County, Georgia, it was written as it sounded. Additionally, I feel Ross and his sons were not able to spell their surname. What happens is the name Drakeford becomes Drayford, Drafford, Drakford, Drayfoot, Drafort and finally Draidfort. The 1900 census asked the mothers how many children they had given birth to, and how many were still living as of the census date. Tabby provided the information that she had given birth to 6 children and 6 were still living. So the question is "Where were Lula and Nancy?"
In 2012 I had my DNA tested with 23andme and FamilyTreeDNA, later AncestryDNA, to help me locate my father's paternal side. The DNA companies provide a listing of DNA relatives and surprisingly I discovered descendants of Nancy Dye Brown, and Amanda Dye Perry. DNA testing is one more tool that allows genealogists to confirm family relationships.
In 2023 with the help of Alesha Hart, I was able to identify Tabitha Patterson's maternal line. Her maternal line is Neal, and according to the 1870 Federal Census for Flat Rock Township, Kershaw County, SC, the oldest ancestor was Clairborne Neal who was born about 1785 in Virginia.
This site contains the families of 5 of the 6 children of Green Dye and Tabitha "Tabby" Patterson Dye. One day we will connect all the descendants of Green and Tabby Patterson Dye.