Lovada "Lovey" Ray Bailey

Lovada "Lovey" Ray Bailey
1805-1898

A few days ago I received an e-mail from a Kay Pendergrass.  She had discovered this blog and was inquiring if we were cousins.  Her great-grandmother was Rutha Mae Tipton who married Ansel Bailey.  

Photo taken by Chad Bailey 2009

My answer to her was "Yes", we are cousins.  Her great-grandmother Rutha Mae Tipton was the sister of my great-great grandfather John Tipton.  My great-great grandfather John Tipton was married to Ansel Bailey's sister, Martha "Patty" Bailey.  As I have so often discovered, the families were sometimes very close up there in those Appalachian hills of western North Carolina in the 18th and 19th centuries.


Pictured above is my great-great-great grandmother, Lovada "Lovey" Ray Bailey.  "Lovey" was the mother of both Ansel Bailey and my great-great grandmother Martha "Patty" Bailey.  Kay Pendergrass was kind enough to provide me with the long ago picture of my great-great-great grandmother.  


I don't have a picture of my great-grandmother, Martha "Patty" Bailey but I do hear that one is in existence.  Someday I hope to get a copy of that picture.  There is no known picture of my great-grandfather John Tipton.

Martha "Patty" Bailey Death Certificate
1824-1915

Martha "Patty" Bailey was the wife of my great-great grandfather John Tipton who was killed in a Confederate ambush when he was recruiting for the Union Forces in the hills of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, near Johnson City, Tennessee.  


One of John and Martha "Patty" Bailey Tipton's sons was my great grandfather, Hiram Tipton.

Myra Warrick  1855-1930)and Hiram Tipton 1852-1933) 

One of Hiram and Myra Tipton's sons was my grandfather Fieldon Jacob Tipton, Sr.

Fieldon Jacob Tipton (1884-1939)  and Hester Lewis (1894-1944) 

One of Fieldon and Hester's eleven sons was my father, Isaac Walter Tipton, Sr.

Betty Hadfield (1923-2010) and Isaac "Ike" Tipton, Sr. (1920-2000)
 1941 -(my mom is pregnant with me in this picture)

My parents had three sons of which I am the oldest.  

Me at my great-grandparents grave at the Freewill Baptist Church in Limestone, Tennessee - 1994

This spring Bill and I are planning another trip down south to visit his hometown of Toccoa, Georgia.  I hope to also visit Cades Cove Tennessee, where many Tipton ancestors are buried.  I also hope to revisit Pigeon Roost, Tennessee, the area of the Pisgah Mountains near the border to Johnson City Tennessee where my farther was born.  Last year I visited that area with my brother John (who lives in Greenville, South Carolina.)  John and I are always reinvigorated when we visit our roots.  

I began researching my family roots back in 1994 (as the above picture attests) but since that time there have been long stretches where Life interfered and I haven't done as much research as I would have liked.  Unfortunately, during that time so many relatives have died, thus taking with them their history of the family.  

With my recent discovery of Ancestry.com and the wealth of information available on that website, I have been able to rebuild my family tree.  That is my goal in life to record as much information as I have and then when I eventually pass on (which I will), some other family member will pick up where I left off.  That is my wish and desire.

In the meantime, I will share what information and pictures that I have on this website.  

Please contact me if any readers of this blog wish to contribute information about their family and/or photos or have any question about how they fit into the Tipton Family Tree. 

Remember, we're all descended from the original Jonathan Tipton who landed on these shores by way of Baltimore County, Maryland around 1692 from Jamaica. 

If can provide me with the name of your great grandfather I can probably find your link to the Tipton Family Tree record that I maintain and am constantly adding new information.

Have a very happy new year!