tngenwebproject@gmail.com – Page 7 – Shelby County, TNGenWeb

KELLER, Mrs. Geo – Receives Beautiful Christmas Present (1870)

One of them most beautiful Christmas gifts, of the presentation of which we have heard, was one given to Mrs. Geo. KELLER by her husband. It is a square grand piano, made by Knabe, of Baltimore, and is a most magnificent instrument, not only in finish but in tone and power. This is a most appropriate gift to a lady whose musical talent, the high order of which is too well known in this city to need commendation, has never been wanting when charity called upon her to assist in the benevolent musical entertainments for which our city is famous. Long may she enjoy the possession of a talent that is the charm of the home circle and the delight of her friends and the public.

Source: Memphis Daily Appeal, 2 Jan 1870, pg. 4. Available via ChroniclingAmerica.loc.gov.

THOMAS, James – Charged with Murder (1870)

A negro man named James THOMAS was arrested yesterday on information given to the police, charged with having murdered another negro named Green MILLER, at Balding’s Landing, in Arkansas, in November last. At first he denied his identity, even when confronted by a gentleman who thoroughly identified him, but after being rather sharply cross-questioned by Mr. PEARNE, and a reporter, he confessed not only to having been party to the murder of MILLER, but also to having killed Joe ALLEN, another negro, shortly afterward. He was locked up to await a requisition from Gov. CLAYTON.

Source: Memphis Daily Appeal, 1 Jan 1870, pg. 4. Available via ChroniclingAmerica.gov

MINER, Mary Alice (d. 1870)

DIED– Mary Alice MINER, aged five years and two days. The friends and acquaintances of the family are invited to attend the funeral, from No. 21 Hill street, This (Thursday) Evening at 3 o’clock.

Source: Memphis Daily Appeal, 1 Jan 1870, pg. 1. Available via Chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.

Book: Shelby County Newspaper Abstracts through 1859

In 2002, Helen Rowland published a book, Shelby County, Tennessee Newspaper Abstracts through 1859. The book, close to 400 pages long, is available at the Memphis Public Library and approximately 40 other libraries.

The clippings included in the book come from 40+ newspapers and cover not only Shelby County, but nearby parts of Mississippi and Arkansas. In addition to Memphis papers, Ms. Rowland has abstracted:

Somerville Reporter of Somerville (Fayette County, TN)
Pioneer – (Jackson, Madison County, TN)
Jackson Gazette – (Jackson, Madison County, TN)
Southern Statesman – (Jackson, Madison County, TN)

Some of the abstracts have been shared online by Ms. Rowland

You can view a surname index online at the publisher’s website.

Welcome to the New Site

Welcome to the new site for the Shelby County TNGenWeb!

We would like to give many thanks to our longtime coordinator, Rose-Anne Cunningham Bennet! With us since TNGenWeb’s inception in 1996, she recently has decided to focus more on family and has resigned from the project.

Meanwhile, we have seen this as on opportunity to reorganize the site and continue to provide you with genealogical information. We certainly welcome contributions and would love to hear from you if you have additions to suggest or data to share.

As we redo the site, there are several ways you can keep up. We now offer an RSS feed you can subscribe to or you can sign up to get site updates sent directly to your email (see the sidebar for the signup form). Thank you for visiting the Shelby County TNGenWeb page.

Image credit: Lorraine Hotel, site of the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. Now the site of the Civil Rights Museum. Photo by Flickr user Thomas Hawk.