HOUSE OF JOSSEY/JOSEY HISTORY RESEARCH METHODOLOGY J. Edward (Bud) and Marion Josey began researching the Jossey/Josey family history in April 1989 after attending their first Josey Reunion in Andalusia, Alabama. During the first six months they found bits and pieces of information from families, libraries, and in courthouses in the region. During the process, they discovered that the family was larger than anticipated. The dynamic duo then decided the next best thing to do was to begin with the 1790 Federal U.S. Census and all subsequent Census records. They recorded each family on an individual sheet by Year, State, and County; by doing so, they could record the family activity every ten years as the census was completed. Since families sometimes moved, they could usually be found in another county or even another state, in following years. After 1840, the census listed children’s names, ages, places of birth, etc. and gave them much information about where the parents were born, ages, etc. Next they headed to the Mormon Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah where they discovered a gold mine of information. They spent quite a few weeks there at different times in their motor home working with staff to help them read old English, German, and French documents. Bud and Marion gathered most of their information by visiting with, talking to, or calling the Josey families in areas with a concentration of Joseys and related families. They visited courthouses and libraries in an area and copied as much information of the Josey families as they could find. They spent many an afternoon on some Josey veranda or around a dining room table, filling in sheets on the Josey families in the area. They spent the entire month of January 1992 in Texas and visited 63 courthouses, gleaning many marriage documents, birth, and death records when they found a friendly Clerk of the Court willing to cooperate. They were in the courthouses during the week and retraced their route on the weekends to cover cemeteries and libraries to obtain information. They would get the information during the day and sometimes work until the wee hours of the morning in the motor home, putting it all in the file folders, by county, and on Family Sheets so they could be ready to go again in the morning. RESEARCH RESULTS Bud and Marion found that there were more Joseys in Georgia and Texas than in any other state. Some Joseys are not related to their line, but they have done the research on them in order to know which family was their direct descendents. They traced their family back to the 1560s in London County, England and followed them to Nansemond County, Virginia in the 1640s and then to Halifax County, North Carolina in the mid 1700s. Some family members then followed the Old Post Road to South Carolina, Georgia, and then to Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. They have information about the German Joseys and the Canadian Joseys from Nova Scotia, but have not completed their study. The Josey name was originally spelled with a double S (Jossey). Through the years, mostly through errors by lawyers preparing documents, the name was spelled with one S and gradually changed to Josey for most of the family. However, there are still a significant number of double S Josseys -- mostly from the South Carolina branch. Bud and Maion had eight (8) volumes of family information printed, and all of them have been distributed to family members. The following volumes were printed and distributed:
These volumes were copyrighted in 1995 and are part of the Library of Congress. The House of Jossey/Josey will be glad to share pertinent family information with anyone who expresses an interest, provided the individual or family completes our genealogy form. This form can be found on the Genealogy icon on the House of Jossey/Josey web site, www.thehouseofjossey-josey.org. Once completed, the form should be sent to the address indicated. SUMMARY Bud and Marion have done an outstanding job of tracing the family
roots, and they have been recognized by the Mormon Church for their
great genealogy work. Because of their work, the House of Jossey/Josey
has a biannual reunion in different parts of the Country to allow Jossey/Joseys
from everywhere to come together to meet, greet, and learn about
respective family members. Reunions have been held in Texas, Alabama,
Mississippi, Georgia, and North Carolina. March 11, 2002 C. Ray Josey, President 2001-2003 |
