Ancestral Trails Historical Society

African American And A Son Of Kentucky
by U.R. Wright

According to family history, Smith was born into slavery, the son of Susan, a slave, and Elijah Smith, a slave owner. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, Elijah Smith joined the Confederate military, with the intention of taking 19-year-old Andrew along with him. When Andrew Smith learned of this, he and another slave ran away, walking 25 miles through the rain before presenting themselves to a Union Army regiment, the 41st Illinois Infantry, in Smithland, Kentucky. Smithland is a city in Livingston County, Kentucky, at the confluence of the Ohio and Cumberland Rivers. The population was 401 at the 2000 census and 301 in the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Livingston County.

For complete story:  http://aths.com/content/andrew-jackson-smith-%E2%80%93-civil-war-medal-honor-recipient

Some Folks Remember Them – They Now Belong to the Past
                                         by Gary Kempf

Kentucky, and in particular our Ancestral Trails Historical Society family of counties, was – and continues to be – profoundly affected by the Ohio River and its tributaries.  Much that once affected the areas along the river remain no more.  Much that once was remains only in memories.  The Showboat is one such part of the river history that is no more.

To read the complete article http://aths.com/content/ohio-river-showboats

My feelings are in each family we are called to find the ancestors.
To put flesh on their bones and make them live again,
To tell the family story and to feel that somehow they know and approve.
To me, doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts but, instead,
Breathing life into all who have gone before.

For the full poem click the following:  http://aths.com/content/we-are-chosen

At the end of the American Civil War in the 1860s, a migration of Confederates to Brazil began, with the total number of immigrants estimated in the thousands. They settled primarily in Southern and Southeastern Brazil: in Americana, Campinas, São Paulo, Santa Bárbara d'Oeste, Juquiá, New Texas, Xiririca, Rio de Janeiro and Rio Doce. But in Santarém, Pará – in the north on the Amazon River – and the states of Bahia and Pernambuco received a significant number of American immigrants.

For the full story:  http://aths.com/content/american-colony-civil-war-confederates-brazil-%E2%80%93-part-1

by C.U. Laeter

Charles Reynolds was a guide for the 7th US Calvary during the 1876 Indian Campaign.  Affectionately called “Lonesome Charley” for his solitary ways, he was killed at the Battle of Little Big Horn.  His nickname was also occasionally spelled as “Lonesome Charlie.”
Click on the following URL to read the complete article:

http://aths.com/content/charles-alexander-%E2%80%9C-lonesome-charlie%E2%80%9D-reynolds-kentuckian-little-big-horn

CONFEDERATES IN THE AMAZON AND OTHER UNLIKELY PLACES
by U.R. Wright

This is a continuation of the article that appeared in our fall issue of Ancestral News (20123).  Herein will be presented a potpourri of facts regarding the Confederate population that elected to immigrate to Brazil rather than live without honor in the defeated Confederate States of America. 

Full story:  http://aths.com/content/american-colony-brazil-%E2%80%93-part-ii