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My History: The Brawleys

I've always been a history and genealogy nut. I'm fortunate to have been able to trace my family tree. Here's a little bit about my family and our collective history.

Dad's side:

My Dad is a Brawley

His line also includes Beck, Lewis & Miller families.

The Brawley Story:

My Family:

-George Henry Brawley (Born 1929, Reynolds, Mo) Father

-Julia Ann (June) Hill Brawley (Born 1930, Centerville, Mo) Mother

-Siblings: Larry Wayne, Donald Ray, Richard Lee - (died 1971)

My Paternal Grandparents:

-Jess Sylvan Brawley (born 1900, Reynolds, Mo)

-Macie Miller Brawley (born 1907, Reynolds, Mo)

-Chidren: Jess, Jr., Nina, George (my dad), Joan, Janet, Paul, James, Carl and Doris.

My Paternal Great Grandparents:

-William Carol “Gov” Brawley (born 1872, Reynolds, Missouri)

-Rachel Ann Beck Brawley Smith (born 1880, Reynolds, Missouri)

-Martha Ann Ferguson Brawley (first wife, no children)

-Children: Ida May and Jess Sylvan (my grandfather).

William’s nickname was Gov. He was married briefly to a young lady named Martha Ann Ferguson in 1894, who died shortly after their marriage. He then married Rachel Beck, in 1897. He was a school teacher in a one room school in Sweetwater, Mo. He died suddenly in 1903 of “brain fever.” They packed him in ice, yet the thermometer still exploded. He had a dog named “Trail” who followed him everywhere. After his death, the dog would go down the road and wait for him to come home, as he always had. In her grief, Rachel would see something out in the field, thinking it was William, she would run out there, yet no one was there. She married Henry Smith in 1908.

My Paternal Great X2 Grandparents:

-William Carol Brawley, Sr. (born 1821, Rutherford, Tennessee)

-Mavilla (Brilla) Davis Brawley (born 1830, Gov’s mother)

-Nancy Albert (first wife, born 1817, Marion, Co., Ill.)

Gov’s dad would settle in Missouri. There is family lore that he, or maybe his brothers traveled west during the Gold Rush, there is no evidence of this. Another story was that he and his brothers may have killed a man using a stove pipe and had to flee Tennessee. This cannot be proven either. During this time, some of the Brawleys would settle in Illinois There were sets of Brawleys near Reynolds, Logan’s Creek and in Redford, Mo. There is a Brawley Creek in Mo, attributed to the family.

My Paternal Great X3 Grandparents:

-John Brawley (born 1789, North Carolina)

-Easter Dickey Brawley (born 1790, Rowan, North Carolina)

Hugh’s son John was the first generation of Brawley’s to be born in America, he and his family would migrate from North Carolina in 1812 into Tennessee, to Illinois, then to Missouri in the 1830s. John was elected as one of the first judges and justice of the peace in the newly formed Reynolds County in 1845.

My Paternal Great X4 Grandparents:

-Hugh Prior Brawley (born 1722, Ulster Ireland)

-Martha Brawley (born 1740, Gulford, North Carolina)

-Ruth Dreskell Brawley (first wife)

Hugh and Martha came to America sometime after 1759, setting in North Carolina. His family would migrate to Tennessee through the Cumberland Gap around 1812.

My Paternal Great X5 Grandparents:

-William Brawley (born 1685, Ulster Ireland)

-Margaret Woods Brawley (born 1689, Ulster, Londonderry, Ireland)

Original Brawley family in Ireland.

Brawley Album: