Finding Direction: The Wind Vane Chronicles

Well, yesterday was a throwaway post.

(I'm sorry.  I couldn't resist.  I thought about that line all day long yesterday, but it was too late to put it in yesterday's post, so when it popped into my head again this morning I had to add it.)

 Moving on . . .

I have recently been thinking about my Scottish ancestry through both my dad's side of the family and my mom's due to my good blogging friend, Padraig Na Eilean Meadhon (a/k/a Patrick Mead), who has been writing the fascinating account of his own Scottish family history over at Patrick Mead, his brilliant title of his blog.  I feel my own colorful and storied ancestry pales in comparison to Patrick's, but I find it really interesting and compelling with shades of Braveheart thrown into the  mix as I read of the exploits and conquests of some of the Clan chieftains in past centuries. 

I belong to Clan Davidson, being born Dee Ann Davidson.  My dad was Eugene Neil Davidson and his recent family history lies in the small town of Oakman in northwestern Alabama near Jasper.  My dad's grandfather was Jeremiah Jerome Davidson, who, being a clan "chieftain," had 12 children.  Must pass on the Clan Davidson lineage, you know.  Jeremiah was one of 13 children, however, so was just carrying on the Davidson family tradition.

They were all members of the church of Christ, interestingly enough, which had to go back to about the time the churches of Christ first began meeting out of the Restoration Movement.  There is still a small church of Christ in Oakman, Alabama, that is pretty much a Davidson family church, which I think is really cool!

As family histories go with their weavings and turnings, I am also a Davidson on my mom's side of the family!  My maternal great-grandparents were Davidsons, too.  My great-grandfather (my mom's maternal granddad) was Charles Taylor Davidson of Virginia.

The latest and fullest history I have read about Clan Davidson came from some links Patrick sent me with lots of historical information and lots of pictures of the Clan Davidson tartan, as it has changed through the years.  I've been able to find the clan heritage, the clan crest and the clan shield, all of which I find interesting.

Here are some brief links to Clan Davidson information, which I think is a MUST read for a few minutes of your time, but then, I may be just a bit biased.

Here's the first - The Clan Shop: Davidson.

It shows the Clan Davidson tartan, as follows:

I love blues and greens with the red accent and have these colors in our house with white background, so am only following family tradition, it appears.

Our clan motto is "Wisely if Sincerely," which I also like.  I would like to think that I am carrying on the clan motto by being both sincere and wise in all of my dealings.  That definitely includes here at Finding Direction!

Here's the second link to Clan Davidson history, which I think you'll find Braveheart kind of interesting in reading the history of the Davidsons going all of the way back to the year 1450 A.D.:   Davidson.

Finally, and best as far as information of the Davidsons in both history and up through the present, here is the last link:  Clan Davidson Society USA

So . . . any Davidsons out there among you?  Any Davidsons in your family histories that you know of?  Are we kin? 

What is your family heritage?  Of what tribe or clan do you arise?

I love history and family genealogy and have decided that Tom and I need to take a weekend road trip in a couple of weeks up to Oakman.  It would only be about a five or six hour drive and mostly by Interstate, so would be the perfect weekend getaway.  We can go up I-59 to Meridian, Mississippi and on up to Tuscaloosa, Alabama and then straight (more or less, you know how "regular" roads are compared to interstates) north to Oakman, which is just south of Jasper.

We can visit the (hopefully still there) small Davidson family church of Christ and wander about the cemetery behind where I'm probably kin to at least 95% of the people there by birth or marriage.

I know that is true because my dad's granddad and grandmother not only had 12 children, one of my dad's uncles had 12 children as well!  In fact, my dad on his Davidson side had 64 first cousins!!  One day about 12 years ago in the ladies room at church in Slidell I was talking with one of the ladies about one of my uncles (my dad only had two brothers) and the other lady interjected in there - my mom is a Davidson.  It turned out that her mom, indeed, was my dad's first cousin!!

You know . . . we are all direct kin if we go far enough back in history and I think we need to remember that deep familial connection.  Sometimes in churches we let the smallest, pettiest things prevent us from reaching out in love to all of our "cousins" by flesh and brothers and sisters by spirit. 

So my parting words to you today are - "Have a great day full of blessings today, cuz!!  Cheers!  Dee

Trackback URI | Comments RSS