About 30 years ago my mother Verna Grace Teague Dykes handed me some rough notes and Bible records that documented the lineage of the Teague family which had migrated from Western North Carolina to Eastern Tennessee shortly after the Civil War. In continuing her research I learned that my Great-Great Grandfather Logan Columbus Teague had served in three different regiments raised in Caldwell County, NC during that conflict. Mom died before I discovered the location of the graves of Logan and his wife, Rachel Frances "Franey" Keller in Sullivan County, Tennessee. Karen L. Sherman published her book of Sullivan County, TN cemeteries in 1991. Mom's youngest brother Jasper James Teague and I placed new stones on the graves shortly thereafter. The old stones were still there but had been badly vandalized.   

During General Sherman's so called "March to the Sea" near the end of the Civil War, courthouses from Virginia to Florida were pillaged and burned. Needless to say, valuable historical records were lost forever. Cemetery stones have become a very important factor in documenting the lives of our Southern Ancestors. In 2006, I began a battle with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, a type of cancer that has been linked to my service in Vietnam and my exposure to Agent Orange. Because my immune system had taken quite a hit during Chemotherepy, I was instructed by my Oncologist to avoid contact with people as much as possible while recovering my health.  I decided the best place to avoid people is in a cemetery. While recovering, I was able to document a number of cemeteries in Watauga County, NC and Jefferson County, AL.  I placed these transcriptions on another website. I soon discovered that I needed to edit and update these transcriptions. Lord willing, I will continue to document the cemeteries in Jefferson County and elsewhere. I hope you folks enjoy a visit with your ancestors on these pages. The attached photo is of my son Chris and I at the gravesite of his Great-Great-Great Grandfather.

 Carl W. Dykes, Trussville, Alabama