How the Story of a Ticking Watch Roused an Interest in the Ancestors

L-R: Martha Holland, daughter, grandchild. Center: Jane Smith Clements Brent. Right: Ty Brent. The two sons of Ty and Jane Brent.

Recently, my sister, Marianne, died and I was invited to speak at the funeral. When we were little, my sisters and I frequently listened to family stories from the lips of our grandmother. She mostly told about the old Davis Smith Plantation near Forsyth, Georgia.

But I wanted to know more, to put all the parts together. But it was not until I…