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A Casey Family History

The Family of Talitha Caroline Trail

One of my earliest memories is of my grandmother, Hazel Veasey Casey, whispering me to sleep with stories of movie stars, and painters (yes, she knew all the gossip from Da Vinci to Gauguin!), and the writers of the Algonquin roundtable. But the best stories were the family tales. She was born in 1914, and throughout her life one of the scariest stories told around Mount Vernon, Texas, was the story of Mrs. Casey, who was "hacked to pieces and hidden in a smokehouse". My grandmother grew up to marry the grandson of that unfortunate woman, and years later she would share with me the story. Whenever I read the newspaper clippings, I still get a chill.

The only name I knew for my Great-Great-Grandmother, was "Caroline Casey". And while Hazel had been right about the murder, she led me astray in several other areas. She never actually knew her husband's Grandmother -- only had snippets of information. She believed that Caroline was a Cherokee woman, that her father lived around East Texas, and his name was Jasper Trail. Those traditions were erroneous.

I "got online", as they say, in 1995. Sometime in 1997, genealogy sites started to spider out enough, that I could begin a little research. Now, I'm sure those of you who search the surname "Trail" know that it may as well be "Smith"! By the time you eliminate the state parks and the Native American roads, it is time to cook dinner! Thank goodness for Google and Rootsweb. It was only by happy accident that while obsessively searching through the 1850 Cass County, Georgia Census, my source for James and Anna Casey's family, that I stumbled onto the elusive Talitha (frequently mistranscribed as: Tabitha) Caroline Trail -- destined to marry another Cass County resident: Augustus W. Casey. I was ecstatic!

If you're researching the Trail / Traile / Traille family you know the rest; the internet data flows like water! With the kind and generous help of Jackie Trail McAbee, my database raneth over! I have only included a few generations on this website. Please send me an email if you need more, but I'm guessing that between the Corey and Samantha Jacobs Family Tree at Rootsweb and other sites you will find what you are looking for.

If, on the other hand, you are looking for something a little different from the romantic Scottish origins of the Trail family (which I cherish, but are abundant on the web), then spend some time perusing the life and times of another member of the Trail family: William Trail, a slave (or, dare I suggest, another relationship?) owned as property by Basil & Barbara Fryer Trail. Eileen Watson shared with me a remarkable and compelling story of a family rooted in independence, character, and perseverance. I hope Trail researchers will take the time to read some of William Trail's son, Barzillai (certainly a derivation of "Basil") Trail's story.

And so, to make a very long story longer...






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