We are trying to build pages and sections for the siblings of Kizzie Comer Littrell, as well as any Comer families.
But we need more information from you, anybody, whoever, etc., etc., etc.
Do you know any Comer cousins, OR do you know anyone named Comer and wonder if they are related? Have them contact me: indianaglenn@gmail.com or send them a link to this post.
A: When my grandfather married Crutcher’s sister Kizzie the family story that was passed down was that the Comer family was none to happy about it. This story appears to have been subject to some exageration. I have no information of a connection between my grandfather and any Comer’s other than Kizzie and her brother LA (Lester). They migrated to the same part of Missuri and were neighbors when they died. I can’t prove or disprove an affection between the families and my great-grandfather Timmons, but I would point out that there was another Timmons in the area that might have had a greater infuence than my graeat-grandfather. That would be Timmons Sparkman, a Justice of the Peace. We know of this Timmons Sparkman because he performed the marriage between my great-grandparents Timmons Literal and Mary C. Urban. Quite a coincidence, but in truth we have no other Timmons in our Littrell family so there is some speculation that this Timmons Sparkman might be who our Timmons Literal is named after, and being a JoP in the community he might be just as likely be known to your mother when your brother was born.
What I have:
I have an Edna Norton (daughter of Ernest & Alice (Price) Norton) who married Millard Everett Johnson. Millard was the son of De Witt & Ettie (Comer) Johnson. is this connected to your Norton line? Ettie was Crutcher’s half-sister.
I have a school picture with Crutcher in it.
I have some pictures with my father (JD Littrell) and some unidentified Comer’s at Mt. Ranier and a beach in Washignton state.
The Comer family picture (w/2nd wife of Daniel (Ollie Ezell) when Crutcher was young..
And this family picture:
Standing L-R
Lester ~ Ettie ~ Crutcher ~ John ~ Virgie ~ Dellia ~ Ollie [Ezell] Comer
Setting L-R
Jessi ~ Albert ~ Bertha ~ Kizzie
For more information on The Comer Family check the The Comer Family page often.
WE need more information on the siblings of Crutcher(as well as on Crutcher)to make The Comer sections more complete.
Comer, James Littrell, John Littrell, Littrell, Belew, Thurman, Curtis, Shelton.
Migration from Lawrence County, TN to the bootheel of Missouri:
1940 Census:
see also 1930 Census entry for John Littrell & R. Benjamin Smith: Lawrence County, TN.
Susannah was born in Union Co., South Carolina, a daughter to Zachariah and Mary (Bullington) Belew. Susannah came from good sturdy stock. She and all of her siblings except one outlived their first spouse, made rough journeys across, states, mountains and river by horseback and wagon. Her ancestors were farmers by trade, soldiers by duty, good citizens by choice, Baptist by faith and prosperous by hard work and fearless ventures.
She married Daniel Comer in Union Co. and they had five children. Daniel died in 1825, and in 1827, she moved to Lawrence Co., TN with her children and her parents. Her oldest son, Jesse (age 11), rode the entire journey on horseback with his mother, over 450 miles.
On March 31, 1827 she buys 40 acres from her father, Zachariah. We don't know who inherited any lands owned by Zachariah and Mary Belew.
Her second marriage was to Aaron Springer after his first wife, Ruth (Little) Springer died - 11-24-1834. Aaron and Ruth had also made the journey from Union County, South Carolina.
Susannah died May 13, 1848 in Lawrence County, Tennessee. She is buried in an unmarked grave in Second Creek Cemetery.
Ancestor's mentioned in this analysis:
In the will of Jesse (1887) he describes his land as encompassing a creek running north and southwardly and Lambs Ferry Road doing the same.
The portion of the estate left to Daniel would be to the east of the creek and Susan portion (including the ‘mansion’) would be to the west, comprising 151 1/4 acres total. This land was deeded to Jesse from Bennie D. Todd and Jesse places its value at $1,000.00 .
From the description in the will we believe the land is about a half mile north of Bishop Chapel Road where for a little over half a mile Bluewater Creek and road are parallel. We assume this is the approximate location based on the description1 2 and on two other events:
Daniel’s children (including Kizzie) attended nearby Pebble Hill School.
Daniel and his wife, Ollie, are buried in nearby Bishop Chapel Cemetery.
Pebble Hill School 1902
(note Kizzie Comer is the barefoot little girl, 5th from the left, front row.)
Jesse’s will also contained other provisions, but they lack descriptions that might help identify their location:
He deeded to Daniel 25 acres he obtained from John W. Potts in 1869 and 19 acres from Rennie (Jesse’s uncle).
He willed that Daniel and Susan compensate their sister, Hannah, $166.00 each for her interest in the estate and that Daniel receive another 140 acres he had obtained from the heirs of Samuel Ellison.
He also willed that a 129 acres he had obtained from Renne be sold and proceeds from it and his personal property be sold at auction and the proceeds be divided between his three children, Hannah, Susan and Daniel. (Jesse had accumulated 138 acres from his uncle Rennie.)
Who was the J.H. Belew who signed as a witness? If he was the son of Dennis Belew what was the relationship between Dennis, JH and Jesse?
From: “The Littrell Family Journals: Volume II”,
book and full title still in pre-publication.
Reference notes:
1 In Jesse Comer's will he describes a creek running north and southwardly and Lambs Ferry Road doing the same.
2 Of course we acknowledge that our method of determining this possible location is unscientific and based on vague information. In addition this will was written over 120 years ago. While there might be only minor natural shifts in the course of Bluewater Creek over this period of time there could have been man-made shifts and the course of Lambs Ferry Road could have undergone major changes. But we put forth this theory in the hopes that those more familiar with the area might redirect us as is necessary. We of course will, in time, make our own visit to the area, but will it be productive?
While we have been developing the story of the family’s Missouri migration from Lawrence County, Tennessee to the bootheel region of Missouri we have seen more information falling in place on earlier migration stories:
These Virginia and South Carolina neighbors lived within miles of each other in their original neighborhoods and then in their new neighborhoods in Kentucky and Tennessee they once again were neighbors, and again in Missouri. In some cases they belonged to the same churches as each other in their state of origin and state of destination. They inter married with the same neighbors in both states and left families in their old neighborhoods with each migration. We can identify some moves as a group and some that were individual families moving over short periods of time.
Note: the below table and information has NOT been updated since 2006.
At the 2005 reunion in St. Louis (Wentzville) Jeffrey Dolan Littrell [a grandson of Jessie Daniel Littrell] told of a family tradition that his father told him about. It concerned a practice of naming the first born son in a manner that resulted in the initials "JD." This was the first I heard of this, but looking at the limited information I brought to the reunion it became apparent that there was an interesting pattern in the naming practices that had heretofore escaped me.
Has anyone else heard of this practice????
(see note at bottom of page)
In the case of John Daniel Littrell's family the following pattern emerged:
| Jessie Daniel (oldest son of John Daniel & Kizzie, of 12 children) | Jessie Dolan (oldest son of 8 children) | Jeffrey Dolan (oldest son of 5 children) | Jennica Devonne (oldest daughter) (other daughter also Jaemie Dannelle) | Jennica's first daughter named Jaclinn Diane (no sons) |
| Deanna J. (oldest daughter, second child of 5 children) | Jason Dolan (oldest son of 4 children) | |||
| Cheryl Marie (one of 5 children) | Jade Renae (oldest child of 3 children) | |||
| Gary Russell | Jesse Daniel (oldest son of 3 children) | |||
| Verily Viola "Sis" (oldest daughter of John Daniel & Kizzie, of 12 children) | J. Fred (only/oldest son of 5 children) | Jeff (oldest of 2 sons) | Jared Aaron (oldest of 2 sons/children) | |
| Gregory Wade (one of 2 sons) | Jennie Ann (only child) | |||
| Mable Lurene | Tony Reed (only son of 2 children) | Justin Reed (only son of 2 children) | ||
| Bertha (daughter of John Daniel & Kizzie, of 12 children) | Joyce Darlene (oldest daughter/child of 3 children) | |||
| Redford "Red" (son of John Daniel & Kizzie, of 12 children) | Janet Pandora (youngest of 2 children) | |||
| JD (son of John Daniel & Kizzie, of 12 children, the initials are believed to be for John Daniel Jr., even though JD adopted Junior Dolan) | Troy, Glenn & Richard | |||
| Leatha Mae (daughter of John Daniel & Kizzie, of 12 children) | Billy Lee (oldest son of 4 children) | Wayne Lee (oldest of 2 sons) | Jessica Leigh (younger of 2 children) | |
| Jeffrey Scot (youngest of 2 sons) | ||||
| Jerry Gale (second son of 4 children) | ||||
| Joyce (3rd of 4 children) | Jamie Doran (oldest son of 2 children) | |||
| OJ(son of John Daniel & Kizzie, of 12 children, his original name is unknown, OJ adopted Oliver James) | Sheila Diane (second of 5 children) | Joanna Christen (youngest of 2 daughters) | ||
| Wallace James (second son of 4 children) | Jamie (second son of 4 children) | |||
| Joshua Caleb (youngest of 4 children) | ||||
| Leslie "Les" (son of John Daniel & Kizzie, of 12 children) | John L. (only son/child) | Jenifer (first born) | ||
| John R. (only son) | ||||
| including John Daniel there are 3 JDs | 3 JDs | 3 JD | 3 JD | 1 JD |
Including Jesse's father John Daniel there are 13 JDs among his descendent, two of his sons (the first and fourth) are JDs. Of the remaining 10 JDs seven of them are descendants of Jesse, four are oldest sons and three are daughters in the absence of sons (2 of them are the first born). So if nothing else the tradition is evident in the descendants of John thru Jesse and two of his son's (out of six who had children).
Of the remaining 3 JDs one is an oldest child (daughter), one is the youngest child (daughter), and one is the oldest son.
The presence of the oldest child/son having the first initial of "J" is very common, but when taking the total number of first born the occurrence is not of a significant proportion. The presence of the "J" initial in John's siblings and uncles occur with the first born son in the case of his oldest brother, "James Carroll," and his uncle "James W". So what we do have is the oldest son of Eli is James W., the oldest son of Timmons (James W's brother) is John Carroll, the oldest son of his brother John Daniel is Jesse Daniel, his oldest son is Jessie Dolan, his oldest son is Jeffrey Dolan, his oldest child is Jennica Devonne, her oldest child is Jaclinn Diane. From Eli to Jaclinn there is at least one occurrence of an oldest child i each generation having the first initial of "J" for 7 generations!
NOTE: At the 2005 October Timmons Reunion (later that same year) I asked Jeffrey's Uncle Gary Littrell if he heard of this tradition and he had. After some discussion though we surmised that it wasn't a Littrell tradition but a Comer one carried on by Kizzie.
To wit:
Daniel Comer named his eldest son Jesse D. in 1816 (at least on of Jesse's daughters, Sarah Comer~Springer named her oldest son Jesse)
Jesse may have continued the tradition as his oldest son is John Comer, no knowledge of hi middle name.
Jesse's daughter Hannah Comer~Powell named her oldest son John Daniel Powell.
Jesse's second son, Daniel P. Comer, named his first son by his 1st wife John Comer, no knowledge of his middle name, and his second son by his second wife Jesse D. Comer
Daniel P. Comer's oldest daughter (our Kizzie) by his 2nd wife named her oldest son Jessie Daniel Littrell and her 5th son 'JD' (believed to be John Daniel, JR) and thus begins the chart above.
So there appears to be a Comer tradition, but like many family naming tradition the practice is not written in granite. Conflicts of two family traditions or other influences may forestall or modify the practice over time. Since we don't always know the complete name of our more distance Comer relatives we don't know how prevalent the practice was among other branches.
Growing up I had heard on several occasions that we had Native American ancestry. While the source was usually from my father (JD) I now I heard it from others too, I cannot recollect who but I'm sure he was not the loan source.
Since beginning the family research I have also been asked this question several times and usually the cousin asking it affirmed that they had heard the story too.
Seldom has the discussion resulted in any details or cited a firm source for the story, but over the years it seems to have centered around the Cherokee tribe and the most common lineage that has been suggested was from Kizzie Comer's line.
Having done first hand research or at least studied multiple second hand sources I can say with certainty:
Littrell line – Our direct Littrell line is traced back to the original immigrant stepping off the boat in Virginia circa 1670. From that Luttrell to John Daniel Littrell there are 4 marriages where the wife(mother) has only been identified by there first name. The three most recent marriages (John's, his father and grandfather) involve Kizzie (see below) Eli's wife (Mary Cox), and Timmons wife (Mary Catherine Urban)
We have identified Mary's parents and the general belief is that they were first or second generation immigrants.
Both sets of Mary Urban parents go back at least two generations. Her father was possibly born in Germany, we know he spoke German and his father was an immigrant. Any introduction of Native American ancestry on her mother's side would have had to have occurred prior to 1800.
Comer Line – Her direct Comer line goes back to the birth of her great-grandfather in 1780. Her grandfather's wife is identified as a Springer, a common family in their county in1821.That leaves her mother and the spouses of her her great-grandfather, Susannah Belue.
Susannah's grandfather, Rennie Belue, is believed to be a French Huguenot immigrant from the northern colonies. Rennie's tentatively identified wife's ancestry can be traced back another two more generations to 1737.
Kizzie's mother, Ollie Ezell, can trace her mother's ancestry back two more generations to William Poteet and his wife Jemina ?? to circa 1800s. Ollie's fathers line can be traced back to Timothy Ezell, born before 1628. Of those 6 generations there is only one unidentified wife and she was born before 1689.
As we can see there are several opportunities for one of those unidentified wives, or those male lines that do not originate with an identified immigrant, that would allow the introduction of an unidentified Native American. On the other-hand our ancestral lines present an above average line of ancestry. Throughout all my research, the research of others, and accepted historical research there is nothing to establish the existence of a Native American ancestry, but...
Where does the story come from?
Every family has stories that get passed down for generations. Over time these stories outgrow their originators and like a child’s game of 'telegraph' they take on facts and fictions that were absent in their original form.
In addition there are stories that are so common that they appear in the mythology of most families. Nearly every family has the brother vs brother conundrum of the civil war, or the family splitting-up or disowning each other over the spelling of the family name. Every southern family has a story about sons having to hide in the woods, getting fed through the floorboards and having to work the fields at night to avoid impressment gangs who roamed the countryside looking for deserters or eligible males trying to avoid conscription into the war. This last one is so prevalent that one has to wonder who was available to fight for the south. Our family has a version of all three of these stories.
The last point of origination for unconfirmed stories often lies with those like myself who, while trying to discover the facts of a family history, sometimes fall into the trap of trying to rationalize an explanation for every anomaly or un-provable fact. A perfect example is this article itself. While attempting to disprove or prove the family story I will do one of four things:
Prove it totally unfounded, without merit and stamp it with an adamant denial.
Declare it as unfounded, but not beyond being possible.
Find proof and establish the story as true to some degree or in some form.
Dispel the myth but find a logical explanation for how it came to exist, entered our family history, or speculate about possibilities.
Number 1 is virtually impossible to do, quite simply proving a negative is always difficult, but in genealogy it is inadvisable. Closing the door completely is contrary to the never ending mystery of solving the next problem.
Numbers 2, 3, and 4 will always have the effect of at the most clearing up the truth behind the myth, but with time the corrected story will be passed on and with each telling the facts will be forgotten, misstated or ignored until the story will return to the original, cloudy version we set out to prove or disprove.
So with that soon to be useless explanation let me clear the air, for the moment.
Our Native American Ancestry: The Descendents of John and Kizzie Littrell.
In 20 plus years of researching our ancestry I have not come across one reference to our direct ancestors being Native American. But I believe I have found a credible source for the stories origination and an explanation of how it was passed down and absorbed into our heritage.
As mentioned earlier the story as told sometimes referenced Kizzie's family line as the source of our suggested Native American ancestry.
At this point that does appear to be the case. At one point there a marriage to a Native American in her ancestral families, just not in her direct line, which means it isn't our ancestor. To wit:
Samuel Belew was the brother of Susannah Belew who married Daniel Comer. Susannah and Dan were Kizzie Comer's great-grandparents.
Samuel, born about 1795, married Mary Polly Bryant about 1813 in Union Co., SC. Mary was the daughter of John Bryant, a Cherokee Indian, born in Pendleton, Va.1
Susannah's migration to Lawrence Co., Tn occurred when her son Jesse was about 9 years old. The wagon train included Susannah's aged father and other family and neighbors, so it is reasonable that Jesse would be aware that his 1st cousins were part Native American.
As the story gets handed down from a young Jesse to his son Dan, to Kizzie and her siblings and half-siblings it would be natural for the details of an Uncle who was part Indian becoming an ancestor who was part Indian. Or as Dad would put it “We have Indian blood somewhere.”
More on Mary Polly Bryant Belew's 2 ancestry:
Mary's father, John Bryant was the son of Zachariah and Lucy Bryant. Zachariah was killed in the War of 1812. In 1817 Lucy is on the Reservation Indian Rolls and was granted 640 acre of land in Helen, Ga.3
“In 1826, after gold was discovered along Dukes Creek on her property, her home was taken from her by the laws of the land at that time. Indians were considered savages if not of the Caucasian race thus on census reports many hid the very fact that they were Indian. This is were we get the saying to day of "Black Dutch" many that claimed to be "Black Dutch" were really of mixed bread Indian or some other race. We don't know if Lucy was in the Trail of Tears or not but we do know her heart must have been heavy and she must have shed tears at the loss of her beautiful mountain land, all she owned, and the hatred that now spread across the land.” http://www.oocities.org/guledisgohnihi91/Chunannee.html
Because of the Gold that was found on her land and the waterfall thereon Lucy's land is now a tourist attraction. At the foot of the path that leads to the Chunannee Falls is a plaque that reads: 
“Chunannee Falls Land Lot 91: The 640 acre Reservation formerly known as Chunannee, was originally the home of Lucy Bryant/Briant. She was a Cherokee Indian widow, as shown on the Reservation Roll of 1817, who was granted this land under the provisions of article 8 in the Treaty of July 8,1817. It was here on Duke's Creek that gold was first discovered in 1828.”
Glenn Littrell: 2013
1Assuming that John was full blooded, and his wife Fanny was not, then Samuel Belews children would be 1/4 Cherokee and Susannah's children would be 1st cousins.
2The story and details of Mary come from several citable sources, but the source that pulls all the details together comes from Bill Sherrill in the form of an untitled document that list no author or resources.
3 Turkey Town Treaty 7-8-1817
The only memory I have of Kizzie’s mother is when she was lying on her death bed at John & Kizzie’s homestead in East Prairies, Mo. All the kids were sent outside, we were playing on that old tree that had the giant knotted roots that you could set on or walk on all the way around the tree. Even then we were to noisy (her window was on that trees aide of the house) so were were chastised again for being noisy.
After she died her body was transported back to Lawrence County, TN. GlennDL
One of Lawrence's Oldest Ladies Dies: Second Oldest Citizen In Second Civil District
Mrs. Ollie Ezell Comer, second oldest citizen of the Second District of Lawrence County, died Monday night at the home of her daughter Mrs. John Littrell, East Prairie, Missouri. The body was brought to the home of her son Jesse Comer, at Loretto, and funeral services were to be held this [Thursday] afternoon at 1:00 o'clock Liberty Grove Church with the Rev. Henry Yeager officiating, and burial in Bishop Chapel Cemetery with the Osbo [rn] Funeral Home of Loretto having charge of the arrangements.
--Mrs. Comer was born January 26, 1863, in this county; she was the daughter of the late Harb and Sinthia Potete Ezell, and granddaughter of William and Jimima Potete, pioneer citizens of Lawrence County. The Potetes helped organize Second Creek church on June 26, 1830, and also played an important role in the first county government during and following David Crockett's life.
Mrs. Comer united with Missionary Baptist Church in early life. She was married to Daniel Patrick Comer in 1883 and to this union eight children were born, one of whom, Mrs. Virgie Marks is deceased. She also had 5 step children, Mrs. Ettie Johnson, Mrs. Dellie Murrell, Miss Laura Comer, Johnny and Taylor Comer all of whom are deceased. She is survived by seven children Mrs. Bertha Taylor, of the Liberty Grove Community; Mrs. John Littrell, of Missouri; Leslie Comer, of East Prairie, Missouri; Crutcher Comer, of Russellvile, Alabama; Jesse Comer, of Loretto; Bob Comer, of this city;, and Albert Comer, of Indiana. She is also survived by 57 grandchildren, 116 great-grandchildren, and 20 great-great-grandchildren.
This Obituary was provided by Jesse Comer of Cedar Lake, Indiana.
pictured: Leslie, Ollie F. Ezell~Comer , Albert, & Bob Comer
Taken during JD’s second time stationed at Ft. Lewis, Washington. Hopeful that I can identify the Comer branch in the next few months (probably have it on file now but research is directed somewhere else for now), but thought I would put it out there in case anyone has information.
First picture inscription: "On the ocean beach, we was clam digging. Got our limit. We are drinking coffee. Mike Comer (?) I don't know the other boy, the next one is Bob Comer, Steve Comer, Vergle Wife Katheline, Louie + me."
Second picture inscription: "This is Mt. Ranier, snow on the ground and realy hot.”
Third Picture inscription: "I caught 4 like the one in my hand, and I got two sharks. WoW. The guy in the center caught the big one. JD, Washington"
Just came across this ten minutes after I posted the above
Daniel Comer was the father of Kizzie Comer Littrell [sitting on his lap]. Besides being related to Donie Ezell Littrell by marraige [the brothers John and James, respectivly] Kizzie and Donie were also first cousins by birth as Kizzie's mother Ollie [above] was Donie's aunt.
