In short, yes.
This trip to Alabama, I had the luck to visit the town of Leeds, where Davidson and Margaret lived, and where John L. was born. Leeds is one of only two towns in AL to be located in three counties: Shelby, Jefferson, and St. Clair. The city is located on the well-known Montevallo to Ashville stagecoach route. That's Route 411/119. I drove as far as Mt. Hebron Church, where Davidson, Margaret, John L., and other McGuires worshipped. It's about six miles south of town on the left hand side of the road in Jefferson County.
Turning around and heading north (actually northeast) along 119, I passed Deshazo Dr. on the right, Thomas Rowan's restored Rowan Oaks house on the left; Jonathon W. Bass's lovely gingerbread house on the right, all in Jefferson County. Going through the center of town, I passed into St. Clair County when 119 became 411 again. About four miles north of town was Bethel Church on the right.
Members earlier associated with Mt. Hebron founded Bethel Baptist Church in 1832. In fact, one of the reasons they gave for starting BBC was that that "it was too far to drive an ox cart to Hebron for services..." A quick history of BBC is located here:
http://www.stclaircountyal.com/history/history015.shtml
We know for a fact that Davidson's land was located near the current LeHigh Cement company. (See my recent post for the exact location and satellite image.) At the accepted rate of speed for a laden carriage and horse of four to eight miles per hour, Davidson and Margaret would have driven around an hour to get to church. It would have taken less time for them to go to BBC, but there is no proof that they ever did.
Back to Britta.
The first time we see her, she is living with her (probable) sister Mary Ann Green McKinney and brother-in-law J. P. McKinney in Shelby County in 1850. John P. is listed first, then Mary Ann, then all their children. Next comes Nancy Greene, 56, born NC, and finally Beauty or Britty Ann (McKinney--mistakenly). She is listed in a position usually associated with a sister of head of household and his family; she is also listed after Nancy, which may indicate that Nancy is her mother. But no family relationships are reported here.
In every following federal census, Britta's parents are listed as coming from either NC, SC, or both. Never GA or TN. Her obit states:
"She was a native Alabamian and was the widow of the late (B.A.?) Flynn,
of Gate City. Mrs. Flynn had spent practically all of her life in the
state- in the vicinity of Irondale and Gate City, and was very well
known in that region."
According to the federal censuses, she also lived in Shelby and Bibb Counties, as well as in Jefferson.
As far as I have been able to discover, there are no Greens or Greenes of the right ages and home states in Jefferson, Shelby, or Bibb Counties from 1850 on. There are, however, two Green families in St. Clair County who are the right ages and both partners come from either NC or SC. These are Abraham and Armetta Dill Green, and Burwell and Drucilla Jincey Crump Green. Both families have circumstantial ties to Britta, which I will explore in a future post.
And there are always the other possibilities, for example, that Nancy Greene is Britta's mother and her husband died prior to 1850, which is why Britta and Nancy are living with the McKinneys. Or that Nancy is the girls' aunt, and their parents died prior to 1850, leaving precious few clues to their identities.
But--is it POSSIBLE that Britta came from St. Clair County?
Considering the short distance to St. Clair from where she lived in 1860--
Considering the two pairs of the right ages and home states who match the profile of her parents in St. Clair at the right time--
Yes, it's possible.
