As we continue to move toward our nation’s semiquincentennial, I’m still focusing on elements of the Revolutionary War effort of attaining independence and the related contributions and connections of families of the Fork, the Knox County lands between the French Broad and Holston Rivers.
This one goes out to all my Loveday kin in the Fork. And we are great in number.
You see, my dad was one of 11 siblings, 9 of whom survived into adulthood, and all but one of those had between 2 and 6 children of their own. In other words, I have a bunch of cousins. In fact, my mother came from the same situation. She, too, was one of 11 siblings, 9 of whom reached adulthood, and all but one had 2 to 5 children. I am one of 50 first cousins in my family tree. My four grandparents and their big broods were eventually neighbors in the Fork, which is how my parents met…