My father, Colonel George Freels, was born in Soper, OK in 1941 to George Washington Freels and Ruby Faye Guthrie. At an early age, my dad moved to California and that is where he group up for the most part. He arrived with his parents to the Los Angeles area and then moved up to Hardin Flat, next to Yosemite National Park.
One of my dad's passions was music. He was in a few different bands. The picture below was one of the earlier bands my father was in, Colonel and The Majors.
Later, my father teamed up with an upcoming Country & Western music artist, regionally known as Bobby Wyld. Bobby Wyld was quite talented. He was well-received regionally and had already made records when my daddy joined his group.
Bobby Wyld had already worked with artists such as Jeannie C. Riley and Lefty Frizell. The photo above was just one more accomplishment to his career and my father, Colonel, was a part of it. The Grand Ole Opry above took place at the Tuolumne County Fairgrounds in Sonora, CA. It was quite the success and as noted in the announcement, there were several famous music personalities there.
Below are a couple of pictures of Bobby Wyld and The Chaparrals.
In the band, my dad played lead guitar, bass guitar and sang both lead and back up vocals. He also did a radio program with Bobby Wyld on a local radio station in Sonora, CA. The band toured extensively on the West Coast and throughout the Western U.S. They even recorded a few records. The group was on the verge of making it big, but it didn't pan out. The business is "make you or break you" and perhaps it was just not meant to be for the group. Bobby Wyld suddenly left the group and even though the group continued singing for several years after his departure, it just wasn't the same. Bobby Wyld took with him a bundle of talent and years of music savvy that just could not be duplicated again.
My dad, the musician, Colonel George Freels.
The Guthrie family has been a rather difficult family to research. An air of mystery abounds when one embarks on this research project. Our family records indicate that our oldes known and documentable ancestor is Elzie Calhoun Guthrie. He was born in Tyler, Smith Co., TX on 1 Jan 1852.
Although not 100% proven at this time, the writer feels that the Guthrie family in this census is the correct one. The problem lies in that the child listed in the census is the right age but the wrong name. However, the writer feels that the child is Elzie Calhoun Guthrie. William and Emily (Draper) Guthrie, the subjects in the census did not have any known children. It is quite possible that William and Emily were merely taking care of a siblings child. By 1870, William and Emily Guthrie had moved to Grayson Co., TX.
The previous mentioned "Calvin Everett Guthrie" from the 1860 census is not listed. He probably had left home. But after an exhaustive search for a trace of Calvin, I have concluded that he either died or as most of us suspect he became Elzie Calhoun Guthrie. The family story is that Elzie went to work with John Moten. So he apparently was working for John by 1870. However, I have failed to locate John Moten on a census.
Based on this research, opinions of other researchers, and of just a "gut feeling," it is my opinion that Calvin and Elzie are the same person. What appears to have happened is that Elzie Calhoun Guthrie's mother had a child by a Guthrie man, most likely the brother to William Guthrie (husband of Emily Draper). We now suspect her name was Mary Calhoun, daughter of Elzie & Rachel Calhoun. Perhaps, she was unable to care for the child and left him with William and Emily to take care of. Later, she married Samuel Caldwell and had children (more on this family later). Samuel Caldwell and Mary had a son named Harper Caldwell.
Harper is a known half-brother to Elzie. This Harper Caldwell, who apparently used Guthrie and then Moten as last names, has an odd and unusual name and I feel confident that Harper Caldwell is the half-brother to Elzie Calhoun Guthrie.
In any event, more research is needed. I will continue to post my research on here regarding this family. And I welcome your comments.
It was rather difficult locating our Ainsworth family in the 1850 census. As you will notice the names of the heads of household are missing from our Ainsworth households. However, a careful study of the children's names reveal that the bottom families on the census page belong to us (except the very last family).
Our J.A. or Joab Ainsworth was married to Evaline. It is not clear if she is the mother of all of the children, but possibly could have been. The next household after Joab is that of his son James Preston Ainsworth or Jimpa. Mary is his wife and the unnamed 1 year old is Joab Ainsworth, his son.
Joab Ainsworth is our earliest known Ainsworth ancestor. He was born about 1796 in South Carolina. There is some speculation that he is the son of Thomas Ainsworth and Sarah Finch, but the writer has not seen any definite proof. It is known however, that Joab had a brother named Nathaniel and a brother named Caswell. Both Joab and Caswell move westward to Texas later. However, as it can be seen, Joab is in Butler Co., AL in the 1840 census.
My Freels family heritage appears to begin with Thomas Freels (or Frields) as it is spelt in some records. He was born 1755-1760. It is the writer's belief that he was born in that part of North Carolina that later became Eastern Tennessee. Or it is quite possible that he was born in North Carolina and moved south to Georgia and then up to Eastern Tennessee. Whatever the case may be, he was most definitely in Knox Co., TN on May 25, 1798 when he married Polly Matlock.
Basically, this is just a warm welcome to all researchers of the Freels family. Please feel free to leave a comments on your research interests. You may leave photos as well. Hopefully, someone will come along with similar interests and be that "missing link". Enjoy!
