Celebration Sunday Genealogy Happy Dance

This is my first time participating in this genealogy writing event. I hope to make it a regular feature here.  The purpose of this event is to celebrate our genealogy discoveries of the week.

My discovery this week concerns my third great-grandfather Berry Madison Pressley.  Here is my path back to him:

Me>Madeline Spence>Maggie Pressley>Julius Jared Pressley>Richard Simpson Pressley>Berry Madison Pressley

I found an article in the Pickens Sentinel, Pickens, South Carolina, dated 25 May 1904, regarding the upcoming Old Soldiers' Celebration to be held on 3 June 1904. At this celebration, veterans of the War Between the States were to receive a Cross of Honor. This article lists Berry M. Pressley as one of the intended recipients. I found this article through Newspapers.com. 


Berry Madison Pressley was born 3 October 1824, in Pickens, South Carolina.  He enlisted in service to the Confederacy in 1862 in the 10th Battalion Cavalry.  He died 6 March 1909, in Pickens, South Carolina. He is buried, with a wife on either side of him, in the Sharon United Methodist Church Cemetery in Pendleton, South Carolina.


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Twisted Sisters - The Pressley Family

If you delve deep enough into the history and stories of your family, you are bound to come across a thing or two that causes you to scratch your head, or even develop a migraine. While working on the relationships of my 3rd great-grandparents, I found such a head-scratching, migraine-causing bit of information.

After my third great-grandmother died, my third great-grandfather remarried. Not a big deal, you say, and I can understand you thinking that. BUT, his second wife is the sister-in-law to one of his sons from the first wife. I have tried drawing this out on a family tree chart and there's no easy way to do it. Factoring in the second wife's parents, and my uncle via my original set of third great-grandparents, and the fact that now sisters are stepmother-in-law and stepdaughter-in-law, it really is a mess for me to try to map out. The image below was the only way that I could figure out to do it. Figuring out what everyone is to each other, in my opinion, is even more mind-boggling.

Pressley Family with a twist!

Berry Holland Pressley was the son of Berry Madison Pressley and his first wife Eliza. Berry Holland married Susan King in 1873. Berry Madison remarried and chose for his wife Tabitha King in 1872. By nature, Tabitha and Susan's children are first cousins. By that same nature, Berry Holland would be a half brother to any children that Berry Madison and his second wife had. So, his half siblings from his father's second union are now not only his half siblings, but are also his wife's nieces or nephews. Berry Madison's grandchildren through his son Berry Holland are also his nieces and nephews through his wife.

That's as far as I ever get because it gives me a headache. I am completely passionate about my family history, but the twisted parts really do a number on my head!