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Happy Holidays

Findley Family Farm - Benjamin Franklin Findley

Findley heir holds on to heritage
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by Rosemary Taylor

May 05, 2005

Today when Gene Findley Jr. stands on the Duluth land that's been in his family since 1850 he can still see some remnants of the nearly 3,000 acres his family once owned.

He can see the farmhouse his great-grandfather built in 1878. He can also see the original Findley Road – the one graded in the 1930s with mule-drawn equipment.

And if he looks really hard, he can still see a smidgeon of the woods where he used to play as a child.

But what Findley sees the most are the modern subdivisions that surround Findley Farm, the homestead where he lives with his wife and horses.

Two years ago, he bought back six adjoining acres his father sold years ago just to keep a developer from getting it.

"It was the only way we could keep living in the old farmhouse," he said.

As it is now, when he looks out his windows Findley sees subdivisions on three sides of his house. Thanks to that extra acreage, he can see woods on one side — for now.

He knows he can't fight progress. Who can?

But he's trying to do everything he can to hold on to the last 10 acres he has that connect him to his Scots-Irish ancestors who first walked on this land nearly 175 years ago.

His great-great-grandfather Benjamin Franklin Findley came to the Sheltonville (later known as Shakerag) area of Milton County from South Carolina in the late 1830s.

He came to find gold, for those were the gold fever days in Georgia. He did find some gold in Cauley Creek and Johns Creek, and then did well up in Dahlonega in what became America's first gold rush in the 1840s.

Bit by the even bigger California Gold Rush, Benjamin Franklin Findley set out in 1849, riding a mule through the jungles of Panama part of the way, and found lots of gold out West.

With those riches, he came back to Georgia and bought 135 acres of farmland near the current intersection of Medlock Bridge Road and McGinnis Ferry Road.

He grew cash crops of cotton and corn and became a successful farmer with nine children, who farmed the land with him.

Three of his sons bought farmland adjacent to his, increasing the size of the family's holdings and branching out into a dairy business, coal company and feed mill as the 19th century slowly turned toward the 20th century.

Through the Depression of the 1930s the Findleys held on, and did well in the cattle business shortly after World War II.

They continued to farm the land into the early 1970s. At their high point, Benjamin Franklin Findley's descendents owned nearly 3,000 acres of land surrounding present-day Sargent Road, Medlock Bridge, Jones Bridge and Abbotts Bridge Road.

Following the deaths of two of Benjamin's grandsons, a large amount of acreage from their estates was sold in 1963 for the developments of Johns Creek Technology Park and the Standard Golf Club.

From then on, bit by bit, most of the Findley property, once one of the largest landholdings in North Fulton, was sold off for residential and commercial development.

After all, nine children produced many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

That many people are not going to see eye-to-eye on the pros and cons of development, and most of Benjamin's descendents have moved on from the area.

Unlike them, Gene Findley Jr. has not.

"Other than a couple of years when I was younger, I've pretty much always lived somewhere on Findley land," he said one recent afternoon as he worked around his place.

Through the years he's adjusted to all the development, taking it in stride as much as possible.

"The county wanted to change the name of Findley Road to something else when they re-routed all the roads after Johns Creek came in, but our neighbors stood up for us and said no."

His father, Gene Findley Sr., 80, suffered a stroke a few years ago. The only thing he talks about now are his childhood days hunting with his 'coon dogs on his family's land —- stretching so far he couldn't see the end of it.

Now his son is holding on to his dad's memories as well as his own. He is involved in historic preservation in Johns Creek, helping to preserve some of the few remaining historical buildings such as the Warsaw Methodist Church. He also is a Civil War re-enactor and often gives talks to students at Findley Elementary while in uniform.

"I'm trying to take care of our past, our present and our future. We'll stay here as long as we can."

Breakfast Casserole Recipe

Breakfast Casserole Recipe from Daniel's aunt Diane:


6 Eggs Slightly Beaten
1 Pound Sausage Browned and Scrambled
2 Cups Milk
1 Cup Grated Cheese (I usually use more)
1 Teaspoon Dry Mustard


Bake on about 350 until done.

Happy Holidays

Benjamin Franklin Findley - Daniel's Great-Great-Great Grandfather

Benjamin Franklin Findley born in South Carolina on 1826-03-14, married in Forsyth County, Georgia to Amanda Constantine Jones on 1848-01-02, died in Milton County, Georgia on 1912-11-14. The son of Henry Findley and Mary Barrett. Father of Franklin California Findley and grandfather of Dumont Lee Findley.

The Findley Lineage:

?Moses Fendley b 20 Aug 1769 Jamestown, James City Co VA m Margaret Robinson/Robertson d 18 Jan 1841 Greenville SC

?Henry Fendley b 1794 Edgefield Co SC m Mary Barrett d 7 Jan 1878 Bartow AL

Benjamin Franklin Findley b 14 Mar 1826 SC or GA m 2 Jan 1848 Amanda Constantine Jones d 14 Nov 1912

Franklin California Findley b 11 Dec 1851 GA m 7 Nov 1878 Julia Pauline Martin d 8 Apr 1934

Dumont Lee Findley b 1890 m Ora Lula Jackson d 1956

Hiram Franklin Findley b 17 Jan 1931 Milton Co, GA m 17 Jan 1952 Lucy Barbara Harris d 5 Jul 1999 Tucker GA

Hiram Franklin Findley Jr b 4 Oct 1953 Fort Benning, GA m 5 June 1977 Janet Sue Greenberger

Daniel Jonathan Findley b 1 Oct 1983 Dalton, GA m 28 April 2007 Rachel Marie Chilcot

Amanda Constantine Jones born in Forsyth County, Georgia on 1828-08-30, married to Benjamin Franklin Findley, died in Milton County, Georgia, 1905-05-04. Daughter of Lemuel Brereton Jones and Susan White.

Grave of Benjamin & Amanda at Warsaw Church and Cemetery in Milton County, Georgia.

Interesting information about Warsaw Cemetery:

http://www.save-warsaw.com/warsaw[03].htm

Sophia Meyer - Daniel's Great Great Aunt

Sophia Meyer was born in 1892 and lived until 1985. She was born in St Louis, Missouri (see birth registry from February 1892 below). Sophia was grandma Jane's aunt through her mother, Margaret (also known as Johanna Marguerite Meyer). Grandma Jane said Sophia was always popular among the nieces and nephews.

Sophia was the daugther of Nathan Meyer (1855-1936) and Rose Rosentreter (1868-1957). Sophia's siblings included: Milton, Frieda, Gertie, Henry, Martha, Herbert, Alice Pearl, Johanna, and Alvin.

Gertie (born in 1984) and her sister, Sophia (standing)

Sophia's name is the 6th from bottom on the left page in the top group of names.

Sophia in Palm Springs in 1977

Happy Holidays

Buttermints Recipe

Buttermints

Ingredients:

• 3 cups Dixie Crystals sugar
• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup water
• 6-8 drops pure peppermint oil (http://www.lorannoils.com/)
• Food Color, (gel-type, such as Wilton’s)
• Professional Candy Thermometer (Wilton’s Brand)
• 3 Qt. Revere Ware Pot
• Marble (14 x 26 x 1 inch thick, polished and sealed)
• Rubber Spatula (high-heat resistant)
• Metal Old Fashioned Spatula
• Scissors (no teeth)
• Metal tin to store mints
• Wax Paper

Work Preparation Area:

• Assemble all the tools and ingredients to make the mints.
• Spread a light coat of butter or margarine onto the entire top surface area of the marble. Room temp marble is sufficiently cold. No need to chill the marble.
• Lay out your tools for easy access during mint preparation.
• Have a dishpan or container of sudsy water in which to put your thermometer when you take it out of the hot candy.

Making the BUTTERMINTS:

1. Place pot on burner. Add water and butter. Turn heat on low and melt.
2. After the mixture dissolves, add sugar and mix well with spoon. No need to stir anymore.
3. Place and clip professional thermometer on side of pot. Do not use cheap glass thermometers. They can break and they are not calibrated.
4. Turn heat up to approximately medium high. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil. Note: You have to learn to adjust the heat under your pot. You want it just hot enough to bring the candy to a full rolling boil. My unit has numbers from 0 to 10. I start my candy on 9, then after 5 minutes turn it up to 9.5 and then at about 8 minutes, I turn it up to 10.
5. Set a timer for 15 minutes and watch your time. You never need to cook this candy over 15 minutes. It will reach the right temperature in about 15 minutes.
6. After the candy cooks about 5 minutes, the mixture will “settle” down in the pot some. It is chemically changing and thickening. At this point I turn my heat up a tad. Watch the thermometer, the temperature is rising.
7. At about 8 minutes to 10 minutes, I turn my heat up to 10. The mixture is thickening and at about 15 minutes, you will reach the desired temp of Hard-Ball stage, which is 260 degrees. During the last 5 minutes, watch the temperature very closely. Do not be distracted or you will overcook it!
8. When it reaches this temperature, remove the pot from the unit. Put the thermometer into the sudsy water you have prepared, and with the spatula in hand, pour the hot candy mixture up and down the length of the marble. Clean out the pot quickly with the spatula and run hot sudsy water into the pot to soak while you finish the mint process.
9. The hot candy will spread out very thin on the marble. The cold marble will cool the candy very fast. ADD the peppermint oil with a dropper and a very very tiny amount of food color if you want color. They are very pretty with no color at all. Do not make them dark colors, looks awful.
10. Test the edges of the cooling candy by lifting them slightly with your fingers. The middle of the candy area is still very hot, but the outer edges are getting cool and harden. Turn all of the outer edges of the candy into the center of the candy area and smush it down with your fingers and palm of your hands.
11. You want to keep this entire mass of candy cooling consistently on the marble. No hard edges or lumps, etc.
12. You maximize three areas of the marble to cool the candy mixture: the center of the marble first, then the left-hand end of the marble and then the far right-hand end of the marble.
13. After the candy has been at the center of the marble for about 2 minutes, roll it down to the left-hand end of the marble and smush it out to absorb the coldness of the marble on that end. (Keep and old-fashioned metal pancake flipper utensil handy to use in case candy tries to stick to the marble) Wait about 1 minute for it to cool at the left hand end.
14. Then roll up the candy and move it to the other end of the marble and smush it out. It will be much firmer and cooler now and you will really have to smush it hard to spread it out. Only experience can dictate the right time to pick the candy up from this point to start pulling it.
15. When you first pick up the candy off the marble, squeeze it into an oblong shape, and pull it out just a little bit. Then loop the end furthest away from you (hold it with your right hand) back over the end that you have in your left hand. Don’t position the ends evenly; lap them over a couple of inches. Then twist the entire loop together and pull it out some. Don’t get carried away and pull it out too far. Just pull it a little ways and then loop it over again, and then twist it together and pull it out again. It only takes about 3 to 5 minutes for the candy to get to the right consistency. You can’t go too fast or too slow or it won’t do right. If you pull it too long, it will mess up. So, timing is everything! The candy gets glossy and harder to pull as it reaches the time to stop pulling it.
16. At a clear spot on your counter (not on top of the marble) pull and twist out the candy into a long rope that looks like a big lasso rope. Cut into 3 or 4 equal segments. Then stretch and twist these pieces out until they are about two feet long. Twisting it makes it pretty and you can just more effectively stretch out the candy if you twist and pull it out into long ropes. With old scissors or OXO brand spring-loaded scissors, snip the candy into half-inch long pieces.
17. Use candy tins that are wide and flat. Put a layer of wax paper in the bottom of the tin. Place half the mints here. Add one more layer of wax paper and add the other half of the mints. A few may stick together, that is fine, as they will break apart after they cure out. Shut the tin and let them cure out for at least 12 hours. If not eaten in one week, store in refrigerator. They freeze really well.

More Insights.....

Identifying The Correct Temperature for Your Buttermints:

• The most difficult task when you make buttermints is determining the correct temperature for cooking them at your home. It varies because of differences in elevation, humidity, and different brands of thermometers. At my house, I cook them to 258-260 degrees. Keep in mind a rainy day can affect the temp a few degrees. You know you are really good when you can make these on a rainy day!
• If you undercook the candy mixture, it will be too stringy and soft in your hands when you start to pull it. If you overcook the candy, it will get hard on the marble way too fast and you will panic and try to pick it up and pull it and that is when folks get blisters trying to pull hot candy.
• Beginners should start with half recipes so it will be easier to handle and pull and if it messes up they won’t have wasted as much. Humidity affects them in the summer, best to turn the air conditioning on and they will behave. It takes them longer to cure out in the winter.

Practice and persistence is all it takes to make buttermints. They are a chemical process and when they mess up, you have to figure out why and correct it when you make the next batch. If you undercook a batch, you can put the candy back in the pot and cook it over. Add the same amount of water and you will have to add the peppermint oil again as it will evaporate out when boiled. Ironically, a batch cooked over tastes even better!

It is now your honor and responsibility to pass on this old tradition of candy making. May you meet as many nice folks as I have in this endeavor.

Recipe from Our State magazine.

Happy Holidays

Zucchini Nut Bread

Jan's Recipe for Zucchini Nut Bread

• 3 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups raw grated zucchini, drained
• 1 cup cooking oil
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• 3 cups self rising flour
• 3 t. cinnamon
• Half cup of chopped walnuts

1. Beat eggs until foamy. Add oil, sugar and vanilla. Mix well.
2. Stir in grated zucchini
3. Add flour & cinnamon to it and stir well
4. Fold in nuts
5. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans and bake at 325 for an hour

Cheese Straws

Daniel's aunt Diane's cheese straw recipe:

• 8 oz Sharp or Extra Sharp Shredded Cheese (Not preshredded)
• 2 Sticks Margarine – Blue Bonnet or Parkay
• ¾ Teaspoon Salt
• ¾ Teaspoon Red Pepper
• 2 Cups Plain Flour

1. Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth. Sift flour, salt and redpepper together. Slowly add flour mix to the cheese and butter. Put through cookie press. Cook for about 15-20 minutes @ 375 degrees.
2. You have to feel the cooked straws to make sure they are done. I have not tried it, but someone told me to use a ziplock bag and cut the corner off it and put a straw tip to squeeze out the straws.

Happy Holidays

Credit Freeze - Free in North Carolina

To protect ourselves financially, we decided to freeze our credit.  That means no one else can open a line of credit unless we use our personal identification number (PIN) that only we know and can use to temporarily "thaw" our credit so that legitimate applications for credit and services can be processed. If we need a new line of credit to be opened, we can ask that company which credit company they use and “thaw” that credit line temporarily.  The North Carolina Department of Justice has provided this (or arranged for it to be provided) to citizens for free, so freezing and thawing your credit is free to do online as often as you need. 

Credit freezes are one of the most effective tools against economic ID theft available to consumers. They allow you to seal your credit reports and that added layer of security means that thieves can't establish new credit in your name even if they are able to obtain your ID. This is a great way to have some peace of mind that your identity is safer than without it.  It's important to protect your PIN number and make sure no one gets it.

More information is available at the links below:

North Carolina Links to Free Credit Freeze

Credit Freeze Information for Other States

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays

Happy Wolfpack Holidays!

William Green Aultman - Daniel's Great-Great-Great Grandfather

The Aultman Family (circa 1890)
From Left to Right
(Name, Relation to Daniel Findley, Information)

1. Unidentified

2. William Green Aultman
3rd Great Grandfather
Born: October 19, 1842
Husband of Sarah

3. Sarah Margaret Giles
3rd Great Grandmother
Born: September 17, 1841
Died: May 24, 1909
Wife of William

4. Fannie Aultman
2nd Great Grand Aunt

5. Walter Aultman
2nd Great Grand Uncle

6. Jeff Aultman
2nd Great Grand Uncle

7. Thomas Franklin Marshall
2nd Great Grandfather
Born: December 8, 1875
Byron, Crawford, GA
Died: August 26, 1931
Bibb County, GA
Married Lucy on March 8, 1898

8. Lucy Aultman Marshall
2nd Great Grandmother
Born: October 7, 1880
Crawford County, GA
Died: December 15, 1954
Macon, Bibb, Georgia
Married Thomas on March 8, 1898

9. Delilah Aultman Gibson
2nd Great Grand Aunt
Born: September 18, 1874
With Unidentified Baby
Wife of John

10. John Gibson
2nd Great Grand Uncle
Husband of Delilah


Family Lineage:
William Green Aultman and Sarah Margaret Giles parents of Lucy Aultman Marshall
John L. Marshall and Martha Tharpe parents of Thomas Franklin Marshall
Lucy Aultman Marshall and Thomas Franklin Marshall parents of Jewel Inez Marshall
Jewel Inez Marshall and Lonnie Leroy Harris parents of Lucy Barbara Harris
Lucy Barbara Harris and Hiram Franklin Findley Sr parents of Hiram Franklin Findley Jr.



William's Civil War Experience

William Green Aultman (known as Green Aultman in the family) reportedly walked from Macon, GA to Atlanta, GA barefoot to join the Confederate Army. His pension application from 1919 is shown below. Green was born on October 19, 1842 in Crawford County, Georgia and died April 14, 1928 in Houston County, Georgia.

He enlisted as a Private in the Confederate Army on May 3, 1862 and joined Company F, 57th Infantry Regiment Georgia on May 24, 1862.

Green transferred out of Company F, 57th Infantry Regiment Georgia on April 9,1865 in Smithfield, NC. Then transferred Company D, 1st Consolidated Infantry Regiment Georgia on April 9, 1865. Company D, 1st Consolidated Infantry Regiment Georgia on surrendered on April 26, 1865 in Greensboro, NC.

The Easiest Lemon Pie Ever

Grandma Jane's famous lemonade pie (and it's easy enough for Daniel to make):

Ingredients:

• 8” graham cracker pie crust
• 6 oz can frozen lemonade, defrosted
• 1 can fat free Eagle Brand condensed milk
• 8 oz fat free cool whip, defrosted

Directions:

1. Pour lemonade into bowl, stir in condensed milk
2. Fold in whipped topping
3. Pour mixture into graham cracker crust, cover w/ plastic wrap, and freeze at least 1-2 hours before serving. Pie does not need to be defrosted before serving.

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays