Published in the D.A.R. Patience Wright Chapter, Laguna Beach, CA – April 2019

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One Daughter’s Ancestral Story – Suzanne O’Rourke I am a California born DAR sister, but had always been drawn to North Carolina where my father’s family settled in the 1740s. While in NC, I let my husband, John, know that we needed to drive to Chapel Hill and find the old homestead. I had heard that until about 20 years ago, it had still been in the family, but no one could verify that.
John being the curious type said, “Sure, why not.” Our first stop was at the Orange County Deed Department where we were allowed to dig through old land grant records, and eventually made a copy of a hand drawn map that showed George Long’s 100-acre farm alongside “Long Creek” and a few other geographic landmarks. Keep in mind in the 1740s this land was under assault during the French Indian wars and was densely wooded wilderness.
We did some triangulation that day and looked at several old churches and small cemeteries. While in one of the cemeteries, a woman drove up, got out of her car and walked up to us to ask, “Can I help you?” I explained we were just looking for some ancestors’ tombstones for the Long family. She quickly responded, “Oh, there is only one Long left around these parts, and that is Jack Long. But he’s at death’s door. He lives on the corner of these two roads in a small red brick house and you should go see him right away.” Well it was getting late on a beautiful Carolina summer evening, and we decided it would be bad form to drop in on an elderly sick person.
Three years passed, and we found ourselves back in North Carolina. I wanted to resume the hunt. We packed our map and headed out. This time we stopped by a small log cabin where a woman, Beverly, was sitting out enjoying her coffee. We told her of our quest to find the ancestral home of the Long’s. She explained that she was a tenant and the cabin belonged to the Minnis’swho had bought it from some Long’s years ago and moved it on to their farm.
Her understanding was that it was the original Long family homestead cabin from the 1740s. This was amazing.
Time was short and we drove on in search of the Long Farm. A few miles on, we pulled over on the shoulder of the country road under the shade of a towering ancient oak. As we stood there leaning against the hood of the car with our map stretched out, a farmer walked up from the property we were in front of. “Can I help you?” People sure were helpful around these parts. I explained to him that I was looking for family history for the Long’s.
As if from a script, he said verbatim what the lady in the cemetery had said to us three years before. “Oh, there is only one Long left and that’s Jack Long. He’s really old and nearly dead. He lives in a red brick house on Arthur MinnisRoad and you should go see him right away.
This time, the startling coincidence was too much to ignore.
We immediately drove over to Jack Long’s house. It was twilight on an Autumn evening. John was not feeling well, so I left him in the car and knocked on the door. A diminutive, graceful elderly woman answered the door.
I introduced myself. “Hi, I am sorry to intrude, but my name is Suzanne Long and…” I didn’t have the chance to say another word. She gently tugged my hand and pulled me into the house and into a darkened living room. As my eyes adjusted, I saw about twenty-five people sitting all around the room.
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One Daughter’s Ancestral Story – Suzanne O’Rourke (continued)
In a recliner was a large, strong framed man with thick shock white hair, a blanket pulled over his legs and an IV hooked up to his arm. The woman, Jack Long’s wife Thelma, simply placed my hand in Jack’s huge hand and said, “Jack, she’s come.” He squeezed my hand with so much gusto, I flinched, and then he began to softly cry.
I looked at Thelma, knowing there must be some horrible mix-up. Searching her face for an explanation. Aware of all the eyes on me from every direction. She smiled with a knowing look in her eye.
And then Jack began to speak. “What took you so long to come back. I’ve been waiting for you.” For two hours he clenched my hand. I knelt next to him as we talked. Everyone was collectively transfixed. The room was silent, reverence for this man they all loved permeated the air.
The lady in the cemetery three years before had related the chance meeting with us to Jack and Thelma. Jack had been waiting for me to return. His brother had run away in the 1920s to California and had never been heard of again. Jack wanted to know how his brother was. I didn’t know the family connection, but I told him about the Long’s of California, and he told me about his brother. The depth of emotion we both shared, transcended conversation. It was a shared history, a shared story, a lost love of a missing brother and the love of family, all our family.
It was getting late, and we had a long drive ahead ofus, so I gently kissed Jack with tears streaming down both our faces and hugged Thelma. I said my good-byes to their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren huddling around me and John. They were so grateful to have been present for our unexpected appearance.
I felt like a fraud. It was all just a random coincidence, but we had all just shared an unexplainable mystical interlude.
The next day, I called Thelma and she told me how Jack had been waiting all these years for me to return. Her voice smiled when she shared with me, “He was so happy that you came.”
Jack Long died in his sleep the night I met him. His family believes he was waiting for me to return.
My search for my family has taken more equally unexpected turns including my proving to DAR that my 4thGreat Grandfather George Long was an Unknown Patriot in the Revolutionary War.
The discovery that the farm is still in the family 273 years later and owned by my 2nd cousins Betty and Linda Long Cates was another shocker. Betty found me on Ancestry.comasking details about their farm, because she thought I knew more about it than she did. It’s still a family run farm on the same hallowed ground today and the next generation has taken over. The farm was directly across from Jack Long’s house, but now it’s called Cates Corner Farm. It is the land on the Deed Map that we thought was the Long’s, and we finally verified it. In 2017 I hosted with Betty and Linda a Long Family Reunion on the Farm and more than 100 descendants came from all over North America and Europe.
I am now leading a Tour back to our English and Scotch Irish home places in 2020. Over 50 descendants are joining in the trip to walk in the footsteps of our ancestors. New puzzles need to be solved, old mysteries resolved. The thrill of the chase continues. The richness of our shared history continues to deepen and with it our understanding of ourselves. Take a leap and climb up the branches of your family tree. The view gets clearer the higher you climb.
Visit http://thelongfamilyhistory.com/and ask PW chapter member Suzanne to see her family pictures.

Good afternoon Friends of Alamance Battleground. The “Descendants Gathering and Militia Muster” is scheduled for Saturday, October 13th, 2018. Please mark your calendars and continue to support Alamance Battleground!

Descendants Gathering
“Liberty to make our Grievances Known”
1768-2018

Lectures
Dr. Carole Watterson Troxler is professor emeritus of history at Elon University, where she taught for thirty-three years. She holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Dr. Troxler has published extensively on the American Revolution and is author of Farming Dissenters – The Regulator Movement in Piedmont North Carolina. Her topic of discussion will be, “The Year 1768 in the Backcountry: What was Happening, Where and Why?” Dr. Troxler will be available for book signings.

Mark Chilton is a graduate of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and former mayor of Carrboro. Presently, he serves as Register of Deeds of Orange County, the same position Edmund Fanning held during the Regulator movement. He is the author of The Land Grant Atlas of Old Orange County, and is currently mapping Orange County’s original land grants, which date back as early as the 1700’s. His topic of discussion will be “The Regulator Landscape: Mapping the World of the Regulators of Old Orange County.” Mark is a descendant of Regulator Christopher Nation.

A librarian with a deep background in historical and genealogical sources and research methodology, Larry Cates has over two decades of experience as a genealogist and editor. He is skillful at helping his clientele accomplish research goals and is a talented public speaker and writer. He is honored to have been the recipient of several statewide awards for his genealogical contributions. In 2017, he won the nationwide Filby Award for Genealogical Librarianship, offered annually by the National Genealogical Society. Larry will discuss “Making the Most of Your DNA Testing Investment”
There are many vendors trying to convince you to buy their genetic genealogy tests. Most seem to promise you the moon. But what happens when your results come back? Can you really solve family history problems? The answer is, with patience and hard work, yes, but perhaps not the questions you were expecting/hoping to answer. Larry Cates shares examples from his own research.

Dr. Stephen C. Compton is an avid collector of mid-18th to mid-20th century North Carolina pottery. Dr. Compton has written numerous articles and books about it, including, North Carolina Pottery: Earthenware, Stoneware, and Fancyware (Collector Books, 2011); It’s Just Dirt! The Historic Art Potteries of North Carolina’s Seagrove Region (Fonthill Media, 2014); Jugtown Pottery: A Century of Art and Craft in Clay (John F. Blair, Publisher); and North Carolina Potteries Through Time (Fonthill Media). Due to his extensive research into the founding families of pottery, the journey led him to the North Carolina Regulator Movement. His presentation “James Pugh,” Regulator Sharpshooter: A Conundrum Unfolded” will take you through his journey and his surprising discoveries.
Authors
Award-winning novelist Suzanne Adair is a Florida native who lives in North Carolina. Her mysteries, Deadly Occupation, Regulated Murder, and Hostage to Heritage, transport readers to the Southern theater of the American Revolution, where she brings historic towns, battles, and people to life. In her books she fuels her creativity with Revolutionary War reenacting and visits to historic sites. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking, dancing, and hiking.

Blood at Alamance: The Murder of Innocence, a Governor’s Guilt is a dramatic true story of the farmers who resided in the backcountry of North Carolina confronting a exploiting royal governor! A community reacts when the governor holds a man’s family hostage, to pressure him to either betray an innocent man, or be executed. Adventure, intrigue, romance, and personal struggle, with delicious irony. Blood at Alamance is the story of Robert Messer, hung in Hillsborough in 1771. Dr. J. B Turner is an author, a genealogist, retired counselor, and most proudly a husband, father, and grandfather. J.B. is a descendant of Regulator Robert Messer.

The Clapp Family Association will have BBQ for sale.

In “Sons of Carolina” by Augustus White Long, he writes about how the Political hub of Chapel Hill was often found around the old stove in the back of the Long & McCauley Store.  This photo taken in the Green Cove, North Carolina was reminiscent of the passage in Augustus Long’s book.

It is with a celebration of a life well lived, that we share the news of Dorothee Lillian Long’s passing on February 18, 2017. She lived a long,  loved life, finally passing on at the age of 90. Old age runs in the Long family even through marriage.

Her Daughter Cindy Zemater shared this message about her Mother.

“The 3 Long brothers, Harold, Donald & Warren, all married very special talented women. My mother, Dorothee, was a talented artist and poet, besides having a long business career in various positions. Mom’s top priority was her family, which she was extremely devoted to. She was interested in learning about our genealogical roots. Glenn and I told her about the wonderful Long family reunion in 2015 that you planned.”

We wanted to share her obituary for anyone that would like to read more.

Dorothee Lillian Long (nee Seipp), 90, passed away on Saturday, February 18, 2017. Dorothee was the beloved wife for 60 years of the late Warren; dearest daughter of the late Walter and the late Lillie (nee Kelsen) Seipp; dear daughter-in-law of the late Jesse and the late Lillian (nee Hausen) Long; devoted mother of Cynthia (the late Jack) Zemater, Glenn Long and Carolyn Cooper; proud grandmother of John Zemater, Katrina Cooper, Justine (Bradley) Robinson, Kristiana (Bradley) Price, Captain Bennett Long, and Matthew Zemater; proud great-grandmother of Quinn Price; dear sister of the late Joan (the late Russ) Flores and Walter (Patricia) Seipp; fond sister-in-law of the late Harold (the late Marjorie) Long and the late Donald (Betty) Long; and dear aunt of many nieces and nephews. 10:00 A.M. visitation and 11:00 A.M. memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 11, at Southminster Presbyterian Church, 680 S. Park Blvd., Glen Ellyn. Interment private. In lieu of flowers, donations in Dorothee’s memory to the Art Institute of Chicago (https://sales.artic.edu/contribute) would be appreciated. For information, 847-635-5900 or www.riverwoodsfc.com.
Published in Chicago Suburban Daily Herald on Mar. 7, 2017

We send our sincere sympathies to the Long family and are grateful for their generosity in sharing this insight into Dorothee’s well lived life. Her family was devoted to her.

Dear Long Family,

I wasn’t sure we would ever prove it, but finally after years of piecing together bits of facts and records, we have finally received the exciting news that George Long (born 1755 and died in 1810)
has been proven as a bona fide Revolutionary War Patriot. He was formerly considered an Unknown Patriot that DAR did not recognize.

It has taken over 237 years for George Long to be recognized as American Revolutionary Patriot.

Up until now, we only knew that one of our George Long’s ancestors (there are multiple generations with the exact same name) had been acknowledged on the New Hope Presbyterian Church cemetery granite memorial as a Revolutionary War Patriot. We did not know which George Long served and in what capacity.

My 4th Great Grandfather George Long ( 1755-1810), grandson of early pioneers from Scotland in the 1730’s did in fact work to promote independence for his birth nation.
George Long served in various capacities during the Revolutionary War years as:
Juror
Grand Juror
He was Paid for Services Rendered and receive North Carolina Revolutionary War Pay Vouchers.

The Bell to rally the pioneers to attack the British in the very first skirmish of the pre-revolutionary period, The Battle of Alamance was protected by the George Long family for over 100 years before being donated to the North Carolina Museum of History in Chapel Hill where you can see it on display today. It is known as the Regulator Bell.

Here is a LINK to see George Long now showing as a Known Revolutionary War Patriot in the DAR Database.
To see more about George Long and his life- click here.

For those of you that are curious about the process of proving an unknown patriot, it took a number of submissions to DAR with various proofs that eventually built our case that George Long did indeed serve and was a Revolutionary War Patriot. The types of records that were provided included Tax Records, Census, Land Deed, Marriage and Birth records, Pages of books, stories from people that knew George Long, historical references to determine the exact George Long that would have served and more.

I am very proud of this recognition, albeit long overdue, for George Long. I could not have achieved this outcome without the help of many people. In particular Robyn Manzini and Sally Ann Kinley at my DAR Chapter at The Meadows in Las Vegas, Nevada and the conversations I had with New Hope Presbyterian Church Historian Boyd Switzer. I am very grateful to each of them for their support, questions and guidance.

The best part for me personally was getting to know that the Long Family Farm remains a robust working farm today and remains in the family, 274 years since its inception. My husband John and I, with the hospitality of my Cousins Betty Ray and Linda Ray (present owners of the family farm- now known as Cates Corner Farm) hosted the 1st ever Long Family Reunion in 2015. People came from all over the United States and Europe eager to reconnect with our mutual family roots.

The Journey continues as I seek to resolve other family mysteries.

Wishing you Pride in our Heritage and Inspiration for your own life,
Your Cousin
Suzanne Long O’Rourke

Lillian Long as she was known by her family, was born Laura Lillian Long in 1894.  She was a beautiful woman with an artistic talent, especially with Pastels. Janet Harding said of her husband Bills  Grandmother,   that Lillian was beloved.  Bill (William K. Harding Jr.) the grandson of Lillian and wife Janet generously shared with us two treasured waterscapes that Lillian painted,

Another beautiful example of the Artistic nature of our family line.

Thank you Janet and Bill very much for your share.

There has long been a family legend that the Longs that were descendants of Zoa White Long, where then descendants of Peregrine White, the only baby that was born on the Mayflower and survived.  He arrived with his widowed Mother and older brother.

When I applied to the Mayflower Society to link our families, the application was rejected that our Ancestor Ensign Mark White ( supposed Son of Peregrine White Jr.) was not a direct descendant.

Janet Harding kindly provided some arguments Pro & Con on this controversial topic.

Read thru and let us know what you think?  If you are interested in helping the research on this topic, I am sure we can assemble a family team to work together with the end goal of joining the Mayflower Society or not.

I just found this using google :  Ensign Mark White

Pro Argument -Re: Ens. Mark White, son of Peregrine, Jr. ???

New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the …, Volume 3

edited by William Richard Cutter

Ancestral chronological record of the William White family, from 1607-8 to 1895

By Thomas White, Samuel White

Con Argument-Re: Ens. Mark White, son of Peregrine, Jr. ???

Devin Timber website

What do you think and are you willing to help research this fascinating Ancestrial Link?  Would love your involvement so we can solve this mystery to the Mayflower Society.

Suzanne

I wanted to give a GIANT THANK YOU to my Cousin Kevin Long in Elk Grove, California.  Kevin offered numerous times to pay the $300 Annual Renewal of our Ancestry Account.  I was going to suspend it due to budget restrictions.  Finally Kevin’s reassurances that he wanted to do this made me feel comfortable about accepting this gift.  The timing is fantastic, as I am receiving more emails and documents and input then ever before, so entry  of these items is key to sharing them and the preservation of them.

THANK YOU KEVIN!  Your generosity really touched me and will ripple out to untold others that benefit from the growth of our knowledge about our family.

The latest version of Ancestry was just released and with it some powerful new tools that will help us all in understanding our family members and lines.

THANK YOU KEVIN for being you, caring, generous and your continued interest and support.

Kevin is the Son of Phil & Fern Long Jr., part of the Thomas Anderson Long line.

If you would like Guest access to the Long Family Tree, just let me know and send me your email.  I’ll be happy to send you an Ancestry.com Invite to be able to view everything.

Dear Family,

As we celebrate the kickoff of the Long Family reunited and meeting each other there is a lot to be celebrated.

We have an amazing historical legacy to be proud of.  We have a lot of collaborative effort coming together in the forms of volunteers, documentation, photos and details that will help us fill in the blanks, and we have excitement about where this joint journey can lead us.

I would like to take this time to thank some of the folks that played a part in this effort.

My husband John who has been a great supporter and investigator.  He was instrumental in us connecting the dots that got us close enough to finding the farm that we connected with Betty Ray Cates and sister Linda Rosemead.  Their offer to have an event on the farm was the catalyst for all that will come out of this terrific gathering of Scotch-Irish descendants and proud Americans.

Betty and her husband David, Jonathon (next generation Farmer extrodinaire) and daughter Katy, Linda and Husband Steve, daughter Hailey and Cousins Chuck and Heather Lockhart were amazing hosts.They did a phenomenal effort in brushhogging, mowing, arranging for the chairs, tables, tents, chefs for the authentic pig roast.  They opened their home and their hearts to all us, not knowing most of us. They dug out the family quilts, and family bibles and laid open the homestead cabin, their home and the entire historic Long farm property. They shopped and gathered,  grew and prepped and cooked a huge amount of food and beverages.  The pies and deserts were all hand made with the homegrown strawbeeries from Jonathans U-Pick strawberry patch.  We will all enjoy lifelong memories of their amazing hospitality.

Kevin Long provided some great links to the Son of Carolina which has been an important guidebook to our families history.

Boyd Switzer at New Hope Presbyterian Church has been a key liaison between visitors to the families home church and descendants that came looking for clues.

George Long created the image on the top of the website.

John O’Rourke is by default our webmaster.

I have dubbed myself “family genealogist” but could not do it without the contributions and sharing from all of you.

My sister Sally Long Johns has suggested that the next Reunion be in Scotland in 2020.  I will be researching the Family History and acting as Tour Guide/Travel Agent in planning that next great step back into History.

Meanwhile our efforts to get George Long ( II) proved to Daughters of the American Revolution as a Unknown Patriot continues.

Please send all submissions to Suzanne@ItchyNomads.com and we will continue to build out this website as a platform for all of us to enjoy and share on.

We welcome your Comments and Feedback.

We need your help to identify and cultivate the various Long Family Descendant Lines. Please go to the Home Page and Identify who your OLDEST Ancestor is under George Long.  This will help us to start building out individual Family Lines that you can then focus your interest in.  If you have the contact details for any Long Family descendants, please share this website with them and let’s get them on board.

It is amazing how sometimes just a little clue can fill in a lot of gray area in our communal history.

Looking forward to you joining the blog.  Please write ALL Comments below in the Comments.

Long is a fairly common family name, so to be specific, this is for the descendants of George Long and Margaret Logan.  George Long of Scotland, died in Ireland before he and Margaret and young son George Long II could travel on their passage to the United States. Margaret and son George Long II continued with the original plan and voyaged to America with a group of other church members.  Eventually they settled in New Hope Creek area of Chapel Hill, North Carolina and that is where most of the history of this family line website is centered as we launch it.  This may change of more family members participate and contribute to our collective understanding of our mutual heritage.  Please leave Comments and Participate as our devoted Blog leader, George Long leads the discussion.  So glad to have you back in the fold.