Susanah Frazier: A true genealogy hero.
I remember it clearly, the day I saw her name and the book she wrote. I remember it because in the book, in fact diaries, contained information about my 3rd and 4th Great Grandfathers. After working on my families genealogy for over 30 years, it was information I hadn’t seen. A black hole area that even the big genealogy data bases of today couldn’t help with. The book, The Defeated Creek Diaries.
The Defeated Creek Diaries as we know it now was Susanah’s personal diary. It was made up of 2 hard carded ledgers. The diaries were organized by dates, names, events, weather etc. It was originally transcribed by Audrea Adams McDowell for The KY Genealogist, Vol 27, Number 3, July/Sept 1985. James Bentley Editor. Excerpts of this document began showing up on genealogy message boards and sites all the way back in the early 90’s and still is to date. The diaries were transcribed in the original language of the time and region which makes it even more of a treasure. Part of the diaries is on the Letcher Co Genealogy page on Facebook. Just a few sample images of the Defeated Creek Diaries are shown below.
Susahah Hall was born in Letcher Co Kentucky May 5th, 1852, the daughter of Eli Hall and Mary Polly Early(Yearly) in an area known as Defeated Creek. The small unincorporated town is nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains in a small valley or hollow (hollar) depending on where you’re from. The area draws it’s name from the small creek that runs through the area by the same name. Defeated Creek got it’s name from pioneer hunters who were robbed of their fur pelts by the local Native Americans. Which had me wondering why the pioneers decided to settle there. That was until I visited the area. It’s beautiful.
Susanah was born, lived and died in Defeated Creek. She married Zack Frazier and a family. She died on April 24th, 1922. Her writings show her attention in detail as she recorded the events and activities in her community and other related areas at the time. Her writing further illustrated her humor, wit and compassion. She couldn’t have known at the time what a wonderful piece of history she was creating. We were able to visit her gravesite at one of the cemeteries named after the Frazier family in the area.
When Susanah started writing her diaries, she was creating a piece of history. She was in fact creating one of the most valuable documents used for genealogy research especially for those with descendants that migrated from the original colonies west through the gaps in Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee.
When my Graveyard Explorer partner and cousin Kristi, and her mother Karen and I realized what a potentially important place Defeated Creek was in our own family history, we had to go. Our research had also indicated that our 4th Great Grandfather was buried there with other family members. The directions to the cemetery were a challenge, although we had good documentation that the cemetery was there, getting there was another matter. At the time, Find A Grave had coordinates that was incorrect, discovered of course after exploring some very interesting forested areas. Our party was 3 women, in a small SUV in a very rural area without cell phone reception. As with most cases in a genealogy and graveyard searching, we relied on talking to the locals, when we could find them. Although nervous at times we learned what helpful and nice folks lived in the area. We did receive credible information on the location, but the time of the year was wrong for hiking on the mountain.
We made a second visit later that year in Nov when the foliage was gone. We came up with a plan, and started a hike up the side of the mountain. We were confident that the cemetery was real, but whether we could find it’s actual location, or if nature had taken it with no remains was another question. After several slides, falls and battles with briar patches, plus the loss of one of our team members boot soles, we found it. In good condition. It was a thrill, and a great source of satisfaction to actually be there, and add another chapter to our families story. We had a sign made to help those who come after us, and updated Find A Grave. Some images of our treasure find below.
So… like so many 1000’s of others, we owe Susanah a large debt. It’s also a personal joy finding out Susanah is family, she’s a cousin. Not really knowing it, she created a historical document that would unlock doors to information that was lost with the wind. So many early settler from the 1800 century that took off from the east to great opportunities in the west came thru the gaps into TN and KY. The wilderness at the time didn’t keep good records. But Susanah Frazier did!
Angie Earley
Thank you to the Lectcher Co Genealogy Page on Facebook for their help.
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