George Leonard Merritt and Lydia Stewart

Our grandfather was Willis Edgar Musgrove, born September 9, 1909, in Schlatterville, Pierce County, Georgia. He married our grandmother, Carrie Mae Merritt, on June 13, 1929, in Bickley, Ware County, Georgia. She was born there on April 1, 1910, to George Henry Merritt and Mary Jane Williams.

Willis Edgar and Carrie Mae
(Merritt) Musgrove

Marriage: Willis Edgar Musgrove & Carrie Mae Merritt

On June 13th, 1929, our grandparents - grandpa Willis Edgar and grandma Carrie (known by) Mae (Merritt) Musgrove - married. They rode to the chapel on a horse-drawn wagon.

Grandpa Musgrove and the two oldest boys in the carriage

Civil War Stories: The Merritts

The Civil War: April 12, 1861- April 9, 1865



Headline: Fall of Fort Sumter

The American Civil War started at four-thirty a.m., April 12, 1861. P. G. T. Beauregard, the first brigadier general of the Confederate States Army, fired on his former United States Military Academy teacher, Robert Anderson, at Ft Sumter, South Carolina.

Thirty-four hours later, when the white flag of surrender went up over the fort, the causality count was one horse.

Thus began the deadliest war in American history. (World War II was the bloodiest.)

Newly elected President Lincoln declared war the next day and called for seventy-five thousand volunteers, with possibly two hundred thousand more requested later.

Grandma Musgrove and our Parker Lineage

Our grandmother, Carrie (known as) Mae Merritt, was born on April 1, 1910, in Bickley, Georgia. Both her parents, George (known as) Henry Merritt and Mary Jane Elizabeth (known as Mamie) Williams, were 43. 

Carrie Mae (Merritt) Musgrove

Riding in Style: Willis Edgar Musgrove

In 1909, when our grandfather* (see relationship note below) Willis Edgar Musgrove was born, eight businessmen formed the Hudson Motor Company. Their goal was to produce an automobile that would sell for less than $1,000, equivalent to approximately $26,248 in today's funds. Our granddad never owned one.

My grandfather and his oldest
children on the family wagon.

Looking for an Indian

I began my family research by looking for an Indian. I'd always heard the story our grandmother was partly Native American. So, I sent the question to a family historian. Here's part of her answer,

Carrie Mae (Williams) Musgrove