Life-Changing Events
Isn’t it funny how sometimes the things that seem the most boring can turn out to be life-changing? For instance, going to family reunions used to make my teeth ache they were so dull God, it was boring. My family and I would rush to get there only to eat, chat for maybe an hour, and then high tail it out of there.
But, everything changed one year when I was in college. Initially, I’d thought to major in journalism while at Georgia Southern University. However, that went out the door about two quarters in when I took a History of Western Civilization class and changed my major to a B.A. in history. Then, about a year after that I went to one of those teeth-achingly boring family reunions and my life’s path was forever altered.
It was at this reunion that one of my mother’s cousins brought several papers with information about my Lewis family line. In those papers was a brief biography of a great-uncle of mine, one Jeremiah General Lewis. It turns out that Jeremiah had served as a private in Co. K., 47th Georgia Volunteer Infantry during the War Between the States from February of 1863 to October of 1864. That information lit a fire under me and I went from studying Classical Greek and Roman history to delving int genealogy, local, State, and U.S. history with an emphasis on the War. Doing so helped me learn about all of my family lines, and specifically about General Lewis’s elder brother, Elbert Lewis (Pvt, Co. D., 61st Georgia Infantry).
Fast forward about seventeen years. In 2015, the phrase “A Brave Man’s Country” flashed into my brain as I was getting ready for bed; the phrase comes from my Lewis family’s alleged motto, “Omne Solum Forti Patria Est” - in English, “Every Land is a Brave Man’s Country”. I immediately knew I wanted to do something with the motto, but it took me until 2018 to realize what I needed to do. That April my book, A Brave Man’s Country: Two Lewis Uncles Who Served in the Confederate States Army” was conceived and then published a little over a month ago, on April 16, 2021. I launched it on April 26, Confederate Memorial Day.
To date I have sold over 80 copies of my book and have had two speaking engagements, with more to come on the way. I have also started work on my second book concerning my Jones family here in Georgia and have several other ideas banging around in my head. I hope you’ll journey with me as I post here about my work.
But, everything changed one year when I was in college. Initially, I’d thought to major in journalism while at Georgia Southern University. However, that went out the door about two quarters in when I took a History of Western Civilization class and changed my major to a B.A. in history. Then, about a year after that I went to one of those teeth-achingly boring family reunions and my life’s path was forever altered.
It was at this reunion that one of my mother’s cousins brought several papers with information about my Lewis family line. In those papers was a brief biography of a great-uncle of mine, one Jeremiah General Lewis. It turns out that Jeremiah had served as a private in Co. K., 47th Georgia Volunteer Infantry during the War Between the States from February of 1863 to October of 1864. That information lit a fire under me and I went from studying Classical Greek and Roman history to delving int genealogy, local, State, and U.S. history with an emphasis on the War. Doing so helped me learn about all of my family lines, and specifically about General Lewis’s elder brother, Elbert Lewis (Pvt, Co. D., 61st Georgia Infantry).
Fast forward about seventeen years. In 2015, the phrase “A Brave Man’s Country” flashed into my brain as I was getting ready for bed; the phrase comes from my Lewis family’s alleged motto, “Omne Solum Forti Patria Est” - in English, “Every Land is a Brave Man’s Country”. I immediately knew I wanted to do something with the motto, but it took me until 2018 to realize what I needed to do. That April my book, A Brave Man’s Country: Two Lewis Uncles Who Served in the Confederate States Army” was conceived and then published a little over a month ago, on April 16, 2021. I launched it on April 26, Confederate Memorial Day.
To date I have sold over 80 copies of my book and have had two speaking engagements, with more to come on the way. I have also started work on my second book concerning my Jones family here in Georgia and have several other ideas banging around in my head. I hope you’ll journey with me as I post here about my work.
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A Genealogist's Journey
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