Wade Reunion Jul 1999

I really enjoy genealogy.  Sometimes it feels like work, but once I find that little tidbit of new information that I did not have before, I am so excited.  It is kind of like finally catching a fish when you have been sitting in the boat for a couple of hours and are ready to give up.  Recently I learned about a part of the Family Search program that shows you historical, famous people you might be related to.  I logged in to Relative Finder. I was related to no fewer than 40 presidents and 31 signers of the Declaration of Independence and many more. But wait.  The second name on the great list is Merle Haggard! What?  No, that can't be true.  I had to look at the tree that was shown.  He was listed as a 5th cousin once removed.

I clicked on his name and then downloaded the PDF.  I traced my side up the tree through the Wades, then the McBrides and then the Bohannons.  Yep, these are our relatives.  Then I came down on Merle's side.  Our Lewis Bohannon had a sister named Sarah Bohannon.  She married a man named Solomon B. Harp.  Harp?  Wait a minute. Merle wrote a song called 'Grandma Harp'.  I started singing it in my head.  My late husband, Virgil, loved Merle Haggard.  We often sang his songs together.  The song starts "Grandma's maiden name was Zone Delines".  Well that is what I thought it said, before the internet made lyrics readily accessible.  Here was one of Merle's Grandmas with the last name of Villines, but her first name was Martha on the tree.  As I searched further to understand this mystery, I found out her full name was Martha Frances Arizona "Zona" Belle Villines. The rest of the first verse is:

                                        Grandma's maiden name was Zona Villines
                                            There's ninety years to tell about in a few short lines
                                            Born in Newton County down in Arkansas
                                            Then in nineteen-one she married Grandpa
                                            We laid her soul to rest one Sunday mornin'
                                            And everybody knew she'd done her part
                                            Don't get set to hear no hidden family legend
                                            Just a song about the life of Grandma Harp.

As I continued to 'fact check' the song, I found out, yes, she was born in Newton County, Arkansas, and she lived over ninety years.  That was plenty good enough for me!  Merle really wrote this song about his Grandma.  That made it ever so cool.

Anyway, for all of my Wade cousins, I am adding the tree so you can share in the glory!