This week's legacy question is, "Who is your favorite ancestor and why?"  

I don't actually have a "favorite ancestor", but I have chosen to write about my great, great, great, great grandfather, Burrell Price.

Burrell Price was born in 1810 in what is now called Mecklinburg County, North Carolina.  Imagine that!  He was born within one generation of the founding of our country!  Life must have been very different then.

In his late teens or early 20's, Burrell married Miss Rebecca Tomberlin.  Sometime in the early to mid 1830's they decided to leave their home and migrate to what is now called Barbour County, Alabama, in southeast Alabama.  Their homestead was near the present-day town of Louisville, AL.  This was frontier land that had only recently been conquered from the Creek Indians in the Creek Indian wars.  Most likely, the federal government offered free or cheap land to citizens who were willing to homestead in the new land, in order to have it occupied.  The prospect of more land, and hopefully greater prosperity, is probably what influenced the young couple, in their early 20's, to make the arduous move.

There were very few roads in Alabama in those days.  How did the couple navigate to what was to be their new home?  How many rivers, creeks and streams did they have to ford during their journey?  What possessions and supplies were they able to carry with them?  Did they encounter bandits or hostile indians on the journey?  Most likely, they traveled with a group of several other families who were making the same move.  

What were things like when they arrived at what was to be their new home?  There was probably no infrastructure, and very few other people.  There was almost certainly no house waiting for them to occupy, so they probably had to put up a make-shift shelter until they could build a proper house, which was probably a log cabin.

Burrell and Rebecca had several children, the eldest of which was named Lemmuel.  Lemmuel was enlisted in the Confederate Army and fought in the war between the states.  He was at the battle of Chickamauga, and died there from disease.  He is buried in the Chattanooga, TN area.

Burrell was too old to fight in the war between the states, as he was in his 50's; however, he did serve in the Confederate Army as a farrier.

Burrell and Rebecca lived out their remaining years on their property in Barbour County, AL.  They are buried side by side in the woods, on what I assume was part of their property.  I have visited their graves, and will try to upload photos later.

The Price family continued to live in Barbour County, AL, for several generations.  My father was born not far from Burrell and Rebecca's homestead.  As a matter of fact, both of my parents were born and grew up in Barbour County.

I chose to write this article about Burrell and Rebecca Price because their pioneering spirit is a big part of how I came to be born and raised in southeast Alabama.