Love Ancestry - Mike Love of the Beach Boys is my Sixth Cousin

I bet that title grabbed your attention !! And it is true, Mike and I are sixth cousins on the Love line, however we have never met and that is my loss. He and I being cousins was brought to my attention by Mike Meggison of Rochester, New York

And now let's examine Mike's and my Love ancestry.

Alexander Love was our g-g-g-g-g-g-grandfather (that’s 6 g’s). He was born about 1680 in Northumberland, Virginia. His father and mother were James Love and Isabella Alexander, both born in Glasgow, Scotland. They were married in 1675 in Scotland. The older brother of Alexander was James Love, born 1678 in Ireland, and two or three years later Alexander was born in Virginia. This indicates his parents emigrated between 1678 and 1680/81.

Alexander married Elishe Bayse in 1704 in Virginia. She was born in Virginia and died about 1729 in Virginia. Alexander died about 1727 in Northumberland, Virginia. They had seven children, four boys and three girls. Their son, John Love, married Sarah Sharpe, who was born June 30 1725. They had a total of eleven children. John died in 1791.

Two of their sons were William Love, born 1754 in Pennsylvania and Samuel Tyra Love, born 1763 in South Carolina. Samuel Tyra Love married Elizabeth Nation in South Carolina and they were the ancestors of Michael "Mike" Love of the Beach Boy group. Their son, Fielding Love, born 1807 married Cynthia Langley in 1826 in St. Clair, Alabama. They had eleven children, their fourth child was Thomas Marion Love, born 1835 in Madison, Alabama. He was married three times; with his marriage to Jackie Cochran, a child was born named Fielding Jasper Love who married Callie Graham in 1888. It was about this time that this Love line began moving further west. Fielding and Callie's third child was Edward H. Love, born 7 dec 1894 in Bossier, Louisana and he married Edith Clarty. Their first son was Edward Milton Love, born September 1918 in Los Angeles, California. He married Emily Glee Wilson and they were the parents of Michael "Mike " Love. Mike's mother was the daughter of Murry G. Wilson and brother of Brian Douglas Wilson. Her father, Murry Gage Wilson (1917 - 1973) was a musician and record producer, best remembered as father to Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson and Carl Wilson and manager of their band The Beach Boys. So Mike Love and the Wilson boys were cousins.

William Love, my ancestor married Anna Harrold in 1781 in Surry County, North Carolina. She died in 1792 and he died bet 1816-1820 in Surry County, North Carolina. Unlike his brother Samuel Tyra Love, William remained in North Carolina. And cousin Mike could never sing: "I'm a tarheel bred and when I die, I'll be a tarheel dead" Abt 1791, William Love became a Quaker and moved to Surry, North Carolina to be closer to the Westfield Meeting. Some researchers state that William was married twice but I have not found documentation of this. William and Anna had a son, Jonathan Love, born 1783 in Surry County, North Carolina. He married Sarah Emily Basdale 24 Dec 1803 in Stokes County, North Carolina. The little town of Westfield, North Carolina was located in both Surry County and Stokes County and so in researching these early families you would find marriage in one county and burial in another, probably not over a mile apart in distance. Surry County and Stokes County also bordered the state line of Virginia. In some research I have found a couple getting married in Stokes County and having the reception in Virginia. But, back to the Love family. Jonathan and Sarah Emily had a son named Daniel H. Love, born in 1807 in Virginia. He married Caroline Pittman about 1829 in Surry County, North Carolina. They had ten children, one named James Madison Love, born 21 Aug 1837 married Sarah Sally Creasy, daughter of James Creasy and Nancy Mills. Sarah was born about 1853 and died February 1938 in Surry County, North Carolina. She and James Madison were my great-grandparents. They had ten children and their daughter, Nancy Carolyn Love was my grandmother. She married Ira Zebedee Inman, oldest son of William Henry and Mary Scott Inman. I remember my Inman grandparents so well. My grandmother was very ill with diabetes when I can first remember her. She always sat in a padded, cushioned chair that my grandfather had made for her with an ottoman in front so she could keep her legs elevated to relieve the swelling this disease caused. Even though I am sure she suffered greatly she always had a smile for me and a big hug. On my sixth birthday, she had saved enough pennies to fill a large snuff can. Sadly, she died a few months before my 9th birthday. My grandfather, Zebedee (Zeb to his friends) was always a hoot. He played games with me, told me stories, and taught me how to flat-foot dance. He died 52 days before his 95th birthday. So much history had played out in our nation and world in his lifetime. And so many memories he had of that history died with him. I wish I had taken the time and interest when he was around to have talked with him more about family and things he could remember about life when he was a child. Man had moved from horse and wagon to rockets going into space. Telephones had brought families closer, and automobiles made life a little easier. Grandpa watched all of this without ever being overwhelmed with it. After all, he was the man, who, after selling his tobacco, had bought a bottle of moonshine to celebrate the good crop and on the way home, had probably emptied the bottle. While driving the wagon past a cemetery in the community in the dark of night, he was the one that saw the ghost chasing him home. He ran the horses and wagon into the yard, jumped out and entered the house, declaring to everyone what he had seen. With experiences like that, who would be awed by a telephone or rocket? He had such a good sense of humor. One of the radio programs he really loved was the "Grand Ole Opry" on Saturday nights. When he was visiting us, our radio was always turned to the station that carried that program. (Even though it did come on at the same time of "The Hit Parade.") Everyone needs a Grandpa like I had.

The oldest child of Ira Zebedee and Nancy Carolyn Love Inman was Della Mae Inman, my mother. Oh, the things she taught me cannot be numbered, but they remain in my heart and mind. She smiled all the time and when she was working around the house she continually hummed some current tune or a favorite hymn. She was brought up in a household of music and dancing a gig now and then and the story is told that when she and my father, Joseph D. Jackson were first married they attended a community party. Dancing began and my mom asked my dad to dance with her, he did not want to. Another gentleman at the party overheard this conversation and asked my dad if he had any objection to his dancing with Della. According to my mom, my dad stammered and stuttered for a while and then said “of course not, if she is set on dancing.” After that, when they went to community parties, or wherever there was dancing, my dad jumped to his feet and was her partner for the night. My mother told me this story years before I ever thought about marriage, but as fate would have it, I married a man who did not like to dance. That little episode that changed my dad’s thinking about dancing did not work for my husband. As long as he did not have to get out on the floor, I could dance with anyone. I just wanted him for my partner whether he danced or not. My mother died before my children would be able to know her and I have always regretted that they did not know her nor her love. They knew my dad, their grandfather Jackson. He was an avid fisherman, whether he caught anything or not, just being on the lake in a boat with a carton of pepsi cola was his idea of a great time. As he would be talking to my husband, I could hear him “why, hello here, you should have seen the fish that got away,” and then slap his knee and laugh. He enjoyed life until sickness took over his body. My mother died Jul 7 1956 and my father died Aug 21 1989. I know I am who I am because of my parents, their parents, their grandparents, and on and on and on. And I honor that truth and try to live up to the standards of their lives.

Later I will bring you a story on my Jackson grandparents and their ancestry. Check my blog often so you will not miss this.