James Franklin Flake (1897-1952) and Jesse July Wilson (1897-1977) of west Tennessee gave birth to two children, a daughter, Ruthie Lucille Flake, known to everyone as Ruth, and a son, James Edward Flake.  They in turn married, Ruth to Will Masters of Celina and James to Violet Carby of Kentucky, each raising children of their own.  This web site is dedicated to the genealogy and life experiences of these individuals and their direct and collateral ancestors and descendents. Here, we emphasize the Flake and Wilson lines -- genealogy research begun by my mother, Ruth Flake Masters and continued by yours truly.  The paternal Masters family line is the subject of the jackmasters.net web site, where a comprehensive genealogy stretching back into the 1600s is available as digital media, replicating the now out of print, Masters Family History.  A few excerpts from this incrediblely extensive work are included in tracing the Will Masters family line. The web site name, MastersFamily.us, reflects the fact that the site began as a tribute to Ruth Flake Masters, but the site was envisioned from inception as a place from which to cast the family net as widely as possible, in which we have been materially aided by others, see below. A beginning -- and helping hands My interest in family genealogy was kindled by my mother, Ruth, years ago, when she began to trace who was related to whom and to organize old family photos.  Through the years, she consulted with many people and assembled many resources.  She carried her genealogy research as far as she could, albeit age and infirmity left the task unfinished.  But, she did provide wonderful insight into our family's past, a beginning that inspired me to carry on what she had started, and I am grateful to her and to so many others who have contributed to our family history. One of the most important resources in building this collection has been the contribution of brother Ronald, who scanned hundreds of family images, not only from the distant past but also from more recent family events, in preparation for Mother's 90th birthday celebration.  The older of these timeless photos provide poignant views into what our family's life was like generations ago. Brother Andrew also provided many family photos.   Both brothers' wives provided genealogy inputs for their family lines.  My own wife and her relatives provided an extensive look into her family on the maternal side.  Jim Flake, the oldest son of James Edward Flake, Ruth's brother, provided a wealth of information related to the "Uncle Jimmy" branch of the family, includng the Carby maternal line.  Cousin Billy Ringold provided more images as well as rare historical letters from an even deeper past which is a part of our shared heritage. Mary Ann Gray maintains a remarkably extensive family genealogy history on Ancestry.com.  She has spent innumberable hours tracking down every possible clue and resource in tracing her own family genealogy.  She has graciously shared much of her research with this author in our overlapping Johnson and Chambers family lines, and we are especially grateful for her willingness to assist our own more limited efforts. Her friend, Angie Barthelomew, provided additional images. Building the web We are using Family Tree Maker to build a complex multi-generational web of Masters-Flake-Wilson families and those they have touched via marriage.  A number of views into the Masters-Flake-Wilson database, maintained on Ancestry.com and augmented by FTM/Ancestry searchs of other family trees, are available as downloadable PDF files at Flake-Wilson Genealogies.  The archival Family Photo Collections page contains old family photographs from various family sources. We appreciate any inputs that adds information to the tree or corrects errors that have crept in.  If you have family genealogy, history, anecdotes or photos you are willing to share do get in touch at info@MastersFamily.us.  At a minimum, it is helpful if individuals, as well as spouses and children, are accompanied by full name, dates and places of birth, marriage and death or burial.  Other details, such as military service, can be noted. If you have family photos you would like to share in the Flake-Wilson Image Gallery, do email those as well.  JPEG images are probably the simplest to send since they are considerably smaller than TIFFs. However, 16-bit TIFFs work as well.  If there are many photos a CD or flash drive may be a better choice.

Making it personal On a personal note, one occasionally experiences rare moments of insight and realization that make life uniquely meaningful.  Years ago, during a visit to Mother's home in Jackson, I spent most of a day at the genealogy library in Mckenzie, following up on many of the family threads that Mother had begun.  Using old census records going back to the War Between the States and beyond, I was able to trace many of our family ancestors, including some names I hadn't known of before. Upon finishing my research, I decided that rather than driving directly back to Jackson I would visit Blair Cemetery at Clarksburg to pay my respects to Grandmother and Grandfather Flake.  The site is just down the road from Greatgrandfather Lewis and Greatgrandmother Rosa Lee's home and Lora and Vester Ringold's farm (she was always Auntie to us) -- so many happy memories had been born just down that road.  I had the park to myself, and I tarried for a while.  It's a peaceful and serene place down a winding country road, surrounded by forest and solitude, far from crowds and tensions of modern life, and I felt as if I had come home to a long lost childhood. I was reluctant to leave, but it was getting dark and finally I had to go.  The Flake plot is at the back of Blair, and as I walked slowly out I began to read headstones for the first time, something I had never done in any previous visit to Blair.  With amazement, I realized that, carved into many of the stone markers, were the very same family names that I had researched that morning in the Mckenzie Library! It was one of those moments one never forgets.  I was no longer alone -- there in the gathering twilight I was surrounded by generations of family!  I was overcome with a sense of connectedness and identity, a consciousness of place and belonging that has only grown stronger since that moment.

All material at MastersFamily.us is copyrighted by domain owner or author/artist/creator. All rights reserved. Contact: info@MastersFamily.us