Gwaltneys In America: The Clearinghouse for Gwaltney Family History

Welcome to the Gwaltney/Gaultney/Gortney/Gwatney/Galtney/Gwartney family!

The 2010 Nationwide Gwaltney Family Homecoming is scheduled for July 23 and 24, 2010 in Smithfield, Virginia! 

*The 2009 Gwaltney Homecoming Follow-up

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

It took me a week to clear off my desk at work after returning from the Gwaltney Homecoming, but I finally now have time to do a follow-up to the 2009 Homecoming!

I want to thank everyone who attended the 2009 Gwaltney Family Nationwide Homecoming on July 24-25, 2009. I know I had a great time, and it was good to see everyone and meet new family that I had never met before. I have so many people I could thank for their help in making the event enjoyable and I know I would miss someone if I tried to rattle off names…but thank you to everyone who was there. I hope you have great memories, and I’d like to invite you back next year as we have already set the date for the 2010 Gwaltney Family Nationwide Homecoming for July 23 and 24, 2010 in Smithfield, VA.

On Friday, July 24, after a delicious dinner catered by George Pulley and crew, we had several ice-breakers and then evening entertainment. On Saturday, July 25 we held a worship service guided by Dr. Bill “Old Tom” Gwaltney and with singing led by Wayne and Kate Gwaltney. Talitha Gwaltney and Wayne and Kate blessed us with special singing and Dr. Clifford Gwaltney had a challenging sermon. We then had  group prayer for the entire Gwaltney family in America. We also had a special moment when we had a chance to call Tom Gwaltney of Minnesota and tell him, as a group, we missed him and were praying for him. Tom and his family had a chance to attend the  2008 Homecoming last year, but unfortunately Tom has come down with Lou Gehrig’s disease, and we need to keep him in our prayers. I’m sure Tom would be glad to hear from you also.

After our Saturday luncheon, we were introduced to the family tree presentation with opening remarks from Dr. Jack Gwaltney, “The cold doctor,” who shared some of his thoughts and research about the Gwaltney family (by the way, Dr. Jack Gwaltney recently had a fellowship chair named in his honor at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville—we are proud of you, Cousin Jack!)

Then Dr. Bill and Dudley Gwaltney did an outstanding job of acting out the roles of Thomas Gwaltney  “Old Tom”(1613-1666) and his son William Gwaltney. They each dressed in character and made their personalities come alive with information we know about our founding  Gwaltney fathers. After an overview of the family tree, Hank Burnham gave an excellent presentation on the Gaultney family which moved from North Carolina into Georgia.  He also gave a compelling request for DNA tests to help in identifying characteristics of the Gwaltney family, so if any male Gwaltney is interested in a DNA test, please contact me, and Hank will help us set up something.

Right before dinner, we held a moment of silence to honor those Gwaltney family members who have passed away in the past year. After an excellent dinner, we had entertainment and storytelling. We also recognized the artists in our midst who had contributed artwork or quilts for display. Steve and Nelson Edwards provided some humorous and enlightening entertainment and we enjoyed the gospel singing of Kate and Wayne, and Trey Gwaltney’s ragtime piano. We also enjoyed Elizabeth Gwaltney Cumming’s a cappella jazz singing! We appreciate everyone who told a story or sang for us.

On Sunday, July 26 we took an optional auto tour of some Gwaltney-related historic sites in Isle of Wight and Surry counties. About 35-40 family members joined us for this activity. We started off by a nice lunch at the Surrey House Restaurant which was founded by the Gwaltney Family (although it is no longer in Gwaltney hands). Thank to Will and Bina Gwaltney for setting the meal up for us. Then we visited the homeplace of the John Avington Merit Gwaltney family and his descendents. Will Gwaltney and Tucker Gwaltney still own some of the land in that area. Next, we visited the site of the original 200 acres that was granted to Thomas Gwaltney in 1666. This was a very spiritual experience for me. Imagine from one man and one location spread the Gwaltney family that exists today!  I appreciate the work of Gerald Gwaltney and Raymond Edwards in identifying the property and setting up the tour. The Gwaltneys owned the property from 1666 to 1870 (about 200 years) and then sold it in 1870 to the Bell Family. It now resides in the hands of another family, but we were able to tour the historic home which is actually built around a pre-1870 one-room house that belonged to the Gwaltney family. But from that piece of acreage Gwaltneys have spread all across America. If anyone who attended would like to send a “thank-you” note to the family who allowed us to visit the old Gwaltney homeplace, please email me, and I will send you their address.

We then toured Mill Swamp cemetery which holds the relatives of many Gwaltneys and then Bethany Methodist Church which was heavily influenced by the Gwaltney family. We had a great time and it was so nice to be able to spend extra time with the Gwaltney family.

Again, we have made plans to meet again next year, July 23 and 24 in Smithfield. If you were unable to attend the Homecoming this year, we’d love to have you attend next year. It is an educational and spiritual experience. I know I had a number of people who attended the first two Nationwide Homecomings say they enjoyed this year better because they knew more people and were able to visit more. We are not only meeting family, we are making friends and creating a bond. We will do things a bit differently next year and want to have another interesting auto tour, especially if Jean Barcroft can work out a surprise location for us.

We have had requests for the Gwaltney Homecoming t-shirts that we sold at the Homecoming. I apologize that I did not have more made, but I will check into ordering more. I will send out an email soon with more information about the shirt. We charged $10 per shirt at the Homecoming which was slightly above our cost, but may have to charge a bit more if we have to  pay to have them shipped to you.  Also Marybeth Gwaltney designed a wonderful Gwalchmai-Gwaltney sticker. I will check into how you can obtain those and I know Trey Gwaltney had a replica of a stencil used by the P.D. Gwaltney ham company reproduced.  They would make a great Christmas ornament and we will get you more information on that later also.

Contact me at jbkoonce@hotmail.com

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This is a website devoted to the accumulation and preservation of the Gwaltney/Gaultney/Gortney/Gwatney/Galtney/Gwartney family history in America (Gwaltney is the original Americanized spelling). While there are Gwaltney's who have traced their individual lines back several generations, our goal here is to discover and provide information about the general Gwaltney population in the United States. While all Gwaltneys in America seem to have originated from Surry County, Virginia, migration patterns took them into North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Then into Texas and Mississippi, and ... eventually scattered all over this great country.

This is a website devoted to them all.

(Oh, by the way, the photograph above is of my momma, May Helen Gwaltney of Obion County, Tennesee, taken about 1958 when she was 16.)

The Gwaltney Name

For purposes of simplicity and ease of reading, the name GWALTNEY will be used in this website.  While early spellings of the name have been "Gwalpmey" or "Gualmey", the name GWALTNEY is the earliest Americanized form of the name that has stood the test of American history. Dr. Jack Gwaltney of Charlottesville, VA has an interesting commentary on the origins of the Welsh version of Gwaltney--the name GWALCHMAI. If you are interested in his commentary, you may contact me.

So how did the spelling variations occur? How do we also end up with GAULTNEY, GWARTNEY, GORTNEY, GALTNEY, and GWATNEY being of the same family? Primarily the variance is the result of pronunciation, dialect, and mistransciption by the census-taker's hand. However, all of these names proceed from  the name GWALTNEY.  When Thomas Gwaltney's (3rd generation) offspring began to migrate into southern Virginia and then into North Carolina, their pronunciation and dialect brought about many of the various name spellings. For example, William Gwaltney of Brunswick Co. had at least two sons...Micajah and Michael. That group of Gwaltneys pronounced their name something like "Gawatney". Micajah ended up moving into KY and IN and started spelling the name GWARTNEY. Michael ended up moving into western VA and kept the spelling GWALTNEY.

Benjamin Gwaltney of the Brunswick Co. VA area eventually moved into the state of Mississippi. His pronunciation of the name led to the spelling GALTNEY. John Gwaltney's son, Peterson, also left the southern VA counties of Brunswick and Mecklenberg and went into Alabama and eventually his offspring made it into AR and OK--they ended up spelling their name GWATNEY, leaving out the letter "L".

As these Gwaltneys migrated from southern VA into North Carolina, some kept the name GWALTNEY, while others began to spell the name GAULTNEY and GORTNEY. It is interesting to see how many families had difficulty being consistent with the name even within their own families. Margaret Gwaltney of Hiddenite NC showed me a cemetery of Gwaltneys in Banner Elk, NC and the tombstones of some family members was spelled GAULTNEY and other family members had the spelling GWALTNEY. Sarah Gwaltney Behrens of Denver CO once showed me the photocopied pages of the Henry Hudson Gwaltney family Bible, and there, in black and white, some of the offspring had their names spelled GAULTNEY and others GWALTNEY! No wonder some were confused on how to spell the name.

The Gwaltneys who stayed in VA had no problem keeping the spelling GWALTNEY. It was those who moved further south who had difficulties in determining its spelling. Oh, by the way, even those who spell their name GWALTNEY do not always pronounce it that way. Many Gwaltneys from IL, IN, TN, GA pronounce their name "Gaultney" even though they spell it GWALTNEY.

But whether you are a GWALTNEY, GAULTNEY, GORTNEY, GWATNEY, GWARTNEY, or GALTNEY, you all belong to the same family...the family of Thomas Gwaltney (1613-1666) who settled in VA sometime after 1635. 

The Vision and the Motivation

In all honesty, this labor of love began as a spiritual journey for me. I was very curious about the spiritual heritage of--not only my immediate Gwaltney family, but the Gwaltney Family en masse. My inspiration came from God's promise in Deuteronomy 7:9:

"Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands." (NIV)

I have seen the hand of God upon my family and was curious about my past generations. Had there been a great-grandmother or a great-great grandfather who had prayed for God's grace to be upon their family and upon their generations? Thus my inquiry into the Gwaltneys was a research into who they were as a spiritual nation.

And thus I began--not just seeking to know my momma's Gwaltney family from Obion County, TN, but all the way back to the beginning--with Thomas Gwaltney, himself, the first Gwaltney in America. There is a lot I still don't know. But I've come to understand this family a lot just by talking with others, researching, and by keeping my ears open.

If You Would Like to Contact Me or Make a Family History Inquiry

I would appreciate hearing from you so that we could share our Gwaltney family information. You may email me at jbkoonce@hotmail.com.  If you would prefer to talk on the phone, please email me and I'd be glad to send you a number at which to contact me.  Have a great day! j