George Thomas Washington Mefford, or "GW" as he was known to family and friends, was the middle of five sons born to John Quincy "Jack" Mefford, and Delilah "Lila" Raisor. He also had two half-sisters, Nancy Jane and Clara [Laura] from his father's first marriage.
The reasoning for GW's somewhat long name has been lost in the mists of antiquity. However, it has been often repeated that he was a keen marksman, which was a valuable skill when times were hard. He was said to be able to shoot a squirrel in the eye, thereby preserving the body for the stew pot.
GW's father, Jack was a Unionist and had enlisted in the cavalry mid-1862. Later during the Reconstruction Era it was said that Jack and his boys left Owen County because of trouble with a gang of "desperadoes." Speculation later had the "desperadoes" as remnants of the Ku Klux Klan which had earlier wreaked havoc in Owen and Henry Counties.
Records indicate the Meffords started moving from Owen to Carter County, Kentucky shortly after the 1890 census. GW was probably in the vanguard as he married Ida Jane Dewitt on 15 Apr 1896 at the Rev. A.J. Dalton's near Iron Hill in Carter County.
The reasoning for GW's somewhat long name has been lost in the mists of antiquity. However, it has been often repeated that he was a keen marksman, which was a valuable skill when times were hard. He was said to be able to shoot a squirrel in the eye, thereby preserving the body for the stew pot.
GW's father, Jack was a Unionist and had enlisted in the cavalry mid-1862. Later during the Reconstruction Era it was said that Jack and his boys left Owen County because of trouble with a gang of "desperadoes." Speculation later had the "desperadoes" as remnants of the Ku Klux Klan which had earlier wreaked havoc in Owen and Henry Counties.
Records indicate the Meffords started moving from Owen to Carter County, Kentucky shortly after the 1890 census. GW was probably in the vanguard as he married Ida Jane Dewitt on 15 Apr 1896 at the Rev. A.J. Dalton's near Iron Hill in Carter County.
George Thomas Washington Mefford, or "GW" as he was known to family and friends, was the middle of five sons born to John Quincy "Jack" Mefford, and Delilah "Lila" Raisor. He also had two half-sisters, Nancy Jane and Clara [Laura] from his father's first marriage.
The reasoning for GW's somewhat long name has been lost in the mists of antiquity. However, it has been often repeated that he was a keen marksman, which was a valuable skill when times were hard. He was said to be able to shoot a squirrel in the eye, thereby preserving the body for the stew pot.
GW's father, Jack was a Unionist and had enlisted in the cavalry mid-1862. Later during the Reconstruction Era it was said that Jack and his boys left Owen County because of trouble with a gang of "desperadoes." Speculation later had the "desperadoes" as remnants of the Ku Klux Klan which had earlier wreaked havoc in Owen and Henry Counties.
Records indicate the Meffords started moving from Owen to Carter County, Kentucky shortly after the 1890 census. GW was probably in the vanguard as he married Ida Jane Dewitt on 15 Apr 1896 at the Rev. A.J. Dalton's near Iron Hill in Carter County.
The reasoning for GW's somewhat long name has been lost in the mists of antiquity. However, it has been often repeated that he was a keen marksman, which was a valuable skill when times were hard. He was said to be able to shoot a squirrel in the eye, thereby preserving the body for the stew pot.
GW's father, Jack was a Unionist and had enlisted in the cavalry mid-1862. Later during the Reconstruction Era it was said that Jack and his boys left Owen County because of trouble with a gang of "desperadoes." Speculation later had the "desperadoes" as remnants of the Ku Klux Klan which had earlier wreaked havoc in Owen and Henry Counties.
Records indicate the Meffords started moving from Owen to Carter County, Kentucky shortly after the 1890 census. GW was probably in the vanguard as he married Ida Jane Dewitt on 15 Apr 1896 at the Rev. A.J. Dalton's near Iron Hill in Carter County.
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