Mary Ann ("Pollie") Strickland Glisson was born July 9, 1833 in Bulloch County, Georgia. The daughter of Confederate veteran Elijah Strickland and Delilah Futch Strickland, "Pollie" had ten siblings. Two of her brothers fought for the Confederacy. She married Confederate veteran Joseph Glisson on October 22, 1850 in Chatham County, Georgia, and they had twelve children: Manie Veranda Glisson McClelland, John Harmon Glisson, Sr., Mary ("Molley") Jane Glisson Burnsed, Hiram M. Glisson, Horace Winton Glisson, Josephine Glisson, Rowan (Roan) Glisson, Susannah "Susan" A. Glisson Bacon, Matthew Madison Glisson, Florine E. Glisson, Joseph Sidney Glisson, and Bazzel O. Glisson. Toward the end of her life, she petitioned for a small pension as the widow of a wounded Confederate veteran. She died at age 72 on December 1, 1905 in Bulloch County and is buried in an unmarked grave at Upper Black Creek Primitive Baptist Cemetery near Ivanhoe (Briar Patch), Bulloch County. She passed away at her son Joseph Glisson's home.

Her ancestry was English, German, and--through the Martin and Strickland surnames--Native American (Lumbee). Like her father, Pollie's Native American line goes back to the Coree Indians who lived on the Atlantic coast along the Virginia/North Carolina border. By the late 17th century, the Coree population had declined due to disease and war. During the Tuscarora War, some of the surviving Coree fled south seeking refuge among the Cheraw Indians. Later some surviving Cheraws, remnants of other Indian groups, whites, and African Americans became the basis of the contemporary Lumbee Indians.

Pollie and all her direct female ancestors and descendants and their brothers are of the matrilineal clan of "Katrine" (mtDNA haplogroup K). DNA matriline testing reveals that is the same matrilineal clan the 5,000-year-old "Ice Man" found in the Alps is from. Katrine was one of seven women from whom almost everyone of European ancestry is descended. Katrine lived about 15,000 years ago on the southern slopes of the Alps in northern Italy near present-day Venice, Italy. Her people were hunters who lived on ibex and chamois and supplemented their diet with roots and small mammals. About 10% of people of European ancestry are descended from Katrine.

Thanks so much to descendant, granddaughter Nevada McClelland Bell, and to John Wise for much of this information. Any errors, however, are mine alone. Please go to the "edit" link on this site with any corrections or additions.