Karen McCann Hett
This page will contain the history of my approximately forty years of research on James McCan and Sarah S. Viser. It is a work in progress.To begin with, here is a page showing photos of my McCan great-grandparents and their children. It was created by Cousin Don Bova, the son of my father's baby sister, Mossie, the youngest child of the family.
Here is another page that Don created, showing the photos of his and my McCan grandparents, and photos of each of their children.
Meanwhile, I thought you might like to see a scan of the actual marriage bond of our ancestors, James McCan and Sarah S. Viser, who married 23 July 1828 in Lawrence County, Alabama. This scan is courtesy of the Lawrence County Archives at Moulton, Alabama. Note that the bond is in poor condition.
The bond is between James McCan and Sally (the nickname for Sarah) Viser. Pryor Lansford is the bondsman.
Often, a bondsman is a relative. However, we can find no connection of Pryor Lansford either to the McCans nor to the Visers.
Note that James McCan signed with an X. This does not speak well for his educational level, unless, perhaps, he had a disabled hand.
Later, I will scan the Xerox copy of the bond, which actually shows the writing more clearly. Then you can compare the two.
Meanwhile, I am am going to post a mystery photo. I received a copy of this photo from Janie Lemmons in 2000. Janie, now deceased, identified the couple in the photo as James McCan and Sarah S. Viser. This could not possibly be James McCan and Sarah S. Viser, because they were both dead by late 1838, and photography was not invented until 1839 in Europe and did not come to America for several years afterwards. That said, the man certainly does look like a McCan/n. Unfortunately, Jane did not remember who sent her the photo.I would like to present various photos of our McCan ancestors, along with a discussion of this mystery photo, and ask for feedback from you. If you are the person who sent the photo, please e-mail me.
With all of us working together, surely we can solve our McCan/n mysteries!
Please check back in a few days.
Karen McCann Hett
© Karen McCann Hett All Rights Reserved 2004-2008
E-mail me at
Karen McCann Hett
Counter added Oct 15, 2008
