Kirkland Pictures |
These are all that I have and it is not much. The picture of Amanda Elrod is from my cousin Sara Lou. Supposedly, there is a picture of Amanda Elrod in full Indian head-dress floating around. She is believed to be Cherokee.
Amanda Elrod Kirkland wife of William Wesley Kirkland
The story goes that Amanda was a daughter of a Cherokee who was prominent and that her father sold her to William Wesley in Oklahoma for some horses and guns because he would not allow them to marry so William Wesley traded for her. In or around Comanche, William built her a huge house and she never lived in it she pretty much raised all the children outside. My aunt says that my grandma Billie Jo told her that they had beautiful children with tan skin dark red hair and blue eyes. I am not sure how true that is but it sounds interesting.
This is my Grandma Kirkland (Merta "Mertie" Ann Clary) she married William Henry Kirkland. She would be my g-grandmother.
This is my Grandma Billie Jo - she married Robert Dowell Flippo. Her parents were William Henry and Merta Ann Clary. She lived in Arizona with my dad and uncle until she decided to runaway back to Texas with the boys. My aunt says it was because she wanted a husband that was going to be there and not gone all the time (Bob was a truck driver). The Flippo side of the family pretty much hates her. She died when I was eight way before I ever knew anything about their past. She married again to Michael Rodriguez and had my aunt - Elizabeth. For years, she had no contact with any part of her family to hide from Bob. She even went as far as to put her madien name as Ambrosia on Elizabeth's birth certificate. I think her family knew where she was but my Grandma Leatha Flippo did not know where her grandson's were until Michael's mother called her and told them where she was. My mother says she (Billie Jo) was always a little strange.