I started family genealogy research about 20 years ago but before long I discovered that there were many road-blocks in several areas, especially to my paternal grandfather James Morris Smith. He died when my dad was 5 so he did not know much about him. My Smith grandmother lived to be 102 but I had already married and moved away so did not see her often. I do know that her maiden name was Whitecotton. A few of my Smith cousins have done research but as far as I know none of them have gotten very far with our granddad. I finally found Ellis Bradley, my maternal ggrandfather, in Georgia. I know his dad was John Bradley who married one of Henry Walston's daughters, but that is as far as I have been able to trace him. I have found quite a lot on the Choate line, but I cannot find information on my maternal grandfather George Arvil Choat between age 14 and 30. I know that he left home at age 14, was married before he married my grandmother, and possibly had a son with his first wife. My mother also told me that he worked at a brick mill, and at another time for the railroad, but I cannot find any documentation for either. During this time he wound up in Oklahoma but I can find no documentation for this either.
