Delila Reid's (probable) ancestry discovered!

My ancestor Delila Reid was the wife of John Naramore who lived in Walker County, Alabama in 1830.  Joseph died or disappeared in the late 1830's and she ended up marrying John Woodiel.  (For the full story, go here.)  I have been searching for her ancestry for decades with no luck.

Ancestry's new ThruLines feature gave me a suggestion that Delila was the sister of an Elizabeth Reed, daughter of Reuben Reed/Reid and Editha Murphree.  But these matches are speculative and sometimes based on faulty trees.  So I investigated some more.

1. DNA.  My father matches at least 6 descendants of a Murphree on MyHeritage.  All of these either have a Murphree ancestor in their tree in Alabama, or a 3-way DNA match (triangulation) with another Murphree.  Part of the Murphree DNA lines up with a known John Naramore (son of Joseph and Delila) descendant. That is extremely strong evidence for a Murphree ancestor on the Nar(a)more branch of our tree.
2. Delila's presumed parents were named Reuben and Editha.  Two of her children were Reuben and Editha.  Very strong evidence she is their child, as opposed to a niece or a cousin (which would still be consistent with the DNA, although at a lesser probability).
3. Joseph and Delila's next door neighbors in 1830 were Martin Ward and Elizabeth Reed, who is Delila's presumed sister.

DNApainter.com screenshot showing overlap of my father's DNA match with a Murphree descendant (lavender) and a John Naramore descendant (spring green).

Given these three strong pieces of evidence, I think there is extremely high probability that Ancestry's proposed relationship is correct--that Delila Reid is the daughter of Reuben Reed and Editha Murphree.

Furthermore, there is a Levi Reid that I have long suspected was a relative.  He was the sheriff of Jefferson County in 1819 (Joseph was a constable shortly after that).  He is also reported to be the first person to ship coal from Walker County.  Levi lived just a few houses away from Delila and her second husband John Woodiel in 1850.  Also Joseph and Delila had a child named Levi.  So I think Levi Reid is very likely a brother of Delila.  [I have a note of a DNA match to Levi Reid's family which I need to double-check.]

More on the Murphree family can be found at Bob's Genealogy Filing Cabinet.

Private John Naramore, CSA

Union guard at Strawberry Plains bridge.

John Naramore, my great-great-grandfather, enlisted in the 43rd Alabama Infantry (CSA) in 1861 in Tuscaloosa.  He was discharged in 1862 for disability (further details unknown?) but reenlisted in October 1863.  (Luckily for him, he just missed the Battle of Chickamauga.)  Several of his brothers, brothers-in-law, and other relatives and neighbors from the small community of Mud Creek were enlisted in the 43rd.  The 43rd was involved in some battles over several important railway bridges in East Tennessee.  One of these, the Strawberry Plains Bridge, over the Holston River, was where John was taken prisoner, on December 4, 1863. 

Pier from old Strawberry Plains bridge, next to new bridge.

He died of typhoid fever in the Knoxville military prison's hospital on Jan. 19, 1864, and was buried in an unmarked grave, with a card bearing his name, rank, and company, in the "city cemetery", which is believed to be the Old Gray Cemetery.  The winter was particularly tough on the survivors, and Longstreet's campaign has been called the "Valley Forge of the Civil War".

This week, I visited Knoxville and was able to locate where the old bridge stood.  There is a newer railroad bridge there, but two of the stone piers that supported the bridge are still standing.  I also drove and walked around Old Gray Cemetery, but I was unable to find any sign of some unknown Confederate graves.  Incidentally, Old Gray Cemetery was one of the first "garden cemeteries" in the US and was named for English poet Thomas Gray, who wrote Elegy in a Country Churchyard.

 The 43rd was involved in the siege of Petersburg and the Battle of the Crater there, and surrendered at Appamattox.

Old Gray Cemetery, Knoxville

Further reading: http://digital.archives.alabama.gov/cdm/compoundobject/collection/voices/id/7159
This link relates the following anecdote.  A Federal captain was released by General Gracie of the 43rd, with a note to General Sheridan, who he had known from West Point and from being stationed together in the west.  "Dear Phil:  I have got you, so come in."  The reply was sent back, "Dear Archie:  Oh no, you must come and get me first."  [It is amusing that old friends could write such banter in the midst of such death and suffering, but it also makes the deaths that much more tragic.]

Holston River.

New Strawberry Plains rail bridge, with pier from old bridge.