Barksdale Chronicles in America, Volume I is the first published book by Maj Robert A. Groves. His research into his maternal ancestors began at the millennium due, in large part, to the colorful family stories he recalled his mother and her siblings sharing during his childhood. Family chronicles define and preserve the contributions of ancestors to their families and communities. Through a study of our roots, we gain an appreciation of what helped shape us as individuals and citizens. This edition captures but a small part of the Barksdale family as it starts out in the New World. As followed through the lineage of John Hickerson Barksdale, early ancestors began forging a life for themselves in Virginia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Arkansas. They courageously served their country in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Civil War. Some dipped their toes into the political waters of our country and served their communities, states and nation as elected officials. Using their creativeness, they turned resources available to them into entrepreneurial opportunities in agriculture, merchandising, and manufacturing. Some heard a higher calling and faced the moral issues of the time from rural pulpits. Indeed, the early Barksdale ancestors played a vital role in shaping the communities where they settled and the environment into which following generations were born.
