Research edition: 01 October 2026. The family narrative is supplied by Benjamin Parke Foskey. This is an initial source review, not a certified genealogy or completed proof of descent.
What the family carries
Benjamin traces his paternal line from Emory Foskey, remembered as a judge who came from North Carolina to Georgia, through Richard Jacob Foskey, Benjamin Franklin Foskey Sr., Benjamin Franklin Foskey Jr., and Frankie Dewayne Foskey, his grandfather. Benjamin Franklin Jr. is Benjamin’s namesake. The story includes Civil War service and a return to a wife, farming, work with horses, a junkman and mechanic, the patient building of Children’s Friend, and his dad Michael Andrew Foskey’s career in IT systems project management. These details are retained as family recollections, with no invented dates or job details.
Family’s Friend is a nod to these forebears and a return to Benjamin’s roots. Its whole-family mission grows from that inheritance.
Findings and their limits
Emory’s identity
A contributed WeRelate profile uses Emery, with Emory and Emoree as variants, and cites a Pulaski County marriage in 1835 and an 1840 census household.
Useful record leads; originals not examined. The judgeship and North Carolina migration remain unverified.
Richard Jacob’s place in the line
WeRelate identifies Emery and Ellender Clement as parents and Benjamin Franklin as a son.
A contributed family tree, not independent proof. Do not confuse Richard Jacob with his son Jacob Richard.
Civil War service
The Richard Jacob profile describes Company K, 49th Georgia Infantry, a departure from camp in February 1865, and the Appomattox surrender.
The service chronology needs reconciliation from original records. The reason for departure remains family oral history.
Benjamin Franklin Sr.
The Richard Jacob and Benjamin Franklin Jr. profiles connect him between those generations. The dedicated Sr. page could not be retrieved in this review.
His work with horses is preserved as a family recollection.
Benjamin Franklin Jr.
WeRelate lists Benjamin Franklin and Mary Ann Bryan as parents and Addie Taylor as spouse.
The profile cites family correspondence. His trade, namesake relationship, and raising Frankie Dewayne Foskey come from Benjamin.
Frankie Dewayne Foskey’s educational legacy
Middle Georgia State University credits F. Dewayne Foskey, president of Children’s Friend Learning Centers, with establishing the Billy Lee Kimbrel Memorial Scholarship to honor an educator.
Direct institutional documentation of the scholarship connection. This does not independently prove the full family line.
Sources reviewed
- WeRelate: Emery Foskey. Contributed research with references to Pulaski County marriage records and the 1840 census. It identifies spelling variants; it does not establish a judicial office.
- WeRelate: Richard Jacob Foskey. Contributed research citing census, military, pension, and family correspondence material. Its dates and service summaries require original-record review.
- WeRelate: Benjamin Franklin Foskey Jr.. Contributed profile citing correspondence with Kathy Foskey; a lead for relationships rather than primary proof.
- Middle Georgia State University: scholarships. See the Billy Lee Kimbrel Memorial Scholarship under Education & Social Work. The university’s own register documents the donor and purpose.
- National Park Service: Appomattox parole list, F. Lists a Jacob Foskey in Company K, 49th Georgia Infantry. Name and unit alone are insufficient to conclusively identify him as Richard Jacob or establish why he left camp.
Best next records to pursue
- Pulaski County’s 1835 marriage entry and 1840 census household, then land, tax, and court-office records to establish migration and any judgeship. Search the documented spelling variants without merging distinct men called Emory.
- Richard Jacob’s complete compiled military service file and Mary Jane’s widow-pension application. Reconcile absence, return, parole, and death-date discrepancies before publishing exact dates.
- Employment, local-history, and family records that can add context to the men’s work with horses, mechanics, childcare, and IT systems.
- Marriage, census, death, obituary, and family records connecting each generation through Frankie Dewayne Foskey. Benjamin identifies his dad as Michael Andrew Foskey and himself as Benjamin Parke Foskey. His dad’s career in IT systems project management is supplied family history; employer details have not been added.
A missing online record is not evidence that a family story is false. New documentation should refine the archive without silently overwriting the family’s own recollections.