Wally Atkins direct line

Wally Atkins direct line is the primary navigation spine connecting the modern family back through ten generations of ancestors documented in A Long Time Ago: A History of the Atkins-Paynter and Allied Families.

The emotional turning point in this research occurred when the archival records ceased being abstract history and connected directly: once Robert Alexander Atkins was definitively identified, the line linked unbroken from colonial Virginia to the present day.

Ten-Generation Lineage Chart

The diagram below traces the direct line across more than three centuries:

graph TD R1["1. Robert Atkins (1677–1733)"] --> R2["2. Robert Atkins (1699–1777)"] R2 --> JA["3. John Atkins (1740–1804)"] JA --> BA["4. Benjamin Atkins m. Dosha Lawson"] BA --> PHA["5. Patrick Henry Atkins (1837–1908) m. Paulina Sue Lawson"] PHA --> JHA["6. Joseph Henry Atkins (1866–1912) m. Adelia Jackson Paynter"] JHA --> RAA["7. Robert Alexander Atkins (1891–1968)"] RAA --> DLA["8. Donald Leigh Atkins"] DLA --> BLA["9. Benjamin Latane Atkins"] BLA --> WA["10. Wally Atkins"]

Collapsible Direct Line Tree

Three Centuries of Migration

From 17th-century colonial settlements through Southside Virginia, North Carolina, Richmond, and Hampton Roads:

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Reading the Line

This line should be read as a living family story, not just a ladder of fathers and sons. Around it stand the women, children, in-laws, places, churches, farms, cemeteries, and stories that give the line its real texture. Pages such as Dosha Lawson, Paulina Sue Lawson, Adelia Jackson Paynter, Palmer Point, and Mt. Auburn Church Cemetery matter because they show the world in which the line actually lived.

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