Biography

Nelda (Gilchrist) Spires achieved the 16 For 16 award for completing 16 missions in our 2024 16 For 16 Challenge.

DNA Origins per Ancestry:

Nelda (Gilchrist) Spires has English ancestors.

Nelda (Gilchrist) Spires has Scottish Ancestors.

Nelda (Gilchrist) Spires has Irish ancestors.

(as of October 2024):

• England & Northwestern Europe - 38%
• Scotland - 37%
• Ireland - 12%
• Germanic Europe - 9%
• Norway - 2%
• Cornwall - 2%

Life Story:

Nelda (Gilchrist) Spires was born in Alabama.

Alabama Roots Project

Armorita Nelda Gilchrist Spires is the oldest child of her parents, Jacques Horace Gilchrist and Armorita Nell Hildreth Gilchrist. Nelda was born at Brookley Air Force Base Hospital in the city of Mobile, Mobile County, Alabama.

Nelda's earliest years were spent in the Whistler community of Mobile County, Alabama. Then her family moved to the Toulminville community of Mobile County, Alabama, where she attended Gorgas Elementary School from 1st through 6th grades. Her family moved to Spanish Fort, Baldwin County, Alabama, and she attended Daphne Junior High School. Nelda attended and graduated from Fairhope High School.

Nelda earned her Bachelor's Degree in Biology from Judson College, Marion, Perry County, Alabama. She taught Biology for twenty-five years at Fairhope High School, Fairhope, Baldwin County, Alabama.

Nelda first married Perry Calvin Lough. in Spanish Fort, Baldwin County, Alabama They had one child. They divorced. Perry is now deceased.

Several years later Nelda married Marion Mobley Spires in Daphne, Baldwin County, Alabama. They have been married for over thirty years. They have no children together, but Nelda is the loving step-mother of her husband's four children.

Nelda (Gilchrist) Spires is a Georgian.

Nelda's hobbies are genealogy and reading. Her favorite genre of literature is mysteries, particularly those set in Great Britain. Nelda became interested in genealogy as a child, but began researching her family and extended family in earnest in about 1997. Her primary personal genealogy file, maintained with Family Tree Maker 2019, contains over 23,000 individuals. This file is synced with one of her trees on Nelda's tree on Ancestry.com. Nelda joined WikiTree in Nov 2018. Since then, she has worked diligently to create well-sourced profiles to honor both her direct ancestors and her extended family.

Digital Afterlife: When I die or if anything ever happens to me so that I am physically or mentally unable to manage any of the profiles for which I am profile manager, I appoint my nephew Jordan Gilchrist to assume profile managership of any and all of them. He has my permission to pass the profile managership of any of those profiles on to others as he sees fit. If he is unable or unwilling to assume those duties, then I entrust WikiTree leadership to do with my profiles as they see fit. Gilchrist-1197 01:49, 14 August 2020 (UTC)

Sources

• Nelda Gilchrist Spires. Personal recollections, recorded 04 Nov 2018; updated 02 Jun 2020.
• "Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG1Z-JN4T : 28 November 2018), Perry C Lough and Armarita Nelda Gilchrist, 23 Mar 1974; citing Montgomery, Alabama, United States, County Probate Courts, Alabama; FHL microfilm 1,893,618.
• "Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG14-8ML6 : 28 November 2018), Marion Mobley Spires and Armorita Nelda Gilchrist, 11 Oct 1985; citing Montgomery, Alabama, United States, County Probate Courts, Alabama; FHL microfilm 1,893,874.
• Four Generation Chart, in Armorita Nelda Gilchrist baby book, ca. 1953; privately held by Armorita Nelda Gilchrist Spires, Ellijay, Georgia, 2019. [Baby’s Own Story, designed by Estelle McInnes Upson, (Racine, Wisconsin: Whitman Publishing Company, 1947). The baby book includes a four-generation chart which was completed for parents, grandparents and great-grandparents in the handwriting of Armorita Nell Hildreth Gilchrist, mother of Armorita Nelda Gilchrist.]

DNA Confirmations

• Paternal and maternal relationship is confirmed by an AncestryDNA test match between Armorita Nelda Gilchrist Spires and her nephew JRG. Their most-recent common ancestors are Nelda's parents who are JRG's grandparents, Jacques Horace Gilchrist and Armorita Nell Hildreth. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: Close Family, based on sharing 1,488 centimorgans across 46 DNA segments.
• Maternal relationship is confirmed by an AncestryDNA test match between Armorita Nelda Gilchrist Spires and her first cousin LL. Their most-recent common ancestors are their grandparents, Morgan Bascom Hildreth and Lucile Raynor. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: 1st Cousin, based on sharing 1,058 cM across 38 segments ; Confidence: Extremely High.
• Maternal relationship is confirmed by an AncestryDNA test match between Armorita Nelda Gilchrist Spires and her first cousin MH. Their most-recent common ancestors are their grandparents, Morgan Bascom Hildreth and Lucile Raynor. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: 1st Cousin, based on sharing 967 centimorgans across 34 DNA segments ; Confidence: Extremely High.

Free-Space Pages

• Personal Categories

• Hildreth Name Study

• Descendants of Rev. Benjamin Griswold Hildreth

• Hildreth Name Study - Discussion and To Do List

• The Hildreth Family, a family history of the ancestors and descendants of Reverend Robert Henry Jackson Hildreth, compiled by James Wilson Newman Sr. and William Alton Newman Sr.

• Nelda's Backgrounds, Monograms, and Other Images

• NSpires-1197 16 for 16 Mission Tracker for 2024