Jollett etc.

Wordless Wednesday: Walter and His Wheels

2012-02-29T07:00:00.006-05:00

Wordless Wednesday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers that asks family historians to create a post in which the main focus is a photograph or image. Some posters also include attribute information as to the source of the image.

My great-great grandfather Walter Beriah Sylvester Davis (Sep 12, 1867 – Oct 31, 1934) and his car.

His license plate number was certainly easy to remember!

Post 100

2012-02-27T07:00:00.015-05:00

This is the 100^th post for Jollett Etc. It only took 6 months to the day, she said sarcastically. I doubt it’s a record. Anyway, to celebrate this milestone, I’m going to look at what was shaking in Jollett land 100 years ago in 1912.

My maternal grandparents were ages 13 and 8; paternal grandparents were 11 and 5. All but one attended school that year.

All 8 great-grandparents were living. Stephen Slade was a truck-farmer in Virginia Beach. John Walsh was an ordinance man for the Navy Yard. Walter Davis was working as a carpenter. Joseph Rucker was a railroad conductor. Wives were all keeping house.

Only 4 great-great grandparents were living: Julia Slade, James Franklin Jollett and George and Segourney Eppard. It surprises and saddens me that my grandparents didn’t know their grandparents.

Famous people were born:

Actor Danny Thomas

Actor Jose Ferrer

Perry Como

Gene Kelly

Dale Evans

Minnie Pearl

Vivian Vance

Julia Child

Art Linkletter

Pat Nixon

Lady Bird Johnson

Woody Guthrie

American artist Jackson Pollock

Hitler’s mistress Eva Braun

Celebrities:

Al Jolson

Mary Pickford

Inventions:

The Life Saver candy

Hellman mayonnaise

Motorized movie cameras

Neon signs

Traffic lights

Zippers for clothes

X-rays discovered when doctors removed a nail from a boy's lungs

A year of firsts:

Mail carried by plane

Electronic Timing and Photo-Finish Equipment used in the Olympics

Cherry trees planted in Washington DC

Keystone Cops comedy

The political scene:

The last emperor of China forced to abdicate

Republic of China established

Arizona became the 48^th state

Alaska organized as a territory

William Howard Taft was president until the election in November when Woodrow Wilson won as the first Democratic president in 20 years.

Disasters:

The sinking of the Titanic

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: Week 9 Cemeteries

2012-02-26T08:55:00.013-05:00

This is Week 9 of Amy Coffin’s Abundant Genealogy series.

Cemeteries: Genealogists understand the full value of cemeteries and appreciate them in ways most others can’t see. Share a cemetery or cemetery experience for which you are most thankful. What makes this place special? What does it mean to you and your family history?

The Jollett Cemetery is located on a hill

Photo by Lois Emswiler
on Rootsweb

behind the Jollett Methodist Church

in Jollett Hollow in Page County, Virginia.

Before I started my research on the Jollett family, I always assumed this is where the bulk of my ancestors were buried. After all, Fielding Jollett lived along Naked Creek from 1822 until he was too old to live alone sometime after 1870. He owned land there and sold it to his children. This was the stomping grounds of MY line. The area was named for them. It stands to reason they’d die and be buried there, right?

As it turns out, most of my ancestors through my great-great grandfather James Franklin Jollett are not buried in the Jollett Cemetery at all, rather in Coverstone Cemetery (formerly the EUB Church Cemetery) in Shenandoah, Virginia. James Franklin himself is in a church cemetery in Augusta County. The few Jolletts who are in the Jollett Cemetery are actually the family of James Franklin’s brother John Wesley Jollett.

The land where the church and cemetery are located originally belonged to Revolutionary War veteran Jacob Smith and his wife Winna. Upon their deaths the land went to their youngest son Gabriel Smith. Then in 1866, Gabriel’s widow sold the land to John Wesley Jollett who had married Sarah Elizabeth Smith, Jacob and Winna’s great granddaughter.

John Wesley Jollett was a much loved Methodist minister. He gave the land for the church and the cemetery to the Methodist Conference. Ironically, while the area bears his name, there are only three tombstones with the name Jollett.

Sarah E. wife of

Rev. J. W. Jollett

Died Jan 30 1917

Aged 82 Yrs

8 M and 8 DS

Rev. J. W. Jollett

Died Oct 18 1916

Aged 84 yrs

6 M and 12 DS

Precious in the sight of the Lord is

the death of His saint

John and Sarah’s two daughters are there as well, but only one son is buried in the Jollett Cemetery.

Hiram Frank Meadows is buried between his wives.
Mary E. V. Jollett was born 1854

Meadows

Matilda C.

Feb. 16, 1859

Jan. 24, 1953

Age 93 Yrs.

11 Mos. 23 Dys.

Thomas W.

Jan. 15, 1854

Feb. 4, 1941

Age 87 Yrs.

20 Dys.

We will meet again.

Image from Findagrave.com

To the Memory

Artubine J.

Son of John and

Elizabeth

Jollett born

Dec the 16th 1853

and died Oct 27

th 1862 aged 8

years, 10 months,

and 11 days

Image from Findagrave.com

Most of the graves are of descendents of Jacob and Winna Smith.

Except for paved roads and more modern brick houses, this rural area probably looks much like it did in the 1800s. Even though my direct line ancestors are not there, when I visit this cemetery I still get a sense of what life was like for them.

Jollett United Methodist Church is visible through the trees.
Looking toward the Skyline Drive and Shenandoah National Park.

Sepia Saturday: Made for Walking

2012-02-24T07:02:00.033-05:00

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

This week’s Sepia Saturday challenge is all about SHOES. And can you believe it? I’ve used my best shoe photos already. So I’m forced to present this one:

Can anyone say “Hullabaloo”?

At Christmas 1970, I was certainly on the cutting edge in my Mod lace-up boots that look remarkably like my uncle’s boots from the 1930s:

My friend Guy was wearing a quirky flat-bottomed shoe. I think they were called Charlie Brown shoes, but I’ve been unable to confirm that there was any such style for young men in the 70’s.

As protocol dictates, I’ve saved the best for last. The star of this picture is definitely my hip mother in her white Go-Go boots. Those white vinyl knee-high slip-ons plus her snappy blue Ford Pinto made her quite the “hottie” in the teacher’s lounge at Alf J. Mapp Junior High.

from Google Images

We definitely jumped on the fashion rebellion train. We can say “We were there!” when boots became part of women’s fashions, not just a necessity for getting out in the snow. “We were there” when Yves St. Laurent rolled out the Mondrian dress, perfect with boots. “We were there” singing along with Nancy Sinatra whose big hit “These Boots” drew attention not only to the latest fashion trend but also to the growing support for feminism. Do you remember the words? Give it a try -- you know you want to. Then afterwards put on your boots and walk on over to Sepia Saturday for more fabulous footwear.

Those Places Thursday: Frazier Cabin Revisited

2012-02-23T09:00:00.009-05:00

Those Places is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers that invites family historians to post photos and stories about places their ancestors lived.

Last week I posted this picture of the Frazier cabin on Frazier Mountain in Greene County, Virginia.

Photo by Kevin Walton

When I was looking through my Frazier files, I spied this next photo which was sent to me by John and Janet Thompson hoping I could help identify the people.

The white-bearded man is Henry Timber Frazier, John Thompson’s great-grandfather and my 1^st cousin 4 times removed. Henry Timber was the son of Miley Frazier who once owned 1000 acres on this mountain, and grandson of John and Lucy Frazier. I’ve been unable to identify the others in the picture, but probably it’s one of Henry Timber’s sons and his wife and children OR a daughter and her husband and children. Or not.

As much as I’d like to be able to identify these people, I am drawn to the building. Doesn’t it look like the ruin in the previous picture? I think so. It seems too small to have been a house, so maybe it was a shed or smokehouse or other outbuilding. Whatever it is, I’m excited to see this family on their own land before it was taken by the government to establish the Skyline Drive.

Wordless Wednesday: Frazier Mountain School

2012-02-22T07:00:00.005-05:00

This is the Frazier Mountain School in Greene County, Virginia, 1917. The picture was sent to me by John and Janet Thompson, descendents of Henry Timber Frazier, son of Miley Frazier (whom I mentioned HERE) and grandson of John and Lucy Frazier (whom I wrote about HERE).

Tombstone Tuesday: Nancy Frazier Shiflett

2012-02-21T07:00:00.008-05:00

Tombstone Tuesday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers which asks bloggers to create a post including an image of a gravestone of one or more ancestors; it may also include a brief description of the image or the ancestor.

Nancy E. Shiflett

died
Jan 22, 1895

aged

83 years, 11 mo, 8 ds

Nancy Elizabeth Frazier Shiflett was my 3G grandmother, widow of Burton Shiflett. At her death she was living with her daughter Nancy Frances Morris in Rockingham County, Virginia. That probably explains why she was buried in the Pine Grove Church of the Brethren Cemetery rather than in the family cemetery in Greene County.

Amanuensis Monday: Joseph H. Frazier, MD

2012-02-20T07:00:00.010-05:00

Amanuensis Monday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers which encourages the family historian to transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts.

The Fraziers seem to have been a family of hard-working farmers and dedicated moonshiners. The family history is dotted with stories of Civil War draft dodging and killings and countless illegitimate children.

But there are also some stories of Fraziers who achieved financial and personal success. One is the son of the notorious Leland Frazier, Joseph Hardin Frazier.

from Ancestry.com

This article (found on Ancestry.com) appears in a history of Randolph County, Missouri.

Joseph H. Frazier, M.D.

(Physician and Surgeon; also Farmer; Post-office, Rolling Home, MO)

Dr. Frazier has been engaged in the practice of medicine in the vicinity of Rolling Home for 18 years, and has been long recognized as one of the capable and successful physicians of the north-western part of the county. His practice not only extends through this section of Randolph county, but also into the neighboring vicinities of Macon and Chariton. The Doctor has ever commanded a good practice and, while it has not been his highest ambition to accumulate property, for he has done a great deal of gratuitous practice and has never oppressed the poor or unfortunate, yet as the fruits of his long and faithful services he has secured a substantial modicum of this world’s goods. The Doctor has a handsome farm of some 200 acres where he now resides and is pleasantly and comfortably situated. He has passed that point where he must practice as a means of support, for his farm would sustain him in abundance; but possessed of large humanity and warm sympathies, he never turns a deaf ear to the call of the sufferer, but goes wherever duty demands, in summer’s heat or winter’s cold, in sunshine, or in the shadow of night, when all nature sleeps or but the melancholy voice of the owl is heard or the lonely chirp of the cricket by the wayside. Dr. Frazier was a native of the Old Dominion –Virginia— born in Orange county, Va., April 23, 1828. His father’s name was Leland Frazier, and his mother’s maiden name Ann Mallory. Both were native to the same county in which the Doctor, himself, was born and reared. Dr. Frazier’s early educational advantages were quite limited, and when he came to Missouri in 1853, he had still not completed a course of instruction satisfactory to himself, having in view, as he did have a career in the medical profession. His first year in this State was spent in Jackson county, where he worked on a farm, after which he came to Randolph, and here he attended school for a session on Silver creek. Following his last term at school, young Frazier taught school until 1862, when he felt himself in a situation to begin the study of medicine. He read medicine under Dr. Terrill, that old and honored Nestor of the profession in Randolph county. He studied under Dr. Terrill until 1865, attending the medical lectures at St. Louis durin the sessions of 1864 and 1865. He graduated in the Medical College of Keokuk, Iowa, in the class of 1872, and at once returned to Randolph county and entered upon the practice at Thomas Hill. He has since been engaged in the practice in this vicinity. On the 14^th day of February, 1864, Dr. Frazier was married to Miss Deniza E. Epperly. They have seven children, namely: Joseph, Susan M., Mary B., Theresa, William L., Leland and Oliver. All of the children are at home, except Joseph, who is living near Clifton, in this county. The Doctor and wife are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and the Doctor is also a member of the Masonic order. During the war Dr. F. served eight months in the Southern State Guard, and participated in the battles of Boonville, Lexington and Pea Ridge. He has a pony that he rode in the army and while in the battle of Pea Ridge, which is now 26 years old, and which is still gamboling on the green with head up and tail erect, as light-footed and frisky, and with spirit as gay and free as the May zephyrs that toy with the velvety leaves of a new blown rose, or with the golden locks of a silken-haired maid. This pony is known as “Barber Willis,” and was named for the hero of the Crusades, who, for the first time in the history of the world, unfurled the banner of the Cross in triumph on the ancient walls of Jerusalem.

It appears this article was written prior to 1885, because there were 3 more children born to Joseph and Deniza: Aubrey C., Ione, and Robert Bruce.

Joseph died in 1892 and is buried in the Mt. Carmel Cemetery, Clifton Hill, Randolph Co., Missouri.

Image from Findagrave.com
by James M. Bagby

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy - Week 8 Genealogy Libraries

2012-02-19T07:00:00.007-05:00

This is Week 8 of Amy Coffin’s Abundant Genealogy series.

Genealogy Libraries: Genealogy libraries (and dedicated departments of regular libraries) are true treasures in the family history community. Tell us about your favorite genealogy library. What or who makes it special?

Library of Virginia
From Google Images

The Library of Virginia in Richmond is the one-stop shop for all genealogy research. A family historian can find both original and microfilm records documenting the daily activities of the courts in the various counties, cities, and towns across the state. Just about anything someone needs to know about an ancestor’s OFFICIAL life is there: birth, death, marriage records; wills; deeds; chancery causes; personal property and land tax records; road orders. Some information is available digitally too, such as Confederate pension applications and Revolutionary War bounty warrants. For most documents one can come here rather than travel to all the local courthouses throughout the state.

Aside from the convenience of having almost everything I’d ever want to find under one roof, two features make this library truly special. And they have nothing to do with research.

Go up to the Reading Room where all the genealogy goodies are kept.
Go down to the Coffee Shop.
From Google Images

First of all, there is free parking in the basement garage, provided you remember to get your ticket stamped. And we never forget that.

And second, there is a coffee shop with a better than decent lunch right downstairs. The chicken salad alone is worth the 90-minute drive.

When we go to Richmond for the library, we show up early and never have to get out in the elements or lose a good parking spot until the end of the day when we’re nearly blind or dizzy from cranking microfilm through the readers.

Sepia Saturday: Men and More

2012-02-17T07:00:00.012-05:00

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

This week’s Sepia Saturday challenge features a 1912 photo of actor Claude Rains. Alan suggested many ways to interpret the photo: actors, monocles, pointing, men in chairs. I wanted so desperately to find among my family photos a picture of someone pointing. But it seems I come from a long line of people who were taught it’s not polite to point. However, I have no shortage of pictures of men in chairs.

The man standing is George Clift, the abusive ex-husband of my great-grand aunt Sallie Jollett Clift (read more about her HERE and HERE). I don’t know who the man sitting is; he does not resemble either of George and Sallie’s sons. This picture must have been taken prior to 1914, the date of their divorce decree. I can’t imagine why anyone even held on to this photo given what George put Sallie through, but here it is nonetheless.

Oh my - lookie there – they’re wearing spats! Just like Claude Rains!

And suddenly my Sepia contribution took a turn. Here is my daddy Fred R. Slade Jr. as a young recruit in the Coast Guard.

Spats.

Those Places Thursday: Frazier Discovery Trail

2012-02-16T06:31:00.000-05:00

Those Places is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers that invites family historians to post photos and stories about places their ancestors lived.

Before Shenandoah National Park and the Skyline Drive were established as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s economic response to the Great Depression, hundreds of families called these mountains “home.” My Fraziers (3G and 4G grandparents) were among them. Their presence is recorded in land records from the 1700s, but in the 1930s, the last of the Frazier families moved away from what became park land.

At one time Miley Frazier, my 3G grand uncle, owned over 1,000 acres of land on what was once called Frazier Mountain, now Loft Mountain. At his death he gave each of his children 200 acres. Over time, those children divided the land further among their own children. By the 1930s only 8 Frazier families actually had deeds to property on Loft Mountain, but more Frazier families were there tending other landowners’ farms in exchange for living on the land.

In the 1960s Loft Mountain Campground and The Deadening Nature Trail were built.

Scanned from Frazier Discovery Trail brochure

The trail was so named because at the time, the trees still showed signs of having been “deadened” by the mountain people, that is, girdled with an axe in order to kill the trees quickly so that they could plant orchards and cultivate fields for cattle. With new growth, the signs of deadening disappeared, and so the name made no sense. The trail was renamed Frazier Discovery Trail in 1999 to honor the long history between this family and this mountain.

The trail is a short and easy hike, only 1.3 miles. Two noteworthy features are the overhanging rock cliff

from Google Images

and the overlook where the Frazier trail joins the Appalachian Trail for a short distance.

from Google Images

Two more features are more personal. Right off the trail are the ruins of the Frazier cabin dating from the early 1800s (which I posted about HERE)

Photo by Kevin Walton

and a family cemetery.

Family cemetery behind the cabin
Photo by Kevin Walton

There are at least 50 graves behind the Frazier cabin. Only the tombstones of Jackson and Fannie Morris Frazier remain (1^st cousin 4 times removed and his wife). I believe my 2G grandmother Lucy Ann Shiflett Jollett could be buried there. She and James Franklin Jollett were living near her mother and her Frazier uncles and cousins in the 1880 Greene County, Virginia census. She died four years later, so it is likely she is one of the 50. It is equally likely that her father Burton Shiflett is there. Maybe even the notorious LelandFrazier is there.

The mind races contemplating the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins that might be buried not far from this popular hiking trail.

Wordless Wednesday: Frazier Cabin

2012-02-15T06:59:00.000-05:00

Photos by Kevin Walton

John and Lucy Frazier (my 4G grandparents, and parents to Leland Frazier whom I wrote about HERE and HERE) married in 1811, so the cabin dates some time after that. The cabin is on a trail along the Skyline Drive in Virginia.

Talented Tuesday: A Vintage Valentine

2012-02-14T08:05:00.000-05:00

Talented Tuesday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers encouraging family historians to highlight an ancestor’s special talent whether it be musical, comical, or any manner of skill.

The focus of this Talented Tuesday post is not an ancestor at all. It is none other than MOI. I hate to brag, but evidently I’m oozing with artistic talent. Why else would my grandparents, Orvin and Lucille Davis, have saved this delightful handmade Valentine?

Ordinary construction paper, a little glue, and gold glitter – voila! A masterpiece! Small personalized hearts make this Valentine truly one of a kind.

The poem inside tugs at the ol’ heartstrings.

Hurry Up

Get in line!

I want you to be

My Valentine!

Wendy & Mary J.

Quite honestly, I probably plagiarized that little ditty from a store-bought Valentine. But notice how the heavy-handed exclamation points drive home the sincerity of my message. Now THAT was my idea.

I included my baby sister’s name on the card. I’m sure she was much too young to make her own Valentine, which dates this card at 1961 or ’62. Vintage.

Sharing the love this Valentine's Day ~

Amanuensis Monday and 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: Week 7 Historical Documents

2012-02-12T07:00:00.018-05:00

This is Week 7 in Amy Coffin's Abundant Genealogy series.

Historical Documents: Which historical document in your possession are you happy to have? How did you acquire this item? What does it reveal about your ancestors?

My 3 G grandmother Nancy Frazier Shiflett’s brother Leland Frazier, the same colorful character I wrote about HERE, has long been a man of mystery and the subject of debate. Because he sometimes went by Leland Shiflett and sometimes by Frazier, Shiflett researchers and Frazier descendants alike wonder who his father was.

Lucy Shiflett (about 1778 – before 1860) and John Frazier (about 1770 – before 1850) were married January 20, 1811 in Albemarle County, Virginia. She was his second wife. Lucy’s son Leland Hardin was born in 1804. So that explains the Shiflett connection. John Frazier helped raise him, but did he actually father him?

A possible answer lies in a deed that I found several years ago while trolling through the various collections on microfilm at the Library of Virginia in Richmond.

8 November 1844
Greene Co. Deed Book 2, p. 403

This indenture made and entered into this 9th day of November in the year 1844 between John Frazier of the County of Greene and State of Virginia of the one part and Leland Frazier, Lively Morris, Burton Shifflett, John H. Frazier, Michael Frazier, William Frazier, Shadrick Frazier, Susan Frazier and Mery W. Frazier of the other part. Witnesseth: That the said John Frazier has well for and in consideration of the natural love and affection which he has and bears for the above named Leland Frazier, Lively Morris, Burton Shifflet, John H. Frazier, Michael Frazier, William Frazier, Shadrick Frazier, Susan Frazier and Mery W. Frazier and of one dollar of lawful money of this commonwealth by the said parties to the said John Frazier in hand paid at or before the sealing and delivery of these presents the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged hast given, granted, sold and confirmed and by these presents doth give grant sell and confirm unto the said parties their heirs and assigns forever a certain tract or parcel of land lying and being in the County of Greene adjoining the lands of James H---s (Harris or Hearin?), William Morris, David Morris and others supposed to contain 200 acres more or less To have and to hold the said land and appurtenances to them the said parties of the 2nd part and their heirs and assigns, to the only proper use and behoof of them their heirs etc., forever, and the said John Frazier for himself, his heirs etc. doth covenant . . . of the second part, and he the said John Frazier and his heirs the said land and its appurtenances to them the said party of the second part, and their heirs and against all other persons ---------- , shall and will by these presents forever warrant and defend. In witness whereof the said John Frazier has hereunto set his hand and affixed his seal the day and year last above written.
John (his X mark) Frazier {Seal}

This day John Frazier gave to Elijah K. Davis a Note in demand for Fifty Five Dollars to which note Burton Shiflett and Shadrack Frazier became security, with the understanding that if any of the above named heirs will agree to pay their equal portion of the aforesaid debt to EK Davis they are entitled to an equal share in the land, if they do not, and the said Burton Shiflett and Shadrick Frazier have the amount to pay, then the land belongs to them.
John (his X mark) Frazier

The expression “natural love and affection” is extended equally to all his children (including the daughters through their husbands’ names). In these words John Frazier claims Leland as his son. Of course, that’s not a birth certificate, but it is an indication of the feelings John Frazier had towards Leland who seemed never to know what name to use.

Sepia Saturday: One for the Books

2012-02-10T07:00:00.060-05:00

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

This week’s Sepia Saturday challenge features a man with a book, a “man of letters,” perhaps. My grand aunt Violetta Lorane Davis Ryan certainly qualifies as a “woman of letters.”

In 1923 Violetta earned her teaching certificate from The State Normal School in Harrisonburg, Virginia, later known as Harrisonburg State Teachers College, then Madison College and today James Madison University – Go Dukes!

Violetta Lorane Davis
1923 Graduation picture

This next picture of Violetta with a small stack of books under her arm (my Sepia Saturday connection!) was taken outside her parents’ home in Shenandoah, Virginia, in 1924, so she was most likely THE TEACHER, not the student.

from Violetta's sister Velma's album
"Old Sis"
411 Sixth St, Shenandoah, VA

The brief biographical sketch under her graduation picture in the 1923 yearbook says she was a member of the French Circle, Athletic Association, High School Club, and YWCA. The yearbook staff summed her up this way:

Success, seasoned with humor and good nature – that’s Violetta. “If a task is once begun, Contentment’s never reached until it’s done.” She is never satisfied until her good is better and her better best.

All very complimentary, don’t you agree? Violetta’s classmates seemed to regard her as rather “bookish” but not in a good way. The yearbook supports the view many people held that women went to college in order to find a husband. Two pages of the 1923 yearbook were devoted to listing the 31 recent and upcoming happy nuptials.

The emphasis on marriage coupled with the fact that Violetta didn’t make the list must have stuck with those fine women who composed The Class Prophecy. It was intended as a light-humored prediction of the futures of the graduates, but girl bullies were sharpening their claws to hurt their own even in Violetta’s day. Her natural intelligence, her “bookishness,” making “her good better and her better best” earned her this little mention in the Class Prophecy:

C. Kibler and Annie Councill shy

Both married ministers.

Sue Turpin and V. Davis lead

Sad lives as spin(i)sters.

Nice girls.

Where did Violetta’s bookishness take her? She returned to school and earned her BS in High School Teaching and Administration in 1930. In 1934 she graduated from Columbia University with a Master of Arts degree, very unusual in her day. She taught school and served as principal in several schools in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Violetta was also on the staff at Madison College supervising student teachers.

Violetta built a beautiful apartment building on South Mason Street. (My husband and I lived in the cutest basement apartment when we first married.)

Violetta checking on the construction of her apartment building

473 South Mason St. Harrisonburg, Virginia

She also married. Dick Ryan worshipped her as she deserved.

Violetta and Dick Ryan
Check his shoes!

Aunt Violetta was the first liberated woman I ever knew, being liberated long before women were burning their bras in the 1960s. She encouraged women in our family to be educated. She preached the importance of independence. That’s what books did for Violetta.

Take THAT, you B*tches.

Thriller Thursday: All In the Family

2012-02-09T06:00:00.011-05:00

Thriller Thursday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers that asks bloggers to write about murders, bizarre accidents or other thrilling stories in their family history.

On the 22^nd of October 1860 in Greene County, Virginia, my 3G grandfather Burton Shiflett was killed by his wife’s brother, Leland Frazier.

I bet that put a crimp in the Thanksgiving festivities.

So what happened to make Leland kill his brother-in-law? Shifletts and Fraziers – both lines have their share of wild and wooly characters, so whether Leland was just plain mean or Burton just “needed killin’” is impossible to say.

Based on the testimony of Thornton Mooney and others, the Jury found Leland guilty of Voluntary Manslaughter in the stabbing death of Burton Shiflett. That means Leland didn’t plan to kill him; it just happened. A crime of passion. Something happened to provoke him. Maybe Leland caught Burton with his wife (this is NOT something I found in research -- I’m calling on my vast knowledge of motives gleaned from years of watching “Law & Order”). Maybe Burton was beating his wife Nancy, and Leland stepped in to defend his sister (more “Law & Order”). Maybe Burton caught Leland doing something he shouldn't have been doing. Or maybe they just got into a fight that escalated out of control. Whatever the reason, it cost Leland four years in the state penitentiary.

So far I have found minutes from the Greene County Circuit Court with the outcome of the dirty deed but none of the juicy stuff leading up to it. Here is at least part of the official record in the trial of Leland Frazier:

At a Circuit Court held for the County of Greene at the Courthouse on Monday the 19^th of November 1860. Present Richard H. Field Esq’r, Judge of the Tenth Judicial Circuit. Benjamin W. White, Foreman, Abraham M.B. Eddins, Sanford K. Deane, Thomas Y. Parrott, William Runkle, Richard Dawson, Pemberton Jarrell, John Douglas, Richard M. Durrett, Lewis P. Douglas, Downing Smith, Isaac N. M. Estes, William Samuels, John Riddle Jr., John R. Munday, & Hinkle Jarrell were sworn a Grand Jury of Inquest for the body of this County who having received their charge retired and after a short time returned into Court, and presented an Indictment against Leland Shiflett, commonly called Leland Frazier, for murder a true bill; they also made the following presentment Viz, “Fifth District & Tenth Circuit November term 1860 – We the Grand Jury for the County of Greene being first sworn make the following presentment to wit: We present Leland Frazier alias Shiflett for stabbing one Burton Shiflett within the County of Greene within twelve months last -?-?- upon the evidence of Thornton Mooney and others sworn in open court to give evidence before the Grand Jury” and the said Grand Jury having nothing further to present was discharged.

Leland Frazier commonly called Leland Shiflett who stands indicted of murder was led to the bar in custody of the Jailer of this Court, thereof arraigned and pleaded “Not guilty” whereupon came a Jury to wit: William R. Parrott, James W. Lucas, Jerome Taylor, John W. Crow, Richard H. Miller, Linn B. McMullan, Andrew J. Davis, John M. Douglas, William B. Haney, Larkin Watson, James A. Gibson, and James Jarrell who being charged and sworn the truth of and upon the premises to speak, and having partly heard the evidence were committed to the custody of the sheriff of this county, who is directed to keep them together without communication with any other person and to cause them to appear here tomorrow morning at 10 o’clock.

Circuit Court Law Book, page 105

-------------------------------

Leland Shiflett commonly called Leland Frazier who stands indicted of murder, was again led to the bar in custody of the Jailer of the Court, and the Jury sworn in this cause yesterday appeared in court according to their adjournment and having fully heard the evidence and arguments of Counsel were sent out of the Court to consider of their verdict, were committed to the custody of the sheriff of this County, who is directed to keep them together without communication with any other person and to cause them to appear here tomorrow morning at 10 o’clock, whereupon an Oath was administered to Benjamin Robinson, sheriff of this County, and to Richard D. Melone & John W. Melone, deputy sheriffs, to the following effect “You shall well and truly to the best of your ability keep the Jury and neither speak to them yourselves, nor suffer any other person to speak to them touching any matter relative to this trial, until they return into Court tomorrow morning.” And the prisoner is remanded to jail.

Ordered that Court be adjourned till tomorrow morning 10 o’clock. Richard H. Field

Circuit Court Law Book, page 111

--------------------------------

Leland Shiflett commonly called Frazier was again led to the bar in custody of the Jailer of this Court, and the Jury sworn in this cause on Monday last appeared in Court according to their adjournment, were sent out of the Court, and in a short time returned in to Court, and upon their Oath do say “We the Jury find the prisoner is guilty of Voluntary Manslaughter, and fixed his term of imprisonment to four years in the penitentiary house, Nov. 20, 1860.” And thereupon it being demanded of him, if anything for himself he had or know to say why the Court him should not now proceed to pronounce judgment against him according to law, and nothing being offered or alleged in delay of judgment, it is considered by the Court, that the said Leland Shiflett commonly called Leland Frazier be imprisoned in the public jail and penitentiary house of this Commonwealth for the space of four years, the period of the Jurors in their verdict ascertained. And the prisoner is remanded to jail.

Ordered that Court be adjourned till the first day of the next term. Richard H. Field

Circuit Court Law Book, pages 116-117

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: Week 6 Family Heirlooms

2012-02-05T14:39:00.001-05:00

This is the sixth week of Amy Coffin’s series on Abundant Genealogy.

Week 6 – Family Heirlooms: For which family heirloom are you most thankful? How did you acquire this treasure and what does it mean to you and your family?

I have a houseful of heirlooms – a treadle sewing machine, several washstands, drop-leaf tables, a corner cupboard, old photos, old photo albums, china, crystal, silver, chairs, hats, school books, I could go on. But a favorite? That’s not fair!

If I have to choose, and I guess I do, I will say a fireside chair that isn’t even in MY house. It’s a FAMILY heirloom all right, but I’m not the caretaker. My sister is.

This chair is from my great-great-grandfather’s boyhood home in Greene County, Virginia. That dates this chair to the late 1830s-early 1840s IF it were new then. I can imagine young James Franklin Jollett sitting in that chair while tending the fire under the watchful eyes of his parents Fielding and Mary Ann. Maybe Mary Ann took a rest now and then while stirring the stew.

While the seat and back are normal size for an adult, the short legs make it look like a child’s chair. I suppose children liked the chair because it did not require climbing; they could easily plop down with both feet firmly on the floor.

Apparently the chair was painted green at one time as evidenced by the paint that did not come out of the wood grain when James Franklin’s granddaughter (my grand aunt) Violetta Davis Ryan had the chair refinished. The wood is probably poplar, rather soft wood, smooth from the many hands that held on to the slats for support or to position the chair more comfortably, hands that painted, removed paint, sanded, varnished, and rubbed it back to life countless times.

Because the chair is so old, because it has been in the family through at least 5 generations, the Jollett fireside chair tops my list of favorite family heirlooms.

Sepia Saturday: Fritz

2012-02-03T06:00:00.000-05:00

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

This week's Sepia Saturday theme is dogs. Wouldn’t I be the champ if I had a picture to prove that at age what? 2? 3? 4? I lined the neighborhood dogs up on the porch steps and taught school. The dogs looked forward to it. Really, they did. You should have seen the looks on their faces.

But since there is no record of that marvelous feat, I offer you the story of Fritz, my mother’s childhood pet.

Uncle "Renza" Davis with Mary Eleanor
and Orvin Davis Jr. with Fritz

Fritz was the son of a circus dog. My grandparents got Fritz when the circus came to town. I guess Ma Fritz felt the circus life was no way to raise a pup.

Fritz lived a long time, long enough to become a nuisance by biting people on the ankle. One day when Grandma was working in the Davis Store, (you can read about the store HERE ) Effie Helton came in. Effie was a BIG woman who played for the men’s baseball team. Fritz bit her ankle and Effie returned fire with a swift kick. Grandma then kicked Effie out of the store. "Love me, love my dog."

Lucille and Orvin Davis

Tombstone Tuesday: More Eppards

2012-01-31T06:00:00.011-05:00

To close out a month that has been devoted to the bits and pieces of my woefully under-researched Eppard information, I am posting the remainder of my Eppard tombstones.

Bessie Ellen Eppard

10 May 1889 – 30 Jun 1909

Daughter of William Henry and Pamily Rogers Eppard

Buried in Coverstone Cemetery, Shenandoah, Virginia

My first cousin 3 times removed

Charles W. Charley Eppard

29 Jan 1868 – 30 Apr 1944

Son of William Henry and Pamily Rogers Eppard

Buried in Coverstone Cemetery, Shenandoah, Virginia

My first cousin 3 times removed

Daniel Eppard

From Findagrave.com
Photo by Jan Hensley

28 Nov 1803 – 30 Jul 1878

Son of Philip Ebert and Margaret Utz

Buried in Hensley Community Cemetery, Elkton, Virginia

My first cousin 5 times removed

Mary Fox Eppard

From Findagrave.com
Photo by Jan Hensley

17 Aug 1817 – 23 Nov 1908

Buried in Methodist Church Cemetery, Shenandoah, Virginia

Widow of 3 great grand-uncle James D. Eppard

William H. Eppard

From Findagrave.com
Photo by David Roberts

18 Dec 1927 – 21 Sep 2007

Son of Dr. George Irving Eppard, MD and Louisa UNKNOWN

Buried in Joy Chapel Cemetery, Hollywood, St. Mary’s, Maryland

My first cousin 2 times removed

Sunday's Obituary: Daniel Wesley Eppard

2012-01-30T04:25:00.007-05:00

Sunday’s Obituary is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers asking us to post obituaries along with other information about that person.

Found on Findagrave.com

Wesley Eppard Dead

Near Mt. Pleasant

Wesley Eppard, a farmer of the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood, five miles east of Elkton, died at 2:30 o’clock yesterday afternoon, following a lingering illness of tuberculosis. He had been bedfast for more than six months. He was 60 years old.

Surviving him are his wife, who was Miss Ardenia Hensley, of Mt. Pleasant and eight children.

The funeral will be held at 11:00 tomorrow morning from Hensley United Brethren church, Rev. W. S. Ran, of Elkton, conducting the services.

Rockingham Daily Record

December 9, 1912

Image from Findagrave.com
Hensley Community Cemetery
Elkton, Virginia
photo by Jan Hensley

5 Sep 1846 – 8 Dec 1912

Son of Daniel Eppard and Delilah Hensley

Children of Daniel Wesley and Ardenia Hensley Eppard:

Etta Virginia (27 Jan 1869 – 12 Jan 1943)

Daniel Benjamin (31 Jan 1871 – 14 Mar 1970)

John Adams (3 Sep 1873 OR 16 Feb 1872 – 18 Nov 1959)

Emma Lee (27 Sep 1875 – 8 Dec 1961)

Rebecca Ann Delilah “Abbie” (17 Apr 1878 – 20 Oct 1962)

Ella Ree (Mar 1880 – 1957)

Alfred Franklin (12 Jan 1882 OR 21 Jan 1883 – 1 Aug 1971)

Annie P. (8 May 1885 – 18 Jan 1886)

Rupert Collins (8 Nov 1886 – 20 Mar 1917)

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: Week 5 Life Experiences

2012-01-29T12:14:00.000-05:00

This is Week 5 of Amy Coffin’s Abundant Genealogy series. I started to skip this week because I haven’t been able to think of a good answer. But I’m determined to stick with it, so I am offering a not-so-good answer.

Life Experiences: Sometimes the challenges in life provide the best learning experiences. Can you find an example of this in your own family tree? Which brick wall ancestor are you most thankful for, and how did that person shape your family history experience?

Ida Mary Davis was my great grandfather Walter Davis’s sister. She was born to Mitchell and Martha Ann Wilson Davis 25 Jun 1869. She married William Layton Morris December 12, 1890. They had two sons: Lionel born in 1891 and Mitchell 1893. In 1895 at the age of 21, Layton Morris was struck with Bright’s disease and died.

In the 1900 Rockingham County, Virginia census, I don’t know where Ida was, but evidently she was unable to take care of her sons on her own. I found Lionel living with his grandmother Martha Davis. At the opposite side of the county, Mitchell was living with the other grandmother, Nancy Morris.

In 1910, Mitchell was still with his grandmother Nancy Morris, now in Washington DC. She was running a boarding house and Mitchell was an apprentice carpenter. Ida Mary’s mother had died, so Lionel came to live with her in Elkton where she and a daughter Dorothy were renting a house on Ward Avenue (apparently this road no longer exists, at least not on Google Maps). Lionel helped out by taking odd jobs. Ida Mary was earning a living as a washer woman.

Washer woman. Washer woman.

I can’t get that word out of my mind. No honest work is unworthy, but what difficult work that had to be. In 1910 there was no laundry detergent. Ida Mary probably grated soap flakes from some hand-made bar of hard soap. I wonder if she was able to afford a “modern” washing machine like this one:

Image from Google Images

or if she simply had a tub and washboard like this:

Image from Google Images

I wonder if she suffered from washer woman syndrome. (I didn’t know there was such a syndrome!) It’s a form of tendonitis caused by the repetition of hand movements like wringing out wet clothes, pinching and squeezing. Washer woman syndrome is also called Mommy Thumb, Mother’s Wrist, and of course, more scientific terms like radial styloid tenosynovitis and De Quervain’s Syndrome in honor of the doctor who first identified it.

But back to the question about lessons learned from life experiences. I don’t know if Ida Mary was proud of being an independent woman who eked out a living washing other people’s clothes or if she was bitter at being widowed at such a young age forced to leave her children with grandparents. I don’t know if she viewed her own life as any harder than anyone else’s. But as I sit in my very comfortable home able to play around with my genealogy and blog thanks to early retirement, I am glad not to be her.

Sepia Saturday: You oughta be in pictures

2012-01-27T07:00:00.022-05:00

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

This week’s Sepia Saturday photo prompt is a theater. This one almost had me stumped as we are not a theatrical family. Oh, we have some drama, just no theater. Except for this one tiny instance.

Virgil S. Davis, 2^nd cousin twice removed, once managed the Arcade and Virginia Theater in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

1920 Harrisonburg, VA Federal Census
click on image to enlarge

Virginia Theater on Main Street, Harrisonburg, VA about 1926
Image scanned from Harrisonburg Images of America
by Scott Hamilton Suter and Cheryl Lyon
Click on image to enlarge

The Virginia and the Arcade were two of the most popular places of entertainment in the 1920s for the citizens of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. The Virginia Theater showed movies and hosted live entertainment. It was a place for meetings and for public speakers and lecturers. Politician and orator William Jennings Bryan spoke there in 1921. He could have been there speaking in support of Prohibition or attacking Darwinism, who knows. I wonder if Cousin Virgil got an autograph.

Entrance to Virginia Theater and Arcade about 1926
Image scanned from Harrisonburg Images of America
by Scott Hamilton Suter and Cheryl Lyon
Click on image to enlarge

The Arcade shared an entrance with the Virginia Theater. Patrons for the theater entered just behind the ticket booth, while those going to the Arcade entered to the left. At the Arcade, one could play billiards, go bowling, and grab dinner or a snack.

Image scanned from Harrisonburg Images of America
by Scott Hamilton Suter and Cheryl Lyon
Click on image to enlarge

If you’re wondering what movie you could have seen in 1926 when these photos were taken, it was a silent movie starring Dorothy Gish called Nell Gwynn about an orange grower who became the mistress to Charles II. Also on the bill was a short silent cartoon called “Earth’s Other Half.”

But in 1975, you could have joined me there when I spent most of the evening peeking around my box of popcorn during the showing of Jaws.

Thriller Thursday: Dr. Eppard to the rescue

2012-01-26T08:57:00.000-05:00

Thriller Thursday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers that asks bloggers to write about murders, bizarre accidents or other thrilling stories in their family history.

On May 30, 1915, a day when the Washington Post was reporting the arrival of a new fire wagon and the opening of the new hospital, a day when Saks & Company was advertising men’s suits for $10 and Zell Motors was selling a 5-passenger 6-cylinder motor car for $820, the police reported this incident:

from Washington Post, May 30, 1915
Page found on Ancestry.com

While playing with a horse that belonged to William A. Simpson, 530 South street southeast, yesterday afternoon, near Benning road, Anacostia, Erick Fisher, 13 years old, who lives on Gault street, Hillbrook, had his right forefinger bitten off. Young Fisher was treated by Dr. George I. Epard of Benning.

George Irving Eppard, born in Rockingham County, Virginia, July 27, 1883, was my great grand uncle, brother to my great grandmother Mary Susan Eppard Rucker. He married twice and had 5 children. He died December 28, 1969, and is buried at St. Francis Xavier Church Cemetery in St. Mary’s, Maryland.

Image on Findagrave.com
Photo by David Roberts

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday - No Vote for You!

2012-01-25T08:25:00.000-05:00

Image from Ancestry.com

Phoebe Breeden Eppard and Wesley Eppard

Wesley Eppard (1825 – 1882), my 3G grand-uncle, was the baby of the family, youngest brother of my 3G grandfather William Eppard, son of Johann George Eppard and Catherine Beasley. Johann George directed in his will of 1866 (read it HERE) that Wesley should be allowed to purchase the family farm in Rockingham County, Virginia in four easy installments.

Yet Wesley picked up his family and moved to Missouri. In 1870, they were farming in Randolph County, Missouri. His real estate was worth $2000 and personal property, $300.

Now here’s the strange thing: it appears Wesley was denied the right to vote. In the 1870 Federal Census, Columns 19 and 20 concern Constitutional Relations. In column 19, he is confirmed as a male US citizen of age 21 or upwards. In column 20, there is a mark indicating he was denied the right to vote on “other grounds than rebellion or other crime.”

The Fifteenth Amendment, which guaranteed no one would be denied the right to vote based on race, was ratified that year. But that doesn’t apply to Wesley. He was white.

The fact that he had been a Confederate should have had no bearing since the question says “other than rebellion.”

He is not checked off for being deaf, blind, insane or idiotic.

Following ratification of the 15^th Amendment, some states continued to try to deny voting rights to certain citizens, not just former slaves, but the Irish and Chinese among others. That didn’t apply to Wesley either. In his county, only 3 other white citizens were denied the right to vote: a German, an Englishman, and a Canadian, all of whom were also US citizens. Wesley was born in Virginia.

So why was Wesley Eppard denied? If I could determine Missouri’s laws regarding voting requirements, I might have an answer.

Segourney Eppard - Application for a Widow's Pension

2012-01-24T06:00:00.011-05:00

Segourny Eppard is my great-great grandmother (my mother's mother's mother's mother). Her application for a widow’s pension, which was made available to widows of soldiers, sailors, and marines who served during the Civil War, is rather difficult to read. I previously wrote about George Harvey Eppard's pension application HERE. The handwritten portions appear to have been done with a medium-point Sharpie pen, but of course, I know that’s not the case. Even the typed part is not crisp. Everything in this digital copy appears to have bled and spread. Therefore, I have transcribed mainly the questions and answers. The opening paragraph appears to merely lay out the requirements for application as determined by the General Assembly in 1894.

Click on image to enlarge

The Applicant must read, or have read to her, every word in this Application

Pensioners now on the ROLL are NOT required to make new application, but must file annual certification.

THIS APPLICATION must be filed with the Clerk of the Corporation Court of Your City or Circuit Court of Your County

(No application will be entertained, not on the printed form.)

1. What is your name? Segournie Eppard

2. What is your age? 74

3. Where were you born? Albemarle Co, Va.

4. How long have you resided in Virginia? all of my life

5. How long have you resided in this City or County of your present residence? 20 years

6. Where do you reside? If a City, give street address.

Post Office Shenandoah

County of Page Virginia

7. With whom do you reside? my daughter Mrs. J. C. Rucker

8. What was your husband’s full name? Geo. Harvey Eppard

9. When, where, and by whom were you married?

When? May 28^th 1870

Where? Rockingham Co., Va.

By whom? Rev. Condor

10. When and where did your husband die? Jan 13^th 1917 Shenandoah, Va.

11. What was the cause of his death? Rheumatism & kidney trouble

12. Have you married since the death of your husband? If yes, give full particulars.

13. In what branch of the army did your husband serve?

Second Virginia Regiment

“I” Company

14. Who were his immediate superior officers?

Colonel I’m not sure

Captain Wilson Carrier

15. Give the names and addresses of two comrades who served in the same command with your husband during the war.

(See Certificate “B”)

Name

Address None living

Name

Address

16. Give the names and addresses of two persons who are familiar with the circumstances of your husband’s service and death.

(See Certificate “C”)

Name

Address None living

Name

Address

17. What assistance do you receive and what income have you from all sources?

No income live with my daughter

18. How much property do you own?

Real estate $ none

Personal Property $ none

19. Was your husband on the pension roll for Virginia? If yes, for what county or city was his pension allowed?

Yes, Rockingham Co.

20. Have you ever applied for a pension in Virginia before? If yes, why are you not drawing one at this time?

21. Is there a camp of Confederate Veterans in your city or county?

yes

22. Give here any other information you may possess relating to the service of your husband or the cause of his death which will support the justice of your claim.

he was disabled by the war, and limb broken

The document was signed by Segourney Eppard. It is interesting that her name is spelled differently on the first line and question, which suggests someone else filled in the form for her, possibly the witness (possibly W.T. Miller) since the Notary Public’s handwriting does not match the other writing.

The next image is a series of witness statements which I have summarized:

Click image to enlarge

1. W.T. Miller and C.C. Conrad swear they have known Segourney Eppard for 25 years.

2. A statement from comrades says that there are none living. Names included were Simeon Merica, Simon Merica, Cal Eppard.

3. B.T. Milton and T.H. Bailey, non-comrades, swear they are familiar with George H. Eppard’s service and death.

4. The physician witness statement could not be signed noting that George H. Eppard’s doctor J.M. Ropp has moved from the area to southwest Virginia.

This third image is a continuation of witness statements which I have summarized:

Click image to enlarge

1. P.M. Kauffman, Lt. Commander of the Rosser-Gibbons Camp of Confederate Veterans, verifies Segourney Eppard’s application for a widow’s pension.

2. Certificate of Ex-Confederate soldiers is blank.

3. The Commissioner of Revenue for Page County, Virginia verifies that Segourney Eppard has no real or personal property of value.

4. The chairman of the Pension Board recommends approval.

5. Judge T.N. Haas examined the affidavits and certificates and judges the application to be just.

Below the form someone whose signature I cannot read states that George Harvey Eppard was on the Pension Roll for Rockingham County, Virginia.

Tombstone Tuesday: Hiram Oscar Eppard

2012-01-24T05:00:00.005-05:00

Hiram Oscar Eppard was the oldest brother of my great-grandmother Mary Sudie Eppard Rucker. Oscar was born to George Harvey Eppard and Segourney F. Shiplett Eppard on 17 March 1871. He died just 23 years later on Sep 10, 1894. He is buried along with many of the Eppards in the Methodist Church Cemetery in Shenandoah, Page County, Virginia.

Image from Findagrave.com
by Jan Hensley
Click on image to enlarge.

Image on Findagrave.com
by Jan Hensley
Click on image to enlarge.

Amanuensis Monday: Eppard Pension Application

2012-01-23T08:53:00.004-05:00

Click on image to enlarge it

Application of Soldier, Sailor or Marine for a Pension,

Disabled by Reason of Disease or Other Infirmities

I, George H. Eppard , a native of the State of Virginia, and now a citizen of Virginia, resident at McGaheysville, in the County (or City) of Rockingham in said State of Virginia, and who was a soldier from the State of Virginia, in the war between the United States and Confederate States, do hereby apply for aid under an act of the General Assembly approved March 7, 1900, entitled “An act to give aid to soldiers, sailors or marines disabled in the war between the States, and to every such soldier, sailor or marine who by disease or other infirmities of age, is disabled from earning or is without the means of procuring a support, and to the widows of Virginia soldiers, sailors or marines who lost their lives in said war in military or naval services, or whose husbands have died since the war.” And I do solemnly swear that I was a member of Company I 2^nd Virginia Regiment and that I am now disabled by reason of of having a broken leg which was broken in 1863 and Rheumatism in my lims [sic.] and that by reason of such disability I am entitled to receive, under said Act, the sum of thirty dollars annually. I further swear that I do not hold any National, State, or County office which pays me in salary or fees over three hundred dollars per annum; nor have I an income from any other source which amounts to three hundred dollars; nor do I own in my own right nor does my wife own, property of the assessed value of more than one thousand dollars; nor do I receive aid or a pension from any other State or from the United States; and that I am not an inmate of any soldiers’ home.

I do further swear that the following answers are true:

1^st What is the applicant’s age? Ans. 60 years

2^nd What is the precise nature of the disability of the applicant?

Ans. Of having a broke leg

Rheumatism in my Lims

3^rd Is it total? Ans. No

(a) Is it partial? And if so, to what extent does it disable him from manual labor?

Ans. Not able to do manual labor

Given under my hand, this 24^th day of April 1901.

George H. Eppard

The rest is the legal stuff signed by W. J. Runkle, the Notary Public, and a few others. Parts are difficult to read because apparently the original paper was wrinkled or folded when digitized.

Click on image to enlarge it.

This second page is a series of testimonies which I have summarized:

1. George H. Eppard repeats the information from the first paragraph claiming to have Rheumatism in his “lims” as a result of a broken leg suffered in the war.

2. R.M. Runkle and J.O. Gibson swear that George H. Eppard is still living at the time of his application.

3. J.W. Churchill, the Commissioner of Revenue, verifies that George and his wife meet the income requirements.

4. Dr. H.H. Miller testifies that George Eppard is unable to do physical labor.

5. D. H. Lee Maritz, Clerk of Rockingham County Circuit Court, will certify to the Auditor of Public Accounts that George H. Eppard is entitled to receive a pension of $30.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: Week 4 Free OFFline Genealogy Tools

2012-01-23T07:20:00.000-05:00

This is Week 4 of Amy Coffin’s Abundant Genealogy series.

Free OFFline genealogy tools: For which free offline genealogy tool are you most grateful? How did you find this tool and how has it benefitted your genealogy? Describe to others how to access this tool and spread the genealogy love.

Since my friend Neva would NOT appreciate being referred to as a “tool,” I’ll have to write about a genealogy tool she swears by and finally persuaded me to try after many reminders and much gentle scolding. It’s the personal property tax records.

What’s so great about personal property tax records?

· In Virginia, the censuses for 1790 and 1800 are lost, but early tax records can act much like a census since all people who were taxed are listed.

· Tax records can be used to estimate year of birth. Any male at least 16 years old was tithable, or taxable, so they appeared in the household. If they appeared under their own name, they were at least 21. Of course, this is not an infallible method since records are sometimes incomplete and tithables might not always have been reported.

· Women who owned their own property or were the widow of a property owner were also listed. Yay – it’s possible to find a wife well ahead of the 1850 census.

· Names of people who died were listed as long as their estate had not been settled (usually indicated by either “estate” or “deceased”).

· Where a person lived can be determined by the name of the collector, by the geographic region of the county, or by the militia that was drawn from that district. By studying lists from year to year, a researcher can tell when an ancestor left a locality.

· A person’s economic and social standing can be determined by comparing records within the county. The laws for what was to be taxed changed from year to year, but in general the list included the number of slaves, various categories of animals (usually horse and cattle, but sometimes hogs, sheep and stud horses), and various luxury items like pianos, harps, billiard tables, carriages, kitchen furniture, watches and clocks, jewelry, portraits, icehouses, and stocks and bonds.

How I’ve used the property tax records

I found my 5G grandfather Windle Eppard and his brother Andrew in the 1801 property tax records. They both died before the 1810 census was taken, so neither appears in any available census record. Each had one tithable (themselves) and 3 horses.

I’ve been unable to find a father for my 4G grandfather James Jollett, but through the personal property tax records, I’ve found a likely candidate: Thomas Jollett. But I’ll need to do more research.

I know from remnants of a burned deed that the father of my 3G grandmother Mary Ann Armentrout Jollett was named John Armentrout. In Rockingham County in the 1700s, there were MANY John Armentrouts. I have used the property and personal property tax records to narrow the field of candidates. I have not proved her father yet, but the tax records have been helpful in identifying possible family members who might be easier to study and obtain records that might lead me to the solution.

How to access personal property tax records

The Library of Virginia in Richmond has copies of personal property tax records for each county and city from 1782 to 1927, and for each year ending in 0 or 5 from 1930 to 1975. Tax records from 1782-1863 for the counties that are now part of West Virginia are also at the LVA. There are no records for 1808 and 1864, the two times the General Assembly suspended collection of taxes and enumeration of tax payers. The records are on microfilm and are available through interlibrary loan.

Sunday's Obituary: Lester Leonard Eppard

2012-01-22T06:00:00.003-05:00

Sunday’s Obituary is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers asking us to post obituaries along with other information about that person.

This obituary of my great grand-uncle Lester Leonard Eppard was torn from a newspaper and part is missing along the bottom. I cropped the scan just to neaten it for presentation here. I am guessing that the obituary appeared in an Athens, Georgia newspaper in 1944.

Death Takes L. L.

Eppard Today;

Was Ill One Week

L. L. Eppard, one of the city’s most popular businessmen, died in an Atlanta hospital this morning at 7 o’clock after an illness of one week. Mr. Eppard was 56 years old.

Funeral services will be conducted from the First Christian Church, of which he had been a member and deacon for many years, by the pastor, the Rev. Paul Howle. Date for the services will be announced later by McDorman-Bridges, in charge of arrangements. Burial will be in Oconee Hill Cemetery.

Mr. Eppard is survived by his wife, Joanna Gibson Eppard, Athens; sister Mrs. Sudie Rucker, Shenandoah, Va.; and ---[probably says brother] Dr. G. I. Eppard --- [probably says Washington, DC]. ---

Death Takes L. L.

Eppard Today;

Was Ill One Week

(Continued from Page One)

sadness to the large number of friends in the city who held him in the highest respect and esteem. He was one of quiet demeanor and always shunned the spotlight but who did a lot of good as a citizen of Athens in many ways. He was a person of perfect fairness in his dealings and relationships with his fellow man and his loyalty to his friends was one of the qualities which was an inspiration to the many who knew him.

Lester Leonard Eppard (16 Mar 1888 – 24 Jul 1944) was my maternal grandmother’s uncle, her mother’s youngest brother. Based on census records, I conclude that he and his wife Joanna Gibson Eppard had no children. In 1930, he was proprietor of an automobile company.

According to family lore, he once served as mayor of Athens, Georgia. However, an Internet search into the history of Athens does not confirm this as he is not listed among the past mayors on a page that admits to being incomplete. Nor does his obituary indicate having served in such a capacity.

Image on Findagrave.com
Photo by Ed Saye

Will of Johann George Eppard (1780-1869)

2012-01-21T06:00:00.006-05:00

The following is a transcription of my 4G grandfather's will. When I first read this will, I thought he was giving preferential treatment to his son Wesley allowing him to buy the land while leaving practically nothing for the other children. However, I found in the 1860 Rockingham County, Virginia Census that Wesley and his family were living in George's house and running the farm. Therefore, it makes sense to allow him and his family to remain. George specifically mentions bequeathing money to the children from two of his sons who preceded him in death. Since he mentioned no one else, I at first assumed they were left out. But after reading the will many times, I realized I had been MISreading all along and that the other children indeed would be getting a share from the sale of the other lands. In 1860, George's property was worth $7,000, which must have been a sizeable sum back then.

Transcribed from Will Book No. 4, page 8, Rockingham Co, VA (without corrections, changes, or additions)

I George Epard of the County of Rockingham and State of Virginia do make and publish this as my last will and testament hereby revoking and declaring void all the other wills by me heretofore made. First, I direct and will that my land be divided as follows: Beginning one pole above the “head gate” where the “race” comes out of the Creek and running down Naked Creek to Huffmans Corner thence S. 15°W 48 poles to a pine by a path, thence S 2°W 76 poles to a White Oak, Black Oak & Hickory, thence N 74 1/4° E 214 poles to “two pines” near a road, the said courses being the outside lines of my land as far as they go; and from said above last named corner a straight line to the “mill-race” at a point where the fence now makes an angle about twenty-five poles above the house in which Mary Epard, the widow of my son James now lives, thence up the south side of said race to the “head gate” at Naked Creek and thence up the Creek to the beginning. The said boundary to include the exclusive privilege and use of the water from the dam in the creek. The said boundary of land I will to my son Wesley Epard by his paying to my estate the sum of $20.00 per acre in four equal payments. The first payment to be made in 60 days from the date of admitting this my will to record and the balance in three equal annual payments from said day. Second: The residue of my land should I not dispose of the same before my death I wish to be sold at public sale by my executor, hereinafter named, on such terms and time as they may think most advisable. Third: The proceeds of the above sales together with all the rest of my effects, after all of my just debts and funeral expenses are paid I wish to be equally divided among all my children. The children of my two Sons, John and James, who are dead: I wish to receive respectively the shares that would have come to their fathers had they been living that is, the children of John Epard to receive one moiety and the children of James Epard one moiety. Fourthly: I constitute and appoint my friend John C. Walker my executor. In testimony whereof I the said George Epard have to this my last Will and Testament signed and subscribed my name this day of March in the year of our Lord 1866.

Signed, acknowledged and published by George Epard

George (x) Epard X His Mark

County Court of Rockingham: August Term 1869

The last will and testament of George Epard deceased was presented in Court and proven by the oath of John Ainip and John P. Huffman, the subscribing witnesses thereto, and ordered to be recorded. And on motion of John C. Walker Executor therein named who made oath according to law and together with SPH Miller his Security who justified as to the sufficiency entered into and acknowledged a bond in the penalty of one thousand dollars conditioned as the law requires. A certificate is granted him for obtaining probate of said will in due form.

A.L. Lindsey Clerk, Rockingham Court

Sepia Saturday: A Tale of Two Dollies

2012-01-20T05:00:00.000-05:00

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

This week’s Sepia Saturday challenge features dolls. The challenge has been narrowing down my options. I have 3 stories about 2 dolls.

#1 – Let’s start with this picture of my mother Mary Eleanor Davis Slade, probably late 1930s, cradling her Shirley Temple doll. She seems very happy with this popular toy UNLIKE several years before at Christmas when she was 5 or 6 years old. She had asked for a doll WITH HAIR and the new-style doll carriage of steel and cloth. Unfortunately, her aunts Violetta and Velma convinced her mother that those new dolls were ugly. No, little Mary E. must have a bald doll and wicker carriage because they were beautiful and so much better than those new-fangled toys. When little Mary E. awoke Christmas morning to this major disappointment, she opened the front door and shoved that wicker carriage and bald doll out onto the porch and slammed the door.

We all loved Violetta and Velma, but honestly, they could be rather snobbish. This story gives a little insight into what Grandma had to put up with from her sisters-in-law, who she suspected never thought she was good enough for their brother. Isn't it funny how people who never had children always seem to know how to raise them?

#2 – I have a Shirley Temple doll too.

She arrived one Christmas along with a doll trunk full of clothes made by Santa-Momma. She’s wearing one of those dresses in the picture. The only other outfit that I still have is this blue corduroy coat. I see the other outfits in my mind’s eye but ….

#3 – And now for my sad story. I cannot throw this doll away. It’s Poor Pitiful Pearl, a doll from the late 50s-early 60s. You can read about her HERE. I remember seeing her in the Sears catalog. My heart broke for her. I knew no little girl would want this ugly doll for Christmas, so I HAD to ask Santa for her. I could not bear the thought of this doll being left behind at the store while all the other toys went to loving homes.

In this picture she’s wearing one of my sister’s Chatty Cathy outfits. No telling what became of Pearl’s rag dress or her party dress. If you looked at the link to read the history of Poor Pitiful Pearl, you saw that she originally had bangs and long hair. Yeah, I cut it. I loved that doll and always tried to make her beautiful. I even told my friend Linda’s mother that Daddy said Linda and Pearl looked alike. My parents nearly died on the spot!

Those Places Thursday: Naked Creek

2012-01-19T06:00:00.003-05:00

Those Places is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers that invites family historians to post photos and stories about places their ancestors lived.

I live in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. We’re 7 quite sizeable cities: Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Hampton, Newport News. We’re a very transient area thanks to a huge Navy and Coast Guard presence, 5 large universities and several hospitals with their ever-changing faculty and staff, industry coming and going uprooting families by the minute.

It’s unusual to find someone who can actually trace their roots to here.

Maybe that’s why I’m so fascinated by my earliest Virginia ancestors. The names that appear on the earliest deeds in the Shenandoah Valley are the names that appear on this 1885 map. (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

They are the names that are still there today. All those German and French names – names like Rucker, Eppard, Merica, Toliver, Harnsberger, Armentrout, Stoutemoyer, Dovel, Peterfish, Wyant, Hensley, Utz, Breeden, Frazier, Sellers, Meadows.

I can’t name them all, but there’s a comforting familiarity about those names that when I meet someone today, I often know where they’re from just from their name. Baugher? Davis? You’re likely from the foot of the Skyline Drive around Beldor. Tusing? Strawderman? Andes? You’re from the northern part of Rockingham County around Timberville and Broadway. Merica? Meadows? Eppard? You’re from Naked Creek.

Naked Creek is where I can find my Jolletts, my Ruckers, and my Eppards all snug as a bug in a rug there together. Here’s a deed where my great-great grandfather George Harvey Eppard and his wife Segourny F. Shiplett Eppard sold land to one Benjamin Henderson.

Page County Deed Book 1 : 116

Deed between George H. Epard and Benjamin Henderson March 1881

This Deed made this the 17^th day of March 1881, Between George H. Epard and Segourna his wife of the County of Rockingham and State of Virginia of the first part and Benjamin Henderson colored of the County of Page and State aforesaid of the second part. Witnesseth that the said George H. Epard and Segerna his wife for and in consideration of twenty four dollars to them in hand paid the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged have granted bargained and sold unto the said Benjamin Henderson a certain lot of land situated and being in the County of Page adjoining the lands of the said George H. Epard and others and being a part of the land which the said George H. Epard inherited from his father Wm. Epard dec’d and is bounded as follows. Beginning at a stake in a line of the original Epard tract and corner to Thomas Epard and running thence S. 62 ½° ? 34 poles to a stake corner to Thomas Epard thence S. 35 ½ ° W 13 9/10 poles to a stake by a fence thence 62 ½ ° W. 35 poles to a stake (a line of) in the original tract thence N. 41 E. 13 9/10 Poles to the Beginning containing three acres be it the same more or less, a road fifteen feet wide is reserved along this line of the Northern boundary of this said lot and the said George H. Epard and Segerna his wife covenant that they will warrant generally the land hereby conveyed. Witness the following signatures and seals.

George H. Epard {seal}

Sigournia Epard {seal}

Page County to wit:

I, Daniel F. Brown a justice of the peace for the County aforesaid in the State of Virginia do certify that George H. Epard whose name is signed to the writing within bearing date on the 17^th day of March 1881 has acknowledged the same before me in my County aforesaid. Given under my hand this the 17^th day of March 1881.

Daniel F. Brown J.P.

What is interesting about this deed is all the genealogical information contained in a few lines: it references the original Eppard tract, which was near Fox Mountain; the inheritance from his FATHER William confirms the family line; and the description of the metes and bounds mentions Thomas Eppard’s corner. That’s the same Thomas Eppard whose name is on this map. It’s not a street address, but it’s enough to get me there if I want to stand where they stood and look toward the mountains that they looked at every day.

Wednesday's Child: Annie P. Eppard

2012-01-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

Wednesday’s Child is one of the daily blogging prompts at Geneabloggers that features gravestones of children.

Image on Findagrave.com
by Jan Hensley

8 May 1885 – 18 Jan 1886

Annie P. Eppard is my 3^rd cousin, 3 times removed. She was the daughter of Daniel Wesley Eppard and Amanda Ardenia Hensley Eppard, granddaughter of Daniel and Delilah Hensley Eppard, and great-granddaughter of Philip and Margaret Utz Eppard (twin brother to my 4G grandfather Johann George Eppard). She died 126 years ago today and is buried among family in Hensley Community Cemetery, Elkton, Virginia.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: Week 3 Free Online Genealogy Tools

2012-01-18T04:00:00.001-05:00

This is Week 3 of Amy Coffin’s Abundant Genealogy series. Only 49 more to go! HA

Week 3 – Free online genealogy tools are like gifts from above. Which one are you most thankful for? How has it helped your family history experience?

It took me a bit to recall what free tools there are: Family Search, Rootsweb, Genforum, US Genweb, Interment, Ellis Island, Digital Library of Virginia, and plenty more. At one time or another, I’ve used them all with varying degrees of success, depending on what I was researching.

Right now, Find A Grave is at the top of my frequent-visit list. I’ve added several names to many of my lines thanks to volunteers who have posted photos of tombstones and linked them to tombstones of other family members. Some have even included obituaries. Cha-ching! This is a handy place to get some more current information that won’t be available in census records for years to come.

Even very old information is sometimes available at Find a Grave. I’ve found resting places of ancestors from the early 1800s. Most often there are no photos because graves are unmarked, but names of those interred have been preserved.

Every time I get a freebie, I am sure to check for local cemeteries on Find a Grave to see if there are any photo requests. If I can pay it forward by taking a picture of somebody’s loved one’s tombstone, I will be glad to do it.

Tombstone Tuesday: The Eppards

2012-01-17T05:00:00.010-05:00

My great-great grandparents are buried in the Methodist Church Cemetery, Shenandoah, Virginia.

Image on Findagrave.com
Submitted by Jan Hensley

George Harvey Eppard

Sep 1839 – 13 Jan 1917

Son of William Eppard & Helena Foland

Segourny F. Shiplett Eppard

1851- 1926

Daughter of Isaac Shiplett & Susan Jordan

Amanuensis Monday: Eppard Postcard

2012-01-16T05:00:00.015-05:00

Amanuensis Monday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers which encourages the family historian to transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts.

Among my mother’s things that she had saved of her mother’s things that included some of HER mother’s things from HER mother is this postcard:

Benjamin Marion Eppard
23 Feb 1878 - 16 Oct 1960

On the back is a note to Mrs. G. H. Eppard, otherwise known as Segourney Eppard, my great-great grandmother. I’m not sure why THIS card was saved all those years except for the photo because there is nothing remarkable in the note. In fact, it was difficult to determine whose picture it is because the last 4 lines of the note have been scratched and marked through. (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

I decided to try erasing the black marks to see if I could read it. Voila! I uncovered enough to discover that the card and photo were from Segourney’s son Ben (my great-grandmother’s brother). But, drats! I was hoping to discover some family dirt – afterall, why else would someone mark out those words? Nothing interesting. Not one bit.

Staunton VA

Aug 29 – 1914

Dear Father & Mother:

I am sending

photo postcard of myself. I had

to have these taken in connection

with a contest we are having in my business.

I was home last week. Found

them all well as usual. Would

liked to have stopped to see you

and Pa but didn’t have time. I

haven’t made any decision about moving

yet. I told Gustie [I'm guessing at this word. It appears to be a nickname for his wife, Augusta.] I was thinking of coming

[this next line is scratched through with some sharp object like a pin, but I have included words that are most readable]

------- you all for a while --- she

[the next 3 lines have been marked through with a black marker or pen. I have erased what I can to reveal these lines:]

said you could never stand the children.

Said you were going to move to Shenandoah

this fall. Would like to see you before long.

Ben

If there is any mystery, it’s the contest. Ben and his family lived in Martinsburg, West Virginia, according to every census record 1900-1930. He was a weaver for the wool mill. What kind of contest would a wool mill conduct? And why would they want a fancy photo of the participants?

A couple tidbits I’ve gleaned from this postcard:

1. Ben’s use of “Pa” indicates a warm relationship with his parents.

2. It looks like maybe Ben was planning to take Segourney to Martinsburg to visit for awhile, but his wife Augusta thought it might not be a good idea. Maybe Segourney didn’t enjoy young children. Maybe it’s Augusta’s way of making a slight joke about their kids. They had 7 by 1914.

3. The suggestion that Segourney would be moving to Shenandoah makes me think she must not have been able to stay alone in her home in McGaheysville. It appears she might be going to live with her daughter (my great-grandmother) Mary Sudie Rucker. I have not yet found Segourney in the 1920 census; she was not listed in the Rucker household. However, Segourney’s 1926 application for a widow’s pension says she was living with her daughter.

Sunday's Obituary: George Harvey Eppard

2012-01-15T05:00:00.036-05:00

Sunday’s Obituary is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers asking us to post obituaries along with other information about that person.

George Harvey Eppard is my maternal grandmother’s maternal grandfather, in other words my great-great grandfather. Here is his obituary sent to me by Bob Klein who manages the Shiflett Family website.

GEORGE H. EPPARD DIES, AGED RESIDENT OF SHENANDOAH CITY PASSES AWAY - WAS SEVENTY-SEVEN YEARS OLD - MEMBER OF THE METHODIST CHURCH

George Harvey Eppard died Saturday at his home in Shenandoah City, from an illness of chronic coma. His age was seventy-seven years, three months, and twenty-eight days.

Surviving him are his wife [Segourney F. Shiplett Eppard] and four children- Mrs. Joseph [Mary Susan “Sudie”] Rucker of Shenandoah City; Benjamin Eppard of West Virginia; Lester Eppard, a prominent attorney of Atlanta, Georgia; and Dr. Irvine Eppard, of Washington.

The funeral was held yesterday at the Methodist Church, of which he was a member.

Daily News Record, Harrisonburg, Virginia, January 16, 1917

Surname Saturday: Eppard

2012-01-14T06:00:00.018-05:00

Surname Saturday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers to focus on a particular name, its origin, its geographic location, and how it fits into one’s research.

The name Eppard can be traced to Medieval times in the name Agabert meaning “Brilliant Swordsman.” Dialectical alterations over time resulted in Egbert, Ebert, Ebbert, Eppart, Epart, Evert, Eppard. Shall I go on? In the early days of our country when few people could read or write and when spelling was not standardized anyway, public officials such as county clerks recorded names by phonetic spelling, or as the name sounded to them when a will or deed maker pronounced his name. The clerk might have heard “p” or “b” or “d” or “t.” As a consequence, one can often find two or more variations in spelling in the same document. By the late-1800s, the Eppards in Virginia had settled on this spelling.

The Eppards are a well-researched family. Conventional wisdom is that the Eppards of Virginia trace their roots to Wallersheim , a municipality in the Rhineland-Palatinate in Western Germany. Why they emigrated is anyone’s guess, but maybe it had to do with the political and religious unrest of the day coupled with William Penn’s invitation to help him found a state in America promising religious and civil liberties. Supposedly two brothers, Hans George and Hans Michael, emigrated to Philadelphia, moved on to Baltimore, and finally settled in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia before 1750.

Hans George Eppard and his son Windle arrived in Rockingham County, Virginia, about 1732. They obtained a land patent along Naked Creek around 1754. They farmed and they had a mine on Fox Mountain.

When Windle died, his sons George and Philip inherited the land. Philip sold his part to his brother George and to his father-in-law George Utz and then moved to Indiana. A number of Eppards followed suit settling Indiana, Iowa, and Ohio when lands were opened up to anyone willing to try their hand at homesteading and fighting Indians. But my particular line is through Windle’s son George, and his family stayed put along Naked Creek. That’s where my Eppards remained, at least to the middle of the twentieth century.

I have not spent much time on the Eppards. It has been fairly easy just to collect names and establish relationships by looking at census records. Sometime I would like to delve more deeply into my maternal grandmother’s mother’s family. Wills and land records are sure to provide a fuller picture of this line.

This is my Eppard line:

Me
Mary Eleanor Davis Slade (6 Jan 1929 Shenandoah, VA – 3 Oct 2005 Chesapeake, VA)
Lucille Mary Rucker Davis (9 Oct 1904 Shenandoah, VA – 1 Nov 1990 Chesapeake, VA)
Mary Susan Eppard Rucker (Oct 1875 Naked Creek, VA – 1958 Shenandoah, VA)
George Harvey Eppard (Sep 1839 Naked Creek, VA – 13 Jan 1917 Shenandoah, VA)
William Eppard (1803 – 24 Feb 1872 Shenandoah, VA)
Johann George Eppard (23 Apr 1780 Naked Creek, VA – 1869 Naked Creek, VA)
Windle Eppard (1735 Pennsylvania – 1810 Naked Creek, VA)
Hans Johann George Ebert (1701 Germany – 1762 Rockingham Co, VA)

You can learn more about the Eppards by clicking on the Eppard tab. I have finally posted a descendant report for Hans Johann George Ebert.

Sepia Saturday: Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier

2012-01-13T05:00:00.000-05:00

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt features a young girl looking at a hat. Well, take a gander at THESE hats:

My grandmother Lucille Rucker Davis is the first on the left,
middle row.

In 1955, Fess Parker was the star of Disney’s “Davy Crockett” television program. The show became so popular that Disney made a movie from the first 3 episodes. Parker recorded the theme song, “The Ballad of Davy Crockett," and it became so popular that everyone knew the words. Crockett in his coonskin cap became one of the most popular western heroes in the country, and his popularity spawned a hat-fad among boys. The much coveted coonskin cap was usually a faux-fur lined skull cap with raccoon tail.

My grandmother was working for Colonial Store in Portsmouth, Virginia, during the big Davy Crockett craze. I don’t recall the year of this photo, but it had to be mid- to late fifties – early sixties at the latest. Colonial Store was running some sort of promotion. The employees wore the coonskin caps for I-don’t-know-how-long, and they either gave away Davy Crockett dishes with purchase or maybe the dishes were simply available for purchase in the store during the promotion. I don’t know for sure.

The Davy Crockett plate was made in 1955 during the heyday of the “Davy Crockett” show.

Image from Google Images

I do remember having the dishes although I don’t know what became of them – probably donated to Goodwill or sold at a yard sale when their coolness factor had sufficiently worn off. Who knew the coolness factor could be reborn?

Thriller Thursday: What became of the one-armed baby?

2012-01-12T06:00:00.025-05:00

Thriller Thursday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers that asks bloggers to write about murders, bizarre accidents or other thrilling stories in their family history.

Several of you asked about Ruth, the baby whose arm was amputated following the horrific shooting accident in which her brother George accidently shot and killed their mother and mangled Ruth’s arm. We all wonder how anyone could live a normal life after that.

Since I do not actually know this family or the descendents – they are very distant relatives whom I discovered through researching my Davis line – I turned to my ever-trusty Ancestry dot com and to the Shiflett Family Genealogy website to piece together a follow-up.

This photo shows a happy family picking huckleberries. The kids are showing off their purple hands. The man on the end is Bernard Henry Shiflett, father of Ruth and George who are to his immediate right. You can see that Ruth’s dress sleeve bears witness to the amputation.

Image from Ancestry.com
Girl with glasses - unknown
L-R probably Dora Woods, and Cecil, Mabel and Grace Shiflett
(cousins, children of Myrtie & Alex Shiflett)

But having only one arm evidently did not hold Ruth back. She married twice. She and her second husband Lewis Robert Padula lived in Deming, New Mexico.

Here is a photo of Ruth and George and their sister and brothers at a reunion. Ruth is the middle woman on the front row. This reunion must have taken place before 1955 which is when George's wife Helen died. George is standing on the far right and his wife Helen is sitting in front of him.

Image from Ancestry.com

According to his obituary, George attended George Washington University and graduated from LaSalle University in Chicago. Prior to World War II, he was a meat cutter with Swift Food. During the war, he served in the Navy in the Pacific. Afterwards he moved to Washington, DC where he worked for the Veterans Affairs Department as a liaison with the Defense Department. He married twice and had three children. He died in December 13, 1997.

We cannot hope to know what emotional scars Ruth and George might have endured, but these brief notes and pictures give hope that they did indeed endure. I like to think that they were able to put the accident in its proper place – a tragic accident with no ill-will intended.

Wordless Wednesday: Who is this?

2012-01-11T06:00:00.007-05:00

Wordless Wednesday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers that asks family historians to create a post in which the main focus is a photograph or image.

I wonder who this is. She is among the pictures in the album belonging to my great grandmother Mary Frances Jollett Davis.

Tombstone Tuesday: Millard & Edith Davis

2012-01-10T06:00:00.014-05:00

Since I posted Millard Davis’s obituary recently, it makes sense to post his tombstone today.

Millard Davis and his wife Edith are buried in the Coverstone Cemetery (formerly known as the EUB Church Cemetery) in Shenandoah, Virginia. Visiting this cemetery is like going to a family reunion. Almost all of Mary Frances Jollett Davis’s sisters and brothers are there (exceptions: Leanna Jollett Knight and Burton Lewis Jollett, both of whom are in Greene County, VA). Mary Frances’s children are all there (my grandfather and his brothers and sisters).

The Davis family had a plot with a family marker and corner stones.

But I have to say this (since I’m a sick person), isn’t “Coverstone” a funny name for a cemetery? It’s not meant to be funny, obviously. Coverstone is a prominent family name in Page County, Virginia. I believe the Coverstones owned the land that became the final resting place for so many of Shenandoah’s citizens. [I’m sure I read that somewhere. But can I find it now? Of course not!]

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: Week 2 Paid Genealogy Tools

2012-01-09T05:00:00.006-05:00

This is the second week of Amy Coffin's Abundant Genealogy series. Go me -- I'm 2 for 2!

Week 2 – Paid Genealogy Tools: Which paid genealogy tool do you appreciate the most? What special features put it at the top of your list? How can it help others with their genealogy research?

Oh man, I hate when I have to confess my sins. I have only ONE paid genealogy tool: Ancestry dot com. The reasons to love this site are obvious:

· Easy access to census records

· Easy access to OTHER documents (although my counties seem never to be represented )

· Member connections to contact others conducting similar research

· Tutorials

· Easy to use

Since I use Family Tree Maker for storing my family data and creating charts, I see those green leaf icons that alert me to more information at Ancestry. I’m not one to trust everything in print -- actual or virtual -- but it’s good to be able to use other people’s research immediately. I’ve found names that I probably would never have learned about otherwise. Ancestry makes it easy to start verifying my new found information right on the spot.

So why do I not pay for other popular sites like Fold3, Archives, or Genealogy Bank? I guess I’m cheap. Every time I get that pop-up saying to try it now for free, I’m tempted UNTIL I have to enter a credit card that will be charged once I forget to cancel. So I back out. Reviews of Archives and Genealogy Bank reinforce my gut feeling that they offer nothing different from Ancestry, so I’m probably not missing anything.

Sunday's Obituary: Millard M. Davis

2012-01-08T06:00:00.010-05:00

Sunday’s Obituary is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers asking bloggers to post obituaries along with other information about that person.

Millard Mitchell Davis
19 Oct 1894 - 27 Dec 1951

Millard Davis

Dies Suddenly

Heart Attack Fatal

To Popular Railroad

Man at Shenandoah

Shenandoah Dec. 27 – Millard M. Davis, 57, a Norfolk and Western storekeeper at that railroad’s Shenandoah shops, died suddenly of a heart attack 4:30 this morning at his home here.

Mr. Davis had a serious heart condition for several years, yet he continued to work as storekeeper for the railroad up to his death. He was one of the most popular men in Shenandoah and this part of Page County, and also had friends up and down the Norfolk and Western Railroad.

He had been with the Railroad for the past 25 years, starting work in Shenandoah, and working at various places on the N. and W.’s Shenandoah Division until eight years ago, when he returned home to take the position of storekeeper.

Mr. Davis was born in Page County near Shenandoah, son of the late Walter B. Davis and Mrs. Mary F. Jollett Davis. He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Edith Kite Davis; two sisters: Mrs. Violetta D. Ryan of Harrisonburg and Mrs. Velma Woodring of Martinsburg, W. Va.; and a brother, Orvin O. Davis of Portsmouth, Va.

His sisters, Mrs. Ryan and Mrs. Woodring, left Friday, Dec. 21 on a motor trip to New Orleans. Efforts are being made, through police teletype and otherwise, to reach the sisters and inform them of their brother’s death. Until this is done, funeral arrangements will be held up with the body at the Brill Funeral Home in Elkton.

Millard and Edith
at his sister Violetta D. Ryan's home

The Page News & Courier Jan. 3, 1952, carried this report of the funeral:

Funeral services were held Sunday from the St. Peter's Lutheran Church for Millard M. Davis, 57, Norfolk & Western [Railway] storekeeper, who died at his home last Thursday morning.

The Rev. H. Edmund Pfeifer, pastor of the church, was in charge of the services and burial was in the E. U. B. Cemetery.

The large crowd of sorrowing friends and the beautiful floral designs were a tribute to the high esteem in which the deceased was held by his hundreds of friends. The funeral services were attended by one of the largest throngs ever present for final rites in the community with friends from Washington, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Roanoke attending.

Active pallbearers were: Amos Kite, Elwood Kite, Russell Coleman, Clyde Knight, Lewis Jollette, and Ben Davis.

Honorary pallbearers were: Clyde Hisey, J. L. Foltz, Clyde Koontz, Floyd Eppard, Owen M. Strickler, J. D. Hodges, V. C. Griffith, B. W. Strum, J. R. Painter, W. H. Bricker, C. C. Morrison, Jennings Meadows, J. T. Rothgeb, H. G. Burks, H. C. Bradley, W. W. Barnes, W. O Smith, Jr., Lewis Powell, Harry C. L. Pamplin, C. C. Lankford, H. L. Kiblinger, C. L. Graviet, W. T. Turner, W. T. Sink, B . H. Keith, J. B. Reynolds, John Foltz, and Pete Davis.