52 Ancestors: #26 - Burton SHIFLETT

Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small has issued a challenge:  write one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor.  It can be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem – anything that focuses on one ancestor.

Week 26 - it's the halfway point in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge.  Half a year already?? 

Burton Shiflett and Nancy Elizabeth Frazier were my third great-grandparents, just one of MANY couples created by the intermarriage of Shifletts and Fraziers of Greene County, Virginia.  In fact, one of Nancy’s brothers married one of Burton’s sisters. 

While there was a lot of love between the two families, there was also a lot of fussin’ and fightin’ and feudin’.  Probably nothing changes the family dynamic quite as dramatically as killing one’s own, and that is exactly what happened in October of 1860. 

Nancy was made a widow at the hand of her oldest brother, Leland Frazier (aka Leland Shiflett).  Ironically, in 1840, Leland Frazier was a member of the Committee of Vigilance for Greene County.  The purpose of such groups of private citizens was to maintain law and order particularly where local government was inadequate, which seems to have been the case in Greene having been established for only two years. 

Yet twenty years later, Leland stood indicted for the murder of his brother-in-law, Burton Shiflett.  He pleaded “Not Guilty.”  While I have not found the motive, the means was stabbing.  It took several days for a sequestered jury of his peers to find Leland Frazier guilty NOT of murder but of Voluntary Manslaughter.

From the Greene County Circuit Court Law Book, pp. 116-117

 “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 knew to say why the Court 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.”

Voluntary Manslaughter suggests Leland killed his sister’s husband in the heat of the moment, that there had been no premeditation.  Perhaps Burton had even provoked the incident.  I wish I knew what they were fighting over.

THREE GENERATIONS: 

Burton SHIFLETT ( 1814 Orange County, VA - 22 Oct 1860 Greene Co, VA) & Nancy Elizabeth FRAZIER (14 Feb 1811 - 22 Jan 1895 Rockingham Co, VA )  01 Dec 1834 Albemarle, VA

1. Ola SHIFLETT ( 1835 –  Before 1850 )

2. Jacob Haskell SHIFLETT (About 1836 – Before 08 Oct 1871 ) & Lucretia JOLLETT ( 18 Sep 1838 Rockingham Co, VA  - 31 Dec 1911 Rockingham Co,VA )  05 Aug 1858 Page Co, VA

• Mary E. SHIFLETT ( May 1859 – Before 1955 ) & George R. MAYHEW ( Jul 1947 New York - )  17 Mar 1879 in Page Co, VA
• Martha F. S. SHIFLETT ( 1863 - Before 1955 ) & George W. MCCAULEY ( Aug 1852 – Before 1920 ) 08 Jun 1882 Rockingham Co, VA

3. John Conway SHIFLETT ( 02 Jun 1840 Greene Co, VA - 09 Feb 1917 Albemarle Co, VA ) & m1) Lucretia SHIFLETT  (1846 Greene Co, VA – Before Jul 1880 Greene Co, VA )  07 Dec 1863 Greene Co, VA  ; & m2) Nancy  J. SHIFLETT ( May 1848 - ) ; & m3) Mary D. SHIFLETT ( 1849 – 1924 ) 28 Jul 1880 Greene Co, VA 

John Conway and Lucretia SHIFLETT had the following children:

• Eudora A. SHIFLETT ( 01 Jul 1866 - 28 Dec 1932 ) & John Lewis GIBSON ( 1863 - ) 18 May 1884 in Greene Co, VA
• Joseph Ottobine SHIFLETT ( 30 Mar 1868 - ) & m1) Edie COLEMAN 10 Mar 1909 Augusta Co, VA ; & m2) Rosa L. ROBERTS ( 1892 - )

John Conway and Nancy J. SHIFLETT had the following children:

• John Conway SHIFLETT JR. ( 05 Oct 1877 - 27 Apr 1947 ) & Alice E. SHIFLETT (01 Aug 1887 - 02 Dec 1973 )  11 Oct 1901 Albemarle Co, VA
• Lucy Ann SHIFLETT ( 05 Oct 1877 - 30 Sep 1947 ) & Adam K. WYANT ( 02 Nov 1855 - 21 Jan 1941 )

John Conway and Mary D. SHIFLETT had the following children:

• Maude B. SHIFLETT ( Feb 1883 - 31 Oct 1957 ) & George Burress SHIFLETT (17 Sep 1872 - 21 May 1948 ) 29 Dec 1904 Albemarle Co, VA
• Wilford Clement SHIFLETT ( 05 Apr 1888 - 05 Aug 1961 ) & Lutitia Jane “Lishie” MORRIS (1885 – 02 Dec 1965 ) 27 Oct 1921 Greene Co, VA
• Woodford H. SHIFLETT ( 20 May 1890 - 02 Feb 1926 ) & Louise LEWIS ( 21 Aug 1896 – 02 Jul 1964 ) 06 Mar 1916 Albemarle Co, VA

4. Lucy Ann SHIFLETT ( 1843 Greene Co, VA - 1884 Greene Co, VA ) & James Franklin JOLLETT ( 17 Nov 1836 Rockingham Co, VA - 03 Jun 1930 Augusta Co, VA )  12 Nov 1859 Greene Co, VA

• Burton Lewis JOLLETT ( 1860 Greene Co, VA - Before 05 May 1934 Greene Co, VA ) & m1) Louisa SULLIVAN ( 1861 – Before 1900 ) 20 Jan 1881 ; & m2) Cornelia MORRIS ( Nov 1844 – Before 1920 ) 19 Sep 1900 Greene Co, VA
• Emma  F. JOLLETT ( 01 Feb 1863 Greene Co, VA - 10 Apr 1945 Shenandoah, Page, VA ) & Andrew Jackson “Jack” COLEMAN (29 Jul 1858 Greene Co, VA - 04 Oct 1947 Shenandoah, Page, VA ) 26 Nov 1880 Greene Co, VA
• Laura E. JOLLETT ( 30 May 1865 Greene Co, VA - 30 Jul 1947 Shenandoah, Page, VA ) &  William J. SULLIVAN  (13 Jan 1866 - 22 May 1942 in Shenandoah, Page Co, VA  ) 14 Jan 1886 in Greene Co, VA
• Columbia Ann Leanna JOLLETT ( 14 Mar 1867 Greene Co, VA - 20 Sep 1936 Greene Co, VA ) & James Mitchell KNIGHT (09 May 1866 Greene Co, VA - 16 Feb 1942 Greene Co, VA  )01 Mar 1885 Greene Co, VA
• Mary Frances JOLLETT ( 10 Jan 1870 Greene Co, VA - 22 Feb 1950 Harrisonburg, VA ) & Walter Beriah  Sylvester DAVIS (12 Sep 1867 Rockingham Co, VA - 31 Oct 1934 in Shenandoah, Page Co, VA ) 11 Feb 1890 Greene Co, VA
• Sarah Catherine “Sallie” JOLLETT ( 11 May 1872 Greene Co, VA - 07 Jul 1944 Washington DC ) & George Thomas CLIFT 30 Mar 1891, divorced 1914
• Victoria Elizabeth JOLLETT ( 19 Mar 1878 Greene Co, VA - 02 May 1944 ) & Decatur Bainbridge BREEDEN (15 Sep 1877 - 27 Sep 1952 Washington DC ) 1902
• William Isaac  JOLLETT ( Jan 1880 Greene Co, VA - Jul 1903 Newport News, VA )
• Ulysses Finks JOLLETT ( 26 Jan 1883 Greene Co, VA - 30 Jan 1931 Baltimore, MD ) & Sadie Janiero LAMB ( 07 Jul 1880 – 05 Feb 1961 ) 23 Nov 1903 Greene Co, VA

5. Francis M. SHIFLETT ( 1844 Greene Co, VA - )

6. Jeremiah SHIFLETT ( 1847 Greene Co, VA - )

7. Nancy Frances SHIFLETT ( 1849 Greene Co, VA -  1926 Fairfax, VA ) & William Gordon MORRIS JR.  (1851 Greene Co, VA – Before 1900 Greene Co, VA ) 20 Sep 1872 Greene Co, VA

William Layton MORRIS ( 1874 Greene Co, VA -  03 Feb 1895 ) & Ida Mary DAVIS ( 25 Jun 1869 - )  12 Dec 1890

• Upshur MORRIS ( 1875 – 1891 )
• Addie MORRIS ( 27 Mar 1876 - Apr 1901 ) & Henry ARMENTROUT ( 1875 - )
• Lemuel Belvin MORRIS ( 16 Dec 1877 - Oct 1947 ) & Emma  C. UNKNOWN 1906
• Marvin Tollie MORRIS ( 07 Aug 1878 Greene Co, VA -  1943 ) & Virginia  RHINEHART ( 1872 - )
• Ethel MORRIS ( Jul 1881 - After 1940 ) & Peter DAVIS (1866 - ) 1908 Greene Co, VA
• Vessie Lelia MORRIS ( 15 Feb 1883 - 06 Mar 1950 Fairfax, VA ) & Paul Edgar RHINEHART ( 1873 - )
• Margaret Elizabeth “Maggie” MORRIS ( 13 Sep 1884 - ) & Unknown WILLS
• Blanche Cornelia MORRIS ( 27 Feb 1887 - 25 Dec 1968 Greene Co, VA ) & Levin P. SMITH (1880 – 1971 )
• William Gordon “Bill” MORRIS III  ( 12 Feb 1891 - 09 Jul 1968 Greene Co, VA ) & Dorothy SNIVLEY.

8. Susan Clementine SHIFLETT ( 22 Jun 1851 Greene Co, VA - 29 Dec 1928 Greene Co, VA )  & George Austin MORRIS  (06 Apr 1848 Greene Co, VA - 14 Nov 1934 Greene Co, VA )  12 Dec 1870 Greene Co, VA

• Ida Belle MORRIS ( 15 Oct 1871 Greene Co, VA - 02 Apr 1917 Greene Co, VA ) & George Allen KNIGHT (11 May 1867 - 08 Sep 1948 Greene Co,  VA )  11 Jul 1894 in Greene Co, VA
• Francis Monroe MORRIS ( 21 Jul 1873 Greene Co, VA - 10 Aug 1936 Albemarle Co, VA ) & Ludelia MORRIS (06 Oct 1877 Greene Co, VA - 17 May 1958 Greene Co, VA )  28 Dec 1899 in Greene Co, VA
• Leviston Ervin MORRIS ( 01 Mar 1874 Greene Co, VA - 25 Dec 1957 Albemarle Co, VA ) &  Roberta Ella MORRIS (17 Mar 1878 Greene Co, VA - 30 Mar 1958 Greene Co, VA )  28 Dec 1899 Greene Co, VA
• Altie Zora MORRIS ( 02 Dec 1876 Greene Co, VA - 29 Dec 1954 ) & Charles PERKEY ( 19 Dec 1872 Rockingham Co, VA -  02 Jan 1943 ) 23 Dec 1902 Greene Co, VA
• Mary An n MORRIS ( 02 Dec 1878 Greene Co, VA -  18 Jun 1947 Greene Co, VA ) & James Charles SULLIVAN (11 Jul 1875 Greene Co, VA - 21 Mar 1913 Greene Co, VA )  19 Sep 1900 Greene Co, VA
• John Paul MORRIS ( 30 Mar 1880 Greene Co, VA - 21 Dec 1916 Greene Co, VA )
• Rhoda Green MORRIS ( 17 Nov 1882 Greene Co, VA - 22 Apr 1902 Greene Co, VA )
• Columbus Abell MORRIS ( 02 May 1884 Greene Co, VA - 20 Apr 1964 Pennsylvania ) & Elizabeth “Bessie” COLLINS  ( 16 Aug 1891 Pennsylvania - 11 Nov 1938 Greene Co, VA )  1913
• Sylvester E. MORRIS ( 22 Feb 1886 Greene Co, VA - 12 Nov 1967 Charlottesville, VA ) & Nettie Jane MORRIS (28 Apr 1909 Greene Co, VA - 26 Apr 1978 Greene Co, VA )   05 Aug 1930 Greene Co, VA
• Myrtle Nelson MORRIS ( Feb 1887 Greene Co, VA - 01 Mar 1970 Gordonsville, VA )  & m1) Iola CRAWFORD (1890 Greene Co, VA - ) ; & m2) Anna COLLIER ( 10 Aug 1886 Greene Co, VA -  Jan 1965 Gordonsville, VA )  05 Aug 1930 Greene Co, VA
• Willie Lee MORRIS ( 27 Feb 1889 Greene Co, VA - 15 Jul 1918 France )
• George Washington MORRIS ( 1892 Greene Co, VA - 1892 Greene Co, VA )
• Julia Catherine MORRIS ( 02 Apr 1893 Greene Co, VA - 01 Jun 1979 Alexandria, VA ) & George C. GILMER        ( 10 Aug 1884 Rockingham Co, VA - 08 Sep 1962 Charlottesville, VA )   03 Jul 1918 Greene Co, VA
• Eveline Marie MORRIS ( 12 Mar 1895 Greene Co, VA - 26 Jul 1976 Great Falls, Fairfax, VA ) & Robert Lee COLLIER  (28 Dec 1889 Greene Co, VA - 05 Jan 1963 Loudoun Co, VA)  22 Jun 1922 Albemarle Co, VA
• Mabel Alice MORRIS ( 12 Dec 1897 Greene Co, VA - 27 Jun 1966 Baltimore, MD ) & Isaac Jackson RICE
• (20 Dec 1893 Tyler, WV - 16 Jun 1965 Ann Arundel, MD )
• John Joseph MORRIS ( 24 May 1907 Camden, NJ - 11 Nov 1957 Charlottesville, VA ) & Genevieve EDDINS ( 16 Nov 1914 Madison Co, VA - 30 Mar 2011 Charlottesville, VA )

9. Victoria SHIFLETT ( Mar 1854 Greene Co, VA - Before 1930 ) & Ambrose VERNON 26 Dec 1875 Greene Co, VA

• Ira McClellan VERNON ( 1876 Greene Co, VA - )  & JoAnn “Josie”  MARSHALL ( 1877 - ) 27 Jan 1898 Greene Co, VA
• Madie VERNON ( 1878 Greene, VA - )
• Unnamed VERNON ( Mar 1880 Greene Co, VA )
• John F. VERNON ( Oct 1881 Greene, VA - )
• Lucy Ann VERNON ( 13 Jun 1884 Greene, VA - 03 Feb 1972 ) & Beauregard George SNOW ( 1877 – 1961 )  23 May 1906 Greene Co, VA

10. George W. SHIFLETT ( 20 Apr 1856 Greene Co, VA - )

11. Unnamed male SHIFLETT ( 1857 Greene Co, VA - 10 Mar 1857 Greene Co, VA )

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: Cooling Her Heels

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

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt is people standing in water.  

When my mother attended Shenandoah College from 1946 to 1948, there probably wasn't much for students to do in their spare time.  Saturdays found the co-eds hanging out on the school lawn

 

Possibly Momma's roommates

College friends
Momma is second from the left

Or tickling their toes in nearby Cooks Creek

 

Or even walking in the creek.

Unknown friend

On the back of the photo to the right:
It's such a beautiful snap
I thought you'd like to have it.

But sometimes that need to let loose took one college sophomore out of the icy river water right into HOT WATER with the college Dean.

 

Reprimand from the Women's Student Government Association
for making noise and keeping students awake

And not just once.

 

Oh no -- Campus Restriction!
No Snack Bar?  That had to hurt!

It seems my prim-and-proper-you’d-better-behave-or-else mother was sent to COOL HER HEELS before the Student Government numerous times.  Since she saved the index card reprimands, she must not have been too ashamed.

Somehow I doubt she would have found such behavior from me to be amusing though.

Wade into the soothing waters of Sepia Saturday. 

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Wordless Wednesday: Mary E. at the bush

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.

Mary Eleanor Davis about 1933

My mother Mary Eleanor Davis (later Slade) probably spent a lot of time at her grandparents’ home on Sixth Street.  After all, she grew up right across the street.

This is the 9th picture in a series of photos taken with the Weeping Mulberry at my great-grandparents’ home in Shenandoah, Virginia. 

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors: #25 - Jefferson SHIFLETT

Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small has issued a challenge:  write one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor.  It can be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem – anything that focuses on one ancestor.

About the time the Shawnee were paid to leave Ohio and move to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi, the Shifletts arrived to settle in a little community in north central Ohio called Shelby.  My third great-granduncle Jefferson SHIFLETT was the only one of Jacob Shiflett’s sons to leave home and make his fortune beyond his native Virginia.

Many families were leaving the Shenandoah Valley between the 1830s and 40s, so Jefferson was probably in good company.  Based on his marriage in Allen County, Ohio in 1840, he probably traveled in the mid-late 1830s.  His bride was a native “Buckeye,” Mary “Polly” BRACKNEY. 

Jefferson evidently never intended to return to Virginia.  When his father Jacob died in 1841, Jefferson did not return to claim his share of the land left to him.  Thirty years later when his brothers and sisters decided to sell the land after their mother died, Jefferson appointed J. T.  Bray his Power of Attorney in Virginia to sell his interest in the land. 

Bray struck a deal on Jefferson’s behalf and sold his portion to William Patterson for $200.  His brothers and sisters sold their portion to their sister Virenda and her husband Miley Frazier.  Miley and his son Henry Timber Frazier eventually amassed around 1000 acres of land in what later became Shenandoah National Park and the Skyline Drive.  In 1999, a hiking trail was renamed “The Frazier Discovery Trail” to honor the association between the Fraziers and the mountain.  One of the special features of the trail is Patterson Field where the Fraziers once cared for Patterson’s cattle. 

Meanwhile back in Shelby, Ohio, Jefferson and his family were doing just fine on the farm.  In 1870 their real estate which was comprised of 15 acres improved and 25 unimproved was valued at $700.  Personal property was worth $170. 

Most of Jefferson’s children and grandchildren and other descendants remained in Ohio. He outlived his wife, and so he made his home with his children in his later years. While visiting his son Asa in 1887 in Sidney, Ohio, Jefferson took ill and died.  His body was returned to Auglaize County, Ohio and buried.

Three Generations:

Jefferson SHIFLETT ( 1807 Orange County, VA - 08 Apr 1887 Shelby, OH ) & Mary “Polly” BRACKNEY ( 1820 – Before 1887 ) 20 Apr 1840  Allen Co, OH

1. Hardinia SHIFLETT ( 1840 Ohio - )

2. Madison SHIFLETT ( 1841 Ohio - 1869 Shelby, OH ) & Elizabeth FOWLER (28 Aug 1847 Ohio - 23 Apr 1932 Marshfield, OR ) 27 Nov 1864 Ohio

• Elfrida Clementine SHIFLETT ( 1866 Ohio - )
• Ellen SHIFLETT ( 24 Jul 1867 Jackson, Shelby, Ohio - )
• Cora Elizabeth SHIFLETT ( 17 Nov 1868 Ohio - 14 Mar 1966 Waldport, OR ) & Frank L. BUKER (24 Oct 1860 Boone, NE - 31 Oct 1931 Lincoln City, OR ) 02 Jul 1885 Cedar Rapids, Nebraska

3. George W. SHIFLETT ( 1843 Ohio - ) & Sophrona DAVIS ( 16 Feb 1843 Shelby, OH - 23 Jan 1918 Dayton, OH ) 17 Aug 1862 Shelby, OH

• Nelson SHIFLETT ( 14 May 1862 Shelby, OH - 24 Apr 1945 Shelby, OH ) & Lydia Elizabeth WILDERMUTH ( 1867 – 1938 ) 08 Mar 1888 Shelby, OH
• Britimart Conyart SHIFLETT ( 24 Sep 1866 Shelby, OH - 20 Dec 1931 Shelby, OH ) & William Franklin BALDWIN (15 Nov 1860 Fletcher, OH - 04 Jul 1926 Boulder, CO ) 09 Apr 1882 Shelby, OH
• Edith Rosalie “Edie” SHIFLETT ( 10 Dec 1871 Shelby, OH - ) & George A. WIFORD  10 Sep 1887
• Elsa Leota M. SHIFLETT ( Jan 1880 Ohio -  Montgomery Co, OH ) & James W. DRURY 02 May 1897 Shelby, OH

4. July Ann Catherine SHIFLETT (15 Jan 1848 Ohio - )

5. Elizabeth A. SHIFLETT ( 1848 Ohio – Before 1860 Ohio )

6. Asa W. SHIFLETT ( Jun 1854 Ohio - 30 Jan 1907 Miami Co, OH ) & m1) Arvella PENCE (1856 Ohio – Before 1893 Ohio) 09 Mar 1874 Auglaize, Allen, OH ) ;  & m2) Christena Ida BRANDON (Feb 1871 Darke, OH - 17 Dec 1947 Miami Co, OH ) 04 Jan 1893 Darke, OH

Asa and Arvella had the following children:

• Carrie Alice SHIFLETT ( 30 Sep 1874 Logan, Auglaize, OH - )
• Mary Ellen SHIFLETT ( 20 Nov 1876 Logan, Auglaize, OH - )
• Charles SHIFLETT ( Sep 1879 Ohio  - ) & Caroline RONEY (Sep 1881 Ohio - ) 12 Aug 1899 Auglaize Co, OH
• William B. SHIFLETT ( Jun 1884 Ohio - )

Asa and Christena had the following child:

• Asa Wilson SHIFLETT ( 13 Jul 1900 Ohio - 28 Feb 1961 Fostoria, Seneca, OH ) & m1) Lottie Frances THOMAS  4 Mar 1919 Ohio ; & m2) Esther Elizabeth DEMUND 31 Oct 1929 Fostoria, Seneca, OH

7. Virenda J. SHIFLETT ( 29 May 1856 Shelby, Ohio - )

8. Elizabeth Rachel SHIFLETT ( 04 Sep 1862 Shelby, OH -  29 Dec 1911 Wapakoneta, Auglaize, OH ) & Franklin L. KANTNER  (19 Sep 1859 Ohio Pushetta, Auglaize, OH - 14 Jun 1936 Wapakoneta, Auglaize, OH ) 17 Sep 1882 Ohio

• John Jefferson KANTNER ( 24 Jul 1883 Auglaize, OH - 15 Oct 1951 Auglaize, OH ) & He Caroline Susanne SAMMETINGER (11 Apr 1889 Auglaize, OH - 11 Dec 1969 Ohio )  20 Jun 1909 Pushetta, Auglaize, OH
• Harvey KANTNER ( 05 Feb 1885 Ohio -  Nov 1955 Ohio ) & Glenna STINE
• Maud E. KANTNER ( 18 Jun 1886 Ohio - 30 Jan 1912 Wapakoneta, Auglaize, OH )
• Clarence KANTNER ( 11 Jan 1889 Ohio - 13 Oct 1962 Dayton, OH ) &  LeEtta O. WIFORD (09 Jan 1893 Shelby, OH - 12 Mar 1983 Auglaize Co, OH )
• Franklin R. KANTNER ( Dec 1891 Ohio - 23 Nov 1901 Wapakoneta, Auglaize,OH )
• Oreada Amanda KANTNER ( 06 May 1894 Ohio - 31 Jan 1934 Lima, Allen, OH ) & Robert W. BURDEN (24 Jul 1872 - 13 Feb 1933 in Wapakoneta, Auglaize, OH )
• Grace G. KANTNER ( 12 Oct 1896 Ohio -  08 Oct 1988 Wapakoneta, Auglaize, OH ) & Raymond Leslie HODGES (24 Mar 1891 Danville, IL - 25 Mar 1951 Lima, Allen, OH ) 30 Jan 1915 Wapakoneta, Auglaize, OH

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: The Proposal

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

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt is a wedding.  This photo of my mother in 1948 looks very much like a wedding procession.  However, it is far from it.

 

Mary Eleanor Davis (Slade)
Shenandoah College, Dayton, VA  1948

Momma was the Maid of Honor in the May Court at the 14^th annual May Day Festival at Shenandoah College.  A detailed account of this college tradition was the subject of an earlier post which you can read HERE.

But that day held another memory for my mother beyond the festivities culminating in the crowning of the Queen of the May.  It was a marriage proposal. 

Momma’s handsome escort was a student at Shenandoah College, and quite popular, too.  I imagine most participants in such pageantry chit-chat about the weather, about the reception food, about how everyone looks in their evening apparel.  But this guy had other things on his mind.  He proposed.

The proposal went something like this:  “Will you marry me?  Think about it, but be quick with your answer.  If you say no, I’m going back home to Connecticut and ask this other girl.”

After those heart-felt words, Momma turned him down.  It’s hard to believe, I know.

I propose you visit Sepia Saturday for more weddings and celebrations.

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Wordless Wednesday: Two Bushes

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.

My uncle Orvin Davis Jr. about 1928
Is he wearing a birthday party hat?

OMG – There were TWO Weeping Mulberries!  Twin Bushes!

This is the 8th picture in a series of photos taken with the Weeping Mulberry at my great-grandparents’ home in Shenandoah, Virginia. 

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors: #24 - Jacob SHIFLETT

Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small has issued a challenge:  write one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor.  It can be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem – anything that focuses on one ancestor.

Jacob SHIFLETT was my 4^th great grandfather.  While it might seem pretty impressive to trace one’s lineage that far back, I can do better.  Jacob was the son of John, who was the son of Thomas (and Patience), who was the son of John, my 7^th great grandfather.  Ta Da! 

In many ways, Shiflett research is easy because there are so many Shiflett researchers who over the years have collaborated on various research projects now available at The Shiflett Family Genealogy website begun in 1998.  The databases and analyses of family connections are outstanding.  Updates are ongoing.  Anyone with ties to Greene, Albemarle, Orange, or Madison counties in Virginia should check this website because likely there will be a connection to the Shifletts in some way.

But Shiflett research also can be maddening due to the usual suspects:  transcription errors, varied spellings, absence of very old records, family members avoiding (deliberately?) any dealings with the government, multiple wives with the same name, even multiple children with the same name. 

Take Jacob, for example.  His father was John, for sure, based on some deeds and will.  But who was his mother?  John named his wife Susannah in his will, along with a number of children, most of whom were born before Susannah entered the picture.  Jacob was likely the son of John’s first wife, whoever she was.  Despite the vast number of documents available, there is no clue to who that wife and mother was.  I’m resigned to accepting the question mark as my 4^th great grandmother.

Thankfully, Jacob’s own family is easier to study.  For the most part they lived within the law creating good records like deeds, wills, and even a few unusual ones.  For example, Jacob along with George Airey and John Shiflett (Father?  Brother?  Cousin?  Neighbor?)  signed a bond of recognizance for Miley Shiflett.  The Overseers of the Poor were going to make sure Miley took care of the “base born child of Ann Rains,” and Jacob agreed to make sure he did.

While Jacob took the moral high ground in that situation, his own life seemed, in a sense, a contradiction.  For some reason, Jacob and the mother of his children did not marry, but they were a solid and steady family nonetheless.   His common-law wife was Polly JARRELL.  The former Mary “Polly” SELF had married Easom/Isham Fitzgeral January 28, 1801 in Orange County.   [Note how “Fitzgeral” was shortened to “Garrell” and then ultimately became spelled “Jarrell.”]  Did he die young?  Did they divorce?  I do not know.   They were not married long before Polly moved on with Jacob.  Perhaps Easom died suddenly.  Or maybe he was older and had actually prepared a will, and maybe he provided money and land to Polly on the condition that she not marry again.  Lots of men did that.  That could explain why she remained Jacob’s common-law wife the rest of her days.  But that’s speculation.

Jacob and his family lived on a farm on Lick Mountain along Lynches River, in what was then described as the upper part of Orange County, an area that became Greene County in 1838.  Jacob purchased 100 acres from his father John in 1818, and then he was granted another 38 ¼ acres in 1836.

Jacob willed the land to Polly upon his death in 1841, provided she remain a single woman.  Fifteen years later Polly had to fight to hold onto that land.  In 1856 Polly filed a caveat in Greene County against Henry B. Shiflett’s grant of 340 acres claiming that 139 acres of it belonged to her by the will of Jacob Shiflett and by the fact that she had paid taxes on that land for over 40 years. 

 

Survey of Jacob Shiflett's grant for 38 1/4 acres 1836

In 1860, Polly’s land was valued at $1000 and her personal property at about $360.  It sounds like she did pretty well. 

Jacob and Polly had 5 children, 3 boys and 2 girls.  There could have been others who were born and died between the censuses, but from 1820-1840, the family looked just like this.  Jacob named each child in his will, and he provided for them equally.  He must have been a pretty good man.

Jacob Shiplett/Shiflett
1841
Greene Co. Will Book 1 p.11

In the name of God Amen, I Jacob Shiflett of Green County Va being weak in body but sound in memory and understanding thanks be to God for his mercies Having considered the certainty of death and the uncertainty of the ----- of, and being desirous to settle my worldly affairs that I may be the better prepared to leave this world whenever it so pleases God to call me, Thence, do make and publish this (my last will and testament) in measure and form following. To Wit first let all my just debts be paid then I give and bequeath as followeth:

Item 1st. I give and bequeath unto Polley Garrell formerly Polley Self all my land that I possess with all the appertainences thereunto belonging and my stock of every description household and kitchen furniture etc. the above named property that is to say land, Horses, Cattle, Sheep, Hogs, etc. I give the same to Polley Garrell during the time she may remain a single woman, if she should Marry, I only give her two hundred dollars and the remainder to my children by her the said Polley Garrell, formerly Polley Self and after her decease or time of her single life of her the said Polley Garrell I devise and bequeath unto my children born unto me by by[sic] her as followeth.

Item 2nd. I give unto my daughter July Ann Catharine one hundred dollars as apart of her legacy in my estate.

Item 3rd. All the rest residue and remainder of my estate both real and personall goods and chattles of whatsoever kind I will and order shall appraised and equally divided between each and every of my children born unto me by the said Polley Garrell namely Madison, Burton, Jefferson, Virenda Jane and July Ann Catharine. I to them and their heirs forever. I give and bequeth unto sd. Polley Garrell on the same conditions as I have given my other property unto her all my interest in land and all other property in my Fathers estate and when she is dcd the saim it shall be equally divided betwinxt all my children as is named in the third Item of this my will and lastly I hereby appoint Polley Garrell my Solo executrix to this my last will and testament hereby revoking all other wills by me made in Witness wereof, I have herunto set my hand Seal this 21 day of April one thousand eighth hundred and forty one.
Jacob (his x mark) Shiflitt

Three Generations:

Jacob SHIFLETT (about 1780 Orange Co, VA - after 21 Apr 1841 Greene Co, VA ) & Mary “Polly” SELF JARRELL ( 1788 Orange Co, VA – after 1860 )  [common law wife]

1. Jefferson SHIFLETT ( 1807 Orange Co, VA –  08 Apr 1887 Shelby, OH  ) & Mary Polly BRACKNEY ( 1820 Ohio  - )  m. 20 Apr 1840 Allen Co, OH

• Hardinia SHIFLETT ( 1840 Ohio - )
• Madison SHIFLETT ( 1841 Ohio - 1869 Shelby, OH ) & Elizabeth FOWLER (28 Aug 1847 Ohio - 23 Apr 1932 Marshfield, Coos, Oregon ) 27 Nov 1864 Ohio
• George W. SHIFLETT ( 1843 Ohio -  ) & Sophrona DAVIS (16 Feb 1843 Shelby, OH - 23 Jan 1918 Dayton, OH)  17 Aug 1862 Shelby, OH
• July Ann Catherine SHIFLETT ( 1846 Ohio - )
• Elizabeth A. SHIFLETT ( 1848 Ohio – before 1860 Shelby, OH )
• Asa W. SHIFLETT ( Jun 1854 Ohio - 30 Jan 1907 Miami Co, OH )  & m1) Arvella PENCE (1856 Ohio – before 1893 Ohio)  09 Mar 1874 Auglaize, Allen, OH ; & m2) Christena Ida BRANDON (Feb 1871 - ) about 1893 Darke, OH
• Virenda  J. SHIFLETT ( 29 May 1856 Shelby, Ohio - )
• Elizabeth Rachel SHIFLETT ( 04 Sep 1862 Shelby, OH - 29 Dec 1911 Wapakoneta, Auglaize, OH) & Frank L. KANTNER (12 Sep 1859 Ohio - Jun 1936 Wapakoneta, Auglaize, OH ) 17 Sep 1882 Ohio

2. James Madison SHIFLETT ( 1809 in Orange Co, VA -  May 1887 Greene Co, VA ) & m1) Lucinda SHIFLETT ( 1819 – 1870 ) 13 Dec 1844 Greene Co, VA ; &  m2) Parrenia HERRING ( 1845 - ) 03 Jul 1870 Greene Co, VA

James Madison SHIFLETT and Lucinda SHIFLETT had the following children:

• Matthew SHIFLETT ( 1847 Greene Co, VA - )
• Burton SHIFLETT ( 1849 Greene Co, VA  - 20 Oct 1866 Greene Co, VA )
• Rebecca Jane Catherine SHIFLETT ( Aug 1850 Greene Co, VA - 1936 Albemarle Co, VA ) & Burton MCALISTER ( Feb 1842 – 1933 Albemarle Co, VA ) 06 Aug 1867 Greene Co, VA
• Noah W. SHIFLETT ( 10 Apr 1856 Greene Co, VA - 12 Sep 1856 Greene Co, VA )

James Madison SHIFLETT and Parrenia HERRING had the following child: 

• Ardenia SHIFLETT ( 1872 Greene Co, VA - )

3. Burton SHIFLETT (1814 Orange Co, VA - 22 Oct 1860 Greene Co, VA ) & Nancy Elizabeth FRAZIER (14 Feb 1811 - 22 Jan 1895 Lacey Spring, Rockingham Co, VA )01 Dec 1834 Albemarle, VA

• Ola SHIFLETT ( 1835 – before 1850 )
• Jacob Haskell SHIFLETT ( about 1836 - before 08 Oct 1871 ) & Lucretia JOLLETT (18 Sep 1838 Rockingham Co, VA - 31 Dec 1911 Rockingham Co, VA )  05 Aug 1858 Page Co, VA 
• John Conway SHIFLETT ( 02 Jun 1840 Greene Co, VA - 09 Feb 1917 Albemarle Co, VA ) & m1) Lucretia SHIFLETT ( 1846 Greene Co, VA – before  Jul 1880 Greene Co, VA )  07 Dec 1863 Greene Co, VA ; & m2) Mary D. SHIFLETT (1849 – 1924 Albemarle Co, VA ) 28 Jul 1880 Greene Co, VA
• Lucy Ann SHIFLETT ( 1843 in Greene Co, VA - 1884 Greene Co, VA ) & James Franklin JOLLETT  (17 Nov 1836 Rockingham Co, VA – 03 Jun 1930 Augusta Co, VA ) 12 Nov 1859 Greene Co, VA
• Francis M. SHIFLETT ( 1844 Greene Co, VA - )
• Jeremiah SHIFLETT ( 1847 Greene Co, VA - )
• Nancy Frances SHIFLETT ( 1849 Greene Co, VA -  1926 Fairfax, VA ) & William Gordon MORRIS JR. ( 1851 Greene Co, Va – before 1900 Greene Co, VA ) 20 Sep 1872 Greene Co, VA
• Susan Clementine SHIFLETT ( 22 Jun 1851 Greene Co, VA - 29 Dec 1928 Greene Co, VA ) & George Austin  MORRIS ( 06 Apr 1848 Greene Co, VA - 14 Nov 1934 Greene Co, VA ) 12 Dec 1870 Greene Co, VA
• Victoria SHIFLETT ( Mar 1854 Greene Co, VA - before 1930 ) & Ambrose VERNON ( 1854 - ) 26 Dec 1875 Greene Co, VA
• George W. SHIFLETT ( 20 Apr 1856 Greene Co, VA - )
• Unnamed SHIFLETT ( 1857 in Greene Co, VA - 10 Mar 1857 Greene Co, VA )

4. Virenda Jane SHIFLETT ( 1821 Orange Co, VA -  before 1900 Greene Co, VA ) & Michael P. “Miley” FRAZIER (Feb 1814 – 1900 Albemarle Co, VA)  14 Jul 1844 Greene Co, VA

• Julia Ann FRAZIER ( 1845 Greene Co, VA - ) & Thomas  J. FRAZIER ( 1840 – about 1918 ) 04 Jul 1864 Greene Co, VA
• John T. FRAZIER ( 1847 Greene Co, VA -  1860 )
• Henry Timber FRAZIER ( 12 Aug 1849 Greene Co, VA - 12 Feb 1931 Greene Co, VA ) &. Eliza Susan LAWSON ( Oct 1857 Rockingham Co, VA - ) 03 Jan 1874 Rockingham Co, VA
• Jacob Emanuel FRAZIER ( 1851 - 1920 ) &  Frances Jane MORRIS 26 Dec 1883 Greene Co, VA
• Austin Jackson FRAZIER ( Jun 1855 Albemarle Co, VA - Dec 1921 Greene Co, VA ) & Nancy Frances MORRIS  (May 1852 Greene Co, VA - ) 02 Mar 1876 Greene Co, VA
• J. M. FRAZIER ( 1859 Albemarle Co, VA – 1920 ) & T. J. MORRIS  06 Dec 1883 Greene Co, VA
• Polly Jane FRAZIER ( 1862 Greene Co, VA - 09 Apr 1936 Greene Co, VA ) & Elvis Sturdivant SHIFLETT (1862 Greene Co, VA – before 1900 Greene Co, VA )  07 Jun 1885 Greene Co, VA
• George Dallas FRAZIER ( May 1866 Greene Co, VA - 13 Sep 1949 ) & Pauline Ann “Polly” MORRIS (1862 Greene Co, VA – after 1930 ) 21 Oct 1886 Greene Co, VA

5.  Julia Ann/July Ann Catherine SHIFLETT ( 1827 Orange Co, VA - ) & Pemberton LAMB  26 Jan 1847 Greene Co, VA

• Melissa A. LAMB ( 1850 Greene Co, VA  - )  & James W. TAYLOR ( 1841 - ) 13 Jan 1871 Greene Co, VA
• Hiram J. LAMB ( 22 Sep 1854 Greene Co, VA - 1922 Greene Co, VA ) & m1) Lucy Ann GEAR 1876 Greene Co, VA ; & m2) Sis BREEDEN 09 Apr 1919 Greene Co, VA
• Houston LAMB ( 1858 Greene Co, VA - ) & Ardista JARRELL (1872 Greene Co, VA - )

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: Dial 6-1624

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

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt is transportation.  My paternal grandparents’ entrepreneurial venture with public transportation was a financial disaster for them, but I have only good memories of the Burlington Cab Company.

One of the cab drivers 1956
The office and garage in the background

Granddaddy Slade was a victim of bad timing.  He bought a taxi company about the same time that the city of Portsmouth introduced busses.  The competition with cheap public transportation was too great to survive in the taxi business.  Ever positive and confident in the viability of taxis, he and my grandmother moved to Burlington, North Carolina and purchased another struggling cab company. 

In 1952 Daddy moved us to Burlington to help his parents by driving a cab for them.  We lived in their house.  The office and taxi garage were in the backyard.  There was also a kennel for Granddaddy’s beagles next to the little office. 

Cabs parked beside our house

Home of Fred and Julia Slade 

Granny Slade between the office and kennel

Even though I was very young, a few memories are crystal clear:

• Brushing and “styling” Granny’s hair as she sat in the office working as the dispatcher
• Riding in the front seat of Granddaddy’s cab and talking to my granny on the two-way radio
• The smell of the garage 

What a cute brick building --
I wish I could remember what it was used for.

• The sound of bottles tumbling down the chute of the Coke machine in the garage
• The taste of one of those Cokes that Granddaddy would buy for me
• Sitting on top of a doghouse while Granddaddy fed his hunting dogs
• The big round Coca Cola sign at the corner of the yard welcoming us home

Cousin Mary Lois Slade
Unknown with dog
Granny Julia Slade

Call a cab or hop on a bus because the Sepia Saturday train is pulling out!

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.