52 Ancestors - SCHOOL: Education in the One-Room School

I come from a long line of dedicated teachers. It is therefore no surprise that some dusty old textbooks have been saved and passed from one generation to the next along with pieces of china, crystal, and silver. These books belonged to my grandfather, his father, and his uncle.

My grandfather's textbooks

Looking closely at these very old books (over 130 years old) makes me rethink the one-room country schoolhouse. I always assumed those poor kids probably got a second-rate education because the school couldn’t afford to do any better. However, I see now that Rockingham County and Page County picked the best textbooks to be had in their day. 

WALTER’S ARITHMETIC BOOK

Walter's arithmetic book

My great-grandfather proudly wrote his name on several pages of his arithmetic book. “Walter B. S. M. Davis.” 

Inside cover of Walter's arithmetic book
(Did he really need 3 middle names?)

But he was not the first to use it. The inscription “A. N. Davis” suggests at least one older brother of the 15 Davis children used the book too:  Amaziah Nathaniel.

Amaziah Nathaniel's initials

The book was “Ray’s Practical Arithmetic, Part Third.” The Ray’s series was one of the most respected textbooks of its day because it emphasized “real life” math that students could apply to practical pursuits of running a farm, a business, a household, even a grocery store. Early on, the series was praised for beginning with the basics using concrete items like blocks and marbles in order to prepare students to be able to visualize the abstract later on. Ray’s almost exclusive use of word problems is credited with improving students’ reading comprehension. 

This textbook is very unappealing by today's standards.
No colorful charts.  Very little "white space."

 

Ray believed teaching could help students develop high moral character. To that end, he structured his math problems to show honest men and women hard at work plowing fields, planting and harvesting crops, building, buying and selling, being generous and sharing their goods. Look at some typical problems:

• If 16 men build 18 rods of fence in 12 days, at the same rate, how many men can build 72 rods in 8 days?
• When cloth costs $4.37 ½ per yard, at what price per yard must it be sold to gain 33 1/3 percent?
• What is the value of 1 pound 3 pennyweights of gold ore at 3 cents a grain?

Although Dr. Joseph Ray died in 1855, his arithmetic books are still in use today, especially among homeschoolers. However, I’m not sure how the homeschoolers feel about the explanation of pints, barrels, and hogsheads required in beer measurements. But I must admit, the explanation of apothecary measurements could be helpful to today’s drug dealers who might need to know how to answer this one:

• What will 1 pound 1 dram 1 ounce of opium cost at 4 cents a scruple?

(Who knew drug dealers had scruples?)

ORVIN’S HISTORY BOOK

History of Virginia - New Edition

I don’t remember how much American history was included in my high school history textbooks, but only once did we make it to World War II. How far did the teachers of my grandfather Orvin Davis get exposing him to American history? 

His book is about the size of a 5”x7” photograph and just about ¾” thick. The last chapter is entitled  “The Reconstruction Period 1865-1890.” I guess there’s something to be said for being born early. 

 

ORVIN’S LITERATURE BOOK

Stepping Stones to Literature: A Reader for Fifth Grades is one ambitious collection of works by such people as Nathaniel Hawthorne, William Cowper, Sir Walter Scott, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and John Ruskin. JOHN RUSKIN!!! Has anyone read Ruskin? I have. Hopefully my grandfather at age 10 was exposed to some lighter weight Ruskin than I got in graduate school. Good grief.

 

The introduction to the book says it all:  “…its authors aimed to include nothing but good literature …. The tendency of the day is to scrappy reading. It is fostered by newspapers, periodicals, and compendia of literature; and it is hoped that these Readers will help to combat this unfortunate tendency, and lead to the reading of good books.”

As textbooks always do, this one gives teaching suggestions, especially on ways to improve oral reading. The authors are not shy about saying Americans have poor speech habits and “disagreeable voices.” They deem it a “national defect.” They even recommend calisthenics to improve students’ carriage, breathing through the nostrils, drilling for proper enunciation, using a dictionary to assure proper pronunciation, and learning to incorporate the right inflections to express the feeling of the written word. 

So noble. But these are fifth graders. 

Here is what fifth graders did to their books even in 1910:

The message has been erased for the most part, but it says, "Look on page [?] and you will see my sweethearts name."

 

Flipping pages, I found this on page 25:

 

On page 300, there's this message saying "She ran away from me and nobody knows where she is."

So who was she, for crying out loud?? DARN! I thought books held the key to all knowledge.  What a let-down.

 

Amy Johnson Crow continues to challenge genealogy bloggers and non-bloggers alike to think about our ancestors and share a story or photo about them. The challenge is “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.”

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors - CHOSEN FAMILY: Will the Real Maggie Please Stand Up?

In last week’s drama surrounding the antics of Amaziah Nathaniel Davis, his reputation as an adulterer was revealed. His wife Annie Long Davis filed for a divorce in 1908 claiming Nathaniel not only had been abusive and neglectful but also he had been seeing several other women. The testimonies of witnesses focused on one woman in particular: Maggie Vines or Viands.

Who was she?

Maggie was the daughter of William Joseph Vines and Angelina Stanton. William was a Confederate veteran of the Civil War and worked in an ore bank. Angelina, like most women of the time, kept house and took care of the children: Nettie, Foley, Julia, Ida, William, Maggie, and Walter. William Sr. died from typhoid fever in August of 1886.

In the 1900 census for Rockingham County, Angelina reported that 5 of her 7 children were still living. Maggie was at home with her while all the others were married. It seems neither Angelina nor Maggie was employed. Another person in the household was a 2-year old named Lula, identified as a daughter. However, since Lula was born two years after William Viands died, it could be that Lula was Maggie’s child, yet it is still within the biological realm of possibility that Lula could have been Angelina’s child instead. Unfortunately, there is no sign of Lula after the 1900 census, so we may never know.

But back to Maggie

According to witnesses in the divorce case of Nathaniel Davis and wife Annie, Maggie was not married but had a little boy.

from Rockingham Co VA Chancery Cause 165-1909-095

Nathaniel Davis's sister Ida Morris reported that Maggie left sometime around 1908 or 1909 and moved to Pennsylvania to stay with her sister, at least for a time. The 1910 census shows Maggie, her mother, and a 12-year old son Lester living in York County, Pennsylvania where Maggie’s sisters lived too. Their brother William and his family lived in a nearby county. Angelina claimed her own income, probably the Civil War widow’s pension she obtained in 1904. Maggie found a job at a sewing factory.

 

from Rockingham Co VA Chancery Cause 165-1909-095

Ida Morris stated that Maggie was going to Pennsylvania to stay until Nathaniel came for her. Did he do that?

Where was Nathaniel? 

A marriage record for Nathaniel Davis and Maggie VIA dated November 1909 suggests he finally made an honest woman of her. But wait – VIA? OK, clerical errors abound. Viands. Vines. Via. I can see how a clerk misunderstood.

 

Rockingham Co VA Marriage Register Book 3, p 46

But then there was the entry of the bride’s parents as John and mother unknown. John? Not William? 

Rockingham Co VA Marriage Register Book 3, p 46

I can believe and accept that maybe Maggie forgot her father’s name – maybe – after all, he had been dead a long time, but, surely, she had not forgotten her mother’s name.

There was also the mention of Maggie being a widow. Had the witness erred in saying Maggie had never married – OR is this indeed a different Maggie?

In 1910 while Maggie VINES was living with her mother in York County, Pennsylvania, Nathaniel and his much younger wife Maggie were in Charlottesville, Virginia. Nathaniel worked as an agent for a buggy company (interesting – wonder what that entailed?). The couple had been married 0 years. Maggie had 2 children. A 9-year old boy named Edgar R. lived there too, enumerated with the last name “Davis,” most likely a clerical error.

1910 Census Charlottesville, VA

In the 1920 census, Maggie VINES had become the head of household in York County, Pennsylvania. She and her mother both worked in a tobacco factory. Lester had married and moved to Baltimore.

That same year Nathaniel and Maggie were still in Charlottesville with now 4 children PLUS a stepson Roy Via. Nathaniel worked in a stave factory.

1920 Census Charlottesville, VA

After 1920, neither Maggie Vines nor her mother Angelina can be found in the usual online records. But in Charlottesville, Maggie L. Davis was head of household in 1930. Her four daughters were with her. Roy and Edgar had both married and were living in an apartment not far away from their mother and half-sisters.

1930 Census Charlottesville, VA

Nathaniel wound up at Western State Hospital, known as Western State Lunatic Asylum in its early days. What his mental issues were is unknown. I hope he was not bad off enough to catch the attention of the director, Joseph DeJarnette, a noted eugenicist who openly favored and performed electroshock therapy, lobotomies, and sterilization.

Nathaniel died at Western State Hospital in 1934.

Amaziah Nathaniel Davis’s life came to a sad end, that’s for sure. But I can’t help being somewhat amused at the irony of his love life, to have carried on an affair with Maggie B. Vines only to marry Maggie L. Via just months later.

Amy Johnson Crow continues to challenge genealogy bloggers and non-bloggers alike to think about our ancestors and share a story or photo about them. The challenge is “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.”

Wendy

© 2020, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors - TROUBLEMAKER: Nathaniel Davis Again

In a previous story about Amaziah Nathaniel Davis, I mentioned that it was a good thing he purchased a lot of land because it helped save him a world of hurt.

The 123 acres that Nathaniel Davis purchased in 1892 came to the rescue just one year later.

VA Rockingham Co Deed Book 46, p 250

This Deed, made this 8^th day of April 1893, by and between Nathaniel Davis party of the first part and Jno Harris Jr party of the second part all of Rockingham County, Va,

Witnesseth that the party of the first part doth hereby grant & convey with general warranty of title unto the said Jno Harris Jr upon the Trust herein after declared, all that tract or parcel of land with buildings and appurtenances containing about 123 acres situate in the Eastern part of said County on a branch of the Hawksbill Creek adjoining the lands Geo. W. Wyant, Abel Eaton and others and being the same conveyed this grantor by the children & heirs of Mrs. Mary M. Gilmer by Deed of record in the Clerk’s office of the County Court of said County.

This Conveyance is in Trust only however to secure indemnify and save harmless Geo E. Sipe against all or any damages or loss that may accrue to him by reason of his suretyship for said Nathaniel Davis in a bail bond executed before the Judge of the County Court of said County in vacation on the Eighth day of April 1893, in a penalty of $100.00 in a prosecution for unlawful Trespass, and it is expressly understood and agree that whenever said Sipe shall become liable to pay or called on to satisfy said bond or any part thereof, then said Trustee shall proceed to execute this Trust in pursuance of Sec 2442 Code of Va 1887. Witness the following signature & seal.

Nathaniel Davis

Trespassing, eh? I wonder whose land he trespassed on. It must have been a serious infraction to raise the level of suspicion or fear to have him arrested. Apparently ol’ Nathaniel had used all his cash to buy the land and had none left for his own bail.

MORE TROUBLE FOR NATHANIEL

It seems cash flow was not Nathaniel’s only problem. He was an adulterer.

In 1908 his wife Annie had had enough. She filed for divorce. In her complaint, she noted that even though they were still living together, they had not spoken in two years.

Rockingham Co VA Chancery Cause 165-1909-095

The proceedings of the divorce case include depositions of witnesses testifying that they saw Nathaniel Davis at the home of Maggie Viands/Vines. The testimonies sound like something Gladys Kravitz would have said – remember the nosey neighbor on “Bewitched”? The local Gladys-wannabes reported Nathaniel staying with Maggie for days at a time. They never saw him leave. The curtains or shades were always drawn.

Deposition of H. H. Baugher, 28 years old

One surprising witness was Nathaniel’s own sister, Ida Morris, who reported one episode that must have been considered rather risqué for its time.

Deposition of Ida Davis Morris, sister of Nathaniel Davis

I wonder what Nathaniel had to say to his sister after that.

Amy Johnson Crow continues to challenge genealogy bloggers and non-bloggers alike to think about our ancestors and share a story or photo about them. The challenge is “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.”

Wendy

© 2020, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors - LARGE: Living Large in Beldor

My great-grandfather Walter Davis

You’ve probably heard the saying “A son is a son till he takes a wife; a daughter is a daughter the rest of her life.” That is probably why I have more photos of Mary Frances Jollett Davis’s side of the family than I do of Walter Davis’s family. I have spent so much time on the Jolletts that I feel as if I actually knew her sisters and brothers.

I cannot say the same for Walter and his 14 brothers and sisters. They are just faceless names.

But that is beginning to change. The Virginia Legislature recently approved unlocking records on FamilySearch to remote users enabling me to find new information about my Davis line in Rockingham County. One name that makes a frequent appearance in land records is that of Walter’s older brother Amaziah Nathaniel (20 Feb 1858 – 22 Feb 1934).

 

Road into Beldor not far off the Skyline Drive
Stomping grounds of my Davis family

The sheer number of deeds makes Nathaniel appear to be a real mover and shaker, a wheeler and dealer, a man living large in the Beldor community in the eastern portion of Rockingham County, Virginia. One of the earliest deeds was dated December 1892. Nathaniel and Annie Long had been married about 13 years when the land that originally belonged to his grandmother’s brother Frederick Wyant was offered for sale by the heirs of a subsequent owner, Mary Gilmer.

The Frederick Wyant tract contained 123 acres. That was a good size plot of land for a farm at that time. Nathaniel paid $1000. I have read many a deed in my years of research and rarely have I come across that high a purchase price.

Rockingham County
Deed book 45 p 203

This Deed made this 15^th day of December, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-two (1892) between William H. Hickle and Ella F his wife, Thomas A. Sellers, Oscar D. Sellers & Virginia Sellers his wife, parties of the first part and Amaziah Nathaniel Davis party of the second part, all of the County of Rockingham and State of Virginia,

Witnesseth, that the said parties of the first part for and in consideration of the sum of one thousand Dollars current money of the United States cash to them in hand paid by the party of the second part, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, have granted, bargained, sold and conveyed, and by these presents do grant, bargain, sell and convey with general warranty of title unto the said Amaziah Nathaniel Davis, his heirs and assigns a certain tract, piece or parcel of land, and the appurtenances thereto belonging and is known as being a part of the “Old Frederick Wyant Tract of land” situate lying and being in the eastern part of said County, in the Blue Ridge, on the Simmons Gap Road, and is bounded as follows, Beginning at a Marked Chesnut by the side of the Simmons Gap road, thence S 70° E 164 2/10 poles to a Hickory in the line of the lands claimed by Franklin Davis, thence with his line S 26° W 32 poles to three Chesnuts one cut down, John Wyant’s corner and with the bearing of his land (under date of ~ ) as called for by his papers N 75° W 130 poles to a Locust stake on bank of Creek, corner to Dower lot of widow of Peter Wyant dec’d [Frances Wyant Davis, grandmother of Nathaniel Davis], and thence up the several courses of the South West branch of the Hawkesbill (said creek) to a stump, formerly a Sycamore thence S 7° W (by said John Wyant’s Survey) 166 poles to a White Pine in Lawson’s line, thence West 28.32 poles to a stake, thence N 17 1/2° E 257.12 poles to a Boxed Pine, thence N 8° E 56 poles to a marked pine, thence N 70° E 45 poles to the Beginning, embracing all the lands included in said boundary, supposed to contain 123 acres, be the same more or less. It is further covenanted and provided that the widow Elizabeth Wyant (Frederick Wyant’s widow) is entitled to the same privileges in this conveyance as are in the deed made by her and others to Mary M. Gilmger on the 10^th day of November 1877. To have and to hold the said tract, piece or parcel of land and the appurtenances as aforesaid, to him the said Amaziah Nathaniel Davis his heirs and assigns forever,

Witness the following signatures

It’s a good thing Nathaniel bought that land. It saved him a couple times as we will see in the coming weeks of "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks."

 

Amy Johnson Crow continues to challenge genealogy bloggers and non-bloggers alike to think about our ancestors and share a story or photo about them. The challenge is “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.”

Wendy

© 2020, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.