52 Ancestors - On the Farm: Jollett and In-Laws

Austin Morris Farm (1990s)
Greene County, VA

The 1880 Agricultural Census Schedule for Greene County, Virginia is not easy to read. The image is dark, the column headings are fuzzy beyond readability, and the entries look like they were written with a fat Sharpie. All in all, a somewhat discouraging document to plow through (pun intended – get it??).

1880 Agricultural Census Schedule

However, a blank form is available on the National Archives and Records Administration website (www.archives.gov). By following along, I was able to glean some insight into my 2X great-grandfather’s life as a farmer. 

I assume that the other 9 listed with him on the page were close neighbors, and some were relatives on his wife’s side. How did James Franklin Jollett and his wife Lucy shape up next to the in-laws? I compared them to the following:

• Austin Morris, husband of Lucy’s sister Susan Clementine
• Madison Shiflett, Lucy’s uncle, her father’s brother
• Miley Frazier, Lucy’s uncle, her mother’s brother
• Thomas J. Frazier, Lucy’s cousin

The first set of questions dealt with the nature of the farm itself. All 5 claimed to OWN their farm. None of them claimed any grass land or grass products such as clover and hay. They likely grew hay, at least, for their own use, but if they sold any, they had to report it.

	Acres Tilled	Acres Wooded	Value of Farm	Value of Farm Machinery	Value of Livestock	Value of Farm Production 1879
JF Jollett	40	28	$300	$35	$125	$115
A Morris	30	30	$250	$5	$240	$30
M Shiflett	6	100	$200	$2	$30	$60
M Frazier	50	180	$400	$5	$40	$111
TJ Frazier	41	100	$600	$5	$125	$190

James Franklin Jollett and his brother-in-law Austin Morris were about comparable in farm size and the value they put on their farm, but evidently Austin did much more with livestock than did James Franklin. Although he was a much smaller farmer than Uncle Miley and Cousin Thomas, James Franklin’s farm production was on par with Miley’s.

The next set of questions dealt with livestock. James Franklin and Thomas each had two milk cows. Madison Shiflett and Miley Frazier each had 1; Austin had 3. In 1879, James Franklin and Thomas produced 200 pounds of butter each. Austin claimed 300 pounds while Miley produced only 100 pounds and Madison none.

James Franklin Jollett and Austin Morris were the only ones who bothered with sheep, at least in 1879. James Franklin sold 5. Austin bought 2 and slaughtered 2. He also reported 20 pounds of fleece shorn in the spring of 1880.

All 5 were busy with swine and poultry. “Poultry” is assumed to mean chickens but it might mean ALL poultry which could include geese and ducks.

	# Swine	# Poultry	Egg production 1879
JF Jollett	2	12	50 dozen
A Morris	11	17	75 dozen
M Shiflett	1	12	60 dozen
M Frazier	12	5	20 dozen
TJ Frazier	4	5	30 dozen

It seems clear that Austin Morris was much more involved with livestock than others in the family. Jollett and Madison Shiflett depended heavily on their chickens for the production of eggs.

Morris’s emphasis on livestock is further revealed in the reports on “Cereals” and Sugar. He devoted only 4 acres to Indian Corn; all other columns were left blank.

	Indian Corn		Oats		Rye		Wheat		Sorghum
	Acres	Bushels	Acres	Bushels	Acres	Bushels	Acres	Bushels	Acres	Gallons
JF Jollett	10	???	6	41	4	21	1	8	1	77
A Morris	4	75
M Shiflett	6	100					2	10
M Frazier	5	43					10	25
TJ Frazier	7	250					4	50

James Franklin Jollett reported on his taxes that he was a distiller of spirits. I wonder if sorghum was used in that business. 

Finally, questions about orchards and forest showed the 5 to be relatively equal.

	Orchards 1879			Forest Products
	Acres	# Trees	Bushels	Cords cut	Value 1879
JF Jollett	4	90	100	10	$15
A Morris				10	$15
M Shiflett				10	$15
M Frazier	3	60	No report	10	$15
TJ Frazier	2	90	61	30	$20

REFLECTIONS

James Franklin Jollett always seemed to be able to keep up with the Joneses – or in his case, the Morrisses, Shifletts, and Fraziers. While egg production was important, the emphasis was on what he could grow whether it was corn, grain, or apples.

Madison Shiflett seems like he was just a small-time farmer, but it might be a sign of his age. He was nearly 70, definitely an older man then who likely farmed just enough to get by. The farm size and value were about half  that of what he reported in the 1850 agricultural schedule.

The Fraziers were clearly the big landowners. At one time Miley owned over 1000 acres. At his death he gave each of his children 200 acres. Today the Frazier land is part of the Skyline Drive. You can read about the Frazier Discovery Trail HERE.

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 - BEARDS: Beards on Parade

No story. Just photos of bearded ancestors whom I have never met.

 

2X great grandfather
James Franklin Jollett

 

James Franklin's brother
John Wesley Jollett and wife 
Sarah Elizabeth Smith Jollett

William H. Jollett
aka William P. Boyd and wife
James Franklin Jollett's nephew

at a reunion
Susan Clementine Morris and Austin Morris
(James Franklin Jollett's brother-in-law and 
sister-in-law) and Ambrose Vernon
(brother-in-law)

Jennetta Dovel Shiplett 
and Philip Pendleton Shiplett
(brother of my 2X great-grandmother Segourney Eppard)

 

My great-grandmother
Mary Frances Jollett Davis
with sister Emma and
brother-in-law Jack Coleman

family of Jack and Emma Coleman
in their younger years

2X great-grandfather
Mitchell Davis

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.

James Franklin Jollett's Kids: Burton Lewis Jollett

As part of my “Genealogy Do-Over” efforts AND to force myself to get crackin’ on my James Franklin Jollett book, Jollett Reunion, I will be researching and writing brief biographies of James Franklin, his wives, and his children.

Burton Lewis Jollett was the first child born to James Franklin Jollett and Lucy Ann Shiflett. That was 2 October 1860, just months before Virginia joined the Confederacy, just months before war was declared. He was a little tyke when his father left their home in Greene County, Virginia to join the cause. However, James Franklin’s lackluster service record suggests he was frequently AWOL, probably at home taking care of the farm and his growing family.

Like his younger brothers and sisters, Burton Lewis attended school. As an adult he was considered educated enough to serve his community as Justice of the Peace. The position does not require legal training but it requires good sense and ethics to handle less serious cases such as simple assault, disorderly conduct, public intoxication, reckless driving, petty theft, landlord and tenant disputes, and small claims. A Justice of the Peace can also perform civil marriages.

The children are lined up from youngest to oldest
Left to right: Ulysses, Victoria, Sallie, Mary Frances, Leanna,
Laura, Emma, Burton Lewis, James Franklin

Most of the time though he labored on the farm. Farm communities tend to maintain close ties among farm families, each one helping another with planting, bailing hay, transporting animals to market, and canning. Maybe that is how Burton Lewis came to know his future bride Louisa Sullivan. Judging by the chronology of census records, she grew up just a few farms away from the Jolletts. Her parents were James Andrew Sullivan and Lydia Wyant.

A birth record for a baby girl born May 1878 indicates Burton Lewis and Louisa had a child out of wedlock; nevertheless, they married three years later on 20 January 1881 and made their home in Greene County. In March 1882, they had a little boy who lived only two months. Five more children were born in regular intervals; one child Maggie lived only four years.

Burton Lewis and Louisa did a cute thing naming their children. The first and middle names began with the same letter: Chester Clarence, Fleta Florence, Blanche Beecher (or some say it was Blanche Beatrice), and Lewis Lloyd.

Sometime between 1895 and 1900, Louisa died. According to the 1900 census, Burton Lewis was a widower raising his children alone. However, in September that same year he married Cornelia Morris Sullivan.

Cornelia Morris Sullivan
photo courtesy of Olen Morris

Like Burton Lewis, Cornelia was recently widowed, her husband having died in October 1899. She was the second wife of James Andrew Sullivan, Louisa’s father. Therefore, Cornelia was Louisa’s stepmother. Burton Lewis married his stepmother-in-law 19 September 1900 in Greene County, Virginia.

As if that family relationship were not close enough already, Cornelia was distantly connected to the Jolletts in another way. Her brothers William Gordon Morris and George Austin Morris were married to Burton Lewis’s mother’s sisters Nancy Frances and Susan Clementine Shiflett, respectively.

Before 1928
Clementine and Austin Morris, James Franklin Jollett,
and Ambrose Vernon (widower of Clementine's
sister Victoria Shiflett Vernon)

Burton Lewis and Cornelia’s marriage was not the love of a lifetime. By 1916, they were divorced. Census records for 1920 and 1930 show Burton Lewis widowed; Cornelia, however, took back the Sullivan name and proclaimed she was divorced. She died in 1927.

In his later years, Burton Lewis lived with his youngest son Lewis and his family. Apparently Burton Lewis did not care much for his daughter-in-law Mary Neville (Peluso). In his will written in 1931, he named Lewis as executor; he then stipulated that should Lewis die before his wife Mary Neville, she should not be appointed to administer the estate and all inheritance from Burton Lewis should go to Lewis’s heirs. Burton Lewis’s disdain for Mary Neville is evident in these words from the will: “She would go through with it [inheritance] real soon do nobody no good. I don’t want her to have nothing from my estate whatsoever the way I have been mistreated by her.”

Burton Lewis JOLLETT ( 2 Oct 1860 Greene Co, VA – 4 May 1934 Greene Co, VA) and m1) Louisa E. SULLIVAN (Aug 1862 Greene Co, VA – Before 1900 Greene Co, VA) married 20 Jan 1881 Greene Co, VA ; m2) Cornelia MORRIS SULLIVAN (Nov 1844 Greene Co, VA – 2 Aug 1927 Greene Co, VA) married 19 Sep 1900 Greene Co, VA

Issue with Louisa Sullivan:

1. P. JOLLETT (May 1878)
2. E. E. JOLLETT (Mar 1882 Greene Co, VA – May 1882 Greene Co, VA)
3. Chester Clarence JOLLETT (11 Jun 1883 Greene Co, VA – Apr 1967 Baltimore, MD) and Cora Eliza MORRIS (26 Dec 1888 Greene Co, VA – Apr 1975 Baltimore, MD) married 1 Jun 1905 Fredericksburg, VA
4. Fleta Florence JOLLETT (22 Aug 1885 Greene Co, VA – 8 May 1956 Albemarle Co, VA) and John Lloyd SULLIVAN (26 Dec 1892 Rockingham Co, VA – 1 Dec 1967 Greene Co, VA) married 27 Dec 1916 Greene Co, VA
5. Maggie JOLLETT (May 1887 Greene Co, VA – May 1891 Greene Co, VA)
6. Blanche Beecher JOLLETT (13 Mar 1890 Greene Co, VA – 10 Feb 1972) and John Benjamin GENTRY (28 Dec 1888 Greene Co, VA – 8 May 1953 Charlottesville, VA) married about 1911
7. Lewis Lloyd JOLLETT (11 Jun 1895 Greene Co, VA – Dec 1978 Richmond, VA) and Mary Neville PELUSO (11 Apr 1896 Rockingham Co, VA – 9 Mar 1981 Arlington, VA) married about 1919

Wendy

© 2016, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.