Sepia Saturday: The Settlement School

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

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt featuring children joining hands to play a circle game reminds me of an old photo of children at play outside the Frazier Mountain School.

Frazier Mountain was the stomping grounds of my 3X great-grandmother Nancy Frazier Shiflett and her many aunts and uncles and cousins. However, the photo is not THAT old, more likely from the very early 1900s.

Frazier Mountain School
photo courtesy of John and Janet Thompson
descendant of Henry Timber Frazier, son of Miley Frazier

That is when the settlement movement made its way to the mountains of Virginia. The aim of settlement schools was to provide education for children in rural and mountain areas that were often not served by the county, usually for economic and logistical reasons. Churches often filled the gap building a school, a church, a clothing bureau, and sometimes even a hospital.

Frederick William Neve was an Episcopal minister born and educated in England who was asked to come to Virginia. He was based in the town of Ivy in Albemarle County, but he was drawn to the Blue Ridge Mountains just twenty-five miles away. He found someone to take him into those mysterious communities – Shifflett’s Hollow, Bacon Hollow, Mutton Hollow, Blackwell Hollow, and Simmons Gap – places that inspired stories of backwoods justice and suspicion towards strangers.

There were probably 175 people living there, but reportedly only two of them could read and write. Neve inquired about the mountain community and learned that no school or church existed within miles of the area known as “Frazier Mountain” to the locals but previously as “Lost Mountain.” Neve actually liked that name because he reasoned that without religion and education, the people were indeed “lost.” (Today it is known as “Loft Mountain.”)

So Neve looked for a location for a mission school and bought some property straddling Greene and Albemarle counties. Between 1890 and 1912, Neve started twenty missions, ten of them in Greene County alone. He continued to work with the mountain people building mission schools and churches throughout seven Virginia counties. Frederick Neve is remembered today as the founder of the mountain mission movement of the Episcopal Church in Virginia, 1888-1948.

Neve’s most ambitious mission project was the co-ed Blue Ridge Industrial School, which offered more advanced education beyond the elementary level. Since most students were likely to remain in a rural area, the school provided practical training for farm life and related occupations. The school even operated a cannery for a number of years. BRIS was the first accredited high school in Greene County.

Today all of the mission schools have closed except for the Blue Ridge school which is still going strong as a boarding school for boys.

Join hands and circle around to Sepia Saturday for more fun and games.

 © 2015, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Sources:

Alvic, Philis. Weavers of the Southern Highlands. Lexington, KY: U of Kentucky, 2003. University Press of Kentucky. Web. 25 Nov. 2015. <https://books.google.com/books?id=G6geBgAAQBAJ&dq=southern+highland+weavers&source=gbs_navlinks_s>.

Campbell, Olive D. Southern Highland Schools Maintained by Denominational and Independent Agencies. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1921. 30 July 2009. Web. 25 Nov. 2015. <https://books.google.com/books?id=c4p6V571x2QC&dq=frazier+mountain+school+virginia&source=gbs_navlinks_s>.

Covey, David D. Greene County, Virginia: A Brief History. Google Books. The History Press, n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2015. <https://books.google.com/books?id=kkzjkVKswewC&dq=neve%2Band%2Bblue%2Bridge%2Bschools&source=gbs_navlinks_s>.

"A Guide to the Frederick W. Neve Papers, 1854-1981 (bulk 1900-1940) Neve, Frederick W., Papers 10505." Virginia Heritage: Guides to Manuscripts and Archival Collections in Virginia. Virtual Library of Virginia, n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2015. <http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=uva-sc%2Fviu03549.xml>.

“Settlement School.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.  Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 13 Aug. 2015. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.

Shifflett, Larry. "County Place Names." Shiflett Family Genealogy. Robert V. Klein, n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2015. <http://www.klein-shiflett.com/shifletfamily/PS/alpnames.html>.

52 Ancestors: #2 - Elvis, No Not That One

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.

Amy is a funny girl.  Her Week 2 theme is “King” to coincide with the birthdays of Elvis “The King” Presley and Martin Luther King, Jr.  Her more serious side also offers the option of writing about an ancestor who fled from an oppressive king or about our own connection to royalty.  *Snort.  

No royal distinctions in this family (although quite a few have been a royal pain in the AHEM!).  Surprisingly I found in my database three males name Elvis.  All three died young, one at birth.

Polly Jane Frazier and Elvis Sturdivant Shiflett
photo courtesy "cmagha" on Ancestry

One was given a most grand name:  Elvis Sturdivant SHIFLETT.  He was the son of Calvin and Elizabeth Herrin Shiflett.   Born in 1860 in Albemarle County, Virginia, Elvis was just a young boy when his father, a Confederate deserter, was captured and executed just a few days before the end of the war.  According to family lore, the soldiers had deserted because they lacked food and horses.  It is not clear whether they were captured by Union soldiers or the Confederate Home Guard charged with rounding up deserters.

The prisoners were held in the basement of a house in Boonesville, and Elvis’s mother regularly took food to the prisoners.  One day as Elizabeth was heading there with food for her prisoner husband and his comrades, she heard the gunshots.  Apparently some of the soldiers had escaped; Calvin and one other were executed in retaliation.

One of the prisoners who managed to escape was Tom Frazier, my first cousin four times removed.  After Calvin died, his widow Elizabeth took up with Tom.  So what does this have to do with Elvis?  Tom had a half-sister named Columbia Frazier.  She and Elvis married in April of 1881 in Greene County, Virginia.  That means Elvis’s mother was also his sister-in-law.  But sadly, Columbia died just three years later.

Elvis was one of many Shifletts who intermarried with the Fraziers.  A year after Columbia died, on the 7^th of June 1885 Elvis married his wife’s cousin Polly Jane Frazier, also my first cousin four times removed.  Elvis and Polly Jane had seven children.  Most of them managed to marry Fraziers too, some of them more than one.

Elvis died before 1900, not even 40 years old.  Whether it’s poor spelling, poor transcribing, or hiding from the census taker, it looks as if Elvis managed to stay out of the census records after 1860. 

FAMILY of Elvis Sturdivant Shiflett

Elvis Sturdivant SHIFLETT (1860 Albemarle Co, VA – Before 1900 ) Son of Calvin SHIFLETT and Elizabeth HERRIN

M1) A. Columbia FRAZIER (1857 Greene Co, VA – 1884 Greene Co, VA )   07 Apr 1881 Greene Co, VA

M2) Polly Jane FRAZIER (1852 Greene Co, VA – 09 Apr 1936 Greene Co, VA )  07 Jun 1885 Greene Co, VA

1. Virgie Catherine SHIFLETT ( Mar 1886 Greene Co, VA –  28 Apr 1962 Virginia) & m1) John L. SHIFLETT 13 Jun 1902 Greene Co, VA ; & m2) Ryland G. FRAZIER  22 Sep 1907 Greene Co, VA
2. Robert Harrison SHIFLETT  (07 Nov 1887 Greene Co, VA – 02 Jun 1970 Albemarle Co, VA ) & Sarah Jane FRAZIER LAWSON (0 6 Feb 1886 –  06 Sep 1969 Staunton, VA )  15 Feb 1917 Greene Co, VA
3. Charlie G. SHIFLETT (Jun 1889 Greene Co, VA – )
4. Bertha Lee SHIFLETT (May 1892 Greene Co, VA – 29 Jun 1950 Monongalia, WV) & Edgar A. FRAZIER ( 06 Jun 1880 Greene Co, VA –  23 May 1954 Rockingham Co, VA )  24 Jun 1906 Greene Co, VA
5. Thomas L. SHIFLETT (Jan 1894 Greene Co, VA – 19 Oct 1965 Dundalk, MD )
6. James Albert “Spriggins” SHIFLETT (Jan 1895 Greene Co, VA – Mar 1937 Charlottesville, VA ) & Mary Sally TRIPLET (03 Jul 1909 Albemarle Co, VA – 28 Oct 1979 Alexandria, VA)   10 Oct 1938
7. Selena Gertrude SHIFLETT (28 Sep 1897 Greene Co, VA – 06 Nov 1972 Stafford, VA ) & m1) Andrew Allen FRAZIER  (20 Apr 1892 – 17 Jul 1968 Albemarle Co, VA )  03 Jan 1912 Greene Co, VA ; & m2) Henry Luther FRAZIER (27 Apr 1904 Albemarle Co, VA – 25 Jun 1968 Stafford, VA )

Source:

Addington, Norm. "The House in Boonesville." Shifflett Family Genealogy. Bob Klein, 7 Jan. 2015. Web. 07 Jan. 2015. <http://www.shiflett-klein.com/shifletfamily/Gallery/calvhsgall.html>.

 © 2015, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors: #39 - John FRAZIER

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.

My 4X great grandfather John Frazier was born about 1770 somewhere in Virginia, most likely in a part of Orange County that later became Albemarle County or perhaps Greene.  Land records, birth records, and wills paint a picture of a family criss-crossing county lines, but I think of the Fraziers as Greene County people since the majority of this particular family lived there.

John is the oldest confirmed ancestor of a family that can claim a murderer, abusive husband, community nuisance, war deserter, philanderer, author, loving grandfather, and respected land-owners whose dedication to the land has been memorialized in a trail on the Skyline Drive. 

View of the Shenandoah Valley
from the Frazier Trail on the Skyline Drive, Virginia

An ongoing debate is whether John Frazier was the actual father of son Leland who at various times went by both Frazier and Shiflett.  Leland was born 7 years before John married Lucy Shiflett, leading to a logical argument that he could have been fathered by someone else, especially since he often used Shiflett as his last name.  Yet he also used Frazier with equal frequency. 

When the 1844 indenture between John Frazier and all his children surfaced, researchers thought the debate was over.  The use of the expression “for natural love and affection” in the document implied that John viewed Leland as a son, an equal with the other children, whether he was flesh and blood or not. 

Frazier cabin seen on the Frazier Trail
photo courtesy of Kevin Frazier

So for a couple years now, many Frazier researchers have accepted that Leland was, in fact, John Frazier’s son.  But a new possibility has been discovered in a DAR application.  Quite often the applications contain surprising information, like the names of siblings or children and their spouses.  An Albemarle County patriot named Isaac Hardin had a sister Lucinda who married William Scott and who also married somebody named Shiflett.  The dates are right for Leland to be the child of that marriage.

IF Lucinda “Lucy” Hardin is the same Lucy Shiflett who married John Frazier, the debate has a different conclusion.  Why?  Because Leland’s middle name HARDIN cannot be ignored.  Bestowing the mother’s maiden name as a middle name was a naming trend that often proves useful in family research and is especially illuminating in this one.   While it is most likely true that John Frazier was not Leland’s natural father, he was very much a father to Leland and gave him the same consideration as the legitimate heirs.   

THREE GENERATIONS:

John FRAZIER  ( 1770 – Bef 1850 Greene Co, VA ) & Lucy SHIFLETT  ( 1778 – Aft 1850 Greene Co, VA )  20 Jan 1811 Albemarle, VA

1. Leland Hardin FRAZIER ( 1805 – 1892 Greene Co, VA ) &  m1) Ann Smith MALLORY ( 1806 Orange Co, VA – 1833 Orange Co, VA )  17 May 1827 Orange Co, VA ; & m2) America MALLORY ( 1810 – 1854 Greene Co, VA )  13 Nov 1833 Albemarle, VA ; & m3) Artemissa SHIFLETT ( 1813 – Jun 1890 Greene Co, VA )  05 Nov 1855 Greene Co, VA

Leland and Ann had the following children:

• Dr. Joseph Hardin FRAZIER ( 23 Apr 1828 Orange Co, VA – 01 Jun 1892 Randolph Co, MO) &  Deniza Emmaline EPPERLY  ( 04 Jan 1847 Randolph Co, MO – 07 Dec 1918 )  14 Feb 1864 Randolph County, MO

Leland and America had the following children:

• Huley FRAZIER ( 1836 - )
• Lou FRAZIER ( 1838 - )
• Thomas J. FRAZIER ( 1840 – Abt 1918 ) & m1) Julia Ann FRAZIER ( 1845 Greene Co, VA – Bef 1900 Greene Co, VA ) 04 Jul 1864 Greene Co, VA ; & m2) JENNIE FRAZIER ( 1877 Greene Co, VA – 22 Jan 1961 ) 12 Jun 1900 Greene Co, VA ; & possibly m3) Elizabeth HERRIN
• Barbara FRAZIER ( 02 May 1843 – 03 Aug 1910 ) & Anfield SHIFLETT ( 07 May 1837 – 31 Aug 1906 )  09 Nov 1858 Greene Co, VA

Leland and Artemissa had the following children:

• Columbia FRAZIER ( 1857 - Nov 1884 )  & m1) C. S. SHIFLETT ; & m2) Elvis Sturdivant SHIFLETT (1862 Greene Co, VA – Bef 1900 Greene Co, VA )  07 Apr 1881 Greene Co, VA

2. Nancy Elizabeth FRAZIER (14 Feb 1811 Albemarle Co, VA – 22 Jan 1895 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Burton SHIFLETT ( 1814 Orange County, VA – 22 Oct 1860 Greene 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) Nancy  J. SHIFLETT ( May 1848 - ) ; & m3) Mary D. SHIFLETT ( 1849 – 1924 ) 28 Jul 1880 Greene Co, VA 
• 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
• 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 26 Dec 1875 Greene Co, VA
• George W. SHIFLETT ( 20 Apr 1856 Greene Co, VA - )
• Unnamed male SHIFLETT ( 1857 Greene Co, VA – 10 Mar 1857 Greene Co, VA )

3. Keziah FRAZIER ( 1812 Albemarle Co, VA – 08 Oct 1855 Greene Co, VA ) & Lively MORRIS (1812 – Abt 1890 Greene Co, VA )  27 Nov 1838 Greene County, VA

• Leland Y. MORRIS ( 1840 – )
• Susan MORRIS ( May 1842 Greene Co, VA – 21 Aug 1916 Elkton, Rockingham Co, VA ) & Charles W. HERRING ( 1839 – Aft 1910 Greene Co, VA )  14 Mar 1867 Greene Co, VA
• Noah Jackson MORRIS ( 12 Aug 1842 Greene Co, VA – 14 Jan 1928 Greene Co, VA ) & Rachel MORRIS (09 May 1845 Greene Co, VA – Nov 1932 Greene Co,  VA )  25 Jan 1866 Greene Co, VA
• Durrett MORRIS ( 1844 – 1898 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Sarah CRAWFORD  ( 1851 Rockingham Co, VA – 1926 )  07 Feb 1867 Rockingham Co, VA
• Mary Ann “Polly” MORRIS ( 1847 Greene Co, VA – 1945 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Valentine ROACH  ( 1841 Rockingham Co, VA – Aft 1920 Greene Co, VA )  04 Nov 1865 in Greene County, VA
• George Fountain MORRIS ( Oct 1848 Greene Co, VA - ) & m1) Kitty Margarette SHIFLETT ( 1850 Greene Co, VA – Nov 1892 Greene Co, VA )  28 Dec 1869 Greene Co, VA ; & m2) Drucilla FRAZIER  ( 1850 – ) 15 May 1894 Rockingham Co, VA
• Nancy Frances MORRIS ( May 1852 Greene Co, VA – 07 Oct 1935 Greene Co, VA ) & m1) John Elzie SHIFFLET  ( 16 Mar 1849 Greene Co, VA – 21 Mar 1922 Albemarle Co, VA ) 20 Jan 1870 Greene Co, VA ; & m2) Austin Jackson FRAZIER ( Jun 1855 Albemarle Co, VA – Dec 1921 Greene Co, VA )  02 Mar 1876 Greene Co, VA
• Sarah Elizabaeth MORRIS ( 1853 Greene Co, VA – Aft 1930 Greene Co, VA ) & George Nathaniel MORRIS  (Aug 1850 Greene Co, VA – 1918 Greene Co, VA )  28 Sep 1871 Greene Co, VA
• Kesiah Jane MORRIS  (1854 Greene Co, VA – 07 Dec 1915 Greene Co, VA ) & Henry C. KEYTON / KEATON ( 1853 Albemarle Co, VA – Abt 1898 )  29 Dec 1874 Greene, VA

4. Michael P. “Miley” FRAZIER  ( Feb 1814 – Before 1910 Albemarle Co, VA ) & Virenda Jane SHIFLETT ( 1821 Orange County, VA – Bef.  1900 Greene Co, VA )  14 Jul 1844 Greene Co, VA

• Julia Ann FRAZIER ( 1845 Greene Co, VA – Bef. 1900 Greene Co, VA) & Thomas J. FRAZIER (1840 – 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 ( - Bef. 1920 ) 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 - )
• Polly Jane FRAZIER ( 1862 Greene Co, VA -  09 Apr 1936 Greene Co, VA ) & Elvis Sturdivant SHIFLETT ( 1862 Greene Co, VA  – Bef. 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. John Harris FRAZIER ( 1815 Virginia – Aft 1880 ) & Mary J. MORRIS ( 1817 – Bef 1860 ) 05 Apr 1836 Albemarle Co, VA

• William Andrew FRAZIER ( 02 Apr 1838 Rockingham Co, VA – 30 Dec 1891 Harrison, OH ) & Esther SNYDER (23 Oct 1840 Ohio – 17 Feb 1885 Harrison, OH )  24 Mar 1858 Scioto, OH
• John Elvis FRAZIER ( 15 Apr 1839 Rockingham Co, VA – 06 Nov 1924 Crawford, Kansas) &  Mary Ann Catherine MITCHEM (20 Nov 1840 Pike, Fulton, OH – 04 Feb 1917 Cherokee, OK )  07 Feb 1859 Jeffersonville, Fayette, OH
• Jacob FRAZIER ( 1841 Rockingham Co, VA – )
• Alfred FRAZIER ( 1843 Rockingham Co, VA – )
• Mary FRAZIER ( 1845 Rockingham Co, VA – )
• Leannah FRAZIER ( 1847 Rockingham Co, VA – )

6. William Thomas FRAZIER ( 1817 Madison Co, VA – 16 Dec 1860 Page Co, VA ) & Ardena MORRIS ( 1817 Orange Co, VA – Aft 1880 Page Co, VA ) 01 Jan 1841 Greene Co, VA

• Elias FRAZIER ( 1841 Greene Co, VA – 1864 Page Co, VA )
• William S. “Todd” FRAZIER  ( 1843 Greene Co, VA – 1888 Page Co, VA ) & Mary Jane KITE ( Dec 1847 Page Co, Va – 05 Jul 1919 Page Co, VA )  26 Feb 1874 Page Co, VA
• Joseph H. FRAZIER ( Oct 1848 Page Co, VA – 26 Jun 1923 Page Co, VA )
• James  F. FRAZIER ( 1849 Page Co, VA – )
• Jeremiah FRAZIER ( Mar 1852 Page Co, VA – 21 Nov 1906 Page Co, VA ) & Sarah MCDANIEL (1851 – 15 Feb 1924 Page Co, VA )
• Francis Catherine “Fannie” FRAZIER ( 02 May 1857 Page Co, VA – 02 Jul 1912 Page Co, VA ) & William MCDANIEL ( 11 May 1847 – 21 Aug 1921 Page Co, VA )  06 Oct 1871 Rockingham Co, VA

7. Shadrack FRAZIER ( 1820 – Aft 1880 Page Co, VA ) & Naomi DEAN  (1828 – 24 Oct 1860 Page Co, VA ) 13 Sep 1847 Albemarle Co, VA

• John Mordichai FRAZIER ( 04 Aug 1848 – 08 Apr 1916 Rockingham Co, VA ) & m1) Sarah C. DOVEL (13 Jul 1861 Rockingham Co, VA – 09 Jun 1907 Rockingham Co, VA ) ; & m2) Annie BURKETT (15 Oct 1874 Rockingham Co, VA – 06 Jan 1948 in Harrisonburg, VA )  1913
• James K. Polk FRAZIER  (15 Nov 1849 Rockingham Co, VA – 10 Oct 1919 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Josephine Catora STOVER (01 Jun 1860 – 13 Jun 1931 Rockingham Co, VA ) 07 Feb 1878 Rockingham Co, VA
• William F. FRAZIER ( 1851 Rockingham Co, VA – 09 Aug 1885 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Drucelia MORRIS  ( 1847 Greene Co, VA –  )  05 Nov 1872 Greene Co, VA
• Sarah A. Miriam FRAZIER ( 1853 Rockingham Co, VA – ) & John F. SHIFLETT  (1831 Albemarle Co, VA – Bef 1900 )  26 Jul 1873 in Greene Co, VA
• Shadrach P. FRAZIER ( 1854 Page Co, VA – 1923 Page Co, VA )
• Nancy E. FRAZIER ( 1857 Page Co, VA – )

8. Merry/Murray Walker FRAZIER  ( 1822 Albemarle Co, VA – Aug 1887 Greene Co, VA ) & Mariah KEATON  ( 1836 Albemarle Co, VA – Aft 1900 Greene Co, VA )  13 Oct 1881 Greene Co, VA

• Delilah S. FRAZIER ( 1865 Greene Co, VA – Sep 1894 ) & John W. L. SHIFLETT  ( 1866 – )  09 Dec 1888 in Greene Co, VA
• Benjamin R. FRAZIER ( 1866 Greene Co, VA – ) & Cary F. SHIFLETT ( 1867 Greene Co, VA – )   16 Jun 1889 Greene Co, VA
• William H. FRAZIER ( 1868 Greene Co, VA – )
• Mariah FRAZIER ( 1869 Greene Co, VA – )
• Louisa J. FRAZIER ( 1871 Greene Co, VA – )
• James E. FRAZIER ( 1874 Greene Co, VA – ) & Mollie JOHNSON ( 1878 Greene Co, VA – ) 01 Aug 1895 Greene Co, VA
• Furry Lee FRAZIER ( 1876 Greene Co, VA – )
• Jennie FRAZIER ( 1877 Greene Co, VA – 22 Jan 1961 ) & Thomas J. FRAZIER  ( 1840 – Abt 1918 ) 12 Jun 1900 Greene Co, VA
• George M. FRAZIER ( 1878 Greene Co, VA – )
• Almira FRAZIER ( 1884 Greene Co, VA – )  & Andrew J. CRAWFORD 12 Feb 1902 Greene Co, VA

9. Susan Frances FRAZIER ( 1824 – 1880 in Page Co, VA ) & Pleasant MORRIS ( 1823 – 1865 Page Co, VA )  02 Dec 1845 Greene Co, VA

• Eliza MORRIS  (1847 Greene Co, VA – )
• Rebecca MORRIS  (1849 Greene Co, VA – )
• Ella Frances MORRIS (1851 Page Co, VA – 04 May 1914 Albemarle Co, VA ) & John Elsie SHIFLETT (16 Mar 1849 – 21 Mar 1922 Albemarle Co, VA )  15 Dec 1878 Page Co, VA
• Pleasant G. MORRIS ( 12 Jan 1854 Page Co, VA – 11 Nov 1929 ) & Mary J. BLACK ( 1852 Greene Co, VA – )  02 Oct 1881 Greene Co, VA
• Amanda E. MORRIS (1856 Page Co, VA – After 1900 ) & James Hiden SHIFLETT  (About 1856 Greene Co, VA – About 1927 Albemarle Co, VA )  15 Jan 1880 Page Co, VA
• James F. MORRIS ( 1858 Page Co, VA - Before 1870 Page Co, VA )

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors: #33 - John Frank RUCKER

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.

For many years the Rucker Society has argued over whether my 3X great-grandfather John Frank RUCKER was the son of Jarvis or Angus.  Traditional wisdom favored Jarvis.  However, common sense and the DAR won out and gave the prize to Angus. 

John Frank was the fifth of six children born to Angus and Jane Allen Rucker.  Unfortunately, his name never appears in a census record, to my knowledge.  Born about 1794, John Frank was likely the 16-25 year old male living in his parents’ home in Madison County, Virginia in 1810.  In 1820, he might have been in the household of his bride’s family, the Jarrells. 

Or perhaps he missed the census that year because he was off defending the country during and following the War of 1812.  There is a service record for John F.

as well as a record of enlistment in Madison County. 

John F. Rucker enlisted under Captain Mann P. Lomax.  John Frank was 26; he had brown hair,
hazel eyes, and dark complexion.  He was a farmer from Madison County.

John Frank enlisted in 1819 and was discharged in 1821.  Inspection Returns indicate he served
at Fort Monroe (Hampton, VA) and Fort Norfolk (Norfolk, VA).

How interesting to learn that John Frank had hazel eyes and served at Fort Norfolk, just a short drive through the tunnel from where I grew up. 

In 1830, he and his wife Mary were probably the 30-39 year old male and female living with Angus in Madison.

John Frank, Mary, and the kids must have moved to Rockingham County soon after.  John Frank died in Rockingham about 1839, as proven by the Abstracts of Guardian Bonds: 

"15 July 1839, Guardian Bonds, Rockingham Co., Va., 

Parent, John F. Rucker; Orphans, Onslow, Angeline, 

and Eliza; Guardian Jared Powell, Bond was $2,000, 

bondsmen, John Cook and Honorias Powell."

Two children were not mentioned, probably because they were already married and on their own.  One was Sarah Jane, and the other was Franklin Rucker, my great-great grandfather.

Sadly, where John Frank is buried is unknown, although it is probable that he lies in the Baugher Cemetery in Beldor, Rockingham County, Virginia, along with his wife Mary Jarrell Rucker.

Mary P. Rucker
Asa Baugher Cemetery in Beldor
photo courtesy Jan Hensley

THREE GENERATIONS

John Frank RUCKER ( 1794 Madison VA – 15 Dec 1839 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Mary P. JARRELL ( 1791 Madison Co, VA – 25 Sep 1871 Rockingham Co, VA )    10 Feb 1816 Madison Co, VA

1. Sarah Jane RUCKER ( 11 Apr 1819 Madison Co, VA – 01 May 1897 Rockingham Co, VA ) & James H. FRAZIER (1824 – 03 Apr 189723) Dec 1838 Albemarle, VA

• Noah W. FRAZIER ( 1840 Rockingham Co, VA – 24 Jan 1916 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Mary E. UNKNOWN ( 20 Jan 1844 – 02 Feb 1910 Rockingham Co, VA )
• George Allen FRAZIER ( 11 Jan 1841 Rockingham Co, VA – 12 Jan 1916 Chariton, Randolph, MO ) & Mary Melvina HALL (1852 – 1917 )
• Lavinia FRAZIER ( 1844 – )
• Amanda FRAZIER ( 1847 – )
• Victoria Virginia FRAZIER ( Sep 1852 Rockingham Co, VA – 1900 Page Co, VA ) & John MERICA ( 27 Sep 1851 – 24 Aug 1920 Page Co, VA )  18 Oct 1877 Rockingham Co, VA
• Mary Elizabeth “Bettie” FRAZIER ( 1854 Rockingham Co, VA –  1904 Rockingham County, VA ) & Summerfield DAVIS  (25 Nov 1845 Petersburg, Grant, WV –  08 Jan 1913 Harrisonburg,  VA ) 14 Dec 1882 Rockingham Co, VA
• Robert F. FRAZIER ( 30 Nov 1855 Rockingham Co, VA – 27 Mar 1927 Rockingham Co, VA ) &  Serina Cornelia MERICA (12 May 1866 Page Co, VA – 24 Aug 1961 Rockingham Co, VA )  15 Apr 1886 Page Co, VA

2. Franklin RUCKER ( 1824 Madison Co, VA – 05 Nov 1880 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Sarah A. HERNDON  (1832 Rockingham Co, VA –  19 Mar 1893 Rockingham Co, VA ) 15 Sep 1851

• William RUCKER ( 1852 Rockingham Co, VA – )
• John Wesley RUCKER ( 20 Jul 1854 Rockingham Co, VA – 29 May 1889 Shenandoah, Page, VA ) & Matilda Esther STOCKDELL (27 Aug 1855 – 18 Dec 1943 Shenandoah, Page, VA )
• Elizabeth RUCKER ( 1858 Rockingham Co, VA  – )
• Mary S. RUCKER ( Apr 1860 Rockingham Co, VA – )
• George Allen RUCKER ( 11 Dec 1862 Rockingham Co, VA – )
• Robert Edward “Bob” RUCKER ( 15 Aug 1863 Rockingham Co, VA –  01 Jan 1951 Shenandoah, Page, VA ) & Mattie T. WOOD (23 Jul 1877 – 20 Aug 1956 )  1901
• Walter Newman RUCKER ( 26 Dec 1866 Rockingham Co, VA – 16 Apr 1932 ) & Ada EPPARD ( Jan 1877 Page Co, VA –  17 Sep 1957 Page Co, VA )  1893
• Susan White RUCKER ( 21 Aug 1870 Rockingham Co, VA – )
• James C. RUCKER ( 1873 Rockingham Co, VA – )
• Joseph Calhoun RUCKER ( 26 Jul 1874 Rockingham, VA – 1933 Shenandoah, Page, VA ) & Mary Susan “Sudie” EPPARD  (Oct 1875 Rockingham Co, VA –  1958 Shenandoah, Page, VA )  1897
• Clint A. RUCKER

3. Onslow RUCKER ( 1826 – Before 1860 Rockingham Co, VA )

4. Angeline “Anna” RUCKER ( 1827 Rockingham Co, VA – 23 Jul 1900 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Mickleberry Michael B. ROACH (1821 Greene Co, VA – Oct 1893 Rockingham Co, VA )  31 Jan 1840 Rockingham Co, VA

• Emanuel Berryman ROACH ( 1841 Rockingham Co, VA –  27 Aug 1917 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Mary FAULKNER (Nov 1844)   27 Jun 1867 Rockingham Co, VA
• William M. ROACH ( 1843 Rockingham Co, VA – ) & m1) Sarah BEASLEY ( 1848 Greene Co, VA – Before 1889) 24 Jun 1866 Greene Co, VA ; & m2) Frances UNKNOWN ( 1850 – Before 1902 Rockingham Co, VA ) 20 Apr 1889 ; & m3) Susan WELLS 10 Sep 1902 Rockingham Co, VA
• Mary ROACH ( 1847 Rockingham Co, VA – )
• Jonathan Scott ROACH ( 1849 Rockingham Co, VA – Before 1920) & m1) Rachael WILLIAMS (1849 Hardy, WV –  07 Jan 1885 Hardy, WV ) May 1879 Hardy, WV ; & m2) Cora Virginia KECKLEY (Jan 1865 West Virginia –  16 Sep 1936 Greene Co, VA )  1890
• Charles O. ROACH ( 06 Sep 1853 Rockingham Co, VA –  06 Mar 1928 Rockingham Co, VA & m1) Margaret Elizabeth MORT 1872 (06 Jun 1844 Maryland – 01 May 1909 Frederick, MD) ; & m2) Annie Magdeline GARRETT (01 Apr 1871 – 07 Aug 1949)  24 Mar 1889 Hardy, WV
• Joseph ROACH ( Jun 1855 Rockingham Co, VA – 1922) & Comora Frances MORRIS (Jul 1860 – )  13 Dec 1889 Rockingham Co, VA
• Amanda ROACH ( 1858 Rockingham Co, VA – ) & m1) Unknown ; & m2) George W. WILLIAMS (1852 – ) 05 Apr 1880 Rockingham Co, VA
• Rebecca ROACH ( Oct 1863 Rockingham Co, VA – Jul 1920 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Jacob Clay WARBLE ( Jul 1853 – 1930 )   1877
• Enoch Blakely ROACH ( 1864 Rockingham Co, VA – 25 Nov 1893 Greene Co, VA ) & Lydia Margaret STRICKLER (08 Oct 1870 Rockingham Co, VA – 01 Jul 1922 Rockingham Co, VA ) 16 Aug 1891 Rockingham Co, VA
• George Richard ROACH ( 01 Apr 1872 Rockingham Co, VA – 21 May 1930 Lynchburg, Campbell, VA)  & Ella Nora Francis ROYER (16 Sep 1874 Rockingham Co, VA – 07 Jun 1938 Lynchburg, VA )  03 Mar 1891 McGaheysville, VA

5. Eliza F. RUCKER ( 1829 Rockingham Co, VA – 08 Feb 1900 Beldor, Rockingham Co, VA ) & Asa Samuel BAUGHER (13 Feb 1819 Rockingham Co, VA – 24 May 1895 Rockingham Co, VA ) 11 Mar 1842 Rockingham Co, VA

• George Tazwell BAUGHER ( Oct 1843 Rockingham Co, VA – 18 Nov 1915 Rockingham Co, VA) & Bettie Mildred DUFF (Mar 1847 Greene Co, VA – 31 Dec 1914 Rockingham Co, VA )  17 Jan 1867 Rockingham Co, VA
• Angus Gordon BAUGHER ( 13 Jun 1846 Rockingham Co, VA –  12 Mar 1921 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Susan Nellie SHIFLETT (23 Dec 1850 Rockingham Co, VA – 19 Sep 1928 Rockingham Co, VA ) 27 Jun 1867 Rockingham Co, VA
• Andrew Jackson BAUGHER ( 27 Jul 1849 Rockingham Co, VA – 01 Mar 1882 Rockingham Co, VA )  & Annie Catherine LAWSON (15 Dec 1851 Rockingham Co, VA – 15 Dec 1931 Rockingham Co, VA )  23 Dec 1871 Rockingham Co, VA
• Virginia Frances BAUGHER ( 10 Feb 1853 Rockingham Co, VA –  before 1860 Rockingham Co, VA )
• Columbia Elizabeth BAUGHER ( 10 May 1856 Rockingham Co, VA – 25 Feb 1896 Rockingham Co, VA ) &  John Willis MORRIS (12 Apr 1850 Rockingham Co, VA – 09 Dec 1912 Elkton, VA )  02 Jun 1879 Rockingham Co, VA
• Victoria BAUGHER ( 1859 Rockingham Co, VA – )
• Ada BAUGHER ( 1865 Rockingham Co, VA –  )
• Michael Samuel BAUGHER ( 01 Sep 1867 Rockingham Co, VA – 1957 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Barbara Ann LAWSON (Apr 1870 Rockingham Co, VA – after 1930 Rockingham Co, VA )  19 Aug 1890 Rockingham Co, VA

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors: #28 - Virenda Jane SHIFLETT Frazier

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.

My third great-grandaunt Virenda Jane SHIFLETT was the fourth child and first daughter of Jacob Shiflett and Polly Jarrell.  She was born about 1821 in a section of Orange County, Virginia that later became Greene.  Like her brother Burton Shiflett, she married a Frazier:  Michael P. Frazier, more popularly known as “Miley.”  Miley was a younger brother to Burton’s wife Nancy and to Leland Frazier, the one who stabbed Burton to death in 1860. 

While that story about Leland and Burton might be rather shocking, it’s just business as usual for the Frazier men, it seems.  My 94-year old cousin remembered Miley as a real character.  According to one story, he used to ride his horse through the house.  That sounds pretty bad, but read on.

One time Miley woke his nephew John Conway Shiflett because it was his turn to put the coals and wood on the fire. No gentle nudge. No calling out, “Hey, get up!”  No. Miley threw hot coals in Conway’s bed. The two of them started fighting and didn’t stop until the bed burned down to the springs.  They put the fire out and then resumed fighting. 

Probably the worst tale of Miley Frazier concerns Virenda Jane.  Supposedly a man calling on the Fraziers one day found Virenda hanging by her heels from the rafters.

Even though I’ve heard that story many times from different people, I don’t know whether to believe it.  However, it’s actually believable given Miley’s reputation.  He was known to be a terror to Greene County for years.  Ironically, for one who got into lots of fights, he was not a very good fighter; he was nearly disemboweled once.

Poor Virenda Jane – she really had her hands full.  I don’t know the date of her death, but I hope she lived at least until 1902 when Miley, well into his 90s, finally had himself baptized. 

THREE GENERATIONS:

Virenda Jane SHIFLETT ( 1821 Orange County, VA – Bef.  1900 Greene Co, VA ) & Michael P. “Miley” FRAZIER  ( Feb 1814 – Before 1910 Albemarle Co, VA )  14 Jul 1844 Greene Co, VA

1. Julia Ann FRAZIER ( 1845 Greene Co, VA – Bef. 1900 Greene Co, VA) & Thomas J. FRAZIER (1840 – 1918) 04 Jul 1864 Greene Co, VA

• Thomas FRAZIER ( 1862 Greene Co, VA - ) & Elizabeth GARRISON ( Mar 1861 – After 1907 )  02 Jan 1884 Albemarle, VA
•  Mahulda Jane FRAZIER ( 22 Mar 1866 Rockingham Co, VA - 04 Jan 1947 Greene, VA )  & John W. L. SHIFLETT  ( 1866 - )  03 Mar 1913 Rockingham Co, VA ; had several children with Francis Marion “Dosh” GARRISON although they never married

2. John T. FRAZIER ( 1847 Greene Co, VA – 1860 )

3. 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

• Caroline Jane FRAZIER ( 12 Nov 1874 Greene Co, VA  - 09 Mar 1949 ) & John W. L. SHIFLETT ( 1866 - ) 24 Dec 1902 Greene Co, VA
• Ella Frances FRAZIER ( 1876 Albemarle Co, VA - 05 Jan 1937 Albemarle Co, VA ) &  Noah Clark HERRING 14 Apr 1903 Greene Co, VA
• Ryland G. FRAZIER ( 06 Jan 1877 Greene Co, VA - ) &  Virgie Catherine SHIFLETT  (Mar 1886 Greene Co, VA -  28 Apr 1962 ) 22 Sep 1907 Greene Co, VA
• George Henry FRAZIER ( 1879 Albemarle Co, VA - 03 Oct 1965 ) & Martha Fraces SHIFLETT ( 29 Dec 1876 – 11 Jun 1933 )  18 Feb 1901 Greene Co, VA
• Edgar A. FRAZIER  ( 06 Jun 1880 Greene Co, VA - 23 May 1954 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Bertha Lee SHIFLETT ( May 1892 - 29 Jun 1950 Monongalia, WV )  24 Jun 1906 Greene Co, VA
• Sarah F. FRAZIER  ( 06 Feb 1886 Greene Co, VA - 06 Feb 1969 Staunton, VA ) & Samuel P. LAWSON (23 Sep 1875 - 25 Jan 1943 Patrick Co, VA )
• Mary Susan FRAZIER ( Jun 1888 - ) & James Nathaniel FRAZIER ( 16 Jul 1886 Greene Co, VA - 23 Aug 1953 Charlottesville, VA )
• Victoria Anne FRAZIER ( 26 Sep 1890 Greene Co, VA - 26 Oct 1979 Grottoes, Rockingham, VA ) & James Wise ROSSON 20 Jul 1927 Greene Co, VA
• William Austin FRAZIER ( 15 Feb 1894 - 18 Nov 1981 Harrisonburg, VA ) & Julia Ann Rosson (23 Apr 1904 -  13 Jul 1993 Charlottesville, VA )
• Lillian N. FRAZIER ( Feb 1895 - ) & Unknown RIDGEWAY
• Minnie Lee FRAZIER ( 24 May 1897 Albemarle Co, VA -  Dec 1976 Albemarle Co, VA ) & Thomas Jefferson FRAZIER (15 May 1893 Rockingham Co, VA - 10 Apr 1970 Albemarle Co, VA )  09 Aug 1922 Greene Co, VA
• William McKinley FRAZIER ( 1901 Greene Co, VA -  1984 ) & Gracie SHIFLETT (1900 – 1984 )

4. Jacob Emanuel FRAZIER ( 1851 – 1920 ) & Frances Jane MORRIS ( - Bef. 1920 ) 26 Dec 1883 Greene Co, VA

• Rebecca FRAZIER ( 17 Sep 1883 Greene Co, VA - 1967 Charlottesville, VA ) & Moses Sommerville CRAWFORD 05 Jun 1902 Greene Co, VA
• Loretta FRAZIER ( 1884 Greene Co, VA - 1956 ) & Zachary CONLEY ( 1879 - ) 20 Apr 1911 Greene Co, VA
• Annie FRAZIER ( 1888 Greene Co, VA - )  & Henry Hudson COLLIER ( 1886 - )  22 Mar 1909 Greene Co, VA
• Emanuel  A. FRAZIER ( 1891 Greene Co, VA ) & Lucy CONLEY 18 Oct 1911 Greene Co, VA
• Melvina FRAZIER ( 22 Apr 1892 Greene Co, VA - 11 Aug 1968 Greene Co, VA ) & Thomas MORRIS ( 1884 - )  23 Jun 1908 Greene Co, VA
• Noah FRAZIER ( 23 Oct 1897 Greene Co, VA - 12 Oct 1984 Scottsville, Albemarle, VA ) & Sydney CRAWFORD  ( 1901 - ) 20 Oct 1919 Greene Co, VA
• George H. Bluford FRAZIER ( 1900 Greene Co, VA - 1987 Greene Co, VA ) & Amanda COLLIER ( 1900 - )  20 Mar 1919 Greene Co, VA

5. 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

• Loujourn FRAZIER ( Apr 1877 - ) & Sarah MALLOY (1883 - )  12 May 1922 Greene Co, VA
• Virenda J. FRAZIER ( 25 Feb 1878 Greene Co, VA -  26 May 1955 ) & John Turner MCALISTER ( 1875 Albemarle Co, VA – 1961 )  02 Jan 1900 Greene Co, VA
• Arthur Z. FRAZIER ( Feb 1880 - Before 1900 )
• Althea Z. “Alti” FRAZIER  (15 Mar 1881 Greene Co, VA - 22 Feb 1947 Albemarle, VA )  
• James Nathaniel FRAZIER ( 16 Jul 1886 Greene Co, VA -  23 Aug 1953 Charlottesville, VA )  & m1) Annie FRAZIER 02 Dec 1906 Greene Co, VA ; &  m2) Mary Lee MCALISTER  (17 Apr 1881 Albemarle Co, VA - 01 Oct 1917 Albemarle Co, VA ) 18 Jan 1911 Albemarle Co, VA ; & m3) Mary Susan FRAZIER (1888 - )
• George Fountain FRAZIER ( Oct 1890 Greene Co, VA -  03 Mar 1967 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Sarah Mildred ROACH  1910
• Anjenetta FRAZIER ( Apr 1893 Greene Co, VA - )
• Barbra E. FRAZIER ( Feb 1894 Greene Co, VA -  Apr 1929 ) & m1) Richard Bruce SHIFLETT ; & m2) Norfield/Warfield MCCAULEY 01 Mar 1909 Greene Co, VA
• Fannie F. FRAZIER ( Oct 1896 Greene Co, VA - Before 1922 ) & Thomas Jefferson FRAZIER (15 May 1893 Rockingham Co, VA - 10 Apr 1970 in Albemarle Co, VA )  30 Nov 1912 Greene Co, VA

6. J. M. FRAZIER ( 1859 Albemarle Co, VA - )

7. Polly Jane FRAZIER ( 1862 Greene Co, VA -  09 Apr 1936 Greene Co, VA ) & Elvis Sturdivant SHIFLETT ( 1862 Greene Co, VA  – Bef. 1900 Greene Co, VA )  07 Jun 1885 Greene Co, VA

• Virgie Catherine SHIFLETT ( Mar 1886 Greene Co, VA - 28 Apr 1962 ) & m1) John L. SHIFLETT 13 Jun 1902 Greene Co, VA ; & m2) Ryland G. FRAZIER (06 Jan 1877 Greene Co, VA - )  22 Sep 1907 Greene Co, VA
• Robert Harrison SHIFLETT ( 07 Nov 1887 - 02 Jun 1970 Albemarle Co, VA )
• Charlie G. SHIFLETT ( Jun 1889 - )
• Bertha Lee SHIFLETT ( May 1892 - 29 Jun 1950 Monongalia, WV ) & Edgar A. FRAZIER  ( 06 Jun 1880 Greene Co, VA - 23 May 1954 Rockingham Co, VA )  24 Jun 1906 Greene Co, VA
• Thomas L. SHIFLETT ( Jan 1894 -19 Oct 1965 Dundalk, Baltimore, MD )
• James Albert “Spriggins” SHIFLETT (Jan 1895 Greene Co, VA - Mar 1937 Charlottesville, VA ) & Mary Sally TRIPLET (03 Jul 1909 Albemarle Co, VA - 28 Oct 1979 Alexandria, VA )
• Selena Gertrude SHIFLETT ( 28 Sep 1897 - 06 Nov 1972 Stafford, VA ) & m1) Andrew Allen FRAZIER (20 Apr 1892 -  17 Jul 1968 Albemarle Co, VA )  03 Jan 1912 Greene Co, VA ; & m2) Henry Luther FRAZIER (27 Apr 1904 Albemarle Co, VA - 25 Jun 1968 Stafford, VA )

8. 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

• Drucilla FRAZIER (27 Dec 1890 Albemarle Co, VA – 15 Jun 1967 Albemarle Co, VA ) & Alexander Laird GARRISON  (30 Aug 1889 Albemarle Co, VA – 7 Jan 1935 )  24 Nov 1908 Greene Co, VA
• William M. FRAZIER ( 1891 – Before 1988 )
• George Mitchell FRAZIER (19 Dec 1892 Greene Co, VA – 04 Jan 1984 Harrisburg, PA ) & Eleanor GARRISON
• Frances Louemonia FRAZIER (19 May 1896 Greene Co, VA – 9 Dec 1981 Albemarle Co, VA ) & John Thomas SHIFLETT ( 24 Dec 1895 Greene Co, VA – 16 Apr 1959 Albemarle Co, VA ) 31 Jan 1917 Greene Co, VA
• Christine Helen Jane FRAZIER ( 1898 – After 1960 ) & Lewis Vernon SHIFLETT ( 07 May 1902 Greene Co, VA – 11 Sep 1938 Hummelstown, PA )  19 May 1924 Greene Co, VA
• Lou Mittie FRAZIER ( 1899 – Before 1988 )
• James Alfred FRAZIER (18 Jun 1901 – 04 Mar 1988 Albemarle Co, VA )

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

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.