52 Ancestors: Disabled But Not Defective

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.

In 1880, there was a special census schedule for “Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes” — the blind, deaf-mutes, paupers, homeless children, prisoners, insane, and idiotic. Those with mental or physical illness were asked additional questions regarding their medical history. Homeless children were asked about their parents. Prisoners were asked details regarding their imprisonment.

After looking at census records for my 3X great-grandmother Nancy Elizabeth Frazier Shiflett for last week’s prompt, I fully expected to find her son George in this special census. After all, he was enumerated in 1870 as being “Dumb.” Evidently he was also deaf. Census takers had been instructed NOT to check that box if a resident could still speak despite loss of hearing. However, George is not listed at all, suggesting he had possibly died before 1880.

Yet George’s brother John Conway Shiflett made the list. Or so I thought.

In 1880, John Conway and his two children by his first wife were living with his mother.  There is a check mark in the box denoting “disabled.” So I went to the special census schedule to learn more about his disability, assuming that might have caused him to be destitute.

1880 Federal Census Monroe District, Greene Co, VA

“John C. Shiflett” appears in the DDD schedule on the pauper page.

Pauper and Indigent page of the 1880 special census for Defective, Dependent, Delinquent Classes
John C. Shiflett is the second name on the page.

At first the tick marks seemed to add up to “my” John C. Shiflett:

• Is this person able-bodied?  NO
• Is he or she habitually intemperate?  NO
• Is he or she epileptic?   NO
• Has he (or she) ever been convicted of crime?   NO

Then “Is he or she idiotic?”  Check

Deaf-Mutes

What? Idiotic? This census was conducted on June 1, and there is a marriage record for John C. in July 1880. What woman would marry an “idiotic” man?  (Don’t answer that. I just realized how funny that sounds.)  What’s more, John C. was also listed on the Deaf-Mute page.

“MY” John C. Shiflett married Mary D. Shiflett July 28, 1880.  Together they had 3 children. So now I was not sure that this was the right guy.  Fortunately, the DDD census includes the page and line numbers where the person is listed in the regular population census.  Page 15, Line 13 Monroe District of Greene County. Sure enough there was John C. Shiflett, deaf-mute. Son of James F. and Mary E. Shiflett.

 

1880 Federal Census Monroe District of Greene Co, VA
Note John C. on line 13. The tick marks indicate deaf-mute, idiotic, and disabled.

Oops. Wrong guy after all. But I have to wonder why the right guy is NOT included. Evidently his disability did not cause him to be a pauper, thus sparing him from being included.

© 2015, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: The Value of Money

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

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt is quite the challenge focusing our attention on banks and money. I am certainly no numismatist, but a bag of coins has made me somewhat curious about the history and value.

Many years ago, my little collection of silver dollars and half-dollars moved from a plastic bag to an old bank deposit bag from Bank of Virginia where my husband was employed. Apparently the bag had been retired to the trashcan, judging by the red stain inside, probably from an exploding security dye pack. At any rate, the pouch has held my coins safely for a long time.

These coins along with some $2-dollar bills were gifts from my paternal grandparents. They never accumulated much in their lifetime, but they managed to remember me on birthdays and Christmas with a little money.

My grandparents Fred and Julia Slade
me probably 1952

Even as a child, I recognized that these silver dollars and fifty-cent pieces were special, which is why I still have them. But I have never paid much attention to them or wondered about their age or value. Until today.

So, what do I have?  Seventeen silver dollars and 10 half-dollars makes $22.  A couple are really old, dated 1896 and 1898.

Morgan silver dollars
Top:  obverse
Bottom: reverse

According to Wikipedia, I have 4 Morgan silver dollar coins, which were minted between 1878 and 1904, and then again in 1921. Named for the designer George T. Morgan, the obverse is a profile representing Liberty and the reverse is an eagle with wings spread. If there is no mint mark above the “O” in “Dollar” on the reverse, the coin was minted in Philadelphia; I have three. A mark of “O” represents New Orleans; I have one of those.

Year	If average condition	If mint condition
1896	$31	$250
1898 O	$25	$161
1903	$30 on eBay
1921	$31	$171

Peace silver dollars

The other thirteen coins are the Peace dollar minted from 1921 to 1928 and then 1934-35. The idea for the coin originated as a way to commemorate the peace following World War I. The obverse is the profile of the Goddess of Liberty; the reverse is a bald eagle at rest on an olive branch.

Year	If average condition	If mint condition
1922 (3 of these)	$29	$800
1923 (9 of these)	$28	$1,200
1924	$28	$225

Even an untrained eye such as mine can tell that there are no mint coins in the pile. Therefore, these coins in average condition are valued at roughly $484. Even at melt value the silver dollars have proven to be a good investment: $187.

The half-dollars are not extinct, but they are no longer very popular for general circulation. In fact, most banks do not even keep them in stock. My two oldest are the 1943 Walking Liberty coin. The obverse shows Liberty walking into the dawn of a new day. The reverse depicting a bald eagle rising from a mountaintop perch has been a long-standing popular design. However, the difficulty of minting the intricate front design was one reason for the redesign in 1948.

Top row: Walking Liberty
Second row: Ben Franklin
Third and Fourth rows: John F. Kennedy

The Ben Franklin coin was next, and I have three: 1952, 1958, and 1963. But with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, ol’ Ben was kicked to the curb and replaced with the Kennedy half-dollar. Many of the Kennedy coins were hoarded for sentimental value, but in 1965 the silver content was reduced to only 40%. The 1971 model was the first to be cast in a base metal with no silver at all.

Year	If average condition	If mint condition
1943 Walking Liberty (2)	$9	$150
1952 Ben Franklin	$10	$70
1958 Ben Franklin	$14	$42
1963 Ben Franklin	$12	$50
1964 Kennedy (4)	$10	$90
1966 Kennedy	50¢	$80
1967 Kennedy	50¢	$100
1971 Kennedy	50¢	$5

I doubt any of these coins would be deemed “mint,” so I possibly have $95.50-worth of half-dollars. With a melt value of approximately $51, I still come out ahead.

No fortune here, obviously. Judging by the dates, though, I suspect my grandparents collected these coins over many years, most long before I was even a gleam in their eye. Out of love they doled out their private collection as gifts, bit by bit. Can’t put a dollar value on that.

I’ll bet you dollars-to-doughnuts that there are more interesting stories and photos at Sepia Saturday. In fact, you can bank on it.

Sources:

Coin Trackers.  2010-2015. Web. 13 Aug. 2015.

Franklin Half Dollar. Wikipedia. Web. 13 Aug. 2015.

Half-dollar. Wikipedia. Web. 13 Aug. 2015.

Kennedy Half Dollar. Wikipedia. Web. 13 Aug. 2015.

Morgan Dollar. Wikipedia. Web. 13 Aug. 2015.

Peace Dollar. Wikipedia. Web. 13 Aug. 2015.

Walking Liberty Half Dollar. Wikipedia. Web. 13 Aug. 2015.

© 2015, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors: 32 Greats

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.

To commemorate the 32^nd week of blogging our ancestors, I am following the theme to honor one of my 32 3X great-grandparents. I know the names of only 19 of the 32, but of those 19, three names are incomplete:

Leonard Davis Jr and Fanny Wyant; Samuel Willson and UNKNOWN; 

Fielding Jollett and Mary Ann Armentrout; John Frank Rucker and Mary Jarrell; 

Ezekial Herndon and Sarah Jones; William Eppard and Helena Foland; 

Isaac Shiflett and Susan Jordan; Stephen Slade and Margaret UNKNOWN; 

Unknown Keene and Unknown Douglas; 

Burton Shiflett and Nancy Elizabeth Frazier

One who has always intrigued me is Nancy Elizabeth Frazier Shiflett. She was my maternal grandfather’s maternal grandmother’s mother. She was the oldest daughter of John Frazier and Lucy Hardin Shiflett, born on Valentine’s Day in 1811. In all there were 9 children in this farming family of Albemarle County, Virginia (and later Greene County).

At the ripe age of 23, Nancy married Burton Shiflett on December 1, 1834 in Albemarle County. Albemarle borders Greene where the two then lived and raised 11 children. Nearby were the farms of Burton’s brother Madison as well as Nancy’s brothers Michael/Miley and William. Their other siblings were not far away either.

Shifletts and Fraziers have a long history of intermarriage as well as a colorful history of feuding that could rival the Hatfield-McCoy saga if they had a better public relations representative. I have been unable to uncover what led to the fight between Burton Shiflett and Nancy’s older brother Leland one day in September 1860. But the fight involved a knife, and in the end, Burton lay dead.

Greene County, Virginia
Historic Jail
(formerly a museum run by the Greene County Historical Society)

Poor Nancy – too soon a widow and caught in the middle between brother and husband. I wonder if she attended court to witness her brother’s trial. Did she pray for leniency? The Grand Jury found just cause to charge Leland with Murder. However, Leland’s jury of peers found him guilty of Voluntary Manslaughter:

“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.”

The Judge gave Leland an opportunity to speak for himself but he had nothing to say, and so he was led out of the courtroom and to the jail.

It could not have been easy for a woman in the mid-nineteenth century to keep up the household on her own. In the 1870 census, Nancy was head of household with three unmarried adult daughters still at home “without occupation” and one son “helpless.” George was enumerated as being “Dumb,” meaning he could not speak. That implies he was probably also deaf since census takers were instructed NOT to check “Deaf” if the person could still speak despite loss of hearing. 

Perhaps it was fortunate that Nancy’s daughter Lucy and her husband James Franklin Jollett were next door. He was listed as a farm laborer, so it is likely he worked on his mother-in-law’s farm, which she valued at $600 in the 1870 census.

The next year Nancy and her children sold the land to her brother Miley Frazier for $300.

Nancy E. Shiflet widow of Burton Shiflett decd, John C. Shiflett and Lucretia his wife, Jas. F. Jollet and Lucy Ann his wife, Nancy F. Shiflett, George Austin Morris and Susan C. his wife, Victoria J. Shiflett to Miley Frazier

21 Dec 1871

Greene County Deed Book 

This deed Made this twenty first day of December 1871, between Nancy E. Shiflet widow of Burton Shiflett decd, John C. Shiflett and Lucretia his wife, Jas. F. Jollet and Lucy Ann his wife, Nancy F. Shiflett, George Austin Morris and Susan C. his wife, Victoria J. Shiflett of the first and Mily Frazier of the second part all of Greene County Virginia, Witnesseth, that in consideration of three hundred dollars to them in hand paid by said Mily Frazier, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, The said Nancy E. Shiflet, John C. Shiflett and Lucretia his wife, Jas. F. Jollet and Lucie Ann his wife, Nancy F. Shiflet, George Austin Morris and Susan C. his wife, Victoria J. Shiflet, hereby grant unto the said Mily Frazier with general warranty the following real Estate to wit: Two hundred acres more or less, Beginning on Lynches River at Henry Austins corner thence to Burr? Lanes line, thence with said Lanes line to Wyatt Mills' corner thence to Poison Nole? corner thence to pole hill corner thence to the beginning, the above land lies in the county and State aforesaid.

Nancy E. (her x mark) Shiflett

John C. Shiflett

Lucretia (her x mark) Shiflett

James F. Jollett

Lucy Ann Jollett

Nancy F. Shiflett

George Austin Morris

Susan C. Morris

Victoria J. Shiflett

Acknowledged by all parties 21 December 1871 before Greene County J.P. Nath. B. Chapman and J.A. Davis

In 1880 Nancy and her son John Conway were living together along with his two children by his first wife. John was listed as disabled. (However, he was not SO disabled that he couldn’t marry a third time and father more children.)

Nancy Elizabeth Frazier Shiflett died January 22, 1895 and is buried in Lacey Springs, Rockingham County, Virginia.

Tombstone of Nancy E. Frazier Shiflett
photo courtesy of Olen Morris

Two Generations:

Nancy Elizabeth FRAZIER ( 14 Feb 1811 Albemarle Co, Virginia – 22 Jan 1895 Lacey Springs, Rockingham Co, Virginia) & Burton SHIFLETT (1814 Orange Co, Virginia – 06 Sep 1860 Greene Co, Virginia)  01 Dec 1834  Albemarle, Virginia

1. Ola SHIFLETT ( 1835 - )

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

• Mary E. SHIFLETT ( May 1859 - before 1955) & George R. MAYHEW   17 Mar 1879 Page Co, VA
• Martha F. S. SHIFLETT ( 15 Mar 1863 - before 1955) & George W. MCCAULEY  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 - ) 07 Dec 1863 Greene Co, VA ; m2) Nancy J. SHIFLETT (May 1848 - ) ; m3) Mary D. SHIFLETT (1849 – 1924) 28 Jul 1880

Children of John and Lucretia:

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

Children of John and Nancy:

• John Conway SHIFLETT JR. ( 05 Oct 1877 - 27 Apr 1947) & Alice E. SHIFLETT 11 Oct 1901 Albemarle Co, VA
• Lucy Ann SHIFLETT ( 05 Oct 1877 - 30 Sep 1947) & Adam K. WYANT

Children of John and Mary:

• Maude B. SHIFLETT  (Feb 1883 - 31 Oct 1957) & George Burruss SHIFLETT 29 Dec 1904 in Albemarle Co, VA
• Wilford Clement SHIFLETT ( 05 Apr 1888 - 05 Aug 1961) & Lutitia Jane MORRIS 27 Oct 1921 Greene Co, VA
• Woodford H. SHIFLETT ( 20 May 1890 - 02 Feb 1926) & Louise LEWIS 06 Mar 1916 in Albemarle Co, VA

4. Lucy Ann SHIFLETT ( 1843 Greene Co, VA - 1884 Monroe, Greene, 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 in Virginia – Before 5 May 1934 in Greene Co, Virginia) & m1) Louisa SULLIVAN (1861 – 1900) 20 Jan 1881 ; & m2) Cornelia MORRIS (Nov 1844 – Before 1920) 19 Sep 1900 Greene Co, Virginia
• Emma F. JOLLETT (1 Feb 1863 Greene Co, Virginia - 10 Apr 1945 in Shenandoah, Page, Virginia) &  Andrew Jackson COLEMAN (29 Jul 1858 Greene Co, Virginia – 4 Oct 1947 Shenandoah, Page, Virginia) 26 Nov 1880 Greene Co, Virginia
• Laura E. JOLLETT (30 May 1865 Greene Co, Virginia - 30 Jul 1947 Shenandoah, Page, Virginia) & William J. SULLIVAN (13 Jan 1866 – 22 May 1942 Shenandoah, Page, Virginia) 14 Jan 1886 Greene Co, Virginia
• Leanna (or Columbia Ann) JOLLETT (14 Mar 1867 Greene Co, Virginia - 20 Sep 1936 Greene Co, Virginia) & James Mitchell KNIGHT (9 May 1866 Greene Co, Virginia – 16 Feb 1942 Greene Co, Virginia) 1 Mar 1885 Greene Co, Virginia
• Mary Frances JOLLETT (10 Jan 1870 Greene Co, Virginia - 22 Feb 1950 Harrisonburg, Rockingham, Virginia) & Walter Beriah Sylvester DAVIS (12 Sep 1867 Rockingham Co, Virginia - 31 Oct 1934 Shenandoah, Page, Virginia) 11 Feb 1890 in Greene Co, Virginia
• Sarah Catherine Sallie JOLLETT (11 May 1872 Greene Co, Virginia - 7 Jul 1944 Washington DC) & George Thomas CLIFT (Sep 1865 Virginia - ) 30 Mar 1891
• Victoria Elizabeth JOLLETT (19 Mar 1878 Greene Co, Virginia - 2 May 1944) & Decatur Bainbridge BREEDEN (15 Sep 1877 – 27 Sep 1952 Washington DC) about 1902
• William Isaac JOLLETT  (Jan 1880 Greene Co, Virginia - Jul 1903 Newport News, Virginia)
• Ulysses Finks JOLLETT (26 Jan 1883 Greene Co, Virginia - 30 Jan 1931 Baltimore, Maryland) & Sadie Janiero LAMB 23 Nov 1903 Greene Co, Virginia

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  09 Dec 1890
• Upshur MORRIS ( 1875 – 1891)
• Addie MORRIS ( 27 Mar 1876 - Apr 1901) & Henry ARMENTROUT
• Lemuel Belvin MORRIS ( 16 Dec 1877 - Oct 1947) & Emma C. UNKNOWN 1906
• Marvin Tollie MORRIS ( 07 Aug 1878 Greene Co, VA – 1943) & Virginia RHINEHART
• Ethel MORRIS ( Jul 1881 - after 1940) & Peter DAVIS 1908 Greene Co, VA
• Vessie Lelia MORRIS ( 15 Feb 1883 - 06 Mar 1950 Fairfax, VA ) & Paul Edgar RHINEHART
• Margaret Elizabeth “Maggie” MORRIS ( 13 Sep 1884 - ) & Unknown WILLS
• Blanche Cornelia MORRIS ( 27 Feb 1887 - 25 Dec 1968 Greene Co, VA) & Levin P. SMITH
• 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 Jul 1894 Greene Co, VA
• Francis Monroe MORRIS ( 21 Jul 1873 Greene Co, VA - 10 Aug 1936 Albemarle Co, VA) & Ludelia MORRIS 28 Dec 1899  Greene Co, VA
• Leviston Ervin MORRIS ( 01 Mar 1874 Greene Co, VA - 25 Dec 1957  Albemarle Co, VA ) & Roberta Ella MORRIS 28 Dec 1899 Greene Co, VA
• Altie Zora MORRIS ( 02 Dec 1876 Greene Co, VA - 29 Dec 1954) & Charles PERKEY  23 Dec 1902 Greene Co, VA
• Mary Ann MORRIS ( 02 Dec 1878 Greene Co, VA - 18 Jun 1947 Greene Co, VA) & James Charles SULLIVAN 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 1913
• Sylvester E. MORRIS ( 22 Feb 1886 Greene Co, VA - 12 Nov 1967 Charlottesville, VA ) & Nettie Jane MORRIS 05 Aug 1930 Greene Co, VA
• Myrtle Nelson MORRIS ( Feb 1887 Greene Co, VA - 01 Mar 1970 Gordonsville, VA) & m1) Iola CRAWFORD ; m2) Anna COLLIER  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 03 Jul 1918 Greene Co, VA
• Eveline Marie MORRIS ( 12 Mar 1895 Greene Co, VA - 26 Jul 1976 Fairfax, VA ) & Robert Lee COLLIER 22 Jun 1922 Albemarle Co, VA
• Mabel Alice MORRIS ( 12 Dec 1897 Greene Co, VA - 27 Jun 1966 Baltimore, MD) & Isaac Jackson “Jack” RICE

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  27 Jan 1898 Greene Co, VA
• Madie VERNON ( 1878 Greene Co, VA - )
• Unnamed VERNON ( Mar 1880 Greene Co, VA - )
• John F. VERNON ( Oct 1881 Greene Co, VA - )
• Lucy Ann VERNON ( 13 Jun 1884 Greene Co, VA - 03 Feb 1972) & Beauregard George SNOW  23 May 1906 Greene Co, VA

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

11. Unnamed SHIFLETT ( Dec 1856 Greene Co, VA - 10 Mar 1857 Greene Co, VA)

© 2015, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: Good Times with the Boob Tube

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

This week’s Sepia Saturday photo of a showroom full of television sets is nothing like what we experience today in shopping for the latest in home entertainment. Instead of meandering in and out and between the sets, we stand back and gaze at display room walls lined with flat screens showing off their high resolution and sound in football games and Eagles concerts. Who can help but admire the picture quality and sleek lines? I would not want to go back to the days of black and white, but the boxy “picture tube” television set standing quietly on four legs was the television of my childhood.

I do not remember NOT having a TV. It was as much a part of our household as the stove and refrigerator. Maybe that is why the TV set is rarely seen in any family pictures. In fact, the few glimpses of one are actually of my grandparents’ Zenith. They lived next door, and I spent a lot of time there, so I remember their TV more than my own. 

Wendy and Mary Jollette with our cousin Bobbie
Grandma's Zenith
(Were we playing with some toy make-up?? I don't know.)
December 1964

This is the TV where

Poopdeck Pappy

• my family saw me on “Poopdeck Pappy,” a local show in which Mac McManus starred as Popeye’s father Poopdeck Pappy and showed “Popeye” cartoons in the afternoon. Scout troops, Sunday School classes, children’s choirs, and various organizations were invited to walk across the “gangplank”onto Poopdeck Pappy’s “fishing trawler.” My Brownie troop were the guests of the day.

• we laughed at Red Skelton’s skits as Clem Kadiddlehopper and Freddie the Freeloader and waited for his signature address to the audience at the end of every show: “Good night and may God bless.”

Red Skelton
as Freddie the Freeloader
from wikimedia commons

• my friends and I sat up late on Friday nights to watch old Frankenstein and Dracula movies on “Shock Theater.” The vampire host rose out of a coffin with his eerie greeting, “Good eeeeeev-en-ing.”

The Lennon Sisters
from wikimedia commons

• we gathered to watch Lawrence Welk. I wished I could play the piano with the confidence and joy of JoAnn Castle, that I could dance with Bobby Burgess (all grown up – I remember when he was a Mouseketeer) and that I could be friends with the Lennon Sisters.

• I watched “Wizard of Oz” – it came on only ONCE a year, and even then it was not every year. Grandma served Jiffy Pop. What could be better?

• my grandmother watched her “soaps” in the afternoon until I got home from school to interrupt her peace.

• we sat speechless following reports of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

The TV set brought families together.

It’s time to change channels and see what else is on the Sepia Saturday Show.

© 2015, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors: One Easy Guy to Find

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.

John Wesley and Sarah Elizabeth
photo courtesy of Jan Hensley

While last week’s 52 Ancestors prompt was to write about an ancestor difficult to research, this week calls for an EASY ancestor. Without doubt the title goes to John Wesley Jollett, brother of my great-great grandfather James Franklin Jollett. John Wesley left a strong paper trail including a consistent presence in the census records, deeds, a will, a homestead listing, some chancery causes, and numerous mentions in newspapers.

John Wesley Jollett was the second child and oldest son of Fielding and Mary Ann Armentrout Jollett. He was born in the Naked Creek community of Rockingham County, Virginia on April 6, 1832. He grew up close to his future bride, Sarah Elizabeth Smith, daughter of Manson Smith and Melinda Hensley. The two married in 1852 and raised 5 children.

From 1850 to 1880, John Wesley was enumerated in the census as a farmer. His property grew in value from $500 in 1860 to $8000 in 1870. He had purchased a few small tracts of land in 1858 and then in 1859, the latter being 37 acres belonging to his father Fielding Jollett. The significant jump in value can be attributed to the purchase of his wife’s grandparents’ 180 acre-farm in 1866.

John Wesley is a bit of a legend in Page County because the community where he grew up was named in his honor:  Jollett Hollow (or “Holler” as they say in the valley). He was a Methodist minister even though he was not enumerated as such until the 1900 census. I am assuming he had been both a minister and farmer for some time but enumerated as only one of those, but I am not sure.

Jollett United Methodist Church

The Jollett United Methodist Church was built on land donated to the community by John Wesley Jollett and is the same one where he spread the Word to friends and neighbors. He also gave the land for the cemetery behind his home and the church. He and his wife Sarah Elizabeth are both buried there as are three of their children. 

Cemetery on the hill - to the left of the church

John Wesley Jollett had other duties besides marrying and burying the citizens of Jollett Hollow. At times he was the postmaster. He was also a trustee of the school board. Certainly he was regarded highly in the community. A brief obituary appeared in The Richmond Times Dispatch.

His obituary in the local paper attests to how well-loved he was:

Rev. John W. Jollett , a venerable local Methodist preacher, died at his home at Jolletts, this county [Page], Wednesday night, aged eighty-five years. Mr. Jollett had been in excellent health until a year or two ago when heart disease began to trouble him a great deal. He was conscious till the last and spoke comforting words to the loved ones around him. His aged wife has also been in a serious condition for some time.

Mr. Jollett was well known and much loved by the people in the upper end of the county and East Rockingham among whom he had ministered spiritually for a great many years. He was a preacher of earnestness and force and ready to go where he needed without thought of reward. His disposition was kindly and he had brotherly love for all mankind. He was thrifty in his habits and besides his little farm at Jolletts owned four dwellings in Shenandoah where he resided until a few years ago. At one time he was a corporation school trustee. Three children survive him. Mrs. T. W. Meadows of Jollett, John B. Jollett of Sparrows Point, Md, and Charles Jollett of Portsmouth, VA, all of whom are expected to be at the funeral. The remains will be buried in the graveyard near the late home of the deceased. At this hour the time for the funeral has not been set.

The Page News and Courier: Issue of 20 Oct. 1916 page 1 column 3

Tombstone of
John Wesley and Sarah Elizabeth Jollett

Surely everyone wants to be remembered so fondly. But I question some of the words. Was John Wesley Jollett really so “thrifty in his habits” or did he run up against an economic downturn that caused him to declare bankruptcy in 1871?

For several months this announcement
ran in a number of newspapers in Virginia.

His Homestead exemption that same year protected the family home from creditors. He still owed his in-laws $200 for the purchase of Gabriel Smith’s farm in 1866, which was to have been paid off in three years.

transcription of the Homestead
Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

“[M]uch loved,” “kindly” “brotherly love for all mankind” – I wonder if Montello Utz would have used those words. In 1867, Montello agreed to pay John Jollett $150 for a horse that Jollett had promised was a superior workhorse able to pull anything hitched to it. Even though Montello was initially skeptical, he put his faith in the respected community leader and preacher. However, the horse did not measure up. In fact, it was worthless. Montello asked for his money back, but John Jollett refused to take it back or forgive the loan. The result was a lawsuit in 1869.

Probably Montello felt the Karma bus had come around when John Jollett’s barn burned in 1897 – uninsured.

Richmond Gazette Feb 23, 1897

Two Generations of John Wesley Jollett and Sarah Elizabeth Smith

John Wesley JOLLETT (6 Apr 1832 Rockingham Co, VA – 18 Oct 1916 Page Co, VA) & Sarah Elizabeth SMITH (22 May 1834 Rockingham Co, VA – 30 Jan 1917 Page Co, VA)  21 Feb 1853 Rockingham Co, VA

1. Artubine Joseph JOLLETT (16 Dec 1853 Page Co, VA – 27 Oct 1862 Page Co, VA)

2. Mary Etta Virginia JOLLETT ( 1854 Page Co, VA – Before 1900 Page Co, VA) & Hiram Franklin MEADOWS (14 Sep 1849 – 22 Feb 1911 Page Co, VA)

• Margaret Elizabeth “Maggie” MEADOWS (May 1872 Page Co, VA – 31 Mar 1906 Page Co, VA) & Casper Monroe BAILEY (1868 Page Co, VA – 6 Dec 1943 Page Co, VA)
• Virenda E. MEADOWS (1874 Page Co, VA – 1 Aug 1882 Page Co, VA)
• Zebedee MEADOWS (1878 Page Co, VA – 11 Sep 1882 Page Co, VA)

3. Matilda Catherine JOLLETT (16 Feb 1858 Page Co, VA – 24 Jan 1953 Page Co, VA) & Thomas Wesley MEADOWS (15 Jan 1854 Page Co, VA – 4 Feb 1941 Page Co, VA)

• Sarah Armenta MEADOWS (Apr 1874 Page Co, VA – 3 Mar 1923 Keyser, WV) & Charles Wesley STANLEY
• William Dorsey MEADOWS (17 Apr 1876 Page Co, VA – 28 Dec 1959) & m1) Sarah Arminta Sadie STANLEY ; m2) Mattie Mae TAYLOR
• John Wesley MEADOWS (1878 Page Co, VA - ) & Carrie Lee MERICA
• Rosetta MEADOWS (3 Jun 1883 Page Co, VA – 17 Apr 1978 Elkton, VA) & Tally Walter EPPARD
• Lillie Florence MEADOWS (8 Feb 1885 Page Co, VA – 21 Aug 1954 Norge, VA) & Thomas Franklin HIGGS
• Nora A. MEADOWS (16 May 1887 Page Co, VA – 12 Feb 1960 Elkton, VA) & Edward Clinton DEARING
• Maggie L. MEADOWS (6 Jun 1889 Page Co, VA – 5 Feb 1981 Waynesboro, VA) & John M. SMITH
• Clinton Thomas MEADOWS (8 Mar 1891 Page Co, VA – 25 Feb 1949 Toano, VA) & Matilda SMITH
• Mary Hattie MEADOWS (5 Jul 1894 Page Co, VA – 31 Dec 1975 Elkton, VA) & Lester L. BAUGHER
• Martha Frances MEADOWS (5 Jul 1895 Page Co, VA – 8 Jun 1979 Page Co, VA) & Charles Zuttie SMITH
• Charles Marvin MEADOWS (28 Jul 1897 Page Co, VA – Jun 1964 Waynesboro, VA) & Bertha Lee DEAN

4. John B. JOLLETT (30 Jan 1867 Page Co, VA – Aft 1940 Baltimore, MD) & Fannie Bell GRIFFITH (Mar 1872 – Before 1940) 13 Dec 1883

• Elizabeth Florence “Bessie” JOLLETT (11 Jun 1885 Page Co, VA – 29 Oct 1963 Mineral, WV) & Thomas Jefferson STANLEY II
• Lillian JOLLETT (May 1890 Page Co, VA - ) & William Alfred GORDON
• Hunter David JOLLETT (Mar 1892 Page Co, VA – Before 1914) & Vera Alice ANDERSON
• Marion JOLLETT (1889 Page Co, VA – 8 Feb 1892 Page Co, VA)
• Clarence William JOLLETT (18 Aug 1894 Page Co, VA – Before 1940 Baltimore, MD) & Emma BAUER
• Charles Merritt JOLLETT (7 Mar 1898 Page Co, VA - ) & May TANNEHILL

5. Charles Belsin Lewis JOLLETT (29 Aug 1871 Page Co, VA – 15 Jan 1939 Portsmouth, VA) & Nannie June FOGG (Aug 1872 Rappahannock VA – 30 Jun 1947 Portsmouth, VA) 24 Jun 1890 Page Co, VA

• Gracie Elizabeth JOLLETT (17 Sep 1891 Page Co, VA – 24 Dec 1977 Portsmouth, VA) & Jefferson Calvin ELLIS
• Frances Lucretia JOLLETT (17 Apr 1894 Page Co, VA – 8 Jul 1950 Portsmouth, VA) & Robert Lloyd CUTCHIN
• Charles Sherman JOLLETT (22 Sep 1897 Page Co, VA – 29 Aug 1957 Hampton, VA)
• Wrennie Louise JOLLETT (22 Jun 1900 Page Co, VA – 18 Aug 1977 Virginia Beach, VA) & David Gregory HOLLAND
• Mary Virginia JOLLETT (1905 - ) & m1) Willis Thomas JOHNSTON; m2) Edward BOHKEN

© 2015, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.