Abel Abram Pennington

It has been my experience that most of the Penningtons that I have found around Smyth and Washington Co., VA descend from Andrew Pennington and Hester Blevins.   Sometimes trying to figure out where some of these Penningtons fit has been a struggle.  While there may be some argument as to who Andrew Pennington's father was - there is no doubt that his descendants left a stamp on the region.

Abel Abram Pennington is the oldest son of Andrew Pennington and Hester Ann Blevins.  He was born 17 May 1836 in Ashe Co., NC and d. 18 Sept 1920 in Washington Co., VA.  I suppose that there is a clue as to the identity of Andrew's father with the naming of his oldest son.  Only problem is that Abel and Abram were supposedly brothers and Abram is considered by most to be Andrew's father.  Anyway Abel was married to Emily Blevins on 16 Oct 1861.  Emily would have been Abel's first cousin.  Her father was Daniel Blevins and mother was Lucy Ann Dickson.  (Lucy was the daughter of Johanna Pennigton and Douglas Dickson).  They had two children in two short years and Emily died in 1866.  Perhaps the reason there weren't any more children after 1863 is because Abel enlisted into the Confederate Army during the Civil War.  Abel must have gone back to live with his parents after his wife's death because he is recorded with them in the 1870 census with his two children.  In 1871, Abel remarried to Sarah V. Able.  Sarah was born on 17 Mar 1848 in Johnson Co., TN which is a neighboring county to Washington Co., VA.  She was the daughter of Leander Abel and Mary Ann Bush.

In some census records Abel is listed as Abram or Abraham and in others he is listed as Abel.  He is listed as Abel in the pension that was given to his widow after his death, so I suspect that Abel was his first name.  Abel's pension lists his cause of death as Pleurisy and he is buried at Green Cove Baptist Church Cemetery in Green Cove, Washington Co., VA (Find A Grave #18709078) His second wife, Sarah survived him by 9 years and died on 19 Mar 1929 and is buried in the same cemetery.  Something of interest is that Sarah's younger brother married her step daughter, Malvina Elizabeth Pennington.

Abel Abram and Emily Blevins had the following children:

• McClellan Pennington b. 15 Dec 1862 d. 8 Nov 1901 m. Mary Jane Blevins.
• Malvina Elizabeth Pennington b. 11 Sep 1863 d. 7 Mar 1920 m. Robert S Able

Abel Abram and Sarah Able had the following children:

• Columbia Jane Pennington b. 26 Jan 1873 d. 21 Jul 1961 m. William Harrison Dolinger
• Leander M. Pennington b. 10 Dec 1874 d. 5 Jan 1925 m. Ida Jane Hoosier
• Freelin E Pennington b. 22 Mar 1876 d. 19 Jan 1918 m. Carrie Cook
• Mary H. Pennington b. 16 Mar 1877 d. 27 Mar 1959 m. Calvin M. Hash
• Arthur Pennington b. 1881 d. bef 1906
• James Pennington b. 9 Feb 1883 d. 11 Mar 1963 m. Florence Loretta Blevins
• Orena Matilda Pennington b. 26 Jan 1886 d. 1970 m. D. Clinton Daye
• Dora M. Pennington b. 4 Jan 1888 d. 4 May 1920 m. Richard Elmer Venable
• F. Larelly Pennington b. 19 Nov 1891 d. be 1906
• Chester R. Pennington b. 9 Apr 1893 d bef 1910

Fan of Christmas

It is no surprise to anyone who knows me that I take Christmas rather seriously.  I love just about everything about it from the decorations, to the candy and cookies, and the music.  I love giving gifts to my family and while wrapping isn't my favorite thing, it is made bearable by Christmas music helping the time go by.

Perhaps the reason I love Christmas so much is because of my Mother.  She made Christmas special at our house.  The house was always decorated, Christmas music was always playing and the house always had many of the wonderful smells of cookies and candy.  Mom made everything from scratch and taught me how to make many of the family favorites.  Of course, I have brought a few of my own recipes to add to the tradition.

So, now as I am trying to finish the preparations for Christmas, my mind wanders back to some of my favorite memories...and I have already written about a few of them:

• An Elk City Christmas
• A Special Delivery - Revisited
• Christmas Flair
• The Old Stereo
• A Red Poinsettia
• O Holy Night
• Christmas Catalogs
• Christmas Tree 2011
• Winter Spirit in Lewiston ID
• Christmas Letters

Christmas -1968

Christmas 1966

David Nutter...and family...

I have West Virginia roots…deep roots that stretch back to the 1700’s.  I can’t say that they have been all that difficult to find because my great grandmother had pretty good notes about her family’s ancestry.  What has been difficult, is to ascertain which family belongs with which.

One of these confusing family lines is that of my 4^th great grandmother Elizabeth “Betsy” Nutter.  Anyone who has spent any time in genealogical research has to realize that Elizabeth might be one of the most common names and the most common nickname was Betsy.  Betsy was born on 21 Jun 1790 in Monroe Co., VA today, WV.  She died on 20 Apr 1869 in Leander, Fayette Co., WV.  On 19 Apr 1810, she married Thomas Jefferson Legg in Monroe Co., VA.  She was daughter of David Nutter who was most likely born in 1769 in Somerset Co., MD and died in 1851 in Nicholas Co., VA (WV).  You might say, that David Nutter is probably one of the main causes of all the confusion.

David married Ruth Cottle on 13 Jan 1789 in Monroe Co., VA.  She was the daughter of William Cottle and his wife Elizabeth.  They quickly, as was customary, started their family and had 10 children between 1790 and 1810 when she died on 10 July 1810 probably from childbirth with her youngest daughter, Malinda.  She was buried at the Old Rehoboth Methodist Church in in Union, Monroe Co., WV – you can view what is left of her gravestone at http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=22084644

David and Ruth’s children were:

• Elizabeth “Betsy” Nutter b. 21 Jun 1790 d. 20 Apr 1869 m. Thomas Henderson Legg
• Matthew Nutter b. 1791 d. aft 7 Jun 1860 m1 Sarah Cochran m2 Nancy Elkins m3 Margaret “Peggy” Hall
• Elijah Nutter b. 1792 d. abt 1860
• Hannah b. 1793 d. aft 1870 (As far as I know…she never married but still had five children)
• Jane Nutter b. abt 1795 d. Sep 1871 m. Steven O’Dell
• William b. abt 1799 d. aft 1850 m. Elizabeth Curren m2 Margaret Jones
• Ruth E. Nutter b. 1 Dec 1801 d. 30 Jan 1876 m. Hiram Pierson
• Nancy Myra Nutter b. 1802 d. 1848 m. Samuel Dorsey, Sr
• David Nutter, Jr b. 1807 d. aft 1880 m. Leah Buckle
• Malinda Nutter b. 1810 d. Feb 1850 m. John Duffy McClung

Seven years after the death of his wife, David Nutter married Christina O’Dell on 3 Aug 1817, daughter of Jeremiah O’Dell and Rachel Walters.  She was b. 28 Jan 1790 and d. 19 Aug 1891.  She was just five months older than David’s oldest daughter.

They had the following children:

• Grandison McCutcheon Nutter b.  31 Jul 1815 d. 17 Nov 1904 m. Christina Pitsenbarger
• Rachel Nutter b. 10 Jun 1821 d. 8 Jan 1904 m. Alexander Brown, Jr
• Elinor Nutter b. Jun 1823 d. aft 1906 m1 Sinnett Williams m2 Andrew Brown
• John B. Nutter b. 2 Aug 1826 d. 18 Jun 1896 m. Elizabeth Pitsenbarger
• Ginsette Magdaline Nutter b. abt 1827 d. ? m. Abraham Neff
• Jeremiah “Jerry Nutter b. Jun 1830 d. 1909 m. Susan Miller
• Levi William Nutter b. 13 Nov 1833 d. 13 Jun 1882 m. Magaret Backus

Within these 17 children of David Nutter, you can find some of the most prominent families of Nicholas & Fayette Co., WV.  My own family includes Nutter, Legg, Pitsenbarger, Amick and Shawver but O’Dell, Dorsey, Brown, and McClung are also prominent families.  If you go a little deeper, you will also find Ramsey, and Walker.  The lines get even more tangled the more you dig in.  You might say that David Nutter with his 17 children was definitely one of the founding fathers of Nicholas and Fayette Co., WV.

My line goes back to him this way:

Florence Christine Shawver m. Ora Silas Gage (my great grandparents)

George Christian Shawver m. Rebecca Jane Pitsenbarger

Elizabeth Matilda Legg m. George William Shawver

Elizabeth "Betsy" Nutter m. Thomas Henderson Legg

David Nutter m. Ruth Cottle - my 5th great grandparents

Some Dollar Pics

My cousin sent me this photo several years ago and while I originally thought it was from a later date, now I am not so sure.  Supposedly it is a photo of Claude, Baxter, Maude, James Richard "Dick", Thomas Roby and  Charles Frederick Dollar and was taken in 1915. However, I am fairly sure that the older boy is not Claude Dollar as he would have been twenty five years of age.  So, I wonder who the older boy is...in fact I really can't be sure of any of the cast of characters.  If the youngest boy was Charles Frederick Dollar, then it has to have been taken either in 1915 or 1916 since Charles died on 4 Jul 1916.  Roby could certainly be the next oldest boy and James Richard or "Dick" could be the next boy and the girl is probably Bonnie, then Baxter...but the oldest boy escapes me.  It is a sad picture because Charles died at a young age and it is the only photo that I have seen of him!

This photo is labeled as John Dula Dollar and sis...it could be either Emmaline or Amanda  - I can't tell for sure.  I don't even know the vintage of the photograph.  I suspect sometime around 1910.  However, it is one of the few photos that I have of my great great grandfather.

Photo of Cleopatra Josephine Gentry Dollar probably taken around 1940.  Photo is labeled as Pate - which was the name that my great grandmother's older sister referred to as her step-mother.  As I understand it - it wasn't with a fond recollection of her.

There are a lot of questions that I wish that I could ask about this photo.  It is labeled Bonnie, Lena Dollar, Maude, Cassie & Dick at the old mill where John Dollar family lived and worked around 1908-09.  I don't know where this mill was...I believe the photo was probably taken around 1970 and I can't be sure it is still there.  Bonnie, Maude and Dick were children of John Dula Dollar and Cleoptratra Gentry's children and Lena was their first cousin and daughter of Roby Dollar.  Below is a larger picture of the mill with Dick Dollar in front.

This is a photo of Bessie Dollar Barker and Sophie Dollar Friddle - my great grandmother.  Neither one of these women were over five feet tall.

Probably taken about 1895 - the only photo I have of Claude, Bessie and Grandma Sophie with their father, John Dula Dollar.

John Dollar and wife Pate - taken about 1925!

John Dula Dollar died 80 years ago on 6 Dec 1933 in Atlanta, GA.  He was born on 3 Oct 1863 in Creston, Ashe Co., NC to Alexander Monroe Dollar and Elizabeth Gentry.  He was married to Buena Vista Bailey on 21 Apr 1889 and she died in April of 1894.  They were parents of the following children:

Claude Elmer b. 1890 d. 1972 m. Carrie Landis m2. Erna Stede

Bessie Elizabeth Margaret Dozier b. 1891 d. 1983 m. Reece Barker

Sophia Vestelle b. 1894 d. 1979 m. David Carl Friddle

John Dula Dollar married Cleopatra Josephine Gentry on 28 Mar 1897 and they were the parents of:

Mary Maude b. 1898 d. 1988 m. William Harrison Chancey

Baxter Erwin b. 1899 d. 1986 m. Ruth Ellen Barclay

James Richard "Dick" b. 1901 d. 1973 m. Cassie Celeste Skelton

Bonnie Lou B. 1903 d. 1988 m. Ernest Lee Walker

Nellie Clyde b. 1905 d. 1906

Thomas Roby b. 1907 d. 1984 m. Gladys Inez Upton

Charles Frederick b. 1911 d. 1916

Three Great Dames - Happy Thanksgiving

When I was a child, I don't really have a memory of a bad Thanksgiving.  I know that the day had to be very stressful for my mother...but it was a good kind of stress.  She had four little kids running around and eventually we learned to not bother her.  Usually my Mom's parents would join us and my grandmother would make the pies and a salad.  For a few years, we had three of the grandest old ladies for the dinner.

Mom Friddle (Sophie Dollar Friddle), Aunty Jones (Glenthora Stranahan Jones) and Granny (Nettie Moody Shearer) used to sit on the couch and visit.  I can remember sitting on the floor listening to them tell stories.  One that sticks out in my mind was about them taking the stagecoach.  Mom Friddle didn't move to the area until a bit later, but Aunty Jones and Granny lived in the region since the 1890's.  There first stop out of Lewiston was the 21 Ranch which is about 22 miles south of town, then they would stay the next night at Winchester and by the third night they would make it to Grangeville.  This is a trip that takes about an hour now...but back then it was three days.

These three ladies helped inspire my love of history and they have been topics for me for my blog.  Today on Thanksgiving - I would like to remember these three grand dames of my childhood.

Granny was born in 1890 in Missouri and was actually my step great grandmother.  She was sure a special lady and when I see little Christmas trees, I will always think of her.

My Beloved Granny

My sister, Gwenda and Aunty Jones.

Aunty Jones was my mother's godmother...at least that was what she claimed.  She had a long history here in the Lewiston - Clark Valley and lived to be probably the oldest person that I knew when she died at 99 years old.  Every years she would give each of us kids a $5 and a bag of oranges.  She was a fascinating woman to talk to...I only wish I would have been a little older so I could have asked her more questions and could remember the answers.

Uncle Henry & Aunty Jones

I have probable told more stories and have learned more about Mom Friddle than any other person from my childhood.  She was my mother's hero and everyone in the family has a great story about her.  She is another person that I wish I could have asked more questions.  There is no question that she has had an impact on my life and I can't help thinking that I wish I was more like her.  The word "can't" wasn't in her vocabulary.

119 Years Ago...today!

Miner, Palmer,Avery - Interesting Connection

I have spent a lot of time looking at a lot of allied families of the Gallup family.  Possibly because it was probably one of the first families that I felt that I had pretty good sources to reference…primarily the Gallup family genealogy.  During my research, there are several allied families that I became quite familiar with such as Avery, Denison, Stanton, Palmer, Chesebrough, and Miner.  While I don’t seem to have direct connections to these families through my Gallup family…my interest in these lines has provided some unseen benefits for some of my other family lines.

Nathanial Swan and his wife Mahitable Brown would be my 7^th great grandparents.  Both were born in Stonington, New London Co., CT in the early 1700’s.  Nathanial was born in 1709 and Mehetable was born in 1712.  Their son, Jesse Swan was married to Elizabeth Baldwin, and they were the family that moved from Stonington, New London Co., CT to New York and their granddaughter Cynthia married Potter Gage and are my 4th great grandparents. (Cynthia Swan & Potter Gage).  While taking this family back a few more generations I found some interesting tie in’s with my Gallup family.  Which make me fascinated with some of the marriage patterns within my larger family tree.

Thomas Miner Grave

Grace Palmer Grave 

Thomas Miner - Memorial

I ran into one of those first interesting names when trying to find the ancestry of Mehetible Brown.  She married Nathaniel Swan on 13 Jan 1730 in Stonington.  She was the daughter of John Brown and Elizabeth Miner…and this is where the connections really became interesting.  John Brown was a second generation immigrant to the New World and while they were interesting – John Brown’s parents Thomas Brown and Mary Newhall didn’t really strike any familiar chords with me.  However, to find out that Elizabeth Miner was the daughter of Ephraim Miner and Hannah Avery – those were very familiar family names in my research.

Ephraim Miner was the son of Thomas Miner and Grace Palmer.  Thomas was born in Chew Magna, Somerset, England in 1608 and immigrated to the America on the “Lion’s Whelp” a ship that arrived in 1629.  By 1634, he had married Grace Palmer.   Grace Palmer was the daughter of Walter Palmer who emigrated with this family in 1629 from Gravesend England on the “Four Sisters” arriving in Salem, MA.  Not too long after he arrived, he along with a few other settlers moved to a new area and helped build the community of Stonington, CT and his considered as a founder of the town along with William Chesebrough, Thomas Minor, and Thomas Stanton.  These are families that are predominant with any family that you research in the region.  Walter Palmer must have been an impressive man.  He was reputed to be an unusually larger man of about 6 ‘5 which must have been quite impressive. 

Walter Palmer Wolf Stone

Walter Palmer Memorial - Erected much later

Walter Palmer died in 1661 and the age of 78 and a large Wolfe stone covers his grave to this day.  Close by is the his son in law, Thomas Minor buried with his wife. 

These four men established the town of Stonington despite what must have been a great deal of hardship and certainly required lot of fortitude.  Through Mahitible Brown’s mother, Elizabeth Miner, I can count Thomas Minor as my 9 great grandfather, James Avery as my 10^th great grandfather and Walter Palmer as my 11^th great grandfather through his daughter, Grace was married to Thomas Minor.  So in Wequetequock Cemetery, their ancient gravestones dating back to the late 1600’s remain as a tribute to these families who chose to be pioneers and build a new home in Stonington, Connecticut away from the closest thing that those settlers had to a comfort zone. Everyone once in a while, I spend some time looking at the Avery’s, Miners, Palmer’s and remember how these men helped build a new settlement.  Their descendants are scattered amongst many of the New England families that connect to many of my other New England families and it is certainly interesting to learn that some of my ancestors of long long ago, helped establish communities that are still thriving to this day!.  

Remembering Gettysburg

Dad and I watched a wonderful program on PBS the other night called "The Story of Gettysburg."  It was narration and some fabulous photography that took you through the battle step by step.  It reminded me at how significant a turning point in the Civil War it was and how easily it could have gone the other way.  In that little peaceful town in Pennsylvania, the war that has shaped this country ever since it happened probably had it's most significant battle.

The number killed during the battle is mind boggling especially those killed during Pickett's Charge.  I think they said that 13,000 made the charge and less than half returned.  There are characters from history like Robert E. Lee and Abraham Lincoln who are certainly memorable but there were other men who are memorable to me. Col Joshua Chamberlain up on Little Round Top preventing the Confederates from taking the flank with bayonet charge or General Longstreet knowing that he was sending his army to their deaths on Pickett's Charge.  He was following the orders of his commander but he knew what was about to happen...or the friendship of General Winfield Scott Hancock and General Louis Armistead on different sides and one laying wounded several feet away while the other lay dying.  Neither one knew they were that close to each other.

I was very young when we visited Gettysburg and there are a lot things that I don't remember well.  I can remember driving through the park but not really knowing what the statues signified.  I understood about the Gettysburg Address because I just memorized it that school year so when we came across the monument about the recitation of the address by Abraham Lincoln - that meant something to me.

Today is the 150th Anniversary of the dedication of the cemetery where Abraham Lincoln made his famous address.  I can honestly say that I have stood on that spot and have recited the Gettysburg Address myself...click below to read the the story:

A Trip to Gettysburg

Thomas Pope and Sarah Jenney

I have always found the idea of journeying across the ocean in a ship with multitudes of people, a minimum of space and the little knowledge of what you might face a daunting prospect.  Perhaps that is why I have a fascination with my ancestors who made that trip in the early 1600's.

Thomas Pope was born in England around 1608 around Kent, England to John Pope and Mary Haisnoth.  He traveled to the New World during the great migration arriving sometime around 1630.  I have read that he and his father, John, might have been passengers on the Mary and John, but I have never seen proof of that.  He married on 28 Jan 1637 to Ann Fallowell and I know that they had at least once child together, Hannah Pope b. 17 Aug 1739 in Plymouth, MA d. 12 Mar 1710 in Plymouth, MA m. to Joseph Bartlett.  However, Ann must have died sometime before 29 May 1646, because Thomas Pope married Sarah Jenney at that time.   Thomas Pope was a cooper by profession which is something that probably doesn't make a lot of sense to us today.  However, during the early colonial days, a man who could make a barrel to store food or other produces was a valuable commodity.  Most entries about Thomas Pope concern the buying and selling of land.  During his lifetime, he served during the Pequot War, surveyed highways and served as a constable in Plymouth.  He died sometime before between 9 Jul 1683 when his will was dated and 4 Aug 1683 when an inventory of his estate was taken.

Sarah Jenney was the daughter of John Jenney and Sarah Carey.  She truly was from true Puritan stock.  Her parents married in Leyden, Holland on 1 Nov 1614.  They made the decision to travel to the New World and sailed on the Little James in 1623.  Sarah was born in July 1623 on the ship during its passage across the ocean.  It seems to be bad enough to make that trip on your own or with children - but to be pregnant and near giving birth, that was certainly a courageous undertaking. (Her mother, Sarah Carey, lived to be about 66 years old)  On 29 May 1646, the 22 year old, Sarah married the 38 year old widower, Thomas Pope.   Between the years 1647 and 1665, Sarah and Thomas Pope had eleven children.  I would imagine that Sarah Jenney's family was probably well thought of in Plymouth.  Her father was one of the early Puritan separatists who moved to Leyden Holland and when he came to the Plymouth colony, he was granted the permission to build a grist mill that would produce enough meal and flour for the community.  The Pilgrims had been taught by the Indians to plant, harvest corn but their methods to mill the corn wasn't productive enough, so John Jenney build a grist mill in 1636 that remained in services until it was destroyed by a fire in 1847.  A replica was built and serves as a museum that demonstrates the milling of corn from the time of the Puritans.

Sarah Jenney outlived her husband by a few decades and died on 12 March 1709 in Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA.  Sarah Jenney and Thomas Pope are my 8th great grandparents through my great grandmother, Shirley Louisa Pope.  Most of the eleven children of Thomas Pope and Sarah Jenney lived to adulthood and here is a list of their known children:

• Seth Pope b. 13 Jan 1647 d. 17 Mar 1726 m. Deborah Perry (7th Great Grandparents) - Their son married his 1st cousin, Margaret Pope.
• Susannah Pope b. 1649 d. Jul 1675 m. Jacob Mitchell
• Thomas Pope b. 25 Mar 1651 d. bef 1700
• Sarah Pope b. 14 Feb 1652 d. 1727 m. Samuel Hinckley
• John Pope b. 15 Mar 1653 d. Jul 1675 (He and his sister, Susannah and husband were killed by Phillip's warriors while they were fleeing the Dartmouth garrison)
• Mary Pope b. 1654 d. 1730 m. Stephen Peckham
• Patience Pope b. 1655 d. 1675
• Deborah Pope b. 1658 d. 1658
• Joanna Pope b. 1660 d. 1695 m. John Hathaway
• Isaac Pope b. 1663 d. 1733 m. Alice Freeman (7th Great Grandparents) - Their daughter, Margaret, married her first cousin, Elnathan. 
• Jacob Pope b. 1665 d. 17 Dec 1751

Veteran's Day - Celebrating my Military Relatives

Ora Silas Gage - Military 1912

Don Gage - Korea

John Bernard Gage - WW II

Orland  Gage - WWII 

Claude and Jack Friddle - WW II

Byron Gage & Orland Gage - Korea

Claude Dollar - WW I

George William Shawver - WW I

I have been privileged to know many of the veterans who have served during war and peace within my family.  Many of them have passed, but they have all left an enormous imprint on my life.  For the most part, I didn't hear about their service from themselves...but rather their stories were communicated to me by others.

There are a few cousins in my generation that have served in Iraq as well as peacetime during the 1980's.  I have an aunt and cousin who served in the National Guard as well as another who served during the Vietnam war.  I know of three of my great uncles who served during Korea and six who served during World War II. There are even a few who served during World War I and even a few relatives who were active during the Spanish American War.  I don't think that there has been a war that a relative has not served in through this nation's history from its time as a collection of colonies through the Revolutionary War, Mexican American War or the Civil War.  Their service is part of the very fabric of this country.

I have spent some time writing about some of these veterans within my family...and here are some of their stories:

Goodbye Aunt Mary Kay - My Dad's younger sister who served in the National Guard

A Tinkerer at Heart - This is about my Great Uncle - John Bernard Gage and Our Gage Veterans - Highlighting Orland & Bernard and about Orland and Bernard in WW II

Claude & Jack - WW II Veterans - My mother's uncles and two of my favorite people

Civil War Stories - My four Civil War ancestors - John Lyons Tannahill, Moses T Friddles, Jasper L Bailey and Alexander Monroe Dollar - Interesting to note that the three from the south - only one of them fought for the Confederacy - the other two fought for the Union.

My Friddle Brick Wall - My great great grandfather who served with the 14th TN Calvary for the Union in the Civil War.

Levi Pennington Family & the Civil War - Story of the sons of Levi Pennington and the Civil War - Levi was my 4th Great Grandfather

On that Fateful Day - Asa Wheelock was in the militia that there on the fateful day of the Battle of Lexington and Concord during the start of the Revolutionary War

Gallup Represents More than Just a Poll  - A list of the Gallups who fought during some of the earliest battles during colonization through the Revolutionary War

An Epitaph to Remember - This is about General Adamson Tannahill who served as George Washington's secretary during the Revolutionary War

John Macomber & Mary Brownell Davol - John Macomber served on the Massachusetts line during the Revolutionary War.

Revolutionary War Veterans - Some of the Revolutionary War Veterans that I am directly descended from.

John Macomber & Mary Brownell Davol

Macomber is one of those names that I came across fairly early in my genealogical research.  Ruth Macomber was married to William Gage and the mother of Potter Gage of whom I wrote about earlier.  She was one of 16 children and was the daughter of John Macomber and Mary Brownell Davol. 

 

John Macomber was born on 26 Dec 1734 in Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA to William J. Macomber and Lydia Tripp.  John Macomber married Mary Brownell Davol probably around 1759 as the first of their children were born the next year.  He served in the Revolutionary War on the Massachusetts line.  You might say that John Macomber lived during possibly one of the most important time periods of United States history in possibly one of the most active historical locations. His ancestors had been among the earliest settlers in America, from the Macombers in the early 1600’s in Massachusetts or the Tripps in Rhode Island.   After the Revolutionary War, John Macomber is still recorded in Massachusetts in the first national census of 1790.  However, a short time later, he left Massachusetts for New York State.  John Macomber died at the family farm in Dutchess Co., NY on 13 Apr 1802, living just nine days longer than his wife.

Like her husband, Mary Brownell Davol was born in Massachusetts.   She was born about 1745 probably around Dartmouth, MA.  She was the daughter of Silas Davol, Sr and Mary Wilbore.  The Davol name is spelled several ways…sometimes it is Devol and sometimes Duel.  It makes it an interesting line to research.   Her earliest Davol ancestor, William, probably arrived sometime after his marriage to Elizabeth Isabel Anderson in 1639.  Mary’s earliest Wilbore ancestor in America was William Wilbore who probably arrived sometime before 1653 when he married Martha Holmes in Rhode Island.  Mary died on 4 Apr 1802 in Dutchess Co., NY.

Mary Brownell Davol and John Macomber are another one of the examples of my family lines that originated in New England and moved to New York.  All of these New England families moved from places like Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island and arrived in New York sometime around 1790 – give or take a few years. 

I have no idea where John and Mary are buried for sure…the family farm in Dutchess Co., NY is an ambiguous location at best.  Perhaps a cemetery still exists…and perhaps not.  After 200 years, it is unlikely that I will ever know.  It is obvious that when they moved to New York that they lived in close proximity to a few families.   The surnames of Gage, Mosher, and Hammond are prominent in the Macomber spouses. Here is a list of their children:

• Patience Macomber b. 29 Apr 1760 d. 10 Aug 1833 m. Caleb Palmer
• Child Macomber b. 14 Dec 1761 d. 28 Feb 1763
• Child Macomber b. 19 Mar 1763 d. 14 Apr 1763
• Wesson Macomber b. 12 Mar 1764 d. 1814 Grand Isle, VT m Mary Mosher
• Hannah Macomber b. 18 Nov 1765 d. 30 Apr 1816 m. Moses Gaige (brother of William Gage)
• John Macomber b. 6 Oct 1767 d. 28 Jul 1842 m. Mary Briggs
• Mary Macomber b.  2 Jul 1769 d. 12 May 1801 m. Simeon Gage (brother of William Gage)
• Lydia Macomber b. 14 Nov 1771 d. ? m. Abraham Mosher
• Ruth Macomber b. 9 Oct 1773 d. 1844 m. William Gage (my 5^th Great Grandparents)
• Benjamin Macomber b. 2 Jun 1775 d. 1857 m. Mercy Gage (sister of William Gage)
• Zilla Macomber b. 6 Mar 1777 d. Feb 1860 m. Perry Potter
• Sarah Macomber b. 11 Oct 1778 d. 27 Apr 1864 m. Esock Wilbore
• Jeremiah Macomber b. 31 Mar 1781 d. ? m. ? Allen
• Joseph Macomber b. 14 Jun 1783 d. 21 Nov 1859 m. Maria Hammond m2. Elizabeth Thompson
• Margaret Macomber b. 8 Sep 1785 d. ? m. Eliakim Hammond
• Phebe Macomber b. 19 Jul 1787 d. abt 1846 d. Abraham Davis

 

Grave of William Gage and Ruth Macomber at Knox Cemetery, Knox, NY

Cynthia Swan & Potter Gage

Cynthia Swan and Potter Gage are my 4th great grandparents.  I first saw their names in a Gage genealogy that my great grandparents had.  I think that they got the book in the late 1960's and as a child, the book drew me in to doing my first genealogical pursuit through the pages of a book.

Cynthia Swan Gage's gravestone - Knox Cemetery, Knox, NY

Cynthia Swan was born 26 July 1801 in Knox, Albany Co., NY.  She was the daughter of Nathaniel Swan and Harriet Shutter.  Nathaniel Swan was born in Stonington, New London Co., CT and probably came to the New York area sometime before 1800 as that was when he married Harriet Shutter.   Since his father, Jesse Swan died in 1803 in Berne, Albany Co., NY - I think that I can make the assumption that they moved to New York sometime after 1787.  I know that my Gallup family immigrated from Connecticut about the same time, so it leads me to believe that they probably immigrated around the same time.  On the other hand, Harriet Shutter was born about 1779 in New York.  She was the daughter of Abraham Shutter and Geetruy or Catharina Salsbury.  Those names suggest a Dutch ancestry which is not unexpected.  So, like most of my New York ancestry...there is a mix of those originally from New England and Dutch and German.

Potter Gage's gravestone - Knox Cemetery, Knox, NY

Potter Gage was born 25 Dec 1798 in Knox, Albany Co., NY.  He was the son of William Gage and Ruth Macomber.   William Gage was born in Duanesburg, Schenectady Co., NY and he was the first generation of the Gage's who had left Dutchess Co., NY and perhaps their Quaker heritage.  The story is that there was a falling out in the family and some supported the Tories during the Revolutionary War and other supported the colonists...and this is why the name change occurred.  There are some who added an "i" in their name so the spelling was changed to Gaige.  Potter's mother, Ruth Macomber, was born 9 Oct 1773 in Dutchess Co., NY as the daughter of John Macomber and Mary Brownell Davol.  Both of Ruth's parents came from Massachusetts and both maternal and paternal lines had been in New England for multiple generations.  Ruth was one of 16 children who were born from 1760 to 1787.

Cynthia Swan and Potter Gage married about 1822 in Knox, Albany Co., NY.  She and Potter Gage were the parents of eleven children from 1823 to 1840, including a set of twins, one of whom was my 3rd great grandfather.  Cynthia and Potter were the first of their families to have been born, married and lived their lives in Knox, NY.  Cynthia died at the age of 62.  Five years later, Potter Gage married Elizabeth Potter (name similarity is kind of ironic) and Potter lived to the age of 84 when he died on 16 Mar 1883 in Knox, Albany Co., NY.

My Great grandfather, Ora Silas Gage left New York state in 1908 at the age of 15 when his parents died within days of each other.  During the entire of the 19th century, the Gage family lived in Knox, Albany Co., NY.

Here is a list of the family of Cynthia Swan and Potter Gage:

• Emily Gage b. 4 Jun 1823 d. 17 Nov 1893 m. Peter Swan
• Charles Gaige b. 8 Dec 1824 d. 7 Jul 1914 m. Hannah M. Tompkins
• Gilbert Gage b. 8 Dec 1824 d. 8 Aug 1894 m. Phoebe Allen
• Harriet Gage b. 12 Jan 1826 d. 12 Aug 1874 m. Jacob Auchenpaugh
• Mary Ann Gage b. 15 Apr 1830 d. aft 1910 m. William Van Allen
• Susan Gage b. 14 Feb 1832 d. 24 Dec 1914 m. Edward M VanAuken
• Ezra Minor Gage b. 18 Apr 1833 d. 26 Mar 1823 m. Nancy Van Auken
• Jane A Gage b. 27 Jun 1834 aft 1900 m. John E Soley
• Hiram Potter Gage b. 25 Aug 1835 d. 10 Sep 1894 m. Martha Bronk
• William Gage b. 19 Sep 1837 d. 8 Mar 1910 m.. Julia Davis
• Juliette Gage b. 28 Aug 1840 d. 18 Dec 1876 unmarried

Gage Trio - Potter and Cynthia's gravestone with their unmarried daughter, Juliette

A Jones Wall

You might say that I have three of the worst surnames to try and research – Johnson, Smith and Jones My Johnson line is probably the most significant because it is my own surname and we have pretty good proof that the line connects with a famous ancestor, President Andrew Johnson.  Although, I must feel that I felt an even more significant connection on the day that I stood on the land that my 3^rd Great Grandfather settled on near Hampton, TN.  My Smith line is also interesting with a fascinating ancestor like Jacob Cunningham Smith – I feel like there is still a lot to learn about them.  However, I feel like there is hope to discover something new on both of these lines.  I don’t have quite the same faith in my Jones line.

My grandfather died at the young age of 35 in a hunting accident and his grandfather also died at the young age of 34, just 10 days before his youngest son was born.  I don’t know what he died of – possibly pneumonia or a farming accident of some kind.  However, I know that he left his widow with two small young boys and heavily pregnant with another son.  Almira or Elmira (I’ve seen it spelled both ways) was born in 1850 in Van Buren Co., IA.  She married John Lyons Tannahill on 22 Dec 1866 when she was 16 years old.  They had a young baby born just about 9 months after their wedding who died either at birth or shortly thereafter.  Just a year later on 10 Aug 1868, Elmira gave birth to Samuel Oliver Tannahill and on 2 July 1871 she gave birth to George William Tannahill.  Elmira and John Lyons Tannahill moved sometime after George’s birth to Chautauqua Co. KS along with Elmira’s parents, Henry Valentine Jones and Huldah Harrington.  On 19 Apr 1873, Elmira became a widow at the age of 23, and on 28 Apr 1873, she gave birth to her third son, John Lyons Tannahill, my great grandfather.

Elmira Jones Tannahill Pennell

Elmira Jones eventually remarried to Samuel Pennell in 1875 in Kansas.  They had seven more children and it is interesting to note that while most of them stayed  the Oklahoma-Kansas area, several traveled north to live in the Lewiston, Idaho area.  When Almira’s brother, George Washington Jones moved to Southwick, two of his sisters followed suit as did his Tannahill nephews.

Sam Tannaill & John Lyons Tannahill

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It is easy to find information on the parents of Elmira – since she is recorded with her parents in the 1850 and 1860 census records.  Finding additional information of their ancestry has definitely been problematic.  Several years ago, I received a copy of some research that was done by Eldora Garlinghouse.  It turned out that her husband’s mother was Elmira’s niece through her brother, George Washington Jones.  The notes that she had made were really invaluable.   It allowed me to build a database built around the Jones family…and I must say it hasn’t been easy.

Henry Valentine Jones

Henry Valentine Jones was born on 14 Feb 1827 somewhere in OH.  According to the notes by Mrs. Garlinghouse, he was the son of Henry Washington Jones.  I have a name of Susan Turner as the potential mother of Henry Valentine Jones.  However, I have found nothing that directly connects Henry Valentine Jones with Henry Washington Jones or Susan Turner.  In fact, I have never been able to figure out when Henry might have lived in Ohio.  There are a multitude of Henry Jones and you can’t be sure which one is a connection.  Henry married Huldah Harrington on 19 Dec 1847 in Van Buren Co., IA.  They were the parents of:

• George Washington Jones m. Eliza Jane Briscoe m2 Harriet Mae Yates
• Almira Jones m John Lyons Tannahill m Samuel Pennell
• Jacob Jones d. young
• Henry Valentine Jones m. Aunt Duck (only name that I have)
• Edwin B. Jones d. after 1870
• Mary Alice Jones m.  Francis Marion Thompson
• Sarah Frances Jones m. William Martius Blackington m.2, George T Hicks

George’s family ended up near Southwick, ID (near Lewiston, ID) as did Mary Alice Jones and her family and Sarah Frances Jones.  As with many families, when one family migrates somewhere – it doesn't seem long until other family members follow along.

Henry Valentine Jones and Huldah Harrington both lived out the remainder of their lives in Chautauqua Co., KS  Huldah died in in 1898 and Henry died in 1904.  It seems that no matter what I have tried, I have never been able to figure out exactly who and where Henry’s family came from.  I know that he was born in Ohio and immigrated to Iowa at a pretty young age.  He also married someone whose family had also come from Ohio, suggesting that there might have been a connection between the families.  Really the only thing that I have ever read that suggests where the Jones family was a biography that was published in an early local history that was about a “Who’s Who” of the region.  It stated that Samuel Tannahill’s family came from Wales I have no idea if that was something that made up of if it has some kernel of the truth.

I feel as if I have made a lot of progress on Almira’s family and their descendants, but I wonder if I ever will make any progress on their ancestry.  

There seems to be too many strikes against me to make much progress.  I don’t have specific locations previous to Van Buren Co., IA, I can’t be sure that Henry Valentines’ father was Henry Washington Jones nor do I have a clear view of who is siblings or mother might have been.  They weren't wealthy enough to leave documentary tracks beyond the standard census records.  So even though I continue to pound on that brick wall – I wonder if I ever will make progress on my Jones wall!

  

The Consumptive Disease

About six months ago, I came across a database online that had information about one of my family lines that I had been searching for years.  My great grandmother was the daughter of Buena Vista Bailey (A Life Too Short) and I knew very little beyond her.  Buena Vista died at the age of 21 years old, just a few short months after my great grandmother’s birth.  All I knew about her mother was that her name was Margaret.  This database that I located online not only had Buena Vista – but the full name of her mother as well….Mary Marguerite Church.

I must admit that it was quite a discovery, and I gained a lovely cousin and friend as well.  However, a picture started to emerge of Buena Vista’s family that started me wondering about something else.    Mary Marguerite Church was born 16 Jun 1845 probably in Watauga Co., NC as the daughter of Noah Howard Church and Asinth “Jencie” Irena McCall.  She married Jasper Bailey probably around 1868 and had her first child soon after, Colorado “Collie” Bailey born in 1869 and then Buena Vista in 1872, John W. in 1873 and Ninevah Frank b. 1876.  Mary Marguerite Church died at the young age of 32 years of age.  According to a letter that my Bailey cousin had, she died of tuberculosis also known as consumption.  Not only did she have tuberculosis but so did her daughter Colorado and son Frank.

Colorado “Collie” married Asbury Reid and moved to Illinois and had several children but had to move to Colorado because of the drier climate.  She tried to go back to Illinois, but couldn't take the climate and her husband didn’t want to live in Colorado so they eventually divorced.  Collie remarried and lived to ripe old age of 97 which is shocking.  To be so sick with tuberculosis that you couldn't live in one area of the country but you could survive to an old age in another part of the country is surprising.  Her brother Frank is found living with Collie and her husband in the 1930 census, but he dies about a year later at the age of 55.

So this leads me back to Buena Vista Bailey, my great grandmother’s mother.  I've always wondered what she died of exactly.  My great grandmother was born in late January and it wasn't until April that Buena Vista died.  I've never really heard of a cause of death except that she never recovered from childbirth.  This makes me wonder if her death cause was in fact, tuberculosis.
  

When I was 19, my step grandfather was in the hospital during the late stages of Alzheimer.  During the last three weeks of his life, they had to move him to a different hospital because they had diagnosed him with tuberculosis of the brain.   They moved him to the different hospital so he could be under ultraviolet light which helped treat the condition.  When he died a few weeks later, he had a nice healthy tan.  I found out at that point that most people of a certain age had been exposed to tuberculosis and that it could rear its ugly head almost at any point.  I also found that everyone in my family had to be tested to see if we had been infected …thankfully, none of us were.  That understanding of the disease makes me question whether tuberculosis is what killed Buena Vista Bailey at the young age of 21.  She could have been week from childbirth and became ill with the tuberculosis that was so prevalent in her family.

The new information about the Bailey family has opened up a whole new set of questions – most of which will probably never be answered.  There are a lot of theories that could be spelled out such as the belief that tuberculosis might have been prevalent in the Church family since several of Mary Marguerite’s seemed to die at a young age.  Perhaps it all can be explained by the facts that my ancestors lived in a rough and unsanitary time with little to no positive prognosis for anyone who developed tuberculosis.  Collie was unusual in that she lived to be 97 years old – I think it is much more common for tuberculosis victims to live much shorter lives…which could explain Buena Vista’s death at 21 and her mother’s at 32.  

Grandpa's Glasses

Frank Stewart Johnson - About 1975

I have never forgotten that September day in 1975.  I was home from school sick…which was a pretty rare occurrence.  Mom had me ensconced on the couch with a blanket and a glass of squirt when the phone rang.  I could tell from Mom’s face that it was bad news.  She did something that I had never seen her do…she called my Dad out at work.  About a half hour later, Dad was home and they were packing getting ready to leave.  My Dad’s father had died that morning and the only thing that my parents were thinking about was getting to Canby, OR as fast as they could, so they could be with my grandmother.  Plans were made for my great uncle to bring us down the next day, but they never came to fruition.  I think I went to the neighbors and within a short amount of time, Mom and Dad were on the road to Oregon.

I was only 8 years old when Grandpa Frank died.  I’m not sure that I really understood the concept that much, but I knew from the look on my parent’s faces that it was bad.  I really had only been around him a handful of times in my short life that I remembered.  My most vivid memories of him involve candy and peeling an orange.  I can remember on one occasion when we were visiting my grandparents that we had to go to the store for something.  Once we arrived, my grandfather handed the list to my father and took my hand and took me over to the barrels of penny candy.  He patiently helped me pick out a very personal bag of candy of all of my favorites and another bag for my siblings.  I felt special though…I had my own special bag.  I think that all of Grandpa Frank’s grandchildren got the lesson of peeling an orange.  We would sit on the floor by the coffee table while he rolled the orange around to soften the peel and then would peel the orange in one long peel.  To this day, when I smell a freshly peeled orange, I still think of my grandfather.

Once my parents arrived in Canby, OR, my father dove into the process to help my grandmother deal with the numerous details concerning a funeral service.  When my Grandmother, Dad and his sisters saw Grandpa Frank, they all agreed that he didn’t quite look right.  They decided that it must be the glasses.  So, a trip was made home to collect his glasses which were always on top of the fridge.  The glasses were added and he looked better…but still not quite right.  But that was the way it was going to have to be.  The next day dawned and the funeral was held.  I don’t think that there were many of my Grandpa Frank’s family members there, except his sister – since most of them lived in North Dakota.  However, my Grandmother’s family showed up in force. 

Taken at Grandpa Frank's Funeral - Left to Right - Shirley, Fran, Grandma Marian, Gene, Mary Kay & Anne

Later that afternoon, Dad, his sisters and their spouses sat around the kitchen table with Grandma, talking about the service and I supposed what needed to be done.  As it was time for my Uncle Karl and Aunt Shirley to depart, Karl walked over to the refrigerator and took his glasses down from the top and placed them on his face.  Within a few moments, everyone realized that there was a reason that those glasses hadn't looked quite right – they were Karl’s.  Uncle Karl still says to this day, that Grandpa Frank pulled one over on him.  I suppose it was just the funny coincidence that was needed so everyone could get a good laugh.

Back in 2006, Grandma made the decision to move Grandpa Frank and his sister, Mary up to Freeze Cemetery.  So, they were exhumed and cremated and brought up to Idaho for a gathering to bury them in a cemetery that was not that far from the home where Grandma and Grandpa raised their children.  I can remember joking with Karl that we could still get his glasses back.  We had to explain to some family members what had happened – and once again everyone had a good laugh about how Uncle Karl’s glasses were buried with Grandpa Frank.  

Taken in 1972 - Grandma & Grandpa in the back - Russ, Chris, Gwenda and myself (Carmen ) in the front!

Goodbye Aunt Mary Kay

Mary Kay - Graduation - 1962

We lost my aunt Mary Kay a few days ago to cancer.  It seems that cancer has taken far too many of our family members lately…but since we are from a large family – we must remember that with great blessings comes loss as well. 

My grandparents Frank Stewart Johnson and Helen Marian Gage were married in 1939 and by January 1946, they had had five children.  My father was the oldest and the only son (b. 1940) and then four daughters followed:  Shirley in 1941, Anne in 1942, Mary Kay in 1944 and Frances in 1946.  The longest distance between children was between Anne and Mary Kay – and while it might not seem that significant to most…it was definitive gap.  I’m sure when they were small that it must have felt like Dad, Shirley and Anne were almost “the three musketeers!” My grandparents had moved to North Dakota when they had married and their first three children were born there.  They came out to Idaho in early 1943 in the dead of winter.  I have often thought that it must have been difficult for my great grandmother not to get her hands on her first three grandchildren until they were a bit older.  Grandma Gage got to take care of those three grandchildren when their mother went to the hospital in Moscow, ID and had Mary Kay.  I’m sure it was a special occasion when Grandma Marian could present her newborn daughter to her mother.   

Mary Kay with her father, Frank Johnson

I can remember my Grandma Marian saying Gene, Shirley and Anne then the little girls.  I know from my own perspective as being the youngest of four, I used to feel left behind because I wasn’t quite old enough to feel included. 

Back Row - Gene & Shirley -
Front Frances, Mary Kay & Anne

Left to Right - Frances, Shirley, Mary Kay, Anne & Gene - Marian behind

I have often thought that Mary Kay must have felt that way – plus she was a sickly child and wasn’t able to play and do as much as her siblings.  Plus her younger sister was tomboy with a “large” personality and Mary Kay didn’t quite fit in with her.  It didn’t help that by the time she was seven or eight years old my Dad and Shirley spent a lot of time out working and she spent very little time with them.  They were all out of the house and married by the time Mary Kay was 13 years old.  It might have been easier to have the older siblings around since Mary Kay and her younger sister, Fran fought like cats and dogs.  They were supposed to do the dishes together after meals and quite often, my grandmother had to separate them.  In fact, I don’t think that they got along well until they were adults.  After my grandmother moved to Lewiston, ID from Canby, OR in 2001, I think that Frances and Mary Kay became as close as two sisters could be and were the best of friends.  It is amazing what time and love can do for a sibling relationship.

In many ways, Mary Kay was the most adventurous of her family.  She alone traveled outside of the Pacific Northwest as she joined the Air Force and later the National Guard.  She had experiences and met people that her siblings never had.  I don’t think that her life was easy and like most of us, she made some good and bad choices.  I know that towards the end of her life, her family became even more important to her.  Mary Kay enjoyed camping and fishing and made a point to come up to Idaho to go camping with her sister up on the Lochsa at Powell Ranger Station.  I don’t think that she had missed many of the bi-annual family reunions during the past 20 years and it was extremely important to her to not miss the one this past summer.

Despite being very weak and showing the ravages of cancer treatment, Mary Kay sat at a table with her children and grandchildren surrounding her.  I think that I will always think of the expression of peace and pride that I saw on her face.  In my mind’s eye, I think that I will remember Aunt Mary Kay sitting in her chair out by her Motor Home enjoying her morning coffee and the loving attention of her dog talking to each family member as they walked past.  Mornings on Hatter Creek were like that during family reunions – it was those quiet times when we would meet each other on our way to somewhere else.  I would like to think that Mary Kay was welcomed by her beloved parents and grandparents and when we have our next family reunion, she will join the others looking down with peace and pride at their family.  Mary Kay was a beloved mother, grandmother, sister, cousin, and niece to the many members of a large family, and she will be missed and well-remembered.

Taken in 2011 - Frances, Anne, Marian, Gene, Mary Kay & Shirley