Cemetery Tales - Star Gap/Acre Field Cemetery

It was 2001 and my first trip to Mountain City, TN.  I was staying over in Ashe Co., NC with a Dollar cousin who loaned me her Ford Explorer.  She didn't want me taking the back road over and wanted me to drive through Boone, NC to get to Johnson Co., TN.  It was funny to me because I had driven more than my share of back roads...but she didn't know it.  I have to admit it was one of my favorite genealogy adventures.

Knowing that the my first stop should be the library, I wandered around the town streets of Mountain City.  I had a general idea of where the library was and this wasn't a big town.  I parked the car and walked into the library, set my stuff down and began to look around some of the books.  I picked a few up and walked back to the table.  Across from me was another woman looking through her own books...and naturally we started a conversation.  We began talking about the family lines that we were looking at (this is a great conversation starter for anyone research genealogy).  She told me her families and I told her mine...and when I mentioned Dollar and Friddle - she told me that I needed to contact Carmen Johnson.  I looked at her and pretty much said "That wouldn't be hard...as I am Carmen Johnson."  She then told me her "handle" on the Johnson Co., TN newslist (Back in 2001 - genealogy information availability on the internet and email contact was still in its infancy.  Genealogy newslists were a great way to make contact and get information.) and I immediately recognized her.  I didn't know her real name because I either hadn't paid attention or she hadn't mentioned it.  I learned that her name was Jenny and ironically she lived in Spokane, WA and here we were in Johnson Co., TN sitting in a library when our home towns were only 2 hours apart.

Jenny was actually a native of Johnson Co., TN and was just visiting family.  I decided to take advantage of her knowledge of the area and asked her if she knew where the Star Gap cemetery was.  I think the answer was no...but we got directions and we were on our way.  I will never forget going to that cemetery.  We turned off the road to go to Star Gap cemetery and it was probably a little more of a back road than my Dollar cousin wanted me to travel on.  It was a narrow dirt road but to me it seemed just fine...after all it wasn't on the side of hill climbing a steep road.  This was pretty simple compared to the Idaho dirt roads I was used to.  It seemed like we had been traveling for quite a while and it seemed as if the trees were closing in on us as the road was narrow and the vegetation was thick.  While I am not worried about dirt roads...there is one thing I don't like...when another car is coming from the opposite direction.  I had to back up about 20 or 30 feet to find a spot where I could pull over and let the other car pass.  I did roll down the window and ask how much further we need to go and was advised that it was in another few hundred feet.  It was really rather remarkable...we traveled on this narrow road surrounded by trees and it suddenly opened up in rather lovely meadow with a cemetery just off to the left.  We got out and walked around the cemetery and while I found a lot of familiar names, I didn't find the gravestone I was looking for which was my great grandmother's little brother, Charles Frederick Dollar.  I should have looked further because it was there - see FAG # 74609427 .

Bessie Friddles Cress - Phillipi Cemetery, Johnson Co., TN

Jenny and I then made our way to the Phllipi Cemetery where I was able to find my great grandfather's niece and her husband's grave quite easily (See above).  It was right along the road.  I think Jenny even remembered her.  I have at some point visited with her daughter.  She told me that when she was a baby, my great grandmother have traveled back to Tennessee and had stopped by to see her mother.  The cousin (Lois) was a baby at the time or at least quite young.  Lois said that her parents didn't have a lot of money and she was mostly dressed in hand-me-down clothes.  My great grandmother, knowing this, went and bought a few outfits to take along on her visit for the little girl.  I think Lois told me that they were still in her cedar chest and had always been treasured.  Just goes to show that one person's simple act of kindness can be remembered for a lifetime.

Moses Friddles - Hawkins Cemetery, Johnson Co., TN

We then attempted to find the cemetery where my great great grandfather was buried.  It was located at Hawkins Cemetery.  I know from what my Dollar cousin said that it was quite a trek to get there and was located across a field full of cows.  She had already gotten a picture (see above) Jenny and I never quite got that far...after a lot of driving we decided to give up as we couldn't find it and Jenny and I both had to make our way back to our respective "temporary" homes.

That few hours was over 16 years ago.  Neither one of us has ever forgotten that day and we never hesitate to remind each other of our adventure.  Life may never give us the opportunity to spend any other time together (I hope that isn't the case) but neither one will ever forget that meeting.

Remembering Grandma Cappy

31 years ago today I was going to college.  My week started out with the excitement of getting ready to live on my own for the first time in a dorm room at the University of Idaho - by Wednesday, the week had changed.  My grandmother had had a massive heart attack and wasn't expected to survive long and by Saturday morning, she had passed away.  However, I was still expected to go up to get my dorm room, move my stuff in and try to sort things through a bit.  I can remember sitting in my car driving up the Lewiston hill with tears running down my face.  I had never felt so alone - this was something that my Mom and I had been planning and now everything had irrevocably changed.  I came back home and tried to help Mom.  There were so many things that had to be done.  We had to clean the house, answer the door with many of the people who wanted to give us their sympathy.  I suppose the phone calls were the worst.  I can remember answering the call from a dear family member and not wanting to tell them the bad news.  I passed the phone off to one of my siblings.  It is funny now that when a family member dies now - I am usually one of the first people that they call.  They say that I seem to know what to say - experience has taught me a few tricks that I didn't know at 18 years old.

I have more regrets about what I never asked Grandma Cappy than I do any of my other grandparents.  My grandfather died before I really knew what to do or ask (I was 8 years old) but by the time I was 18, I should have known better. That has taught be to embrace some of my older relatives and take the opportunity to listen to their stories and experiences.  I can't tell you how much that has enriched my life.  So in memory of Grandma Cappy - here are a few blogs where she was highlighted!


Going to College
Hunting in Autumn
Graduation Day
A Container for Everything
The Most Important Women in My Life
My Grandmothers Life During the Depression
Grandma's Diaries
A Wedding Getaway?
My Favorite Assignment
Happy Birthday Grandma Cappy

My Mom - Betty and her sister Joan - taken at Grandma Cappy's funeral in 1985.

Roby Smith Dollar

Picture Caption:  Taken abt 1904: Left to Right, Back Row:  Etta Winifred “Freddie”,
Amanda Emaline “Eva”, Cora Eula, Front Row:  Roby holding Smithy Pearl,
Sarah Margaret holding Tempa Maude Elizabeth, Bertta “Annis” Eunice

Roby Smith Dollar was the youngest child of Elizabeth Pennington and Alexander Monroe Dollar.  He was born in Ashe Co., NC on 18 Apr 1868.  As a young man, the family moved to Laurel Bloomery early in the 1880’s.  His uncle, Andrew Pennington had moved there around 1852.  Shortly after they moved to Laurel Bloomery, his mother, Elizabeth Pennington died.  His father, Alexander Monroe Dollar then married Sarah “Lulu” Pearce.  Roby married Sarah Margaret Simmons on 3 Jan 1889.  She was the daughter of Joel Simmons and Tempa Ena Harris. 

Later photo - Only the youngest daughter, Carie Mae not picture.

Roby and Maggie were the parents of ten daughters. They were:  Cora Eula Dollar (1890-1988) m. Benjamin Harrison Sturgill, Amanda “Eva” Emaline Dollar (1892-1979), Bertta “Annis” Eunice Dollar (1894-1980) m Coy McKinley Parsons, Etta “Freddie” Winifred Dollar (1896-1988) m. Charles A Thomas, Tempa Maude Elizabeth Dollar (1900-2002) m. James Walker Beverly, Smithy Pearl Dollar (1902-1980) m. Walter E Parsons, Lena Cleo Dollar (1904-2004) m. Nathan Roth, Estelle Catherine “Kate” Dollar (1906-1989) m.  Raymond Freeman, Sarah Clyde Dollar (1909-2001) m. Thomas P. Jensen, & Carrie Mae Dollar (1911-2004) m. Wilfred Joseph “Fritz” Cloutier.

Roby worked alongside his father, brother, and uncle in a small family lumber mill located near the present Dollar Road in Johnson Co., TN.  After the death of his father in 1908, and the remarriage of his step-mother, Roby and Maggie inherited the family home near Shingletown.  Only a short time later, Roby lost his wife, Maggie, to pneumonia on 19 Feb 1912 and he was left with ten daughters to raise, the youngest being under a year in age.  With the help of his older daughters, Roby managed to raise his large group of children.  He worked as a farmer, lumberman and blacksmith.  It is interesting to note, that the house he lived in at that time, had been built most likely by his brother John Dula Dollar, and then passed on to his father, Alexander Monroe Dollar.  After Monroe Dollar’s death, the house went to his widow, and then was signed over to Roby’s wife, Maggie.  After her death, he inherited the little house.

Top Photo taken in 2009 - View of the house opposite the house -
2nd picture - View from the front porch - taken in 2004

Roby was known to say that “He would never be broke because he had his ten Dollars.” However, it was difficult for the family to make a living.  He was a single father with a large family and they lived on subsistence farming and whatever work he could pick up.  Then the depression hit, and his daughters had to move elsewhere to support themselves.   Some lived as close as North Carolina, and others who moved to Illinois and New York.  Roby sold his land and house in Shingletown and built a small house in Mountain City where he spent the remainder of his life.   

Painting of the little house that Roby built in Mountain City,  Painting by his granddaughter, Gail Dahl

 Most of Roby’s daughters enjoyed long and healthy lives.  Roby, Eva, Lena and her husband Nathan are all buried at Mountain View Cemetery and Sarah “Maggie” Simmons Dollar is buried at the Shingletown cemetery.

Shingletown Cemetery or Wesley Methodist Church Cemetery - Johnson Co., TN

Here is a genealogy report on the family

Roby Smith Dollar and Sarah Margaret Simmons had the following children:

             2             i.   Cora Eula Dollar, born 13 Mar 1890, Shingletown, Johnson Co., TN; married Benjamin Harrison Sturgill, 4 Jun 1913, Laurel Bloomery, Johnson Co., TN; died 18 Mar 1988, Milan, Rock Island Co., IL.

                           ii.   Amanda  "Eva" Emeline Dollar was born on 3 Jul 1892 in Shingletown, Johnson Co., TN.  She died on 28 Mar 1979 at the age of 86 in Richmond, Henrico Co., VA. She was buried in Mar 1979 in Mountain View Cemetery, Mountain City, TN. 

             3           iii.   Bertta "Annis" Eunice Dollar, born 5 Feb 1894, Shingletown, Johnson Co., TN; married Coy McKinley Parsons, 10 Apr 1918, Todd, Ashe Co., NC; died 20 Aug 1980, Lenior, Caldwell Co., NC.

             4           iv.   Etta "Freddie" Winifred Dollar, born 14 Feb 1896, Shingletown, Johnson Co., TN; married Charles A. Thomas, 24 Sep 1924, Laurel Bloomery, Johnson Co., TN; died 16 Nov 1988, Monmouth, Warren Co., IL.

             5            v.   Tempa Maude Elizabeth Dollar, born 6 Mar 1900, Shingletown, Johnson Co., TN; married James Walker Beverly, abt 1930; died 27 Apr 2002, Conway, Horry Co., SC.

             6           vi.   Smithy Pearl Dollar, born 4 Jul 1902, Shingletown, Johnson Co., TN; married Walter E. Parsons, 25 Jan 1922; died 25 Feb 1980, Valois, Schuyler Co., NY.

             7          vii.   Lena Cleo Dollar, born 24 Jun 1904, Shingletown, Johnson Co., TN; married Nathan Rothnagel, 5 Jun 1939, Johnson Co., TN; died 17 Feb 2004, Mountain City, Johnson Co., TN.

             8         viii.   Estelle Catherine "Kate" Dollar, born 14 Mar 1906, Shingletown, Johnson Co., TN; died 21 Sep 1989, Jacksonville, Clay Co., FL.

             9           ix.   Sarah Clyde Dollar, born 11 Aug 1909, Shingletown, Johnson Co., TN; married Thomas Peter Jensen, 6 Sep 1928, Monmouth Illinois; died 5 Feb 2001, Kirkwood, Warren, Illinois, USA.

           10            x.   Carrie Mae Dollar, born 11 Jul 1911, Shingletown, Johnson Co., TN; married Wilfred Joseph "Fritz" Cloutier, 1 Jul 1931, Larchmont, Westchester Co., NY; died 31 Jul 2004, Mount Vernon, Westchester, New York, USA.

Pennington Families in Johnson Co., TN

The Pennington surname is a common name around Johnson Co., TN and the neighboring counties (i.e. Ashe Co., NC, Washington Co., VA, Smyth Co., VA).  It is too simple to say that they are probably all related.  The truth is that we know they are related by DNA, but we can’t make an absolute connection between these families.  The Pennington Research Association has divided these Penningtons up by their oldest known ancestors and has labeled these groups by numbers.  Within Johnson Co., TN there are Penningtons from Group 7, 12, and 30 primarily…so the question is – who are these Penningtons.

There are two Andrew Penningtons that play a meaningful role in these Johnson Co., TN Penningtons.  Andrew Pennington (m. Mary Elizabeth Pope) b. 1813 is a member of Group 7 and is descended from Ephraim Pennington b. 1769. (He was thought to be a descendant of Micajah Pennington but we know now that isn’t the case).  Many of the Penningtons living around the Shingletown area are related to him and I would bet that that a large portion of those buried in Wesley Chapel Cemetery are somehow related to him including the Sexton family that donated the land built the Wesley Chapel Church. (Robert C Sexton was married to Mary E Pennington, daughter of Andrew Pennington.  Their descendants donated the land for the church.) 

Wesley Methodist Cemetery aka Shingletown Cemetery - Johnson Co., TN

Here is a list of the children of Andrew Pennington and Mary Elizabeth Pope: 

·         Mary E. Pennington b. 1836 d. 1916 m. Robert C. Sexton 

·         Levi Pennington b. 1837 d. bef 1860

·         John H. Pennington b. 1840 d. aft 1860

·         Ephraim Pennington b. 1842 d. 1904 m. Louisa Katherine Hall m. Margarett R Richardson

·         Martha Jane b. 1848 d. 1928 m. Madison M. McCracken

·         Margaret C. Pennington b. 1851 d. 1914 m. Pleasant Alexander Dixon

·         Nancy Laurinda Pennington b. 1853 d. 1930 m. Creed F Davidson

·         Adelaza Pennington b. 1856 d. aft 1860

There were also Penningtons in Shady Valley who were sons of Andrew Pennington’s nephew, Levi Daniel Pennington (Levi Wilson Pennington and Solomon Stansberry Pennington) My own Pennington line comes from the same family.  My 3^rd great grandmother was Elizabeth Pennington (Levi Daniel Pennington’s sister, daughter of Levi Pennington and Elizabeth Henson) and she was married to Alexander Monroe Dollar and their granddaughter, Sophia Dollar Friddle was my great grandmother.

The home that my great grandmother grew up in - near Shingletown!

The second Andrew Pennington (m. Hester Ann Blevins)  was born about 1809 in Ashe Co., NC and is a descendant of Group 30 (Father is most likely Abram Pennington) and was married to Hester Ann Blevins.  Andrew was buried in Smyth Co., VA but many of his descendants can be found either in or near Johnson Co., TN.  His son Andrew Jackson Pennington (m. Eliza Jane Gentry) is buried at Stateline Cemetery in Laurel Bloomery as well has his descendants.

Here are the children of Andrew Pennington and Hester Ann Blevins:

·         Abel Abram Pennington b. 1836 d. 1920 m. Emily Blevins m. Sarah V Able 

·         William Caolloway Pennington b. 1838 d. 1904 m. Nancy D Privett

·         Eli Pennington b. 1840 d. aft 1910 m. Catherine Emeline Allen

·         Mary Matilda Pennington b. 1842 d. 1920 m. Calvin Calhoun Davis

·         Naomi Pennington b. 1843 d. 1902 m. Andrew Jackson Davis – Child by Lee Blevins 

·         Hiram H. Pennington b. 1845 d. 1914 m. Margaret Huffman

·         Samuel Pennington b. 1845 d. 1932 m. Sarah Ann Huffman (Hiram & Samuel aren’t twins – one was born in January and the other in September)

·         Andrew Jackson Pennington b. 1850 d. 1913 m. Eliza Jane Gentry (This is the first line I would check for Johnson Co., TN descendants) 

·         Rebecca Pennington b. 1852 d. 1914 m. Andrew John Hart

·         Asa Ira Pennington b. 1853 d. 1904 m. Martha Emaline Sherwood

·         Eda Eveline Pennington b. 1856 d. aft 1920 m. David Pennington (Son of Lorenzo Dow Pennington – brother of Andrew)

The third group represented in Johnson Co., TN was the descendants of Malissa Ellen Pennington who married George Washington Hines and James Sluder.  Her father was Elisha “Dock” Pennington who died close to the Johnson Co., TN border but was in Ashe Co., NC.    Here are Malissa’s descendants…this info mostly comes from the census records and I haven’t filled out the families as well as I would like!

Malissa Ellen Pennington b. 1861 d. 1952 m. George Washington Hines b. 1856 d. 1911 m. James Melvin Sluder b. 1871 d. 1850

·         Roby Hines b. 1881
·         James Hines b. 1884 d. 1918 m. Rosa McGrady
·         Dock Hines b. 1885 d. 1918
·         Marvin Hines b. 1887
·         Wiley G. Hines b. 1889
·         Otis Hines b. 1891
·         Rosie Hines b. 1895
·         Lidy J Hines b. 1898
·         Dolly Hines b. 1902

So, if you are trying to research the Pennington family in Johnson Co., TN, they most likely came originally from Ashe Co., NC from the early 1800’s as both the Andrew Pennington b. 1809 (Group 30) and Andrew Pennington b. 1813 (Group 7) were both born in Ashe Co., NC and the Group 12 Pennington (Desc. Of Samuel Pennington) also come from Ashe Co., NC in the early 1800’s.  So most Johnson Co., TN Penningtons likely have connections coming from Ashe Co., NC.  These families are good starting points in your Pennington research.

Happy Birthday, Mom Friddle!

Sophia Dollar and David Carl Friddle
 m. 22 Dec 1908 - Johnson Co., TN 

My memories of my great grandmother are a bit hazy.  She died the day before I turned 12 years old...and there are some memories that I think that remember clearly.  Usually they had to do with her telling me stories that I am relatively sure now were not altogether accurate - but they made a good a story.

Today would have been her birthday, and as these anniversaries pass year by year, I always think about her.  When I hear the saying "They don't make em like they used to!"  Mom Friddle is who I think of...she was a pioneer woman when she came out west at 16 with a 1 year old to live up on Grouse Flats in Wallowa Co., OR.

You might wonder why I refer to her as "Mom Friddle."  It was what my mother always called her.  She and her sister Joan were Mom Friddle's first grandchildren.  Mom Friddle didn't really consider herself old enough to be a grandmother, so therefore she didn't want to be called Grandma.  So, the name stuck and my mother always called her Mom Friddle and called her own mother "Momma!"  I never heard her call either one any differently.

I now know so much more about Mom Friddle.  I have seen the place that she was born, photos of her siblings and of her parents.  I even have a photograph of her as a young child.  I know where her family came from and even have a picture of her maternal grandfather.

Taken about 1895 - Left to Right - Claude Elmer Dollar, John Dula Dollar holding Sophia Vestelle Dollar
& Bessie Margaret Elizabeth Dozier Dollar

However, so much of what I know was told to me by someone else or something I researched.  The few precious memories that I have of her that I know are mine are still very important.  Perhaps the most important one for me personally, was the afternoon I spent down at her house after riding my bike from house down to hers.  This was a big deal...my mother trusted me to ride my bike by myself.  I think there was a couple of miles between our houses.  You probably wouldn't let a kid do that today without adult supervision, but it was a different time back then.  I remember walking into her house and Mom Friddle sitting on the couch with her hankie in her hand.  Mom Friddle's head was always shaking - I think it was Parkinson's disease.  It never really bothered me because she had never really looked any differently.  She was wearing her dark glasses and I can't really say I ever saw her eyes. I knew I was welcomed and what followed was an hour or so of stories.  I now know that most of those stories weren't true...because I tried to research the facts.  Her grandfather wasn't a local sheriff and she didn't likely spend a night in jail cell as a child.  (This wasn't because she was in any trouble - she was staying with her grandfather)  Mom Friddle also didn't probably see a body hanging from a tree reflected on the wall in the cell in the moonlight...but it was a darn good story that definitely impressed me...and creeped me out.

Left to Right - Claude Friddle, Sophia Dollar Friddle, Jack Friddle, Capitola Friddle Shearer

So, today it is her birthday.  It has never been hard to remember as it was a day after my brother's. It would have been her 121st birthday...she died not that long after her 85th birthday, rather close to my own birthday...so yet another date that isn't hard to remember.  So, here are a few links to blogs that I have written about Mom Friddle that you might enjoy!

• Learning to Shoot
• 119 Years Ago Today
• Coffee & Hot Toddies
• Three Great Dames - Happy Thanksgiving
• The Most Important Women in My Life
• OK Pop, Turn Over
• February 8th

An Early Military Photo of Uncle Jak!

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I haven't felt on top of the world the past week or so...so I thought I would post a picture of a favorite uncle and what I don't know about it!

Long after my mother died, I was going through an old photo album and found this picture.  I knew that it was my great uncle Jack Friddle...but I was surprised to see a photo that so obviously predated World War II.  Jack was born on 8 Oct 1909 in Mountain City, Johnson Co., TN to David Carl Friddle and Sophia Vestelle Friddle.  I think he probably graduated in about 1927 or so from Pomeroy High School.  My great grandparents homesteaded up on Grouse Flats, Wallowa Co., OR and while my grandmother and great uncle went to the small local school, my great grandmother insisted that her children have the opportunity to go to high school, so in 1924, David Carl Friddle and Sophia Dollar Friddle moved their family to Pomeroy, WA and a few years later they moved to Lewiston, ID where my grandmother graduated from high school.

So...here is what I find curious about this picture.  I know that Jack worked in a retail store after high school and I know he was a paratrooper in World War II - but when was this picture taken.  I asked his brother, Claude, who was still alive at the time about it...and he didn't really know anything.  There is a problem with finding military records from the World War I to II era because so many of the records burned up in a fire.

So, my best guess was that this photo was taken around 1930 to 1932.  I am sure it was taken before he and his wife Hilda Heitmann married in 1934 but other than that -  I can't be sure.  So, my theory is that Uncle Jak (which is the way he used sign letters and cards to me) was probably a member of the local militia and judging by his uniform most likely in the Army.  It is really too bad that I have no one left to ask.  Uncle Jack was definitely a favorite of mine...and I am sorry I don't know more!

Alexander Monroe Dollar

My great grandmother – Sophia Dollar Friddle, was raised by her grandfather and step grandmother.  So, I realized early on in my genealogical searches with my mother, that he was a significant person.   Beyond the fact that I am descended from him, he had a huge part in shaping the life of my great grandmother and therefore my grandmother and mother who had a profound part in shaping who I am.  However, Alexander Monroe Dollar has never been an easy man to pin down, genealogically speaking!

Alexander Monroe Dollar was born about August 1838 depending on what document you look at.  Some say it is August 1839 – but  August 1838 is the date that makes the most sense.  He was probably born in Orange Co., NC.   His parents were William Henry Dollar and Jane “Jennie” Sparks.  Their marriage date was 22 May 1838 in Orange Co., NC.  So, while the date of 1839 might look like a more reasonable time after marriage to have a child, William Henry Dollar and Jennie Sparks second child, William Henry Dollar, Jr was born on 4 Jul 1839 so the August date proves to be even more unlikely.  Supposedly, Alexander Monroe Dollar was born in Orange Co., NC and shortly after his birth; William Henry Dollar brought his small family via wagon from Orange Co., NC to Ashe Co., NC.   William Henry Dollar was blacksmith by trade and worked as most did during that time frame as a farmer as well.  I am sure that he left Orange Co., NC because he was a younger brother and didn’t have much in the way of prospects in terms of owning land.  The Dollar family lived in the North Fork township of Ashe Co., NC near the town of Solitude. 

At the age of 18, Alexander Monroe Dollar married Elizabeth Pennington, the daughter of Levi Pennington and Elizabeth Henson on 17 Jan 1857 in Ashe Co., NC.  On 6 Apr 1858, their first child is born, Amanda Jane Dollar.  I have often wondered if Elizabeth Pennington had more pregnancies and lost them in miscarriages because there seems to be quite a gap between their first two children.  

Like many young men of his age, Alexander Monroe Dollar enlisted as a Confederate Soldier in Co. L, 58^th Infantry Regiment, North Carolina on 20 Jul 1862.  I suspect that he wasn't too good of a soldier because he deserted on 9 Feb 1863 at Big Creek Gap in Tennessee.  Went home long enough to get his wife pregnant with their second child and perhaps plant his crops and returned to duty on 10 Dec 1863.  Once again he deserted a second time near Dalton, Georgia on 19 Mar 1864 and went over to the enemy.  He took the Oath of Allegiance on 10 Oct 1864 and I assume came home sometime later.  His younger brother enlisted on the same day and also deserted, returned to duty and then was declared unfit for duty and spent the rest of the war as a hospital nurse at La Grange, Georgia.  Both were part of the 58^th North Carolina which I have been told had one of the worst desertion rates in the Civil War.  Since most of these soldier came from the Ashe Co., NC area, I suspect that these deserters felt free to return home and live their lives without much in the way of repercussion, makes me think that they weren't too devoted to the Confederate cause.

Alexander and Elizabeth’s second child was John Dula Dollar b. 3 Oct 1863 in Creston, Ashe Co., NC (he is my 2^nd great grandfather).  Their third child Emeline Caroline Dollar was born on 15 Mary 1866 in Ashe Co., NC.   Their family was complete with the birth of their youngest child, Roby Smith Dollar on 18 Apr 1868 in Ashe Co., NC.

Census records tell me that in the 1860 census, Alexander and his young family are living near his father.  By 1870, they are living next door to his father-in-law Levi Pennington.  It is interesting to note that Elizabeth’s brother is also living with him and his listed as insane.  Levi Daniel Pennington had received injuries during the Civil War and returned home mentally ill and spent the majority of his life in a mental institution after the war.  By 1880, Alexander Monroe is probably still living in the same place, but his father in law has passed away and at this point, he is listed as a wagon maker, while 17 year old John Dula Dollar is listed as a shoemaker and the younger two are also members of the household.  Their oldest daughter is living half the county away with Elizabeth’s brother, Larkin Pennington.  It was sometime in the next few years, that Alexander Monroe Dollar and Elizabeth Pennington that they left Ashe Co., NC and traveled over to Johnson Co., TN (a neighboring county) and traveled up to settle in what is now the Laurel Bloomery part of Johnson Co., TN near a town called Shingletown.  Elizabeth’s uncle Andrew Pennington lived there with his family and perhaps told them of the availability of land. 

It is unknown as to when Elizabeth Pennington died, but it was sometime after their move to Johnson Co., TN in 1883 and Alexander Monroe Dollar’s marriage to his second wife, on 9 Jun 1887 to Sarah “Lulu” Rebecca Pearce.  There is no known location as to where Elizabeth is buried or any idea as to when she died exactly or what she died of.  She would have been somewhere in her early to mid 40’s in age.    Their daughter Emeline marries Caleb Wills Noland in 1881 at the age of 15.  Sometime after their move to Johnson Co., TN, Alexander Monroe Dollar along with his younger brother John Wesley Dollar and son, John Dula Dollar have a small mill.  I am not sure if they were producing lumber or shingles which is how the area derived the name Shingletown.  All that is left of that signifies the location of that mill, is a small road sign that says Dollarsville road. 

John Dula Dollar married Buena Vista Bailey in 1889, he was 24 and she was 17 years old.  Very quickly two children came along in 1890 and 1891 (Claude & Bessie) and then my great grandmother was born in 1894.  Buena Vista died in April of the same year…and so John Dula was left with three small children and probably turned to the only people he could, his father and step mother.  Alexander’s second wife, Lulu, was actually a midwife and was present when my great grandmother was born.  I am sure that Lulu had primary care of my great grandmother through those first few months of life and certainly after her mother’s death. 

In 1897, John Dula Dollar remarries and takes his oldest children to live with him and his new wife.  Somehow, Lulu convinces him to leave his youngest daughter with her grandfather and step grandmother.  So that his house that in the 1900 census, my great grandmother is living with her grandparents in the little house in the holler as I like to call it.  I know from stories that I have heard, that my grandmother was rather spoiled and could do pretty much whatever she wanted.  I don’t know if the grandmother did the spoiling or perhaps both grandparents.  However, when Alexander Monroe Dollar died on 14 Aug 1908 in Silver Lake, Johnson Co., TN, my great grandmother’s life of leisure was about to end.  Her father was making noises about taking her back to live with him, and her grandmother convinced her to get married instead.

John Dula Dollar's young family - taken about 1895 -
Claude on the left, John Dula holding Sophia and Bessie on the right.

There are so many details missing from this story about Alexander Monroe Dollar.  I don’t know exactly where he was born nor do I know where he was buried.  I know that he was referred to as Monroe or “Roe” Dollar and probably never went by Alexander or Alex.  He worked at times as farmer, carpenter or wagon maker and as a mill worker.  I have never seen a photo of him or either one of his wives.  There is still so much about him that is shrouded in mystery…and at this point, there is no one to ask.  My great grandmother died before I turned 12 and she was probably the last living person who knew him.  There is a lot more that I wish I knew about this great great great grandfather of mine!

35 Years Ago...

Mom Friddle with my grandmother Capitola and son Claude!

You might say that my great grandmother, Sophie Dollar Friddle, is one of my favorite subjects.  Probably because I have always heard so many stories about her that made a definitely impression and also because I remember her.  I wish I could say that I remembered her well - but I remember her the way and eleven year old would...with fleeting images and memories.  I do remember well the day she died and following days afterwards.

I remember Mom telling all of us kids about Mom Friddle's death and as the youngest, I was sad - but I really didn't know what it meant or what was coming.  For my mother, I could see that this was a truly monumental event and I know from what she has told me over the years that Mom Friddle was one of the most important people in her life.  Mom grew up just a hundred or so feet from her house.  So, she was very much a part of Mom's daily life.  Even as an adult, they spent a lot of time talking and visiting on the phone.  Mom Friddle loved to call and find out what type of trouble that my brothers had gotten into that day.

On that day, 35 years ago, that we had a graveside service for Mom Friddle - everything was different to me.  It was the first time that I had saw a body and it didn't look like Mom Friddle to me.  She was still - I had never seen Mom Friddle not shaking her head constantly with her tic or with white hair.  It had been six months since I had seen her and she had been in a nursing home - and she didn't look like the grandmother I was used to.  At the graveside, everyone stood around solemnly and somehow I ended up near my uncle Claude.  When service started I took his hand...or maybe he took mine.  This was very unfamiliar to me and I was a bit nervous.  As the service progressed, Claude held my hand tighter and I looked up at him.  I saw tears creeping down his face and I think that I realized that Mom Friddle was much more than the old Grandma that I knew who told great stories - she was a beloved mother who left behind three children who despite the fact they were all over 50 were going to miss their mother dearly.

I know so much more about my great grandmother now than I did back then.  I've learned things from all of my family that knew her and have learned a few things on my own.  So, as I go down to the cemetery today and lay flowers at her stone - I will think of that day so long ago...but now I wish I had been a bit older and had talked to her more about her life.  She probably would have told me a few tall tales, but it would have been fun to hear them from her!

Here are a few blogs that I have written about Mom Friddle that you may enjoy!

Three Great Dames - Happy Thanksgiving

119 Years Ago…today!

Place to Place

Coffee & Hot Toddies

A Lifetime of Changes

Taken about 1920 - Left to right - Capitola, David Carl Friddle, Jack and Sophie Dollar Friddle

Learning to Shoot...

After my Uncle Jack's widow, Hilda Heitmann Friddle died on 24 Jun 1989, Mom and I got a pleasant surprise.  Her brother dropped by some of Jack's photo albums and a few other bits and pieces.  Among these bits and pieces was a photo album with some really wonderful pictures.  I think my favorite was the one where Pop Friddle was holding on to the toddler (Uncle Jack) while Mom Friddle was learning to shoot.

I have no idea as to the specific location other than it was up on Grouse Flats above Troy, Oregon.  I have no other specific date except the guess that it must have been taken during the late summer, as Mom Friddle seems to be showing her pregnancy somewhat and she had my Grandma Capitola in December.  So this was photo was probably taken around August 1911 and Jack would have been almost two years old, and Mom Friddle (Sophia Dollar Friddle) would have been 17 years old and Pop Friddle (David Carl Friddle) would have been about 22 years old.  I think it is a wonderful picture of a pioneer family...which is what they were.

When Mom Friddle came out west with her young son who was just over a year old in 1910, it must have been quite a culture shock.  She had grown up in a household as the adored and coddled granddaughter.  As my Grandma Cappy described it..."she had grown up like Topsy!"  To paraphrase, she didn't know how to cook much, make soap, care for a house...and here she was a young bride and mother at 16 years old when she came out west in November 1910.  I imagine that after the trip from Troy, OR on a wagon up to her new home, she must have wanted to throw herself on the bed and cry her eyes out.  She had left a comfortable home where she had been taken care and  was in a simple small shack with her young son and her husband gone for weeks at a time working.  That first winter had to have been very hard.  Perhaps Pop Friddle was with her...I don't really know - but I know that I heard stories of hearing the screams of cougars nearby and various other types of wild animals.  She couldn't have felt too protected in that small shack.  By the time the summer had rolled around, there was not only the wildlife making loud and terrifying sounds, but also rattlesnakes that were plentiful in her new home.  So, with that knowledge - this photo becomes more significant.  My great grandmother was preparing be able to protect her children and herself while her husband was away...and if it took using a gun nearly as big as she was...then so be it.  So she not only had to learn to shoot...she had to practice so she could hit whatever she was shooting at!  Knowing what I do about my great grandmother - I suspect that she probably became quite good at it.  

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!

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.