Shearers out of Ashe Co., NC

I’ve always researched the Shearer family out of curiosity.  My step grandfather has been gone for over 20 years and while I can’t share the information with him, I do the research in honor of him.  My grandpa Gwen did not have an easy childhood or easy life.  His father was a harsh individual who could be quite cruel so there was little in his childhood to rejoice about.  Gwen’s mother, Nettie, did her best to protect her sons and give them the love that they needed and all three of her sons loved and took care of their mother for her entire long life.  When you look deeper into the family history, there are some interesting similarities between my grandmother and step grandfather’s family history.

Grandpa Gwen’s father was Floyd David Shearer who was born in Pataha, Garfield Co., WA on 1 Sep 1881 to Jesse Green Shearer and Mary Crumpacker.  There were three children in his family, but the youngest died at the young age of two.  Jesse Green Shearer died at the age of 33 years old in what I presume might have been a sickness or farming accident.   Since he died 29 Jan 1888, I lean more towards the sickness.  Mary remarried about year later to Thomas Perrin Earl and had five more children with him.  Jesse Green Shearer was one of 17 children.  His father, Joel Sturges Shearer, was married four times to Mary Farmer on 11 Aug 1840, then Emily Jane Tyler on 11 Aug 1849, then Mary Boling on 23 Nov 1854 and lastly to Luvisa Elkins on 23 Oct 1862.  All but his last wife preceded him in death.  Joel was born on 11 Mar 1823 in Ashe Co., NC to William Shearer and Anna Reece.  I found this to be a very interesting similarity to my grandmother’s family.  Her grandfather, John Dula Dollar was also born in Ashe Co., NC.  Ashe Co., NC today has a population of about 28,000 people and is by no means a base for a large population, but I continue to be surprised at how many families seem to originate from this area.

William Shearer and Anna Reece left Ashe Co., NC sometime before 1850 as they are in Page Co., IA.  They live out the rest of their lives there, but their son Joel still has some places to go.  Joel marries Mary Farmer probably in Ashe Co., NC but they leave fairly soon after their marriage for Nodaway Co., MO where their first two children are born and Mary dies in 1848.  Joel must have taken his two children to stay near his parents, because he married Emily Jane Tyler in Page Co., IA in 1849.  There they have 5 children in five years and as Emily Jane Tyler dies about the same time as her youngest son, I presume that she might have died either in childbirth or shortly thereafter.  Joel marries another woman about 6 months later, Mary Boling in Nodaway Co., MO.  If you look at a map, Nodaway Co., MO and Page Co., IA are neighboring counties in different states.  Mary Boling also has four children in a short amount of time.  She dies in 1862.  Joel marries a widow,  Luvisa Elkins Bridgewater for the last time in 1862 in Pottawattmie Co., IA.  By 1865, they are heading west with their large family.

 

Joel Shearer’s family is located in 1870 in Forest Grove, Washington Co., OR.  In 1880 he is at Columbia, Washington Territory.  Most likely, this last location is actually around what is today, Garfield Co., WA near present day Pomeroy.    Joel Sturges Shearer died on 16 Aug 1890 at Pataha, Garfield Co., WA and is buried at the Pataha Flat cemetery located just above Pomeroy on the hill. 

There is still a lot of research that has to be done on this family…I don’t spend a lot time on them, but every once in while I go through and find new data and add new information to the family.  I doubt that my grandparents knew that their families came out of the same small county in North Carolina.  I think if they had known, they would have spent more time visiting the area.  I know they were there in 1957 visiting family because my mother remembered it.  Grandpa Gwen probably had no idea that his great grandfather was born there and his ancestors had lived there for a few generations.

1940 Laurel Twp, Ashe Co., NC - Penningtons (Part 3)

Photo of Big Laurel Creek - taken by Mary Almaroad

Onward to the rest of the census – in Laurel Twp in Ashe Co., NC.  I’m sorry to say that I don’t have a lot of insights into the remaining pages of the census records.  Mostly because we are out of the Pennington area that I know about.  That isn’t to say that we are completely out of Pennington relations in the area, though.

There is a close relationship in that township amongst several families.  They may not be related by blood but they are by history.  Most of the Farmers in the next several pages of the census are descended from Thomas Farmer and his 10 children,  I don’t even have anywhere close to a good database on theses Famers…but there are a few mentioned that are interesting.  On page 7A, there is a Ettie Farmer listed in the middle of the page.  Her maiden name is Pennington  (Her name should be Campbell and not Pennington - she was married to William Farmer as his second wife)  – I don’t know as yet where she fits.  Her son, Elmer, married Dora Pennington, daughter of Ephraim Stacy Pennington Maggie Roark.  In this census, Etta is the widow of William M. Farmer (he was the son of Calvin Farmer and Emeline Graybeal) and she is listed with 5 children and I still have to search for the rest of her children as she had 10 children.

This may be somewhat disappointing – but there really aren’t any other names that I recognize right away.  I recognize the last names of Eastridge, Graybeal, Osborne and Farmer and the Shepherd name on Page 7B is particularly interesting.  There are few cemeteries in the Laurel Twp that I have either visited or know about.  The Mock cemetery is one of them and there is also a Farmer cemetery – but the one that is probably most interesting to Pennington researchers is the Elijah Shepherd Cemetery.  This is where many of the Penningtons are buried.  Isaac and Elijah are there with many of their family members.  The remaining pages of the census must cover the lower section of the Laurel road.  Just because I don’t have the names in my database right now…this will be something that I will spend some time on. 

Elijah Shepherd Cemetery - taken by Carolyn Waters

Mock Cemetery sign near the road
Below the Mock Cemetery on the hillside
 - Taken by Mary Almaroad

Whenever you spend any time on a family that has lived in a specific region for a long time – you generally spend some time researching allied families.  There is a lot to be learned from this research.  Sometimes there are intermarriages; sometimes it is another location to search for cemetery records.  I am reminded of this because of an experience I had many years ago in Johnson Co., TN.  I was talking to a lady who had lived in Shingletown for most of her life.  She was at that point taking care of her elderly mother.  The lady shared with me some photos that she had of my cousins.  While I was there, I got some information on her family because she didn’t know all that much.  As I started tracing her line back, I found out that she was part of the same Pennington family as I…just a few generations back.  I also found that at least 60 % of those buried at the Wesley Methodist Cemetery in Shingletown had some relation to Andrew Pennington and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Pope.  So, even though I don’t have a complete picture of the rest of these families – if I take the time to get the basic information down on them, it may lead me down some research paths that I had not considered.  So…while I don’t know where the rest of these families fit – I will keep looking in my research materials to see if I can figure it out!

1940 Laurel Twp, Ashe Co., NC - Penningtons (Part 2)

I’m back on my 1940 Pennington search.  If you would like to read my previous article, go to http://genheirlooms.blogspot.com/2012/04/1940-laurel-twp-ashe-co-nc-penningtons.html - I left off with Page 2A of Laurel township.  As I am looking at Page 2B – there aren’t too many familiar names until I get to the bottom of the page where I find Kirby Pennington.

Kirby Smith Pennington is the 3^rd generation down from Levi Pennington and Elizabeth Henson through his father Melvin and Grandfather John Pennington.  He was married to the much younger Lula Victoria Jones.  She was born about 1906 to John C. Jones and Sallie – now, I don’t have her lineage right now, but the Jones family is also quite prevalent in this area. 

On page 3A – we move on to William Osborne who is married to Vertie Pennington, also the daughter of Melvin Pennington.  This is a great entry because it allows me to fill out names and birth years.  Williard is connected with the big three families in Ashe Co., NC – the Pennington by marriage and the Osbornes, Graybeals, and Estridges in his family background.  Even though I don’t see any other Penningtons on the rest of the page, evidently by notes listed on the far left – most of the information came from a neighbor named Mrs. Rash who supplied the census taker with the data.

It isn’t until the bottom third of the page until I find another familiar name.  Tom L. McCoy is the son of William McCoy and Mary Brown…several of his siblings married Pennington relations.  Near the bottom of the page is William Riley Pennington with his wife, Hattie Edmonson.  William is the grandson of Elijah Ephraim Pennington and Mary Osborne and the great grandson of Levi Pennington and Elizabeth Henson.

Page 4A has several familiar names, but no one I can identify exactly.  There is a widowed Maggie Pennington with son, Ethan…this will lead me into the pursuit to discover who they are.  Near the top of Page 4B is Quincy Williams with wife, Rosa – who is the daughter of Isaac Pennington and Martitia Osborne.  Next is another Jones and Oliver family.  This Oliver family is one of the more well known.  Etta Jane Pennington married James Oliver in 1914 and I believe their oldest daughter is still alive at near 97 years old.  Seeing that Ruth Oliver isn’t listed with her family and knowing that she is married to a Greer, I believe that she is at the top of the page with her husband Russell.   Next is an Eastridge family that is probably connected…but I don’t what it is.  Then comes Mack Farmer who I believe according to another researcher, has the original Levi Pennington home place.  Like many others, if they aren’t connected to the Penningtons, then they are to either the Osbornes or Graybeals, in this case Mack is the son of Emeline Graybeal.

So, ends a journey through another four pages of the Laurel township in Ashe Co., NC in 1940.  There is a reason that I spend so much time looking at peripheral families.   Sometimes my work with these families helps to fill in blanks in some of the other lines that I research.  Between funeral records and census records there is still lots of research to be done.