Genealogy Wanderings - Dountain/Downtain

My great grandmother's family came from West Virginia. Most of her family lines were in West Virginia for all of the 19th century.  There are so many family relationships that sometimes it is easy to lose focus...because once you start looking it is almost like you go into a black hole and forget what your goal was.  This is one of the most complicated family relationships that I have.  I am directly related to Shawver, Nutter, Pitsenbarger, and Amick - and those families are intermarried and there are a lot of other names the fall into the mix like O'Dell

My great grandmother's younger brother was called Dewey Dountain Shawver.  I have many fond memories of him, because he was truly a character.  His son was called Dewey Dountain Shawver, Jr and there is now 4 generations of Dewey Dountain Shawver's.  Our family left West Virginia in the late 19th century - still one has to wonder where the name came from...because it is unusual.  I have found several with the name in the associated families...not sure if one of them is the source of the name.  Here are a few of these Dountain/Downtain cousins.

Isaac "Ike" Dountain Nutter is one of my earliest Dountain's.  He was born 11 Aug 1856 in Nutterville, Greenbriar Co., WV and died 21 May 1935.  His parents were John B. Nutter and Elizabeth Pitsenbarger.  John B. Nutter was the half brother of my 4th great grandmother, Elizabeth Nutter  (m. to Thomas Henderson Legg) and Elizabeth Pitsenbarger was the younger sister of my 3rd great grandfather, William Pitsenbarger.  Isaac Dountain Nutter was married to Mary Etta Walker and they had 5 children.

Levi Dountain Nutter was born March 1866 in Nicholas Co., WV and died 31 Oct 1931 in Nicholas Co., WV.  His parents were Charles W. Nutter and Sarah Pitsenbarger.  Charles Nutter's grandfather was David Nutter - my 5th great grandfather. Sarah Pitsenbarger's grandfather is my 5th great grandfather, Abraham Pitsenbarger.  They had 4 children.

Pascal Dountain Nutter was born 18 Aug 1896 in Greenbrier, WV and died 14 Nov 1955.  He was married to Rebecca May Trout.  His father was Johnson Floyd Nutter whose parents were John B Nutter and Elizabeth Pitsenberger.  (See above) His mother was Elbina Catherine Nutter, who parents were Charles W Nutter and Sarah Pitsenbarger.  They had 14 children including Pascal Dountain Nutter, Jr.

Adam Downtain Bailes was born 13 Sep 1857 in Mt Nebo, Nicholas Co., WV and died 14 Oct 1886 in Nicholas Co., WV.  He was married to Rachel Anna Pitsenbarger who was the sister of my second great grandmother, Rebecca Jane Pitsenbarger.  They had 2 children.

Paschal Downtain Nutter was born May 1861 Greenbrier Co., WV and died 13 Jan 1897 in Greenbrier Co., WV.  He was the son of Levi William Nutter and Margaret Backus.  Paschal is the grandson of my 5th great grandfather David Nutter and his second wife, Christina O'Dell. (I am descended from his first wife, Ruth Cottle.)  He was married to Caroline Richardson and they had 5 children.

Of course then there is my great great uncle, Dewey Dountain Shawver born 25 May 1899 in Decatur, Burt Co., NE and died 18 Oct 1995 in Moscow, Latah Co., ID.  He was the son of George Christian Shawver and Rebecca Jane Pitsenbarger. Dewey was married to Alice Davidson and they had three children, including Dewey Dountain Shawver Jr aka "DeweyD".  

I am not sure where the Dountain/Downtain name came from...but the name is interspersed with the Nutters and Pitsenbargers primarily but it also shows up in the O'Dell family which is closely tied with the Nutter family since David Nutter (my 5th great grandfather) married Christina O'Dell after the death of Ruth Cottle.  David and Ruth had 10 children and then David and his second wife had 7 more children.  Since the name mostly shows up among the descendants of David Nutter with the exception of Adam Downtain Bailes, it makes me think that there must have been local individual who was an important and/or beloved member of the community.  Perhaps someone can tell me who it might be.

If you would like to read more about Dewey Shawver's siblings and parents...check out:

George Christian Shawver - 1st Family

George Christian Shawver - 2nd Family

George Christian Shawver - 3rd Family

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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