John Gallop - 10th Great Grandfather

My 10^th great grandfather set sail for Boston on March 20, 1630 on the Mary and John as part of the Winthrop Fleet.  John Gallop was one of the first grantees of land in the northern part of Boston where he had a house and wharf right in the northern part of town.  It was called Gallop’s Point…and I have no idea what it is called today, but in 1630 it was a distinctive location associated with a distinctive person.

John Gallop was born about 1591 in Mosterton, County Dorset, England to John Gallop and Mary Crabbe.    When John Gallop made his voyage to Boston in 1630, he left his wife and children behind in England to what may have been perceived an uncertain future.  Not too long after his arrival, he became an important part of the new colony.  He was important enough that Governor Winthrop feared he would return to England and wrote to the Rev. John White:

I have much difficultye to keep John Gallop here by reason of his wife will not come. 

                I marvayle at the woman's weaknesse.  I pray pursuade her and further her coming by all means.  If she will come, let her have the remainder of his wages; if not, let it be bestowed to bring over his childre, if so he desires.  It would be about 40 pounds losse to him to come for her.

                                                Your assured in the Lord's worke,

                                                Massachusetts, July 4, 1632

                                                                J. Winthrop.

Finally on September 4, 1633, John Gallop’s wife and children arrived on the Griffin after an eight week crossing.  John Gallop himself traveled out to the ship and piloted the ship through a new channel that he had discovered in the Boston harbor…and so began the long history of the Gallup family in the United States.  I am descended from his oldest son, John as well as President, George H. W. Bush, President George W. Bush, George Horace Gallup (founder of Gallup poll) and Emily Dickinson.

 

Very early in my genealogy research, I was curious about the Gallup family.  My great grandfather’s mother was a Gallup and I knew that this was a prominent family.  Not knowing where to start, I started looking at the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) books that we had in my local library.  They were interesting, but I got the feeling that I was well out of my depth.  I knew Edith Gallup was the daughter of Silas Gallup and Phoebe Montanye…but little else.  At a family funeral, my great uncle told me about a book that he had bought many years before that contained a Gallup genealogy.  He let me borrow the copy of the book…and you might say a whole new world opened up for me.  I found that my Edith Gallup had a long and interesting family that stretched back to the beginnings of this country.  The first Gallup genealogy was published about 1896, the copy that I was using was published in 1966.  During the next several weeks, I input all 12,000 Gallups in my database and began my fascination with this family and its numerous allied families.  It is a fascination that still pulls at me today.  There seems to always be some new detail that needs to be found.  I might never have happened, if that long ago Reverend hadn’t convinced John Gallop’s wife, Christobel Bruschett and their children to make that eight week journey from England.  It boggles my mind to think of all the things that had to happen in my family’s history to be where I am and who I am.

33 Years Ago...Today

My family lost my great grandmother 33 years ago on the night before my 12^th birthday.  Prior to that day 33 years ago – I had three great grandmothers, two grandmothers, a great grandfather, and a grandfather.  I lost my last grandmother just over a month ago and my own mother over six years ago.  The next morning as I walked into the kitchen – two of my favorite uncles were sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee, when my mother jumped up and hugged me and wished me a happy birthday.  After hugs and kisses from my uncles, I noticed the red rimmed eyes and for the first time in my life – I noticed true sorrow on their faces and you might say I turned a corner towards adulthood.

Mom & Pop Friddle with Claude - about 1950

I read one time that a child thinks of themself first and an adult thinks of someone else before themselves.  For a normal birthday there was always a bit of excitement when I was a child, because my mother always made a big deal about birthdays.  On this birthday, she explained to me that we would celebrate my birthday in a few days…after the funeral.  I understood but at first was a bit disappointed.  When I saw my uncle’s faces that morning and that of my mother – I think I understood for the first time that we had lost a special person in our family and things were going to be forever different.  My great grandmother was gone – and I understood that two sons and a daughter lost their mother, grandchildren lost their beloved grandma and great grandchildren lost their great grandmother.  In my small world – I finally understood the impact of death.

Mom Friddle was born in 1894 and had her oldest son, Jack, when she was 15 years old.  In some ways, they grew up together.  She and Jack made that trip out from Tennessee together and lived up in that shack on Grouse Flats together.  When Grandma Cappy was born – she welcomed a daughter who would forever be a confidante and helper.  Mom Friddle had her youngest son, Claude, when she was 30 years old…and by that point was a different person than that 15 year old girl who had become a mother to Jack.  When my mother and her sister were born, Mom Friddle felt that she was much too young to be called Grandma…and so she became Mom.  (They always called their mother Momma)  By the time the first of her great grandchildren were born – she finally accepted being called Grandma.  When I knew her, she was somewhat crippled by the broken hip that she had suffered and the constant tick in her neck, although – she was one of the most fascinating people in my childhood. 

Mom Friddle's Grave at Normal Hill Cemetery.

The next day (February 10^th) we had a graveside service for Mom Friddle.  Somehow I ended up standing by my Uncle Claude as they conducted the service.  As I saw him sadly smiling, I slipped my hand into his trying to give him some comfort.  I don’t think I understood what that meant until the day of my own mother’s funeral.  That simple gesture was my first step into adulthood.  I recognized that he, Jack & Grandma Cappy had lost their mother.  I couldn’t really conceive of how hard that must be.  My mother lost her beloved grandmother – the woman who she talked to almost every day telling her the funny stories of raising four children.  Mom Friddle giggled over every one of our exploits and provided my mother and father with much needed counseling and advice on many occasions.  This dynamic person was gone from our lives…she might have been old and ready to go – but she was still someone’s mother, sister, grandmother, great grandmother and friend. 

I put some artificial flowers on my great grandmother’s grave on Wednesday – the 33^rd year since her death. As I looked down at her grave – I marveled that it had been so many years since we had lost her and thought of all that had happened to me since then.  I thought of losing my grandmother and my mother and those two wonderful uncles.  I remembered how thrilled I was on that day so long ago when I first saw the house that she grew up in.  My mother helped me make her a real person through her stories.  My childhood memories are somewhat dim – but what I do remember helped make me the person I am today.  My love of history came from listening to her stories and experiences.  All of these wonderful people helped make me become the person I am today…and I am grateful for the good fortune that I had for knowing them.  

Nicholas Johnson - Man of Mystery

One of the most mysterious of my father’s relatives is Nicholas Moses Johnson, the youngest son of Moses Johnson and Nancy Mayfield.  No one has any idea what happened to him after the Civil War and he is held in very low esteem by the family he left behind!

Nicholas was born in Guilford Co., NC around 1828 and was the youngest of the five children of Nancy Mayfield and Moses Johnson.  I’ve always sort of wondered about him.  His mother would have been close to 48 when he was born if we have the correct birth date for her.  Since, you can’t really trust the census records for dates…I suspect that she might have been closer to her husband’s age, which would have put her around 43 years old.  Moses and Nancy married on 6 May 1816 in Granville Co., NC and had Henderson William b. 2 May 1817, Washington Abraham b. 25 Oct 1819, Martha A. b. abt 1823, Nancy Jane Emily b. 27 Aug 1827 and Nicholas Moses b. abt 1828.  I have wondered if Nicholas and Nancy might have been twins…but since I didn’t know about Nancy until a few years ago, I’ve never really explored that part of the story.  All of the Johnson children were born in Guilford Co., NC and they left North Carolina sometime in the early 1840’s before 1844 when oldest son Henderson marries in Carter Co., TN. 

When the family is counted in the 1850 census, Moses and Nancy are counted in the 3^rd Civil District in Carter Co., TN along with their son Nicholas and Henderson and his family.  Nancy must have died not too long after 1850, because Moses remarries in 1855 and is in fact recorded on the same page as his son, Nicholas’ marriage.  Nicholas Moses Johnson marries Mary Ann Jenkins on 1 Apr 1855 in Carter Co., TN.  Their first child was born before the marriage…and their second child was born six months after their marriage.  Those two facts certainly lead to some interesting conclusions.  Three other sons are born in quick succession and by 1864; Mary Ann and Nicholas Moses are the parents of 5 children including 4 sons.  This is a very tumultuous period for anyone living in this part of Tennessee.  Many of the men worked for the Union army to help destroy bridges in the area to prevent them from being of use for the Confederacy.  The women also were known to harbor Unionists and Union soldiers as well from the Confederates who stormed the area.  So the men were out fighting and the women were home keeping their families safe and protected as best they could yet supporting the Union as well.  It is in this environment that Nicholas and his family are living.  After the birth of their youngest child in 1862, Nicholas disappears.

Many in the family believe that Nicholas abandoned his family and went west to settle in Santa Barbara, CA.  When I talked to cousins about him…they referred to him as “Nicholas Moses “spit” Johnson” and seem to hold him in contempt.  If he truly did abandon his family…think of his poor wife with five children to raise.  She lived until 1912 when she passed away in Hampton, Carter Co., TN.  There are family members who believe that they saw a letter from Nicholas from California…but no one I have talked to has actually seen the letter or knew it to exist as a fact.  It very well could have been possible that Nicholas died in some mysterious way and didn’t abandon his family and was simply never located after the war. 

I have never found any reference to Nicholas Moses Johnson after 1862.  So….he remains a man of mystery.  I have traced most of his children and ironically that is the part of the Johnson family that remained in Carter Co., TN.  All of the rest of the children of Moses Johnson and Nancy Mayfield moved onto other locales.  The only Johnsons left in Carter Co., TN are those that descend from Nicholas Moses Johnson and Mary Ann Jenkins.  It is definitely an irony!

A Clay County Kelley

I’ve been very lucky in my genealogy research.  I’ve had whole families open up with just a small bit of information.  Since so much of my ancestry is in New England, I have benefited from many early carefully researched genealogies.  Somehow I knew I wouldn’t always be so lucky!

John Ward Kelley & Melvina Robertson

John Ward Kelley is my great great grandfather.  He was born on 8 Aug 1849 in Teges, Clay Co., KY and died 12 Mar 1909 in Sparks, Lincoln Co., OK. (His gravestone has a different date - I don't know which is correct)  My mother had such a limited amount of information on her father’s family – mostly because he had died when she was very young and she had little contact with him.  I don’t remember exactly how we discovered the names of my great grandmother’s parents – but it wasn’t a clue that immediately yielded benefits.  Kelley is a name somewhat like Johnson, Smith or Jones (I have all four of these names in my ancestry)!  It is very common and very difficult to trace especially when your ancestor has a common first name like John.  I began my search for John Ward Kelley many years ago on a Clay Co., KY newslist.  Back then, the internet was still a new player in genealogy research and these newslists were a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the geographic area as well as the families of a particular county.  Clay Co., KY – I soon learned was one of the poorer counties in Kentucky and had been a site of feud violence in that latter part of the 1800’s which is when my ancestors left the area.  I soon learned that I should contact a lady by the name of Lucy.  From then on my research opened up to new vistas.

Gravestone of John Ward Kelley and his son Louis Cass Kelley.

Gravestone of John Ward Kelley's wife, Melvina Robertson.

Lucy’s grandfather was John Ward Kelley’s younger brother.  She actually remembered Francis Marion Kelly and well knew the old Kelly home place in Sexton Creek, Clay Co., KY.  I learned from her that John Ward Kelley was one of eleven children and was the son of William Kelly and his wife Ailey Allen.  William Kelly was probably born in Knob Creek, Washington Co., TN and walked alongside a wagon from Washington Co., TN to Clay Co., KY around 1838 with his parents John Kelly and Elizabeth Anna Hunter.  Not too long after his arrival in Clay Co., KY, he married Ailey Allen and they built their own place at Sexton Creek.  Their son John Ward Kelley married Melvina Robertson on 2 Sep 1867 in Clay Co., KY and by the time she died in 1890 they had 14 children.  John Ward Kelley and Melvina Robertson left Kentucky in 1885 and traveled to Kansas around the Chautauqua Co., area.  I don’t know if they left for new opportunities or left because of the unrest in their home county.  Clay County at this time was considered to be one of the most lawless places in the country torn apart by family feuds.  Either way, they left for new horizons.  Melvina died in 1890 during childbirth with her last child…and the child died with her.  John married a woman named Laura sometime after Melvina’s death.  Evidently, this new step mother’s wasn’t to the liking of some of John’s children…his son Leander Kelley left supposedly because he couldn’t get along with the stepmother.  He married for a third time to Sarona Spivey…and I’ve no idea if she outlasted him or not.  I can’t really find much trace of either wife since records weren’t kept at that time.  I’ve never even been able to confirm that John Ward Kelley died in Lincoln Co., OK.  He is buried with Melvina at Oak Hill Cemetery, Belleville, Chautauqua Co., KS – so I wonder at the accuracy.  It is around 150 miles between the two locations – although if there was a railway, it could be possible.  I know from another cousin that John Ward Kelley made a trip to Idaho to visit his son, Leander – which seems like quite a trip in the early 1900’s.

So, during the past decade or so I have slowly peeled back the layers of John Ward Kelley’s life.  It hasn’t been an easy process and I still make attempts at peeling back more layers.  I would like to know more about his second and third wives…or at least have the information confirmed.  There are still some of his children that I don’t feel like I have complete information on and I am hopeful that I will be able to make some progress when the 1940 census comes out in a few months.  So after all the facts that I have found from census records to names and dates of his life, marriage, and children – I am left to fill in the blanks.  Why did he leave Kentucky?  Was it because of the unrest in Clay County or because there were new opportunities further west?  Perhaps he followed his brother Kinchen to the Kansas-Oklahoma area.  Where did he die…was it really in Oklahoma or was he in Kansas where he is buried and which date is the correct death date?  I figure if I keep looking…I may find some of the answers to my questions and perhaps some new questions to research. 

Stubborn isn't such a bad thing...

Most people consider the word “stubborn” to be a negative one, but I have always considered stubborn to be an admirable if not infuriating trait.  It is a word that describes my mother, both of my grandmothers and even my great grandmothers.  These women faced challenges and rather than be cowed by the obstacle, they rose to meet them.

My grandmother, Marian Gage Johnson, could have been described by anyone as being strong-willed and capable.  As a young woman growing up during the depression, she worked away from her family to help support them during the depression.  Her choice wasn’t to cry for pity but to do something about her situation.  I would define “stubborn” as someone who makes the best out of their circumstances without being defeated by them.  As a young wife, she worked just as hard as her husband to make the best life for their family.  During her childhood, she learned out to make bread, cook meals, make clothes, can and preserve meat and vegetables.  She used those skills to make sure her family had the best she could provide.  After her oldest children left home, she worked as cook to help supplement the family income.  When Grandma Marian and Grandpa Frank moved to Oregon and started a new life…she took jobs working in a chicken plant and later a tool factory…especially when her husband’s health prevented him from working.  No matter what the challenge…Grandma Marian didn’t back down.

Of course, there were times when that stubbornness and drive to improve her situation could be a bit of a problem.  My father recalls his mother wanting to enclose the porch of their house to add on to the kitchen.  It was a great idea, but the wall she wanted to remove was a load bearing wall.  One day, my father and his Dad arrived home to find that Grandma Marian had taken the wall down.  Both hurriedly put supporting posts up to support the house.  All her children and grandchildren can remember Grandma’s penchant for trying to organize things.  I can remember going to Canby to visit and Grandma was determined that despite the distance, her family would continue to know each other.  So, every visit to the Portland area involved visits to several family members.

 

After she moved to Lewiston about 10 years ago, Grandma Marian embraced the new life near her three older children and nearby siblings.  Despite the fact that her joints made moving about painful, she occupied her time with numerous activities.  These activities included scanning pictures, emailing friends and family, doing jigsaw puzzles and enjoying her TV.  Grandma Marian continued all her life to learn new things and make new friends. 

When I see someone who continues to learn new things, make their life and those around them better, and try to improve their life not matter what the challenges and do it with a spirited attitude rather than complaining about their circumstance – I call that stubborn.  No matter what comes their way – these type of people refuse to let “it” defeat them.  There are lot of stubborn qualities that I admire, so, you might say that I strive to try to be “stubborn!”  

Place to place...

When my great grandmother moved out west to join her husband in 1910, I’m sure she never saw herself in a small cabin with a child on her own much of the time.  That was how it was when she first arrived on Grouse Flats.  Her husband was off working for the railroad to bring much needed money into the home and was home on the weekends to take care of whatever was needed around the home place.  By the time the early 1920’s came around, Mom Friddle (my great grandmother) was ready to move to town…and so they moved to Pomeroy, WA.

The Friddle family still didn’t have a lot of money and finances were tight in the 1920’s.  They had two children and another one on the way, and a place in town was desired.  They found a house in Pomeroy that wasn’t in too good of shape.  The walls weren’t exactly air tight and you might say the place was drafty.  Mom Friddle and Grandma Cappy were never ones to not make the best of any situation.  I suppose Mom Friddle was around 30 years old and Grandma Cappy was about 13.  They put their minds together and came up with a plan.  A bunch of wallpaper samples were being thrown away and so those two got a hold of the samples and decided that they would spruce the place up.  They took each piece and applied it to the walls in their small main room and I’m sure it must have looked like a patchwork quilt.  In the end, the place looked much better…in fact when the landlord came by and saw what they had done – he decided he wasn’t charging them enough rent and raised the rent.

Cappy & Sophie (Mom Friddle) probably taken around 1925.

After their oldest son, Jack, graduated from Pomeroy High School, Mom and Pop Friddle took their family and went to live near Lewiston, ID.  They first lived out in the east end of the Orchards and were recorded in the census there in 1930.  Not too long after that, they bought some acreage near the corner of Thain Road and Stewart Ave.  Pop Friddle was working for the Irrigation department and worked for $1 a day.  Half of his pay went to support his family and half went to pay for that land.  Mom Friddle and Grandma Cappy did their part and raised berries to sell and raised a large garden.  While most of the country was entrenched in deep depression and looking for things to eat – Mom and Pop Friddle somehow bettered their circumstances and made sure that their children had plenty to eat and clothes to wear. 

The last visit up to the old home place on Grouse Flats.
Left to Right:  Claude, Mom Friddle, Jack & Cappy

Grandma Cappy, Uncle Jack and Uncle Claude took Mom Friddle back up to the old home place in the early 1970’s.  The siblings shared a fondness for the old home place and talked reminiscently about their times there.  They found the old wringer washer that Mom Friddle had used to wash the clothes.  Jack and Claude both talked about taking the old washer back home for sentimentality.  Mom Friddle wouldn’t have any of that – she was glad to have left that old washer behind and didn’t really ever want to see it again.  Now all of them are gone and all that is left is a few pictures and some stories told to my mother that were related to me.  When you look at the life that my great grandmother lived and the places that she lived – it doesn’t engender a lot of envy in my mind – she had to work hard, live on the only the essentials, struggle to feed her family, and make the best of any situation.  Perhaps we all need to have a little taste of the way they lived to appreciate what we have now.    

A Matter of Record

I’m always in search of a record…sometimes it is a death record or burial record or perhaps a marriage record or birth record.  The search for these records can sometimes lead down a hopeless path of defeat and other times it can be an exultant triumph.  The triumphs are way too few…but enough that you keep trying.

I primarily research in four parts of the country where my ancestors lived prior to 1900.  These sections are:

• Appalachia – Primarily Johnson Co., TN, Carter Co., TN, Sullivan Co., TN, Jefferson Co., TN, Ashe Co., NC, Grayson Co., VA, & Washington Co., VA
• West Virginia – Nicholas Co., WV, Fayette Co., WV, Greenbrier Co., WV and Raleigh Co., WV
• New England – New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, & Massachusetts
• New York – Albany Co., NY, Schenectady Co., NY, Schoharie Co., NY & Montgomery Co., NY

Record from Vermont recording the birth of my great grandmother Shirlie Louisa Pope.

If you are looking for a birth record, you are quite fortunate to locate records prior to 1900.  Most areas did not keep official records and although you can find indexed records of baptisms or christenings, various church records, etc. it is still rare to find an actual birth record.  New England is probably the best source for these types of records...outside of New England - the record keeping is not so good.  The only birth records that I have of my direct ancestors before 1900 come from New England. 

Death record of my 4th great grandmother, Susan Harden Gallup from  NY.
robably the oldest official death record that I have.

Death records can be just as elusive.  New York has records that can be ordered from 1880 on but they can be very expensive and the old ones can be very hard to read.  Hopefully there are small clues into the family that might lead you to further your research. However, most areas don’t have these records prior to 1900 or usually about 1904.  It has been my unfortunate luck to try and get some of these records and be just months short of the date that they were officially kept.  Then there are areas like Iowa where you have to be a direct descendant to get the official death record.  My great great grandfather died in 1873 and he had only one sibling that lived past 1930, but I can’t get her record because I am not her descendant.  Since I have no proof of their father’s name, this is particularly frustrating. 

Marriage records seem to be a bit more obtainable and usually of an earlier vintage.  I suppose it is because these records recorded marriage bonds and money had to be paid to obtain the bond or license.  I have copies of some of these records reaching back to the 1700’s in North Carolina. There are also several books that have indexed these records.  I have a copy indexed marriage records from Johnson Co., TN and Grayson Co., VA as well as access online to several other indexes. 

Burial records are also a wonderful resource….if you can get them.  I don’t have many books on burials in the New England, New York, or West Virginia areas.  Sites like www.findagrave.com can be very helpful as well as fellow researchers like Midge Frazel, Stephan Laskey, Jon Saunders, and Peggy Blais (and many others) who have helped me see photographs of some of my earliest ancestors.  You are also lucky if the area that you are researching has published cemetery records.  I own two such volumes from Grayson Co., VA (3 large books) and Ashe Co., NC (2 large books) and there are several others that I would love to get a copy of that are no longer in print.  These books aren’t always completely accurate but the usually the data is very good and corrections are always being made.  The growth the availability of these records in the last 15 years is incredible.  More and more people are sharing their photos and information online with others. 

One of the most important things to remember with any of these records is that there are mistakes on many of them.  Sometimes they are as simple as typo mistakes or mistakes from the transcriber in trying to read handwriting from a bygone era or faded documents.  Death records are mostly obtained at some of the most difficult times for a family.  I even made the mistake on my mother’s death record of giving the incorrect middle name of my grandmother.  If anyone should have known better is was me.  Keep track of your record keeping as well.  If you have tried to get the death record of your great great great grandfather in Washington Co., VA and am told that there is no record, despite the fact that he died in 1928 – make a note of your attempt. You never know when another source might appear.  Keep a journal or notebook with the dates and availability of records that you are searching for.  Each county in each state has its own method of keeping records and it is only within the last century or so, that these have been standardized.