Valentine Huddleston & Catherine Chatham

When I first started reading the Gage family genealogy when I was a teenager, one of the more interesting entries was that of Valentine Huddleston and his wife Catherine Chatham.  Now my handy dandy genealogy program calculates that Valentine and his wife were my 9th great grandparents - so obviously this couple lived a long time ago.  However, there are definitely some interesting stories.

Valentine was born in 1628 in England and was  possibly the son of Valentine Huddleston and Jane Grey. There is a listing for a Valentine Huddleston who arrived in Maryland in 1663 and I believe that my Valentine might be the same fellow.  He would have been about 35 years old and if this is the same Valentine Huddleston, he made his way up near the Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Catherine Chatham had a much more difficult journey to the colonies.  She was born about 1635 in England. As my old Gage genealogy stated it "Catherine Chatham came to Boston from England dressed in sack cloth as a sign of her belief in the Quaker religion.  She had been threatened with death, but instead was stripped to the waist and driven into the forest in the middle of winter and was expected to have died...but survived and married John Chamberlin."  I have seen this same story written down or some variation of it several times.  She seemed to be a woman of strong beliefs and will from what those few sentences spell out.  She married John Chamberlin, who was a widower with five children.  After her marriage, they had three more children and then John Chamberlin died. around 1667, so she was left with the care of eight children.  When she met Valentine Huddleston and married him on 4 Aug 1672 in Newport, RI, she came with quite a bit of baggage.  I have no idea if Valentine had ever married, but when he married Catherine Chatham, he was 43 years old.

So here is the newly married couple...Valentine at 43 years of age and his wife, Catherine who was 37...and if the data is to believed, they had at least four children:  Henry b. 1673, George b. 1677, Catherine b. 1679 and Jean b. 1681.  Catherine died sometime after 1681 although some have her death date as 1679 - which would make the birth of her last child somewhat difficult.  I'm not sure anyone really knows her exact death date.  Since this was a woman in that particular time period, I'm not sure it is a record that survives. Valentine lived a remarkably long life.  He received land from Governor Bradford of Massachusetts and moved there and spent the remainder of his life there and died on 8 Jun 1727 at the age of 98 years of age.

Catherine and Valentine's son, George married Mercy Case.  Mercy's father was James Case and her mother was Anna Chamberlin, the step daughter of Catherine Chatham.  (Anna's parents were Ann Brown and John Chamberlin.) When you think about it...it seems a rather close connection but there is no blood relation.  James Case married Anna Chamberlin about 1675, two years before George Huddleston was even born.

So, here is my ancestry from Catherine and Valentine:

Valentine Huddleston m. Catherine Chatham
George Huddleston m. Mercy Case
Isaac Huddleston m. Elinor Mortimer
Mary Jane Huddleston m. Joseph Gage
William Gage m. Ruth Macomber
Potter Gage m. Cynthia Swan
Gilbert Gage m. Pheobe Allen
Orlando Gage m. Edith Gallup
Ora Silas Gage m. Florence Christine Shawver
Helen Marian Gage m. Frank Stewart Johnson - my grandparents!

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.  

Bessie Friddle Ray

I think that this picture must have been taken in the late 1930's or perhaps the early 1940's.  It is a photograph of Bessie Calone Friddles, her husband Joseph Andrew Ray and their daughters Odess Ivalee Ray and Delta E. Ray.  Bessie was the daughter of Albert Ananias Friddles and Cordelia A. Vaught.  I never met Bessie but have spent time researching her.

Bessie's parents left Johnson Co., TN sometime between 1887 when Bessie's older brother, Joe was born and 1889 when she was born around Pomeroy, Garfield Co., WA.  The best guess is that it was most likely in 1888 and that was from a newspaper article about her father when he died.  Her father, Albert, was my great grandfather's older brother but I think in reality that he was the closest thing that my great grandfather had as a father figure.  My great grandfather was born in 1889 and his father died in 1890.  Albert was born in 1854 and was 34 years older than my great grandfather.  Albert married into a fairly well known local family when he married Cordelia Vaught on 15 Mar 1883 in Johnson Co., TN.  They had three sons within the first four years of their marriage.  They then took off and moved west to first Garfield Co., WA and later Grouse Flats, Wallowa Co., OR.  I don't know how they made the trip west.  I think that there might have been trains by that time, but I suspect that they left TN for the same reason that most people went west. There wasn't much opportunity for a young man to own land in Johnson Co., TN but there were all kinds of possibilities if he took his growing family west.  It was into this small family that Bessie was born on 15 Feb 1889.  Two younger siblings followed...one sister who died within her first few months of birth and a younger sister who was born 10 years after Bessie was born.  It was not too long after this youngest sibling was born that Bessie's life must have changed drastically.  Her mother, Cordelia, died on 20 Oct 1901 of Tuberculosis.  Cordelia left behind three sons and two daughters.  At 12 years old, I'm sure that many of the household chores fell to the little girl including taking care of her little sister.  It wasn't as though there were neighbors or close family nearby that could help.  I have heard from several sources that Albert was a remarkable man who kept his family together and raised his youngest daughter - but one has to wonder how much of that responsibility rested on Bessie's younger shoulders.

When Bessie was 19 years old, she married a 35 year old Joseph Andrew Ray.  Joseph was the son of Nathan William Ray and Margaret Susanna Pickens.  I am not sure what prompted Joseph to leave North Carolina and come west...but I suspect that it was his older sister Amanda.  Joseph's father Nathan William Ray served in the Third Mounted Infantry of NC for the Union.  Amanda married as his third wife to Samuel Marion Silver, a Confederate veteran.  (That had to be interesting a Union soldier's daughter married a Confederate soldier) They left North Carolina sometime after 1890 and before 1900 when they are recorded in the census.  Andrew and Bessie stayed in the Grouse Flat area until after 1930.  It was probably at this time, that many of the family members had left Grouse Flats and there wasn't much to keep them there.  I know that my great grandparents left in the early 1920's with thoughts of their son, Jack going to high school.  

I like to make fun a bit of some of the close relationships between some of the families in some of the regions around my locality...and like many other instances there are curious connections here.  Bessie was the next youngest sibling of her brother Joseph McDonald Friddles and two years after Bessie married Joseph Ray, her brother Joe married Bessie Lucretia Silver.  Bessie was the daughter of Samuel Marion Silver and Amanda Emeline Ray, Joe Ray's older sister.  So Bessie's two daughters called Amanda and Aunt and Joseph Ray was Joe Friddle's children's uncle and great uncle.

Joe Ray and Bessie moved at some point to Linn Co., OR and Joe dies there on 28 Apr 1952.  Bessie survives him until 3 Dec 1967 and they are both buried near their daughter at Willamette Memorial Park, Albany, Linn Co., OR.

I grew up hearing the odd story about Bessie Ray.  I imagine she was quite close to my great grandparents because they were of a similar age.  I've also heard that Bessie's husband, Joseph had a drinking problem.  I don't know how true it is...but when I look at the breadth of Bessie's life from early days on Grouse Flats to raising her children among her cousins - I suspect that life was hard but there must have been a satisfaction to having her family close around.  As usual, I find it interesting the connections between families.  Not only do you have the family connection but I have to wonder if there was still friction because one family served under the Union and the other in the Confederacy.  I suspect it still wasn't and easy subject when Bessie was a girl.

Joe and Bessie had two children:  Odess Ivalee Ray b. 1910 d. 1992 who married Win Emerson and a daughter named Delta Ray who I am not sure what happened to her.  I find a Delta E Ray who was born 1914 and died in 2000 in WV - but I can't be sure if it is the same one.

Abel Abram Pennington

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

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

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

Abel Abram and Emily Blevins had the following children:

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

Abel Abram and Sarah Able had the following children:

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

Fan of Christmas

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

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

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

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

Christmas -1968

Christmas 1966

David Nutter...and family...

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

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

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

David and Ruth’s children were:

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

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

They had the following children:

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

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

My line goes back to him this way:

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

George Christian Shawver m. Rebecca Jane Pitsenbarger

Elizabeth Matilda Legg m. George William Shawver

Elizabeth "Betsy" Nutter m. Thomas Henderson Legg

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

Some Dollar Pics

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

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

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

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

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

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

John Dollar and wife Pate - taken about 1925!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nellie Clyde b. 1905 d. 1906

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

Charles Frederick b. 1911 d. 1916