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Wednesday, September 7, 2022

Revolutionary War Patriot Ancestors #6 and #7: Aeneus Campbell, Sr. and Jr.

“A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever” (Ecclesiastes 1:4).


In the late 1980s I helped Dad compile information for a Troutman family history. When we finished, my mother asked me, “Now that you’re finished with the Troutman ancestors, will you see what you can learn about my McIntyres?” I was delighted to do it, and it’s been a different kind of  adventure. Dad’s were mostly German immigrants; Mother’s were Scots. Turns out, my mother has as many or more Revolutionary War patriots as my Grandma Mary. Wish she were here today for me to share about them. But then, maybe she has met them in heaven.

With the help of a Campbell cousin in North Carolina, I learned about Aeneus Campbell (#A018526), a 5x great-grandfather. There are actually two men, father and son, with the same name, both who served in the war. The elder Campbell is the first patriot I found for my mother. He and the others are all ancestors of her mother Fannie Mae Myers: Me > Lois McIntyre > Fannie Mae Myers > Omie Allen Deal > Jane Campbell > Belt Campbell > Aeneas Campbell, Jr. (#A204644) > Aeneas Campbell, Sr.


Aeneus, Sr. was born in Scotland about 1730. Haven’t found a record for his arrival in the colonies, but he first lived in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. From there, he moved to Loudon County, Virginia about 1755 where he became the county’s first sheriff. His son Aeneus, Jr. was born in Loudon County in 1757. He also came just in time to serve the Fairfax Company as lieutenant during the French and Indian War. He bought a plantation called Raspberry Plain (it’s still there, Google it), which had a jail in the yard, a 12-foot-square brick building, conveniently located for the sheriff.(1) He also built the first courthouse and was among the first trustees of the town of Leesburg. In 1760, he sold Raspberry Plain to Thomas Mason and moved back to Maryland, and from there he served in the American Revolution. He helped raise a company of men in Frederick County called the First Maryland Battalion of the Flying Camp.(2) He is credited with raising and supplying the company at his own expense.(3)

The Flying Camp and the Maryland Battalions were heavily involved in the bloody battle of Brooklyn Heights during which Washington’s army suffered heavy casualties.(4)

Aeneus Campbell, Sr. first married Lydia (surname uncertain), who was the mother of three known children: Esther, Aeneus Jr., and Ann, as proven by descendants who submitted DAR applications. Lydia died about 1768. Later, Aeneus married Henrietta Cheney, 24 Dec 1793.(5) It’s likely that he had another wife between Lydia and Henrietta, but I haven’t seen the evidence. Input from those who have sources is welcome. Aeneus Sr. died in 1812 in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Aeneus, Jr. was born 3 October 1757 at Raspberry Plain. He served during the American Revolution as a lieutenant in the militia in Captain Harwood’s Company, Upper Battalion of Montgomery County.(6) He first married Sarah Hickman in 1778.(7) They had one known daughter, Mary born about 1781. Sarah died about 1790, and Aeneus, Jr. second married Eliza Ann Belt, 25 Feb 1791. They had nine known children: Thomas, Elijah, Humphrey, Esther, Asa, Ruth, Belt, Elizabeth, and David.(8) Aeneus, Jr. moved his family to North Carolina about 1796, as did the Belt and Turner families from Maryland, with whom the Campbells had intermarried. Aenaus Jr. died in Iredell County, NC on 15 Oct. 1828.(9)

Other men from the Maryland-to-North Carolina families from whom my mother descended—the Belt, Turner, and Dent families—also served in the Revolution. It’s a pleasure to share them with you. More to come. 

Campbell cousins at grave of Aeneus Campbell, Jr., Iredell Co., NC

____________________

1. Harrison Williams, Legends of Loudon (Richmond, VA: Garrett & Cassie, Inc. 1938), p. 102. This book may be viewed online, full text: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/38130/38130-h/38130-h.htm

2. Williams, p. 103.

3. Williams, p. 104.

4. For more on the Flying Camp and 1st Maryland Regiment: https://revolutionarywar.us/continental-army/maryland/ . Also, to learn more about the Battle of Brooklyn, see https://www.battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/brooklyn . Also, for an engaging account of the battle, read Patrick O’Donnell’s The Indispensables.

5.  Maryland Marriages, 1655-1850, Frederick County, 24 Dec 1793, Henrietta Cheney and Aeneus Campbell, Ancestry. 

6. R1627V (pension file); Archives Of Maryland, Vol 16, p 373; Archives Of Maryland, Vol 18, p 49.

7. U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900, David Campbell; Ancestry.

8. Ibid.

9. Ibid.

Tuesday, August 30, 2022

NSDAR Patriot Ancestor #5: Thomas Dunn #A132948


Thorn Spring and Crab Creek were Dunn locations.


Grandma Mary’s pioneer ancestors flourished in southwestern Virginia. I wonder if she had any inkling how deep and firm her roots grew there. This time it’s 5x great-grandfather, Thomas Dunn: Me > Verne Troutman > Mary Waggoner > Eli P. Waggoner > Anna F. Harman > Henry Harman > Mary “Polly” Dunn > Thomas Dunn.

Thomas Dunn was born before 1745, place is uncertain. Some researchers think he was born in Ireland, others think it was northern Virginia. I haven’t found proof of either place.  Numerous men named Thomas Dunn in Virginia make it difficult to pinpoint his parents. Some Ancestry trees connect him to Thomas Dunn and Lucy, but this man’s will does not include a son named Thomas.

Our Thomas married Mary Fickle, daughter of Michael and Margaret Fickle.2 To them were born seven known children: Thomas Dunn II, Mary Polly (my ancestor), Rachel, Elizabeth, Esther, John, and Margaret.3

The Dunn, Harman, and Thompson families were closely associated. Their children and grandchildren intermarried.

In 1755, when Shawnee attacked the Ingles family killing Colonel Patton and others, and capturing Mary Draper Ingles among others, family lore claims Thomas Dunn to have been among the men who set out to track the kidnappers.

In March 1769, William Preston surveyed 320 acres of land for Thomas Dunn on “Macks Run, corner Col. Patton.”4 Thomas Dunn also received a deed for land on a branch of Crab Creek.5 In addition, he bought land on Thorn Spring, which was in court in dispute, years later.6

During the Revolution, Dunn served in the Montgomery County militia in Thomas Ingles’ Company and later as a juror.7 During that time, jurors had much more responsibilities than they do today, including questioning the defendant and doing their own research, even questioning the lawyers and judges.8

When he died, Thomas Dunn owned a sizeable estate of 2,115 acres to be divided among his seven children.9

My supplemental application for Thomas Dunn has been submitted but not yet verified. So we’ll see if I provided sufficient proof of lineage. It’s always a challenge.

Interested in learning how to join Daughters of the American Revolution? Send me a message. It's a great service organization.

________________________

1 Alabama Surname Files, Expanded, 1702-1981, n.p., Thomas Dunn, Jr., Ancestry.

2 Frederick County, Maryland, Probate Administration Accounts Liber A-1 folio 385: Will of Michael Fickle, written 20 Nov 1770, probated 3 Jan 1771.

3 Mary B. Kegley and F. B. Kegley, Early Adventurers on the Western Waters, abstract of Wythe County Deeds, 1809: Partition Deed of 7 parts to heirs of Thomas Dunn.

4 Kegley and Kegley, p. 41-42.

 5 Ibid, p. 183. This deed resulted in a lawsuit years later regarding the rightful owner of the land.

 6 August County, Virginia, Chancery Records, transcribed by Eric D. Ausmus, posted on Ancestry, 22 Dec 2012. 

 7 Summers, Annals of Southwest Virginia, Vol. 1, p. 734; Virginia Magazine of History & Biography, Vol. 47, p. 35. Sources listed on DAR.org > GRS > Thomas Dunn #A132948.

8 David Barton, "Courts of Justice," The Founders Bible (Newberry Park, CA: Shiloh Road Publishers, 2012) p.330.

9 Augusta County, Virginia, Chancery Records.

Thursday, August 18, 2022

NSDAR Patriot Ancestor #4: Adam Waggoner #A133663

posted on Ancestry. Attempt was made to get permission from original owner, but no reply.
Purported to be Adam Waggoner, c. 1790.*


Another of my paternal grandma Mary’s pioneer ancestors is 5x great-grandfather, Adam Waggoner: Me > Verne Troutman > Mary Waggoner > Eli P. Waggoner > Jacob Waggoner > Elias Waggoner > George Waggoner > Adam Waggoner, probably born before 1730 in Germany. Name spellings vary from Waggoner/Wagoner/Wagner/Waganer/Wegener, and probably more. It’s spelled Adam Wagner in the DAR database. My grandmother used the Waggoner spelling, so that’s what I prefer.

 

But it’s Adam Waganer on a list of Palatines arriving in Philadelphia on the ship Nancy, on September 14, 1754.[1] Following that is a list of signers of an oath to the British Crown, which includes the name Johann Adam Wagner: same ship, same day, same man, two name versions. He is said to have arrived with a wife, name unknown, and two sons, Jacob and George. [2]  Children born in America were Margaret, Daniel, David, Christina, Sarah, Rebecca, Elizabeth and Mary. Later to wife #2, known only as Jane, were born Anne and Susannah.  All but Margaret, Elizabeth, and Mary were named in his 1785 will.[3] The date of his exit from Germany coincided with an exodus of Moravians escaping persecution, but whether he was Moravian or not is uncertain. Later his children affiliated with the Methodists.[4]

 

Adam’s whereabouts and activities are unknown until his name appears in a land record in Augusta County, Virginia on 18 December 1769. To get there, he had surely followed the Great Road through the Valley of Virginia. He purchased several properties in and around the area and lived in Montgomery County during the American Revolution. Records indicate that he was educated, and in his will he left provision for his minor children to be “schooled.” When he died in March 1796, he left substantial land holdings to his children. [5]

 

As patriotic service, he supplied certain items needed by the colonial army.  When the military confiscated people’s property for military use, the owners were given a voucher to turn in later to be reimbursed. Adam submitted his voucher, and it was duly recorded.[6] He claimed the Washington County militia took one steer valued at £3. Also, he “provided 13 diets at 13/, pasturage for 11 horses of the Montgomery County militia at 19/, and a mutton, the total being £5.12.10.”[7] Whether he ever received compensation for his losses is unknown. Also, in Montgomery County, he took the oath of allegiance and is listed on a militia company roster led by Captain McCorkle.[8]

 
*Posted on Ancestry, this appears to be a photo taken of a portrait, as there was no photography in 1790. An attempt was made to contact the person who originally posted it to authenticate it, but no reply. So if JeanRoot97 sees it here and objects to my using it, just let me know and I will remove it. Comparing to photos of two of A. W.'s great-grandsons, sons of Elias, the likeness is striking.
 
David N. Waggoner, H. & N. p. 14.

Adam E. Waggoner, H & N, p. 43.

 


[1] Ralph Berger Strassberger, Pennsylvania German Pioneers: A Publication of the Original Lists of Arrivals in the Port of Philadelphia from 1727 to 1808 (Norristown [PA]: Pennsylvania German Society, 1934), Vol. 1, p. 591, 593. Can be viewed on Hathi Trust.

[2] Thomas C. Hatcher and Nancy Nash, The Adam Waggoner Family of Tazewell and Montgomery Counties Virginia, 1750-1996 (place n/a: publisher n/a, 1996) p. ii, 1.

[3] Virginia, Montgomery County, Will Book B (1720ca-1786ca), p. 80, will of Adam Waggoner

[4] Hatcher and Nash, pp. 190-196.

[5] Hatcher and Nash, p. 176.

[6] Abercrombie & Slatten, VA Rev Pub Claims, Vol. 2, pp. 685, 687.

[7] Hatcher and Nash, p. 346, as qtd. from Early Adventures on the Western Waters, by Mary B. Kegley, p. 764).

[8] Ibid., p. 1.

Thursday, August 11, 2022

NSDAR Patriot Ancestor #3: Andrew Thompson #A113833

 

Point Pleasant rail bridge over Kanawha River, 2014.
 

My 4x great-grandfather, Andrew Thompson, is another of my paternal grandma Mary’s pioneer ancestors: Me > Verne Troutman > Mary Waggoner > Rachel Havens > Mary Jane Thompson > Bryant Thompson > Andrew Thompson.

 

Census records suggest that Andrew Thompson was born between 1751 and 1760.[1] A Bible record says he died in 1840 at age 90.[2] Some claims on Ancestry give his middle name, his parents’ names, and his birthplace in Ireland, but I haven’t seen proof of any of it, so if my readers have sources, please share your bounty. About 1774, Andrew married Nancy Anna (possibly Reed, but not proven that I know of). An 1849 deed recorded in Wythe County, Virginia made by John, Andrew, Amos, and Bryant Thompson of Wythe County, Virginia, and Francis Thompson of Lee County refers to land inherited from their father, Andrew Thompson, Sr. In addition to the sons named above, his estate settlement names daughters  Mary Helvey, deceased, to her children, and Nancy, who married Charles Havens.[3]

 

During the American Revolution, Andrew lived in Montgomery County, Virginia. His service during the war included the rank of ensign in the Battle of Point Pleasant and appointment as a Justice of the Peace in Montgomery County.[4]

 

In the western regions of the colonies, where Andrew Thompson lived, the American Revolution often centered on battles with Indians resulting from unrest in the east and unresolved issues from the French and Indian War (or Seven Years War). Summers notes John Adams’ assertion that the Revolution actually started in 1760 when the Britain imposed taxes that the colonists deemed unfair and lacked their representation. In 1764 they organized against this oppression in Boston (and in North Carolina, I might add; see my previous post). In 1765, the Stamp Act was passed and the Sons of Liberty organized against it. In 1766 the Brits taxed tea; in 1768 they sent troops to Boston. About that time, Virginians passed an agreement not to import. In 1770 the Boston Massacre happened. In England, parliament remained determined to thwart all opposition to taxation in the colonies, which set colonists’ minds to further resistance.[5] 

 

In order to distract colonists from problems in the east, the British promised the Shawnee that if they allied with them against the colonists in western settlements, the King would keep the colonists from crossing the mountains into Indian territories. This action, the Brits contended, would also impress the colonists with their need to depend on the Redcoats to protect them from attacks on their settlements. So at the same time the Brits allied with the Indians against the colonists, they were attempting to convince the colonists that they were their protectors against Indian attacks.

 

Dunmore’s War and the Battle of Point Pleasant was an example of this duplicity.[6] In short, Governor Dunmore commanded Colonel Andrew Lewis to raise an army of 1000 men from the western counties of Virginia to fight against a huge Shawnee force led by Cornstalk gathering on the Kanawha River at Point Pleasant. Meanwhile, he told Lewis that he would take a contingent of British regulars from northern Virginia to meet up with him and assist in the battle. Dunmore dawdled and delayed and never arrived, leaving Lewis’ outnumbered colonists to wage the battle on their own. After a hard fight with many killed on both sides, including several of Lewis’ officers and his brother, the battle ended at nightfall with the colonists holding the field. Cornstalk and his men left.

 

Summers asserts that the underrated Battle at Point Pleasant on October 10, 1774 was the first full-scale battle of the war. It greatly reduced the threat of Indian attacks on the western frontier and allowed the colonists to focus their fight against the British army in the east.

 

Thankfully, Andrew Thompson survived or I wouldn’t be here today.



[1] 1830 U.S. census, Wythe Co, VA, p. 360, line 5, Andrew Thompson Sr.; NARA series M19, roll 200. Also, 1840 U.S. census, Wythe Co, VA, p. 118, line 20, Andrew Thompson; NARA series M(n/a), roll 579.

[2] Records taken from Thompson Family Bible, notarized 15 Sep 1831, J. E. Wagner, Notary Public, Mercer County, WV.

[3] Wythe County, Virginia Will Book #6, pp. 69-70, 373-376; Office of the Clerk, Courthouse, Wytheville.

[4] Livia Simpson-Poffenbarger, Battle of Point Pleasant (Point Pleasant, VA: The State Gazette, 1909) p. 94. Also, L. P. Summers, Annals of Southwest Virginia (Abingdon, VA: L. P. Summers, 1929), vol. 1, p. 683. The DAR recognizes four levels of service to qualify someone as a patriot ancestor: military, public, civil, and oath of allegiance. Thompson’s service was both military and civil. The full text of these sources can be found on Hathi Trust (hathitrust.org).

[5] Simpson-Poffenbarger, p. 12, 18.

[6] Ibid., p. 13.

Thursday, August 4, 2022

NSDAR Revolutionary War Patriot Ancestor #2: Melchior Trautman A202410


 

At the same time my 5x great-grandfather Henry Harman lived in Rowan County, North Carolina and served on the Committee of Safety (1774-1775), my 3x great-grandfather, Melchior Trautman lived there, too. I wonder if they were acquainted.

 

This is Melchior’s story. He is my father’s direct line male ancestor: Dad Verne Troutman > Grandpa Clint Troutman > G-grandpa Daniel A. Troutman > GG-grandpa Henry Troutman > GGG-grandpa Jacob Troutman > GGGG-grandpa Melchior Trautman.

 

After the death of his father, Adam Trautman, a tailor in a Bavarian village called Gross Gumpen, Melchior immigrated to America in 1751 with his mother, Anna Margaretha (Hartmann) Trautman and his half-brother Peter Trautman and Peter’s young family on the ship Neptune. On arriving in American, the Trautman men and all German immigrants were required to take an oath of allegiance to the British monarch. Melchior’s name is found on a list of oath takers “at the Court House of Philadelphia” dated 24 September 1751. He signed with an X.[1]

 

Either on the ship or shortly after arriving Melchior married a woman named Anna. No record remains of this marriage, but family tradition says her surname was Heist; the Neptune ship’s manifest lists several Heist men. Not until years later were women and children named. The 1767 baptismal record of a Lutheran Church in Northampton County, Pennsylvania of their son, Jacob, names his parents “Melcher Troutman [and] Anna” and provides evidence of their residence and religious affiliation.[2]

 

After about twenty years in Pennsylvania, Melchior and Peter moved their families, probably via the Great Road through the Valley of Virginia, to Rowan County, North Carolina. The Great Road, sometimes called the Great Wagon Road, wasn’t so great for wagons. It was a narrow footpath indigenous peoples had trod, probably following buffalo trails through the valley. That’s how the Harman family found it in 1745. By the time the Trautman family came after 1770, it hadn’t improved much. The additions were that more settlements along the way warranted organized efforts to keep the path cleared. Certain landowners were designated “overseers of the road” for the section passing their property. Nonetheless, only packhorses and folks on foot or horseback could navigate the path, not wagons, not yet. An important stopover place along the way was Fort Chiswell in Wythe County, Virginia. From there, some folks headed westward on the Wilderness Trail and some turned south over the mountains into North Carolina. [3] The Troutman families turned south. It was a long and tiring journey.

 

During the 1760s as conflict with the British arose over taxation in New England, so it did in North Carolina. The southerners also were soon divided into pro- and anti-British camps. In the outlying regions of North Carolina a contingent of men dubbed “Regulators” objected to excessive fees and taxes and corrupt government officials. The conflict lasted from 1764-1771 when the Regulators were defeated and sent packing. Interestingly, the men who fought against the Regulators later became loyal to the patriot cause and most of the Regulators became Tories.[4]

 

Henry Harman was surely aware of it all, but where he stood is unknown. Melchior Trautman and family arrived in the aftermath, in time for the start of the Revolutionary War. Having taken an oath of Allegiance to the British crown when they arrived in Philadelphia in 1751, it’s probable that Melchior and Peter Trautman were conflicted over what they should do. As the Committee of Safety (see last week’s post) took control of governing Rowan County, Salisbury’s jail became the place to confine Tories and British prisoners of war. Melchior and Peter’s son, also named Melchior, served the patriot cause by guard duty at the Salisbury Jail.[5]

 

The town certainly became the center of action after the Battle of Cowpens in early 1781 when Brigadier General Daniel Morgan’s Continentals marched through with hundreds of prisoners. Morgan was soon followed by General Cornwallis and his Redcoats, who camped about the town. You can read more about this excitement here: https://amrevnc.com/salisbury/ . For history lovers, Salisbury is a great place to see the sites and learn about events of the Revolutionary War in North Carolina (also the Civil War).

 

Melchior, however, didn’t live to witness these events. He died 9 November 1778 and was buried south of Salisbury in the cemetery at Organ Lutheran Church where he was a member; his grave is unmarked. 

And about that spelling problem, the first descendant of Melchior's to submit a DAR application spelled the name Melchoir, so that's what he gets in the DAR database. Sort of makes me grit my teeth. Clearly, his early records spelled it "Melchior."



[1] Ralph Beaver Strassburger and William John Hinke, Pennsylvania German Pioneers, Vol. 2, ( Norristown, PA: Pennsylvania German Society, 1934) p. 551. This book can be found full text on Hathi Trust.

[2] St. Paul’s [Blue] Church, Church Records (Upper Saucon Township, Lehigh County, PA, transcribed from a copy in Easton Library, 1948), p. 30. This church was and is Lutheran.

[3] See Mary B. Kegley, Finding Their Way From the Great Road to the Wilderness Road, 1745-1796, (Wytheville, VA: Kegley Books, 2008), pp. 7-12.

[4] Regulators of North Carolina, United States History, Britannica; https://www.britannica.com/topic/Regulators-of-North-Carolina

[5] North Carolina: Digital Collections, Home > Troop Returns > Guards of Salisbury Jail [1]; MilColl_Troop_Returns_B5F21_Guards_of_Salisbury_Jail_1779_09;  https://digital.ncdcr.gov/digital/collection/p16062coll26/id/767.

Thursday, July 28, 2022

NSDAR Revolutionary War Patriot Ancestor: Henry Harmon #A050817

 


During the summer of 2014, a course I took in professional genealogy presented me with a challenge. One of the lessons focused on lineage societies. I knew I had at least one ancestor with a Revolutionary War record, for I had been to his grave and had seen a marker placed by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Hmm. I wondered if I could prove my lineage to satisfy the requirements of this particular lineage society. Why not try? So I did. That ancestor was Henry Harmon, Ancestor #A050817.

 

In many families, the spelling of the name can create controversy. This family consists of the O Harmons and the A Harmans. The first person to prove lineage for DAR to Henry Harmon used an O. But during my research, all records I found spelled it with an A. Somewhere down the years, the spelling changed. I prefer the old spelling even though DAR uses the more recent one.  

 

As the story goes, Henry or Heinrich was born on the Isle of Mann in 1726 to Heinrich Adam and Louisa Katrina Herrmann (the old German spelling) as they made their way to America from the Palatinate region of present day Germany.

 

Adam Harman kept meticulous records of the births of his children in his Bible, all in German, of course. This ancient tome is housed at the Virginia Historical Society, Richmond.

 

Adam settled his family in Pennsylvania and left records in the form of quitrents, but soon they were headed southwestward through Virginia on the Great Wagon Road. Their youngest son Mathias was born at Strasburg, Virginia in 1736. By 1745, Adam had established a settlement on the New River.

 

By 1755, the Indian allies of the French were attacking settlements in southwestern Virginia, and life became precarious for the settlers. Several Harman family members were killed, not to mention friends and neighbors. Many of the families in these outposts fled toward Salem, North Carolina where a more thickly populated area including Moravians offered safety. Harman family members are mentioned in numerous Moravian daily diaries. Here’s one among many: “1762, October 3. Our neighbor, Henry Hermann, and his brother-in-law, Ulrich Richards, brought their children to us for baptism, and we could not refuse their request, so at noon Brother Ettwein baptized little Daniel Hermann, and Brother Groff baptized little Anna Richards” (qtd. in John Newton Harman, Harman Genealogy,  (Southern Branch) with Biographical Sketches and Historical Notes, 1700-1924, p. 319). The Harman families stayed in North Carolina about 20 years.

 

In Rowan County, Henry Harmon’s name can be found in a list of original members of the Committee of Safety formed in 1774. The Continental Congress had urged the colonies to form these Committees of Safety, which served to promote independence from Britain. By 1775, the Rowan Committee of Safety “regulated the economy, politics, morality, and militia of their individual communities. After December 1776 they came under the control of a more powerful central authority, the North Carolina Council of Safety” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rowan_County_Committee_of_Safety). Henry’s service with the Committee of Safety validates him as a patriot ancestor.

 

For more info on Henry Harman, read my earlier blogpost: https://rattlingoldbones.blogspot.com/search?q=henry+harman

 

Note: For years I have been curious as to why Henry Harman's grave marker says he served in Virginia, yet his service record with DAR is in North Carolina. Recently on Ancestry, I found a request for military tombstone for Henry Harman. The request shows that it was first made for North Carolina, which was crossed out and Virginia written above it. Googling Captain A[lexander]  Osborne, I found that he served on the Committee of Safety in Rowan County, as well. So that's a mistake on the grave marker. Should be North Carolina, not Virginia.

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

Sarah Geer McIntyre: The Courage to Carry On, Part 5

Continued from Part 4 . . .

As Sarah's son Martie McIntyre was entering his mid-teens, World War I began raging in Europe. When the United States joined the war in 1917, Sarah’s family felt the effects. Against his mother’s wishes and desiring to follow in Gould’s footsteps, Martie enlisted in the Navy on August 2, 1918. His military records describe him as 5’9” tall, 153 pounds, with brown eyes, black hair, and ruddy complexion.1 Prior to this time when men enlisted in the Navy, they served four years, but as an incentive to get recruits for the war effort, they were allowed to enlist for the duration of the war. This was Martie’s choice. When Germany signed an armistice with the Allies on November 11, 1918, the war officially ended, but Martie served several more months. By special order of the Secretary of the Navy, he was honorably discharged on April 17, 1919.2

 

Seven months after Martie returned from the Navy, Sarah made room for a daughter-in-law in the home. On November 15, 1919, Martie married Fannie Mae Myers (1902-1925), daughter of Jacob A. Myers, a magistrate and teacher in Smyth County, and his wife Oma Allen Deal Myers, a teacher and drama coach. Fannie’s dimpled smile and gentle ways added cheer to the McIntyre home. Within a year (August 10, 1920), Fannie gave birth to Sarah’s first grandson, Woodrow Wilson McIntyre, and twenty-three months later (July 16, 1922) to a granddaughter, Norma Lois McIntyre. By this time in her life, Sarah must have learned not to take good times for granted. A year or so after the birth of her second child, Fannie was diagnosed with “consumption,” a term used at that time for tuberculosis, and sent to Catawba, a tuberculosis sanitarium near Roanoke, Virginia.

 

Fannie’s treatments failed to cure her of the disease. After she returned home, she began to keep a diary. Her first entry was dated Dec. 27, 1924, and the last entry was penned in May 1925. Within the pages of this slim volume, she recorded her hopes and dreams and the events of her life. She often mentioned her mother-in-law, mostly in terms of illness or work: “Mrs. McIntyre is sick today,” or “Mrs. McIntyre is ironing.” Fannie also noted friends and family members who visited her, among them two women evangelists, Mayo Moses and Mabrey Evans. Fannie wrote glowingly of her affection for them.

February [1925], Sunday—1

Mayo has been here I love Mayo.  I know she is a good girl.  This old world we’re living in is very hard to beat.  We get a rose with every thorn, But aren’t the roses sweet. . . .

 

Monday—16

Mayo has been here.  She brought Miss Evans. They are such nice girlies and are doing a good work. . . .

 

Tuesday—24

It is cloudy to day.  I don’t feel good at all.  The meeting is still in progress, and will be this week.  Mayo has not been here since Sat.  I wish she’d come.3

 

When Fannie died on September 7, 1925, five days before her twenty-third birthday, Martie and Mayo stood on opposite sides of her bed holding her hands.

           

Once again, motherless children were left in Sarah’s care, but this time at age sixty-five she was suffering from poor health. Unlike John Chapman, who seldom visited Gladys and Lorene, Martie took responsibility for his children. Life went on in the McIntyre household. Martie bought property farther up the hillside in Allison Gap and began construction on a new house. Later, Allie built a barn on the property and continued to keep a large garden.

 

Though she was just a young teenager, Lorene carried much of the responsibility for the care of Lois and Woodrow. Gladys had moved to Hopewell where her Uncle Gould lived and found a job. Though Sarah’s health began to fail, she kept in touch with her “adopted” children, Gould and Gladys. A few letters to Gladys remain. These letters illustrate Sarah’s devotion to these young people whose lives were entrusted to her care as children. That she often signs her letters “Mother” illustrates the way she regarded them. Though she did not record the year, indications are that these letters were probably written in 1926, about two years before Sarah died.

Saltville Va

January 23

 

dear daughter

it is with great Pleasure to night that i will try and drop you a few lines to let you

Know that i have not forgotten you  gladis they all well here but me and i dont get no better nor never will. . . .  hope those few lines will find you all right

Lorene is at home she is lots of help to us  thire is a 20 days singing school agoing on here now Lorene is going all the time  we don’t want her to miss none of it for it is good  well gladis thire is lots of Sickness and deaths here  thire was Some one buried nearly every day last week Mr Charley Surber and his brother died at McCrady Gap  Mrs lineberry Anie Haynes4 mother and anie die is dead

. . . .

So be good and take good care of your Self for thire is so many girls kidnapped i am uneasy about you so be carful  this from your Mother to her daughther

So good night  Sarah McIntyre

________

 

April the 5, [1926]5

dear gladis

ithought i would try and drop you a few lines  i would have rote sooner but have not been able . . . . the children got thir baskets was well Please  gladis if i could get out of the house i would have sent you a Ester Preasant but just as soon as i can get out i will send you something nice

Well gladis we had a surprise Party Come in on us last Friday night at Eleven oclock  i know you cant guess so i will tell you  your aunt dealy and and uncle billy and Ribern Arnell and Earnest and his wife6  they Stayed all night and went on the first train  they come to See your aunt Em7 and then come to See me  i Sure was glad to see them all  when you come home Marti Said that he would take us all down there

Well Lorene has not missed a day in school. . . . Gould has got a big boy8  they call him junior  i forgot to tell you that Dell and Hugh and francis was here last Saturday9 they come and we was not looking for them  well the old Gap is just the same only worse  there is moore meanness than ever was Know before  i Sure was glad that you got out  i am a going to try and get Loren out just as soon as we can  This is no fitten place for a deacent girl to Stay  i am so sorry that Marti come back  if i could get out to night i sure would go10  i am well Pleased with you that you are holding yourself up. . . .  well I will close now will rite more next time  don’t fail to rite to me  i will rite just as often as i can 

this from Mother

so good by my little girl  be a good girl 

_______

 

August the 5

dear daughter

After a long delay I thought i would drop you just a few lines to let you Know

how we all are all well as comen but me  i have not been able to do nothing sience you was here  well i Seen fransias batten11  She Said to tell you to come back just as soon as you can for She Shur did enjoy you company while you was up at her home  you Said that you was coming home in September hop you will come  well Mrs. Myers and Charles and fred12 is all down with tyfoied fevor. . . .

Allie said for you to go and send her them samples of t woolen dress goods and she will Pick her out one and Send the mony . . . for it so dont fail to do that  the children13 has gon to bed  Marti is down at times has just come in from the store so I so I don’t know of any thing more to rite at Preasant  will give you all the news next time

Hope to hear from you soon gladis  don’t fail to rite to me often for Part of the time I can rite to you  and you must not fail to rit often  so I will close

for to night so be good

and take good care of your Self

So good night my little daughter

this from Mother

rite soon

________

Oct 25 [1927]

Dear daughter

ithought i would drop you a few lines this morning as aunt Marry Collins is

waiting on me to take it to the Post office  i would have rote sooner but have not been able to go half my time gladis what has become of Lorene  don’t hear from her  Gladis Hizzie14 was awful Proud of her dress  it Sure is nice goods  well Virgie Tallor15 run of the other day and got married  India Haynes16 is Married  they both married men from Marion  I don’t know know their names  well I have not time to rite mutch  will give you all the news next time  when do you think you are coming . . .  I sure do want to see you

So I will close for this time  this leaves all well as comen  hope this will find you the Same

                                                            So good by for this time

                                                            be a good little girl

                                                            this from Mama

to her daughter

rite soon

________

 

The next year, Sarah learned, inadvertently, that on August 24, 1927, Martie had secretly married Mayo Moses (1898-1988), the lady preacher and Fannie’s friend. They slipped off from a Church of God camp meeting at Christiansburg and were married at Appomattox. As a featured evangelist at the camp meeting, Mayo was afraid her marriage would divert attention from the purpose of the camp meeting—to win souls for Christ—hence the secret ceremony. The couple planned to hand out marriage announcements after the last service, but Martie’s mother discovered one of the announcements as she searched Martie’s pockets preparing to launder his clothes. The secret was out.

 

Mayo was a Tennessee girl, the daughter of a tenant farmer, William Moses, and his wife, Martha Oody Moses. At age sixteen, she had been converted during a revival meeting near Loudon, Tennessee, by Church of God evangelist, the Reverend A. G. Riddle. So impressed were the Riddles by Mayo’s zeal for the Lord that they took her into their home at Atkins, Virginia, to tutor her in Bible study and Church of God teachings.17 After her education with the Riddles and a time at Berea College in Kentucky, Mayo began a preaching ministry with another woman evangelist, Mabrey Evans. Mayo and Mabrey held revivals in communities throughout Southwest Virginia, including Atkins, Marion, Christiansburg, and Saltville. Mayo also took interim pastorates at Elliston and Chatham Hill, and for a few years she pastored the new congregation at Allison Gap. Mayo’s strong voice carried across the congregation and out through the windows to the surrounding hillside homes in powerful prayers and sermons, and she ministered in many homes praying for the sick.

 

In contrast to Mayo’s strong voice, Martie was soft spoken and modest. He had learned compassion and generosity from his mother. By this time, he was working in the Matheson company store as a grocery clerk. The Matheson Alkali Works had come to Saltville in 1893, and the company owned much of the town. Martie often helped the poor by giving them goods they needed and charging his own bill.

 

When Mayo joined the McIntyre family, she gained not only a husband, but also two small children (Lois and Woodrow), a teenager (Lorene), a mother-in-law (Sarah), and “Aunt Allie.” She ran an organized and efficient household and continued Sarah’s tradition of housing and feeding guest preachers.

 

Within a year of Martie’s marriage to Mayo, Sarah died on 23 May 1928.18 And so the earthly life of an ordinary woman of Southwest Virginia came to an end. Her life exhibits traits upon which communities thrive. She overcame many tragedies: early loss of both her parents, the stigma of her father’s defection from the Confederate army, early loss of her husband, loss of two stepchildren and a daughter-in-law as young adults, and more. With dignity and with her friend Allie by her side, she used what little resources she had to make a living for herself and for the children entrusted to her care. With her modest resources, she helped establish the Church of God in the area by housing and feeding visiting evangelists. Beyond her own neighborhood, Sarah McIntyre was unknown. However, in her determined and humble way, she represents many women who faced the hardships of life with determination and courage. They taught their children to honor God and country, to continue the work ethic modeled for them, and to be compassionate, contributing citizens. Thus Sarah Geer McIntyre and countless women like her helped to weave the social an economic fabric of their communities for the good.

s
John Martin "Martie" McIntyre, U. S. Navy 1918.
 

Fannie McIntyre, her son Woodrow (r) and bother Charles (l), c. 1921.

 
L. to r. back: Mr. Moore (a cousin of Sarah's), Sarah McIntyre, Charles Myers (Fannie's youngest brother); l to r. front: Woodrow McIntyre, Lois McIntyre, and the little blondie is an unknown granddaughter of Mr. Moore's, c. 1925 or '26.

The lady preacher, Mary Mayo Moses, c. 1925.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to my mother, Lois McIntyre Troutman, for telling me stories and for saving all the letters and photos. Thanks to Harry Haynes at the Museum of the Middle Appalachians for introducing me to The Smithfield Review and for answering my many questions about Saltville, Allison Gap, and the people who lived there long ago. Thanks to Hugh Campbell and others at The Smithfield Review for their comments and suggestions to improve the clarity of this manuscript, which was originally published in that journal in 2007, Vol. 11. (As I adapted the article to this blog, I corrected a few errors I found. Nothing is perfect.) From readers, I welcome any additional information that might shed light on the life of Sarah McIntyre and her family and the people she knew.



1 Enlistment papers are in the possession of the author.

2 Discharge papers are in the possession of the author. The family story about Martie’s WWI service is that he was underage when he enlisted, and Sarah was able to get him discharged for that reason. However, on finding Martie’s enlistment papers, I discovered this not to be the case. He was 20 years old when he enlisted. The only possible reason for this story that I can think of is that maybe Martie tired to enlist in the Navy at age 17, and Sarah was able to get him out at that time, but there is no record of such an event.

3 Fannie Myers McIntyre. Unpublished diary. 1925. This book is in the possession of the author.

4 Annie Haynes was the wife of David Haynes and the mother of India Haynes mentioned in Sarah’s Oct. 25th letter. Annie’s mother had died.

5 The year can be inferred from the reference to the birth of Gould C. McIntyre, Jr., born in 28 Feb 1926.

6 Aunt Dealy was Cordelia McIntyre Arnold, sister to Martin McIntyre (Sarah’s husband); Uncle Billy was William Ector McIntyre, of Abingdon, brother to Martin McIntyre; Ryburn and Earnest Arnold, were sons of Cordelia McIntyre Arnold.

7 Aunt Em refers to Emmaline McIntyre Stanfield, sister to Martin McIntyre.

8 This would be Gould C. McIntyre, Jr., born in 28 Feb 1926.

9 Adelle (Stanfield) Bolton, her husband Hugh and daughter Frances. Adelle was daughter of Martin McIntyre’s sister Emmaline who married James M. Stanfield.

10 Whatever was going on in the “Gap” that caused Sarah’s desire to see the family leave there is not certain. Despite this, the family stayed in Allison Gap home until 1992, when Gerald McIntyre died and the house was sold. Martie believed in the people of Allison Gap; he rejoiced whenever a “Gap boy” made good. He encouraged children to do well in school; he gave to the poor. At his funeral in 1966, his good deeds, stories the family didn’t know, were told repeatedly by people of the Gap, people who had been recipients of Martie McIntyre’s compassion and generosity.

11 This refers to Frances Bateman who was principal of the Allison Gap School at one time.

12 These people are the mother and brothers of Fannie Myers McIntyre, Martie’s deceased wife.

13 “The children” are Martie’s children, Lois and Woodrow.

14 Hizzie is a nickname for Allie Rumbley.

15 Virgie Taylor, daughter of Rush Taylor, married John Mays.

16 At age 17, India Haynes married Lynn Wassum, as noted in the 1930 Census, Smyth, Virginia; Roll: 2461; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 3; Image: 627.0. Ancestry. She was 20 years old at the time the census was taken on April 30, 1930. One can infer, then, that this letter was written in 1927.

17 My mother, Lois McIntyre Troutman, often told me this story, but it is also recorded in the following book: Berny Berquist and Maxine McCall. Posthumorously, Berk (Drexel, NC: C & M Resources, 2000), 77.

18 Virginia, U.S., Death Records, 1912-2014, citing Sarah A. McIntire, 23 May 1928; Ancestry.