In 1869, Grandpa Clint’s father, Daniel Absolum Troutman,
was a newcomer to Rich Valley, Smyth County, Virginia. The story goes that he
drove a herd of horses from Iredell County, North Carolina, to sell in Virginia,
probably in 1868. Now that’s a long way across a difficult mountainous terrain
to drive horses, but that’s the story. By this time, Daniel was 33 years old
and had been through three years of the horrors Civil War battlefields, not to
mention a Yankee prison, so maybe the difficulties seemed minor.
In Virginia, he met and apparently fell in love with America
Ann Pratt, the 23-year-old daughter of Nicholas and Sarah (Thomas) Pratt, long
time residents of the valley. Family lore says he wrote to his parents that she
was the “Flower of the Valley of Virginia.” Daniel and America were married at
Chatham Hill on 3 February 1869.[1]
After they married, the family story goes, Daniel took
America by horse and buggy to North Carolina to meet his parents. When they
arrived at the Troutman home place, he drove the buggy around the house
whooping and hollering to announce their arrival. His family members ran
outside and joined in the merriment, shouting their greetings to the groom and
his bride. America was taken aback by the outburst and the lack of
dignity.
She was unhappy in North Carolina, so Daniel took her back
to the valley of her birth where their first child, a daughter they named Laura
Estelle, was born in February 1870.[2] They
called her Stelle. Less than two years later, a little boy, John William, was
born on 23 December 1871. They called him Bud.[3] The
third child was another boy, Clifton P., born 22 June 1874.[4] Child
number four was a girl named Sarah Bessie J., born 10 January 1877.[5] Next
came Mary Ellen 12 November 1878.[6]
The next year, tragedy struck twice. Five-year-old Clifton and baby Mary
Ellen fell ill and died of flux, a common name for dysentery. Mary Ellen succumbed
on 15 September 1879[7] and
thirteen days later, Clifton died.[8] If
that wasn’t tragedy enough, the following spring, Bessie fell ill with
diphtheria and died on 6 April 1880.[9] Daniel and America had been through more than their share of sadness.
The 1880 census taken that summer lists D. A. (age 41),
America A. (age33), Stella (age 10), and John W. (age 7). They can all read and write. Daniel’s occupation was “Tenant,” which probably means tenant farmer.
Sadly and starkly absent from the list are three names: Clifton,
Bessie, and Mary Ellen.[10]
 |
| Dates of birth and death on this tombstone differ from birth and death records at the Smyth County Courthouse. In the text, I have used the dates found in court house records, which evidence shows to be more accurate. This new tombstone was added in the 1950s by James Henry Troutman, a brother born after these three children died. |
[1] Smyth County, Virginia, Register of
Marriages, Book 1: 30, D. A. Troutman and America A. Pratt, 3 Feb. 1869.
[2] 1900 U. S. census, Smyth County,
Virginia, population schedule, Broadford Precinct, p. 119 (stamped), enumeration
district [ED] 84, sheet 10-A, dwelling 166, family 167, Estella Worley, digital
image Ancestry.com
(http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 August 2014); NARA microfilm publication
T623, roll 1728. This census tells the month and year of Estella’s birth, and
place as Virginia; the exact day is uncertain. Apparently, Daniel and America apparently
never reported Estella’s birth at the courthouse, for it is not recorded in Smyth
County. Negative searches also resulted online of Virginia Births and
Christenings, 1853-1917, on Family Search and of Smyth County Virginia Births
on Ancestry. An online search of records from Washington and Bland Counties was
also negative.
[3] Smyth County, Virginia, Register of
Births, Book 1: 62, No Name Troutman (male), Dec. 1871. This birth was reported
by N. H. Pratt, the baby’s maternal grandfather.
[4] Smyth County, Virginia, Register of
Births, Book 1: 112, entry for Clifton P. Troutman; County Clerk’s Office,
Marion.
[5] Smyth County, Virginia, Register of
Births, Book 1: 133, entry for S. B. J. Troutman; County Clerk’s Office,
Marion.
[6] Smyth County, Virginia, “Register of
Births, Book 1”: 141, entry for Mary Ellen Troutman; County Clerk’s Office,
Marion.
[7] Smyth County, Virginia, “Deaths, Vol. 1,
1857-1896”: 141, entry for Mary E. Troutman; County Clerk’s Office, Marion.
Records conflict regarding Mary’s cause of death. The courthouse record states,
flux; the Mortality Schedule states dysentery, which is crossed out, and above
it is written Hydrocephalus.
[8] Smyth County, Virginia, “Deaths, Vol. 1,
1857-1896”: 52, entry for Clifton P. Troutman; County Clerk’s Office, Marion.
[9] “U. S. Federal Census Mortality
Schedules, 1850-1885,” database image, Ancestry.com
(http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 24 February 2014), Bessie Troutman, April
1880. Also, Smyth County, Virginia, Deaths, Vol. 1, 1857-1896: 54, entry for
Sarah B. Troutman; County Clerk’s Office, Marion. Also, “Virginia Deaths and
Burials Index, 1853-1917,” database Ancestry.com
(http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 24 February 2014), Sarah B. Troutman, 6
April 1880. On the mortality schedule, diphtheria is crossed out and above it
is written dysentery; the Smyth County Death Book states cause of death as
diphtheria.; the index does not state a cause of death.
[10] 1880 U.S. census, 84th District, Smyth
County, Virginia, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 84, p. 2
(penned), dwelling 32, family 32, D. A. Troutman; digital image, Ancesrty.com (http://www.ancestry.com :
accessed 14 August 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm
publication T9, roll 1390.
© 2014, Z. T. Noble
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