Sarah Jane Troutman: "Keeping House"

My great-grandfather Daniel A. Troutman’s fourth and youngest sister, Sarah Jane, arrived 6 July 1843,[1] fourteen days before Daniel A.’s eighth birthday. She was 18 years old in April 1862 when her two brothers, Daniel and Adam, marched off to war, and 19 when John left in August. Perhaps after John left, she helped her sister-in-law, John's wife also named Sarah, with her chores and childcare. Perhaps she helped her sister Ester whose husband was also gone to war. Perhaps she helped with Ester’s children when Ester died in 1865.

The date Sarah Jane married Samuel Leander Tays is unknown, but it was possibly after the Civil War, for they were together in 1870 living in or near Statesville, and as yet had no children.[2] Whether they knew each other before the war is unknown.

Samuel had enlisted as a private in Co. E, 49^th North Carolina Infantry Regiment, Ransom’s Brigade, at Camp Magnum on 21 April 1862. He was 34 years old, stood 5’11”, occupation tanner.[3] Other records say farmer.[4]

 

The 49^th consisted mostly of farmers who had not dashed off to war early in the fray with the assurance that the war would last no more than 60 days. These were men who knew they were in for a long and hard fight. They participated in every major battle involving the Army of Northern Virginia, including Malvern Hill, Sharpsburg, and Fredericksburg, to name a few.[5] Later, in the spring of 1864, they were sent to keep the Federals from cutting supply lines along the Weldon Railroad into eastern North Carolina.[6] Then New Bern and later the capture of Suffolk,[7] but I cannot here begin to list all their battles or I become sidetracked from my purpose. 

After being promoted to 2^nd Sergeant on 27 May 1864,[8] Samuel L. Tays became a part of the siege of Petersburg in June. According to B. F. Dixon, Captain of Company B, the men of the 49th were the bravest of the brave. Regarding the difficult siege of Petersburg, he declares that no “soldier in any war . . . ever suffered more than the men who filled the ditches around Petersburg from June, 1864, until the last of March, 1865.”[9] Many barefoot and wearing little more than rags, they held their posts tenaciously. Samuel served among these men.

Only a few weeks into the siege, on 9 July, Samuel was shot in the right leg below the knee.[10] Injuries such as his, especially if a bone was shattered, usually resulted in amputation, which was the case for him. 

During his recuperation, he was hospitalized at Camp Winder, Richmond, Virginia.[11] On 31 December 1864, he was reported as “absent wounded . . . right leg amputated[,] at home,”[12] and the following February, he was retired from service.[13] For his service from 1 January 1864 through 31 August 1864, he was paid $155.13.[14]

Pay voucher, S. L. Tays.

Sgt. S. L. Tays' Certificate of Disability for Retiring Invalid Soldiers.

Amputation is enough of a shock for patients in today’s world, but the reality of a man having his leg amputated during the Civil War was horrendous. In case you haven’t seen the bloody hospital scenes from Gettysburg or the opening scene in Dances With Wolves, a man was held down without anesthetic while his limb was sawed off quickly in a circular motion. If the patient didn’t die of shock and pain, he might succumb to infection due to the surgeon’s lack of knowledge that he was spreading germs by working on patient after patient without washing his hands. 

Despite these horrific circumstances, many amputees survived. Samuel L. Tays was one of the lucky ones. Back home in North Carolina, his state government was the first of the former Confederate states to offer artificial limbs to its veteran amputees. In February 1866, the North Carolina legislature passed a resolution to provide prosthetic legs for veteran amputees, or a sum of $70.00 cash if the man could not use the limb.[15] Certainly, Samuel received one of these artificial limbs or the cash.

After the war, Samuel and Sarah lived near or in Statesville. In 1870, Samuel was farming property valued at $1500.00 with personal property valued at $2,000.00.[16] In 1880, Samuel’s occupation was “U. S. Storekeeper Guager[sic],” and Sarah was “keeping house.” The duties of a storekeeper-gauger consisted of making sure that distillers paid taxes accurately per gallon of product and of inspecting and marking or stamping the warehoused casks appropriately.[17] His job required considerable training on how to test the product, to stamp it correctly, and to keep records. He also traveled around to distilleries in the area and recorded his expenses.[18]

Samuel and Sarah Jane Tays, 1880 census, Statesville, Iredell Co. NC.

 Sarah and Samuel Tays had one known child, Bessie May, who was five months old in 1880. Also living with them at that time was Sarah’s 17-year-old nephew, Daniel L. Troutman, who was working at a gristmill.[19] He was a son of Jacob “Crazy Jake” Troutman, Daniel A.’s oldest brother.

Samuel died 17 June 1895 at age 67; Sarah died less than a year later on 11 May 1896 at age 52. They are resting together at the Oakwood Cemetery in Statesville, NC.[20]

Gravestone of Samuel L. Tays and Sarah Jane Troutman Tays. Photo courtesy of Find A Grave contributor "joan."

Samuel Tays must have been an admired and beloved brother-in-law to the Troutmans, as the name Tays can be found among several of their children and grandchildren. Also, my great-grandfather, Daniel A., named one of his daughters Sarah.

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[1] Troutman, Descending Jacob’s Ladder, 51, 66.

[2] 1870 U. S. census, Iredell County North Carolina, population schedule, Statesville Post Office, p. 3 (penned), dwelling 26, family 22, Samuel L. Tays; digital image, Ancesrty.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 October 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication M593, roll 1144.

[3] Samuel L. Tays, Muster Rolls of Co. E, 49th North Carolina Infantry, 1861-1865, digital image, Fold3 (http://www.fold3.com/image/271/51682809/ : accessed 22 October 2014); NARA M270, roll 0472.

[4] 1870 U. S. census, Iredell Co., NC, pop. sch. Statesville P. O., p. 3, dwell. 26, fam. 22 Samuel L. Tays.

[5] Thomas R. Roulhac, “Forth-Ninth North Carolina,” Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina, in the Great War, 1861-’65, Vol. III, Walter Clark, ed., (Goldsboro, NC: Nash Brothers Book and Job Printers, 1901), 127-128; Archive Open Library (https://archive.org/stream/historiesofsever03clar#page/n189/mode/

2up/search/forty-ninth : accessed 28 October 2014). Full text online.

[6] Ibid, 129.

[7] Ibid, 132-134.

[8] S. L. Tays, Muster Rolls Co. E, 49^th NC Inf., 1861-1865 (http://www.fold3.com/image/

271/51682875/).

[9] B. F. Dixon, “Additional Sketch, 49^th Regiment,” Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina, in the Great War, 1861-’65, Vol. III, Walter Clark, ed., (Goldsboro, NC: Nash Brothers Book and Job Printers, 1901), 150-160; Archive Open Library (https://archive.org/stream/historiesofsever03clar#page/n189/mode/

2up/search/forty-ninth : accessed 28 October 2014).

[10] S. L. Tays, Muster Rolls Co. E, 49^th NC Inf., 1861-1865 (http://www.fold3.com/image/

271/51682875/).

[11] S. L. Tays, Muster Rolls Co. E, 49^th NC Inf., 1861-1865 (http://www.fold3.com/image/

271/51682926/).

[12] S. L. Tays, Muster Rolls Co. E, 49^th NC Inf., 1861-1865,  (http://www.fold3.com/image/

271/51682881/).

[13] S. L. Tays, Muster Rolls Co. E, 49^th NC Inf., 1861-1865, Certificate of Disability for Retiring Invalid Soldiers (http://www.fold3.com/image/271/51682875/).

[14] S. L. Tays, Muster Rolls Co. E, 49^th NC Inf., 1861-1865 (http://www.fold3.com/image/

271/51682964/).

[15] Ansley Herring Wegner, “Amputations in the Civil War,” reprinted from Tar Heel Junior Historian, Fall 2008; NCpedia (http://ncpedia.org/history/cw-1900/amputations#audio : accessed 10 October 2014).

[16] 1870 U. S. census, Iredell Co. NC, pop. sch., Statesville P. O., p. 3, dwell. 26, fam. 22, Samuel L. Tays.

[17] United States Internal Revenue, Extracts from The Gauger’s Manual, Gauger’s Weighing Manual, and Regulations No. 7, Revised, Regarding Duties of Internal Revenue Gaugers, Storekeepers, and Storekeeper-Gaugers (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1906), 4; Open Library
(https://archive.org/stream/cu31924030701837#page/n5/mode/2up : accessed 28 October 2014).

[18] U. S. Internal Revenue, Extracts from the Gauger’s Manual, p.7-8.

[19] 1880 U. S. census, Statesville Township, Iredell County, North Carolina, population schedule, enumeration district 139, p. 42 (penned), dwelling 367, family 378, Samuel L. Tays; digital image, Ancesrty.com ( http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 October 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication T9, roll 698.

[20] Find A Grave, database and images (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 28 October 2014), photograph, memorial page for Samuel L. Tays (1828-1895), Find A Grave memorial no. # 68712820, citing Oakwood Cemetery, Statesville, North Carolina; photographs contributed by “joan.” Also, Find A Grave, photo., mem. page for Sarah Jane Tays (1843-1896), mem. no. # 68712941, citing Oakwood Cemetery, Statesville, NC; photograph contributed by “joan.”

© 2014, Z. T. Noble

Margaret and Anne: Two Little Sisters Lost in Time

“There was such speed in her little body,
And such lightness in her footfall,
It is no wonder her brown study astonishes us all.”[1]

These lines from John Crowe Ransom's poem swirl in my mind at the death of a small child.

Of my great-grandfather, Daniel A. Troutman’s four sisters--Ester, Margaret, Anne, and Sarah-- two never reached adulthood. Ester’s long awaited baby sister, Margaret Elizabeth, born 28 May 1830,[2] was likely named for her grandmother, Margaret Elizabeth Leonard Troutman. Perhaps she was called Peggy, a nickname for Margaret. She died of a cause unknown to me, in February 1836[3] before reaching the age of six. Ester would have been 12 years old, so little Peggy’s death would certainly have been a blow to her. Daniel was only about seven months of age when this sister died and would not remember.

Closer in age to Daniel than any of his sisters, Anne Melissa was born 18 October 1837,[4] two years and three months after Daniel’s birth. She and Daniel probably ran and jumped and climbed and played together. Or maybe Daniel was too busy trying to keep up with his big brother John to give his little sister his attention. 

At the age of eight, Anne died of a cause unknown to me on 9 November 1845.[5] The death of this second daughter certainly brought a profound sadness to all the family and much grief to her ten-year-old brother, Daniel. Anne was so cherished by her older brother Jacob that he and his wife Elizabeth Clodfelter gave her name to their first daughter.[6]

During these years, children succumbed to all kinds of illnesses, from dysentery to diphtheria to scarlet fever, measles, and more. Fortunate were parents whose children all reached adulthood. Instead of seeing these children as statistics in a list of births and deaths, I try to imagine what their lives meant to their parents and siblings. Ransom’s final stanza portrays the angst.

“But now go the bells, and we are ready,
In one house we are sternly stopped
To say we are vexed at her brown study,
Lying so primly propped.”[7]

---

[1] John Crowe Ransom, “Bells for John Whiteside’s Daughter,” Poem Hunter (http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/bells-for-john-whiteside-s-daughter/ : accessed 23 October 2014).

[2] Thomas L. Troutman, ed., Descending Jacob’s Ladder: The Descendants of Johann Jacob Troutman of Iredell County, North Carolina, (1757-1846) (Unknown place: Unknown publisher, 1993), 51. This book is a compilation of family history—stories and lists of descendants—contributed by individual family members. It includes transcriptions of several original documents, but many facts are not sourced.

[3] This date appears on several family trees on ancestry.com, but no proof is provided. The Troutman book does not include a death date for this child, nor for Anne Melissa. It also does not include a life story for them, as it does for all their siblings, among Generation Three descendants of Jacob Troutman, which suggests that they did not reach adulthood.

[4] Troutman, Descending Jacob’s Ladder, 51.

[5] This date appears on several family trees on ancestry.com, but no proof is provided. See also footnote 2, above.

[6] Troutman, Descending Jacob’s Ladder, 61. This page gives two versions of the names of Jacob’s children; one names a daughter Anne Melissa and the other names a daughter Melissa Catherine. There is no other mention of Melissa Catherine in the book, but there is a brief bio of Anne Melissa, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Clodfelther Troutman on page 89, and she is mentioned again on page 159 in the bio of her son, Gus Kerr, evidence that Anne Melissa was the correct name.

[7] Ransom, “Bells for John Whiteside’s Daughter,” Poem Hunter.

Daniel A. Troutman's Sisters: Ester

After I wrote about my great-grandfather Daniel A. Troutman’s brothers’ activities during the Civil War, I looked at his sisters’ names on the family tree and wondered what was happening in their lives at that time, as well. Women are not as easily researched as men. D. A. had four known sisters born to Henry Troutman and Margaret Elizabeth Leonard Troutman: Ester, Margaret, Anne, and Sarah. Today, Ester gets the spotlight.

Ester L. Troutman

About twelve years older than Daniel A., his sister Ester (or Easter) L. Troutman was born 7 September 1823.[1] She was most likely a typical little girl who learned to cook and sew and spin and weave and make soap and wash clothes and sweep the house and kiss the bruised knees and scraped elbows of younger brothers and sisters, so her mother could get the housework done. I don’t know what she dreamed or enjoyed. Did she learn to read? How did she fare being the only girl among three brothers until, at the age of 6 ¾, a baby sister arrived in 1830? Was she allowed to run and play outside with the boys? Did she climb trees? I can only imagine.

About 1844 at the age of 21, she first married John Thomas from Iredell County. [2] Was he a neighbor boy she had known a long time? Or did she meet him as a young adult? In 1840, ten families named Thomas lived in Iredell County of which four had sons in the age range of a possible husband for Ester. However, his life was too short for us to know for certain which family was his. A daughter, Barbara Elizabeth, was born to them on 22 March 1845,[3] and five years later, John was gone.

1850 census, Iredell County, Fielding Kyles family.

 By 1850, Ester had remarried a man named Fielding Kyles; they lived together in Iredell County with little Barbara.[4]  Soon, they added two more known children, Octavia, born 23 September 1851,[5] and Austin Alexander, born 9 April 1853.[6] Barbara is not listed with the family at this time, and her whereabouts is undiscovered at this point. In 1860, Fielding was farming land worth $500.00, his personal property worth $60.00.[7]

1860 census, Iredell County, NC; Fielding Kyles family.

Then the Civil War broke out.

At age 42, Fielding enlisted in Co. E, NC 11^th Infantry Regiment on 26 February 1862 for “three years or the war.”[8] How difficult that must have been for Ester and her children when Fielding left for war! When their father left, Octavia was twelve years old and Austin was ten.

According to Confederate Muster Rolls, Fielding seems to have suffered several months with illness, as did many Civil War soldiers. He was reported sick at hospital, Staunton, Virginia, May-June, July-Aug., Sept.-Oct. and Nov-Dec 1863;[9] again sick at Brigade hospital, May-June 1864;[10] on sick furlough, July-Aug 1864, Statesville. [11]

Fielding Kyles, Hospital Muster Roll. Note that this one says, "Kyles is improving."

Fielding was first reported missing in action September through December 1864,[12] but in January his status changed to prisoner of war.[13] Captured near Petersburg on 27 October, he arrived at City Point on 31 October and was sent to Point Lookout[14] where his brother-in-law, Daniel A. Troutman, was also a prisoner. Fielding was released after taking the Oath of Allegiance on 28 June 1865. According to the record, he had light complexion, brown hair, blue eyes, and stood 5'11 3/4" tall.[15]

F. Kyles, Oath of Allegiance.

Back home in North Carolina, Ester, Octavia, and Austin probably heard from Fielding only sporadically. How did they learn that he had been captured and imprisoned? Did he write letters? We do not know. Sadly, for Fielding and the children, Ester died in 1865 at age 42 while her husband was in prison.[16] 

 

Ester's tombstone in the Troutman Cemetery, Troutman, NC. Photo courtesy of Find A Grave contributor, Kathi Shuler.

At ages 15 and 13, Octavia and Austin were left motherless, as was 20-year-old Barbara, and at the time of Ester’s death, they were also uncertain about their father’s fate. Fielding’s return home must have been mixed with joy and sadness. Later, he remarried and raised a second family. In 1880, he was farming.[17] He died in Iredell County in 1905 at the age of 81.[18]

Fielding Kyles tombstone, Saint Martins Cemetery, Troutman, NC. Photo courtesy of Find A Grave contributor, Kathi Shuler.

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[1] Find A Grave, database and images (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 15 October 2014), photograph, memorial page for Ester Levina Troutman Kyles (1823-1865), Find A Grave memorial no. # 77676936, citing Troutman Family Cemetery, Statesville, North Carolina; photograph contributed by Kathi Shuler. Name on tombstone is Ester Thomas Kyles. Also, Thomas L. Troutman, ed., Descending Jacob’s Ladder (Unknown place: Unknown publisher, 1993), 51, 62. This text gives her name as Easter Levina and provides day and month for her birth.

[2] Troutman, Descending Jacob’s Ladder, 62. Marriage year is estimated based on the date of birth of their first child known child.

[3] Find A Grave, database and images (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 15 October 2014), photograph, memorial page for Barbara Thomas Lippard (1845-1909), Find A Grave memorial no. # 24863684, Troutman Family Cemetery, Statesville, North Carolina; photographs contributed by Lotsagenealogy (inactive).

[4] 1850 U. S. census, Iredell County, North Carolina, population schedule,p. 483 (stamped), dwelling 113, family 1173, Felding Kiles; Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 October 2014); NARA microfilm publication, M436, roll 634.

[5] Find A Grave, database and images (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 15 October 2014), memorial page for Margaret O. Plyler (1851-1899), Find A Grave memorial no. # 77676936, citing Troutman Family Cemetery, Statesville, North Carolina; no photograph.

[6] Find A Grave, database and images (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 15 October 2014), photograph, memorial page for Austin A. Kyles (1853-1948), Find A Grave memorial no. # 24863750, Troutman Family Cemetery, Statesville, North Carolina; photographs contributed by Lotsagenealogy (inactive).

[7] 1860 U. S. census, School District 66, Iredell County, North Carolina, population schedule, p. 49 (penned), dwelling 352, family 354, Frolomy Kyle; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 October 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication M653, roll 902.

[8] Fielding Kyles, Muster Rolls of Co. E, 11th North Carolina Infantry, 1861-1865, database Fold3 (http://www.fold3.com/image/271/49858308/ : accessed 15 October 2014); NARA M270, roll 0196.  

[9] Feling Kyles, Muster Rolls, http://www.fold3.com/image/32796039/ . This is for May-June 1863. Also, see http://www.fold3.com/image/32796049/ for July-August; http://www.fold3.com/image/32796057/ for Sept-Oct, 1863; and http://www.fold3.com/

image/32796064/ for Nov.-Dec., 1863.

[10] Felding Kyles, Muster Rolls, http://www.fold3.com/image/32796101/ .

[11] Fielding Kyles, Muster Rolls, http://www.fold3.com/image/32796108/ .

[12] Fielding Kyles, Muster Rolls, http://www.fold3.com/image/32796116/ for Sept-Oct, 1864; http://www.fold3.com/image/32796125/ for Nov-Dec, 1864.

[13] Fielding Kyles, Muster Rolls, http://www.fold3.com/image/32796131/ .

[14] F. Ryles, Muster Rolls, http://www.fold3.com/image/32796141/ ; and http://www.fold3.com/image/32796145/ .

[15] F. Kyles, Muster Rolls, Oath of Allegiance, http://www.fold3.com/image/32796145/ .

[16] Troutman, Descending Jacob’s Ladder, 62. Also Find A Grave, Ester Levina Troutman Kyles, 77676936.

[17] 1880 U.S. census, Fallstown, Iredell County, North Carolina, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 142, p. 14 (penned), dwelling 127, family 127, Fielding Kyles; digital image, Ancesrty.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 October 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication T9, roll 968.

[18] Find A Grave, database and images (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 15 October 2014), photograph, memorial page for Fielding Kyles (1824-1905), Find A Grave memorial no. # 77677161, citing St. Martin’s Cemetery, Troutman, North Carolina; photograph contributed by Kathi Shuler.

Returning to Our Roots: Reflections on the NC Troutman Reunion

Just a quick note about last week's blog. Inexcusably, I omitted one of my great-grandfather's brothers. He had six brothers, not five. I have corrected the error and updated the blog post.

My great-grandfather, Daniel A. Troutman, returned to North Carolina for only a few short years after the Civil War. When he left, maybe in 1868, driving horses to Virginia for trade, he surely intended to return, but marriage to a Virginia girl on 3 February 1869 changed his life’s course. 

When he took his bride to meet his family, she didn’t like North Carolina, so sweet man that he was, he took her back to the rolling valley of Virginia that she loved. There they lived their lives, there they raised their children, and there they are buried.  

Daniel A. left behind a close-knit family in North Carolina, many of whose descendants still live there today. Whether he ever returned to North Carolina to visit his family, I do not know, but his leaving home started a trend on his branch, some of whom ultimately ended up in Nebraska.

In 1904, the North Carolina Troutmans decided to celebrate the birthday of one of its esteemed elders, Henry Martin Troutman, son of Henry and Margaret Elizabeth Leonard Troutman, by hosting a reunion. The birthday boy was Daniel A.’s brother. At that time, D. A. and his family were still living in Virginia, not far away “as the crow flies,” but many miles over treacherous, unpaved mountain roads in reality. Whether they went to the birthday party/reunion, I do not know, but that reunion has continued without interruption every year since then. This year on October 11, the family marks the 110^th year.

In August 1938, Daniel A.’s son James Henry "Uncle Jim" Troutman and his grandson Verne Troutman (my father), went to the North Carolina reunion. To my knowledge, they were the first of Daniel A. Troutman’s branch to return to his home place. Verne wrote to his parents in Nebraska about the warm welcome they had received and sent this picture of his dad's brother Jim (light hat) and himself standing in front of the old depot, which the Troutman family had moved to their historic grounds from town:

James Henry Troutman (light hat, age 58) and Verne Clinton Troutman (age 24), North Carolina Troutman Reunion, August 1938.

On the back of the next photo, Verne noted to his parents that he had marked himself and Uncle Jim with arrows. 

Troutman Reuinion, August 1938, James Henry Troutman and Verne C. Troutman, marked by arrows on right.

To my knowledge, the next time my dad returned to the North Carolina reunion was 1968 when he took my mother, my younger sister and me. Before that, my cousin Darrell, son of dad's brother Carl Troutman, took his family in the mid 1960s. For each visit, the vivid impression on us has been the warmth and expressions of joy we receive from our distant North Carolina cousins.

One of the most memorable trips for me was 1972. My dad’s two brothers, James and Carl Troutman and his sister Neville Lamson, came from Nebraska to Virginia to join my parents, Verne and Lois, my niece Teri Troutman, and me, and we all went to the reunion together. Watching my dad and his siblings laughing and sharing stories with distant cousins warmed my heart. They walked the red dirt trail to the tumble-down house in the woods where their grandfather, Daniel A., had been raised.

James G. Troutman, Carl J. Troutman, E. Tays Troutman, Blanche Troutman Canter, Neville Troutman Lamson, Verne C. Troutman, Troutman Reunion, August 1972. Photo by Z. T. Noble.

 

Verne Troutman, James G. Troutman, Lois McIntyre Troutman (Verne's wife) and Jay Troutman, 1972. Photo by Z. T. Noble.

Distant cousins, Sarah Blanche Troutman Canter and Neville America Troutman Lamson, 1972. Before this reunion, Neville and Blanche had corresponded through letters, so they were thrilled to meet each other in person. Photo by Z. T. Noble.

Teri Troutman at age 11, 5x great-granddaughter of Jacob Troutman, the Pioneer, granddaughter of Verne C. Troutman. North Carolina Troutman reunion, August 1972. Photo by Z. T. Noble.

 

Dad returned again in 1989, this time with my mother Lois and me and my three children, Jay, Sarah, and Lee. My mother took a picture of our three generations standing beside the tombstones of our ancestors Henry and Margaret Elizabeth Troutman, my great-grandfather Daniel A.’s parents.

Jay Samuel Noble, Zola Troutman Noble, Verne C. Troutman, Sarah Michal Noble, Lee Daniel Noble, at North Carolina  Troutman Reunion 1989. Photo by Lois Troutman.

Since all the children of Clint and Mary Troutman have now died, their children have taken up their mantle of keeping in touch with the North Carolina Troutman clan. For the 100^th anniversary of the Troutman reunion in 2004, the Nebraska branch came about 30 strong to celebrate our heritage. During the morning meeting in the old school shown in the picture below, we sang hymns and listened to speeches that impressed us with the strong Christian heritage given to us.

Descendants of Daniel A.'s son Clint & his wife Mary Troutman who attended the 100th anniversary of the NC Troutman reunion, 2004. Photo courtesy of Genise Dostal Troutman.

With nearly every visit, we make the trek through the woods to see the crumbling house of our NC progenitor. Soon it will collapse.  Photo by Z. T. Noble

Our most recent trip to the reunion was in October 2012 when eight of Daniel A.'s descendants met once again for food and fellowship in Troutman, NC, under the cool cover of majestic oak trees.

On the Troutman grounds picnicking in October 2012. Photo by Z. T. Noble.

Grandchildren of Clint and Mary (Waggoner) Troutman at North Carolina Reunion, October 2012. All of us were born in Nebraska. Photo by Z. T. Noble.

More Clint and Mary Troutman descendants at North Carolina Troutman Reunion, 2012. Photo by Z. T. Noble.

The beautiful cemetery gate. Photo by Z. T. Noble.

 

And here’s the tree on whose branches we perch. Wish we could be there this year. Happy 110th reunion to the Troutman family!

This tree sketch on the wall inside the old school building on NC Troutman reunion grounds shows my great-grandfather Daniel A. Troutman sprouting as a twig off the lower left branch, which represents Henry Troutman, the sheriff, son of Jacob Troutman, the Pioneer, whose name is on the trunk. Photo courtesy of Genise Dostal Troutman.