Exactly when my father returned to Smyth County, Virginia
after the horse sale trip in November 1936, I’m not sure, but return he did,
and soon. The green hills and the cool summer nights may be part of what drew
him back. Maybe he saw a business opportunity. Maybe he liked the looks of the
pretty young ladies he met. Maybe it was a sense of belonging, to nearly 190
years of his maternal ancestors’ rootedness in those hills.
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| Uncle Jim and Verne in front of the depot, Troutman, NC. |
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| Verne drew arrows to point out himself and Uncle Jim, on right. |
At the reunion, Verne met some of his grandfather’s cousins. He sent pictures and wrote home to his father, Clint, about his experience:
“Marion, Va.
“August 20, 1938
“Dear Dad,
“We just got back from the Troutman reunion. I sure wish
that you and mom and all could have been here. We left here Friday morning
about 7 o’clock and got down there about 11 o’clock. It was 131 miles from
Marion. We went by the mouth of Wilson, Independence, Sparta and Elkins. When
we got at the meeting place. It is an old building in an old school house, used
for only this purpose. We were greeted of course by Chal. The first thing we
did, was to go into the building and they had a program especially suited for
the meeting. Several talks were given by Troutmans. A violin solo by Sarah
Troutman, in fact all was by Troutmans except one preacher who gave a short
talk. He was not a Troutman but was a pastor of the Lutheran Church of Troutman
North Carolina.
“There were two Lutheran Preachers who gave talks, one of
them was in charge of the program. They were both Troutmans. One is a son of
El. Troutman, your first cousin. And we stayed there all night last night. He
lives about five miles from Troutman. El looks like a german and is a brother
of Chal. His son is pastor of the Lutheran church of Boone North C. He sure is
a good preacher. He made a talk on ‘Time.’
“They made all the ones that come from quite a distance
stand up, of course we had to stand. They all seemed to know Uncle Jim and Aunt
Susie. There were several from out of State there. One man and his family from
Washington. They ask Uncle Jim if he did not want to say a few words and he
said he was a better listenor [sic] and talkor [sic]. But he said a few words
and told them how glad he was to be there. They ask me if I didnt have
something to say and I told them no. But Chal. told them I was a big Auctioneer
and was from Nebraska and I just had to get up and say something. So I told
them how glad I was to be there and sat down. I would have to go back as far as
Grandpa and tell them I was a grandson of Daniel T. before they could get me
placed.
“One woman told me she knew me when I first came in, because
I looked exactly like a picture she has of you, when you were about my age. She
was a nice looking lady. She looked quite a little like Aunt Stell looked in
her younger days.
“All of them seemed to be nice sociable people. Some looked
like they had money and some looked rather hard up. But as Uncle Jim says, I
didn’t see a mean looking face in the bunch. I think there must have been over
200 there.
“They had a business meeting and elected committees for the
coming year. This was the 35 annual Troutman reunion. The building has printed
in big letters over the door ‘Troutman Historical Building Association.’
“There is a cemetery and nearly all the graves are Troutmans.
I saw my Great, Great Grandfathers grave. It was so old you could hardly read
the writing on it. He came over here from Germany and married a german girl and
at one time owned 20,000 acres of land around Statesville. He bought it for 12
½ cents per acre. I saw your great grandfathers grave. His name was Henry
Troutman and he was at one time Sherriff of Iradell [sic] County, North
Carolina. And he owned 32,00 [sic] of land at one time. I guess grandpa was a
son of a rich man. Uncle Jim says that accounts for him not being much of a
hustler.
“Uncle Jim, Aunt Susie, Francis, Chal and myself went out to
the old place where grandpa was born and raised. There is one old building
still standing. You can see where the house used to stand. It was a large one.
There is one big walnut tree still standing right in front of where the house
stood. There is a stump of a big old pine tree left where it had been burned.
We took a picture of the place. This is the first time the Uncle Jim seen the
place where his daddy was born and raised. He cried as he looked at it.
“They told me how Grandma told about her and grandpa going
to N. C. after they were first married. From what they tell me they were
greeted by a bunch of boys and girls on horses. And they rode their horses
around and around the house. Grandpa took out after them in the buggy and she
said two wheels were on the ground part of the time. She said Farewell Vain
World, Here is where I get killed. As we looked the old place over I could just
see the horses and buggy running around that place.
“Write soon
Vern.”[1]
Sixty-nine years later, Verne had come full circle, back to the home place his paternal grandfather had left in 1869, the place the Troutmans had lived since about 1790. And for the same reason Verne had left Nebraska, his grandfather, had left North Carolina: to take horses to sell in Virginia.
[1]
Verne Troutman, Marion, Virginia, to Clint Troutman, letter, 20 August 1938, relates
events of a 1938 family reunion in Troutman, North Carolina; Verne and Lois
Troutman binder, privately held, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE] Anderson, Indiana.
© Z. T. Noble
