At the age of 16, John "Jack" W. C. Barnett, pictured above, began performing with the Barnum and Bailey Circus as a midget known as Dainty Dewey. He was later joined in the act by his brother, Herbert. Together they performed as the Barnett Midgets. 

Jack was my first cousin twice removed. Specifically, he was my mother's father's first cousin--and she remembers meeting him when she was a child.

Jack was one of four sons of Mary Susan and Samuel Curry Barnett.  He was born in Roxboro, North Carolina in 1891 and died there in 1935.  He was about 42 inched tall.  (Herbert grew to be about 36 inches tall.)

I got this photo from http://phreeque.tripod.com/jack_barnett.html.  The photo was taken in the 1920s when Jack was about 39 years old. 

"James Willson, Died of a wound received on the field of battle Apr.10,1865."

James Willson was my second great grand uncle. He was a color bearer with the Second Rockbridge Dragoons. According to Robert Driver's Lexington and Rockbridge County in the Civil War, the Dragoons led a charge at Appomattox on the morning of April 9, 1865, that broke the Union line. This was the same day that Lee surrendered.  James Willson was wounded in the conflict and died the next day.  He was the next to last battlefield casualty in Lee's army--another man who was wounded at the same time as Willson died on April 14th.

This is another one of those family stories that I grew up hearing from my great aunts.  Willson is buried at New Providence Presbyterian Church in Brownsburg, Virginia.

When my son was in elementary school (about 5th grade), each student had to prepare a scrapbook on  the Civil War. He wrote about this as part of his project and the teacher counted off points because "there was no battle at Appomattox".  Needless to say, that irritated me greatly.  So I photocopied the pages from Driver's book & sent them in with my son.  The teacher wrote me a note that he had conferred with another teacher (who had written several books about Mosby) and found that I was correct.  He gave my son the points back.  What a $%&#!

This is Cousin Louise. Her full name was Annette Louise Houston and she married James Patton Alexander, who was my first cousin twice removed.  He died before I was born, but I remember Cousin Louise well.

She was a true southern lady, but she could pull that off without putting on airs. She was active in the Lexington Historical Society, which she referred to as the Lexington Hysterical Society.  To me this showed that she appreciated her history but knew that it didn't make her any better than anyone else.

Cousin Louise lived in a house known as Red House.  It has been described as "a federal-style inn" and that's what it looks like.  It has a long circular drive off of Route 11 and tall white columns in front.  Of course, like Cherry Grove, everyone knows to enter on the side of the house.  A walled cemetery is on the property marked by an historical marker, shown below.

 

Cherry Grove Estate, as the sign says, was the birth place of Governor James McDowell.  It is also the home of my cousin, Jim Alexander, who has lived there his entire life (except when he attended Virginia Tech and then it was still his permanent address).  Cherry Grove was the home of Jim's parents, grandmother, and great-grandmother.  And it is the setting for many of the family photos that I have posted & will post--such as the ones I posted yesterday. 

We generally take pictures on the front steps of the porch or in front of the large evergreen that you can see on the right-hand side of the yard closer to the house.  The pictures that I have that were taken in this yard span over 100 years.  That's pretty awesome.

Of course, the only people who actually come to the front door & ring the doorbell are strangers.  Everyone else enters through the side door, which is on the left rear of the house. 

The yard is as big as it looks...even bigger.  All of this is to the right of the driveway.  There's a left of the driveway that is almost as big.  And I was not standing at the front of the yard when I took this picture in August 2010.

The inside of the house is just as awesome. There are three stairways, seven bedrooms (not counting the downstairs "parlor" that Jim uses as a bedroom), and a dining room table that comfortably seats a dozen people (and we have seated 15 there before).

During the depression, my grandmother, who was at that time a widow, ran a "Tourist Home" at the house.  It was an early version of a bed and breakfast.  I've written about that before.  I have many happy memories of family gatherings this house.  And I still use it as my personal "Tourist Home" when I visit the area.

Here's an old but not ancient picture.  Yet another one in Jim's front yard at Cherry Grove Farm.  Probably around 1970.

Left to right we have Jim Alexander, Frances Fultz (Ike's wife), Jimmy Alexander, Sarah Alexander, Draper Fultz, Jean Alexander, Graham Alexander (hiding in the shadows), Sally Alexander, Cathie Alexander, Jack Alexander, Tommy Alexander, and Nancy Alexander.

Jim, Sarah, Jimmy & Tommy are one family and Jack, Jean, Cathie, Nancy, Graham, & Sally are another family. I don't know why we were there. I'm sure this was taken after we had moved to Winston-Salem.  Also, I have no idea who took the picture.

Here's another one taken about the same time in the same yard.  But they aren't wearing the same clothes, so I don't know if it was the same trip or not. 

Left to right we have Graham, Jack, Tommy. Tate, Jimmy, Jim, & Sam--all Alexanders. Jack & Graham go together, Tate & Sam go together, and Jim, Jimmy & Tommy go together.  The rest of Tate's sons were probably with their wives, which means this was likely taken after Bobby's wedding in 1971.

This is the marriage bond of Archibald Graham (1804-1880) and Martha Lyle (1800-1880). The bond was executed on the 10th day of May in1825 in Rockbridge County, Virginia. Dr. Graham was my half second cousin four times removed.

Dr. Graham graduated from Washington College (now Washington & Lee University) in 1823. He also served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1865-1866, was President of the Virginia Board of Public Works, and was President of the James River and Kanawha Canal Company. 

The Grahams had six children--one daughter and five sons. His youngest son, Samuel, was "struck in playing the game 'bandy' and died young of lockjaw," according to a family manuscript. I had to do some research to find out what "bandy" was.  It was an ancestor of ice hockey that originated in England in the 1800s. It is played somewhat like soccer, but with skates and sticks.

On May 17, 1975, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Rex & I were married.  That's 37 years ago today.  This is in Burkhead United Methodist Church in what is now the fellowship hall.  It was before the "new" sanctuary was built.  So this room was used as the sanctuary.

I think my dress cost about $350 dollars--more than any dress I had ever purchased before but much less than wedding dresses cost today.  I made my own veil by hand sewing lace trim on net fabric.  I made two of the bridesmaids dresses and my sister, Cathie, made the other two. I also made the flower girl's dress. 

My bouquet was long-stemmed white roses. Behind the altar on the right is a carved candle.  We took the two candles beside it and lit the single candle as part of the ceremony.  And Paula Totherow played a guitar and sang "The Wedding Song" written by Paul Stookey.  It was very 1970s.

The reception was at the church with punch, nuts, cake, and not much else.  It was a fairly typical protestant wedding.  

In 1906, the Mary Custis Lee Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy bought the former Lexington, Virginia, home of General Stonewall Jackson's home from his widow, Mary Anna Morrison Jackson.  The house was turned into Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital (pictured), which operated as a hospital from 1906 to 1954.  It was Lexington's first hospital and it is where my Dad was born in 1919.

My sister always thought it was ironic that our mother, whose parents lived in the city of Richmond, was born at home.  And our father, whose parents lived on a farm in rural Rockbridge County, was born in a hospital. That's partially because my father's mother had some kind of complication when her first child was born.  So she delivered her second child at a hospital in Norfolk, where one or more of her husband's sisters were nurses.  And she delivered her third child, my father, in Lexington.  I'm not sure why she didn't go to Lexington for the second child except I heard she didn't trust them or like them for some reason.

If you were born in the Stonewall Jackson House when it was a hospital, you can join the Stonewall Jackson House birthday club.  My Dad did that and there is a certificate around somewhere confirming it. The hospital closed when the new one opened.  Later, the house became a museum house and is open for tours.

This is a memorial to Mary Draper Ingles (1732-1815) that is located in the West End Cemetery in Radford, Virginia. She was my fifth-great grandmother, wife of William Ingles.  She is also one of the ancestors that I grew up hearing about from my relatives.  My grandmother and her sister were both named after her (Janet Ingles and Mary Draper).  

Mary and her husband and several other people were early settlers in a place called Drapers Meadow (near the present location of Virginia Tech).  In July 1755, Shawnee Indians raided Mary's settlement, killed several residents, and took Mary and others with them as hostages.  This action was part of the French & Indian Wars. Mary's husband & brother were working in the fields at the time of the attack and escaped injury and capture.

The Indians traveled up the New River to a village that was in present day Ohio.  Her two sons were taken from her and given to Indian families. Eventually, Mary escaped and walked back to Virginia where she rejoined her husband. 

Mary & William had more children after her return, one of which is my fourth-great grandfather John Ingles.  She told her story to her children and, after her death, her son John documented her story in writing.  The original manuscript is now in the University of Virginia Library.  I have not seen the original but I own a copy of a transcript of it.  Also, the story was in the 4th grade Virginia history books when I was in the 4th grade.  That was cool to study my own ancestor!  

Mary's story was turned into historical fiction in James Alexander Thom's Follow the River (1981),  into an ABC television movie Follow the River (1995), and another movie called The Captives (2004).  There is a Mary Draper Ingles bridge on I-64 west of I-81.  And there is a Mary Draper Ingles Trail in West Virginia.  And there may be other remembrances of her elsewhere.  On the Virginia Tech campus near the duck pond is a memorial to the Drapers Meadow massacre.

John McClure (1794-1873) was my second cousin five times removed.  He is pictured above with his wife Jane Pilson (1797-1882).  The picture is from The McClure Family available at http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_McClure_Family/McClures_in_Virginia.

From the book, I learned that he was an elder in Bethel Presbyterian Church in Augusta County. Also, while John was born and died in Virginia, he spent some time traveling west.  In 1829, he made a trip back to Russell and Washington Counties, Virginia, and on to Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana, a distance of about 1800 miles. While on the trip, he wrote the following letter to his wife:

"Sullivan County, Indiana, Oct. 30, 1829.

My Dear and Affectionate Wife.

I just take holt of my pen to inform you that I am well at preasent and hoping that these few lines may find you and the rest of the family enjoying the same like blessings. We are now at William McCutchan's, all enjoying good health. I was very much disappointed in not getting a letter at London; I was verry anxious to hear from you when I was there, as I expected a letter. We are going to start to-morrow morning on strait to the Missouri. Our horses has stood it tolerable well. My horse got gravel, but is better. Mr. Christian's horse has a very sore back. It is a little uncertain whether we will be home agin Christmas. The roads are verry bad traveling, there has been a great dele of raine. I have seen a heap of fine country. I saw Nathaniel Steele at Robert McCutchan's in Ohio. They were all well; I was glad to see them. Wm. McCutchan's family are all well.

If ever we live to get home and see you I can tell you a good deal, and hope it is the Almity's will that we will see each other again in this world. No more, but remain your affectn husband,

JOHN McCLURE."

John and Jane McClure had eight children. He was "an old line Whig, strongly opposed to Secession, but when the crisis came gave his five sons to his State, two of whom paid the price in blood." He was six feet tall and made frequent trips to Scottsville and Richmond to sell his produce.

An obituary written by his lifelong friend, Rev. Horatio Thompson, D. D., said, "He filled a large place in the community giving moral tone wherever his shade was cast. A peacemaker, a benefactor—the poor man's friend and the idle man's dread. He was the Christian and gentleman of olden times—holding both sacred and honor bound. As he lived he died. We all say, a patriarch has fallen. He was a Presbyterian, and true to its code—a lover of all good without blushing to acknowledge it. A husband, father and grandsire, as devoted as these lofty names imply. He travelled to the tomb with manly bearing, where

'The trav'ler outworn with life's pilgrimage dreary Lays down his rude staff, like one that is weary, And sweetly reposes forever.'

H. T."

More stuff from cousin Jim's.  I also got a copy of the newspaper article from my mother.  On top is a certificate awarding Dad his athletic letter in basketball from Covington High School in1938.  I have copies of similar certificates for basketball and football in 1937.

I'm not sure when the newspaper article appeared or in exactly which paper it appeared.  But Dad graduated from Covington in 1938, so it was probably 1937 or 1938.  Dad is in the lower right, number 17.

The year after Dad graduated, a new high school opened in Covington and the old school was turned into the City Hall.  It remained City Hall until the 1990s when the building was demolished.  I found this picture of the school online:

My brother found several of these certificates at my cousin Jim's house.  Jim thought we should have them because they were my Dad's.  And, of course, my brother gave them to me because I am generally the family history guru (a.k.a. pack rat).  I have them from 1929 through 1937. 

I was curious about their significance.  So I Google searched the certificates and discovered that Nancy Vance, who joined the Virginia Department of Health in 1919, started the program to promote health education in the schools.  This was the Five-Point Program of Child Health and students in the public schools received certificates for meeting standards for weight, vision, hearing, throat and dental health. According to an online biography of Nancy Vance, 27,816 children received certificates in 1926 and 139, 828 children received them in 1932-1933, the year my Dad received the one above.

Many thanks to the VCU's library site that housed Nancy Vance's bio.  Otherwise, I would not have found anything on the certificates.  See http://www.library.vcu.edu/tml/speccoll/vnfame/vancebio.html.

Continuing with yesterday's featured cousin, Frances Alexander Wellman, here's another article from The New York Times about a business venture of hers.  This one is dated 3 January 1917. Note that my cousin Frances didn't like "to be called Mrs. Allen Wellman when talking business."  These entrepreneurs also said that suffrage had nothing to do with the venture, although at least one of them was interested in it.  

According to a 1916 Rider's guidebook for travelers, the address was occupied by the Windsor Hotel until 1899 when it was destroyed by fire. It was also home to the Alliance Publishing Company and several clubs.  I think there's a Build-A-Bear Workshop at the site now, or next to it.  I'm not sure that anything is listed as 569 5th Avenue today.