I just had a “Eureka!” moment.

After we moved to Winston-Salem in the early 1960s, we would travel back to Rockbridge County through the Roanoke area. I remember stopping to see Cousin Eva in Roanoke. When I was older, I asked my Dad who was Cousin Eva? He said she was Eva Harris, wife of John Harris, and she had a sister Lula Carson. I worked on this line for a while and found that Eva’s and Lula's maiden name was Lindsay and that their parents were Horatio Thompson Lindsay and Emma Jane McGuffin. Horatio’s parents were Thomas Menzies Lindsay and Mary Jane Adams. I found a few more links but couldn’t really tell what the connection was. However, Lula married Frank Duncan Carson, and I linked him to my tree to discover he was my fifth cousin once removed. So I figured that Lula Carson was the true cousin through her husband and Eva was just called cousin by association.

But in the “Box of Letters” was one dated March 10, 1882, in which Sallie Alexander talks about Aunt Mary Lindsey and says that Emma and Rash had no children yet. Eureka! Rash is Horatio’s nickname and Aunt Mary is the sister of my great-great-grandmother, Nancy Adams Gibson (Sallie Alexander's mother). Now it makes more sense why my Dad would’ve felt close enough to stay in touch with Cousin Eva. They were second cousins once removed…fairly close in the big scheme of things. And this was an Adams family connection that I assumed we had lost. Oh, and Thomas Lindsay is the “Uncle Tom Lindsey” referred to in another letter.

Here is the full letter:

"How is the kid doing"

So ends the short note written from my great-grandfather James W Alexander to his wife Sallie in 1887. The back of the note was sent to Mrs. Sallie Alexander at Mrs. Irvin's.  Mrs. Irvin was Sallie's mother. The note reads:

"Poor House May 22 1887

Dear Sallie
     The Board of Supv put me out yesterday and put Sam Wilson in my place. They put Halbert out as County surveyor & put James in his place. Rash L is coming over this eavning [sic] & I cannot come over. P[?] More is the scoundrel that beat me. How is the kid doing
                                           from your devoted
                                                       James W. A."

James Alexander was an Overseer of the Poor, so he wrote this note from the Poor House.  Evidently, the county supervisors decided to elect different people for the positions noted. I will have to go see if I can find articles in the Lexington paper that might have covered this.  The "kid" referenced was likely their youngest child, Mary Annaliza Alexander (known to us as Aunt Midge) who was born April 12, 1887.  And Sallie was likely staying with her mother to get help with the baby and other children.