PATRICK COUNTY GENEALOGY SOCIETY
6/15/1999-Present
The Patrick County Genealogy Society held its organizational meeting on 6/15/1999 at the Stuart Baptist Church Fellowship Hall which was our regular meeting place until 2008 when we moved to the Community Room of the Patrick Henry Community College Stuart Site located on Johnson Street in Stuart. It is an outgrowth of the Patrick County Heritage Book. There were 42 Charter Members. The first elected officers were: President - Alpha Hiatt, Vice President - Kenney Kirkman, Treasurer - Mildred Hill, Editor - Leslie Shelor Allen, Photographer/Archivist - Desmond Kendrick, Advisors - Raymond & Onie Vaughn. The position of Secretary/Reporter went unfilled so Alpha Hiatt assumed these offices as well. Current officers are: David Sheley, President/Query Column/Scrapbook/Guest Register/Librarian; Alpha Hiatt, Vice President; Mildred Hill, Treasurer/Membership Chairman; Anna Dunkley & Hazel Smith, Minutes Recording; Joel Cannaday, Newsletter Editor; Desmond Kendrick, Photographer/Archivist; Cecil and Onie Vaughn, Advisors.
PCGS started off on a very good genealogical note with our “Want to Discover Your Roots” “How to Do Your Family Tree Workshop” on 8/14/1999 & 8/21/1999 with speaker Jimmie Steele. Jimmie was a very seasoned genealogist who had done tremendous work on the Martin Family Tree while living. Jimmie has since passed, but the knowledge she left behind is invaluable. You see there isn’t a thing about your life and those before you that do not relate to genealogy. For instance, we’ve had wonderful programs done by Doug Belcher on the Cherokee & Saura Indians. How many of you have Native American ancestry? In 2000, Tina Liza Jones did a wonderful program on Folk Music – ever wondered where some of the lyrics came from and the stories behind them. Some of these lyrics came over with the Scots-Irish who settled in Virginia. Some are based on real life experiences including slavery. Next time you listen to a folk song, think about its meaning and origin. Want to know about local train history? Kenney Kirkman who was our past President and still an honorary member of PCGS, did programs on the Dick & Willie train (the Danville & Western), the Fayerdale Railroad, and the Mount Airy & Eastern Railroad (a.k.a the Dinky). All of these trains were in Patrick County. Kenney is a well known historian of local train history and we are so thankful for his contributions to PCGS. How many of your family members rode or can remember these trains? That’s part of your heritage too. Luther Justice, Foy Hawks, and Tom Slate shared their experiences of working in the Civilian Conservation Corps. building the Blue Ridge Parkway in Patrick County. Are there people in your family whose CCC records you could obtain to add to your family history as well as sitting down getting oral histories from those still living. Arthur Ayers, Lester Craig, and Marvin Keene gave a wonderful program on the Patrick County Honor Guard in 2000. Do you have family members who served in the military including the American Revolution, War of 1812, WWI, WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War, Persian Gulf War, and Operation Iraqi Freedom? Remember, freedom is not free. Joe Sloop and Elder Noel of the Jesus Christ Church of Latter Day Saints presented a program on “Where Do I Start” in doing genealogical research for our first year anniversary meeting. Many beginners need this knowledge to get them up and going with their family tree research and familysearch.org is a wonderful place to start your search. We also did something quite unique at this meeting in that we had each member to write a paragraph of 8-10 sentences on your family to read before all the members. That way we got to know about each other’s families. And here in Patrick County, you learn real quick that most families are intertwined, so you can say we met a few cousins that night too. Are your roots Moravian? Richard Starbuck of the Old Salem Moravian Archives in Winston-Salem, North Carolina came and did our August 2000 program for us on Mount Bethel, Willow Hill, Crooked Oak, and Grace Moravian Churches all of which lie in Patrick and Carroll Counties in VA, and Surry County NC. Mount Bethel is the oldest Moravian church in Virginia. He explained the different genealogical records that are kept there in the archives at Old Salem. So this is an excellent source of genealogical information. In 2000, we started publishing our Newsletter thanks to Leslie Shelor. Then David Sheley, started doing a monthly genealogy query column in the local paper, The Enterprise. That has proven very successful in helping people to make connections with others holding information they need on their family tree and pictures. And who could ever forget the biggest turnout we’ve had yet for a meeting when Myrtle Driver from the Cherokee Reservation in Cherokee, NC came and did a program for us in November 2000 along with Doug Belcher, Renee Wagoner, and Lee Pinkerson. There were examples of pottery, basketry, pipes, and pictures on display along with the beautiful Native American dolls that Renee’s mother, Doris, made---they were SOOOOO Pretty! And Lee sang so beautiful of the Cherokee. She really has a talent when it comes to writing and singing Native American music. We concluded the year with an old fashioned Christmas Celebration at the Dobyns Community Club. Each person was asked to make homemade decorations (nothing storebought except the tree) and we decorated it, shared gifts, and ate in fellowship. What a delight! That was one of the prettiest trees I’ve ever seen decorated. Our ancestors would have been so proud of us.
In January of 2001, the Jesus Christ Church of Latter Day Saints did a program for us at Patrick County High School on how to use the familysearch.org website. I must say this was an adventure for my mother. She had never used a computer before until this night and got a hit on this website on her grandmother’s Social Security Death Index Record. We wrote off and got it and now have a piece of genealogy in our family tree we would not have otherwise have known how to have obtained. In February of 2001, Cynthia Wilson sent us a video on “Researching Your African American Roots in Patrick County” in honor of Black History Month. Cynthia’s knowledge in this field is truly a blessing. She taught me in two weeks over the internet how to find these records here locally, and it certainly isn’t the way I was used to doing it. It sure opened my eyes to a lot of the slave history here in Patrick County and the families who owned them. Cynthia has now compiled a book on Slaves in Inventories and Wills in Patrick County. It is of immense help if you are researching African American ancestry in Patrick County. David Sheley also spoke at this meeting about Florabelle Brim and Wythe Brown who worked for the Dobyns Family in Stuart. In April we did a tour of the Patrick County Courthouse and Clerk, Susan Gasperini, explained the various genealogical resources available in the courthouse to family tree searchers. In May 2001, we had a great program hosted by the West Virginia Proud Club of Henry County. Dr. Stuart McGehee of the Eastern Regional Coal Mine Archives in Bluefield, West Virginia was the guest speaker. The Eastern Regional Coal Archives is dedicated to the collecting, preservation, and making available the heritage of the coalfields and includes people from Patrick, Carroll, Floyd, and Henry Counties in VA, and Surry, Stokes, and Rockingham Counties in NC. The Archives contain artifacts, blueprints, company records, company store account books, correspondence, diaries, films, ledgers, maps, miner’s tools, newspapers, oral history tapes, photographs, railroad memorabilia, rare books, scrapbooks, scrip, and secondary research materials. We had many descendants of coal miners at this meeting and was very informative. Did you know that during hard times here in Patrick County that people left to go to West Virginia to obtain jobs in the coal mines? Our June 2001 meeting was very very special indeed. It was the 50th Wedding Anniversary of two of our oldest PCGS members, Cecil & Onie Vaughn. What a night! Our program was entitled “This is your Life.” Family members, friends, neighbors, school chums, and their pastor got together for a truly magnificent night of reminiscing of Cecil and Onie’s life. We learned about the Williams and Vaughn families through pictures, yearbooks, and a video. The funniest part of this celebration was the talk about the shivaree---Cecil was put under the millrace at Vipperman’s Mill on Dobyns Road but he said that was okay it was hot and the water was cool. Onie was dragged in a washtub and the bottom was worn completely out of it.
On July 28, 2001, we hosted the very first ever CCC Reunion at Fairystone State Park which was very well attended with 85 people present including CCC’ers Odell Cox, Ophus Agnew, Curtis Spencer, Norman Webb, Lester Mankin, and Sam Wood. CCC descendants included Brewster Powell, Camden Powell, Letitia Powell Martin, Barbara Payne, Loretta Carroll, Milton Hundley, and the granddaughter of Larry Boyd named Lindsey. This reunion focused on those involved with the building of Fairy Stone State Park of which Ophus Agnew was one of them. What a wonderful night of memory making. We have become known for our Civilian Conservation Corps. (CCC) Programming and we have made a very special effort to preserve Patrick County CCC’s history since 2000 (and is an ongoing project of PCGS), especially Camp Rocky Knob at Woolwine and the CCC at Fairystone State Park through oral interviews, CCC Programs, and the First Ever CCC Reunion at Fairystone State Park. We are always happy to accept pictures, company booklets, and other historical items from either of these CCC Camps. It is our desire to document the building of the Blue Ridge Parkway and Fairystone State Park to the very best of our ability. If you have someone living in your family that was a CCC’er at either one of these areas, we would very much like to talk with them, or if they’ve passed on, please share your recollections with us of what your CCC’ers life was like for them during the construction phases of these two wonderful outdoor recreation areas in the heart of The Blue Ridge Mountains in Patrick County.
We raised our dues in 2001, but have not done so again until this year (2008) due to rising postage prices. In August of 2001, Elder Wilding of the Jesus Christ Church of Latter-day Saints gave a program on the Freedman Bank Records and updates to the familysearch.org website. Our September 2001 meeting was cancelled due to the tragic events of 911. Shelby Cochran and Betty Banks presented a program on “Researching Your Revolutionary War Ancestry” at the October 2001 meeting. Both are members of the Colonel Abram Penn Daughters of the American Revolution Chapter-Stuart. They gave general information on the DAR, and much time was spent on proving your revolutionary war lineage. We felt this discussion was very timely in light of 911 since the Revolutionary War is the reason we have the Declaration of Independence. Do you have a Revolutionary War ancestor? He could possibly make you eligible to join the DAR. In November 2001, Chief Kenneth Branham of the Monacan Indian Nation was our speaker on researching Monacan ancestry. Monacan family names in Patrick County include Hicks, Lawless, Clark, Roberts, Willis and Terry. He also discussed canoe building; shelter construction; hide tanning; mat and rope weaving; fishing; tool making, gardening and harvesting; meal preparation; and making pots, bowls and baskets. Are any of these names in your family lines?
In March 2002, Elder John Wingfield of Liberty Primitive Baptist Church presented a program on the history of Liberty Primitive Baptist Church. Did you know that churches have records that can be of help to genealogists including baptisms, and deaths? How could we have known this night that the little church that had stood for 90 years (the 3rd church) was about to come down? This church burned and it has always been thought to be the work of arsonists. Our pictures helped them to build their 4th church back the way the 3rd church looked. I’m so glad Kenney and I had a chance to tour the old church---it was really beautiful on the inside and sits in such a quaint country area of Patrick County. My mother and I had the opportunity to attend the rededication of the new church (4th church) and I am so proud it was built to serve our county hopefully for another 90 years. Did you know this same site was also the site of a singing school? Our June 2002 meeting was presented by Richard “Lester” Snyder entitled “Battefield Doctors of the War Between the States.” He had a display of surgical paraphernalia. Doug Belcher presented our October program on Native American Genealogy and Cherokee History and Culture. He had several books about Native American genealogy and many of the names included are prominent in this area. He also brought several items for viewing—baskets, masks, woodcarvings, jewelry, etc. made by Native Americans. And we started a new tradition this year with the Annual Sharing Meeting and Covered Dish Dinner which we still enjoy meeting and eating to this day.
In March 2003, David Sheley did a talk on the Patrick Springs Female College. He presented a very informative and interesting program on the educational opportunities available to young women in the 1800’s, focusing primarily on the Patrick Springs Female College, which operated from 1861 until 1870. Such schools were common in the North, but rare in this area. According to Vergie Thompson Tilley, this was the only secondary institution in this area between 1861 and 1870. Yearly tuition for the ten month session was $135.00 and English, Language, Music and Drawing were among the subjects taught. The advent of the establishment of public schools in 1870 in Patrick County caused the Patrick Springs Female College to become obsolete and it was changed to a resort around 1890. Our April 2003, meeting was presented by Mike and Becky Christiansen on the genealogy of Colonel Archelaus Hughes and David Sloop did a presentation on the restoration of the Hughes cemetery. How could I have known then that Colonel Hughes would come to be one of my ancestors? Isn’t genealogy fun and fascinating. Gosh I got to learn about the Stage Coach that stopped at Hughesville along The Great Wagon Road which had an ordinary at the time and this is documented in the Moravian Archives. Since then, some of the PCGS members have toured the house and walked upon The Great Wagon Road. This is for certain the oldest stick built house in Patrick County. We’re so thankful for the efforts being made to preserve this beautiful old home. In May 2003, Esther Johnson presented a program on African American presence at the Reynolds Homestead. She gave us insight into the Reynolds, from Abram, who came to Patrick County in the early 1800’s to his son William harden who married Nancy Jane Box and had 16 children including R. J., the founder of R. J. Reynolds. They owned 8,000 acres of land, and started Rock Springs Plantation (now called The Reynolds Homestead) in the 1840’s and added on to it later. It includes two cemeteries, the Reynolds family cemetery and the slave cemetery located across the road in front of the house that includes 61 graves. The June 2003 meeting was an outing to The Reynolds Homestead with a covered dish picnic meal. In July 2003, Janelle and Butch Johnson presented a program on “Doing Research at the North Carolina State Archives.” This is very important to Patrick Countians since we border Stokes and Surry Counties in North Carolina and depending upon where your ancestors lived, you may need to look in both Virginia and North Carolina to find their records. In September 2003, The Wharton-Stuart Camp #1831 Sons of Confederate Veterans presented a program on Military Drill and a Fashion Show “The Role Women Had During the Civil War Era” Ball Gowns. Much was learned about Victorian Mourning, Tea Party, and Ball Gowns. Participation was from some very young children (boys & girls) to the elderly and was most informative. Perhaps your ancestor had long dresses or suits they wore. Wouldn’t you like to learn more about why they wore them, how they were made, and what timeframe they are from?
In January 2004, Doug Turman explained the process he uses to copy old photographs and negatives using various computer programs. Our President, David Sheley, had a display of some old pictures including a Silhouette (c. 1830’s) and a Daguerreotype (c. 1846). Wouldn’t it be wonderful to figure out who are in some of the pictures that have been handed down to you through the generations and what kind they are and what era they were made in? Your family in these pictures is part of your heritage and it is most important that these be preserved properly. Amy Burnette was our February 2004 speaker on Scrapbooking. She brought examples of various scrapbooks she had put together for other people and scrapbooking supplies. This was a very fun meeting. We have at least one scrapbooker in our Genealogy Society. Clarence Hall was our March 2004 speaker on the Bull Mountain Plane Crash where eleven young soldiers lost their lives on 3/15/1944, one-half mile south of the water tower on Bull Mountain in Patrick County. They were on a training mission and their plane went down at 10:00 p.m. Fifty years after this plane crash, Mr. Hall has located relatives of ten of these men and in 1994 there was a memorial dedicated to these soldiers in the Court House Yard in Stuart. We had an outing to the crash site in May of 2004, and we soon discovered there was a dire need for replacement of a United States Flag at the crash site which PCGS donated. There are many people still living who remember this plane crash including my own family and getting these oral histories now helps to save the history of a moment in time. In May 2004, Kenney Kirkman presented a program on The Danville and Western Railroad (a.k.a. The Dick & Willie) that ran through Stuart. It was completed from Danville, VA to Stuart in 1884. The last train departed Stuart on 7/31/1942. This line affected the lives of countless citizens of Patrick County. I have a great-aunt who could remember riding the D&W and one comment she makes is she remembered how good looking the servicemen were when they came home from war. The train was discontinued when the tracks were needed for the war effort. In June 2004, we had an outing to Laurel Hill (J.E.B. Stuart’s birth place) for a covered dish picnic. Tom Perry and Kenney Kirkman were our speakers on Jeb Stuart and on the Mount Airy & Eastern Railroad (a.k.a. The Dinky). Ninety year old, Porter Bondurant, could remember the fires started by the dinky as it rolled down the tracks from the cinders it left behind and having to put the fires out with buckets of water. He also shared a memory of seeing a live whale in one of the box cars (perhaps for a circus?). Joy Gann Brown was our July 2004 speaker on What DNA Tells Us. Have you ever wanted to have your DNA tested to see who you are kin to and to firmly establish family lineages? Oscar Hylton presented our August 2004 program on Herbal Medicine. Oscar’s great-grandfather on his father’s side was a full-blooded Indian. His tribal name translated to Moses and he married a Hylton and adopted her last name becoming Moses Hylton. Oscar’s grandfather on his mother’s side practiced herbal medicine in the Meadows of Dan area of Patrick County for many years. Oscar has spent most of his life using herbs and homemade tonics. Sound familiar? How many people in your family talk of old timey medicinal remedies? This is part of your family tree and needs to be preserved through oral history. David Sheley presented a program on Reading Olde Handwriting for our September 2004 meeting. He had handouts prepared on this to help aide us in reading things such as old marriage bonds & licenses, deeds, wills, etc. The October 2004 meeting was held at the Patrick County Library as Librarian, Randy Glover, gave a talk on What is Microfilming? He explained to us what microfilming is, how it is used, and then how to actually use a microfilm machine. Little did David Sheley realize he would soon be using this to peruse The Enterprise, our local newspaper, to record documentation on WWII to help with the research on our Patrick County WWII Pictorial Book which was our very first project. The Patrick County Library has microfilm of censuses, mortality schedules, slave schedules, The Enterprise, The Observer and The Bull Mountain Bugle (two local newspapers no longer in business). On Saturday, October 23rd, 2004 we participated in the 3rd annual Stuart Apple Dumpling Festival in downtown Stuart. Our booth was on “Sources of Genealogy” which included genealogical handouts. Children were welcome to our booth for free beadery making and drawing pictures which was a big hit. They loved it and we enjoyed having them. The adults enjoyed looking at the genealogical display and the genealogical scrapbooks and photo album that David Sheley had brought. We also received a couple of genealogical inquires that day. One inquiry touched our hearts so deeply that we could never forget it from a lady who was raised in an orphanage (not from Patrick County) and never knew any of her family and now is elderly herself. Genealogy is global these days so thanks to ancestry.com, heritagequest.com, and familysearch.org we were able to find one vital source of information for this lady. Our motto is “We Search for Roots, Can we Help You with Yours?” A dream catcher we gave away that day to a lucky winner was one by a precious nine year old girl whose father and mother had passed away within the last three years and was being raised by her grandparents. She was interested in doing her family tree. How truly special this was. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience at our very first Apple Dumpling Festival and we are so thankful for this wonderful day and all the wonderful people (young and old alike) that came our way. On Saturday, November 13, 2004, David and Alpha participated in the annual Holiday Bazaar sponsored by the Eastern Star (now no longer in existence). Our display was again on “Sources of Genealogy” along with genealogical handouts including Patrick County veterans names and Melungeon native American surnames. David had some free “Flowers like Grandma had” flower seeds which were a big hit which included Blackberry Lily, Touch Me Nots, Four O’Clocks, Hollyhocks, Rose Campion, Nigella, Red tassel Flower, and Cleome seeds. Everyone really enjoyed his seeds with historical reference to Thomas Jefferson.
PCGS had a display at the Patrick County Library in January 2005 on the “Things Grandpa and Grandma carried in their Pockets.” This was a neat display and made you stop think about the history of some family heirlooms handed down in your family such as eyeglasses, pocket watches, coins, etc. Tom Perry presented a program on J.E.B. Stuart’s Last Ride, The Battle of Yellow Tavern for our January meeting. At this meeting, the Patrick County WWII Pictorial Book was officially launched seeking photos of WWII veterans, scenes from the war and information from all branches of service, and all service related jobs. A 25 word caption was to accompany each picture. Sally Burns was our February 2005 speaker on The Great Wagon Road. Whew, talk about an expert on this Road and where it ran through Patrick & Henry Counties in VA, and Stokes County NC she really knows her stuff. The Great Wagon Road included the Carolina Road (Tutelo, Saura Path, Iroquios Trail) many of which our ancestors would have traveled. Have you ever asked some of your older family members about roads that were traveled by our ancestors from oral histories that were passed down to them? Crystal Wood was our March 2005 speaker on one of our most popular programs “Patrick County Quilting.” She talked about fabrics, patterns and quilting designs. There were many quilts on display (some she brought and others that the public had bought) and she described some of them. This was a program that everyone really enjoyed. There were so many quilts that we made pictures of them to preserve the history of these wonderful and beautiful Patrick County quilts and quilters. See how such a simple program can quickly become about being a historian? Maybe someone in your family made or still makes quilts and maybe you have one of them---begin asking questions about what they were made out of, how they were pieced together, patterns used, and what the purpose was in making them. We had quilts with Holly Hobby, flowers, family pictures, crazy quilts, the cathedral pattern, and so so many different designs and fabrics. Esther Johnson and Patrick Boyles were our April 2005 speakers on the Lawson Family Tragedy (The Charlie Lawson Murder wherein Charlie Lawson murdered his whole family except one son). This occurred in Germanton (Stokes Co. NC) on Christmas of 1928. This was attended very well including by various family members of the Lawson family. On Saturday May 7, 2005 members of the Patrick County Genealogy Society visited Rocky Mount, VA. The Franklin County Historical Society were our hosts. We had a wonderful time visiting the old historic areas in Rocky Mount, seeing the frescoes, the old iron furnace, an old caboose, and lo and behold if a train didn’t come through while we were visiting the caboose---what a sight and fun filled time we had. Jonathan Corns was our May 2005 speaker on his Eagle Scout Project which PCGS sponsored, On the Wings of An Eagle, the History of Patrick County Boy Scouting. He had started to put together a history of scouting in Patrick County. Scouting in Patrick County started in the early 1930’s. Jonathan’s speakers for the evening were Ammon Sears, Fulton Clark and John Hopkins. They told of their experiences, camping trips, what scouting had meant to them and how it had enriched their lives. It was a very interesting program and was wonderful oral history to add to his project. Was someone in your family involved in Scouting? Do they have pictures or memorabilia they would share with you? Marvin Keene was our June 2005 speaker on Patrick County Postcards. She showed many post cards from Patrick County. This was a very interesting program. Our July 2005 meeting was conducted by six representatives of the Patrick County VFW and the Patrick County American Legion Post Members including VFW Post 8467 & 7800, and American Legion Post 105. They spoke on the duties of the Patrick County Honor Guard such as folding of the flag and the firing of the rifles at the cemetery. The Honor Guard only does memorial services such as Memorial Day, Fourth of July Ceremonies and funerals for veterans. The Patrick County Memorial Honor Guard was formed in 1991. Their first funeral service was performed 9/1/1991 and since then they have recorded over 400+ services. Alicia Tiller of Creative Memories presented our August 2005 program on scrapbooking. Alicia had sample scrapbooks with her and various scrapbooking supplies. This was a very informative meeting. Alicia uses clippings from newspapers to go into the nursing homes etc. in order to help Alzheimer’s victims to share with her and family members about their lives. This has proven very beneficial. We commend Alicia on this very worthwhile talent and endeavor she has of preserving family histories. Esther Johnson presented our September 2005 program on Beginning Genealogy. She discussed researching courthouse documents, family documents, funeral home records, online research, etc. She brought lots of books to use in doing genealogy research. For a beginner, we strongly urge you to attend programs such as this so you can learn the right way of how to do genealogy research and more importantly how valuable properly documenting your sources can be. Our genealogy society was somewhat devasted this month with the announcement that one of our had been stricken with cancer, Mildred Hill, who was to begin radiation treatments. But you know Mildred’s faith has brought her a long way. In 2008, she is CANCER FREE and we are so glad to have her back with us! Harry and Rudy Roy of the Jesus Christ Church of Latter Day Saints presented our October 2005 program on “How to Do Oral Histories and Record Them.” This included how to talk with people, to record what they say and to preserve their stories for future generations. We even got to experiment doing this by interviewing each other and what fun we had learning about each other’s lives. Oral Histories give the genealogist a wonderful opportunity to record, transcribe, and then type up oral histories from your family. If you miss something, you can always go back and listen, and more importantly you will always have a recording of that person in your family in the event they pass on. Our genealogy society was seven years old in 2005, and one of the highest compliments we received came from a retired school teacher who had attended some of our meetings and said “We offer quality programming on a variety of subjects.” Food Lion in Stuart donated two large trays of desserts, for our annual swap meet in November---the new Food Lion had not been open long and we thank them for this generous gift to our organization and boy was it good! Wanda Shough and Esther Johnson won the genealogy grab bags at this meeting where we sell chances for $1.00 and whose ever name is drawn wins the grab bags. Congratulations Esther and Wanda!
Our January 2006 meeting was a research meeting at the Bassett Historical Center in Bassett, VA. This was well attended by our members and most helpful in having a time when we could all get together and go do some genealogical research together. Tony Lowe spoke at our March 2006 meeting on The Quaker Churches of Patrick County in particularly the Friends Mission and Burk’s Fork Meetings. The Quakers, escaping religious persecution, came from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales to Pennsylvania in 1783. They traveled the Great Wagon Road on their migration from Pennsylvania down through Virginia and into North Carolina. The Quakers acquired land in western Patrick County for their Blue Ridge Mission in 1888. Acting on the request of Mr. Hillery Epperson, the North Carolina Yearly Meeting of the Friends purchased an empty store on the lot where Blue Ridge School now stands to use for Sunday School and meeting. In September that year, “Friends Mission” was open with Miss Mary Anderson and Miss Sarah Marshburn as the first teachers. By 1909, 53 students were teaching and six were preaching. Friends Mission operated until about 1918 when it came under the control of the Presbyterian Church. It was one of the earliest schools to offer secondary education in Patrick County. Among Patrick County Quaker surnames are King, Smith, Jessup, and Hiatt. Lorraine “Littlewolf” Griffith of the Wolfe Creek Cherokee Tribe presented our April 2006 program on How to Research Your Native American Ancestry. She discussed how to use marriage licenses, birth and death records, census records, oral history, and pictures to help in your search along with tribal rolls and pedigree charts. Lorraine has been the Genealogist for the Monacan nation in Amherst, VA for 20 years. And talk about meeting cousins this night---Joel Cannaday who is our newsletter editor met a cousin Margaret Ullrich as they had the same great-grandmother, Varner! Onie Vaughn and Virginia Hopkins had a picture of their great-grandmother, Mary Emmie “Emmy” Hancock Light. Our May 2006 speaker was Gary Walker on Civil War Service, Oral History and Genealogy. He discussed the importance of finding out what individuals did during the Civil War, having a family history, and the genealogy that led up to the war itself. He spoke in the importance of passing down the civil war family stories in your family and how to do Civil War Genealogy. To explain why this is so important, while doing the Patrick County Heritage Book Volume II my great-aunt happened to have the original reports done by two of her husband’s siblings while attending the Harbour School in Patrick County, and they talked about what grandma and grandpa did during the Civil War. After nearly a 100 years, these reports were still in wonderful condition. I was simply intrigued by the detail given in these school reports as they were required to sit down and do oral interviews with their grandfather and grandmother. Oh what a treasure! I’m so glad she hung onto these. Does someone in your family have something like this, or pictures, flags, guns, etc. from the Civil War era? If so, get busy asking questions and documenting who owned them and why. We participated in the annual Spring Frolic at The Reynolds Homestead in May 2006 selling Heritage Books and WWII Pictorial Books. We also had our Patrick County books there for genealogical research, genealogy handouts, and of course we always enjoy taking queries and we got a few that day. R. P. Lanier of Radford University presented our June 2006 program on the Scots-Irish. Gosh is he ever a great speaker and he makes it so fun. The Scots-Irish are people who are descended form that part of the population of Northern Ireland who descended from Scottish settlers. In Patrick County, most emigrated from Pittsylvania and Halifax Counties. Among the surnames are Hill, Mills, Anderson, Slate, Bowman, and Pack. The Scots-Irish traveled The Great Wagon Road and were Presbyterian. One such Scots-Irishman was Morgan Bryan who with the help from some of his Pennsylvania neighbors chopped out or cleared the Warriors’ Path (A.k.a. Tutelo-Saura Path, Iroquois War Trail) and made it passable for wagons all the way from the Potomac River to the Yadkin River. It was known as the Morgan Bryan Road. This route became a usable wagon road all of the way from Philadelphia to the Yadkin River. For many years, this road, particularly the sections in Pennsylvania and in the Valley of Virginia was the most traveled road in America. It is also known as The Great Wagon Road. Wanda Shough and myself sure got a surprise at this meeting. We learned one of our family surnames was from Ulster, Ireland which is Fain. Now, don’t think we can top that program but we tried---Ricky Cox of Radford University did a presentation on Appalachian Folklore at our July 2006 meeting. “Folklore” is the study of the unrecorded traditions of a people.” These traditions may be oral – things we say; customary—things we do; or material-things we make and use in daily life. Ricky’s talk gave examples of oral folklore which included everything from simple words, such as names, to elaborate folktales and legends. This included superstitions, folk medicine, and the numerous rituals, we observe at every stage of life, from the cradle to the grave. He talked about food, clothing, tools, musical instruments, and structures that produced traditional recipes, patterns, and designs, using tools and processes handed down from previous generations. Pinto beans and cornbread, apple butter, and leather britches are examples of material folklore, as are quilts and gravel shooters. And what place doesn’t have legends---we have The Legend of Lover’s Leap, The Legend of Ahart Ridge, and The Legend of the Fairystone. Ever heard the song “Foolish Man” sung by Larry Sigmon and Barbara Poole? This song is folklore and came to America with our ancestors. This was a very fun meeting and we enjoyed it immensely. Oh, and I forgot to mention an important milestone for PCGS this year, the debut of our webpage. I just love the picture of the Patrick County Courthouse that Wanda Shough choose for our Home Page. This old courthouse is rich in history and is a treasure trove to genealogists. If you notice the picture has ribbons on the railings for support of our troops in the Persian Gulf War and now we are doing care packages for our troops in the Operation Iraqi Freedom War. And we feel strongly that our beautiful old courthouse not be torn down as was proposed earlier this year by the Patrick County Board of Supervisors but maintained and restored. We understand now they have backed down from tearing it down. We are so thankful. It is a tourist attraction and sits so beautifully on Main Street amongst other historic buildings. Dr. R. Michael Abram of The Museum of the Cherokee in Cherokee, NC was our guest speaker for our August 2006 program on General History & Culture of the Cherokee, and Genealogy. The Cherokee owned everything on top of the Blue Ridge (Blew Ledge) which amounts to about ½-1/3 of the western part of Patrick County including Meadows of Dan and as far as the Peaks of Otter. This includes Tuggles Gap, Floyd, Lover’s Leap, Squirrel Spur, Meadows of Dan, Vesta, Groundhog Mountain, Doe Run, and Fancy Gap. The Cherokee were also at Fairy Stone Park. The area in Patrick County was sold to the British Colony in October 1768, in the Treaty of Hard Labor in South Carolina due to white squatters moving in. Other areas sold in this sale included Independence, Floyd, Grayson, Montgomery, and Pulaski Counties. If your roots are in these areas, you probably have Cherokee ancestry. It is a known and proven fact here in Patrick County that hunting camps were established here by the Cherokee. They also lived and hunted in Carroll, Grayson, and Floyd Counties. They would hunt in the Spring, Summer, and Fall and return to Cherokee in the Winter. Some of the Cherokee who walked the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma successfully walked back to North Carolina and Tennessee and many of you could be their descendants. Those who survived were very hardy people to endure such a strong test of their endurance. The Eastern Band of Cherokee in NC have between 12,500-13,000 people enrolled today, and the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma have about 210,000 enrolled. The area known as Cherokee which encompasses about 57,000 acres was bought by the Cherokee, not given to them as some made be led to believe. There are many people in Patrick County whose ancestry is Cherokee. Doug Belcher, our Native American historian, has put together an excellent handout on the Regional Indian History and it is now published in The Patrick County Heritage Book Volume II. Richard Starbuck of the Old Salem Moravian Archives in Winston Salem, NC was our September 2006 speaker on Moravians & Wagon Roads. This was a most informative meeting. Did you know that the Moravians have Hughesville (the Colonel Archelaus Hughes home) on their wagon road mileage of the stage coach stops from Salem, NC to Salem, NC? Jonathan Corns presented his finished project “On The Wings of An Eagle” A History of Boyscouting in Patrick County, VA which was over a year of research and work on Patrick County Cub and Boy Scouting. It contains a summary of the history of Boyscouting in Patrick County as well as a timeline, a complete list of Eagle Scouts from Patrick County, interviews from numerous people involved in Scouting in Patrick County, and newspaper articles on Scouting in Patrick County. This was a wonderful presentation and at the end, Jonathan presented PCGS for a copy of his project for our PCGS Library. I must say we really enjoyed working with him on this project and am so glad he obtained his Eagle Scout Award. Well we were coming up Apples at the Apple Dumpling Festival in downtown Stuart on October 21st, 2006. Our theme was on Patrick County apples. We had numerous handouts having to do with Patrick County apples, in addition to our genealogy handouts on beginning genealogy and native American ancestry. We also sold Heritage Books and WWII Pictorial Books. We also had the Patrick County books for people to research in (how about that doing genealogy research in downtown Stuart on a nice fall day), and we received some queries. Our booth would not have been complete without David’s adopted dog, Bonnie, who was rescued from PAWS. Bonnie is our mascot and we love her dearly. She is such a sweetie and loves people. She certainly got a wonderful home. Our November annual swap meet and covered dish meal was something to really talk about in 2006. We had such wonderful participation in this. Catheryn Vaughn brought her binder on the Stanley Family, Hazel Smith brought hers on the Nunn and Wright families, Alpha Hiatt brought a display of pictures on her mother’s Martin, Handy, Rorrer, and Branch families along with a binder on she and her mother’s family pedigrees, Edward Gunter brought his on the Gunter Family, Descendants of James Sheppard, and one other; Esther Johnson brought hers on Peter Simmons and Daniel Taylor, Lucy Nowlin brought hers on the Cliftons and Nowlins, and Joel Cannaday brought his on the Turner and Cahill families. Anna Dunkley, Virginia Vaden, and Lucy Nowlin were the lucky winners of our genealogy raffle. PCGS participated in the Relay for Life Holiday Bazaar on Saturday, December 9th. We sold Heritage Books and WWII Pictorial Books, and gave away genealogical handouts. We liked this and had pretty good luck at this event and it all went for a great cause (the fight for a cure of cancer). Our booth was in honor of Mildred Hill, our Treasurer, and cancer survivor. Then we got involved in the military care packages. What a wonderful patriotic thing that anyone can do to help support our soldiers. See our military page for more information.
2007 got off to a good start with our “Are You a Limb Off of the Jamestown Tree” project. We compiled stories, pictures, family trees, and pedigree charts of Patrick Countians whose ancestors were from Jamestown. Patrick County was originally formed from Charles City. Charles City was one of the settlements in Virginia before 1624 and it was originally formed from Jamestown. The Patrick County families of Branch, Martin, and Reynolds are known to have Jamestown ancestry. The descendants of Olive Branch descend from John Rolfe, and descendants of Jane Harris who married Richard Fain, descend from Pocahontas and John Rolfe. The descendants of Isaac and Phyllis Martin descend from John Page (I realize this is a highly contested topic---however, there is an article published by R. P. Gravely, a former state archeologist for Virginia, on General Joseph Martin that seems to support this finding. Joseph’s wife’s lineage was General Joseph Martin. So it was only befitting that we start the year with two videos on Jamestown at our January meeting: Jamestown: The Beginning; and Where America Began: Jamestown. We also worked on the Valentine military care packages for our troops. PCGS members attended the opening of the showing of A Christmas Family Tragedy at The Historic Star Theatre in Stuart on 2/3/07. We were sponsors for this showing, and it was the very first showing of a movie at the newly renovated Star Theatre. The very first showing was completely sold out. Then we participated with the Patrick County Branch of the NAACP on the play “The Hall of Black American Heroes” at the Virginia Motorsports Museum Auditorium at the Stuart Site of Patrick Henry Community College in Stuart in February 2007. We had genealogical handouts for researching African American heritage in Patrick County along with wonderful resource books on researching African American ancestry. Alpha did some wonderful posters on genealogical sources to use when doing African American research in Patrick County. This included Cynthia Wilson’s book entitled Slaves in Wills, Inventories, and Accounts in Patrick County Virginia 1791-1864. David, Joan and Alpha did a talk on the WHEO Call-In Program on 3/21/07 about the PCGS Military Project. For the February 2007 meeting, we showed the video “Researching Your African American Ancestors in Patrick County” in honor of Black History Month. We also worked on the Easter military care packages. The March 20th 2007 meeting was in observance of “Women’s History Month.” Everyone was asked to come and talk about a female ancestor in your family, to bring a family heirloom she had, and pictures of her. We had excellent participation in this meeting and was something we had never done before. The April 2007 meeting was on Learning How to Use the LDS familysearch.org website, how to search for ancestors and start a family history. This was presented by Shelly and Judith Beckstrand, from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Lisa Hollingsworth was our May 2007 speaker with her Jamestown Storytelling. We participated in the 5/19/07 Strawberry Festival and had a delightful day. We sold Heritage Books and the WWII Pictorial Books and had the Patrick County books there for genealogical research. And it wouldn’t have been the Strawberry Festival without Miss Strawberry herself, Bonnie, the dog. Thanks Joan, Joe, David, and Bonnie for working out booth. Dr. Parks Lanier from Radford University presented our June 2007 program on “Heraldry a.k.a. Coats of Arms.” Did you know its actually illegal to have a Coat of Arms in America? Why, because the USA is a democracy not royalty. You could find all the Coats of Arms you like and pay high dollars for some of them, but that does not mean this is necessarily your families coat of arms. This was a very informative and fun meeting. Parks is just such a wonderful, fun speaker. When you have him to speak he makes learning so much fun. We also worked on the PCGS 4th of July Military Care Packages this night. We participated in the 400th Anniversary Jamestown Flag Pole Dedication at the Patrick County Historical Society Museum & Patrick County Branch Library Complex on 7/4/07. In May 2005 members of the Patrick County WWII Pictorial Book Committee of PCGS met at the Patrick County Library with Warren G. King, Sr. a former POW from Patrick County who served in WWII. He presented PCGS with a POW-MIA flag and requested that we should try to have a flag pole installed on the Museum/Library grounds. He pointed to the very spot where the flag pole stands today. Woodmen of the World was so very gracious in giving PCGS the flag and flag pole. This flag and pole is erected over the very spot where a Time Capsule was buried to be opened in a 100 years from now. Inside of it are books and newspapers on Patrick County including The Patrick County Heritage Books Volumes I & II, and The Patrick County WWII Pictorial Book. Jack Goins was our speaker for the July 2007 program on Melungeons. No one really knows when the Melungeons were first discovered. They lived in sizable communities primarily on the upper ridges of the eastern Tennessee counties of Hancock, Hawkins, and Rhea, in Ashe, Yancey, Surry, and Alleghany Counties in western North Carolina, and in what are now Wise, Scott, Lee, and Dickenson counties in southwestern Virginia. The Melungeons were dark-skinned, reddish-brown complexioned people supposed to be of Moorish descent, who were neither Indian nor Negro, but had fine European features, and claimed to be Portugese. They claimed descent from a group of Portugese who had either been shipwrecked or otherwise abandoned on the Atlantic coast. There are many Patrick County surnames which are Melungeon-Related including Adams, Adkins, Belcher, Bell, Bennett, Berry, Biggs, Bowling, Bowman, Burton, Byrd, Campbell, Carter, Caudill, Clark, Cole, Coleman, Collier, Collins, Cook, Cox, Curry, Davis, Fields, Gann, Goins, Hall, Hill, Holmes, Hopkins, Keith, Lawson, Martin, Moore, Mosely, Mullins, Nelson, Noel, Perry, Pruitt, Richardson, Riddle, Roberson, Robertson, Sawyer, Shephard, Short, Sizemore, Stewart, Taylor, Turner, Weaver, White, Williams, Willis, Wilson, Wright, and Wyatt just to name a few. On 8/21/2007, Walsworth Publishing Company and their Sales Representative, Don Mills, gave an appreciation banquet for those people that worked on Volume II of the Patrick County Heritage Book and the Patrick County WWII Pictorial Book. My those fine ladies at the Peters Creek Community Building in Dry Pond outdid themselves with that wonderful country buffet of food they fixed. Charles Bowman was the entertainment for the evening. He is a very talented person playing the Guitar and Fiddle and was 16 years old then. He was accompanied by his friend and his Grandpa Cox. PCGS attended the 911 dedication of the Jamestown Flag and Flag Pole at the Patrick County Museum/Library Complex held by Woodmen of the World. We surely do appreciate the efforts of Lucy Willard and Steve Bishop in acquiring this for us along with Clyde and Jean Thomas (PCGS Members). This was our Jamestown project in addition to the “Are You A Limb Off of The Jamestown Family Tree” project. This was probably the most noteworthy Jamestown project in Patrick County which will have such a long lasting impact. Our September 2007 program was in honor of our Grandpa’s in honor of Grandparent’s Day. Everyone was invited to come and talk about a male ancestor in their family, bring a family heirloom he had, and pictures of him. This program was very well received and had excellent participation. We thank all of you who shared your stories about your male ancestors. Tom Brown was our October speaker on Lost Apple Varieties.
We started out 2008 with a video at our January meeting entitled “Finding Your Family History in the Attic” which was most informative. It taught you how to go through old pictures, scrapbooks, school annuals, military discharge papers, etc. in search of your ancestry. In February, we watched the play that the Patrick County NAACP presented in 2007 at PHCC Stuart Site entitled “The Hall of Afro-American Heroes in History.” The NAACP came and joined us and we had a wonderful time watching this play together. Margaret Smith presented a program on looms and weaving especially the Rock-a-Beater loom for the March meeting. In April, we had an Outing to walk The Great Wagon Road here in Patrick County. What fun we had walking on a road that the Moravians once had their stage coach drive over to the ordinary at the Colonel Archelaus Hughes home in Patrick County. We got to tour the Archelaus Hughes home and cemetery whose ancestry goes back to several of our PCGS members. In honor of Memorial Day, David Sheley, our PCGS President and Chairman of the Patrick County VA WWII Pictorial Book presented a program on what was going on in Patrick County during the WWII years. You would be amazed at how similar things were then to what our country is experiencing now. In June we had a picnic outing to Rocky Knob followed by a visit to the Shelor Iron Furnace in neighboring Floyd County. This was a most informative trip and we thank George Shelor for his wonderful hospitality and being our host for this visit to the furnace.
The Society’s first project, the Patrick County, Virginia, WWII Pictorial Book, was a huge success and is now completely sold out. It has a listing of 2,000 Patrick County Veterans who served in WWII, Honor Roll of the Norfolk & Western Railway, over 600 Patrick County Veterans Pictures with Captions, Story on the Bull Mountain Plane Crash, Hutchens B-24 Story, Bougainville Island Base Reunion Story, 26 Pages of Scenes from the War Including Ships, Planes & Trucks; Postcards; Discharge Papers & Medals; Badges & Medals; Newspapers from the Era; WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C.; and the D-Day Memorial in Bedford, VA.
