A Century Old Mystery

First, I am so sorry I have been absent for so long. With having to recite Proverbs in order for David to write out his sentences, his suspension and spring break along with other stuff I have had very little time to read or write blogs. Also slowing me down is lack of sleep due to seasonal allergies and the meds that help me make it through the day without sneezing my head off.

During one of the middle of the night can't-breathe-or-think nights I did a quick search on Ancestry.com. Imagine my surprise when I solved a century old mystery!
When I began my family research before David was born my great uncle Russ wrote me a letter explaining that his father Stephen was born in 1888 and gave me the names of his parents, but that was all that was known about that side of the family.

Stephen's parents split and his mother took him to live with her father. His mother then went to another state, married and started another family. That was the last that any of us heard from Stephen's mother or father. It is quite a sad tale.

My search pulled up two family trees. One was a tree I have seen before through Stephen's wife and found it very faulty since there are no sources cited and there are many errors. One such error is a man that died in 1862 and the next life event listed for him shows his baptism in 1979. I certainly hope that he was not exhumed in order to baptize him.

The second record solved not only my own mystery but also the mystery for another person. In 1968, Stephen's father's daughter-in-law wrote a letter. This letter interviewed a minister that knew the father well and the family history. Stephen's father had four families—the first two marriages ended when the wives died and were laid to rest next to each other. The third marriage was to Stephen's mother and a quote from the statement caught my interest:

The third time Isaac married Ollie from Appalachia, VA. She loved horseback riding and took no interest in housekeeping, nor in rearing the children of the former wives. He was a man of great farming interests and logging—delivered the logs down the Clinch River into Chattanooga, TN. Therefore, when their only child, Stephen, was very small he was sent back to her parents' home in Wise County, VA. No communication was made between her and the Williams family ever again. They never knew the son she reared.

Stephen's father would then go on to marry happily again.

I immediately wrote to the other family tree holder. His mother would have been my grandfather's cousin. She is in her 80s and she can't wait to meet us. She had given up hope of ever finding out what happened to Stephen and his family. I am glad that I could answer her questions.

In another quirk of fate, Stephen worked in a coal mine that they also had other family members work at over time. They had just been to that exact coal mine last month on a research trip.

The Name Game

When we prepared to become parents we spent so much time trying to come up with a name that we wanted our child to go through life with. We tried first names with middles names and checked them out with our last name. We were very lucky that we agreed without any wrangling or having to compromise.

Druthelia?

As I have been doing family research and having to go page by page in the census between 1870 and 1930 I have found many trends. Some names still sound very pretty, but have fallen out of style. While others that were very common are no longer used and with good reason. I ran across the name Druthelia and in the same county I found it six times.

We are very fortunate as the parents of one son not to have to worry about what a daughter’s name could become when she marries. How would you like to have to go through your married life as Kitty Peed (Cape Coral, Florida) or Vaseline Love (Jackson, Tennessee)?

Kitty Peed?

What I can’t understand is a parent’s desire to be creative without thinking that being attached to a silly name can lead to ridicule. Would you buy shoes from Noway Near White of Columbus, Ohio? Like it isn’t hard enough being the youngest of twenty-two children did they really have to name the poor child Pepsi Cola Atom-Bomb Washington?

If you want to check out some more unfortunate and odd names you need to check out this site.

Have fun and be thankful your parents weren’t so weird after all.

A Few Nuts in The Family Tree

As I continue my research into my family tree I have found some really interesting people. Some I am directly descended from and others I share ancestors with. One nut in the family tree was an early-day Jim Bakker.

Mary Stallard was born in Virginia on November 13, 1862. She fell in love with Ben Purnell, a traveling preacher. She and Ben eloped, her family was against the marriage and sent her brother to bring the bride back home. She convinced her brother she would kill herself if she had to return home. So instead of going home she began her life beside Ben traveling town to town holding camp meetings.

In 1903, twenty three years into their marriage Ben created “The House of David.” The members believed that Ben was the voice of the seventh angel written of in Revelation. They began their “ministry” in Brian, Ohio, but were run off due to a law forbidding cults. They then went to Benton Harbor, Michigan, and began a colony that was known for its beauty and majesty.

Members were required to give all their worldly possessions to Ben, but also to become vegetarians, grow their hair and beards, abstain from tobacco, alcohol and even sex—including married couples. The members also had to work at building, farming or religious training. The community sold homemade jellies and jams.

Their self-sustained amusement park attracted over 200,000 a year during its hey-day. The community also sent out a baseball team, a basketball team, and a band.
The “House of David” grew quickly and at one time there were several thousand members in America, England, Canada, and Australia. But the roof began to fall in and by 1927 Ben had embezzled more than three million dollars and began another cult. Mary ran Ben off. The United States government declared it a monopoly . The holdings were broken up and the workers were to receive a salary. This resulted in a name change to “Mary’s House of David.”

The official line is that Ben Purnell died during this time and was buried in Michigan. However, family history tells that a gardener was buried in his coffin and that Ben died in Argentina.

This story caught my attention and I just had to check some of it out and even found an article about the cult in Time magazine from June 17, 1966. You might also want to click on the websites for “House of David” and “Mary's House of David.” They are very interesting reads. The information from the family’s perspective, and what enlightened me about this story, is titled "The Addingtons of Virginia" and was researched by two very thorough ladies—Nancy Clark Brown and Rhoda Roberson.

The Times They Have Changed

Last week I shared that I had picked up my family’s genealogy research. I am very fortunate to have many clues of our past, since my relatives tend live long. Even in the 1800’s they tended to live into their late 60s or even into their 80s. My relatives have also pretty much stayed in the same areas for generations. So far I can trace my family before the War of Northern Aggression (or to some of you the Civil War.)

In my quest for documentation I have been requesting copies from the court clerks and state offices. I have found that while the state archives have copies of much of the documentation the county clerks or local historical societies actually hold the originals. I have also found that the local sources have a much more reasonable rate for a certified copy of these documents. Can you imagine a relative’s 1850’s marriage record for $2.50? While the state archives will charge $10.00 or more just to see if they retain a copy. If they don’t you have just lost your money.

Not only do the documents I receive hold a key to my family’s personal history I have been given a glimpse into our country’s history. For instance, the current argument about seperation of church and state and the mind of the founding fathers. Just yesterday I received an official marriage license from Hawkins County in the state of Tennessee. The date of the marriage license is September 13, 1887, and begins with To any Minister of the Gospel, having the care of Souls, or Justice of the Peaces for said county-GREETING. Yes, that’s right—to a minister of the Gospel, not to a minister of the Koran or any other religous writing.

Wikipedia defines gospel as:

"In Christianity, a gospel (from Old English, "good news") is generally one of the first four books of the New Testament that describe the birth, life, ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus. The four canonical texts are the Gospel of Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Luke, and Gospel of John, probably written between 65 and 100 AD. They appear to have been originally untitled; they were quoted anonymously in the first half of the second century (ie 100 - 150) but the names by which they are currently known appear suddenly around the year 180.

While Merriam-Webster defines it as:

1. often capitalized: the message concerning Christ, the kingdom of God, and salvation bcapitalized : one of the first four New Testament books telling of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ ; also : a similar apocryphal book : an interpretation of the Christian message
2. capitalized : a selection from one of the New Testament Gospels
3. the message or teachings of a religious teacher
4. something accepted or promoted as infallible truth or as a guiding principle or doctrine
5. gospel music

While the Merriam-Webster definition does show that gospel can be used as teachings of a religious teacher the times it is capialized is when in reference to Christianity. Even the certificate for my grandparents who married in New York it states Be it known that on the 17th day of July in the Year of our Lord 1936.

It appears that the further I go back in time the more I find these references to our Christian heritage and not less. Many of the early records that the state archives hold are family Bibles and church records.

Even if the documents weren’t relatives, I would be fascinated with the language and formality of the documents. I am also amazed that the forms are filled out in such a cavalier fashion. The wedding license for one groom lists his name as M.M. Horner. It is only through his daughter’s death certificate do I find that his name was Milton. In another wedding license I find the name of the groom’s father is spelled incorrectly while the official certificate lists Dunkin it should be Duncan. Sometimes my grandmother’s maiden name is listed as Reese and at other times as Reece.

It’s a great big puzzle and I love seeing if the puzzle pieces fit. It can be very frustrating when the pieces don’t fit, but when that missing piece is found it is wonderful. With all the available information on the internet there’s no better time to begin a search for your past.