Duchess Snowy Domain

Bayfield, CO - Sunday, March 6, 2011, in the afternoon thru Monday, March 7, 2011, has brought some new snowfall to the San Juans in southwest Colorado with more to follow on Tuesday. It seems to be a wetter, heavier snow this time. The photo on the left was taken on the north end of Vallecito, CR 500 a few days ago before the new snow fronts came through.

Calling All Alva High Goldbugs! We hear there is a Goldbug Reunion on the horizon and schedule for July, 2011, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Alva High Goldbug Reunion I am talking about is for the Class of 1964, '65 & '66 (Class of '66 being NW Okie's class). NW Okie received an invite to Alva High Goldbug Reunion at their Facebook account concerning their Reunion Friday, July 1, 2011, at 7:00 pm, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

If there are any Alva High Goldbugs, Class of 1964 thru 1966 out there that have not stopped by their Facebook site, you might follow the above link over there and give your "Yes" - "No" - "Maybe" about attending.

Here is a new word for you, It is Agnotology, formerly agnatology. It is the study of culturally-induced ignorance or doubt, particularly the publication of inaccurate or misleading scientific data.

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This Day In History (March 7)

America - On this day in 1850, in a three-hour speech to the U.S. Senate, Daniel Webster endorsed the Compromise of 1850 as a means of preserving the Union.

On this day in 1875, Maurice Ravel, the noted French composer, was born. Following his death on December 28, 1937, his obituary appeared in the Times.

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for the telephone.

In 1926, The first successful trans-Atlantic radio-telephone conversation took place, between New York City and London.

In 1945, U.S. forces crossed the Rhine River at Remagen, Germany, during World War II.

On this day in history, March 7, 1965, a march by civil rights demonstrators was broken up in Selma, Alabama, by state troopers and a sheriff's posse. READ the Article View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

NW Okie's "The Good Old Days"

New Amsterdam ( - I have been working on my maternal and paternal ancestors over at Ancestry - paristimes, especially my maternal Dutch Ancestors of CONOVER / KOUWENHOVEN / COUVENHOVEN. I have found some interesting stories, legacies and information in my research.

The photo on the left shows my Great-Grandmother, Sarah Francis CONOVER (KOUWENHOVEN/COUVENHOVEN) (1848-1924), who married Henry Clay PARIS (1844-1918). Their children were (not sure of the order but believe Grandpa Ernest Claude Paris is standing, far right): Arthur Henry (may be seated, on the far right), Volney Peter (1872-1960), Myrtle Mae (1885-1965) (the only daughter) & Ernest Claude (1879-1959); seated in front, left to right is Sarah Francis CONOVER PARIS, Henry Clay PARIS and another son, Decatur Ray (1877-1947) (Decatur may be standing on the backrow).

My Dutch ancestors sailed from Amsterdam 17 February 1659. Some arrived in New Amsterdam before 5 May 1659.

From papers relating to the first settlement of New York by the Dutch containing a list of the early immigrants to New Netherland, it shows one of my maternal ancestors Cornelis Janse VanDerVeer arrived in New Amsterdam, in 1659.

For the record this is a 10th generation listing starting with my 7th Great Grandfather and moving down to this NW Okie's (Linda McGill Wagner) maternal family tree of PARIS and CONOVER side of the family:

1. Cornelius Janse VANDERVEER (1623 - 1703) - 7th great-grandfather

2. Jacoba Cornelisse VANDERVEER (1686 - 1735) Daughter of Cornelius Janse. 6th great-grandmother

3. Dominicus COVENHOVEN (1724 - 1778) Son of Jacoba Cornelisse. 5th great-grandfather

4. Peter CONOVER (1769 - 1835) Son of Dominicus. 4th great-grandfather

5. Jonathan Coombs CONOVER (1797 - 1859) Son of Peter. 3rd great-grandfather

6. Peter CONOVER (1821 - 1900) Son of Jonathan Coombs. 2nd great-grandfather

7. Sarah Frances CONOVER (1848 - 1924) Daughter of Peter. great-grandmother

8. Ernest Claude PARIS (1879 - 1959) Son of Sarah Frances. grandfather

9. Vada Eileen PARIS (1916 - 1992) Daughter of Ernest Claude. mother

10. Linda Kay MCGILL Daughter of Vada Eileen. NW Okie

The Kouwenhoven surname has gone through many different spellings over the decades. Such as VanKouwenhoven, COUVENHOVEN and CONOVER. I would love to discover the real story behind that surname spellings.
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1949 Alva High Graduates & MORE

Alva, Oklahoma - [The photo on the left is an old 1949 news clipping of a couple of Alva High senior graduates: Lee Denner and EJ Paris.]

Feature #348 -- Francis Melkus gives us these Alva, Oklahoma memories, "The B & B Cafe was owned by Loraine Wright And Ruth Turner, sisters. Loraine was the head cook and Ruth was the Head waiter, she also was very Red-headed. Frankie Harth was also a waiter. My grandmother was a dishwasher there at one time. I worked next door at Blakemore's a grocery store from September 1954 until April of 1957. I then went to work at Safeway on the North side of the square. SAFEWAY was bought by Homeland. I was an assistant manager for Safeway for 9 years. I worked in Alva, Cherokee, Lubbock, Texas and in 5 locations in Amarillo, Texas. My career lasted for 46 years. I retired in June of 1999. What a ride. Thanks for letting me tell a short part of my life. - Francis R, Melkus a former OKIE"

MORE OkieLegacy Comments:

Frank Schmitt & DeGeer's Land -- Alva, OK - Grandpa R. I. DeGeer... Feature #1924 Margaret says, "My name is Margaret Schmitt Snow, my dad Frank Schmitt farmed Roy DeGeer's land when I was a little. girl."

Farry, OK & James Family Inquiry -- Feature #801 -- I am Nancy (James) Harger and I live in Freedm, Oklahoma. I am the daughter of Edwin and Joan James and my brother Gene lives in Perry. I would like all the imformation I could get on the Farry place and do have a lot from dad. I would love to get to know more of the family. My address is Nancy Harger po box 97, Freedom, OK 73842."

Another 1864 Home Comfort Stove FOR SALE - Feature #980 -- Dalton Morgan comments, "I have the same stove and it is a 1864 model. I was wanting to know what kind of price you had on yours. I need to know something so I can sell mine. Mine is in great shape to." View/Write Comments (count 4)   |   Receive updates (1 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

In Memory of Virginia L. Leatherman Leist

Laverne, Oklahoma - A special women and gracious lady passed away last week, February 28, 2011. Some of you might remember her as Virginia Lee Leatherman or Virginia Leist. Virginia lived a full life of 93 years, 9 months and 17 days and left a her legacy and family February 28, 2011. Virginia "did it her way" and had a wonderful life.

Virginia's Obituary is as follows from Wharton Funeral Chapel:

Virginia's Life Legacy -- Virginia Lee (Leatherman) Leist left this life on February 28, 2011, at the age of 93-years, 9 months and 17 days. She was born May 11, 1917, in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, the first child of Hazel Loma Davis and Allen Guy Leatherman. Virginia was only a few months old when she returned to Laverne, OK with her parents, where she grew up and graduated from high school in May of 1937. After graduation she moved to Los Angeles, CA, to attend business school, planning to stay there until she graduated.

But she had been writing her long-time boyfriend, Dallas Leist, while she was gone, and they both decided to come home to Laverne for Christmas. Dallas had been working in Pontiac, Michigan since the spring of 1935, and when they got together in Laverne with a group of their best friends on Christmas Eve, everyone decided it was the right time for a wedding. And Virginia and Dallas were married in the wee hours of December 25, 1937.

Virginia and Dallas returned to Pontiac, Michigan, and then moved back home to Laverne in 1938. They later lived in other towns in the Laverne area and returned to Pontiac, and then settled permanently in Alva, OK in the summer of 1950, where they lived until Dallas' death in 1966. Virginia lived in Alva until 1976, when she moved to Wichita, KS and operated a licensed in-home daycare there, where she collaborated with SRS Day Care Programs in developing menus and nutritional guidelines for childcare facilities in Wichita. She was still caring for children in her home when she retired in 1998 at the age of 81 and moved to Freedom, OK with her daughter.

While Virginia lived in Alva, she worked as a Western Union Telegraph Operator, Red Cross Secretary and was an accomplished artist, working with Jack Hayward for many years helping to teach art. She was a loving wife and mother who always put her children and other family members first. Over the years, Virginia had many pets, and she cared for them dearly, while also supporting various humane societies.

Virginia and Dallas were blessed with five children: Jan, Lana, Sherre, George and Ann. She was preceded in death by her husband Dallas, her parents, two grandsons and a son-in-law Don Enger. Virginia is survived by: Jan Enger; Lana and Alan Burkhart; Sherre and Brent Mawhirter; George and Linda Leist; Ann Felser and fiance' Max Carlson; three sisters: Bobbie Wyand, Alene Lee and Lora Hulbert; and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren; nieces and nephews and loving friends, who will all miss her charm, wisdom and wit and her wonderful letters. View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

The Time of Indian Peril In Virginia

Virginia - According to The History of Highland County, Virginia, the time of Indian peril in Highland county, Virginia began near the small Indian village of the Shawnees about 60 miles down the South Branch. The red men used the valley of Virginia only as a hunting ground and military highway, along which bands of Northern and Southern Indians made forays against one another. The chief of these war trails lay through the Shenandoah Valley and was known as "Indian Road" and alluded to in the surveyor's book.

If you would travel below Millboro in Bath county, you might see a memento of the War Trail in the form of a mound containing skeletons. They say tradition has it that the mound is the result of a fight between Indian bands, and that a girl whose lover was in the affray watched the combat from a hilltop.

In 1742 there was a battle near Balcony Falls with a party of Mingoes. Capt. McDowell turned loose the passions of the Indians by treating them liberally with whiskey.

Small hunting parties often visited the homes of the settlers, and through them and the traders they picked up a serviceable knowledge of the white man's tongue. Their English vocabulary was well supplied with terms of abuse and profanity.

The Indian was very hospitable, and when he came to a house he expected something to eat. Neither was he backward in making his wants known. But the Indians would sometimes plunder, and their exactions were a burden as well as annoyance. To the Indian, the white was an intruder to pilfer from whom was not very wrong. To the white, the Indian was more objectionable than a tramp was to to the white.

More than twenty years after the founding of Augusta, there was peace, such as it was, between the races. The clash came though the rival ambitions of two white nations. The English and the French fought three wars in America. The French claimed all the country west of the Alleghany divide, and so did the English.

By 1754 the British-Americans had not only pushed inward to this very line, but were pressing beyond it. Settlements of the former had several times been compelled to fight for their very existence. The weak, scattered settlements of the French had usually been let alone. This was because of the difference between the two nations in their attitude toward the Indian.

The Frenchman did not clear the land by wholesale nor did they elbow the native out of the way. The French often took an Indian wife, he lived like the native when with him, and the latter was benefitted by the commodities he received for his pelts.

The British Colonist preferred a wife of his own color. His numbers were greater. He cleared the land as he came along, and he scared away the larger game. The British colonists esteemed the room of the red man preferable to his company, and in dealing with him he had less tact than the Frenchman and less influence. When Governor Dinwiddie precipitated the fighting that took place between 1754 and 1760, the tribes generally sided with the French and were very helpful allies.

In 1755 Braddock marched his army against Fort Duquesne. Had he taken the place he would have dealt the French power an effective blow at a vital point, and the Indians would have been held in check. Braddock met a needless and crushing defeat and his routed redcoats fled in panic to the very coast. A frontier of hundreds of miles was at once exposed to Indian depredation. Flushed with triumph at their easy victory, the red warriors from the Ohio proceeded to persistently carry out attacks on the frontier with fire and tomahawk.

News of Braddock's defeat reached the Augusta people in just one week and created consternation. Hundreds of people fled across the Blue Ridge, while others stayed manfully in their settlements.

Washington was assigned the defense of the frontier with headquarters at Winchester. His force was entirely too small to protect so long a line effectually. To make matters worse the men of one county were not inclined to help those of another. Washington's letters give a vivid idea of those distressful days.

April 15, 1756, Washington reports that "All my ideal hopes of raising a number of men to search the adjacent mountains have vanished into nothing." Nine days later he says, "Not an hour, nay, scarcely a minute passes that does not produce fresh alarms and melancholy accounts."

Still another letter declares that, "The deplorable situation of these people is no more to be described than is my anxiety and uneasiness for their relief."

The Highland area went through this trying ordeal with less injury than Bath to the South of Pendleton to the North. Some damage was inflicted, yet there was no exterminating raid into the Bullpasture Valley, to which the settlement was as yet almost wholly confined.

The log house of the frontier was built with reference to possible attack. It was near a spring. The door could be strongly barred. The windows were too small for a man to crawl through. There were loopholes in the walls through which the inmates could fire. And it possible it was not too near the spot where the enemy could find cover. You might get lucky to find houses in this region that still stand and in some instances still occupied. You might find in the walls of the houses the shooting-holes which were afterward covered by the weatherboarding.

In time of special danger the cabin was abandoned and the family took refuge in the nearest fort. A man taken by surprise near Fort Lewis in Bath county could not get into his cabin in time to escape a flying tomahawk which might graze his head. The wife might put the husband on the bed, bolt the door, and kept the enemy at bay with the husband's gun.

Two indians might mount the roof and begin to descend the cavernous chimney. The woman at once would pull the bedtick from the bed under the man and throw it on the live coals.

Stupified by the smoke the first indian would fall through and was promptly tomahawked. The second coming to his aid shared his fate, leaving the victory with the plucky pioneer wife and women.

The stockade with blockhouse inside was a much better protection than the strongest cabin. It was an easier means to keep the enemy at a safe distance in any direction. The whites got careless at times. Being used to an outdoor life it was wearisome to stay cooped up in a little enclosure. If the enemy were not positively known to be near, they would take very imprudent risks, and were often killed or captured by Indians lurking near the fort.

It was practice for two or more rangers to set out from a stockade with provisions for 3 or 4 days, and watch the trails and passes in the vicinity. Sometimes guarding a circuit of thirty miles. If signs of Indians were detected, an alarm was given so families at their own homes could flee to the fort.

During the winter season the settlers were quite safe, though. The Indians were not inclined to maraud while food was scarce and the forest leaves fallen.

One actual stockade was built in Highland and stood in the Bullpasture bottom midway between the Clover Creek Mill and the residence of L. M. McClung. It was thus on the land of Wallace Estill, whose house appears to have stood a few yards beyond the southern angle. It was the tradition that the fort meadow was never plowed. Though every vestige of log has crumbled into dust, the outline of the fort may be traced because of never being plowed.

The stockade was about ninety feet square, placed diamond-wise with reference to the direction of the valley. At each angle it was a bastion ten feet square. Inside the western angle was the power house about twelve feet square. A few yards beyond the southern angle stood a house, probably Estill's dwelling, about eighteen by twenty-two feet with an annex twelve by twelve.

Under the main portion of the house was a cellar. Toward the river from near the east corner of the stockade were plain traces of a short covered way leading to a shallow ravine, once the river channel. The fort was built under the direction of some person who understood the correct principles of fortification.

The walls in accordance with the custom of the time were of logs set firmly into the ground, rising to a height above 10 to 12 feet. The fort was not only in the heart of the Bullpasture settlement, not too near a commanding elevation, but the fort guarded the road which crossed the river in its course from Bolar Run to the Calfpasture.

There is some mystery, but it would seem highly probable that the fort was put up in accordance with the following letter from Dinwiddie to Washington, dated Sept. 11, 1754:

"I now order you to give a detachment of forty or fifty men to Capt. Lewis. With them he is to march immediately to Augusta county in order to protect our frontier from the incursions of small parties of Indians, and I suppose some French. Order him to march immediately, and to apply to Col. Patton, the County-Lieutenant, who will direct him where to proceed that he may be most useful"

Andrew Lewis obeyed instructions by marching Oct. 6 (1754), within the next month he built a fort. Feb 12, 1755, the Governor ordered him to garrison his fort with an ensign, a corporal, and eighteen privates. The ensign chosen to hold the post was William Wright.

The Governor instructed, "To keep a good look out," to be exact in his duties, to make short excursions from the fort, and in case of alarm to apply to the County Lieutenant to have some of his militia ready at an hour's notice. But by the next July, and before Braddock's defeat, Wright was sent elsewhere, probably to the Holston River.

The Clover Creek Fort stood on a direct road to Staunton and held vigil over a point which it was important to protect. West of Jack Mountain there were scarcely any settlers at all. Northward for almost 20 miles beyond the head of the Bullpasture there were almost none. Southward in Bath there was a considerable number, but for their protection were Forts Lewis, Dickinson, Dinwiddie, and another fort at Green Valley.

It is rather singular that the name had been forgotten, but from a letter written by Joseph Carpenter, it is conjectured that it was named Fort Nelson. BUT ... this is only surmised.

The stockade was never assaulted, though on one occasion arrows were thrown at it from the hillside across the river. During the summer of 1754 and afterward, the people of the settlement forted here, and according to a statement by the late Mrs. Susan Wright (daughter of Christopher Graham), two boys [Robert Carlile (great uncle to the late John G. Carlisle of Kentucky) and Christopher Graham] were born in the stockade on the very day of Braddock's defeat, July 9, 1755.

In the fall of 1755, Washington came from Fort Cumberland on a tour of inspection, and went as far as Fort Dinwiddie. It is believed that he must have come by way of the Clover Creek fort since there was no other direct road. This was the only visit to Highland by Washington.

With one prominent exception, there seems very little knowledge of particular damage by the Indians within the Highland area. A Henderson and Wade of the Gum connection are said to have been killed by Indians. John Shaw was probably a victim. A boy of the same name was spared by being concealed by a woman within the folds of her dress. Lewis Taggart, who married a sister to James Hicklin, was taken to Canada and a ransom demanded. The emissary, half French and half Indian, who went to steal him away had trouble convincing him that all was right. They came down the Ohio living on parched corn. The guide dressed a polecat, but Taggart found he was not hungry for that sort of game.

July 27, 1756 there was a council of war held in Staunton. It was resolved to build 10 forts for the defense of the 250 miles of Augusta frontier and to garrison them with 680 men. Among the recommendations of forts were at the Upper Tract and Trout Rock in Pendleton; at Matthew Harper's on the Bullpasture; and at Captain John Miller's, near Vanderpool Gap.

The scheme was given up, with only one or two of the forts being built. The council made no mention of the fort at Clover Creek, which the distance from Harper's on a short course being only four miles. It was possible the fort had burned, but there is no recollection of such event.

In two battles at Highland, Virginia in 1763, An Indian band exterminated the Greenbrier settlement; ambushed, defeated a party under Captain Moffet at Falling Spring in Bath; passed over to the Cowpasture and burned the Dougherty home.

The band divided, the smaller party returning and the larger making a destructive raid on the Kerr's Creek settlement. On its return it camped near the head of Back Creek.

A pursuing party under Captains Lewis, Dickinson and Christian overtook the Indians and nearly effaced a surprise. It was decided to attack at three points. two men sent in advance were to fire if they found the enemy had taken alarm.

They fell upon two Indians, one leading a horse, the other holding a buck upon it. To avoid discovery they fired, and Christian's men charged with a yell. The other parties were not quite up, and retreating in the erection whence there was no noise, the Indians escaped with little loss aside from the stolen goods, which sold at $1,200. Only one white was said to have been killed.

The Indians who escaped were overhauled on Straight Fork, four miles above the state line, their whereabouts being betrayed by their camp fire. All were killed but one, and the cook's brains were scattered into his pot. Their carrying poles were seen around the area many years later with ancient guns also found on the spot.

The disposal of the recovered property caused at least one lawsuit. The declaration in the case of William Gilmore vs. George Wilson reads: "During the late war the Indians came to the plantation where the plaintiff lived, and after killing his father and mother, robbed them and the said plaintiff of almost everything they had, and amongst the rest the horse in dispute -- that the defendant and several others pursued the Indians for some days and retook great part of the things belonging to the plaintiff, the horse in dispute being part thereof."

The plaintiff won because of the following condition: "We agree the inhabitants of Car's Creek (the plaintiff not one of them) offered to any persons that would go after the Indians and redeem the prisoners they should have all plunder belonging to them."

In September, 1756, 13 persons were killed around Fort Dinwiddie, including John Byrd, James Mayse, James Montgomery, George Kinkead, and Nicholas Carpenter. Two others were mentioned as wounded, while 28, mostly children, were carried away. Among these were: Mrs. Byrd and 6 children; Mrs. Kinkead and 3 children; 5 children of Joseph Carpenter, who was also taken but escaped.

In 1757, Sergeant Henry, James Stuart, and 3 others were killed, 3 wounded and James McClung and 13 more were taken. In 1758, John and William McCreary, Moses Moore, and a boy named William Ward were captured. In this year Fort Dudquesne fell and there was a partial respite from further depredation.

It was thought that on the occasion of the Stuart murder that a man coming to his house found warm cabbage and pone on the table, but no person about. The man hurried on to a fort with an Indian alarm.

The capture of Mrs. Byrd and her children took place while fleeing to Fort Dinwiddie on lower Jackson's River. There was no further account of the mother and four of the children. The oldest girl of 10 years is said to have married an Indian. The only one to return was John Jr. Byrd, who was 8 years old when carried away. When he was returned a boy of 16 years, he was wearing a gold chain fastened to punctures in his nose and ears.

His bravery put him in high favor with his captors. They had him climb trees to drive bears out of them, but took care that he was not harmed. The only time he took fright was when he heard a gun and knew a bear was making for him. The Indians were greatly attached to the boy and intended making him a chief. He made two attempts to return to them, but was prevented, and became ancestor of the Byrds of Bath and Highland.

Without the French help and after the collapse of the French power, the Indians were humbled by expeditions sent against them. By the treaty of 1764, the Indians were required to give up their captives (32 men and 58 women and children) and they were rested to their Virginia homes.

The Indians were kind to the captives they adopted. When the white adoptees had been taken in childhood they were usually so unwilling to part with their Indian comrades that force had to be used.

Another of the restored captives was the wife of William Kincaid of the Calfpasture. She was kindly treated, especially at the birth of a daughter, a few months after she was carried off. An older daughter, whose name was Isabella, was not restored till afterward. She was found by Captain Charles Lewis in a village on the Muskingum. She was dressed in skins, spoke only the Indian language, and clung to the skirt of a squaw.

Captain David Gwin, who was with Lewis, was certain that he recognized the girl, and at his suggestion the interpreter told the squaw to take off the child's moccasin. A little toe was found missing, which had accidentally been cut off by her brother. She married Andrew Hamilton and one of her descendants was the wife of Captain John S. Wise of the city of New York. Captain David Gwin named his first child by his second marriage for Isabella Kincaid (Kincead/kincade).

There is knowledge of a raid as far as the Cowpasture in 1774, shortly before the Battle of Point Pleasant, and an alarm in 1783 caused women and children to flee across the Shenandoah. Not until Waynes victory in 1795, a period of more than thirty years, was there the assurance that danger from the native was wholly an episode of the past.

The Highland people of 1754-64 were young, thinly frontier community, compelled to live within reach of the stockaded fort. They were also compelled to use watchful care with the help of large dogs for protection against the approach through the deep woods of the Indians. All this was a heavy item in the cost of subduing the wilderness.
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Virginia County Boundaries 1770

Virginia - The illustration of Virginia County boundaries, uses as a base map where most of the counties are laid down from actual surveys. With a concise account of the number of inhabitants, trade, soil and produce of the province. Counties listed without boundaries defined are represented without colorfilled areas and counties are listed below. SEE ALSO Early Virginia Maps

Virginia County Boundaries:
1. Accomack County - 2. Albemarle County - 3. Amelia County - 4. Amherst County - 5. Augusta County - 6. Bedford County

7. Brunswick County - 8. Buckingham County - 9. Caroline County - 10. Charles City County - 11. Charlotte County - 12. Chesterfield County

13. Culpepper County - 14. Cumberland County - 15. Dinwidie County - 16. Elizabeth City County - 17. Essex County - 18. Frederick County

19. Fairfax County - 20. Fauquier County - 21. Gloucester County - 22. Goochland County - 23. Halifax County - 24. Hampshire County

25. Hanover County - 26. Henrico County - 27. Isle of Wight County - 28. James City County - 29. King and Queen County - 30. King George County

31. King William County - 32. Lancaster County - 33. Loudon County - 34. Louisa County - 35. Mecklenburg County - 36. Middlesex County

37. Nandsemond County - 38. New Kent County - 39. Norfolk County - 40. Northampton County - 41. Northumberland County - 42. Orange County

43. Pittsylvania County - 44. Prince Edward County - 45. Prince George County - 46. Prince William County - 47. Princess Ann County - 48. Richmond County

49. Southampton County - 50. Spotsylvania County - 51. Stafford County - 52. Sussex County - 53. Surry County - 54. Warwick County - 55. Westmoreland County - 56. York County View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Colonial Virginia

Virginia - I am assuming that there are many Oklahoma citizens with Ancestors that settled around the Colonial Virginia's. As we explore the history of Virginia, maybe it will give you some insight into "Who You Think You Are!"

In Chapter V, on page 50, of A History of Highland County, Virginia, by Oren F. Morton, we learn more of the settled area in 1727; the structure of its society; the planter; currency; mode of government; church and school; and the early distinction between Tidewater and Upper Virginia.

In 1727, the population of the colony was about 150,000, a third being negro slaves, while a very large share of the remaining 2/3 were made up of Redemptorists or their descendants.

The Redemptorists were people more than willing to come to America, yet unable to pay their passage. They were given this name because they could redeem the cost of fare by a term of labor. Many were from Germany, where wages were low and a living scanty.

The capital, Williamsburg, was no more than a straggling village, no larger than McDowell. Norfolk was a very small place, and Richmond was yet to be founded.

The ruling element of the Virginia people did not like towns and did not encourage them. At a county seat was little else than the little courthouse and jail, a tavern, or ordinary as it was then called, perhaps two or three dwelling houses, and probably a church.

The white inhabitants were derived entirely from the British Isles and nearly all of them were English.

As in England itself the people were grouped into classes. At the top of the social structure were the comparatively few planters, owning most of the land and wealth and consequently controlling the government.

Next were the pretenders, or "half-breeds," really equal to the planters in birth and culture, yet inferior in influence. These people had enterprise and energy but no wealth.

Third of grouped classes were the "Yeoman," a free person, yet very poor and very often illiterate. Fourth were the indentured white servants, living in a form of bondage, usually to the planters. Fifth were the negroes, nearly all of whom were slaves to the same class.

The structure of society being aristocratic in a marked degree, class terms were in constant use.

The planter, and in great degree the pretender, was called "gentleman." This term was not primarily a mark of culture but of social rank. In theory, but not always fact, the gentleman was a person whose ancestors had always been free. Any man who became a Justice had a recognized right to the title.

In court proceedings the yeoman, servant, or slave was mentioned according to his class. The freed servant became a yeoman, but it was not at all easy for him to pass still upward into the favored planter circle.

The sole industry in Virginia was agriculture on the planter system, with tobacco as the sole money crop, yet some flour was shipped to the West Indies. In Tidewater, which was the only well-peopled section, nearly all the land was held in great estates, usually tilled by servants or slaves. Although little tracts would be leased to yeoman.

The Planter of Virginia was what the Country Squire was to England. His tastes were entirely rural and he had slight use of towns. He wanted land and in this new country he could gratify his desire. He built his "great house" remote from the public road and as far from neighbors as possible.

The planter's intimate associates were among the other people of his own class. The customs saw the other elements of the population looking up the the planter and in local affairs his authority was nearly supreme.

The planter was dictatorial, conservative, yet he was generous, courteous, honorable and high-minded. He had high sense of family pride that gave him a contempt for baseness, though it also gave him a contempt for manual labor. He was public-spirited, jealous of his rights, and not slow to assert them. He was fond of outdoor sports, fine horses, handsome furniture, and elegant table ware.

To the other extreme, many of the ex-servants were not only ignorant and uncouth, disorderly, troublesome and lived in untidy cabins. They subsisted mainly on corn bread and the flesh of razor-backed hogs.

The habits of the people and the geography of the country explained the absence of towns and villages. Navigable rivers that were not far apart reached from the coast half way to the Blue Ridge.

The planter could roll his hogsheads of tobacco by horsepower to the very ship that took them away, and from that ship he received in return, the supplies ordered from England. He could get along without the middleman. Yet the roads were mere lanes through the woods, and were very poor, unless in dry weather. Travel was by horseback, and streams were crossed by fording or by boats.

As I said earlier, Tobacco overshadowed everything else, but it did not make the colony rich. Merchants were the most prosperous people. Money was scarce. Spanish and French coins were in general use, but a large share of them found their way into Pennsylvania, where their purchasing power was greater. The Spanish piece of eight, the French crown, and the Dutch dollar were each rated at five shillings. The scarcity of money caused tobacco to come into general use as currency. County levies were reckoned in pounds of tobacco.

The King's proxy, the Royal Governor, lived in pomp and dignity. he was appointed by the King from among his British subjects. His salary and perquisites of $10,000 a year came out of the colonial treasury. BUT ... he was no figurehead. He would dodge the instructions of the King, and through his use of patronage he would often control the House of Burgesses.

The Governor's Council was the equivalent of our State Senate and also our Supreme Court. The members held office by appointment. The House of Burgesses was elective, each of the 36 counties of 1743 sending two members. The towns of Norfolk, Yorktown, and Williamsburg, and the one college of William and Mary also sent two members each. Yet the voting privilege was very much restricted. Late as 1829, more than 2/5 of the white male adults could not vote.

When a new county was organized, the governor appointed a number of men to act as "worshipful justices." Individually or by group these men were magistrates, and with a quorum present they were the equivalent of our board of supervisors. Vacancies were filled by men recommended to the governor by the court.

The county court was self-perpetuating. It remained a close corporation until 1852, and it appointed the clerk of the court, the jailor, and the constables. The county court represented the more influential families. It was inclined to provide for its own favorites, and it was within its power to be tyrannical.

A sheriff was a senior justice, appointed by the governor on the court's recommendation. The sheriff did not act himself, but sublet his profitable office to another man. After his term of two years was up, the Sheriff resumed his place as justice, and filled the position a second time.

The military commandant was an official knowns as the county lieutenant within the county. He had the honorary title of "Colonel." He was in some degree a deputy governor.

Within the county was another system of local government. This was ecclesiastical in its origin. The county contained 1 to 3 parishes, each supporting by public taxation one minister of the Church of England. His salary was 16,000 pounds of tobacco. In each parish was a board of twelve men called the vestry, which like the county court was self-perpetuating. The vestry was presided over by the minister. It appointed a clerk and also two executive officers called church wardens.

The justices and the church wardens were conservators of the peace and looked into the morals of the people, though none too effectually. The church wardens watched the sinners, and bound out apprentices as well as the bastards, of whom there was never any lack.

The vestry provided the minister with a farm (glebe) and laid tithes for his further support and collected from heads of families. Glebes, churches and ministers' salaries were paid out of the public treasury. The parish levy was laid by the vestry, the county levy by the county court and the public levy by the colonial council.

The colonial Council source of income consisted of a quitrent of one shilling for each 50 acres, an export tax of two shillings on each hogshead of toabacco, and a port tax of 15 pence per ton on all moneys, except when the parish levy was collected by the church wardens.

In 1692, Virginia established one post office for each county. For a letter of a single sheet, the postage was 4 cents for a distance of not more than 80 miles, and 6 cents for a greater distance. When there were two sheets, the rates were 7 cents and 12-1/2 cents. But until after 1738 there was only one weekly mail to Pennsylvania.

All crimes and chancery matters (unless too large or grave a nature) were tried before the county court. Otherwise, they were brought before the governor and Council or quarterly courts of four or more members.

Because of the confusion of as to the laws, the county courts often made blunders through their ignorance in the matter. The grand jury of 24 members, sworn for an "inquest on the body of the county," was selected by the sheriff from the freeholders.

The Church of England was supported by law and until 1748 no other was tolerated. To a limited degree, attendance on public worship was compulsory. The clergy were at the mercy of the planters and trimmed to suit their humor. Often times the parish would be without a minister. The Clergy were of sporting tendency to choose or do something regularly, intemperate and sometimes immoral.

Education was not regarded as a matter of public concern. The well-to-do had their children educated by tutors, and there were some good schools taught by members of the clergy. college education was supplied by the one college of William and Mary at the capital and by the larger colleges of England.

If the planter usually had a good library for their studious habits for the day. The education of the mass of the people was quite neglected, except where some philanthropic person maintained in his own neighborhood and at his own expense what was then known as a free school.

The lands of the Tidewater were usually in the hands of the planters. The small farmer became more numerous in the uplands byend the head of deep water navigation in the rivers. The great farm was less profitable in the uplands because of the greater distance to navigable water. As there was more opportunity for the small farmer, this upper section of the colony was less aristocratic than the Tidewater and had a larger percentage of white people. It formed a middle zone between the Eurpoean Virginia of the Tidewater and the more democratic society that was to appear beyond the Blue Ridge.

Bacon's rebellion of 1676 was an armed ports of the small farmers of the upland against the policy of the planters of the lowland. And near half a century later, Governor Spottswood made this aristocratic complaint: "The inclinations of the country are rendered mysterious by a new and unaccountable humor, which hath obtained in several counties, of excluding gentlemen from being burgesses, and choosing only persons of mean figure and character."

The Tidewater area soil was light and the system of farming was bad. Fertilization was almost unthought of. When the stumps were gone, the soil had lost its virgin strength and was left to cover itself with a pine thicket, a new field being cleared to take its place. The pillage of the soil was already causing the Virginians to look toward the stronger lands of the interior.

A half century later, George Washington was telling his countrymen that if this ruinous policy were continued it would drive the people of the lowlands into the mountains for support.

The colonial civilization of Tidewater was picturesque and contained elements of strength and value. It developed strong leadership. It bred the statesmen of the American Revolution. BUT ... It was fatally weak in an industrial and social sense.

The European aristocratic structure set up in the wilderness with small alterations was fore doomed to decay. The whole tendency of America was toward the unfolding of democratic ideas and practices. It was a losing fight to expect men to put up with tenant farming or to work for wages so long as there was an unoccupied wilderness in the interior.

The occupation of the Virginia interior was destined to overturn the aristocratic edifice, as the clashing of interest between the eastern and western districts of Virginia prior to 1861. The system of indentured servitude was not long in giving way. The resort to African slavery was an instinctive effort to prolong the old era.

This was the colonial Virginia east of the blue Ridge, because it was the Virginia which opened to settlement the country beyond the mountains. It was also the Virginia which framed the laws under which the new settlers were to live and gave an impress to their customs and political thought. View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Our European Forefathers of Highland County

Highland County, Virginia - Last week we spoke about the peculiarities of the European stocks from which the Colonial Americans were derived and what brought them to America (religious and economic reasons).

The English, the Lowland Scotch, the Saxon Irish, the Hollanders, the Germans, and the Swedes were of the Germanic stock, which is cool-blooded and persistent.

The Welsh, the Highland Scotch, and the native Irish were of the Celtic stock, which is more turbulent than the other and more impatient of restraint.

The Huguenots were of the Latin stock, which, like the native Irish, is of warm sensibilities.

The English people had come from the North German coast eleven centuries before, and in this time had grown much away from their German cousins. The Englishman was earnest, dignified, and strong-willed. He was also enterprising, industrious, and a lover of order. Wherever he settles, he never fails to hold his ground.

The Lowland Scotch are shrewd and thrifty, and much less under the influence of aristocratic ideas than their English kinsmen.

The Highland Scotch were at the outset of the seventeenth century a cluster of disorderly clans, each one much given to fighting its neighbors and stealing their cattle.

The Welch were industrious and prosperous, living on good terms with the English.

The Celtic Irish have been much oppressed by their English masters because of their Catholic faith. To this circumstance is largely due their quick wit and their inclination to use words of flattery.

The Saxon Irish are derived from the English who settled around Dublin in the twelfth century. They developed a difference from the English, just as the English developed a difference from the Germans. Edmund Burke, the friend of America in the quarrel with Britain, was one of these people.

The Hollanders resembled both the English and the Germans. They were industrious, thrifty, and progressive.

The Germans from the Rhine had lived under very repressive rule, and because of this fact they were a little slow in getting used to the ways of colonial self-government. These people came almost wholly from the farming and industrial classes. They were peaceable and industrious, yet clannish.

The Huguenots differed from the English in being less stern in disposition, more active in mind, more intense in their affections, more chivalrous to woman, more flexible and hospitable to men and ideas, and more keen and enterprising in matters of business.

The Swedes, an excellent people, were few and were soon absorbed in the population around them. View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Scotch-Irish of Highland

Highland, UK & Virginia - Are there any Scotch-Irish emigrants in your ancestral family?

During the colonial era the Scotch-Irish were spoken of as Irish because they arrived from Ireland. Yet they were quite distinct from the Celtic Irish. They were fundamentally Scotch, especially the Scotch of the Highlands. There was also a considerable admixture from the north of England and a slight sprinkling of Huguenots. They were thus a composite people, and such a stock is usually forceful.

In consequence of rebellion and famine at the close of the sixteenth century, the north of Ireland had become almost depopulated. The few native inhabitants were in a most wretched condition. The English government confiscated a great amount of the land, and took measures to repeople this province of Ulster, the natives being treated with slight consideration.

Already a wild and lawless class of people from the Scottish Highlands had begun to flock into Ireland. But the later comers, who crossed over to secure allotments of land, were of a more promising sort.

At first, according to Waddell, "A great many of them were openly profane and immoral. But in the course of time, pious and zealous ministers came over from Scotland and England, and through their efforts a great religious reformation occurred. The intelligence, industry, and thrift of the Scotch soon transformed the face of the country."

The new settlers did not mingle with the native element. Between the Presbyterian immigrants and the Irish Catholics lay an antagonism too deep for intermarriage. In fact, the natives, who had taken to the forest, committed depredation whenever they could. In 1641, they rose in rebellion, and the war which followed was one of dreadful ferocity.

Although the English government had invited these immigrants to Ireland, it scarcely ceased, between 1625 and 1782 to make life a burden to them. This oppression was both religious and industrial.

The Church of England was made the established church in Ireland, and as Presbyterians were included among the Non-conformists, they were made to feel the displeasure of the government. The Scotch-Irish ministers were deposed, imprisoned, or made to flee the country. Many of the people had to cross to Scotland to enjoy the ordinance of communion.

In 1639, all the Protestants of Ulster above the age of sixteen were required to take an oath binding them to an explicit obedience to all royal commands. The penalties were so severe that multitudes, both of men and women, fled to Scotland or hid themselves in the woods, leaving their homes to go to ruin.

During the civil war in England and the rule of Cromwell, there was a respite from persecution. In 1660 the 80 Presbyterian congregations included a population of 100,000. But in that year the infamous Charles II became King and trouble returned.

The ministers of Ulster were liable to fine or imprisonment. At times their meetinghouses were closed and they had to preach by night in barns. According to the bishops of the Established Church, the marriages solemnized by the Presbyterian ministers were illegal and the children resulting from them were pronounced illegitimate.

Even under the milder rule following the English Revolution of 1688, there were times when no Presbyterian could hold civil or military office or teach anything above a primary school. Religious books could not legally be sold by them. Liberty of worship was conceded to the Ulster people, but there were grievances which still remained unredressed.

Not until 1782, and then only because of the American Revolution, did the British government acknowledge the validity of marriages sanctioned by dissenting preachers.

During the war of 1689, following the expulsion of the detestable Stuart kings, the Irish rose in behalf of the deposed monarch, Ulster was invaded by a large army, and Londonderry and Enniskillen were besieged. Both places were defended with a desperation unsurpassed in history. Without help from the English, without trained officers, without sufficient food or ammunition, and in the face of fever and cholera, the Ulster men beat off the besiegers with great loss.

This staunch support of the English cause would seem to have entitled the Scotch-Irish to much consideration. Yet with blind obstinacy, the British Parliament enforced its anti-property laws against the Presbyterians as well as the Catholics.

The persecution of these people was industrial as well as religious. Their thrift and diligence had created an important trade in woolen and linen fabrics. The jealousy of the English merchants was aroused, and grievously repressive laws were enacted, one result of which was the destruction of the woolen industry in 1698.

After enduring oppression almost a century, the Scotch-Irish began flocking to America in 1718. The movement was at first slow, but in 1729, 6,000 arrived at Philadelphia. In some of the years following the number rose to 12,000, and by 1775, 200,000 -- A full half of the Ulster people had crossed the Atlantic.

The stand-patters of the British government finally got their eyes open, but not until it was too late. The emigrants from Ulster were among the hottest foes of King George during the crisis of the American Revolution. By throwing their heavy weight into the scale against him, it is scarcely too much to say that the loss of the American colonies was the round price which England had to pay for her persistent hostility toward the Scotch-Irish.

In general, and as a matter of course, the emigrants to America in the colonial period represented the pick of the European nations. In intelligence, progressiveness, and industry, they were well above the mass of the people they left behind. Often times, they brought some degree of wealth.

But with a certain large class of immigrants these remarks are only partially true. In part this class was indigent, and in part it was criminal. Much of it, however, was of good quality, yet poor with respect to worldly substance. These immigrants were of two-sub-classes: the redemptorists and the convicts. The one was voluntary and the other was involuntary.

The Redemptorists were people more than willing to come to America, yet unable to pay their passage. They were given this name because they could redeem the cost of fare by a term of labor. Many were from Germany, where wages were low and a living scanty.

Traveling agents wearing jewelry and fine clothes toured the country in the interest of the shipmasters. They made the uninformed people believe the day laborer could soon become a rich farmer, and the servant girl a fashionable lady attired in silks and satins. They almost made them believe America was a land where it rained gold dollars and where roasted pigeons would flow into their mouths. Thus the stimulated immigration from the south and east of Europe in our own day had its parallel in the eighteenth century.

The agent promised to advance the cost of passage, which was usually $80 to the adult and $40 to the half-grown child. To small children no charge was made. But in the long run there was a heavy profit to the ship owners in these transactions. Articles of agreement were signed before leaving Europe.

The ships were crowded, the hard bread was often moldy and the water bad. In one year 2,000 of these redemptorists died at sea or soon after landing at Philadelphia. There the surviving people were advertised to be sold for a term of years, and purchasers flocked to the port much as people now congregate at a county fair.

The young and the single were soon disposed of, but widows and elderly or infirm people were dull of sale. But if such persons had children, their own passage was charged to the children's account, and thus the children had to serve extra time.

Until the children were sold, the parents could not leave the ship. Trunks were taken on another vessel, and were often broken into during the voyage. When the term of servitude was over, the newcomer was a free man. But if in the meantime he ran away and was caught and returned, his term was extended. Yet in the long run these people usually fared better in America because of its broader opportunities.

The other, or involuntary immigrants, were not wholly made up of British jailbirds. Some had been kidnapped from the British seaports. Some were married consorts, whom the other party, whether husband or wife, contrived to have sent out of the country. Some were homeless children. Still others were "ne'er-do-wells" and other derelicts, sent here by their relations in order to be "out of sight if not out of mind."

The actual cost of transportation was about $25 to each person, and the average price paid by the planter ... usually in Virginia was about $150. After serving their time, yet perhaps still carrying on the hand the mark of a branding iron, some of these people became good citizens.

But there were others who did not acquire any relish for steady work and orderly life. Such persons drifted into the coves of the Blue Ridge, so as to get away from the plantation owners. They remained shiftless, and their mode of life was little better than that of the savage. In 60 years 10,000 convicts were sent here from the famous "Old Bailey" prison of London. With the Revolution this practice had to come to an end, and England then proceeded to unload her trash upon Australia.

Though familiar with white servitude, the colonists had seen nothing of negroes in Europe and were slow to take up with African slavery. Although "twenty negars" were brought to Jamestown in 1619, the number of such in the colony had in forty years grown to only 300. Yet by 1745, the negroes were almost one-fifth of the colonial population.

With respect to religious faith, practically all the colonials were Protestant, excepting the English Catholics in Maryland. As to opinions on society and government, their differences were largely on the surface. Having so very much in common, it was quite inevitable that in the course of time all the white elements we have sketched should blend into an American nation very distinct from any of the mother nations of Europe. View/Write Comments (count 1)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Long Island Pioneer

Long Island, NY - In the History of Long Island by Peter Ross we found the following biographical information concerning an ancestor on our Maternal CONOVER / KOUWENHOVEN side of the family. I am not sure exactly how distant and where to fit this ancestor in to our ancestral database or which lineage it derives from. BUT ... maybe someone out there can help in placing William I. Kouwenhoven in the family tree.

WILLIAM I. KOUWENHOVEN -- William I. Kouwenhoven resided at Flatlands and was born at Bedford, Long Island, April 5, 1818, and was descended from good old Revolutionary stock.

His grandfather was William Kouwenhoven, and his father was John I. Kouwenhoven. John I Kouwenhoven served in the Revolutionary war, loyally aiding in the struggle for American independence. He removed to Gravesend when his son was a lad of eleven years, and there he made his home until his death, which occurred in 1873.

At one time John I Kouwenhoven was superintendent of the poor of the town, and in church work he was very active, holding membership with the Dutch Reformed church and serving as deacon and elder in the congregation with which he was identified. He married Susan Lake, daughter of Peter Lake, of Flatbush, and they became the parents of three children, William I. and Jane Aletta, who was the widow of Stephen Vanderveer, of New Lots.

William I. Kouwenhoven, whose name introduces this review, spent the days of his childhood under the parental roof, his time being quietly passed without event of special importance. He was reared to farm work, and throughout his business career carried on agricultural pursuits, his well tilled fields bringing to him a good return. Gradually his capital was thus increased and he secured a good bank account. After a short time he sold his farm and was living retired in the enjoyment of a well earned rest.

William I. Kouwenhoven was united in marriage, in 1843, to Miss Abigail Baxter, daughter of Garret S. Baxter, of Flatlands. This venerable couple lived to celebrate their golden wedding day, March 22, 1893.

On December 13, 1895. Abigal Baxter Kouwenhoven passed away to her eternal rest.

William I. and Abigal Kouwenhoven had nine children: Susan L., the wife of William Schenck, of Flatbush, Long Island; Abbie W., wife of James R. Fredericks, of Jamaica, Long Island; John J., who resided at Vineland, New Jersey; Williamson, who resided at the homestead with his father; Peter W., a resident of Jamaica; Anna, the wife of Alfred B. Crossman, of New Lots; and Kitty, the wife of John M. Remsen, of Flatlands, residing at the old homestead.

As William I. Kouwenhoven passed the eighty-third milestone on life's journey, his rest was well merited. At that time he enjoyed the veneration and respect which should ever be accorded to those who attained to advanced age and was accounted one of the leading citizens of his community. View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe