Treasure Chest Thursday: "Magnolia's Historical Past"

When I first got interested in genealogy a couple of years ago, Mom told me about the now vanished town along the Potomac River over in West Virginia called Magnolia. Pretty name, I thought. It had its best days just after 1900 on to 1910 when the population swelled to around 2,000. As the work on the C&O canal and the B&O railroad vanished, this little community did too when residents sought employment elsewhere. The final blow was a flood of the Potomac River in 1936 that wiped out much of the town.

Then after telling me a couple of stories about the ancestors who lived in Magnolia, Mom sent me a book about it called, "Magnolia's Historical Past", by Leonard H. Davis and printed in 1999. I can't tell who the publisher of this book was but by the look of things, Leonard Davis himself might have gotten all of the pages together and put it out as a collection in book form. Mom got the book from the Morgan Coubty Historical Society. I've posted about out trip to Magnolia and you can read about it here, and what Wikipedia has to say about Magnolia here.

The book has no index, and usually I'd be grousing about that, but in this case it slows me down to "Magnolia pace" and I just relax and enjoy the slow read. I'll let the book speak for itself and show you the images of cover and various pages. I hope that all of us who search in pursuit of family history find such treasures as this one! Thank you very much, Mr. Davis.

Cover (with my ubiquitous post notes.)

One of the most charming parts of the book are personal recollections of past residents. One I'm particularly fond of includes this recipe. Do you remember the jelly roll cake too?

 

There is quite a lot of information to be gleaned from the transcription of old newspaper reports about Magnolia and her residents. Here's the earliest from 1883.

Aren't these a treasure?

By the way, Cumberland is mentioned so often because it was a short train ride away and the closest city for a day tripping adventure.

The inclusion of the 1910 US Census for the area is brilliant and very useful for the family historian  because the geography of the area is difficult to discern to the untrained eye, if all you have to go on is the enumerator notes.

A sampling of the old photos reproduced in the book. Try as I might I can't find the picture collection mentioned as a credit! Too bad.

The above are from the Magnolia Reunions. Sad that Mom and I missed them because they are no more.

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/04/treasure-chest-thursday-magnolias.html

Tombstone Tuesday: What's Up With That One?

Last June when I went back East to see Mom and family, we all made Brother drive us to Magnolia, West Virginia, a long lost town now in the deep dark back woods. And I mean back woods! Here's the link to a post about our trip and visit to the old and still cherrished Cherry Orchard Cemetery: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2012/06/let-me-take-you-to-magnolia.html

There was an unusual, at least to me, tombstone there and here's a photo of it and a view of the Cherry Orchard Cemetery. As you can see, and I hope that I can correctly read, the inscription says in part, "OXWBLL, MCH 277, 1861." It could be a fragment, don't you think, with the left side missing...?

The mystery tombstone

Entrance to the Cheery Orchard Cemetery

In old and now gone Magnolia, West Virginia.

Last October I went again back East to see Mom and family and we took a ride west of the little town of Frostburg, Maryland where Mom lives to a roadside attraction called Penn Alps and Artisan Village. It's located right smack next to the Castleman River and the old historic Castleman River Bridge seen below. It's still a picturesque and historic bridge. 

(Photo from Wikipedia)



On the porch of one of the cottages was this tombstone in a similar style, I thought, as the Cherry Orchard Cemetery one. See what you think. These two tombstones are maybe 60 miles apart, as the crow flies and as best as I can tell, but this is mountainous country and the drive is at least 100 miles. The informational card says that the tombstone came from Salisbury, Pennsylvania and that moves the distance from the Cherry Orchard stone to at least 100 miles as the crow flies, and more driving especially depending on the depth of snow on the roads this time of year which - and I've personally seen this - can be over a man's head!

Tombstone and informational panel from the Penn Alps Village.

This is the only tombstone that bears any resemblance to the Cherry Orchard one I've ever seen, but then I don't really get around much. 

There are similarities and differences too. Here are my random observations:

* The 1818 stone is complete in regard the writing and the Cherry Orchard stone is a fragment.
* The style of inscription is different but both are freehand and not "professional" with straight lines and uniform lettering. 

* Taking the style from the Penn Alps stone as a guide to layout and placement of information, I'm guessing that the date of death might be March 27, 1861, and the double 77 following the 2 is a corrected error. Maybe, maybe not.

* I am clueless as to the OXWBLL on the Cherry Orchard stone. Is it a name or a place or none of the above? 

Am wondering if I'm trying to connect the dots and they don't belong together at all. That happens to me in an effort to seek meaning. Sometimes the dots just don't connect, don't belong together. 

May all your tombstones be easily identifiable and already on FindAGrave, with lots of bio information:)

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/01/tombstone-tuesday-whats-up-with-that-one.html 

Tombstone Tuesday

On to another Tombstone Tuesday, a challenge put out there by Geneabloggers at http://www.geneabloggers.com/ where they always offer fun and interesting daily blogging prompts. I jumped on board this train two weeks ago but couldn't follow through last week because of internet problems, which I won't bore you with:)

Again this week I'm back at the Cherry Orchard Cemetery in lovely and almost gone, Magnolia West Virginia, only accessible by dirt roads in pretty rough condition. It is on Find A Grave at http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=77996&CScn=cherry+orchard&CScntry=4&CSst=52&
But as you can see, there are only four folks listed.

Mom went to Cherry Orchard Cemetery a number of years ago when she talked Dad into taking here there, and I really don't know how she pulled off that trick! On my last trip to see Mom she navigated us there while brother heroically drove. But for this Tombstone Tuesday, I'm working with Mom's old photos of the stones taken a number of years ago.

SNIDER, James, CO. C, 2nd MD. INF.
(1840 - 1861)

MANNING, John H. 1891 - 1945
MANNING, Missouri 1902 - 1979

SHAMBAUGH, Samuel A. 1854 - 1936

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2012/08/tombstone-tuesday_21.html

Big Family Secret: Dunkers

Still considering myself a newbie to this genealogy stuff, and am imagining that will continue for years. I constantly feel as though I'm simply stumbling from thing to thing even though I do make lists that outline my research goals. But often as not, in following a line of inquiry there's a bit that demands my attention as though it's calling my name. Look here, it shouts. So I do. Then stumbling I go into a fact that shines a completely new light on a tiny branch of the family tree. Suddenly I feel that I understand what happened to the ancestors in a completely different way! Things start to make sense.

And so it was with the Samuel Albert House situation. This blog post is a continuation of one you'll find below, entitled "Big Family Secrets." Here's the link, if you want to catch up:
http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2012/06/big-family-secrets.html

Got thinking about the Biggerstaff family, especially after making contact with Cousin William through Ancestry.com Messages. Noticed that we share our 2nd GGF, SA House. He has a nice big tree in Members Public Trees and I messaged him about the SA House info he had there and the Biggerstaff line. He shared some web sites and other stuff.

As you seen in the previous post, Samuel Albert was illegitimate and every indication is that Isaac Biggerstaff was his father. But why didn't he marry Rebecca House, Samuel Albert's mother? Cousin William's info kept me thinking.

Can't even tell you how I got there but I found a web site about the Tarvin Family, and many thanks to them! Here's the link: http://www.tarvinfamily.org/ As you see, it's beautifully done and a wealth of information even if none of our people are Tarvins!

There are two links on the main page that caught my eye. First is the PDF of the book, "Allegheny Passage: Dunkards on the Cacapon." The description reads: "We have received permission to scan and re-publish a key reference work on the history of the Brethren religion in the western area of Maryland and Virginia. The chapter that contains references to Rev. George Tarvin's family is posted here online."

I looked at the PDF and found about a full page on the Biggerstaff family as well as mention of the Longstreth family, both Church members. William and Samuel are mentioned by name, William being Isaacs's GF and Samuel his father. It also mentioned William's will, with which I was recently familiar due to the good graces of Cousin William.

As you might note from the previous post, Isaac Biggerstaff married a Longstreth girl instead of Rebecca House, mother of Samuel Albert. Mystery solved: he was expected to marry within his faith. I copy the following from a wonderfully lucid presentation by Rev. George Tarvin in 1988 at a Tarvin family reunion.

Here's the link: http://www.tarvinfamily.org/brethren.php  I have taken the liberty to quote at length here and hope that it does not offend. It's of such importance that I can't help myself... and I'm forever grateful to the Tarvin Family for this text! The bolded portions have been added by me to emphasize the importance of marrying within the faith.

To more fully understand our ancestor, a person must first look at the history and doctrine of the Dunker Church. The German Baptist Brethren, called Dunkers, grew out of the Pietist movement of Germany in the late 17th century. The Church of the Brethren was officially organized at Schwartzenau in 1708 by Alexander Mack, a miller. There were eight original members baptized by triple immersion (hence the name Dunker) in the Elbe River. Their belief was to live as close to Bible teachings as possible. They found themselves a persecuted people and by 1719 the first group came by ship to Pennsylvania to seek a refuge where they could worship as they pleased. This first group settled in Germantown, now a part of Philadelphia. In 1729, Alexander Mack led the remainder of his group from their native Germany to America.
During these early years, several Brethren communities were founded in southeast Pennsylvania and two in Maryland. The Dunkers were progressive farmers and tried to live simply, hence they were invariably included among the so-called "plain people" of Pennsylvania. They were often on the frontier, locating in the mountains of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and later extending south to the Carolinas and Tennessee and west to Virginia and Ohio.
The Dunkers were one of the historic peace churches. Most Dunkers have been conscientious objectors to military service. On the frontier, this went as far as not carrying guns and being friends with the Indians.
Some of the distinguishing beliefs of the Brethren were (1) baptism by triple immersion, previously mentioned as the reason for being called Dunkers; (2) full communion service including a meal and a footwashing service; (3) "Fellowship of Believers" which in the early days meant marriage primarily within the membership of the church; and (4) simplicity, meaning to dress plainly and to avoid any extravagance in spending. There was no official church creed and the main emphasis was on living as close to the teachings of the New Testament as possible. It was said, "A Dunker's word is as good as his bond."
Their beliefs which set them apart, and especially their emphasis on marrying within the faith, led to a close-knit group with a tremendous number of intermarriages among the few well-known family names.

Now I'm adding score points to the theory that Issac might have married Rebecca had they been of the same faith.


Photo of the day from my Archive:

Elizabeth Longstreth Biggerstaff's stone,

Cherry Orchard Cemetery,

Magnolia (or what's left of it) WVa,

She was Isaac's wife.

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2012/07/big-family-secret-dunkers.html

Big Family Secrets

When Uncle Tuck found out that Mom was doing genealogy he told her, you might not like what you find out! Now Mom is way cool about family scandals... she doesn't care what the ancestors did as long as her brood stay out of trouble;)

Mom didn't think much about what Uncle Tuck said because he wasn't specific, but it did seem to her that there were secrets to be had if one looked hard enough. Some time went by and Mom discovered what Uncle Tuck was talking about. It looked like her great grandfather, Samuel Albert House was illegitimate!

After due research Mom wrote this in her Notes in Family Tree Maker:

"Samuel Albert House was born ot of wedlock to Rebecca House. There is every indication that his father was Isaac Biggerstaff.

Two reasons for this thought being that the 1850 cenus of Morgan Co.,W.Va. has a Samuel Biggerstaff living with Rebecca House Caton. His age is 16. Samuel was born 11 Feb 1832.

The other reason was that in his death certificate his daughter, my grandmother, listed his father as Issac House and his mother as Rebecca Biggerstaff but in that time period there was no Issac House and no Rebecca Biggerstaff in the Morgan Co. W,Va. area where he was born. There was a Rebecca House and an Issac Biggerstaff."

OK, so there you go. Big-deal family secret: Who da baby-daddy? All evedince points to Isaac Biggerstaff. Samuel Albert is even going by Samuel Biggerstaff in the 1850 US Census. And if you look at all the available male Biggerstaffs in Magnolia, West Virginia at that time, it points to Isaac.

So that's our starting point. I don't know what it is about all this but I smelled a really interesting story here beyond the usual who-slept-with-who tale. I have also just been back east to visit Mom and we all went to Magnolia, West Virginia, or what's left of it. The recent placing of my feet on the very soil of my ancestors back in the deep woods of West Virginia got me thinking.
(See posting below at http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2012/06/let-me-take-you-to-magnolia.html )

I have a big basket of information, random facts and thoughts surrounding this issue. So here in the best order I can make of it is what I know, or think I know. Please, feel free to jump in with thoughts and ideas about this saga. I'd love some help here:)

The Biggerstaffs were a landed family. Isacc's grandfather William left numerous acres of land to Isaac in his will of which I have a copy. Isaac also enjoyed additional land through inheritance from his father, Samuel. Isaac was land wealthy. The Houses on the other hand were, as Mom likes to put it, dirt poor. He did marry Elizabeth Longstreth who came from a prominent Pennsylvania family.
Thought: The marriage of Isaac to Rebecca House would not have been a good match in the eyes of the Biggerstaff family, especially Isaac's grandfather, William, from whom he stood to inherit. Did his grandfather step in?

Isaac Biggerstaff's first child in his marriage was named "Rebecca". Interestingly, this first child in his mariage to Elizabeth Longstreth arrived just about the time Rebecca House gave birth to Samuel Albert. We can conclude that Rebecca House and Isaac Biggerstaff were intimate right up the time he was married.
Thought: It's not unheard of back in this place and time for couples to get pregnant so as to force the parents to give them a blessing. Heck, my great grandparents did it because she was from a Lutheran family and he a Catholic family. They had to have a couple of kids to get the parents to cave:)

Rebecca and Isaac's child was named "Samuel". Samuel was Isaac's father's name.
Thought: Was this an effort to curry favor with the landed grandfather of Isaac by honoring Isaac's deceased father?

Rebecca House married Patrick Caton one month after Isaac Biggerstaff died. Rebecca House waited 12 years to marry and did so only after Issac's death on 24 March 1844. She married Patrick Caton, a man from Ireland, on 13 April, 1844.
Thought: Mom thinks that Rebecca and Isaac were true lovers and that she did not want to marry anyone else. Only after Isaac was finally gone did she feel free to mary.

Early 1900s House Family Reunion. In the early years of the 1900s and before 1910 there was a House Family Reunion in Ohio. Mom has a copy of the memories shared there and written down by all in attendance. It resided, gathering dust, in Mary's attic until one day Mary said to Mom, Hey you want to come over and see those old papers in my attic? You don't need to ask Mom a question like that twice:) She borrowed and copied them. In the papers of the House Family Reunion someone stated that it was commonly known that Samuel Albert House's father was Issac Biggerstsaff.

Isaac and Rebecca were possibly first cousins, once removed. Mom and I need to verify this but it looks like it could be correct. Yeah... it's West Virginia;)

Picture of the day from the Archive:

Samuel Albert House,

1832 - 1917

Other posts about the exploits of Samuel Albert House can be found on this blog at : http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2011/07/another-drinking-man.html

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2012/06/big-family-secrets.html

Please Note: Blogger is hay-wire today so I couldn't do a spell chack. I'm flying without a net for the time being. So sorry!

Magnolia Moonshiner

On our trip to Magnolia, West Virginia, Mom, Brother and Sis-in-Law and I drove along as Mom read to us from a wonderful book she has entitled, "Magnolia's Historical Past". (See below for the full scoop on our recent trip to Magnolia, a place that now only exists in memory and imagination.)

In the 1990s Ralph Shambaugh, no longer with us, helped organize reunions of family and friends of old Magnolia. Mom knew Ralph. After the reunion in 1996, those who wished wrote down their memories and turned in photos or copies of merchant's registers or school house attendance records.

"Magnolia's Historical Past" starts off with a good history of Magnolia after which it rambles gently much as the Potomac River rambles past the old site of Magnolia on a summer day. There's even a couple of recipes for Buns, Chocolate Loaf Cake, and Roll Jelly Cake. The reader can browse it for hours on end.

As we drove along Mom read about a store purchase by one of our relatives. (Don't ask me who and how they are related. Shhh!) Mom was reading aloud as we bumped down the old gravel rail road track bed, now a "road" of sorts for vehicles.

"From a Kesler store record book belonging to ____________ dated June 1882, the following items are shown:

"10 yards calico, .85
3 yards cotton, .30
1/4 gallon molasses, .11
1/2 pound peppers, .20
2 pounds prunes, .24
1 set cups and saucers, .25

100 pounds sugar 1.00

2 pounds tobacco 1.00
1 bar soap, .30

20 pounds sugar, .20"

My Brother's fast and sharp legal mind, always aware of "evidence" immediately said with confidence, "He was a moonshiner! Who else would buy 100 pounds of sugar and then turn right around and purchase 20 more pounds in the same order. I bet that that 20 pounds was for the home and the 100 pounds was for the still!"

Sounds about right to me. It is after all West Virginia:) Ya gotta love it!!

Our House ancestors' burial plot in the
Cherry Orchard Cemetery in Magnolia.

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2012/06/magnolia-moonshiner.html

Let Me Take You To Magnolia

Recently went back east to see Mom and have some genealogy fun. Mom dreams of life in a town called Magnolia in West Virginia, hard against the side of a steep mountain and pressed against the Potomac River. She dreams of what the simple life would have been like for our ancestors around the late 1800s in the small neighborly town of Magnolia where everbody knew everybody and went by train to the big town of Cumberland, Maryland for a day trip to shop. We went to see it, Mom, Brother and his wife, and me.

Magnolia is really hard to get to. The paved road, Route 12, twists and turns on a steep mountain side with so many switchbacks I lost count. It runs through a deep dense forest, up and down the mountainside so steep you'd likely slide on slippery layers of leaves all the way down to the Potomac River if you tried climbing it. Must be close to impossible to pass in a snowy winter... but this is West By-God Virginia where the people are tough! For the trip back we took the gravel road that sits on the old railroad bed, and straight as an arrow... but bumpy.

Let me tell you a little about the history of Magnolia and you'll see why this is interesting. Here's the link to Wikipedia and below a photo of the B&O bridge nearing completion back in the day, also from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnolia,_West_Virginia



Magnolia was a railroad town, started about 1850. Around 1842 it was just known as Water Station Number 12. More people moved in to work on the rail road. Then stores came to service those families and the town grew. During 1910 the population reached about 2000 strong but by 1919 the population was recorded at just 50 souls. The flood of 1936 drove the final nail in the coffin of little Magnolia and only a hand full of families remained, mostly locating on the high ground. Today you can count the number of occupied homes on one hand. Magnolia, for all practical purposes is no more: no post office, no town, not even on Google Maps or your GPS. The area that was Magnolia is all woods and gone wild. It has returned to nature.

Map courtesy of Wikipedia. Thanks Wikipedia!

See that photo above of the bridge being built? Brother and I got out of the car and braved the onslaught of bugs to stand near the Potomac as it runs to the left of this bridge view. Here's the photo we took and we can tell you for sure there's not a building to be seen in the area! It's gone all wild.

Next we were off to find the Cherry Orchard Cemetery where some of our ancestors are buried. We didn't hold out too much hope of finding it and if we did, we expected that the old cemetery would be a mess of weeds, snakes, and of course bugs-a-plenty! Back on Route 12 and looking for the cemetery, we passed a nice historic house, unoccupied but posted with Keep Out signs.

I'm willing to bet that somewhere, someone, or on some web site or other there's an expert who can approximate the age of this house by the structure of it:)

Here's a good view of Magnolia around 1900 to 1910. I think that might be Route 12 running up the hillside, maybe?

Also from Wikipedia.

Below is Route 12 that runs through the area that was Magnolia. Here's what we saw: all wild and woods. Nothing left!

We drove mile after lonely mile through dense woods and didn't see another person. Saw a house or two that looked like it might be occupied... but no people at all and no cars passed us on the way. Saw three mailboxes but who knows if they are currently in use.

On to Cherry Orchard Cemetery! WOW! Were we shocked! Some one or group is lovingly taking care of it! See for yourself.

The picture above is the area of the Cherry Orchard Cemetery
where our House ancestors rest.

So Magnolia is gone but not forgotten. How many other places have joined its ranks as not even ghost towns but simply not there at all?

Want to go to Magnolia? Make your way in your 4-wheel drive vehicle to Paw Paw, West Virginia. Stop at the gas station and fill up, then look across the street and see the old abandoned rail road station. There's a gravel road right in front of it. Take that until you see the second rail road bridge over the Potomac. If you want to find the old Cherry Orchard Cemetery, find Route 12, Old Magnolia Road, next to the old gravel rail road bed at the second bridge. Take that in the direction away from the second bridge... you'll find the cemetery.

Or you can ask the nice lady in the gas station how to get to Magnolia on Route 12. She'll tell you. People are pretty friendly here:)

Other posts to this blog about our Magnolia ancestors are:
http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2012/06/i-emailed-sheriff-but-i-did-not-email.html
http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2011/07/another-drinking-man.html

And this one about James Snider, a Civil War ancestor... and a drinking man:
http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2011/07/bit-of-amanuensis-sharing-and-story-of.html

The grave of James Snider as we found it in
Cherry Orchard Cemetery on Sunday June 10, 2012.

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2012/06/let-me-take-you-to-magnolia.html


UPDATE: 5/15/2016