Follow Friday - The Virginia Wall Story

During my visit home over the holidays my grandma loaned me a book. This was pretty amazing, as we had never shared books before. But my grandma knew that I would like this book because it had a genealogical flare and, most importantly, that flare included our family.

I'm referencing The Virginia Wall Story, a book by Bonnie Mitchell about Virginia Wall, a lifetime Missouri educator. Mitchell traces Virginia's life through the aid of her memories and diaries that she kept her entire life. The book traces a little bit of Miss Wall's family history and then follows her life as a high school educator.

Miss Wall was born in Morton a small hamlet in Ray County, Missouri, which is the small town that my grandma was born in. We are distantly related to Miss Wall...our joint ancestor is my 5th great-grandfather. But her stories from the 1920s through to today of life and educating in a small town are insights into my family and how they would have lived in the same town. Miss Wall was a high school English teacher at Chillicothe High School in Chillicothe, Missouri for 45 years. And while my mother went to a different small town high school, I can't help but think that the lifestyle would have been very similar to what Virginia writes about and now I have insight to my mother's school days that I didn't have before.

The best part for me about this book were the references to my own family. In 1951 Virginia was busy doing her usual singing for life's important events: "During Christmas break Virginia sang for a wedding at Morton Church and the next day she sang there again for the funeral of the bride's grandfather." This was my grandmother's wedding on December 31, 1951 and the funeral following was her grandfather, Claude Oran McGuire.

Virginia's family were farmers, like most of their neighbors. In the book she makes mention of my great grandparents, Clifton and Hazel White, as friends that rented a portion of the Wall family land. In August 1962 she mentions: "The next day Virginia and her mother made a trip to Richmond to visit friends and learned that Mr. Clifton White's mother had passed away. Mr. White was farming the Wall ground for Mary [Virginia's mother] and Virginia. On Sunday Virginia sang for the first service at church and then she and Mary went on to Hardin for dinner at the Rhodes home. That afternoon Virginia sang for Mrs. White's funeral at Morton Church."

In 1974 Virginia mentions the Whites again: "Late in February, Virginia received a letter from Clifton White in Morton. He had decided to build a new home on the property he had purchased from Mary and Virginia and learned he needed the original abstract. Virginia made a trip to Hardin to retrieve it from the lock box there. She was delighted that these friends would enjoy the lovely view she and her family had loved for so long when the Wall family lived there."

I know where that land is and I have been in the house built on it, one in which my great-uncle and great-aunt still live. But now I know who had that land before. Each mention is small, but altogether they mean genealogical gold. I've learned little details about my family that no amount of documentary research would find. It is mentioned in the book that Miss Virginia Wall was hesitant to write a book about herself...after all, who would read it? My answer to Miss Wall is anyone interested in the minute details of a person's or town's life...that is just about every genealogist I know.

Author's Note: Miss Wall was persuaded to write her life story because all proceeds from the sale of the book go to the not-for-profit foundation The Virginia Wall Scholarship Fund. For more information on the book or the scholarship fund write: Virginia Wall Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 463, Chillicothe, MO 64601.

Shaving - "Not So" Wordless Wednesday

My great-grandparents, Clifton and Hazel White, were wonderful, hard-working people. I remember lots of hugs and bite-sized chocolate candy bars always at the ready. One thing I had never really known was how much they appear to enjoy photography. They took countless photographs and to my eternal delight, many of them are of simple things. Case in point:

Shaving...

Shaving after effects...

Pulling Fanny White out of obscurity - Matrilineal Monday

One line of family that I have found countless brick walls, some of which I have climbed and some I'm still running into, is the White family of Roanoke County, Virginia. I have found some records, a census here, a headstone there. But I have had a hard time finding conclusive facts to track this family. The patriarch of this line is Edmund Penn White. He married Sarah McClanahan on October 14, 1820 in Botetourt County, Virginia.

The Roanoke County, Virginia historical marker. Photo by MarmadukePercy from Wikimedia Commons.

I have found record or "mention" of the following children for Edmund and Sarah:

William White, no dates
Francis P. White, 1822-1891
Virginia Lafayette White, 1825-1913

Agnes Lewis White, 1825-1873

Gay White, 1830-

Marcellus Fulton White, 1832-1895

Ann White, 1835-

Watkins Leigh White, 1837-1903

Mary White, no dates

In an effort to find out more about the White family, I decided to find out more about the siblings of my ancestor, Marcellus. Through doing this I came across a written history of Virginia Lafayette White that included all of the siblings names.

A possible photo of Virginia Lafayette White McClanahan.

But Virginia and her sister Agnes were the only sisters I could pull out of the woodwork until yesterday. I decided to look in to Fannie P. White, a sister I was only aware of because of the listing of siblings in the history of Virginia White McClanahan. A search of marriages on the Roanoke County, Virginia GenWeb page lists a marriage for a Francis P. White to Adolphus Huff in 1841. The date seemed to make sense, but I had no idea if it was "my" Francis. So I decided to add the couple to my "test" tree on Ancestry.com. I maintain a test tree on Ancestry used solely to gather information and records for potential relatives, without inadvertently messing up my "real" tree.

I added Francis and Adolphus and quickly found many census records and nine children. One child was named Edmund and one was named Sallie...names that Fanny's parents went by. A good start, but not conclusive. I was able to trace Adolphus through 1900 where I found him living with two sons in St. Louis, Missouri. A terrific stroke of luck because Missouri has a wonderful collection of death certificates on the Missouri Digital Heritage website. If one of the sons died in Missouri I had them...and potentially had a link to Fanny.

The first son I looked for, named Lindsay B. Huff, died in St. Louis in 1940. But his death certificate lists his parents as "unknown." The second son, Warner, died in St. Louis in 1929. I clicked on his death certificate and low and behold...

His mother is listed as Fanny White. So now I have two mentions of Fanny White linked to Adolphus Huff. I later find Adolphus and Fanny Huff buried in East Hill Cemetery in Roanoke County, Virginia. The same cemetery where other members of the White family are buried. It turns out the Fanny died in 1856.

I have three links to a Fanny White: a marriage in the family's home county, mention on a son's death certificate and burial in the family's home county. The age on the headstone matches what makes sense for my Fanny White. Plus, her children include names from her family line and her family immigrated to Missouri like four of the other White siblings. Have I pulled Fanny out of obscurity? While I don't have actual conclusive proof I feel like I have.

(Note: Following this post I learned from a cousin that Fanny White Huff's children are buried in the same plot as Edmund White. Proof enough for me!)

Two White brothers and their girls - Wordless Wednesday

On the left, Allen Griffin White and his wife Beulah Smith White. On the right, Hugh Cleveland White and Minnie Lee Dudgeon. Allen and Hugh were brothers and the couples lived in Grape Grove, Ray County, Missouri. I believe the photo was taken around 1909 just before either couple had children.

Wordless Wednesday - Watermelon Fun

White and Lam family enjoying watermelon in Missouri.

Similar, but not the same - Wordless (ish) Wednesday

These two gentlemen are from my White family line. The gentleman on the right is my 2nd-great grandfather, Hugh C. White. The gentleman on the left is unknown. Their ears and their mouth areas are the same...perhaps a brother?

The search for Marcellus' land - Mappy Monday

Marcellus White is "THE" brick wall in my ancestry at the moment. I have written numerous times about Marcellus and his elusiveness. I recently checked out The Family Tree Problem Solver, by Marsha Hoffman Rising, from my library with the wondrous idea that the book may lead me to a new line of inquiry. A chapter in the book call "Give me Land - Lots of Land" hit me smack in the face. I had never tried to locate land for Marcellus. He was a farmer and I have been told by family that the land still owned by the Whites has been in the family for many years. I did look for probate records for Marcellus, assuming his land would have been given to family, but Ray County, Missouri has no record of his death or any probate records.

Today I looked at numerous sources trying to locate land record information for Ray County, Missouri. I started at the Ray County GenWeb site and browsed the records there. No luck. Then I headed to the Missouri Digital Heritage website and located a Missouri Platbooks Collection. The collection includes Plat books for the state of Missouri dated from between 1920-1930, long after Marcellus died in 1898. But it dawned on me that if I could locate any land owned by a White in my family I might be able to trace it to Marcellus. I knew the White family had lived in the Grape Grove township of Ray County so I browsed that map. I located H.C. White listed as owning 200 acres of land. H.C. White, or Hugh Cleveland, was my 2nd great-grandfather and the third son of Marcellus.

The land is on section 25/26 and T.53N and R.27W. So what does that mean? Is it possible that Hugh received his land from his father? Marcellus' oldest son lived in another part of the county and did not own the land he farmed. The second oldest son lived with Hugh and appears to be farming the same land with him. Where to go from here?

Who is "my" Marcellus?

My search for the White family of Salem, Roanoke County, Virginia has come to a grinding halt. This is a family line where I have found next to nothing in print regarding anyone in the family. I have only several censuses to guide me in my search. And I am not even sure that some of those are for the right "Whites." It is just one of those common surnames.

There is a line of Whites that are well known in Roanoke County and the patriarch was Samuel White. He either built, or owned, a mansion and several houses called Fort Lewis. He was clearly a very wealthy man. In his will he gave the mansion house to his youngest son, Alexander. His second son, Edmund Penn White, was named executor and was given a tract of land known as the "Ned Taylor Tract" in Bedford County, Virginia, just north of New London.

Edmund P. White married Sarah (Sallie) McClanahan October 14, 1820 in Botetourt County, Virginia. They are listed on the 1850 census in Roanoke County with five children: Gay, Marcellus, Ann, Lee and Mary.

Page 2 of the 1850 Census listing for Edmund P. White, showing his son, Marcellus.

Fast forward to Ray County, Missouri. I have traced my White line from my grandmother to Hugh C. White, born March 16, 1876. According to his death certificate his parents were Marcellus F. White and Mary J. (Tosh) White, both born in Virginia. I am able to trace Marcellus and Mary back to 1870 in Ray County, Missouri. Other than his headstone and several censuses, I do not have many conclusive sources for Marcellus. A biography in a Ray County, Missouri history states that he fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. There is only one Marcellus F. White that fought for the confederates in Virginia. He was a Quartermaster sergeant and was captured by the Union army following Gettysburg and spent time in the Union prison at Fort Delaware. He enlisted in 1861 at Salem, Roanoke County, Virginia.

I have found several trees that link the Marcellus I know in Missouri to Edmund Penn White. The 1850 census I mention above does list a Marcellus, age 18, which would be the appropriate age for "my" Marcellus...as I have come to call him. But I have no conclusive link between the two. There is no death record on file for Marcellus. I cannot find an obituary for him in any of the Ray County, Missouri newspapers. There are also no probate records for him. I also have no information about Edmund Penn White's death. Roanoke County, Virginia has no record of any probate documents for him. I do know that Mary J. Tosh, "my" Marcellus' wife, was born in Roanoke County, Virginia through various documents. But I was unable to locate a marriage for Marcellus and Mary in Roanoke County. Their first child, Thomas, was born in Virginia in 1860, but there is no marriage record for his parents around that time.

I have contacted so many sources in Virginia I could not even begin to list them here. I even had a chance to visit the great Virginia Room at the Roanoke City Library, but I came up with very little. Now I must wait for all of my emails to bear fruit. Oh, where can "my" Marcellus be?

Successful LDS adventure and I didn't walk away with a single source

You may remember my rant about my fears of visiting an LDS Family History Center. I finally ripped off the Band-Aid and made a visit to order films a few weeks ago. Last night I actually went to the center to review my films. I had ordered three, one about Roanoke, Virginia marriages and two showing vital records for Ventimiglia, Sicily.

The amount of time I could apply to the visit was limited so I decided to start with the records in English to warm up my eyes. I was looking for information on Marcellus White, who has been the bane of my genealogical existence. I was hoping to find record of his marriage to Mary Tosh which I believe to have occurred around 1860. The documents were hard to read and not ordered in any fashion at all. Unfortunately, I FOUND NOTHING. I am so distraught with Mr. White for not being on that record. Surely he could have gotten himself in print somewhere.

But my trip was not wasted. This was my first visit to a FHC to conduct research and this visit helped me to become more comfortable with the process. This is the second visit overall and every time there have been helpful volunteers that want nothing better than for me to be comfortable and to find my ancestors. I appreciate that and now the only thing hindering my visits is the time between diaper changes.

Special tip: If you visit an FHC, be sure to sign the sign-in sheet as those are sent to Salt Lake City and help to ensure funding for better equipment.

Alright, I'm finally going to do it

Alright, alright, alright...I give up already. I have come to several dead ends in my genealogy research that I can't get out of my mind and I think I have finally come to the point where I have to pop the cork and...visit the LDS church! DUN, DUN, DUN (she sings aloud)!!!!!

No, it isn't that big of a deal. Honestly, I can't really say why I have yet to utilize the LDS records as a resource. Actually, that's a lie. I know exactly why I haven't gone to a Family History Center (FHC): I'm afraid. I am not a religious person and even though I know that volunteers at FHCs do not proselytize I am still nervous to cross their threshold. I am also inherently a shy person and the idea of walking in to a strange place to do something I've never done before makes my skin crawl.

Yet I am drawn to the myriad of resources that may be able to break down my brick walls. I have one major obstacle that first comes to mind:



Marcellus White's headstone in Lavelock Cemetery, Hardin, Missouri.

 Marcellus White. Marcellus is my third great-grandfather on my mother's side. He lived most of his life in Ray County, Missouri, and family stories state that he came from the Roanoke area of Virginia. There are no records for Marcellus in Missouri. There are no probate documents, no death record, no obituary. Not even a miscellaneous newspaper article. I have three census records and a photo of his headstone. Based on information in the book 1881 History of Ray County, Missouri, compiled by the Missouri Historical Company, I know that Marcellus served in the civil war on the confederate side. The book only mentions his participation: no unit information or state affiliation. A search on the National Park Service's Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System yields two entries for Marcellus F. White, both from units in southwest Virginia. One entry is for the 9th Virginia Infantry and the other is for Salem's Flying Artillery, both units being created in the Roanoke area of Virginia.

With that information in hand I went to Footnote.com to see what records they might have. A search for Marcellus F. White finds an entire Confederate Civil War Service record. It traces Marcellus from his enlistment in Salem, Virginia in 1861 to his parole at Appomattox Court House, April 9, 1865. It is a fascinating set of documents. There is only one problem: I have no idea if this individual is "my" Marcellus.

I have found several online family trees that connect Marcellus F. White of Missouri to the White family of Roanoke, Virginia. None of them include sources. I am a stickler about sources. If I can't find a source for a detail, or at least several different sources that could lead to the same conjecture, than I try to not put the information in my tree. I have one source that may link Marcellus to Virginia. An 1850 census from Roanoke, Virginia lists a Marcellous [sic] White, age 18, living with his parents: Edmond P. and Sally White. This is the only tentative link I have between the two states. I know that Marcellus is a fairly unique name, but I have found several other Marcellus Whites while searching through Virginian documents.

So now we come full circle to the LDS archives. I have found many, many microfilm reels in their library catalog that may help me in all my family lines. For Marcellus I have found the resource Marriage licenses, 1838-1853; marriage register, 1853-1918 (1919), from the Roanoke, Virginia County Clerk. If Marcellus is on the document, it may contain his parents' names, or at least something a little more concrete. Plus it would verify his wife's information as well.

I suppose I'll do anything for a resource, even stretch out of my personal comfort zone. Wish me luck!