Aunt Jane's Bible (eBook)

Descendants of James N. Montgomery and Susannah Naff of Franklin County, Virginia

Eric Flora (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2024 | 1. Auflage
572 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3509-7879-7 (ISBN)

Infos

James and Susannah Montgomery, devout farmers in Virginia, faced the hardships of the Civil War and family tragedy. One son died in the Confederate Army, while two others took their own lives in Kansas. Their descendants, now spread across the U.S., bear common names like Boitnott, Flora, and Miller.

Eric Flora, author of several books, has been interested in local and family history since he was a young boy. Eric lives in rural Carroll County, Indiana with his wife.

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A historical account of the hardworking farmers in rural Franklin County, Virginia, devoted to their faith as members of the German Baptist Brethren church. Their homestead was a bustling hub of activity, with eleven children running around. The hardships of the War Between the States hit the Montgomery family hard, with one son conscripted into the Confederated Army and meeting a tragic end in a Confederate army hospital. Despite the heartbreak, the Montgomery siblings scattered across the country, with two daughters choosing to remain in Virginia while the rest sought new opportunities in Ohio, Indiana, Kansas, and California. Tragedy struck once again when two sons, including an elder in their church, took their own lives in Kansas. The Montgomery family tree now boasts a myriad of common descendant names like Boitnott, Burger, Flora, Flory, Hodges, Miller, and many more, each carrying their own piece of the family's history.

Textauszug

Martha Jane “Aunt Jane” Montgomery, the sixth of 11 children, was born in 1848, in Franklin County, Virginia. Cyrus Kinzie noted, she joined, by baptism, the German Baptist Brethren church: “in her early years.” Aunt Jane never married and at least one family member recalled her as “odd” and not a “people person.” Aunt Jane removed the wrinkles from her clothes by putting them under the cushion of her rocking chair and sitting on them, which perhaps enhanced her reputation as odd. After the February 1901 death of her mother, she filed a claim against the estate asking for her and her sister, Cynthia, to receive $100 and a cow, per their father’s will. Ten years later, Aunt Jane moved to Ohio and lived with her brother, Peter, and his family for a short time, before moving to Indiana. While in Indiana, she cooked at the Old Folks Home and Orphanage in Mexico and spent the last 13 years of her life moving between the Carroll County homes of two of her nieces.

Her father, James N. Montgomery, was born in late May 1812, in Franklin County, to Samuel Montgomery and Elizabeth Bowman. Samuel and Elizabeth, daughter of John Bowman, Sr. and Elizabeth Eichenberg, married in Franklin County in September 1805. Franklin County was formed in 1785, and likely Samuel was the first Montgomery to live in the county. The 1850 Agricultural Census showed Samuel owned 300 acres of land with his farm valued at $1,000 ($39,326 today). Two hundred acres were unimproved. He owned two horses, two milk cows, and 12 other head of cattle. Samuel also owned 20 hogs and valued his livestock at $280 ($11,071 today). He and his family had produced 100 bushels of wheat, 250 bushels of Indian corn, and 100 bushels of oats the previous year. Additionally, the family grew 30 pounds of Irish potatoes and 10 pounds of sweet potatoes. The family also produced 150 pounds of butter and six tons of hay, as well as 30 pounds of flax and two bushels of flaxseed. Samuel valued his butchered livestock at $180 ($7,117 today).

Samuel and Elizabeth Montgomery had 10 known children. Based on Samuel’s will, the 10 children are: John J. Montgomery who married Rebecca Naff, Elizabeth Montgomery, Samuel Montgomery who first married Mary Pursley and later Lucy Baugh, James N. Montgomery, who married Susannah Naff, Andrew Jackson Montgomery who first married Sabrina Peters and later Mary Weddle, Joel Montgomery who married Sarah Brooks, Hannah Montgomery who first married Jacob D. Naff and later Christian Kinsey, Lydia Montgomery who married Peter Kesler, Elias Montgomery, and Sarah Montgomery who married Rufus Brooks. There were possibly three additional children who died young.

After reviewing online DNA results for family members, Samuel’s Montgomery ancestors have Scottish roots. Samuel’s parents were James Montgomery and Anne Woods, who were married in 1770 by Rev. John Roan. James was born in 1735 in Pennsylvania, British Colonies, and died in North Carolina in 1793. James’ father, John Montgomery, was born about 1710 in Ireland and died in 1778 in North Carolina. He traveled to the American British Colonies about 1731. He married a Martha Montgomery, about 1734 in Pennsylvania. Martha was born in 1715 in Ireland and died after 1799 in North Carolina. Any ancestral relationship between John and Martha is unknown. When John died, he left James: “my blue cape.”

James N. Montgomery married Susannah Naff, daughter of Jacob Naff, Sr. and Elizabeth Stover in August 1835 in Franklin County. She had 10 siblings: George Naff who married Hannah Bowman, Catherine Naff who married Daniel F. Bowman, Elizabeth Naff who married Abraham Barnhart, Jacob Naff, III who married Susan Webster, Hannah Naff who married Peter Noffsinger, Elder Abraham Naff who married Hannah Peters, Mary A. Naff who married John Luke Smith, Rebecca Naff who married John J. Montgomery, Rev. Isaac Newton Naff who married Cynthia Wysor, and John Benjamin Neff who married Sarah Naff.

DNA from Naff family members also point towards Scottland as their ancestral homeland. Susannah’s father, Jacob Naff, was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in 1767 and married Elizabeth Stover in Franklin County, Pennsylvania in 1792. Jacob died in 1829 in Franklin County, Virginia, and Elizabeth died in 1855 in the same location. Jacob’s father, Jacob Naff (1731), first appears in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in 1769. There was a Jacob Naff who arrived at Philadelphia on the “Dragon” in September 1749, but they are unlikely the same individuals. Perhaps the Jacob who arrived in 1749 was the father. The family was Lutheran and later joined the German Baptist Brethren church. As far as I know, it is still unproven that Jacob is the son of Jacob Naff and Anna Elernopage. Jacob (1731) married Eva Catherina Flory in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Family tradition holds she is the daughter of 1733 immigrant Joseph Flory and Anna Marie Baugh. There is a lack of documentation other than family tradition to identify her parents.

No mentions of the Montgomery family are noted in Daniel Zigler’s 1908 book A History of the Brethren in Virginia. There are also no mentions of Susannah’s father or grandfather. The exact date of the organization of the German Baptist Brethren church in Franklin County is unknown, but likely precedes the Revolutionary War. However, Annie Montgomery put the date about 1797.

A brick meeting house, Germantown German Baptist Brethren Church, was built in Franklin County in 1848. Twenty-two years later, the church split into three organizations: Germantown, Antioch, and Bethlehem. The change occurred after two additional meeting houses had been built. Presumably James and Susannah, and some of their children, left the German Baptist Brethren church in October 1884 and joined the Linville Creek Old German Baptist Brethren Church. Initially, 44 members left together. Ten more soon joined them. The new group worshipped with about 100 like-minded members of the Oak Hill Old German Baptist Brethren Church who were located further south. Gladys Metzger noted both groups: “worshiped together and were both called Linville Creek, although they maintained their separate identities for 15 to 20 years.” They merged about 1901, under the name Oak Hill Old German Baptist Brethren Church.

What led to the Montgomery family aligning themselves with what was commonly called the “Old Order” church? In 1881, some of the church elders in Miami Valley Ohio met and “requested strict adherence to diminishing values that had formerly been a watermark of Brethren culture: simplicity, distinctive clothing, non-conformity with outside worldliness. The elders further declared their unwillingness to accept additional progressive innovations.” Prior to 1881, a single German Baptist Brethren church existed. In 1881, an “old order group” soon known as the Old German Baptist Brethren church left the primary group. In 1883, a “progressive” group left and became known as the Brethren church. The remaining group, the “conservatives,” would later change their name to the Church of the Brethren. These dates are when the nationwide splits occurred. Local churches may have made a change at later dates.

In May 1837, James purchased 116 Franklin County acres from John and Parizade Bowman for $348 dollars ($11,180 today). The deed described the property boundaries with terms such as a red oak, a white oak, and a poplar stump. James and Susannah do not appear in the 1840 census. However, in 1850, the family farmed in Franklin County with six children. Among their neighbors were a blacksmith, a merchant, and a wheelwright. The average age of their neighbor’s head of household was 41 years of age. The largest home had 14 people living in it, while the average had six. Of the households who owned real estate, they owned an average of $747 ($29,376 today). James and Susannah owned real estate valued at $348 ($13,685 today), which was less than half their neighbor’s average.

The 1850 Agricultural census showed James and Susannah had 50 acres of improved land, 66 acres of unimproved land and valued their farm at $500 ($19,770 today). They valued their farm tools at $60 ($2,372 today), and owned two horses, three head of cattle, four sheep, and 12 pigs for a total livestock value of $220 ($8,698 today). In the previous 12 months, they had raised 12 pounds of wool, 37 bushels of peas/beans, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, barley, flaxseed. and buckwheat. They also produced 52 pounds of butter, one pound of cheese, one ton of hay, and 50 pounds of flax. For the time and place, James and Susannah’s farm likely provided ample food and materials for their homespun clothing. However, cash was probably in short supply. While the farm supported the family, there was not enough to set up their sons to farm locally.

James and Susannah had twins, John Stephen and James Robert, their ninth and tenth children, in late December...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 20.11.2024
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3509-7879-7 / 9798350978797