Today got me thinking about all of the “couples” photos we see while thumbing through old memories. Here’s a few for your viewing pleasure…
My Great-Grandparents Johnnie and Cora Wyant celebrating 37 years of marriage
My Great-Grandparents Johnnie & Cora Wyant
Bela & Rose Lam
“Zeb” & “Rainey” Lam on their wedding day
“Zeb” & “Rainey” Lam
Emanuel Hezekiah & Lucy Gertrude Lam
For quite some time I’ve wanted to begin a project that would tell the true story of the mountain residents from the areas in and around Rockingham & Page County VA. If you, or anyone you know would like to contribute to this undertaking by participating in an informal interview please contact me. I’m hoping to find folks who are direct descendents of the mountain residents and have stories to share, or folks who remembering living in the mountains in earlier years. Please pass the word and contact me to set something up.
Anyone can contact me at Rescue801engine@aol.com
Lewis Lam with grandson, Billy
My grandfather, Seibert Lam died years before I was born so I never had the opportunity to know him. As time goes by I’m slowly learning more and more about him and his life on this Earth.
My grandfather, Seibert Lam
His occupation for many years was working for the railroad company: Fruit Grower’s Express out of Alexandria, VA. From what I gather his job was working on the railcar doors but I don’t know exactly what he did with them. A few months back I finally came across a photo of the station in Alexandria, although I’m not sure if this was the building he worked in or not.
Fruit Grower’s Express; Alexandria, VA
The following account of Dean Mountain ran on March 15, 1917 in the Rockingham Register. Dean Mountain sits in western Virginia, not far from the town of Elkton in the Blue Ridge. Enjoy!
The only 2 ID’s I have for this photo are of the men riding the horses: Doss Meadows & Van Taylor. I’d love to hear from someone that has the rest of the ID’s that go along with his one!
I figured that tonight would be a good time to share this…tap your foot and sing along if you know it
In March of 2012 myself, Larry Lamb, & Greg Lam ventured into Jollett Hollow intent on visiting old home sites, telling stories, and visiting the Meadows/Devil’s Jump cemetery where it’s believed that many of our ancestors are buried. The location of this cemetery is on private land and it’s best if you approach the landowner prior to entering the area. The cemetery is located on the left side of the road as you’re climbing Devil’s Jump but I’ll have to get an exact mile measurement at a later date. The following pictures tell the story of the trip…
Larry Lamb documenting location of stones
Meadows/Devil’s Jump cemetery
Meadows/Devil’s Jump cemetery
Daffodils blooming
Looking west from the top of the hill
Greg Lam & Page Meadows checking for markings
Carrie Meadows, only identified grave at the time of visit.
Larry Lamb documenting location of stones (looking northeast)
Looking North from the cemetery
Meadows/Devil’s Jump Cemetery
Here’s another great Lam family photo taken around Christmas in 1901.
During a trip to my Grandfather’s house to scan family photos I stumbled across a real gem as far as Blue Ridge area genealogy is concerned. The original purpose of my trip was just to catch up and scan pictures that he had come across for me. While I certainly accomplished the original goal I had no idea I would stumble across a well-known piece of mountain history.
When we were discussing his father he ventured into the subject of items left behind by my Great Grandfather and said all he had was, “just some old books”. I hadn’t thought much about it at first but as we began scrolling through old pictures and talking about stories from long ago the subject came back into my head about the old books. I asked him about those and he said that he’d gladly walk downstairs to retrieve them for me. Reentering the room I noticed he was carrying a couple of early hymnals. When he handed them to me I noticed the condition was fair at best. Handling them as gently as I could I opened them. The front few pages were written in and I didn’t think much of it until I read the names: Stephen Hensley, Harriet Dean.
Stephen & Harriet (Dean) Hensley
Harriet Dean was born April 27, 1848. Stephen Hensley was born years earlier, on January 23, 1842. Both were born to families in the Elkton area, Rockingham County, Virginia. They were joined in holy matrimony December 1, 1864 in Belmont, Ohio (Why Ohio? Maybe we’ll talk about that later). The couple had quite a storied relationship to say the least. Stephen was a circuit preacher in the mountains and worked many late hours as well as extended amounts of time away from home. The stories of their turbulent marriage are many and varied. One story includes an instance where Harriet put their housecat on Stephen’s back and allowed it to scratch the blood out of him. Not exactly something most men would enjoy in the slightest.
Stephen & Harriet (Dean) Hensley
Through all of the bad stories shines a number of letters written back and forth between the couple during Stephen’s last days while hospitalized in Charlottesville. The chain of events can be found in Jan Hensley’s book: Sallie’s Story (supplement version). If you don’t own this set I highly recommend them both!
Rev. Stephen Hensley’s hymnal
Rev. Stephen Hensley’s hymnal
Harriet (Dean) Hensley’s hymnal
To say I was surprised to see these names written on the pages and cover of these hymnals would be a rather large understatement. I sat there for hours talking to my Grandfather about the significance of these hymnals and the stories surrounding the couple. The visit ended with my Grandfather ensuring me that these hymnals would come to me when his time on Earth had passed. In all honesty I hope I don’t own them anytime soon as I want to spend more time with him but it’s nice to know that one day these will be passed down to me, as they were to him.
Eugene Lam at the homeplace of Bob Meadows
That pile of logs you walked over on your hike might have been more than just logs to a long-forgotten family who called those logs: “home”. That stack of rocks may have housed a spring that provided life-giving water to the family that called those logs: “home”. The materials laying strewn about may have no meaning to you in your daily travels but to someone else they may hold the roots from which they sprouted forth.
Fireplace at homeplace of James “Jimmy” Lam (My Great-Grandfather)
In our daily travels and treks please be sure to be mindful of old structures and the debris associated with old homesteads, you may have ties there yourself!
Chickhouse at James “Jimmy” Lam’s property
Great Grandaddy James Mathew Lam
Blue Ridge Ramblings... 