Interestin Readin fer ya'll....

[Lilred]

my family came from scotland to america in the mid 1600's...and by the early 1700's, had migrated to virginia where they founded augusta county and went on to bigger and better things after that.

There is a chroncile book that complied all court records from Augusta County Virginia from the day that the court was established by my bunch and the other scots that came over with em. well...they was snuck over..but anyways... i was readin thru some of the entries tonite...and thought ya'll would git a real kick out of some of this stuff. Check these out....and if ya'll like em..I'll find some more and post em...lemme know

FEBRUARY 27, 1749 (311) Six pounds tobacco to be collected from every person that has not delivered in his crows heads or squirrels scalps, according to law.
(OK...what in the heck would they do to you iffin ya didnt turn em in? An why in tarnation would they need em?? LOL)


NOVEMBER 27, 1750
(486) County levy--numerous wolf heads.
(488) Francis Hughes--one old wolf head.
(Apparently there were alot of wolves in Virginia back in the day? There are many entries like this one...they musta been perty valuble. What in tarnation would they do with em?? As many entires as there are in the books...its no wonder they aint round here no more...lol)

MAY 28, 1751.
(565) Edward Davis, servant of John Gilmore of Albemarle, died at the home of James Brown, near the Court House, in the town of Staunton, leaving goods and money supposed to have been stolen from Saml. Dunlop of Isle of Wight.
( LMAO....oops buddy..you was supposed to spend that money you stole fore you kicked the bucket!)

(569) James Frame presented for breaking the Sabbath in unnecessarily travelling ten miles.
(Now them was some religious people! Didnt say what kinda punishment hegot fer it.)

"Memorandum.--That Saturday, the 6th of February, 1747, was the coldest day yet known in America."
(This is just kinda neat)

Nov 27, 1751
(206) Grand Jury Presentments: Elisha Job, swearing more than four oaths; Owen Crawford, for drinking health of King James and refusing to drink to King George; James Shaw, swearing three oaths; Robert Armstrong, a common swearer; John Grems, a common swearer.
(That'll learn you scots to stop yer dam cussin...lol)


JANUARY 27, 1751.
(240) John Smith convicted of larceny and whipped.
(Lots of those whippins and lashins in the book too. There are some mentions of convict servants bein in iron collars too.)

NOVEMBER 16, 1752.
(365) County Levy--116 wolf heads.
(more wolf heads)

APRIL 3, 1754.
(186) Patrick Hair, convict servant of John Anderson, convicted of stealing out of the courtyard, nigh the house of Wm. Murray, sundry goods, property of Rev. Robert McMordie.
(John Anderson is one of my people)

FEBRUARY 19, 1745/6.
(17) For Proof Public Claims and Propositions and Grievances.
(17) Claim Richard Woods--Losses by Indians.
(17) Claim John Mathews--Losses by Indians.
(17) Claim Henry Kirkham--Losses by Indians.
(17) Claim William Henderson--for assisting of. with arms and ammunition.
(17) Claim David Edmondson--
(18) Claim Benj. Borden and Magdalen, Admx. John McDowell--Losses by Indians.
(18) Claim Francis McCown--Losses by Indians.
(18) Claim John Buchanan and others--for patrolling.
(18) Claim Joseph Lapsley--Losses by Indians.
(18) Claim Mary Doughert--Losses by Indians.
(18) Claim Patrick Martin--taking up a slave, property of Dr. Hopkins.
(18) Claim Andrew Myrtin--Losses by Indians.
(18) Claim Isaac Anderson--Losses by Indians.
(18) Claim Joseph Coulton--Losses by Indians.
(18) Claim John Walker--Losses by Indians.
(18) Claim Dominick Berrall--Losses by Indians.
(38) Claim Jno. Wilson et als--patrolling.
(19) Claim James Walker--Losses by Indians.
(19) Claim Thos. Black et als--patrolling.
(19) David Edmondson makes oath the men mentioned in his list were pressed by him and served the time mentioned.

(Isaac is one of my people too...the neatest thing abut that list...losses by Indians. Could you imagine wonderin every day ya git up wether you was gonna git yer butt whooped first by the Indians er the British? lol)

[rubicon]

Thats good stuff Lilred!!!!! I get engrossed in reading local history every chance I get. In a book I found with the journal from George Washington when he was surveying land for lord Fairfax in the part of Wv where Im from he told of sleeping in the trees because of the wolves and cats on the forest floor below. He also complained of the going being slow because they were making their way across the top of the rhododendron sometimes eight feet above the ground because it was too thick to get through at the ground level.

[BILLY D.]

Thats neat LILRED. I wish I could trace my family history back like that. Our American history starts in 1937. We are rookies.

[skeeter@ccia.com]

My wife's American family life has been traced back to the Mayflower. She gets mad when I ask if they were on the ores or on top drinking beer and wine....You can guess where I say they rode. Interesting Red...we still have tribes here costing us losses... Not Indian ones, they are called gangs.. composed of the sissies that join gangs and not the men that join the military. I don't remember who said that last thing here but it has stuck in my mind and creates quite a stir when I over paint those words on their grounds...'Sissies join gangs, real men join the military.'....keep the funny stuff rolling Red.

[rubicon]

I recently found this accounting of a bygone Christmas in the small hillbilly town I grew up in which some of you may enjoy:
www.geocities.com/davishighschool1955 go to alumni menu page then at the bottom of page - a bit of history If you have a couple minutes free time its well worth the read.

[skeet]

Just goes to show you that some things are never forgotten. And really an eerie feeling. My father in law was a woodsman..timber cutter in West virginia as well as other places for approximately 20 yrs... He told me of a couple of Christmas parties they had during the time that he cut timber. Is it possible he could have been at the one told of? Doubtful because he didn't start cutting timber till 1918.... Still gives me an eerie feeling though. Uneducated he was not.. Vey smart man. He told me that in an era when the average worker made 4-5 bucks a week he was making that every day..and being given a place to stay and as he expressed it...great food. HARD work though!

[rubicon]

Skeet, Your father in law may have worked with my grandfather. He ran a team of horses skidding logs to the rail line where they loaded them on a train car to be taken down the mountains to the mill on a shay engine. Those guys were real men cutting trees with axes and cross cut saws. And those trees were not small! the biggest one they cut in the county was recorded as 13 feet in diameter 16 feet from the base and 10 feet in diameter 31 feet from the base. It was an oak. the stumps are still in the valley floor to this day. My first deer hunting cabin was a small dirt floor shack in the woods on a shay railroad track (the track is the road into my present cabin) and if that place could talk. I found a note in it when I first got the place which said. "Here is your dollar. Im paying up even though I know you cheat at cards but Im not going to work with a wood hick that cheats. Im heading for Elkins" It is now framed and hangs on the wall in my present camp.

[Lilred]

Loved the Christmas story.
That's a heluva oak too...if that tree coulda talked....

[Valigator]

Thats cool Lilred....we still have Losses by Indians...they are placing slots on every streetcorner and refusing to pay their share to the state....some things never change uh???/

[Dan Morris]

Gotta love the east coast...as retirement rapidly approaches...I'm torn between staying in the Repubulic of Colorado...or going back to the Republic of Texas......mia triestas es donde aquie........home.People are still people...mano mano.
Dan

[jon lynn]

Losses by Indians.
"Memorandum.--That Saturday, the 6th of February, 1747, was the coldest day yet known in America."


Now back then people were tough, I mean it was practicly midevil, you were tough or you simply died. So when it was the coledest day, I shivvvvvvvvver just thinking about it.


Losses by Indians: sounds like the first American insurance scam, believable, and totaly possiable
:D

[Wizard]

When ever I used to ask about my ancestors at Thanksgiving or X-mas there was alot of mumbling about criminals and prision ships. Mostly from either side of the family talking about the other.
Turns out both sides trace back to Danish aristocrates. I suspect there have been a whole lot of cures mixed with the bloodline since then though.

[Valigator]

Lilred you will be interested to know that my fathers side was from Virginia. I ran across a geneology website with various family names back only to around the 1700's. In my mind I imagined some aristocratic background from England...No such luck...most were farmers, trappers and from around 1900 to as late as 1950 I realized my family was heavily involved in illegal alcohol, specifically the making and transporting of such...I found many names that were shot by competing still makers, a few more shot by law enforcement...a couple of wives shot by husbands, more than one husband shot by another family member....and more than a few died from accidents????I was told my father was one of the best liquor runners in Virginia, after being caught by an uncle who was law enforcement he was given the choice to go to jail or join the service...he joined the Navy and was the Heavyweight champion boxer while in service...my fathers service record (which I requested) list him on his main ship the "Muer" and twelve other ships as "service to his country"after getting in touch with a commander from Muer, I was told those ships are the ships he boxed and won on...so the bottom line was my fathers war effort was being a boxer and quite a good one from what I gather...but I digress, he was discharged and became a race car driver "running moonshine" and raced with some of the very best of the times and won...so thats my daddy's side.......no wonder he was my hero :D

[Lilred]

LOVE IT Val...betcha our families mighta crossed paths...my pop..like all those fore him...were all whiskey runners. It was BAD here fer a long time. I remember in the late 70's early 80's when I was still a sprout hearin on the news bout people bein arrested fer runnin shine. Heard bout that more than ya did people killin people. Just goes to show ya, them was the good ole days....
awesome story tho val....hell he's my hero too ;)

I have to get some more stuff from the books to post...