USA > Virginia > Grayson County > Grayson County > Pioneer settlers of Grayson County, Virginia > Part 13
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heritage of peace and the comforts of life which are ours as the result of their labors and their economy.
The Reeves family were also pioneer settlers, and as they are so blended with the Cox, Osborne, Phipps and Hash families, we will give a short sketch of them in this chapter.
George Reeves and family came from Drewry's Bluff, below Richmond, Va., and settled on New River, about six miles from Independence. He, like all the other pioneers, used good judgment in selecting the situation for his home, and lived there until the close of his life, and his home, like many others has remained in the hands of his posterity.
The sons of George Reeves, and wife are Jesse, William, George, and John. Their daughters, Anna, Charity, Mary, and Susan. Jesse married Miss Terrill, moved up the river to mouth of Peak Creek; William married Miss Terrill; George married Miss Jane Osborne, a woman of high order of talent, kind, industrious, and pious. He moved up the river, and lived where Esquire Charles Doughton lived. He was an energetic business man, and while serving his county as an officer, he was shot and mortally wounded. He left a widow and seven children: Jesse, Enoch, George, Mary, Nancy, Rebecca, and Cynthia.
John Reeves married Miss Phobe Osborne, of whom it may be said she was a true type of womanhood in all that was good and lovely. John Reeves and family occupied the old homestead; their son, Osborne Reeves, married Rebecca Osborne, of whom it may be well said she was truly a helpmeet. Mr. Reeves was an elder in the Protestant Methodist Church. His son, John Reeves, Jr., fell in the Confederate army. The testament in his left vest pocket was cut through with the bullet that
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took his life. Osborne Reeves and family moved to Georgia.
Col. George W. Reeves married Miss Caroline Thomas, daughter of Esquire Stephen Thomas and wife, Miss Rebecca Perkins. Col. George W. Reeves lived near Jefferson, Ashe county, N. C.
Jesse A. Reeves married his cousin, Charity Reeves.
John Reeves, Jr., the youngest son of John Reeves, Sr., married Miss Mary Reeves, an amiable lady, and resided at the old homestead. They had the honor, and pleasing task of taking care of their parent's in the evening of life. Mr. Reeves died when comparatively a young man. His body, with his father, John Reeves, Sr., and his sainted wife and mother, rests in the family graveyard, awaiting the trumpet to call them in the resurrection morning.
Preston Reeves, son of John, Jr., and widow, Mary Reeves, married Miss Elizabeth Cox, daughter of Isom and Jincey Cox of Bridle Creek. Mr. Reeves and wife by prudence and economy have provided well for the home comforts of life, following the example of their noble and praiseworthy ancestors.
The daughters of John Reeves, Sr., were Lucy, who married Esquire James Gambill; Miss Mahala, who married Rev. Samuel Plummer; Miss Polly Reeves, who married Marshall Calloway.
Enoch Reeves, son of George Reeves and wife, Miss Jane Osborne, was a Primitive Baptist preacher, reared a nice family; his sister, Nancy Reeves, married Esquire Harden Cox; another sister, Rebecca Reeves, married Colonel Allen Gentry. He and his wife were devoted members of the Methodist Church, South. Their son, Capt. George W. Gentry, married Miss Caroline Whitman; their daughter, Cynthia, married Capt. James H. Parks; another daughter, Sarah, married Judge George W. Cornett, of Elk Creek, Grayson county, Va .; the third
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daughter, Martha, married Rev. Joseph B. Doughton; the fourth, Miss Ellen, married William Hardin. Dr. L. C. Gentry married Miss May Hamilton; Reed Gentry married Miss Ludema Thomas, daughter of Dr. Flem- ing Thomas and wife, Miss Emily Phipps. Reed Gentry had one daughter, Miss Reed Gentry, who married Judge James Padgett, of Independence, Va.
The Hash family came from Rowan county, N. C., about the same time that Enoch Osborne, Benjamin and Isaiah Phipps came and settled on New River. Enoch Osborne married a Miss Hash; Benjamin Phipps married Miss Jane Hash. (Their decendants are given with the Osborne and Phipps families.)
There are quite a number of citizens of this Hash family living in the west end of Grayson county, and they were men and women of prominence in the early settlement of the county, but time and space forbid us tracing this and many other families.
CHAPTER X
The first attorney for the court of Grayson county, Virginia, was Alexander Smyth. I will give a copy from the first records of the Courts of Grayson.
"Alexander Smith, gent., produced license signed by Richard Carey, Henry Tazewell and Edmond Winston, permitting him to practice as an attorney in the inferior and superior courts within this commonwealth and hav- ing taken the oath prescribed by law is admitted to practice in the courts."
ANOTHER COPY
"Alexander Smith is appointed Deputy Attorney for the Commonwealth in this Court which is ordered to be certified to and it is further ordered that he be allowed the sum of twenty pounds in the levy the present year as a compensation for his services for one year from this time."
A COPY FROM THE OBITUARY OF MRS. J. M. MCTEER.
"Mrs. McTeer was first Miss Frances Stuart Smyth, daughter of General Alexander Smyth (for whom Smyth county, Virginia, was named), an officer of the war of 1812 and a member of Congress from 1817 to 1825 and 1827 to 1830. General Smyth was the mover in organizing the county of Wythe and was the first representative in the Legislature from Wythe county, Va.
General Smyth was son of Rev. James Smyth, clergy- man of the Episcopal Church, who was sent by the author- ities of England to take charge of Botetourt Parish, which embraced all the country lying west of the Blue Ridge.
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Rev. James Smyth's mother was Frances Stuart and her husband was of the nobility of the house of the Stuarts, and held quite a large landed estate in the north of Ireland. General Smyth was born on the Island of Rathlin twelve miles from the north coast of Ireland and brought to this country when only five years of age. Young Smyth, at the proper age, obtained license to practice law and soon rose to distinction at the bar. He was located at Fincastle and attended the courts at Abingdon, Va.
There were no railroads then and traveling was done on horseback and stage. It was on one of these trips to attend Court in Abingdon that the young lawyer stopped at a cabin three miles below Wytheville to warm, it being a cold and most disagreeable day.
His temporal wants were attended to by the bright, rosy cheeked, beautiful daughter of the mountaineer with such queenly grace and modest manner that the young lawyer was entrapped by her.
After this he made Mr. Pinkley's house a convenient stopping place and in due course of time the young lawyer, Smyth, married Miss Nancy Pinkley and their marriage license was the first to be recorded in Wythe county court, 1791.
General Smyth after his marriage settled on Cripple Creek, in Wythe county, Va., on the Mountain Park farm, and his daughter, Miss Frances Stuart Smyth, was born there December 2nd, 1806. She was married to Col. James H. Piper, of Culpeper county, Va., the 9th day of Febru- ary, 1824.
Col. Piper and wife settled on Cripple Creek on a part of the Mountain Park farm at Speedwell Furnace. He for years represented his district in the Senate; also was a man of sterling worth; did much for the development of his country, especially Wythe and Grayson counties. He was a civil engineer, finely educated; was called to
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locate roads across our mountains; located the road across Blue Ridge at Piper's Gap, leading from Grayson C. H. to Mount Airy, N. C. He was on the location of the Wytheville and Raliegh turnpike through Wythe and Grayson, when he was taken sick and died at the Grayson Sulphur Springs on the 8th day of September, 1854.
On the second day of March, 1857, Mrs. Piper was married to Rev. John M. McTeer, of the Holston Con- ference. Mrs. Piper joined the Methodist Church at Asbury Camp Ground, Cripple Creek, Va., 1840. When she joined the church she consecrated all to the Lord and for forty-two years was a devoted, exemplary Christian. Her house was opened for preaching and in the parlor at Speedwell regular services were held, until the church was built on the Ward farm, at Speedwell. Col. Piper is buried at the Speedwell Church.
There was no issue, but Mrs. McTeer brought up from childhood, three boys, Piper Catlett, son of Rev. Thos. K. Catlett, and Canari D., and James Piper McTeer, sons of Rev. J. M. McTeer. These are sons of McTeer's first wife, Miss Kelly. This daughter of General Smyth did much for the welfare of her country and for the church in all the adjoining counties.
Gen. Smith had another daughter, Miss Malvina Smith, who married -- Mathews. They also settled on the Mountain Park farm, Cripple Creek, and raised a large and very interesting family of sons and daughters, who did much for Wythe, Smyth and Grayson counties. One daughter, Miss Nancy Mathews, married Benjamin Rush Floyd. Another daughter, Miss Dorthula Mathews, married Dr. James Robertson, of Culpeper county, Va. They settled at Grayson C. H. and lived there a number of years. Dr. James E. Robertson was a nephew of Col. James H. Piper.
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One son, Richard Mathews, was an attorney, lived at Grayson C. H., and practiced law in Grayson; also Carroll county, after Carroll county was cut off from Grayson.
One son, Alexander Mathews, married Miss Pierce, of the Lead Mines. He settled on Cripple Creek and raised and introduced thoroughbred stock cattle into Southwest Virginia. Did much for Wythe and Grayson counties in improving the grazing stock of short-horn cattle.
While General Alexander Smyth lived in Wythe county he did much for the county of Grayson, aided very much in establishing in the county her laws and her office holders in its early formation, and the citizens of Grayson were devoted to his memory.
Also Col. Samuel McCamant, to whom we refer in these sketches, was a lawyer and life-long friend of Gen. Smyth. McCamant did much for Grayson and Wythe counties. He lived and died in Grayson, a worthy man.
CHAPTER XI
THE DICKEY FAMILY
Mathew Dickey came over from North Carolina in the early days, and settled on Peach Bottom Creek, in what is now Grayson county.
He was one of the magistrates of the first court of Grayson county, held at the house of William Bourne, May 21st, 1793 (see copy of court record. He and William Bourne were both interested in the old Point Hope Furnace at the falls of Peach Bottom Creek. (See Bourne history.)
Mathew Dickey lived on the west side of the creek, and William Bourne on the east side.
Mathew Dickey married Miss Rebecca Wiley, and a number of his descendants are still living in Grayson and other portions of the country-useful and prominent citizens.
His son, James Dickey, Esq., married Elizabeth Bourne, daughter of Stephen Bourne, son of William Bourne and wife, Rosamond Jones. (See Bourne family.)
There were eleven children of this family, six sons and five daughters. William R. married Martha Hale, daughter of Lewis Hale; their son, James, married Miss Taylor, of Mt. Airy. N. C., whose first daughter married Charlie Bourne; second daughter married Thomas Dobyns.
James' second wife was Miss Vaughn, daughter of Col. Wiley Vaughn, of Independence, Va .; no issue. William Dickey's first daughter, Mary, married John Wiley; second daughter, Cynthia D., married William Warren; issue: one daughter, married Rev. Terry Fulton.
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Stephen Dickey married Miss Jane Phipps, daughter of Benjamin Phipps and wife, Nancy McMillan. Stephen Dickey was a Baptist minister, and a major. He and his wife were very useful citizens. They built a comfortable home on Peach Bottom Creek near Independence, Va., and reared a family of three sons. Dr. John R. Dickey, and Dr. James Alexander Dickey, both live in Bristol, Tenn. They are successful business men and men of influence, both in church and state.
Friel Dickey, the youngest son of Stephen Dickey, married Miss Nannie Cornett, daughter of Col. Alexander Cornett and wife, Mina Rhudy. They had two daughters, Rosa and Eunice. Friel Dickey and his wife lived on Peach Bottom Creek, near Independence, Virginia. Both died young.
Matterson Dickey married a Miss Wiley of North Carolina. They moved to Texas, and some of their children live in Texas. One daughter married J. Hurst Dickey of Marion, Va.
Mathew Dickey, Jr., married Miss Rosamond Phipps, daughter of Alexander Phipps and wife, Lucinda Thomas; issue: two sons and two daughters. Alexander Phipps was quite successful in business, but died in Florida while still a young man. He never married.
John Mc., youngest child, lives at the old homestead on Peach Bottom Creek. He is a successful farmer and stock raiser; still single.
The first daughter, Miss Allie, married Mr. W. T. Berry, of Lynchburg, Va. They live in Lynchburg, and have one daughter, Rosamond; one son, Steele.
The second daughter, Martha, married Garnett Davis, only son of Col. Alexander M. Davis and wife, Mary Dickenson. Garnett Davis inherited his father's home place in Independence, Va., and lives there. His wife, Martha, died in 1910, leaving a family of four sons.
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John M. Dickey married Nancy Phipps, daughter of Joseph Phipps, Sr., and wife, Nancy McMillan; issue: four daughters. First daughter, Minnie, married Alex- ander M. Dickenson, attorney at law at Marion, Va., youngest son of John Dickenson and wife, Rosamond Hale. Second daughter married Mr. Porterfield, of Washington county, Va. Third daughter married Joseph Delp, of Elk Creek, Va. Fourth daughter married Mr. Lincoln, of Marion, Va.
Ellis Leftwich Dickey married Miss Dillard, of Eastern Virginia; issue: one son, Albert, one daughter. For a number of years, the office of county clerk was held by the Dickey family, at Independence, Va., and Ellis Dickey was, for several years, deputy clerk.
Jane, the first daughter of James Dickey and wife, married Samuel Thompson, of Alleghany county, North Carolina.
The second daughter, Cynthia, died single.
Third daughter, Nannie, married Stuart Mathews from Wythe county, Va. They moved to Texas; issue: two sons. Stuart Mathews was a grandson of General Alexander Smyth.
The fourth daughter, Martha, married Lee Fredericking (a German) and lived at Independence, Va .; issue: two sons, one daughter. They afterward moved to Hinton, W. Va.
The fifth daughter, Elizabeth, married Fielden J. Lundy, son of George Lundy and wife, Miss Thomas; issue: two sons, one daughter.
First son, Ellis L. Lundy, married Alice Hale, daughter of Rev. Wiley D. Hale and wife, Martha Mitchell; issue: two sons, four daughters. First son of Ellis Lundy, Clarence, married Maud Sutherland, daughter of Capt. Wm. M. Sutherland, of Hillsville, Va .; is a clothing mer-
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chant at Mt. Airy, N. C .; issue: three children. Second son, Fielden Hale, married Miss Busic.
Second son of Fielden J. Lundy and wife, Fitzhugh Lee, married Rosa Busic. They live at the Lundy home- stead in Independence, Va.
One daughter of Fielden J. Lundy and wife, Leona, married Dr. Koontz, a prominent physician. They live in Independence, Va. Fielden J. Lundy was county court clerk for nearly forty years. He was faithful and competent and knew more of the business of the courts than any other man. He was well known and honored by all. He lived a Christian life, and died in the triumph of a Christian faith, and the hope of an eternal life in heaven. (See Lundy history.)
Mathew Dickey, Sr., and wife, Rebecca Wiley, had a daughter that married Benjamin Cooley, Esq. Dr. Aras B. Cox, author of "Footprints on the Sands of Time," says, "No modern Tubal Cain could have excelled him as an artificer in his superior skill in working metals. He made some of the finest clocks in the United States. One of these clocks was purchased by John McMillan, of Alleghany county, N. C., and it not only kept the usual order of time, but the days of the week and the month, and the changes of the moon. Esquire Cooley was a useful and honored citizen, and had an intelligent and highly respected family."
Benjamin Cooley, Esq., was among the early settlers of that part of Grayson that is now Carroll county. He lived on Coal Creek.
There were but few clocks or time pieces in the country at that time. The twelve o'clock mark for the sunshine in the open door on the floor, was the only way many of the pioneers could tell the time of day. Esq. Cooley decided that he would go to Salem, N. C., and get the Moravians to teach him how to make clocks. Upon
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arriving there he found that they demanded what he thought a big price to teach him, and he swore that he would not pay the price, but would learn to make clocks by himself.
William Bourne, living on Knob Fork, owned a fine Grandfather Clock. The works were brass, and in addi- tion to the time of day, the changes of the moon were shown. It was the first clock ever brought into Grayson county. After Mr. Cooley returned from North Carolina, he went to see Mr. Bourne and asked him if he might take the pattern of his clock. Mr. Bourne consented, and Mr. Cooley took the clock to pieces and made patterns of all the running works. From these patterns he made clocks and sold them all over the country. The old Bourne clock is still running, and is owned now by Mrs. Ruth Nuckolls Johnston, of Cleveland, Tenn.
She is the sixth generation from William Bourne and Rosamond Jones. Mrs. Johnston has other time- pieces, but she says the old Grandfather Clock keeps the best time of them all.
The case of the clock is rosewood veneer, with inlaid blocks of different kinds of wood, and brass trimmings. It is an eight-day clock with heavy iron weights, and is wound up with a key.
Benjamin Cooley and his wife, Jane Dickey, had two sons; first son, Martin Cooley, married Catherine Currin, daughter of Maj. George Currin and wife, Martha Swift. They had two sons; moved to Oregon. Second son, James Cooley, married Caroline Higgins, daughter of Thomas Higgins and wife, Mary Edwards. Their first daughter married Robert Jones, and lives in Galax, Va. One daughter, Fannie, married Henry C. Nuckolls; died at Quinton, Oklahoma, 1911.
One son, Frank, single; one son, Rufus, a minister in
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the Christian Church; two sons, teachers; one son, George, teacher and farmer.
Rebecca Cooley married Jesse P. Worrell. They moved to Texas, and have sons and daughters. Amanda Cooley married Logan Roberts of Mt. Airy, N. C .; died without issue.
Julia Ann Cooley married Mr. Price; was for a number of years a teacher; no issue.
Benjamin Cooley had a brother who married Mary Hanks, and lived on Coal Creek near Benjamin Cooley's. This brother had a large family of children. One daughter, Matilda, married John Carico, son of Rev. William Carico. They established a home near Providence Camp Ground, and reared a large family of sons and daughters, who made useful citizens.
One daughter married Peter Beamer; lived near Fancy Gap, Va. Andrew Cooley, a son.
Harden Cooley, a Methodist minister. Andrew and Harden lived in Knoxville, Tenn.
James Cooley, son of Andrew Cooley, married Laura Johnston, daughter of James B. Johnston, of Hillsville, Virginia.
Benjamin Cooley, Jr., lived and died at the old home. All of these were useful men, had nice families, most of them members of the Methodist Church, and died in the Christian faith, and their posterity show to the world the benefits accruing from good ancestry and parental training.
A COPY FROM LINEAGE BOOK
"NATIONAL SOCIETY OF THE DAUGHTERS OF THE AMER- ICAN REVOLUTION
"John Dickey commanded a company of Carolina Militia at Ramsour's Mills. His widow applied for pen-
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sion, 1844, in Rowan county, and it was allowed for 17 months actual service in North Carolina line."
Mathew Dickey, Sr., married Rebecca Wiley, in North Carolina; moved to Grayson county, Virginia; died in Grayson county, Virginia. Date on tombstone-"Died June 15, 1827, age 75 years."
CHAPTER XII
THE GOODYKOONTZ FAMILY
The following is copied from a manual compiled and pen-written by Jasper Goodykoontz; published by Jasper Goodykoontz, Atlanta, Indiana, 1908.
DESCENDANTS OF DAVID GOODYKOONTZ
"Sometime before the Revolutionary War, about 1765, David Goodykoontz (formerly spelled Gutekunst) and a brother emigrated from Wurtemburg, Germany, to the United States, settling in the vicinity of Chambers- burg, Pa. David subsequently removed to Virginia and settled near the present town of Floyd, which is the county seat of Floyd county, and his brother went farther southward, but was never afterward heard from. David was born in Germany about 1740, and died near Floyd, Va., about 1815. About 1768 he married Mar-
garet -- , who died in March, 1819, and was buried in the home cemetery four miles from Floyd.
The following are their children: First, Mary M. Goodykoontz (1769-1850), who married George Phlegar (1762-1839) about 1789.
Second, Polly Goodykoontz (1771-1867), who married William Gilham (1775-1831).
Third, George Goodykoontz (April 23, 1773-September 13, 1824), P. O., Floyd, Va., who married Mariam Beaver, September 4, 1800.
Fourth, Margaret Goodykoontz (January 25, 1775- September 8, 1851), P. O., Floyd, Va., who married Abram Phlegar (1776-1865), December 12, 1797.
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Fifth, Elizabeth Goodykoontz (1776-October 6, 1858), P. O., Floyd, Va .; never married.
Sixth, Jacob Goodykoontz (1780-1818), who married Beaver.
Seventh, Eva Goodykoontz, (1786-1867), P. O., Floyd, Va., who never married.
Eighth, Daniel Goodykoontz, (1784-September 16, 1843), P. O., Anderson, Indiana, who married Beaver.
Another authority (a great-grandson of David Goody- koontz), said that David Goodykoontz had nine daughters, that three of the daughters married Phlegars, and one married a Mr. Stipes. He also said that the brother who went southward went to New Orleans, and that David Goodykoontz is buried at Chambersburg, Pa., but his wife, Margaret, is buried at the old Lutheran Church, near Floyd C. H. There are Goodykoontz's at Rocky Hollow, S. C.
The three brothers, George, Daniel and Jacob, bought a large tract of land near Floyd, Va. George's portion of the tract was one thousand acres.
The Goodykoontz home (five miles from Floyd C. H., on the West Fork of Little River) was originally an old Indian block house, built between 1775 and 1790. The remodeled house, as it now stands, was built in 1854. David and Isaac Goodykoontz, sons of George Goody- koontz and Mariam Beaver, inherited the home place, and lived there together for sixty-six years. After David's death (in 1871) Isaac, who was a bachelor, continued to live at the home place. He afterwards married Mrs. Amanda Cecil, and lived until 1884. The estate then passed into the hands of William Goodykoontz, third son of David, who lived there until about 1900. William sold the estate and removed to Roanoke, Va., so the estate has passed out of the hands of the Goodykoontz
1
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family, after having been owned by them for over one hundred years.
David and Isaac Goodykoontz were equal partners in business-farming and buying and selling cattle, and Isaac was a member of the State Senate of Virginia. They are both buried in the family burying-ground near the old home.
David Goodykoontz gave two sons, George and William, to the Confederate army. Both were desperately wounded, but recovered and lived many years after the close of the war, and reared large and useful families.
During the war, the Goodykoontz family suffered much from the demands of the soldiers, but more from that unprincipled band that infested all neighborhoods- the Bushwhackers.
There was a large barn near the house, the first story of which was of stone. The Bushwhackers burned this barn. At the time of the burning, there were thirteen horses in the barn, wagons, farming tools, grain, hay, etc. Every- thing was lost.
The marauders came another night, and attempted to rob and burn the dwelling-house. Two or three old guns had been left in the house, and after a number of shots had been fired into the house, the family fired from the inside and wounded one of the men of the party. After this, they left without doing any further damage.
The children of George Goodykoontz and Mariam Beaver are as follows: first, Catherine; second, Rebecca; third, David; fourth, Archibald; fifth, Isaac; sixth, George; seventh, Alfred M .; eighth, Rachel; ninth, Nancy; tenth, Adeline; eleventh, Washington; twelfth, Polly.
Catherine married Moseby Le Seuer; P. O., Camp Creek, Va., children: first, Martel, married Sarah Phlegar; P. O., Camp Creek, Va .; children: Elbert J. Le Seuer, Belle Fontaine, South Dakota. Alice Le Seuer married
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Mr. Hawety, P. O., Camp Creek, Va. Flora Le Seuer, married Mr. Van Fleet, Neasho, Mo. Second, James W., married Nancy C. Yearout, P. O., Floyd, Va .; children: first, Ellen (Le Seuer) Turner, River, Va .; second, Eliza A. (Le Seuer) Sowers, Floyd, Va .; third, Charles W. Le Seuer, Johnson City, Tenn .; fourth, John R. Le Seuer, Wallace, Va .; fifth, Catherine C. (Le Seuer) Shell, Elizabethton, Tenn .; sixth, Jennie V.
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