In Memory of Those Who Served....Thank a Vet!

Today is Veteran's Day so pray for, be respectful of, and honor the military veterans in your lives today.

Here at Chez Sluggy we have a few family and ancestor vets we think about and honor today......

My Hubs' side of the family there is--
His older brother Tony, who served in the Navy during the Vietnam War.
He is our family's only living veteran.


Those who have gone from us on Hub's side are his Uncle Charles, who served in the Navy during World War II.
The only photo I have of him is this one.....he is the small boy on the right in the front.....

And then there is Hub's dad Steve, who served in the Army Air Corp during World War II.

Those are the only veterans of military service I've uncovered so far on Hub's side of the family.

On my side, I have many many military veterans.
First off, there is my grandfather Frank, who served as a Master Sargent during World War II.  He is the handsomely rakish guy in the front center of this photo.....

He survived the war and went on to make the military his career until his retirement in the 1960's.

Then there are my Great Uncles....

US Navy Seaman 2nd Class Tucker Harper, who was wounded in action but survived World War II.

And Great Uncle "Mack" who enlisted in Sept. of 1942 and served in the Army during World War II.
He was disabled on the battlefield in Europe and ended up stateside in Hospital and never fully recovered.  His battlefield experiences had lasting terrible effects upon him the rest of his life.

His wife Edith, also served in the Cadet Nursing Corp during World War II.  That is how they met.

And if we go back beyond the 20th century, there are many veterans on my mother's side of the family from the Civil War.

Among them are two brothers, my Great Uncles, John & Joseph Harper....

The husband of my 2 x Great Aunt, George Washington Barksdale served as a mechanic in the CSA.

And all my Holt relations-6 brothers who each served in the Confederacy....

From Marcellus who survived the war.....

To John Lee Holt who was KIA at Gettysburg.....

And my 3x Great Uncle William Foster, who served in the Army during the War Between the State. William was actually the last surviving member of his regiment, the 23rd Virginia, dying in October of 1931 at the age of 71+ years old.....

And there is Joseph Hamilton, who served in the CSA VA Reserves and died in a POW camp in Ohio....

 

And going back even further in our country's history, I can count my 7 x Great Grandfather Thomas Foster.  Though advanced in age at the time of the American Revolution he served as a Wagoneer, driving & also furnishing supplies for the Continental Army until his death in 1786 in Virginia.

At least 3 of his son's also served as soldiers in the American Revolution--

Thomas Foster who served 3 years as a private.
William "Billy" Foster who served as a 1st Lieutenant in the 3rd VA Army.  He enlisted 10 May 1777 and by the time the war was over, he was a Major.  He took part in the Battle of Stono Ferry where the patriots held off the British forces trying to capture Charleston, SC.

And brother Robert Foster, my 6 x Great Grandfather, who was an Ensign in the Army(today that rank is only used in the US Navy). 

All three, Thomas the father, sons William and Robert were here during the Winter of 1777-1778.....

 All 3 Foster men survived the Valley Forge Encampment and the Revolution but countless other's did not.

I give thanks to them and all my ancestors who came after them who also answered the call to arms to defend our Freedoms.

Sluggy

It's Here, It's Here!

I so feel like Navin Johnson from the old movie THE JERK.
If you are a person of a certain age, you know what I am talking about.
The scene from the movie when the new telephone books come in and he finds his name in print and goes bananas.



The mail came yesterday and you probably heard me doing a dance of joy from where you are.
If not, you felt the earth move at least cause when I dance, everything shakes.lol

Anyway, WHAT you ask got me so excited?
Getting this.....

This is a book called "I Wrote You Word".  It was published back in the 1990's as part of a historical series having to do with Virginia history.
This is a collection of the letters that Private John Lee Holt wrote home to his wife while he was serving as a soldier in the Confederate forces during the War of Northern Aggression.
Or what yankees like to call it, The Civil War. 8-(

John Lee Holt was born in Campbell County Virginia in 1829, the eldest son of James Holt and Sarah Mason Holt.
He was a school teacher as well as a tobacco farmer in the Summer months.
He enlisted in July of 1861, at the age of 32, 2 days before the Battle of Bull Run.
He left a wife of only 2+ years and a 16 month old son to go off to war.
John Lee Holt, being a literate man, in a time when so few were, was quite the prolific letter writer.

These letters were bound into print in a small edition of 1000 books.  Each one is numbered and signed by the great granddaughter of John and Sarah.

I have been waiting and watching to find this book at a price I was willing to pay.....and knowing me, you KNOW it was quite frugal.
I finally found a used and rare bookseller in Indianapolis who made this available for purchase online.
And after sending a check away, what seems like eons ago, my book finally arrived and I did my best Navin Johnson impersonation yesterday.

So why did I want this book so badly?
Well, ya see......he is kin.
John Lee Holt was my 2 x Great Grandfather's Nephew.

If you want the twisted branches of the tree play-by-play......

My 2 x Great Grandfather is James Harper.
His brother is John Harper.
John Harper married Elizabeth Frances Holt.
Elizabeth is the sister of Nancy Holt.
Nancy Holt is the second wife of James Holt-who is the father of John Lee Holt.
James' first wife, Sarah Mason Holt, John Lee's mother died in 1862.  James Holt decided to marry him a "trophy wife"-Nancy was 31 years younger than her husband and 7 years younger than her stepson John Lee Holt.  She only lived another 1-2 years so there were no additional children added to the family from this union.

I haven't looked into it yet, but I may be related through John Lee's mother, Sarah Mason, as well, since I have other branches of my tree that intermarried into the Mason clan in Campbell County too.

Anyway, let's just call him kin and move on, shall we?

I have just begun to read the book so I will leave you with a photo of John.....

This is a photo of a brooch John Lee Holt had made for his wife......or in his words....
"I have had my likeness taken in a breastpin for you & will send it to you the first opportunity as I do not wish to send it by mail"

Off to dive into the world of John Lee Holt now.....

Sluggy

The Trip To OH"HELL"IO....Chapter Three

So after a great night's sleep(Mmmm chocolate donut dreams!), we were raring to go on the first official day of the vacation.  Seeing as the first day was spent driving, I don't consider that day part of the actual vacation.

This hotel room came with a free Continental breakfast deal, but we slept in and didn't want to rush ourselves to get to our toast and coffee downstairs.

So we took our time preparing for the day and then went across the street to the Bob Evans Restaurant for breakfast.  And of course, I had brought with me a BOGO Free coupon for 2 breakfast entrees.
We got eggs, meat and a bread/grain item and I also got a big side bowl of fresh fruit.  I had to at least try to keep myself regular, you know.

We are sitting in Bob's and I realized that the guy Bob Evans was from Ohio and his chain of restaurants started out and is based in Ohio.
That would explain the enormous number of Bob's we had passed on the ride down here.
And it would go on to explain why there seemed to be a Bob Evans on the corner of every third intersection in town.

We had a big day planned for Monday!  Well, conditions beyond our control dictated our plan really.
Hubs is a "let's go see historical things on vacation" kind of guy.
I'm a "let's go see weird stuff on vacation" kind of gal.
So we both made a long list of things to see/do(mostly see)and then we synced up the lists.
We prioritized our favorites, found out where/when they were happening so we could pair them up on the same trip/day.....that sort of thing.
After all that, and some arm wrestling, we come up with a trip itnerary.

When doing this final list prep, we hit a snag.  It turns out that everything historical that Hubs wanted to do was somehow connected to the Ohio Historical Society or some such state funded/affiliated organization.  Go onto the Ohio Tourism website and all those historical sites you see there, that you can visit?
Well NOTHING is open on Mondays!
Not.
A.
One.
Ohio rolls up the historical sidewalks on Monday.

Ok, except for maybe 1 or 2 that are very large and outdoors and there is no way they can fence them off and close them down for a day.
Which meant that out of all the historical things Hubs wanted to see in the whole state of Ohio, 1 thing was available to see on Monday.
And it was an hour's drive away in Newark.

Number one on his list is was what we lovingly refer to in the family as his mounds of dirt.
Hubs has been jonesing for years now to go see Indian Mounds.   There are lots of them in southern Ohio, near Kentucky, but there is a site east of Columbus that is not as famous, called the  Newark Great Circle Earthworks. Go HERE if you want to read more about this site.
Seeing as they can't close down the outdoors(at least not til dark), we were traveling to Newark on Monday.

The main thing I wanted to do/see?
A graveyard in Columbus.
You should have known it would be something weird, right?lol

So we would be driving all over the place on Monday....an hour east to Newark, then lunch, then back to the west side of Columbus, then dinner and who knows what else?

I had some little other things we could do around Columbus, if time and traffic allowed.....like seeing a Giant Praying Mantis in a park(metal not a real one), or seeing topiary styled to replicate the George Seurat painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte".

                         (seen from a different angle here)

It's been a running joke in the family that Hubs wants to drive hours and hours to go and stare at piles of dirt...Ok, piles of dirt covered in grass.
But he is a Native Peoples History fan so off we drove to look at grassy mounds.

We found the site quite easily and pulled into the parking lot.  The temperature was already in the mid 80's.  Because of my arthritic knees and the heat I figured I'd be able to walk around a bit at my own pace and Hubs could charge ahead and explore his mounds to his heart's content.
There was a long inclined pathway from the parking lot up to the Earthworks with some picnic tables under a shade tree about halfway up.  I figured I'd try to make it the tables first and see how I was feeling.
After resting there about 10 minutes, I climbed the rest of the pathway to a small building/museum type thing.  I didn't know if it was closed like every other historical site's building in Ohio that day, but if it was, there was a bench I could rest my knees at outside the entrance.

Gratefully, the building was open and air conditioned....yes!
Inside was a film about the aboriginal peoples who lived here in prehistoric times, whom they refer to as as the Hopewell Culture, and information on the Earthworks as well as a gift shop.
The film was self-directed and you could view what you wished at your own pace.  Hubs came into the building while I was watching the film.  I must have been watching it for a very long time because Hubs said he had already walked around the whole site and taken some photos.
He watched some of the film, talked with the historical society lady there and then went and bought a book in the gift shop.
I almost said something about the book, since we were on a tight budget and he hadn't told me he was going to spend money here(and the book was $25!).  I figured if we did end up stranded on the road home somewhere, out of money and gas that I could have a good "told you so" out of him spending that money on a book. lol

Anyway.....here are some shots he took.   You really can't tell much since the site is so large area wise(though it is only a small fraction of the original size of the intricate complex that was here). It's hard to appreciate unless you see it from above but a helicopter rental was not in the budget.
You have to imagine that all the trees weren't here back when it was built too.

Here are the picnic tables where I rested.  The entrance to the large circle(formed by the mounds that run around it)is where the small grey sign stands in the middle of the shot.  This is taken from the outside of the Great Circle....

This is another shot taken outside of the Great Circle. 

Hubs took this shot from inside the Circle, looking back at the entrance standing about haflway inside the circle....

Here's a shot, again inside the Circle from the middle, looking at the other end of the Circle, where you can see three mounds inside the Circle that form what looks like a paw pattern....

Another shot from inside.....

They think that this was a ceremonial place, a sacred gathering place, as well as a burial place, for indigenous peoples from all across the continent.  They have found large amounts of natural resources(rock and metal)that are not native to this area, that they feel were carried here from as far away as North Carolina, Michigan and from some Western states too.   It was a geometric marvel in it's design and execution.

This plaque outside the little museum there shows you how the Earthworks originally was situated in relation to the river and how expansive the whole place was.  There are only 3 pieces left intact as indicated by the burnished metal parts on the plaque.  The circle to the far right is the Great Circle where we were standing.

Two things that struck me about the Earthworks.
* As early as 1820, a large chunk of these prehistoric works had already been lost to progress.
Ohio was still considered the frontier in 1820 by the Europeans who came to settle here.  By 1820 the railroad had come through and plowed under/excavated these lands and as towns sprang up, no thought was given to preserving and building around them.  Long time area residents in the 1840's put pen to paper to map out what they remembered the Earthworks had looked like before most of it was lost.
That is the only reason we know as much as we do now of it's design.  It's so sad that one culture couldn't fathom the value of what had come before it and protect it.
* There is still a battle raging to this day, between the native peoples and the scientists/archeologists.
The native peoples still view this area as a sacred place(and a burial sight)and resent that the scientists continue to want to destroy and disturb the land here, in order to gain further knowledge by studying what secrets the land gives up.  It is hallowed ground and should be protected and studied only if that doesn't involve destruction, as in digging things up.
A proponent of keeping the sight as it is commented that if we wanted to take a backhoe and dig up the Sistine Chapel for scientific study, would that culture not be offended?

I would have loved to have been there for sunrise or sunset, as the shadows grow long and the mist rises from the earth.  That would have been amazing but it wasn't going to happen this trip unfortunately.
I just wish we could have planned the trip better, so that Hubs could have been here for the Summer Solstice as there were to be some Native American ceremonies held here.  But by Thursday, we were already back home.
We'll have to put that on the list for the next time we are out this way.

After I hobbled down the hilly pathway back to the car(thank goodness it was DOWNHILL this time!lol), we got in the vehicle, cranked up the a/c and headed back toward Columbus.
It was after 1pm by this time.
I didn't think we'd been there so long, but we had.
Now it was lunch time.
So we drove back into Columbus and started looking for some place to eat.  As we drove the hour back, I noticed that the a/c was NOT blowing cold air.  When we stopped at a light, it actually blew warm air.  It was now about 94 degrees outside according a bank sign we passed.

I like to eat small and local when we can, and avoid the fast food joints.  We passed an ass ton of Mexican places....little hole in the wall places, not chains.  I just couldn't bring myself to tell Hubs to go to one however.  I find that "Mexican" food can be really good or really bad.  Consistency is all over the map.  So I tend not to want to eat a 'cultural' food some place that it's not known to be good.
Mexican in Texas, or the Southwest?  Bring it on!
Mexican in Columbus Ohio?  Not feeling it.
This all stems from stopping in West Virginia a few years ago at a Mexican Restaurant.
Never again in WV!
It was flavorless food, overpriced, a dirty restaurant, and the customer service was nonexistent.

So we tried to eat at a Ruby Tuesdays.
We drove up to it and it was closed.
We saw this a lot with eateries on this main artery we were on.....lots of closed up ones.

Just as we were about to head back to Bob Evans(at least it was safe!lol), we turned into a little fast food type building's lot and went in.
This place was called "Raising Cane's".
Some kind of regional fast food type place.
And they only serve chicken fingers.
Ok fries and a couple other sides too, but the main item is chicken fingers.

Evidently, the place is named after the guy's dog, Cane.  I had never heard of them before.

You can get a chicken fingers platter or a chicken fingers sandwich.  That's it.
I chose a platter and gave Hubs my fries and 1 of my tenders since it came with 6.  These were quite large fingers.  The batter was light and flaky, not greasy.  Very well done.
I had an unsweetened brewed iced tea.  That hit the spot.
The dipping sauce was a thousand island type thing with a lot of pepper in it, but not too much.

This chain seems to be quite successful given all the locations they have.  I can see why.....they know how to do chicken right.  And it seems popular with the young people.  Nobody over 30 in the place but Hubs and I and the lady who took our order at the counter.
2 thumbs up and I'd go there again in a heartbeat.
And the prices were very reasonable.

It's going on about 3 pm when we left Raising Cane's.  Now it was on to my activity for the day.
I spent a good deal of time back in May working on this.....

It's a notebook I started compiling all my Civil War soldier ancestors in.
As I got back into the 1860's in my census searches while working on my family geneology, I started finding lots of ancestors who had served in the war.  Some family lines had scads some had none.  These are all from my mother's side of the family, the Southern side, which is the side I've been concentrating on lately.
My father's side, the Northern side, won't prove as fruitful in this area, since many on that side were immigrants who arrived after the war was fought.  And I don't have as much/many ancestors located to work with yet on that side.

So if I found a man who had served in the War of Northern Aggression, I'd jot him down into the book and add any information I could dig up for his page.
When I got to this guy......

I found a Find A Grave entry for him on Ancestry dotcom.
It had where he was buried, which sometimes is impossible to find out if the soldier didn't survive the war.
You got a lot of mass graves and burial far from home and the information is lost to family and the future.
But this ancestor had the good fortune(well, not really good!)to die as a POW.
At Camp Chase outside of Columbus Ohio.

Camp Chase began it's life as a training camp for recruits in the Norther army.  As wounded soldiers began to flood from battle, it became an ersatz hospital, and then a prisoner of war camp for captured confederate soldiers.
I won't bore you more but if you find this interesting, you can read more on Camp Chase HERE and HERE.

My 3rd Great Grand Uncle was detained as a wounded POW, died and is buried in Camp Chase Cemetery.
I thought I should make an effort to see his final resting place when we went to Columbus.

Hubs dropped me off at the gate and went to park the car on a side street, as the cemetery is on a very busy avenue in an urban neighborhood.
It was strange to go from that traffic and noise into the high stone wall enclosure of the burial site.  The noise melted away.
There was this cannonball next to the entry gate.

As I looked around I saw 4 or so massive oak trees to keep me from melting in the high humidity and heat.  It was devastatingly hot and muggy but there was a nice breeze under the canopy of the trees.

In my haste to get out of the car before another car plowed into our stopped vehicle, I forgot to grab the notebook, which held the row and section information.  Having to check 2,260 grave markers was NOT going to cut it in this weather.  They would need to come dig a hole for me too!

I just started walking down the rows and said under my breath, "Come of JJ, help me out here, where are you?!"
And I turned down a row, a row I felt like I was being led down, and started walking and checking names.

And about three quarters of the way down THAT row, I found him......

May I introduce Joseph James Hamilton.  Born 1820.
He enlisted on 16 Apr 1864 in Marion VA as a Private, at the age of 43.
He served in the 6th Battalion, VA Reserve Corp, Company A.
At his age, he was part of the second line of defense, the Home Guard as it were.

He was involved in the Battle of Saltville I, which took place in Saltville, VA in early October of 1864.
Do you know who's ancestor was also in that battle, on the opposing Union side?
Go look HERE.

While the Battle of Saltville I was a Confederate victory, Joseph Hamilton was still captured by Union forces on 2 Oct. 1864 and was taken to Camp Chase.
He avoided dying in the smallpox epidemic at the camp(since he didn't arrive until it was over), but he still succumbed to gangrene due to his injury not being treated properly and he died a slow lingering death 2 months later on 6 Dec 1864.

I spent a good amount of time there at his headstone, talking to him.  Yes, I talk to dead people.....

I commiserated with him, about a good old Virginia boy having to spend eternity buried up in Yankee land(my Southern peeps will get this).....but at least he had a whole bunch of Southern gentlemen alongside him to keep him company.
I told him his service was appreciated and that even though his contemporaries where long gone, his "family" had not forgotten him.  And I apologized for forgetting the little Confederate Flag I meant to bring to put next to his headstone.

Then Hubs showed up and I let him take this horrible photo of me with the headstone.
No make up, my hair is plastered to my head and I am dripping in sweat and about to fall on the ground.

And I took a shot of another part of the cemetery.....

The headstones stretch out as far as you can see.....2,260+ graves......
And I talked to Hubs about what a waste this war was and the high price paid in lives and the repercussions felt in the families of these men.  Children growing up without fathers, wives with no husbands, men not allowed to grow up and live a normal life into old age.

And I cried.
I sobbed.

This is the archway seen from the front that is on the right edge of the shot of me with Jos. Hamilton's headstone.  Under the bronze statue of the Confederate Soldier it says, "Americans".

This place truly moved me.

Once back in the car, we got a drink so I wouldn't pass out.  The a/c in the car was so bad now it was cooler outside the car, so we turned it off and rolled down the windows to get a cool 96 degree breeze.
UGH.
It became obvious to us now that our a/c was deader than Kelsey's nuts.

And we had to find our way back to the hotel during rush hours in downtown Columbus.
Oh joy!lol

I had planned on taking Hubs HERE for dinner.  But with the traffic(we'd have to return to the hotel first and shower and change and then go back into Columbus)and no a/c in the car, Hubs said no thanks to my plan.
So after freshening up back in the room I told him to go next door to here....

Hubs loves pasta and he loves chili.
What could be better than a place that serves chili on your pasta?lol
We've never had Skyline Chili before so another first for us both.

Hubs got a 3-way....so here is where I make the obligatory joke that what man doesn't want a 3-way.....*snort*

And I opted for my chili and cheese on a baked potato.
I also got a Greek salad that was very good.
In hindsight, I should have stuck to just the salad.  I ate about half of my potato and I was done.
After a day of walking and sweating, I just wanted fluids really.

We've heard people rave about Skyline Chili.
Neither of us particularly liked it however.
I thought it was spicy.
Hubs just though it was neither pasta sauce OR chili.
Of course that didn't keep him from eating every single morsel!

Thinking about it later, I think this chili stuff was closer to the consistency of hot dog chili.  I know the inventor was Greek and you can taste the Greek spices in it.  I just think it's maybe an acquired taste.  It tries to be many things therefore it is not successful at being anything.
Just my humble opinion here....

So we only got 2 things done on Monday...outside of eating that is.  Between the traffic and how large an area Columbus takes up, we just couldn't fit another sightseeing spot in.

Between the heat and the food, we were ready for some downtime in the hotel room.  A little tv and bed and cranking the a/c down to 60...woohoo!!!
And I drifted off to lullaby land burrowed down deep inside a heavy winter blanket on the bed with icicles forming on the tip of my nose.....

Sluggy

Today's History Lesson a la Sluggy's Ancestral Peeps

Well I've traced another ancestral line back to another "1st one in the New World" peeps.
In my mother's side of the family I am finding it is chocked full of very deep immigrant roots in the US.
And up until WW2 not many of them left Virginia for other states and beyond!  Roots that stay put are far easier to dig up.......*snort*

Since many of these ancestors are of English extraction and came over very early in the history of the settling of the New World, I have lots of published genealogical research already mapped out I can tap into once I get back to about the mid 1800's in some lines.

First a little mood music through the streets of Colonial Willamsburg.....


So today we look back at my 10 x Great Grandparents.....Samuel and Alice Sneed(Snead).

These ancestors were right at the center of some lively times in the new colonies.

Samuel and Co. sailed to the Virginia colony in 1635 from England.  The Land Grant Office shows he received a tract of 200 acres from Charles I, in James City county(now York county), on the James River in Virginia.  He moved up river to new lands eventually and by 1664 was living on land on the Pamunkey River.  Though it sounds really far away, by today's standards, it isn't.

Migrating to America with his parents was Willian Sneed.  Two more sons were born in Virginia, Samuel and my progenitor, Henry Sneed.

Henry moved to the Pamunkey River land with his father and probably did much of the clearing of the land for his father as his father was of an advanced age by that time.
Henry married and had two sons, John and Thomas.  One of their neighbors, Gideon Macon employed Thomas, who in 1677 was coming into his prime adulthood, as one of the builders of the Bruton Parish Church.  This was the Church of England parish founded in James county.  The church was completed in 1683.
The church was nearby and served the residents of Middle Plantation, which over time was renamed......Williamsburg.  Very nice Georgian architecture.

Famous folks who worshiped there include Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, George Mason, George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee and Patrick Henry.

Thomas, who helped build the church, is NOT my ancestor.  Mine is his brother John....he was probably off playing hooky and drinking rum instead.

Henry Sneed, Samuel's son/Thomas' father,  was also involved in Bacon's Rebellion.  Oh, to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.....lol

Bacon's Rebellion, to simplify it, was a group of frontier dwellers rebelling against the colonial governor and his ilk because he didn't provide protection against the hostile native Americans, who were only hostile because they were being pushed out of their ancestral lands by the expanding colonies.  Gov. Berkley held a friendly policy toward the native peoples, even in the face of their raids against the planters and refused to do anything to safeguard the farms, as his crowd was the hoity toity city dwellers and ruling class.

 There were lots of raids back and forth between the Europeans and the Native peoples, looting, pillaging, setting fire to buildings, shooting, killing, etc.  Nathanial Bacon said "enough!" and together with a group of ex-indentured servants, poor whites and free blacks and other planters, led a rebellion against Gov. Berkeley and chased him from Williamsburg.

The only thing the Rebellion accomplished in the long run was to send Berkley back to England and caused the ruling class in the colony to harden their racial caste system stance.  The "elites" were disturbed by the "regular people" forming an alliance against the Government, so they took steps to tighten up the societal laws so that the unwashed masses couldn't revolt in the future and put laws in place to divide the white and black in the serving classes.
This political move affected how slavery in the South progressed and developed, in a negative way.
Ya see what I was saying about being from the South and the whole slavery as an economic model being complicated?

Ruling class oppressing the masses?
Hmmmm......sounds eerily familiar, does it not?  ;-)

I was delighted to see that my ancestor Henry was on the side of the rebels in that affair.   "On Jan. 29, 1677, after the Rebellion, he was one of the signers of the petition of grievances to the English Commissioners, stating the reason for the revolt."
But we find Henry, shortly after this, selling his lands on the Pamunkey River anyway, and moving to the opposite shore.  I guess he figured, he was a marked man as far as the government was concerned(a troublemaker)and after the new government attacked the peaceful and friendly Pamunkey Indians in his area in retaliation after the Rebellion, he'd be sure to have problems from the natives as well.
A no win situation, so it's time to leave the county! lol

Anyway, Henry's grandson, Samuel......let's use some new names already!.....moved further inland up various rivers into south central Virginia and the rest is rather boring history.....unitl you get to ME! ;-)

Here's my 4 x Great Grandfather John Strong Snead 1802-1874.  What a hottie, huh?

His son, Lewellyn Snead was a private in Captain Wright's Virginia Heavy Artillery Company.  He saw action at the Siege of Petersburg, VA near the end of the war and was at Appomattox for the surrender.

Old rebelling Henry and his rebel 6 x grandson Lewellyn.
I guess I come by the non-conformist label honestly.......

Sluggy

Sluggy's Historic Time Machine

Finding my childhood home got me nostalgic, so I decided to Google around and see if I could find some other homes I remember.

Here is the last home my Great Grandmother lived in.  Her 12 kids moved her there from the old Homestead ROXABEL Plantation about 10 yrs. after Great Grandfather died. Roxabel was 5 miles out and this way she was right 'in town' in case she needed anything or her kids as she was well into her '70s.  She was born in 1888 and died in 1973 so I was 14 the last time I was in that house.  Both my Great Grandmother and my Grandmother died in that house.
I hope that doesn't creep anyone out....lol

Here's photo of my Great Grandparents, circa 1950-something....

They sure look like a fun couple, don't they?  Well they were fun with each other because they had TWELVE kids!

And here is a photo of my Great Grandmother with her 6 adult daughter's from the early 1960's.  You can see the old homestead house Roxabel, behind them.  My Grandmother is the one in the bright blue dress, 3rd from the left.  From right to left in birth order are Louise Frances, Virginia Elizabeth(Ginny), Rosa Bell, Lillian Grace, Doris Lee(Dot), Lula Mae.

Ok, here's the house....

I remember this house well as we use to visit 2 weekends a month plus spend more time in the summer.
The main part of the house was built in the 1700's of VA clay brick.  There was an addition on the back that you can't see, that held both bathrooms, the kitchen, den and the stairway to the 2nd floor.  I remember there were only 2 bedrooms upstairs but they were HUGE!  I guess everybody use to sleep together.

There was a brick outbuilding out back as well....it was either the original kitchen or a root cellar or something.  There was an old abandoned wooden outhouse in the backyard at that time too.
See the 2 flagpoles and the Civil War era cannon on the left in the yard?  Those weren't there then....

Next door, to the west, were 2  abandoned schools with a playground that we use to hang out in.  That was located where that newer building on the right in the photo stands.....

To the east of Grandmama's house was and still is a Church.  It hasn't changed....

That massive tree on the other side of the church is in Grandmama's yard.
Two lots east of that church is this.....

That building with the Texaco sign was an old Gas Station.  In the 1960's it was no longer a gas station but some kind of  'store. There was a scary old lady who sold penny candy out of that building back then. There were never any lights on inside that store.  And yes, the penny candy cost a penny back then!  I am old...lol
We also picked up soda bottles and could turn them in for candy there.

And 2 doors down on the east from that building is this....

Here's another shot.....

This is the smack dab center of the town....the crossroads of Rte. 40 & 47.  The building on the right side in the photo was a drug store back in the 1960's.  That building was originally lawyer's offices built around 1825.  You can see the very old brick on the side where the siding isn't covering it up.

See that big tree in front of it?  That tree is historically significant...there use to be a Historical Marker next to it in the 60's.
You've heard of Patrick Henry?
You've heard of his "Give me Liberty or Give me Death" Speech?
He gave that speech for the 1st time under that tree.
I know, I know......all the history books say he gave the speech in Richmond at the Virginia Convention in 1775.
Well here is something they don't tell you....he originally gave that speech here, standing under that tree in the summer/fall of 1774...the historic recitation of it came later.
This is also where the Henry-Randolph Debate took place....that's the event that the Historical Marker identifies.  Go look that up since I'm sure nobody today knows what the Henry/Randolph Debate was all about.lol
And to think that just around the bend in that photo is the house my Great Grandmother lived in....

But why did this stuff happen under that tree?
Because it's right across the street from this building.....

The Charlotte County Virginia Court House.
Well back in 1775 when Mr. Henry was lawyer-ing & making speeches, this building didn't exist yet.  There was a wooden framed building.  In the hot weather they conducted legal business outside.  Yes, Patrick Henry was one of those dreaded lawyer people when he wasn't revolting against the Red Coats....either revolting against some one or being a revolting lawyer....poor Mr. Henry can't win.lol

The original courthouse had a tavern in it.
George Washington was a regular there when he was in town on revolutionary business.  I've read that he was thrown out for being drunk more than a few times.  Seems George was a party animal when he was traveling!

This courthouse was built in 1823.
You may have heard of the guy who designed it?--Thomas Jefferson.  He lived a mite north of here.
Too bad old Patrick Henry didn't live to see this grand courthouse.   Patrick Henry lived a couple of towns west of here near Brookneal, VA.  Brookneal is where my Grandfather's family was from.

The 'courthouse' stands in....wait for it......Charlotte Courthouse, VA.
Original name for the town, huh?lol

This place wasn't always called Charlotte Courthouse.
It was originally called The Magazine(now that's weird!),and then a few other things like Marysville,  but it's always been CCH since I was born.  They did change the spelling since I've left from Charlotte Courthouse to Charlotte Court House.
Big improvement....

Alot of historic buildings still exist in this town due to the fact that the Yankees didn't rape and pillage here.  Some troops did come through town during the 'War Between The States' but they didn't hang around and torch anything, just pinched some livestock and food from the locals.  Not much going on there then or now except the growing and fire-smoking of tobacco.

I would show you photos of the Plantation House but Google Maps/Street View doesn't have that road in their system.  I remember staying there as well.  It's still standing.  Some descendants of my Great Grandparents pitched in and bought it to keep it in the family.  It would be cool to go back there and see it again.

But I did find a photo of this house.....

This one is across the street and 2 lots down from Grandmama's house.
And it's for sale!
And it's pretty darn cheap too.
If it only had a bigger lot I might consider buying it....

I hope you've enjoyed your time travel voyage.  Please return your seats to the upright position and thank you for flying Sluggy Air.  ;-)

Sluggy