Circa 1890’s, this old pie safe could probably tell a story or two if it could talk. Made of poplar wood and put together with wrought nails, the old piece has two tin punched doors and a top drawer. The primitive treasure was handmade in Russell County, VA. My grandparents, Asa C. Davis *(1883-1962) and Altha R. Brooks ** (1884-1980) received it from Asa’s uncle John Henry Jessee (1860-1921 pictured below w/hat) when they when to housekeeping in 1902.

My grandparents were married August 20, 1902 in Bristol, TN. Sometime between 1909 and 1911, Asa, Roadway Foreman for the Norfolk & Western Railway, was transferred from Russell County to Tazewell County VA. It really was only a short distance from Cleveland to Tazewell, but in those days, it would have been difficult to move an entire household. With only 3 children at the time, Asa and Altha loaded all their worldly belongings onto an N&W flatcar and moved to Tazewell. The primitive, hand-me-down pie safe was carried along in the move.

As a child, I remember Grandmaw Davis having this junky piece of furniture on her little screened in back porch in Tazewell. A few years before her death in 1980, she had my mom and dad take it from her house to their house. She wanted me to have it. It is a treasure that I cherish because I think of my sweet grandmother every time I look at it.

Find out how Gramaw got her big toe cut off by a train –

*          

(Clinch Valley News article) VETERAN N. AND W. SECTION FOREMAN RETIRES POST

Tazewell, Jan 31 – When A.C. Davis comes in from his day’s work as section foreman on the Tazewell Section today his final official act will be to lock the tool house over which he has had control since 1909 and turn the key over to a successor.  Having reached the allotted three score and ten years, he will enter a well earned retirement.

Acie was born on Mill Creek in Russell County near Cleveland, a son of D.C. and Nancy (Jessee) Davis, and attended the Glade Hollow Elementary School finishing the 7th grade.

He entered the employ of the Norfolk & Western Railway Company as a section hand in 1905, and in 1907 received promotion to foreman.  After a couple of years on the Cleveland Section he was transferred to Tazewell where he has served continuously since.

He is familiarly known as “Casey” having acquired the nickname some 35 years ago, when he emerged from a blinding snowstorm in a cloud of steam from a parked engine on the Tazewell Yard, only a few minutes after a train had passed, with a large pump knot on his forehead, and so added that he was unable to give an understandable account.

When the local newspaper came out a few days later, an item contributed in humorous vein was given of the incident, closing with a parody on the then popular song, “Casey Jones” in which a phantom engine was introduced to raise the knot and he was quoted as saying he heard the engineer say to the fireman, “Pour in the Water and Shovel in the Coal Stick Your Head Out the Window and Watch the Drivers Roll”.

Davis has enjoyed a wide popularity among his fellow workers and railway officials, and has the reputation of being one of the most efficient men in the track department, a statement supported in the fact that he has been the recipient of first prize on his roadmaster’s division at the annual track inspection 26 times, second prize six times and third prize three times, which sets a record on the entire system.

He was married first to Miss Altha Brooks, of Cleveland, Va. and they have ten children.  The daughters are:  Mrs. W.G. Carbaugh, Akron, O., Mrs. V.G. Jordan, Bristol, Tenn., Mrs. Forrest Mace, North Tazewell, Mrs. Foster Mundy, Mullins, W. Va., Mrs. L.W. Buckland, Falls Mills and Mrs. B.M. Hall, Baltimore, Md.  The four sons are Lacy and Holly, both of Akron, O., Vaden and Leman, North Tazewell.

His second marriage was to Miss Ocie Bennett in 1937 and they have a daughter, Acie Kathleen.

Davis purchased a restaurant in North Tazewell and will devote his time to its operation.

His fraternal affiliation is with the Knights of Pythias.

**          

MRS. ALTHA DAVIS

Mrs. Altha R. Davis, 96, of North Tazewell, Va., was dead on arrival at a Tazewell hospital Tuesday evening of natural causes.

Born in Russell County, Va., she was a daughter of the late William and Mary Sutherland Brooks.  She was a member of the First Assembly of God Church in North Tazewell.

Surviving are five daughters, Mrs. Al (Lillian) Berman of Abingdon, Va., Mrs. N.F. (Joella) Mace and Mrs. C.F.(Russell) Mundy, both of North Tazewell, Mrs. L.W.(Lucille) Buckland of Bluefield, Va., and Mrs. Ralph (Elizabeth) Clevy of Vincennes, Ind;  four sons, Lacy Davis and Hollie Davis, both of Akron, Ohio, Vaden Davis and Leman Davis, both of North Tazewell;  two sisters, Mrs. Gene (Effie) Owens and Mrs. Kathleen Dye, both of Lebanon, Va.;  sixteen grandchildren, several great grandchildren and several great great grandchildren.

Funeral services will be conducted today at 2:30 at Peery and St. Clair Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. William Sadler officiating.  Burial will follow in Maplewood Cemetery.

Pallbearers will be Paul Bales, Buddy Herald, B.C. Peek, Jimmy Dawson, Jeff Davis, James Mullins and Ronald Davidson.

___________

Russell County is located in the far southwestern part of Virginia. In 1738 the area now contained in Russell County was formed as a part of Augusta County. Between the years 1769 and 1785 it was contained in Botetourt, Fincastle and Washington Counties. Russell County was formed in 1786 from Washington County. The area which became Russell County contained about 3000 square miles or 1.9 million acres. The boundary lines extended northward from Clinch Mountain to Cumberland Gap on the Kentucky border and eastward to a point near present Bluefield, Virginia. In 1790, the population of the county was 3,338, which included 190 slaves.

Other counties were then formed from Russell County. In 1793 Lee County was formed. In 1799, Tazewell County. In 1815 Scott County was formed from a portion of Russell and Lee Counties. In 1855 Wise County was formed and in 1858 Buchanan County was formed. In 1880, Dickenson County was formed from a portion of Wise and Buchanan Counties.

By 1858, Russell County had been reduced to an area of 483 square miles or 309,120 acres. The crest of Clinch Mountain is currently the southern border. Sandy Ridge is the northern. Clinch River meanders down near the center of the county from Mill Creek at the Tazewell County line to St. Paul in Wise County. The county seat is in Lebanon.

For much of my life, this old crock sat on the hillside of my family home on Tazewell Road. When I was young, I’m not sure I even noticed it filled and overflowing with succulents (hen-and-biddies)* that belonged to my Grandmother Buckland.  However, after I moved away from Bluefield, married and started a family, I became curious about my heritage and those long ago relatives from the Virginia mountains.

Many times when I visited Mom, I’d take a few biddies back to the heat of Florida and try to keep them growing. After all, they had been flourishing in that crock without a bit of help since at least October 20, 1960 when Mary Jane Davidson Buckland passed away. **

Many times Mom has encouraged me to take the entire crock and succulents home with me. For fear I’d kill ALL the treasured flowering plants I would only take a few biddies to experiment with. And indeed, the ones I transplanted met their demise. How can a plant that has survived heat and snow for at least 53 years meet it’s death in my hands?

This May when I was home visiting Mom, for the first time, I realized that I didn’t have to take all the hen and biddies in order to take and enjoy the crock. I could hardly move the heavy crock, but carefully rolled it down the hill. Since the plant was being overtaken by ants and roly polys and had very little soil left to cover the roots, I gingerly removed them all from the crock, cleaned and separated them in a pot of water and replanted them in new potting soil. I used a different pot, large enough to allow for growth, and placed the newly planted biddies back in the exact location of the old crock on the hillside in hopes of their continued survival.

As I began scrubbing the crock, I recognized for the first time that this piece possibly had a deeper history than just that of Grandmother Buckland. The archaic treasure is one piece, hand-hewn from a very large rock. The maker carefully shaped the vessel to accommodate plants and primitively drilled a drainage hole on the side. The bottom of the pot is narrowed and had previously not been visible since it was partially buried into the hillside.  When Grandaddy Buckland*** died February 5, 1967, my dad, L.W., JR.**** brought the crock home, placed it in a hole on the hillside and it had not been moved since.

Inquiring of Mom about the history of the crock, she said that Dad had mentioned something about it coming from the TABOR side of the family. That being the case, it wasn’t actually Grandmother Buckland’s crock originally, but at the least, it would have belonged to my great-grandmother, Sarah Jane Tabor Buckland ***** who had inherited the home property from her parents ****** James Harrison Tabor & Nancy Moore Runyan. Sarah Tabor & husband Jacob Alexander Buckland lived in a log home on that land and reared 6 children. ****** including my grandfather, Larkin Watson Buckland.

Had this crock been around for at least 100 years? probably! Eureka! Now that I have this in my home and part of my personal family collection, I’ll think of my ancient folks and their simple lives every  time I look at that crock. Perhaps I’ll be reminded to live a less-cluttered life myself.  I love the utilitarian items of our ancestors far more than treasured antiques. Just crazy I suppose; just a simple Railroader’s Daughter.

*Hen and chicks (also known as Hen-and-chickens, or Hen-and-biddies in the American South) is a common name for a group of small succulent plants belonging to the flowering plant family Crassulaceae, native to Europe and northern Africa. They grow close to the ground with leaves formed around each other in a rosette, and propagating by offsets. The “hen” is the main plant, and the “chicks” are the offspring, which start as tiny buds on the main plant and soon sprout their own roots, taking up residence close to the mother plant. (Wikipedia) Here are my hen-and-biddies as of May 2013.

Let’s see if I can keep them growing with my less than green thumb. At the bottom of the image are a couple of new sprouts (biddies in the making)!!!!

**

            Obituary Memorial/Bluefield Daily Telegraph

Funeral services for Mrs. Mary Jane Buckland 74, wife of L.W. Buckland of Falls Mills, Va., will be conducted Sunday at 2:30p.m. at Falls Mills Christian Church.  Dewey Parr, Clarence Greenleaf, and Clinton Looney will officiate, with burial in Tabor Cemetery at Falls Mills. The body will be taken from Dudley Memorial Mortuary to the home at 2p.m. Friday and to the church one hour before services. Mrs. Buckland died Thursday morning in a Bluefield hospital after being admitted two weeks ago. She was a native of Tazewell County, Va., daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Granger Davidson.  She was a member of the Falls Mills Christian Church, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Auxiliary, and the GIA. Survivors, other than her husband, include a daughter, Mrs. James W. Lawrence of the home; four sons, Robert Charles, Walter, and L.W. Buckland, Jr., of Falls Mills;  two sisters, Mrs. Crosby Stone of Orlando, Florida, and Mrs. Robert Wimmer of Falls Mills;  18 grandchildren; five great-grandchildren. Three sisters preceded her in death.

***

Although Watson was a retired engineer for the Norfolk and Western Railroad, he also worked as a fireman and PM section gang.  He previously worked in a rock quarry for .50 per day.

He was a member and honorary elder of Falls Mills Christian Church, a lifetime member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and a member of the Bluefield Old Guard.  He and his family moved from Bluefield, West Virginia to Falls Mills in May 1922, to the log cabin his parents had lived in.  He later built a brick home on the property, which was owned and occupied by his son and wife, Robert and Margaret Buckland until Robert’s death in 2011.

****

Larkin Watson Buckland, Jr.
10/8/1915
11/6/1993
Add Obit….

*****

Sarah Jane Tabor Buckland
2/22/1849 – 1/6/1922
Jacob Alexander Buckland
11/26/1849 – 11/1/1919
married – 3/2/1871

Children:
Nancy Jane Polly Buckland
George Robert Sylvester Buckland
Cora Belle Buckland
William Harrison Buckland
Samuel Graham Buckland
Larkin Watson Buckland

******

James Harrison Tabor
12/14/1821 – 11/11/1891
Nancy Moore Runyan
4/12/1822 – 8/29/1888
married 12/3/1840
buried at the Harry Cemetery in Falls Mills, VA

The Tabor family, as many other ordinary rural families of that day, actually carved headstones from rock. Some of the Tabor’s are buried at the Tabor Cemetery in Mudfork, VA.

 
3rd Greatgrandparents
James Tabor
1786 – 5/1859
Henrietta Blackwell Tabor
1790 –
married in Montgomery County VA about 1809

Late this spring, KT and I took a road trip back to the mountains of Southwest Virginia where I was born nearly 60 years ago. We talked about nothing and shared pretzels & water with my adorable and ever-so-intelligent grand dog, Dribble.

We set our sites on the mountains and to Mimi’s house, where we visited with brother Buck, wife Susie and their fabulous kids & grandkids. Awesome- perfect timing! What a blessing for cousins to re-connect. Larry arrived after lunch and chimed in on the family chatter.

Mom lives in the house that Dad moved from down the road in 1962. She does amazingly well for 91 1/2 years old and is feeling much better than when I visited her last year. She was delighted to hang with Katie, cook some of our favorite foods and spend a little time bonding with Dribble.

Mom loves her family and is always thrilled for her children to come home.

KT and I visited the Historic Crab Orchard Museum and Pioneer Park near Tazewell, VA so I could show her the 1805 log cabin of our ancestor, Major David Peery.

Other landmarks were photographed on that sunny afternoon, including Falls Mills Dam, the N & W railroad yards built as a result of the Industrial Revolution and a few remaining historic buildings that witness the boom days of Bluefield, West Virginia.

The 12 story grand old West Virginian Hotel built in 1924 was the tallest building in southern West Virginia.

A stop by the old City Hall and a climb to the third floor of the beautiful building, revealed Gary Bowling’s House of Art. We chatted with Gary and found his heart’s passion immersed in local art and in the preservation of a once busy railroad town. He shared with enthusiasm about the scheduled restoration of the old Granada Theatre and I’m thrilled!

The Federal Building

Appalachian Power Company Building

The West Virginian Hotel

Each return to home leaves me with a bit more understanding of the culture and heritage of the Bluefields! Follow along on Facebook !

88 Years Ago Today

Charles W. Dougherty, my 3rd cousin, 2x removed, was born to Fred Giles Dougherty and Agnes Bryan in Molalla, Oregon. My 4th great grandfather, John Dougherty (1776 Ireland) was Charles’ 2nd great grandfather.

Charles married Wanda Lucille Coover on Sept 23, 1946 and they had two children.