THE CHURCHWELL FAMILY TREE
My CHURCHWELL Family Tree Maker file is significantly larger than any of my other family genealogies. For instance, there are 538 individuals in my Larew family tree, while my Churchwell tree contains 2,004 names! Our family is very fortunate to have several amateur genealogists who worked diligently to put our family tree together; most notably are Shirley E. VAWTER BYLER (1909-2001), who authored “Churchwell and Allied Families,” (Dogwood Printing, 1989 – well before home computers and internet access!). Shirley’s gathered family histories from several lines of the family including my uncle, Harold William CHURCHWELL (1915-1997), my grandparent’s second child. She assembled the data into very organized sections in her 447-page book. My cousin, Glenda SHERMAN LANDRUM (1942-2004), and I also shared our genealogical research with one another.
The Churchwell
tree goes back to my 9x great-grandfather, Dr. John WOODSON, Sr. (1586-1644),
born in Devonshire, England, immigrating to Jamestown, Virginia, with his wife,
Sarah WINSTON WOODSON (dates unknown), aboard the “George” January-April of
1619. Just about all my Churchwell
family tree records begin either in Great Britain or the British colony of
Virginia.
I
will not take the time to trace all of the surnames, but I do want to highlight
a few other than Churchwell. I will do
my best to tie the different surnames to the Churchwell name.
Please keep in mind, different times in history
saw different popular or common ideas, mores, and scientific theories than we
hold today, and not all for the better of Humanity. That doesn’t
make the individuals who lived in that time any more or less Christian, moral,
or immoral than us. Different is just
different, I do not believe it is constructive to condemn someone from a
previous century for having different mores of behavior than the views held in
the current century. I hope future
generations will view us through a similar lens. Feel free to disagree with me, but that is
the approach I am taking in my blog posts.
I will begin with Dr. John WOODSON, Sr., mentioned above. In BYLER’S book she references “Historical Genealogy of the Woodsons and Their Connections,” “John WOODDESON (WOODSONNE), Sr. was born 1586, in Devonshire. England and matriculated (enrolled) at Oxford, 1604-5, age 18, son of Mr. Woodson, gent. of Bristol. The locality and date of birth seem to warrant his conclusion.” John married Sarah WINSTON in England. They immigrated to the settlement of Jamestown, James County, Virginia in 1619. In 1620, the first slave ship arrived at Jamestown, and John purchased six slaves (there is some debate about whether or not slavery was yet a part of colonial American life at the time. Some documents indicate they may come here as indentured servants, but later the concept of lifetime servitude eliminated their chances for freedom, see https://www.historyisfun.org/learn/learning-center/how-did-slavery-develop-in-colonial-virginia-2/).
The death of Dr. John at the hands of the Indians in 1644, and the survival of his wife and two sons is an amazing tale. On April 18, 1644, after seeing his patients, the good doctor headed back to his wife and two sons, John, about 12 and Robert, around 10, in their cabin. Stories differ on who was with the three in the cabin, either a shoemaker or a tutor for the boys, but the name is recorded as Ligon. The slaves/indentured servants were probably working in the fields. Within site of his cabin, the doctor was attacked by Indians, and Sarah witnessed his death. Ligon lifted the heavy rifle kept in the cabin and climbed to a loft window and began firing, killing several of the attackers. Sarah's maternal instincts kicked into high gear as she quickly assessed how to spare her son's lives; she sent Robert down into the potato hole - a cellar under the floor of the cabin, she had John lie down and covered him with her large washtub.
Sarah heard footsteps on the roof and realized Indians were going to attempt to enter the cabin through the chimney. As the first one's feet hit the floor, she poured their meal - hot soup - on him, scalding him to death. Soon after, the other Indian appeared and she used the iron roasting spit to kill him. When the two Indians did not come out of the cabin, the rest of the attackers fled; Ligon, Sarah and her two boys survived. For many years, Woodson's identified themselves as either "Washtub" or "Potato Hole" Woodsons, depending upon which of the two boys they descended from; my lineage is from Robert "Potato Hole" WOODSON.
Sarah Ann Virginia DURRETT not only ties us to Dr. John and son Robert WOODSON, but also through her ancestry we have the following Revolutionary War veterans:
William DURRETT (1748-1804), Captain, Virginia
John GAY (1748-1826), 6th Virginia Regiment
William TYLER (1710-1794), Captain, Caroline County, Virginia militia
and George TYLER (1755-1833), Captain, Roger Quarles County, Virginia (William’s son)
Thanks to the extensive research done by Shirley BYLER, several of the descendants of these brave men have been able to join the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) or the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR).
Several of George and Judith TYLER’s children were pioneers into Missouri territory.
Thomas
Adams CHURCHWELL (1810-1880) is the earliest CHURCHWELL known to be our ancestor. Several family trees on Ancestry.com list Samuel and Sally (WEYMOTH/WEYMOUTH) CHURCHWELL as the parents of Thomas, but in the 1860 Federal Census Samuel and Sally are listed as Black! When doing genealogy, I personally try not to take someone's word for something; I like to find the actual documentation. It makes for tedious work, but it also minimizes errors and assumptions!
I
am descended from Thomas Adams’ 4th child, Francis Marion
CHURCHWELL, Sr. (1843-1929). He married
Sarah Ann Virginia DURRETT (1850-1931) October 31, 1867, at the bride’s home in
Marion County, Missouri. Sarah was the
6x great-granddaughter of Dr. John WOODSON, Sr., the immigrant.
When
the Civil War broke out, Francis Marion CHURCHWELL, Sr. answered the call and
joined the 11th Missouri State Militia Cavalry, serving from
1862-1964. According to his U.S. Pension
file, ” Prisoner of War records show him
captured at Chalk Bluff April 21, 63, Paroled at Little Rock Ark. August 21,
63, rpt’d at Benton Barracks Mo. Sept 1/63, Exchgd and sent to field date not
known.”
Between
1864-1866, he served in the 13th Missouri Cavalry of the U.S.
Army. He was wounded by a “sabre wound
of head was incurred at Independence Missouri October 1864 at the Battle of
Indepence[sic] during a charge of the enemy in our charging & capturing a
Battery in or near the public square in said City of Independence Missouri.”
(from U.S. Pension File). One of the
great features of pension files is the detailed family information also
recorded therein. Questions regarding
dependents includes name of wife and wedding date, and names and birthdates of
all children. The pension amount a man
would receive was often based upon the number of his dependents in the
home. I especially like his answer to
the following:
“No. 8 Are you now living with your wife, or has
there been a separation? Answer. Never
was separated are living together thank the Lord.”
By 1921, his health had so declined, “That he requires the regular personal aid and attendance of another person on account of the following disabilities: Partial blindness to the extent that he can read neither printed or written matter, that he must be guided and directed how to sign all checks and papers of importance, and that he cannot discern what food is placed on the table before he is told. He can walk around without a guide.”
Sarah Ann Virginia (DURRETT) & Francis
Marion CHURCHWELL
1927 – 60th Wedding Anniversary
After his death
in 1929, his widow Sarah, applied for a Widow’s Pension. At the time of her death in 1931, Sarah was
receiving a pension of $40 per month.
Her daughter, Rebecca McCue, submitted a claim for the “reimbursement
from the accrued pension for expenses paid (or obligation incurred) in the last
sickness and burial of Sarah A.V. Churchwell.”
I do not know if this was paid to "Aunt Beckie" or not.
I have a photocopy of a very sweet letter sent to my grandfather Will Churchwell by his sister Rebecca, giving him an account of their mother Sarah’s passing. Sarah had hurt her back about 4 months prior to her death, and walked very seldom without aid. Rebecca’s son Rhodes and daughter-in-law Nancy were visiting; Rebecca’s husband Walter and Rhodes left early in the morning to work in the woods, and the three women remained at the house. Rebecca got her mother up, dressed her, washed her & combed her hair, then got her to the kitchen table for breakfast. Afterward, Rebecca helped her to her chair “and placed her Bible & glasses in her lap.” Rebecca told her mother she was running a quick errand to a neighbor, but Nancy was there with her. No sooner had Beckie left than Sarah asked Nancy to help her to the toilet. Nancy helped her and Sarah said she would call her when she was ready. Soon, Nancy heard Sarah fall. She carried her to her bed just as Rebecca was returning. Sarah fell into the corner of her cedar chest and received a gash above her eye brow, and was badly bruised along her left side. In the letter Rebecca recalled her mother saying, “Oh, I know I shouldn’t have tried to walk alone, but I thought I could. I told Nancy I would call her, but I was just smiling to myself, thinking I would say when I got to the door, ‘I’m smarter than you thought I was.’” The doctor was called and could find no broken bones, but any attempt to move her caused her to scream out in pain. The doctor gave her a shot for the pain but as soon as it wore off she would again be in great pain. Rebecca wrote, “Twice, when she was conscious but suffering, she said, ‘Maybe the Good Lord is going to take me home.” She passed away two days later, at the age of 81. Will was not able to attend his mother's funeral, since just shortly before her passing his son Harold was in a terrible car accident, breaking his hip and sustaining other injuries.
I am descended from William Thornton CHURCHWELL (1890-1954), the 11th of 12 children born to Francis Marion and Sarah Ann Virginia DURRETT. Will was born January 5, 1890 near New Ark, Shelby County, Missouri; his oldest sibling was 22 years old when he was born, his younger brother was born 2 years after him. So, that's 12 children born on average every 2 years.
Will's younger brother, Benjamin David, is the only relative I know of who fought during World War I, and even then, he did not serve overseas; he served in the 35th U.S. Army, fighting Pancho Villa in the Southwestern United States and Mexico. He was a member of the VFW chapter in California. Ben lived in Los Angeles and boarded with a twice-widowed woman, Virginia GRAY, and her four children. In 1941, they were wed. They were both employed at the Los Angeles County Hospital; he started as a janitor and later became a security guard, she was a nurse. Later, she worked in a doctor's office before leaving that position to open "Wee Ones Home" for mentally retarded (today we say special needs) children. There is an interesting newspaper article about her and Ben's efforts on behalf of these precious children.
Will married Iva Louise Henrietta WALLIS April 19, 1911 in her parent’s yard. They had 8 children that lived to adulthood; Iva miscarried a set of twins, either between her pregnancies with Francis and Harold, or Harold and Richard. Francis and Harold were born in Missouri, then the young family moved to Eastern Colorado, settling in Kit Carson County. The rest of the children were born there, between 1917 and 1927. The closest in age were 16-months apart (Richard and Kenneth, and Louise and Calvin). The furthest apart were Mildred and Jean, who were 4 years and 4 months apart.
When
Will & Iva lived in Missouri they lived in a house; after moving to Eastern
Colorado, they lived in sod houses. My mom often referred to them as "soddies."
April 19, 1936 – Will & Iva’s 25th
Wedding Anniversary
Standing with their children outside of their
sod house
My mother Mildred Elizabeth, was born June 8, 1923. For Christmas, 1936, Mildred’s brother gave her a 5-year diary. She began writing in it January 1, 1937, and almost every day for 5 years, there is an entry. She received another 5-year diary, giving glimpses in her life 1942-1946.
Mom told me lots
of stories from her youth; one fall the neighbors came to help Grandpa harvest
his barley. He had the best crop he’d
ever had. They stopped at noon and ate dinner
(what they called the mid-day meal); pretty soon they saw smoke, someone had
left the machinery running and it got the barley so hot it caught on fire! Much
of the crop was destroyed, and Grandpa was so upset! I’m not sure if Grandpa said it or if Mom was
just expressing the feeling, but she wondered why God allowed it to happen,
since it might have helped them get a little bit ahead on their bills!
I have heard both
Mildred and Jean share about the time they both believe their brother Calvin saved their
lives. A bad snowstorm came up while
they were at school and the teacher let them out early. Mildred and Jean started walking home but it
was so cold and the snow was blowing so hard it made it hard for them to walk, and Jean started crying. Mildred said it was so cold, Jean’s tears
froze to the front of her coat. Then
they saw Calvin coming with the wagon; he got them into a field and put them in
a haystack to warm them up, then took them on home. My mom shared a funny story –
depending on who you ask! Louise,
Mildred and Jean went riding on a horse out in the pasture. Something spooked the horse and it reared up
and dumped all three of them off – onto a cactus! Louise got the worst of it, and Mildred and
Jean thought it was quite funny! Mom
always said Louise had a tough time, being the first girl with four older brothers! When she began to develop breasts,
her brothers would walk around with socks in their shirts, making fun of her. There was probably a lot expected of her
around the house as the only girl until Mildred and Jean were old enough to
help out.
I never met my
grandfather, Will, he died of a stroke in 1954, three years before I was
born. My mom was pregnant at the time,
and she always believed that the shock of seeing him so ill in the hospital caused her to lose the baby.
When I was growing up, the Churchwell side of the family had
picnics in the park around Sloan’s Lake. I remember these
gatherings, as family members would come to visit from Missouri; we commonly
had three or four generations of people at these picnics. We also
had plenty of people who took photos to remember these events. My
dad, mom, and Uncle Calvin were the main photographers. We had
similar family gatherings on the Larew side, usually held at someone’s house. Like
the Churchwell gatherings, there are many photos of the family visiting from
Missouri. My mom was good at writing names and dates on her
photos. Most of what my dad took were slides, so they were a little
harder to label.
|
Will & Iva Churchwell with
children & grandchildren |
A NOTE TO THE
FAMILY OF RICHARD WEBSTER CHURCHWELL –
I have six letters Richard sent to his
mother Iva while aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise, dated May-September, 1941 – all
before the attack on Pearl Harbor. I
have scanned them into my computer and transcribed them all for my own
records. If any of his direct
descendants would like to have them, I will gladly mail them to you. If none of you want them, I am considering
donating them to the World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana, of which I
am a charter member. Please comment here
or send me an email at jhoffm57@gmail.com to let me know whether or not you want
them. Depending on the Museum’s donation
policy, I might need you to sign off permission for me to donate them since I
am not his next-of-kin.
NEXT: THE
VANHOOSER FAMILY TREE
Comments
Post a Comment