How to find my relatives
Apr. 15th, 2010 02:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
acmespaceshipWhen I was a kid, Dad would take me out driving on the weekends to visit relatives. His dad was one of eight children, so I had great-aunts, great-uncles and distant cousins scattered across West Virginia and Virginia. I'm still not sure how we were all related. Dad always had to re-introduce himself to the old folks (I'm Arthur and Helen's son; Arthur was David's son and Bill's brother, remember?)
A few lived in towns (Uncle Miller was a retired headmaster at a school for the deaf in Moorefield, WV). But most lived on ancestral homesteads and did things like raise pheasants and rent cottages to vacationers who needed to be taught about copperheads in woodpiles.
I once explained to my DH how to find his wife's relatives: Drive south down a state route anywhere between Moorefield and the Eastern edge of the Shenandoah valley. Find an unnamed paved road that goes up a mountain. Take that and continue driving until you've passed a few postwar houses and the road gets steeper. The road will turn to asphalt; keep going. The asphalt road will reach a few more houses and turn to gravel. Keep going. Eventually you'll be most of the way up the mountain and you'll reach a house with a gravel driveway, after which the road turns to dirt. Do not take the driveway. Continue up the mountain and into the woods until the dirt road stops. Look around and you will find a 19th century farmhouse, perhaps made of logs, and probably a few chickens. If there's a cat on the porch, I'm related to somebody inside.
I was reminded of this because I've just seen an invitation to a family reunion where they'll be decorating the graves of some ancestors who fought in the Revolution. And these are the driving instructions:
Directions: To Fort Valley, Shenandoah County, Virginia, and Dry Run Cemetery: In Shenandoah County, off Interstate U. S. 81, take the Edinburg Exit 279; Turn [East, towards Edinburg] onto Route 185 [Stoney Creek Boulevard], and follow to Route 11 [Old Valley Pike], North Main Street; then proceed left [north] on North Main Street, watching for Route 675 [Fort Road], which goes to King’s Crossing. [junction just outside the Village of Edinburg, between used car lot and Jeep dealership]. Turn right (east) on 675 and Proceed 6 Miles, crossing over Powell’s Mountain, to King’s Crossing on the East Side of Powell’s Mountain. [Use caution crossing the mountain. Not a long time in crossing, but there are some horseshoe curves on both sides]. At King’s Crossing, turn left (north) onto Fort Valley Road (Route 678). [ Rural Highway, 45-55 MPH. Not dangerous; Just keep speed down and watch for curves.] Continue north 7½ miles, from King’s Crossing, to the Village of Fort Valley. At Fort Valley, the Brick Fire Station in on the Right, with the Fort Valley Country Store, and the Fort Valley Post Office on the Left. Continue North about 1-2 Miles further, watching for The Dry Run Christian Church [White Clapboard] on the Right. The Entrance to the Dry Run Cemetery is very shortly on the Right, after passing the White Church. The Fort Valley (Brick) Church is on the Right, a little further North of the Cemetery Entrance, and The Fort Valley Museum, shortly after that, on the Left, at the intersections of Fort Valley Road and Dry Run Road.
A few lived in towns (Uncle Miller was a retired headmaster at a school for the deaf in Moorefield, WV). But most lived on ancestral homesteads and did things like raise pheasants and rent cottages to vacationers who needed to be taught about copperheads in woodpiles.
I once explained to my DH how to find his wife's relatives: Drive south down a state route anywhere between Moorefield and the Eastern edge of the Shenandoah valley. Find an unnamed paved road that goes up a mountain. Take that and continue driving until you've passed a few postwar houses and the road gets steeper. The road will turn to asphalt; keep going. The asphalt road will reach a few more houses and turn to gravel. Keep going. Eventually you'll be most of the way up the mountain and you'll reach a house with a gravel driveway, after which the road turns to dirt. Do not take the driveway. Continue up the mountain and into the woods until the dirt road stops. Look around and you will find a 19th century farmhouse, perhaps made of logs, and probably a few chickens. If there's a cat on the porch, I'm related to somebody inside.
I was reminded of this because I've just seen an invitation to a family reunion where they'll be decorating the graves of some ancestors who fought in the Revolution. And these are the driving instructions:
Directions: To Fort Valley, Shenandoah County, Virginia, and Dry Run Cemetery: In Shenandoah County, off Interstate U. S. 81, take the Edinburg Exit 279; Turn [East, towards Edinburg] onto Route 185 [Stoney Creek Boulevard], and follow to Route 11 [Old Valley Pike], North Main Street; then proceed left [north] on North Main Street, watching for Route 675 [Fort Road], which goes to King’s Crossing. [junction just outside the Village of Edinburg, between used car lot and Jeep dealership]. Turn right (east) on 675 and Proceed 6 Miles, crossing over Powell’s Mountain, to King’s Crossing on the East Side of Powell’s Mountain. [Use caution crossing the mountain. Not a long time in crossing, but there are some horseshoe curves on both sides]. At King’s Crossing, turn left (north) onto Fort Valley Road (Route 678). [ Rural Highway, 45-55 MPH. Not dangerous; Just keep speed down and watch for curves.] Continue north 7½ miles, from King’s Crossing, to the Village of Fort Valley. At Fort Valley, the Brick Fire Station in on the Right, with the Fort Valley Country Store, and the Fort Valley Post Office on the Left. Continue North about 1-2 Miles further, watching for The Dry Run Christian Church [White Clapboard] on the Right. The Entrance to the Dry Run Cemetery is very shortly on the Right, after passing the White Church. The Fort Valley (Brick) Church is on the Right, a little further North of the Cemetery Entrance, and The Fort Valley Museum, shortly after that, on the Left, at the intersections of Fort Valley Road and Dry Run Road.
