Old Homes and Homesteads – Part 7 – Kansas, Oklahoma and Oregon, USA and Alberta, Canada

My maternal grandfather, Edwin Miller, was born in Grant Township, Riley County, Manhattan, Kansas, on February 17, 1870. He spent his formative years in that state but moved around quite a bit over his lifetime. In 1894, together with his father, Isaac, he acquired the title for a quarter section homestead near Yukon, Canadian County, Oklahoma (Southeast of Section 11, Township 12 North, Range 5 West). On May 30, 1895 he married Martha Alwilda Jane McDaniel who had come to the area from Virginia with other family members the preceding year. I mentioned in the last post that she had been born in Lee County, Virginia.

Ed and Mattie had three children between 1896 and 1902 while living at the Yukon County farm. There was apparently some disagreement between Ed and his father as to who would ultimately own the property and, around 1903, Ed moved his family back to Kansas. They had one child while living near Grenola, Elk County, Kansas and another when they were back in Oklahoma near Verden, Grady County. The Yukon farm eventually ended up being owned by Ed’s sister, Mable Ivy Pontius.

I was fortunate to be able to visit the farm in 2005. Today it has a modern farmhouse and outbuildings on it. None of the original buildings remain. There is one concrete silo that may have been built by Ed’s father and sister.

Panoramic view of the Southeast quarter of Section 11, Township 12, Range 5 West, near Yukon, Oklahoma

Ed and Mattie learned of lands opening up in the Pacific Northwest and left by train for a new adventure there in March 1914. My mother was born in 1917 while they were in Corvallis, Benton County, Oregon. Ed was shown as a farmer there. By 1920 they were farming on another property in Deschutes County, Oregon. The census of that year says they were on homestead lands but I have not yet found documentation to confirm that.

In 1928 Ed and Mattie apparently heard from her sister in Alberta, Canada that farm lands were opening up through the Canadian Pacific Railway. Ed purchased a quarter section of land from the railway (Southeast of Section 5, Township 28, Range 26, West of the 4^th Meridian) near Irricana, Alberta, and leased another quarter just to the east. He later built a small home on the property.

Ed farmed the Irricana property until his death on November 2, 1953. Mattie died just over two years later, on February 4, 1956. The farm is still fondly remembered as a place where we grandchildren spent parts of many summer vacations.

Ed, Mattie and daughter Norma at the Irricana home in 1933. Exterior was not yet finished and had just a tar paper cover.

Ed and Mattie, on the occasion of their 50^th wedding anniversary, celebrated at their Irricana home, shown with the family of Norma, Bill, Lynn and Sharon Shepheard. The author was born just six months later. Ed had added a window to the front of the home by then and the exterior was finished with clapboard siding.

Wayne Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program, handling four parishes in Devon, England. He has published a number of articles about various aspects of genealogy and is a past Editor of Chinook, the quarterly journal of the Alberta Family Histories Society. Wayne also provides genealogical consulting services through his business, Family History Facilitated.

Old Homes and Homesteads – Part 6 – Virginia, USA

My maternal grandmother, Martha Alwilda Jane (McDaniel) Miller, was born in a small cabin in Lee County, Virginia, USA, on February 6, 1875. My aunt, Doris Marguerite (Miller) Schnur, did a great deal of research on Mattie’s (Martha) and my grandfather Edwin Miller’s families in the 1950s to 1970s. Most of what we know about those ancestors came from her work, much of which has been widely used and quoted by many genealogists.

Martha’s parents were Asa Harvey McDaniel and Margaret Eleanor Debusk. Both of them were born in Washington County, Virginia. They were married there on September 15, 1851. The family moved to Lee County in 1860. Aunt Doris wrote that “It was a distance of only about 100 miles, but over rutted dirt roads, rushing streams, and mountain ridges. Very likely other families made this move at the same time for even such a short distance would have held many difficulties for one family alone.

Asa must have rented a farm during his first years in Lee County, but he did buy a place near Beech Spring eventually. On 12 September 1876, he had his Deed recorded at Jonesville, the county seat of Lee County. He had purchased 97 acres in the Cedar Hills Section, for which he paid $600, from Andrew A. Dennison and his wife Mary E. Dennison. On this property, Asa built a substantial two-storey log house. He built a spiral staircase from the front room to the upper storey, and a porch the full width of the front of the house. Nearby was a good spring, Over this, he built a springhouse in which icy waters could curl around crocks of dairy products and other perishable foods, and furnish sparkling clear water for household use.”

My aunt sent me a photo of what she believed was the house. I am not sure when the picture was taken or who took it but I think it may have been obtained sometime in the 1920s. The photo is not of great quality but it does appear to be the two-story, log home reference in her story. The logs appear to have been squared off to make a tight fit in the walls. Part of the exterior is of board and batten construction. This may have been a later addition as the roof over the right hand side also appears to be newer.

Former residence of Asa and Margaret McDaniel at Beech Spring, Lee County, Virginia

I do know that Asa’s parents came from Maryland. They were married in Frederick County,Maryland, in 1801. But tracing them back further has been difficult. So far we only have assumptions and undocumented relationships from other researchers. I’ll get to looking for information about them soon, I hope.

Margaret Debusk’s parents were from Washington County. There apparently are two generations further back that originated in the USA, or the American Colonies to be more precise. Beyond that we are guessing.

The Debusk family farmed in Washington County and owned and operated a number of mills over the years as well. Margaret’s grandfather, Elijah Debusk, owned one such mill. According to Doris, “The first record found regarding our ancestor, Elijah, is in the Washington County Court Records. Dated 15 June 1792, Deed Book 1, page 400, Elijah obtained 200 acres, the sheepskin deed signed by Governor Robert Brooks. This original deed is now [1971] in the possession of Miss Mildred Widener of Glade Spring, Virginia. Her grandfather purchased the last of Elijah's holdings in 1872 from Elijah's grandson, Christopher DeBusk. This included the grist mill Elijah had built on Rush Creek in the first decade of the 19th century. In 1822, Elijah and his wife Caty gave parcels of land to their sons Isaac and Paulser. One of the lines dividing their properties ran directly through the middle of the grist mill.”

I believe the photo below, taken in 1927 (part of the Widener family collection) is of the mill on Rush Creek owned first by Elijah and later by his sons.

Mill on Rush Creek formerly owned by the Debusk family.

Unfortunately we know very little about the farms and mills as many records have not been preserved or found yet. I have not had the time yet to investigate the area further although I have been in contact with a few cousins from different branches; so maybe in the future we will be able to piece together more of the history of the family in Virginia.

Wayne Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program, handling four parishes in Devon, England. He serves as the Editor of Chinook, the quarterly journal of the Alberta Family Histories Society. Wayne also provides genealogical consulting services through his business, Family History Facilitated.

Old Homes and Homesteads – Part 5 – Torquay, Devon, England

My 2^nd great-grandparents, John and Mary Crispin (Carpenter) Shepheard were married in Stoke Damerel Parish, Plymouth on April 15, 1855. John was a labourer at the time. Both were living in Stoke Damerel Parish, John on Garden Street and Mary on St. Aubyn Street. There is still a Garden Street in Plymouth, although almost entirely rebuilt. St. Aubyn Street is no longer in existence. Much of the city was bombed during World War II and the area may have been destroyed then. They lived in a number of different places, mainly around Cornwood Parish, prior to their move to Torquay, Devon, in the late 1870s.

Stoke Damerel, Plymouth, about 1860 showing streets on which John Shepheard and Mary Crispin Carpenter lived at the time of their marriage in 1855

(copied from map produced by John Tallis & Company, London & New York)

A younger brother of John’s, James Thomas Shepheard, together with his wife, Charlotte Crispin, had been running a dairy operation in Torquay for a number of years. James Thomas died in 1878, leaving his wife – with two young children – to carry on. I suspect that John was recruited by Charlotte, who was also a sister of John’s wife, Mary, to help out with the business following her husband’s death. They are both shown as dairy owner/operators on censuses through 1891, in the case of John, and 1901, in the case of Charlotte.

John’s eldest son, William John Shepheard, had taken over his father’s share of the business prior to 1901. He later expanded the business to Taunton, Somerset, and following his death in 1908, his wife, Jane, continued as the proprietor. My grandfather, James Pearson Shepheard, lived and worked with his aunt and uncle for many years after his mother’s early death, until he immigrated to Canada in 1907.

The family’s first home in Torquay was at number 14, Princes Road. That address was changed to 44 in the late 1940s when the local council adjusted street addresses. The row of terraced residences appears to have just been completed or under construction on the 1866 map of the Ellacombe area.

Map of Ellacombe area, Torquay, Devon in 1866 (left) and 1906 (right) – 

showing locations of Shepheard family residences

By 1906, the area was completely developed. On the 1891 census, the family is shown living up the street at number 28 Princes Road (now number 58). When William John took over the dairy, it was located at 42 Princes Road (now number 72). The old dairy is now the site of a tanning salon called Beauty & The Beach.

Number 44 (dark grey unit, previously number 14) Princes Road, Ellacombe, Torquay, Devon – 

former residence of John and Mary (Carpenter) Shepheard

Number 58 (light blue unit, previously number 28) Princes Road, Ellacombe, Torquay, Devon – 

former residence of John and Mary (Carpenter) Shepheard

Number 72 (tanning salon, previously number 42) Princes Road, Ellacombe, Torquay, Devon – 

former residence and dairy business of John and Mary (Carpenter) Shepheard

My great-grandparents, James and Mary Elizabeth (Pearson) Shepheard were living at 13 Megla Terrace (Pennsylvania Road) in 1891, located two streets south of Princes Road. That is where my grandfather, James Pearson was born. It, too, is multi-family complex, built in the late 19^th century.

Number 13 Pennsylvania Road (unit with red door) – former residence of James and Mary Elizabeth (Pearson) Shepheard

These were the last homes in Devon, England in which my direct ancestors lived. My grandfather immigrated to Canada in 1907, followed by his father in 1913. A future post will deal with their homes in Canada.

Mary Crispin (Carpenter) Shepheard died on June 27, 1890 in Torquay. John died on January 17, 1901, also in Torquay. Both are buried in Cornwood Parish.

Gravestone Inscription:

In Loving Memory Of

MARY CRISPIN

THE BELOVED WIFE OF

JOHN SHEPHEARD

WHO DIED JUNE 27TH 1890

AGED 60 YEARS

HER END WAS PEACE

WHOSOEVER LIVETH AND BELIEVETH

IN ME SHALL NEVER DIE

ALSO

JOHN SHEPHEARD

WHO DIED JANUARY 17TH 1901

AGED 70 YEARS

Mary Elizabeth (Pearson) Shepheard died on October 4, 1891, in Torquay, just seven months after the birth of my grandfather. She is buried in the Hele Road Cemetery there.

Gravestone Inscription:

In Loving Memory

MARY ELIZABETH

THE BELOVED WIFE OF

JAMES SHEPHEARD

WHO DIED OCTOBER 4^TH 1891

AGED 24 YEARS

HER END WAS PEACE

Wayne Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program, handling four parishes in Devon, England. He serves as the Editor of Chinook, the quarterly journal of the Alberta Family Histories Society. Wayne also provides genealogical consulting services through his business, Family History Facilitated.