Re: Childress family Bible (Virginia, 1850)
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In reply to:
Re: Childress family Bible (Virginia, 1850)
1/25/00
In January 2000, I purchased a family Bible belonging to a Childress family of 19th Century Montgomery Co., VA which came on the market.I have previously promised to post the entries in the Bible on this Genforum.
A transcription of the family register pages is provided below, including an obituary and an item of newspaper prose pasted on the inside front cover of the Bible.Jennie Ida Childress' obituary, found on the front inside cover, chronicles her poignantly painful battle with a terminal disease.Two small faded flowers are pressed within the Bible.The prior owner purchased the Bible in the 1960s from a Virginia antiques dealer who said he had purchased it in Tennessee.
If any researcher would care for a free Xerox copy of the register pages they may send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Mark Childress, 8403 Seranata Drive, Whittier, CA90603-1054.
The transcription has preserved the original punctuation and spelling, e.g., "Childrefs," "borned/bornd," "marrid," “Jan.th,” and "October 1 th" where penned as such.The name-order of Jennie Childress is correctly transcribed as it was penned in the birth register, "Ida Jennie Childrefs;" but see contra in marriage register and newspaper obituary.
Births
Wm C. Childrefs was bornd Oct 1th [sic] 1851
Bettie Childrefs was bornd Dec. 15th, 1852
Mollie T. A. Childrefs was bornd May 27th, 1854
James S. Childrefs was borne March 20, 1856
Waddy P. Childrefs was borne March 2, 1859
Ida Jennie Childrefs was born Mary 29, 1862
Thomas P. Childrefs was born June 1, 1864
Fannie S. Childrefs was born July 12, 1840
Thomas D. Childress was born Jan. 9th, 1825
Fannie D. Childress was born November 10th, 1830
Wm. F.M. Childress borned April 16, 1779
Elizabeth Childress bornd August 26, 1792
Marriages
Fannie S. Childress and H.J. Stall [sic] were married January 26, 1888
Thomas P. Childrefs AND Bettie C. Davis were marrid [sic] Dec 5th 1888
Thomas D. Childrefs and Fannia [sic] D. Jeams was married Dec 18 – 1850
Bettie Childrefs & Floyd D. Surfall was married Sept 10. 1873
Wm. C. Childrefs and Callie L. Tibbs were married Oct 8 – 1873
Mollie G. Childrefs and Eldred F. Smith were married Jan. 18. 1876
James S. Childress and Jennie B. Smith were married 12th Sep 1877
Jennie I. Childrefs and W. J. Hall were married May 27th 1880
W. P. Childress and Annie Johnson were married Dec 20 1881
Deaths
Wm. F. M. Childrefs dec[d'] April 29 1852
Wm Childrefs Sr. Decd Nov 2 1856, aged 73 years 13 days
Elizabeth Childrefs dec'd Sept 3 1857, aged 65 years 7 months
Wm. N. Childrefs dec['d] January 17 –1873 Friday
Thomas D. Childress departed this life Jan.th [sic] 1886
W.C. Childress died Jany the 8th 1886
Mrs. Jennie I. Hall departed this life Jun 24th 1887 (Friday)
Mrs. Fannie D. Childress departed this life October 2nd 1907
W. P. (Vincent) [sic] Witcher [?] Childress died June 20, 1942 aged 84
Pasted to the inside cover of the Bible
Mrs. Jennie I. Hall
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Mrs. Jennie I. Hall, née Childress, the wife of W.J. Hall, and third daughter of Thomas D. and Fannie Childress, was born in Montgomery County, Virginia, on the 29th of March, 1862;was married on the 27th of May, 1880, and departed this life on the 24th of June, 1887.She joined the M.E. Church, South, on the 10th of August, 1886, having professed religion previous to that time.The disease which resulted in her death had been preying upon her system four years.She suffered intense pain.So excruciating was her suffering that many times during her illness she prayed the Lord to bring relief by death, if consistent with His will.Surely she suffered many things of many physicians, but gradually grew worse until the Great Physician said "It is enough."Her piety was not excessively demonstrative, but of a solid and high order, exhibiting itself in the constancy of holy living.In no case has the writer witnessed the sustaining power of faith so fully as in this;not a word of murmur was ever heard, or a look of impatience seen during her long confinement.Her resignation was so great and her hope in God so strong that she spoke of her approaching death as of a journey to the home of her best friend.The poor had a warm place in her affection insomuch that a few hours before she expired, she made numerous requests of her husband relating to the poor of her community.And in her last hours she did not forget the interest of the Church, as she also requested her husband to give one-fourth of the proceeds of her stock to the support of the gospel.Heaven and duty were her absorbing themes, and the prayers and songs of Christian people drove away the gloom of wasting disease, and threatening death.The appeals she made to sinners are still ringing in my ears.Of all who visited her in her last hours, none were forgotten.The wroth of Heaven seemed to press upon her mind like an avalanche, and moved her in urging others to seek that happy place.The separation of this husband and wife severs a strong cord;for such mutual devotion, such oneness of companionship is rarely seen.This sainted woman leaves a sorrowing widowed mother to mourn her loss, and who, within the past two years, has been bereft of a devoted husband, and a loving son, the body of the latter sleeps beneath the sod of the western prairie.May the Lord's afflicting hand, rest lightly upon these stricken ones and lead them to dear Jennie's blissful home in the hand of God.
Also pasted on the inside cover, next to the obituary:
"Will You Come Then and Linger Round My Grave ?"
By Myrtle
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So queried a loved one as she slowly sank in the embrace of death.It is natural with us to cherish a desire for remembrance when we have passed from earth.We leave behind us then all that we hold dear on earth – all cherished ties are severed till the resurrection.Farewell !What a rush of emotions comes with that word.Farewell, till we change worlds, and the reunion of all sundered ties comes "in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye."Farewell;wife, husband, mother, father and children:farewell to all that is dear to us on death.Farewell, little babe, whose ruby lips I will never kiss again, till you meet me where they who father are of such as make up the kingdom of Heaven.Farewell, to the hallowed associations of earth, where the bitter and the sweet have been mingled.All the sickness, suffering and trial of this life are drawing to a close, and I now lay my body down to molder back to dust.Will you come and cast the floral wreath as a tribute to my memory ?Will you draw aside from the throng, and kneeling down on the lovely sod drop the tear for me ?Will you remember me when I am gone ?Will you think of the hours we have spent together, when our hopes were bright and our joys were full ?Will you think of the hours of grief which crushed our hearts, and we together kneeled in prayer for comfort ?Will you remember the times I have comforted you, and when you folded your arms around me in silent sympathy, and dropped [kind] words of consolation ?Will you come then and linger round my grave ?My sainted spirit, as a ministering angel, may come back and watch over you as you sit and think of me.Will you crown my memory with amaranthine wreaths, and come to cast your garlands at my feet ?Will you keep my memory green ?Come and make my grave a verdant spot the will tell the passer-by that she lives in the memory of those she so faithfully served while on the earth.See those bright flowers we panted for her.Do they embalm her memory ?Those soft petals are steeped in dew-drops.Their fragrance is sweet as her kind words and gentle ways, and their purity and beauty emblematical [sic] of memory.Yes, we'll come an crown you with roses, faint though the offering may be.We could that we might cast far nobler trophies at your feet, and embalm your memory with garlands more fair.Could we unbosom [sic] our hearts to you today you would see there was an aching void, said eyes brimming with unshed tears.We'll plant these flowers over your grave, 'twill be a sweet relief from our woe;but their bright, beautiful faces cannot chase the caroding [sic] grief away.We come back to your grave to see if we can find some comfort, something to remind us of the "loved and lost"; but as we lean over the grave-stone the tear wells up, and we hear, in sternest accents, "Earth to earth and dust to dust."No face, no form, to greet us.No gentle hand clasp ours, no warm embrace, no mother to speak to us and bid us welcome;we would cry out, "Mother, come back from the echoless shore, and take me to your arms again !"Hush this anxious longing in my heart, which nothing can satisfy "for no love like a mother's love ever was shown."I have planted these flowers over your grave and they have bloomed and faded many years, and yet today your memory lingers as a sweet aroma.No more sacred spot does this earth hold for me than were your sacred dust is resting.I come to linger as a watcher around the dearest spot of earth to me.We see you, mother, in our imagination with the wreath of immortal flowers crowning your brow.Methinks you have your harp of gold to swell the melody of Heaven.We feel that your ransomed spirit is basking in endless joy;though infant hearts cry out for you in their pain and helplessness, you would not, cannot come back.This little tribute we pay to your memory speaks but faintly of the undying love we cherish for mother.We'll cherish these little flowers will we come where grave-stones are not known, where the orphan's wail is not heard, and the flowers fade no more. We'll keep your memory green.
River Range, June 24, 1887.
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Re: Childress family Bible (Virginia, 1850)
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