Re: Thompson Ratliff / Wayne Co WV
-
In reply to:
Thompson Ratliff / Wayne Co WV
5/01/00
TESTIMONY OF KENNETH RATLIFF
[From a letter to Elizabeth Textor dated Jan 1984 or before
and an interview with Kenneth L. Dyer dated 30 July 1984]_&!
My great grandfather, Nathan Ratliff, was an immigrant from
Ireland, came to this country, settled in Montgomery County, Virginia
on Little River near Christiansburg, Virginia.His wife was Rebecca
Farmer, married 1781.They had four sons: John, William, Richard, and
Thomps.I don't know any of the daughters.John, William, and
Richard Ratliff settled on Shelby Creek in Pike County, Ky. near Pike-
ville.Kenneth's Testimony dated 30 July 1984 is somewhat different:
Original Ratliffs came from England.They went to Scotland after the
king took their land away as punishment for rebellion.They did not
stay to face prosecution.
Thomps was born February 4, 1802 and died January 13, 1879.
"Wash" Ratliff brought Thomps from Virginia to this part of the coun-
try in 1812 when he was 6.(One of these numbers has to be in error.)
Wash Ratliff was his uncle and lived about 2 miles above Cassville,
now Fort Gay, on the River Road -- the uncle Jerry Bartram place.
My grandfather, Thompson Ratliff, first married William Bromley's
daughter, Nancy Bromley, in 1823 when he was 21.He took three slaves
to cut brush when they rode horseback to Richmond, Virginia to get the
license.Kenneth Ratliff said this trip took 2 or 3 weeks; I'm not
sure which now.Thomps built a log house in 1823, the one Kenneth
Ratliff still lives in.Thomps and Nancy Bromley had no children.
Kenneth said Nancy Bromley died having her first child, but this seems
impossible since she was still alive in 1870, age 67.She died some-
time between June 1870 (date of the census) and 31 January 1872 when
Thomps married Nary (Damron) Crum.(Her tombstone reads: born Feb. 4,
1804 -- died Jan. 13, 1879).This last year must must surely have
been 1871.
Nancy Bromley's father, William Bromley, settled on this ridge
because good timber was here.This also kept him away from the Indians
who travelled the river.Indians ran him home one time.He fell in
through the door.He lived about a year after that.Thomps Ratliff's
farm was the 400 acres given them by "Uncle" Billy Brumley.@3% (William
Bromley lived 1782-1865 and his wife, Mary Short lived 1786-1870.)
Nary Damron married John Crum on 22 March 1855 and had two child-
ren by him, Fife (or Life) and Hessie.She married Thompson Ratliff on
3l Jan 1872.Then granddad and Nary had two sons: John and Thomps.
Thomps, the youngest, was my father.He was born Feb 25, 1875 and died
Dec 23, 1955.Wayne County birth records show John J. Ratcliff was
born on Mar 9, 1873.Kenneth Ratliff says he married Rachael Copley.
(The tombstone of Nary (Damron)(Crum) Ratliff gives her birth and
death dates as: May 11, 1839 and July 20, 1901.)
In August 1899 my dad married Mary Crabtree and had the following
children: (Dates were added from the Wayne County, WV birth records.)
A younger boy and girl died in infancy.
Hazel L. born 30 Apr 1900
Hildred R. (or Hilliard) born2 Dec 1902d Apr 1983 (Schoolteacher)
Not named born 21 Dec 1902(year probably in error?)
Ronald G. Lives in Wadsworth, Ohio
Clifford F.
Imogene B. born 30 Sep 1908
Kenneth R. born 30 Mar 1913Lives on the 1823 homestead.
Thompson Ratliff was the owner of 30 slaves during the Civil War,
yet his farm was not at all the typical southern plantation.The land
was too poor.The main produce from the farm at this time included
timber, flax, corn, and wheat.The threshing field was tramped too
hard for crops.Here wheat had been thrown into the air with hickory
flails.During the war he was offered $30,000 for these slaves, yet
would not sell them.They cried and pleaded with him not to sell
them.(I believe a plantation "down the river" in Louisiana would
have been their new home.)Thomps also had another reason not to sell
them.The home guard would likely have killed him had he done so.
Thompson Ratliff bought a little girl and little boy at a slave
auction at the Forks of Tug for $300 each.The girl, Ag, was age 12.
He put them in sacks with holes cut out for their heads, then threw
them over the horse.Later Thomps bought another girl named Emeriah.
Kenneth remembered a few names of the other slaves.Black Dan was the
boss and Thomps' most trusted slave.Cripple Jim was a big strong man.
Thomps traded him to _________ Frazier so he could be with his wife.
Frazier lived on Hurricane.Thomps (or Cripple Jim?) would cross the
river at Kermit each fall to get salt near Warfield.Thomps took
things to the mill in winter -- said he could stand the cold better than
the n______.Ag raised 18 of her 19 children.She stayed here 10 years
after they were freed.After Thomps married the Damron (1872) she
objected to their singing and dancing.They had cabins all over the
place (kind of circled the head of the hollow as I recall -- KLD).She
said they could stay if they moved down in the hollow.Some may have
moved further away on the farm for awhile, but most moved to "N____
Hollow" in Fort Gay (now Apperson Street).One of these, Andy, left
the farm as a boy, then came back to see the place many years later
when Kenneth was a boy.He received pretty much of a royal welcome and
ate a specially prepared meal with them.
Kenneth Ratliff still owns 141 acres of Thomps Ratliff's old farm
including the original log house -- to which several rooms have since
been added.He also owns the colored cemetery where 13 of his
granddad's slaves, mostly children, are buried.The rest of Kenneth's
land was an old land grant from the Commonwealth of Virginia, patented
in 1843 and he still has the patent deed and the land yet.The house
is near the head of a hollow on a narrow bench of land.The bulk of
the land is now in pasture and essentially none of it would be con-
sidered tillable by today's standards.All except the very tops of the
hills would be considered too steep and rocky for modern equipment.
FOOTNOTES
1. Comment of K. L. Dyer is that the Ratliff name does seem to be
English.After fleeing to Scotland they probably became part of
the "Scotch-Irish" migration from Scotland to Ireland, then migrated
from Ireland to America along with hordes of emigrating Scotch-Irish.
2. I found no record of a "Wash" Ratliff who was this old and who
lived in the Big Sandy Valley area.A Daniel and Elizabeth (Griffeth)
Ratliff were living at this location on 19 May 1802 when their son,
William Ratliff, was born.Hardesty said that William Ratliff was the
first white child to be born in what is now Lincoln District of Wayne
County, WV.Daniel Ratliff owned one slave in 1820.
3. Cabell County, WV Surveyor's Record Book 1, page 242: On 20 Nov
1822 a tract containing 150 acres of land on Mill Creek, a branch of
Sandy River, was surveyed for William Brumley and Lazarus Damron.
Cabell County, WV Deed Book 4, p. 470: On 23 Feb 1828 William Brumley
and Lazarus Damron sold 1/2 of two tracts on Mill Creek to Thompson
Ratliff, James Ferguson, and John Jarrell for $1.(All three of these
men had married daughters of William Bromley; John Jarrell was an
illegitimate son of Lazarus Damron and Jane Jarrell.) The smaller tract
was the 150 acres surveyed in 1822 and patented in 1823.The larger
tract was 300 acres.These records were in my Damron folder.No
search was made for other Bromley-Ratliff land transactions.
4. Wayne county birth records list the following children born to
Thompson Ratliff and various slaves:(The present list shows that
Thompson Ratliff was the father, but as I recall the original list
says "owner" in place of father for all births, black and white.)
William Ratcliff born 10 Feb 1854 to Aganis Ratcliff, mother
Mary Elizabeth Ratcliff born 12 Feb 1857 to Ede Ratcliff, mother
Dennis Ratcliff born 23 Apr 1860 to Marier Ratcliff
More Replies:
-
Re: Thompson Ratliff / Wayne Co WV
Betty Damron 7/14/00
-
Re: Thompson Ratliff / Wayne Co WV
kenneth dyer 7/15/00
-
Re: Thompson Ratliff / Wayne Co WV
12/01/00
-
Re: Thompson Ratliff / Wayne Co WV
Marion Perkins 9/23/01
-
Re: Thompson Ratliff / Wayne Co WV
9/27/01
-
Re: Thompson Ratliff / Wayne Co WV
Ken Haas 4/02/04
-
Re: Thompson Ratliff / Wayne Co WV
Libby Martin 7/29/02
-
Re: Thompson Ratliff / Wayne Co WV
-
Re: Thompson Ratliff / Wayne Co WV
-
Re: Thompson Ratliff / Wayne Co WV
-
Re: Thompson Ratliff / Wayne Co WV
-
Re: Thompson Ratliff / Wayne Co WV
-
Re: Thompson Ratliff / Wayne Co WV
5/02/00
-
Re: Thompson Ratliff / Wayne Co WV
12/02/00
-
Re: Thompson Ratliff / Wayne Co WV
avis mccollom 3/06/02
-
Re: Thompson Ratliff / Wayne Co WV
-
Re: Thompson Ratliff / Wayne Co WV