David & David A. Fleming Brick Wall
June 9, 2002
Having no intentions of doing genealogy, today I
retreated to the front porch to just sit and relax -
lazing the afternoon away.
Not long after settling back in my recliner lawn
chair I began to let my mind wonder about and
my focus soon settled on the beautiful view of the
trees and forest not far from the porch. Across
the road a neighbor's child, a little girl of about 4
or 5 years, walking across their lawn in her
daddy's rebocks. We used to call them sneakers.
They were huge, or so they seemed from about
100 yards away. Those shoes were sticking out
from her ankles at least as far in front of her as
the was the distance from the ground up to her
hips. I broke an unusual smile and in that there
was no one other than Chopper with me I said to
him, "Now, that is a picture!" Chopper seemed
to understand and stood looking in her direction.
A flash of inspiration hit and I was about to
scamper to get my camera and capture that
moment - then, with a wisp of disappointment I
recognized that if I were to run across the road
and approach the child of our new neighbors
they would likely call the police. With this
thought in mind, I left this precious moment
escape forever. The photo would have been a
treasure for her sometime later in life. They are
a young family and I have never seen them with
a camera. What a shame that times have come
down to this. Of course, we know why, we have
not shown ourselves as a society that can be
trusted. Today, no one assumes the other to be
trustworthy at first blush, because, people have
robbed us of this most treasured asset of
humanity. We have to question. We have to
ponder. We find ourselves studying a neighbor,
or a motorist next to us on the high-way, or the
person coming toward us in the supermarket
isle, wondering all the while - are they someone
we wish to be close to, or to know, or even pass
on the isle.
Suffering the loss of this flash of time [little girl
with daddy's shoes], I began to focus on just
letting my mind wonder once again through the
forest of trees. My eyes soon fell on an ancient
Oak not far from the porch. What a beautiful
example of the perfection of creation! No telling
how many years this tree has glanced down upon
us - an example of the diversity of God's
creation, and wondered how it was that we
humans became so stupid. There it stands,
having weathered many storms and considering
the location, a number of hurricanes as well. Its
trunk thick and straight - reaching up toward
the heavens, a beacon of the wonder of it all.
Perfection!
Perfection - well, not quite. I began to look more
closely at this magnificent wonder of nature and
noticed that there were flaws. Flaws, as man
would look at it, but flaws indeed. Insects or
something has caused several bunches of leaves
to curl up and die. Most likely moths or larva
had made a home there on this branch. However,
even so, this could hardly be considered a flaw, if
insects had made a home, it was still noticeable.
If one were to go over and break the crumpled
bunch of leaves off the tree, the who, what,
where and when might well be determined -
however, this would still cause a flaw in the
nature of things.
At this point an idea began to form. I have
labored for months over a question of heritages.
Who are the ancestors of my mother's side of our
Fleming family? In my search there are two
David Flemings. There is the David that is
buried at the Sample Run Protestant Cemetery
with birth and death etched in stone [both
figuratively and demonstrably]. He is laid to rest
next to Jemima [and from somewhere I got info
that indicated her last name was Henry or
Henrich]. Jemima lived from 1855 - 1924. As
well, the grave is directly behind my grandfather
and grandmother, Harry Blair and Madge
Alberta HOLMES Fleming. One don't need
much more than that to figure out that Harry
Blair was the son of David Fleming not more
than eight feet away. Now if David Fleming had
passed away as recently as say 1990 or later one
might think the dates etched in stone could be an
error. People don't seem to care much about
anything these days. However, when you see
dates such as 1855 - 1924, this is rather clear
evidence that these dates are accurate. Great
grandmother is a bit of a different story though.
As with most, her maiden name is unavailable so
we have to rely on other information and data to
figure out who her folks were.
The other brick wall. David A. Fleming. Who is
he and from where and whom did he come from
? This is where the puzzle begins to show
extreme resistance. Even with all that I have
published in trees, reports and fictional stories,
no one has been able or willing to offer any
additional information. This leaves us with clues
only to work with. Unless anyone disputes what I
am going to present here we will be left with
only my ability to put the puzzle together with
only unverified clues. This is OK in a sense. At
least we care enough to try.
What is know of and about David A Fleming and
Sarah A Rairich is that he was born April 4,
1863 in Rayne Twp, PA, and died in 1933. Sarah
was born in 1865 and died in 1936. We have a
faint idea of who the parents of both Sarah A
and Jemima where, although very little . . . Most
of what is known of David A Fleming is gleaned
from a book entitled, "History of Indiana
County, Pennsylvania," Page 1508. Although the
author of this book was sited when I found it
months ago, I was at the early stage of my
exploration into ancestry and am afraid I wasn't
alert to the need to capture sources as I should
have been. In that the data was made available
by some subscription to ether Geneology.com or
Ancestry.com, it is rather doubtful that I will
run across it at another time.
What is known about this group of Flemings is
their prominence in the timber industry from
their first appearance in Pennsylvania until the
death of Charles Fleming, the last of the male
Fleming children of Harry Blair Fleming. Using
this information, and accepting the fact that I,
much like the Oak tree in my front yard next to
the woods, am imperfect, I have begun to wonder
about the possible inaccuracy of the book,
"History of Indiana County, Pennsylvania."
[Author unknown] My recollections about the
book I once had on-line access to reminds me
that there were a whole lot of stories and
information about a whole lot of people. I am not
even sure if this unknown author knew the
Flemings in any way or fashion. It is indeed
possible he didn't know them and that in doing
research he traveled many miles and talked to a
multitude of people over the years and that his
writings are a synopsis of all that he had
gleaned.
I ask the question [of my Brick Wall] . . . Which
is more factual? Is the tomb stone at Sample
Run, Clymer, PA, correct in placing the birth
and death of David Fleming as bing 1855 - 1924?
And if these two David Flemings are indeed
ONE and the same David (A) Fleming, should we
take the notes recorded in the book, and the
dates provided there, as being etched in paper
stone? In that BOTH David Flemings were
raised on a "Farm in Rayne Twp., [Near
Clymer], is it possible that our authors dates are
in error, and that David A Fleming is buried at
Sample Run Protestant Cemetery, Rayne
Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania?
Our David Fleming had a son named Harry Blair. The David A. Fleming, as per the book, had a son named Harry Clair Fleming. I think there is the possibility here that some dates and facts were in error due to transcription and these two may well be the same. Lumberman. Farm in Rayne Twp. Sons with near the same middle names. Is this not somewhat like the Oak tree with the crumpled leaves? An odyssey of nature, but of nature none the less. You can brake the branch off, but the tree will continue to show that it was broken - or tampered with. There are other clues to the Brick Wall, and these are published in my Family Tree Maker web site. However, I think we can make the connection here, even if we have to raise the possibility that David A. Fleming was married twice. First, he married Jemima Henry [Henrich]. She died in 1924. He then married Sarah A. Rairich [close to Henrich?] and she died in 1933. This opens another corner to the Brick Wall. Which children were born by which mother? This will take another day and another close inspection of the woods across the street from where I live.
Any ideas, questions or comments, please contact me at the following:
--Robert B Craig (robert121437@earthlink.net)(Robertcraig369@myfamily.com)
Bob & Glenda Craig
Welcome to The Craig Fleming Home Pages
http://www.tribalpages.com/tribes/rbchopper
http://familytreemaker.geneaology.com/users/c/r/a/Robert-b-Craig/
********************************
July 24, 2002 David & David A. Fleming - The
saga continues:
Having just returned from the Craig Family
Reunion in Indiana, PA, my mind goes back to
that tree with the rumpled branches in the
woods across the road. While driving up to PA, I
could hardly miss the hill we passed. It was a
large hill and it was just covered with Oak
Trees. What brought it to my attention was the
fact that every branch of every tree had these
rumpled dead end branches. Better described:
The branches themselves were their usual
beautiful dark green, but the ends of each was
that dead brown. I remarked to Glenda that all
those trees are in the process of dying. "They
must be diseased, or something!" What a quirk
of nature. The west is on fire - burning up trees.
The trees on this hillside in West Virginia are
dying - a cause of nature. We have heard so
much about how humans are destroying nature.
However, nature has cared for every tree on this
planet for thousands of years - burning some
down (lightning strikes, etc.), and yet, when you
drive to a place some 400 miles away, it is
extremely difficult to find areas NOT covered
with beautiful trees. Like people. There has been
pestilence that has taken thousands of lives,
plagues and so forth. Yet, it is impossible to drive
anywhere and not find cars full of people going
some place or other.
We stopped at a rest place along the highway. A
gentleman, I reckon about 75-80 years old, out of
a clear blue ski says to me (startled me a bit -
didn't know he was there), "Ya' know, I've just
been standing here thinking to myself, 'Years
ago I recall going to a reunion and there were
over 300 people, all driving in on horse and
buggy, about 80 or so of em'.' What do you
suppose we'd do today, with all those
automobiles out there, if they were all horse &
buggies?" He went on, "Reckon the State would
have to hire Federal Highway people to take
forks and shovels and clean things up a bit
before we could go on, don't ya' think?"
We had a great laugh together. Somehow, he
helped lighten the way for both of us. Nothing
much more was said. We both knew what the
statement implied. We both left that place with a
bit more of a smile in our heart.
Today, "The Brick Wall" concerning the
Fleming saga just came down a bit - got a bit
smaller - revealed a crack or two. I received an
E-mail indicating the father and mother of David
A. Fleming. He is different from my great
grandfather - David Fleming.
(E-mail, July 25, 2002)
You indicate that David A. Fleming is a dead-end.
Beg to differ.
David A. Fleming is the son of Morton J. and Matilda McGuire Fleming of Cookport, Pa
Vernon . . .
You see. This FLEMING Oak Tree isn't dead
just yet. There is hope. Last week a stranger,
on-line, helped me pin down the wife of MY
David Fleming. She WAS Jemima Henry,
daughter of Daniel Henry, d. October 01, 1883 in
Cherryhill Township, Indiana Co., PA, and
Daniel's wife was, Sarah Byers, b.1816 in
Schuylkill Co., PA, d. 1908 in Cherryhill Twp.,
Indiana Co., PA.
Both Daniel & Sarah's relatives are now known!
Daniel & Sarah Henry are both resting at the
Sample Run Cemetery, Indiana Co., Clymer,
PA, - along with my David Fleming and Sarah
Henry, my great grand parents. Not knowing
their names when I was at this Cemetery, I most
likely walked right by them without even
realizing it. This is so amazing to me.
So, you see, IT IS possible that some day, out of nowhere, someone will write me and give the complete David Fleming family tree. I feel satisfied that this WILL happen. Meanwhile, I will return to my front porch and gaze out upon that Oak Tree across the road, in the woods, and wonder if that tree I spoke of before really is going to die next year. . .