THE ADVENTUROUS ALAMANCE COUSINS
Prepared by James A. (Jack) Shaddy
June
6, 1994
I had a dream. As explicit as any dream that I ever had, I
envisioned John and Elizabeth traveling Northward on Highway 62. Their fancy buggy was pulled by a large
white stallion and they were discussing the events of the day at their Stinking
Quarter Plantation. They rapidly approached a familiar figure and slowed to a
stop. The man was Michael Holt. They talked about the weather, the crops,
the children, etc. Finally Michael
asked them where were they going. They
replied that had some shopping to do at Wal-Marts in Burlington and on the way
back they would stop at Hardee's for a hamburger. This ended my dream that I think was a prelude to the long
awaited first visit to Alamance County, the home of my ancestors, John and
Elizabeth Shaddy.
An introduction to the characters mentioned in this
article. (See Flow Chart for
relationship.) My third cousin, Waldo
Shaddy and his wife, Irene, retired from work in California and have been on
the road in their motor-home for two years.
They have visited many Shaddies in many states; California, Idaho,
Nevada, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee, Georgia, Ohio, etc. It is a disappointment that no Shaddies
remain in North Carolina, but the daughters of John and Elizabeth married
Cobles and Foglemans, and these families flourish in the state.
Waldo and Irene were aware that I had a very strong desire
to visit what was probably the first home of my ancestors in this country, the
present day Alamance County. I have
researched the SHADDY family many years and have compiled very good
documentation back to approximately 1738 of the families activities in North
Carolina. I had met Waldo and Irene
thru another cousin, Kenneth Shaddy, in Las Vegas two years ago and we have
exchanged family data since then.
One of John's and Elizabeth's daughters, Sally, (born
6-14-1769, died 2-2-1849), married John Coble (born 1761, died 6-15-1815). The marriage was circa 1785. From this family I discovered another
cousin, Ed Coble and his wife, Kathleen, of Winston-Salem. We have exchanged Shaddy and Coble family
data for several years and I feel as if I have known him personally for a long
time.
Finally, a nephew of Waldo, Bob Shaddy and his wife, Joyce,
of Savannah Georgia, joined us for this adventure. Bob and I put all data on computers, we have exchanged floppies
for several years, and have submitted our combined files to the LDS
Genealogical Library at Salt Lake City.
We have on record about 2500 names - descendents, including marriages,
of John and Elizabeth.
Saturday May 14, 1994
At last all conditions became favorable and plans for the
N.C. adventure were finalized. My wife,
Velma, and I took a Saturday flight from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Greensboro. Waldo and Irene met us at the airport, we
were surprised by Bob and Joyce also being there. We stayed with Waldo and Irene, in their motor-home for five
days. The camp ground was close to both
the western part of Alamance County and the eastern part of Guilford County,
south of Greensboro/Burlington, near Pleasant Garden.
Sunday May 15, 1994
We should have attended services at St. Paul's but only
thought of that later. We, all the
living Shaddies in North Carolina, were invited to the home of Ed and Kathleen
Coble for lunch. Kathleen Lee Conrad
and Ed Coble met at an early age and eventually joined in a very successful
marriage. Their home is the original
home, modernized, of Ed's Grandfather and is located on the old Coble farm on
the west side of Winston-Salem.
Kathleen prepared a very delicious meal and we had good conversation,
catching up on our family relationship.
Kathleen is of Moravian background, it was very informative discovering
some details of the Morvaian customs and religion.
Monday May 16, 1994
Early morning the Cobles came over to our camp and we
planned to see all that we could in the few days that we had. Velma and I rode with the Cobles, Bob and
Joyce rode with Waldo and Irene. On a
previous visit to this area Waldo and Irene had made some interesting
discoveries. John Shaddy's will of 1809
states that "He had a mill".
One of the top priorities in our search would be to find the location of
that mill and to see if there are any remaining identifiable structure. Waldo made inquiries and found remains of
two mills on the North Prong of the Stinking Quarter Creek. He was anxious to show these to us. We turned up a little lane leading to a
farmhouse and stopped on the creek at what turned out to be the remains of the
old LOW'S Mill. The rock structure of
the dam is intact except for an opening to let the water go on downstream. The dam must have been at least 100 feet
long. We went down to the bed of the
creek and made very good pictures of this historic place.
A short distance away we visited the LOW'S Church,
organized circa 1771 as a Union Lutheran and German Reformed Church. This union was severed by different
sentiments growing out of the Regulation Movement and the rebellion of the colonies.
"They couldn't pray satisfactorily to all since some were Tories and
others Whigs." Searching the
cemetery we found tombstones:
MOLLY
Relict of Jno.
Fogleman, Sr.
Died Sep 12, 1846
Aged 81 years
Note: Relict is Archaic meaning survivor or widow.
This Molly is probably the oldest child of John and Elizabeth.
JOHN FOGLEMAN,
Sr.
Died
Sept. 1841
Aged 81 years
JOEL SHADDY
COBLE
Born Dec 4,
1835
Died Mar 13,
1888
SALLY
Born
6-14-1769
Died
2-2-1849
JOHN COBLE
Born
1761
Died
6-15-1815
Sally is a daughter of John and Elizabeth Shaddy and the
ancestor of Ed Coble.
Next stop: The old Brick Church. This was originally German Reformed but now
United Church of Christ. The title page
of the original record book, as translated into English, was "Church Book
of the Reformed." Futher,
"Congregation on Beaver Creek in Orange County and Guilford County North
Carolina", and is the beginning, at the time, Anno Dom 1772. It was here that John and Rachel Shaddy were
confirmed 10-20-1795. Also, in 1803,
that Jacob Shaddy and his wife baptized their sick child, John. The first John is John, Jr, Rachel married
George Fogleman and is buried at St. Paul's, the child John is buried at St.
Paul's, adjacent to John and Elizabeth.
I have noticed the German village, BINGEN, many times in
Shaddy research and related it, without definite proof, to be the Shaddy
European homeplace. On a Rhine River
cruise we slowly passed the small village, BINGEN, and I felt some strange
inward emotion. I would like to point
out that the Rhine and the Stinking Quarter both flow to the NORTH, quite a
coincidence. The following stone really
caught my attention:
JOHANN LUDWIG KLOP
BORN BINGEN GERMANY 1704
Arrived in America 1727 Berks
Co. Penn.
Migrated to Alamance Co.
Circa 1745
Deceased Jan. 1778
His Wife
ANNA MARGRETHA KLAPIN
June 18, 1717 Jan 17, 1785
Next stop:
MAYS Lake
Ed Coble writes, "May's Lake is an upscale residential
area located inside the city of Burlington just off a busy
thoroughfare." He presents a very
believable document placing the old Shaddy Mill at May's Lake. A letter from Mable S. Lassiter of
Burlington verifies Ed's findings. Ed
is following up his ideas concerning this site and has some very good
leads. We spent some quality time in
this beautiful part of Burlington. I
expect more info from Ed in the near future.
Next stop: St. Paul's Lutheran Church
St. Paul's is located 2 miles east of the Alamance
Battleground. Worship was conducted
here as early as 1745. 1770 is the
earliest date for the organization and is used on the church cornerstone. The first church is thought to have been a
union church with the German Reformed up to around 1800 when the Reformed
members moved over to Steiners (Stoners), which is no longer in existence, and
to Der Klapp Kirche (Brick Church) in Guilford County.
Perhaps the highlight of the entire trip was our visit to
St. Paul's Lutheran Church and the burial place of our oldest known ancestors,
John and Elizabeth Shaddy.
A young friend of mine, Jim Hurdle, whose parents live in
Alamance County, had made a visit to N.C. and brought back very good pictures
to Ft. Worth. I had also previously
received good pictures from Ed Coble and Penny Beck.
IN THE YEAR IN THE YEAR
OF OUR LORD OF OUR LORD
1738
January 1747 December
The 3 Day 4 day Born
JOHN SHADY ELIZABETH
Was Boarn SHADDY Died
And Died The The 13 of March
9 of February 1818
1812
I was very excited and anxious to see the stones. The inscriptions are very difficult to read
now but I think I made an important discovery.
Notice that whoever engraved John's name did not start with sufficient
space to the right for the correct spelling.
I think the result was JOHN SHADY. It is sad to see these inscriptions rapidly fade into
oblivion. If St. Paul's would approve I
will promote that all Shaddys contribute to a supplementary stone so as to
commemorate the memory of John and Elizabeth.
Of course, the old stones should be left exactly as they are and the new
stone would be inscribed exactly the same as the old ones. Also buried at St. Paul's are:
John Shady
b. 1-13-1803 d.
3-22-1803 (s/o C. Shady)
Note: This is the baby son of Jacob and Christianna
Shaddy, baptized in the Brick Church in 1803.
William Shaddy
b. d.
1811
Note: This probably is the infant son of Jacob and
Christianna Shaddy.
George Fogleman
b. 5-26-1774 d.
9-20-1847
Rachael Fogleman
b. 10-18-1777 d. 9-27-1846
Note: Rachael is the daughter of John and Elizabeth
Shaddy. She was confirmed in the Brick
Church 10-20-1795. George Fogleman's Father, Malachi, deeded him 100 acres in
1820.
Martin Neace
b. d. 9-11-1846
Elizabeth Neace
b. d.
9-16-1846
Note: Elizabeth is the daughter of John and
Elizabeth Shaddy. She was also known as
Betty. There is conflict in the St.
Paul's Records concerning the ages of Martin and Elizabeth.
This was the end of a perfect day.
Tuesday May 17, 1994
John's oldest son, John, Jr., was born 2-26-1754 in
N.C. Note: There is some
conflict here concerning the comparative ages of Elizabeth and John, Jr. Perhaps John, Sr. had a previous marriage,
ie, to the mother of John, Jr. and some of the older girls. John, Jr. married Mary Fogleman 4-20-1795,
fathered 14 children, died 2-21-1859 at age 105. He is buried at Bennington, Switzerland County, Indiana. He served in the Revolutionary War, was
injured, and received a pension of $58/year.
We had heard of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, probably John, Jr.
was a participant, and desired to see
it. Bob and Joyce took the lead from
our camp and became lost three times in Greensboro. Waldo took the lead and became lost three more times. The highway signs in Greensboro are as bad
as any I have ever seen. Finally we
stumbled onto the site, accidentally.
We visited the museum, saw an enlightening movie and had a very
educational time. Bob and I walked down
into a valley where one segment of the battle occurred. On our way back we discovered the stump of a
very large tree, we counted 250 rings and wished that old stump could tell us
some of the incidents it had witnessed. General Nathanael Green led the
Americans, Charles, Earl Cornwallis led the British in what is called, "A
British victory dearly bought."
From this battle it was all "downhill" for the British.
Next Stop: The Alamance County Historical Museum
Located on Highway 62, just south of Alamance, the Museum
is the birthplace of Edwin Michael Holt, a pioneer in the southern textile
industry. Edwin is the grandson of
Michael Holt, a good friend of our John Shaddy and the executor of John's
will. The museum is a good visual
source of the past history of Alamance County.
Velma bought "Tastes in Plaid" and finds it to have a good variety
of old and new recipes. The foreword
states, "Tastes in Plaid celebrated the traditional cooking of the
Carolina Piedmont and its evolution in contemporary culture. The title of our book reflects not only the
heritage of good foods characteristic of Alamance County, but it also refers to
the history of our community as the birthplace of the Southern textile
industry".
Dr. William Murray Vincent, Executive Director, gave us
some pertinent facts concerning history of the Holts. His files are filled with many papers -"The Low's Church
History", "The Brick Church History", etc. Waldo and I made copies, Irene collated and
stapled. Whoops!, I forgot to pick up
my copies, I hope to get these copies soon.
We visited the Holt Cemetery, just behind the house. The stone "E.M." caught our
attention. I am sure future researchers
will be puzzled by the significance of this grave. During the tour of the house I met an ancestor of the Holts, Mrs.
Mary Holt Atkins of Raleigh. She
promised to send me data concerning the Holt/Shaddy relationship.
Next stop: The Alamance Battleground
We first viewed an informative movie depicting the
lifestyles and customs of the early settlers and the events that led to the
Alamance Battle of May 16, 1771. This
skirmish is known as, "Where the Regulators and the Militia met to end the
War of the Regulation." Regulator
and Militia positions are marked with series of red and blue flags. Two monuments and plaques provide more
pertinent information. It so happened
that our visit was exactly 223 years after the battle occurred. Also on the grounds is the old log-cabin of
the Allen family. Several pictures,
taken with a flash, revealed artifacts of the early 1800's. A spinning wheel, loom, bed, cooking
utensils, etc., clearly appear in the pictures.
Next:
Adjacent to the Battleground is the Clapp Mill Road. We turned to the southeast on this road and
then to the southwest on the Kimesville Road and then to the west and northwest
on the Stafford Mill Road. Soon we came
to the North Prong of the Stinking Quarter Creek and discovered the remains of
an old mill, now known as the Spoon-Stafford Mill. I ventured down an overgrown path on both sides of the bridge, up
and down the creek approximately 100 feet and saw no evidence of a dam. The old structures on each side of the road
are probably the remains of the mill. I
got several beautiful pictures of the Stinking Quarter here. I honestly felt within that I was very close
to the very last land owned by the Shaddies in North Carolina.
We wound our way back to Highway 62, turned to the
northeast and then north on Beaver Creek Road, then northeast on Huffman Mill
Road, then east on Pond Road. The old
Clapp Mill is located close to where Pond Road crosses Beaver Creek but all
this area is under water of the newly filled Lake Mackintosh. More on this later. We made our way back to camp - the end of
another good day. One thought here, one
of these roads should be named after our ancestor, John Shaddy. This idea should be promoted.
Wednesday, May 18, 1994
On Highway 62, between Alamance and Burlington I noticed
the HINSHAW Craft Shop. The shop was
closed, Mr. Hinshaw was teaching craft techniques to some people who had come
in from Indiana. I have had some very
good correspondence with Mr. Calvin Hinshaw concerning Brick Church records and
thought this might be him. Mr. Hinshaw
saw me at the door and very graciously let me in. This was not Calvin Hinshaw but this Mr. Hinshaw was very
friendly and tried to assist us all he could.
One of his retired employees, Paul Smith, was very helpful and gave me
several names to call concerning the Brick Church. When we departed Mr. Hinshaw presented all the ladies in our
group with what he called, "Trash Dolls". This was a good stop.
On to Graham and the
Courthouse Annex. It was about lunch
time but everyone was receptive to our queries and really went out of their way
to assist us. We were referred to Mr.
Max Way, on the second floor. Max is
Senior Planner of the Alamance County Planning Department. Once we mentioned our name, SHADDY, Max went
directly to his file cabinet and pulled out a record of Buhl Shaddy, of
California, being there in 1980 pursuing the location of the Shaddy Mill. It so happens that Buhl is the brother of
Waldo, and we did not know that he had been to see Max. In the file Buhl indicates that he believes
that the Clapp Mill on Beaver Creek in Coble Township was the original Shaddy
Mill. Mr. Way verified that this site
was determined eligible for inclusion in the U.S. Department of the Interior,
National Park Service National Record and was included in the National Register
of Historic Places (Federal Register, 1977).
But there was no verification of any link to the Shaddy Mill. I have asked Buhl to send me data confirming
his claim. Mr. Way requested Shaddy
Data and I gave him what I had to start a "Shaddy File" for use by
any future Shaddy researcher. We made our
way back to camp where Bob, Joyce, and Red (their dog) departed for home in
Georgia.
Thursday May 19, 1994
Up early to pack and on our way to the Greensboro Airport
and an uneventful flight back to Texas with many good memories of seeing the
land of the Shaddies and of all the new North Carolina friends.
Conclusions concerning the Mill:
A. Ed Coble's Mays Lake location is most convincing and has
the best documentation.
B. Buhl Shaddy's old Clapp Mill location is interesting but
needs more documentation.
C. My theory, no documentation, concerns the land on
both sides of the North Prong of the Stinking Quarter Creek sold by the estate
in 1818 to John Coble. The 1873 map shows land owned by John Coble and adjacent
to that land is the Coble Mill. Note that
this location is identical to later maps showing the Spoon-Stafford Mill.
D. Grace Thompson, Alamamce County Historian, told me on
the telephone that she has definite proof that the Mill was on the Stinking
Quarter.
E. Puzzle: Altho the mill is mentioned in the John Shaddy
1809 Will Abstract, there is no other record of what happened to it. No public record of a sale and no mention in
the sale of the estate by Michael Holt.
I do have complete documentation of the disbursement of the estate.
Several afterthoughts:
1. No Wal-Marts but two good meals at Hardee's. (Ref: The introductory dream).
2. John, Jr's son, Emsley, was an attorney and spelled his
name SHADDAY.
3. From the chart notice the many deaths in September,
1846. Their must have been a terrible
epidemic of some sort, probably diphtheria.
Final conclusion:
We stopped at a drug store in Burlington to make copies of
a few documents. Two young ladies,
employees of the store, were interested in what we were doing and the talk
progressed to the techniques of genealogical research. I mentioned that the very first thing to do
is to talk to their oldest living relative and to write down all information
for later reference. One of the girls gave a little gasp of disappointment and
said, "Oh! I waited too long, my oldest living relative is already
dead". We should all learn from
this and not let it happen to us.