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The Virginia Genealogist, April-June 1983

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Preface for Book 5

TOMBSTONE INSCRIPTIONS Toms Brook and Vicinity Shenandoah County, Virginia

This compilation is being published for posterity, and as another tool for family researchers, genealogists, historians, and others, who have a sincere interest in their ancestors, and a deep respect for the deceased and their final resting places, as it is all too common for individuals to forget their ancestors, and the memory dulls with each succeeding generation. It is hoped that errors of perception, transcription, and collation are minimal, as they are not intentional, however, they do represent the frailties of man, A tombstone inscription, per se, does not guarantee that the spelling of the name is correct, nor does it guarantee that the death dates, birth dates, and other data is correct, or "the gospel". Therefore it is advisable that these dates be verified from other sources, if there is a doubt as to their correctness. Often times, tombstone inscriptions are arranged for by estate administrators, executors, distant relatives, friends, neighbors, and others, and the data that they furnish to the stonemason, or the monument, manufacturer, may, or may not, be correct. Newspaper funeral notices and obituaries, and mortuary records, are some sources that may be helpful. If one cannot locate the name, or names of their ancestors and collateral kindred in this volume, it is possible that they may appear in four previous volumes of tombstone inscriptions by this compiler-researcher, which were transcribed primarily in Shenandoah County, Virginia, as follows: (1) "Tombstone Inscriptions, Toms Brook, and Vicinity, Shenandoah County, Virginia, 1982, 309 pages, soft cover, seventeen (17) cemeteries, and a 3,500 plus name index." (2) "Tombstone Inscriptions, Strasburg, and Vicinity, Shenandoah County, Virginia", 1982, 370 pages, soft cover, ten cemeteries, and a 5,000 name index. (3) "Tombstone Inscriptions, Woodstock, and Fort Valley, Vicinities, Shenandoah County, Virginia", 1983, 460 pages, soft cover, two hundred and forty eight (248) cemeteries, mostly private or family, and a 9,000 plus name index, (4) "Tombstone Inscriptions, Woodstock, and Vicinity, Shenandoah County, Virginia", 1983, 456 pages, soft cover, twenty four (24) large church and community cemeteries, with a 12,114 plus name index. Those using the name index of this volume are cautioned to search for variants of any surname that they may be interested in, as a large percentage of the listed surnames are of Germanic origin, and the very early scribes recorded the names in many different ways, mostly phonetically, and thus corrupted many surnames and the perpetuation of the incorrect orthography, The 1885 LAKE atlas, of Shenandoah County, Virginia, has proven to be a boon to family researchers, genealogists, historians, and others, as the entire county was actually surveyed and the names of the residents and the location of their homes, are imprinted on the several magisterial maps. This volume contains tombstone inscriptions transcribed from 141 church, community, and family cemeteries, located generally within a fifteen or twenty mile radius of Woodstock, Shenandoah County, Virginia, excepting some cemeteries which are located near the borders of neighboring counties, such as Page, Rockingham, Clarke, Warren, Frederick, and Hardy County, West Virginia. The name index of this volume contains 8,140 names, more or less, and quite a number of the burials were for persons born in the early 1700's. A very large number of burials were in the 18OO's, and a quite large number of the burials in 1900's, Explanatory remarks made by the compilers of this volume usually appear in parenthesis, immediately following an inscription. The next volume of Tombstone Inscriptions to be published by this compiler-researcher, during 1984, will pertain to cemeteries generally located in the Southern half of Shenandoah County, Virginia, and all are very large Church and Community cemeteries. Two exceptions will be the large Union Church cemetery located inside the corporate city limits at Timberville, Virginia, and the nearby Rader's Lutheran cemetery, slightly Northwest of Timberville. Other very large Church and Community cemeteries will include: Lutheran Reformation, New Market, Virginia; Emmanuel Lutheran, New Market; Mount Zion Lutheran, New Market; Mount Hermon United Methodist, Macanie; Morning Star Evangelical Lutheran, Orkney Springs; Grace United Church of Christ, Mount Jackson; Old Union Church, Mount Jackson; Saint Mary's Pine Church, Mount Jackson; Zirkle Family cemetery, New Market; Solomon's Church, Forestville; Saint Lukes United Church, near Moore's Store; Christ Reformed Church, Conicville; Rader's Lutheran Church, Timberville; Union Church, Timberville; Saint Marks Lutheran, Forestville; St. Paul's Lutheran, Jerome; and the New Mount Jackson cemetery, Mt. Jackson, Virginia. Within this volume, several references are made to "Levi Pitman's diary". Levi Pitman resided in the lower valley of Virginia, at Mount Olive, Northwest of Toms Brook, Shenandoah County, Virginia. He was a very intelligent and talented man, but available data is silent on whether he received any advanced education. He possessed many innate abilities, and it appears that there was nothing that he could not undertake. Levi Pitman was born on 6 September 1807, and died on 12 September 1892. He and his wife Rachel Wendel Pitman are buried in the Mount Hebron Church cemetery, slightly Northwest of Toms Brook, Shenandoah County, Virginia. His wife Rachel Wendel was a daughter of Jacob Wendel, the son of Augustine Wendel the German immigrant. Both the Pitman family, and the Wendel family came to America from Framersheim, near Bingen-on-the-Rhine, Germany. Augustine Wendel landed at Philadelphia on 11 August 1732, authority Pennsylvania Pioneers, by Strassburger and Hinke, 1934, pages 59-65. The immigrant Nicklas Biedman [Nicholas Pitman) landed at Philadelphia on 15 September 1749, ibid page 42. Their family records are still existent at the Evangelical Church (Evan. Kirehe) in the pastor's study, at Framersheim, Germany, authority Mrs. Cleta W. Smith, 10903 Cavalier Drive, Silver Spring, Maryland 20901. Levi Pitman and Rachel Wendel were married at Mount Olive, Virginia, on 12 June 1845. Shortly before this marriage, Levi began a diary on 19 November 1844, and the last entry in his 18 volumes was dated 7 January 1892, a period in excess of 47 years. Volume No. 11, 19 May 1862 to 20 April 1863, is missing. Daily he recorded births, deaths, burials, marriages, weather reports, church and religious news and events. He also kept track of his ancestors and descendents. He was a musician, manufactured musical instruments, tuned pianos, repaired clocks, repaired sewing machines, invented and patented several inventions. He studied scientific publications and kept abreast of medicine, and treated and prescribed to many people as a lay doctor. He extracted teeth, set broken bones, manufactured artificial limbs, concocted herbal remedies, and bled people. During the Civil War he treated wounded soldiers of both the Union and Confederate armies. Also, during this period he got in trouble with some of his neighbors, and the Confederate army, as he was opposed to slavery, and talked of abolition. Levi Pitman's father in law Jacob Wendel died, and Levi duly recorded in his diary that members of the Jacob Wendel family, had given him possession of the Augustine Wendel family bible. He recorded this entry on 17 March 1864. After Levi Pitman died in 1892, and his wife Rachel died in 1893, their daughter Sarah "Sally" Pitman Borden, wife of Benjamin Franklin Borden acquired her fathers diary volumes, other family records, and the Augustine Wendel family bible, and kept them in her po- ssession until she died on 24 October 1922 (12 Oct 1848 - 24 Oct 1922). She and her husband and many of her descendents are buried in St. Johns cemetery, at Harrisville, Shenandoah Bounty, Virginia. These family records then fell to her son Joseph Levi Borden. Joseph Levi Borden died on 25 September 1955, and he is buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery, Front Royal, Warren County, Virginia. The records were then received by James "Jimmie" Paul Borden, younger brother of Joseph Eevi Borden, who placed these family records, in the Alderman Library, at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1962. Crews Borden Baylor, 6503 Boatwright Drive, Richmond, Virginia, 23226, daughter of James Paul Borden, has a proprietary interest in these family records at the present time. Joseph Levi Borden, and his brother James Paul Borden were sons of Benjamin Franklin Borden, the son of William Henry Borden, the son of George Borden, the son of Frederick Borden, the son of Reinhardt Borden, the German immigrant, who died in 1782 and is buried on the Springdale farm, slightly North of Saumsville, Virginia, on Road No. 623 (Back road), now owned by F. Douglas French, in the Borden cemetery on the original 400 acre land grant received by Reinhardt Borden in 1752, from Lord Thomas Fairfax. Researchers, genealogists, family historians, and others interested in the lower part of the Shenandoah valley, in particular the Northern half of Shenandoah County, Virginia, and the Southern half of Frederick County, Virginia, should not pass up this valuable reference material contained in the Levi Pitman diaries, in the holdings of the Alderman Library, at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. Most of the entries in Levi Pitman's diaries pertained to communities surrounding Mount Olive, Virginia, and included, Toms Brook, Saumsville, Maurertown, Fairview, Woodstock, Lebanon Church, Wheatfield, Strasburg, Star Tannery, Middletown, Harrisville, Fishers Hill, Stephens City, Marlboro, and also more remote communities in the lower Shenandoah Valley. James Paul "Jimmie" Borden, aforementioned, was born 3 December 1892 at Toms Brook, Shenandoah County, Virginia, and died 11 December 1979 at Culpepper, Culpepper County, Virginia, and is buried in the Monticello Park Cemetery, at Charlottesville, Albemarle County, Virginia. He married Mary Elizabeth Fitzgerald on 12 December 1917, at Gretna, Pittsylvania County, Virginia. She was born on 22 December 1890 at Gretna, Virginia, and died 5 May 1977 at Charlottesville, Albemarle County, Virginia, and is buried beside her husband. Sketch - Daniel W. Bly - Daniel W. Bly, Route 5, Box 268, Harrisonburg, Rockingham County, Virginia, has submitted inscriptions from several cemeteries located in the Fishers Hill, Virginia area, in particular, from "Funkhouser Hollow", where he grew up. He was born in Shenandoah County, Virginia, on 14 September 1941, the son of Irvin Daniel Bly, and Ruth Hockman Bly. He received his education in the Strasburg, Virginia schools, and then received a BA degree from Bridgewater College, Rockingham County, Virginia. He also earned a MA degree in History from Temple University, in Philadelphia, and also completed residence course work there for a Doctorate. For the past fifteen years he has been on the History department staff at Bridgewater College, where he specializes in European History. Mr. Bly, his wife Judy, a native of New York City, and two sons, Philip 10, and Joseph 8, reside near Harrisonburg, Virginia. On his paternal side of the family, he descended from the ELY, ORNDORFF, RACEY, HAMMAN, BAKER, BOEHM, SNAPP, HOTSINPILLAR, BRUMBACK, and BURNER families, all early German pioneers in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. On the maternal side he descended from the HOCKMAN, FUNKHOUSER, BEYDLER, CULLERS, PITMAN, COFFMAN, SPIGGLE, KELLER, MC INTURFF, and BURNER families, all early German or Swiss Mennonite pioneers, of the same valley. In 1974, Mr. Bly published "The Early Funkhouser Pioneers and the Descendents of Jacob Funkhouser Jr.", and in 1975 "A History of the Bly family of Virginia 1772-1972." Presently he is in the process of extracting records of orphans and indentures from the old Shenandoah County, Virginia minute books (1772-1835), and also compiling a history and genealogy of the descendents of Johannes (John) Funkhouser, Shenandoah Valley pioneer. Mr. Bly is also interested in discovering the European origins of German-Swiss settlers in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Sketch - Doris George - Doris George, and husband Ralph George reside on the back road (No. 623), between St. Luke, and Columbia Furnace, Route 2, Box 172A, Shenandoah County, Virginia. They have been married since 12 September 1958, and have a son Dennis Dale George. 24, heavy equipment operator, and a daughter Carlotta Lynn George, 21, who is employed by the C. I. A. at Mc Lean, Virginia. Doris and Ralph operate a poultry farm and raise 13,000 breeder-layers, at a time. They are former grocery merchants of that area, and are members of the Wakeman's Grove Church of the Brethren. The entire family enjoys the outdoors, horseback riding, and gardening. Ralph is a avid hunter and trapper, and owns a pack of coon hounds which he has trained to "tree" nothing but raccoons. Of late, he has taken up bow hunting and black powder hunting. Their son also is a very proficient hunter. Doris George is a history buff, and a very proficient family history researcher and genealogist. She also enjoys looking for and acquiring antiques and family heirlooms. Doris was born in the Readus section of Shenandoah County, Virginia, approximately four miles West of Woodstock, Virginia. Her parents were William Ford Pifer Sr., and Gladys Coffman. Her paternal grandparents were Marion Pifer, and Pearl Ritenour. Her great grandparents were John W. Pifer and Mary Bushong, and her great-great grandparents were Levi Pifer and Elizabeth Keller. Her great grandmother Mary Bushong was the daughter of Captain John Bushong, who was a member of the 7th Virginia Regiment, of the Confederate Southern Army, and was a recorder of the muster roll. Five generations resided on the old HAUN-BUSHONG homestead Northwest of Woodstock, on Road No. 600, before Doris's grandparents Marion and Pearl Pifer sold it, in the 1940's. This old plantation echo's tales of the Civil War, and the remains of the Elders are at rest in the family burial ground on the land. Doris also is a direct descendent of AUGUSTINE KAUFFMANN (COFFMAN) the German immigrant to America on 2 October 1741, on the ship St. Andrew. On her maternal side, down through Augustine Kauffmann, and his son Daniel Kauffmann, and his son Henry Kauffman, and his son Samuel Henry Kauffmann, and his son S. Homer Kauffmann, grandfather of Doris, who married Cora E. Litton, AUGUSTINE KAUFFMANN was the son of JOHAN ANDREAS KAUFFMANN, and his wife Anna Elizabeth Weinlandt, of Hassloch, Germany. Augustine was born on 1 October 1717 at Hassloch, and on 17 November 1739, at Ottersheim, he married, reformed faith, Anna Catharine Hatzenbohler, daughter of Lorentz Hatzenbohler and Anna Ursula, born 12 Dec-ember 1716 in Ottersheim. The place of origin of the family is Hassloeh, in the district of Newstadt, and Augustine emigrated from Ottersheim in Germersheim district. The church book at Ottersheim has a entry "Left for America on 17 May 1741." Both Hassloch and Ottersheim are in the state of Reinland-Pfalz. Also, the reformed church at Hassloch, Reinland-Pfalz, indicates that on 14 August 1700, Johann Andreas Kauffmann the surviving son of the deceased Melchoir Kauffmann, married the surviving daughter of the deceased Weinlandt, former citizen of Birkenau, near Weinheim. Ralph George was born less than one half mile from where he now resides. He is the son of Harry Irvin George, and Mamie Smoot, a family of seven children. His mother Mamie was the daughter of John Smoot and Ella Shipe. Ella's father was John Snipe, and mother Isabelle Smith, from the Fort Valley section of Shenandoah County. His paternal grandparents were Lew V, George and Rebecca Stultz, a family of eleven children. His paternal great grandparents were John W. George Jr. and Mary Irwin, and his great great grandparents were John George Sr" and Sarah Hetzell. His paternal great grandfather John W. George Jr. was the operator of the old Geist Mill that stood at Columbia Furnace during the late 1800fs when that community was alive with industry. He owned a considerable amount of land, which he parceled out to his eleven children. Sketch - Jeanette Conner Ritenour - Jeanette Conner Ritenour and her husband George H. Ritenour, are both native "Forters", and reside centrally in Fort Valley, aka Powells Fort Valley, on the Fort Valley Route, Box 81, Seven Fountains, Shenandoah County, Virginia. She is a mother and grandmother. George H. Ritenour is employed by The Chemstone Corporation, located near Strasburg, Shenandoah County, Virginia, which is a manufacturer of crushed stone products. He is interested in firearms, hunting, and regularly attends auctions and sales to obtain antique dishes and china. During the past seven years Mrs. Ritenour has avidly recorded tombstone inscriptions, in all of the Fort Valley cemeteries, that are now known to the living, and which number eighty eight. Mrs. Ritenour is a very capable and competent researcher, and genealogist, and like most "Forters", maintains a family record, and probably knows more about the family relationships in Fort Valley, than any other person in Shenandoah County, Virginia. She has a deep respect for the deceased, and their burial grounds, and it grieves her very much, to see a neglected burial ground, and she has been known to provide basic grave markers for unmarked graves. Mrs. Ritenour and her husband George H. Ritenour, appear on pages 238 and 392, of the Adam and Magdalene Munch Ridenour, and some related families (Ritenour) genealogy, published in 1973, by Iva Clemens Yarlick. In the past three years, Mrs. Ritenour has copied the inscriptions in hundreds of cemeteries located in Shenandoah, and Page counties, of Virginia, and all have been published by this compiler-researcher, Duane L, Borden, 5995 W. Arizona Avenue, Denver, Colorado 80226, in four volumes, with several others planned. The residents of Fort Valley, to a great extent, are farmers, stock raisers, and retired persons. They are very warm, private, God fearing, prosperous, and very proud of their heritage, their ancestors, and their valley, and this compiler has found the residents of the valley, to be very friendly and respectable. Sketch - Linda Varney - Linda Varney resided in Edinburg, Virginia, with her grandparents Mr. & Mrs., Ben Dellinger, and her aunt Miss Mary Dellinger, until she was old enough to attend school, at which time she moved to Maryland with her parents Donald J. Dellinger and Fay Gilkerson, where she graduated from high school. Linda returned to Edinburg, where she has now resided for the past eleven years with her son Stephen Varney, 13. She married Robert F. Varney, Jr. Linda enjoys working on local history, burial ground research, and family history research. She also enjoys drawing in pen and ink, ceramics, and baking, and likes to bake gingerbread and chocolate houses. Linda has traced her DELLINGER family line back to the German immigrant GEORGE DELLINGER, who married Catherine, and resided near Strasburg, Shenandoah County, Virginia, down to her son Robert F. Varney Jr., of the ninth generation. Her father Donald J. Dellinger married Fay Gilkerson. Her grandfather Benjamin Dellinger married Drucilla Andrick. Her great grandfather Lewis Dellinger married Mary Beedle, and they resided near Bayse, Virginia. Her second great grandfather Samuel Dellinger married Susanna Nesselrodt, and they resided near Bayse. Her third great grandfather Frederick Dellinger married Sarah Hudson. Her fourth great grandfather Christian Dellinger Jr., married Eve Foltz, and they resided near Conicville, Virginia. Her fifth great grandfather Christian Dellinger married Magdalene, and they resided near Conicville, Virginia. Her sixth great grandfather was George Dellinger, aforementioned. To be ignorant of what happened before you were born is to be forever a child. For what is the value of human life unless it is interwoven with past events by the records of history? Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106 - 43 B. C.

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