Uncle T.O. Mystery

Some of my Nace family has been making the news lately, at least in the "What's on Your Mind" column by Ray Cox that appears in every Monday's Roanoke Times. 

Because one of Cox's April columns, "WOYM: More Nace memories surface, from attempts to revive manganese mining to snakes not alive" referenced a "Tazewell Orren Hunt," I thought Tazewell might be connected to my great-aunt Cora Nace's husband, Thomas Orren Hunt. (I'd blogged about Cora and her husband in this December 10 post: "Cora Virginia Nace Hunt") Orren is not a common name.

I did some research and could find nothing about a "Tazewell Orren Hunt." I concluded that "Tazewell" had to have been "Thomas." I emailed Ray Co about what I'd learned. As a good reporter would do, Cox did some more researching himself. Hence the story in the July 27 newspaper: "WOYM: Family historians help piece together the backstory on 'Uncle T.O.' of Botetourt."

Mystery solved.

Sources:

Because some readers of this blog are interested in Botetourt County hisotry, here are the URLs to related "WOYM" stories about the town of Nace and about Uncle T.O. in order they appeared in the Roanoke Times: 

**April 5 "WOYM: Botetourt County's Nace had ties to region's iron mining history"

https://roanoke.com/news/local/woym-botetourt-countys-nace-had-ties-to-regions-iron-mining-history/article_048ab6a0-c2da-565d-8b75-55deb2a3b641.html

**April 19, 2020: "WOYM: More Nace memories surface, from attempts to revive manganese mining to snakes not alive" https://roanoke.com/news/local/woym-more-nace-memories-surface-from-attempts-to-revive-manganese-mining-to-snakes-not-alive/article_b91503d5-4e17-502d-aafd-4d842dd5b1a6.html

**June 21, 2020: "WOYM: Reader seeks help finding out more about a long-ago storekeeper in Nace" 
https://roanoke.com/news/local/woym-reader-seeks-help-finding-out-more-about-a-long-ago-storekeeper-in-nace/article_0e1e2ae3-4588-5b94-a980-9873d3f135f7.html

**June 28, 2020: WOYM: "Nace storekeeper ID'd thanks to Botetourt County family connections" 
https://roanoke.com/news/local/woym-nace-storekeeper-idd-thanks-to-botetourt-county-family-connections/article_93d29e59-53b2-5bba-93b3-5c77ff651cdb.html

**July 27, 2020: "WOYM: Family historians help piece together the backstory on 'Uncle T.O. of Botetourt" https://roanoke.com/news/local/woym-family-historians-help-piece-together-the-backstory-on-uncle-t-o-of-botetourt/article_9339b544-aa20-586d-be24-2ce89e2e5094.html

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The Smith Connection

What does this sign have to do with my Nace heritage?

While I’m a Smith through my paternal line, I’m also a Smith through my maternal Nace line via my great-grandmother’s Spence line.

My Nace line, through Frances Spence Nace, goes back to Goffs to Harrisons to Battailes to a Smith line in colonial Virginia. John Battaile (my 8^thgreat-grandfather who settled before 1690 in VA and who served in the House of Burgesses in 1696) was married to Elizabeth Smith, daughter of Major Lawrence Smith who “surveyed and helped lay out the Town of Yorktown.” Here’s the line and how it connects to the Naces (some of the dates might be off by a few years because some sources list slightly different dates; ditto for a few of the spellings of names):

Thomas Smith (1565-):Alice Judd (1565-1615)

Christopher Smith (1592-1638): Elizabeth Townley Halstead (1598-1679)

Major Lawrence Smith(1629-1700): Mary Debnam (1633-1728)

Elizabeth Smith(1668-1708): Captain John Bataille (1658-1708)

Elizabeth Battaile (1695-1770): Andrew Harrison Jr. (abt. 1687-13 July 1753)

Battaile Harrison (1712/ 1720-16 Nov 1776): Frances White (1725- April 7, 1789)

John Harrison (1747-1795): Sally Ellis

Battaile Harrison (1771-): Frances Tinsley

Mary (Polly) Harrison (1794-18??): Archibald Goff (1780-1850)

Andrew Frederick Spence: Mary Lucy Goff (1830-1900)

Sulmana Frances Spence: William Robert Nace

The following info is condensed from various internet sources:

Major Lawrence Smith was born 29 March 1629 (or possibly later), in Lancashire, England, and died after 8 August 1700 in Gloucester County, Virginia. He was an engineer and a surveyor and was a prominent citizen in colonial Virginia. He came to Virginia in the mid-1600's, possibly imported from England to Virginia by his uncle, Augustine Warner, in the year 1652. (Warner was the great-great grandfather of George Washington.) While no pictures exist of Smith, this is a portrait of  Augustine Warner:

Smith patented Severn Hall in Gloucester County in 1662, where he lived and died.  

However, he also had connections to Yorktown. He acquired Temple Farm in Yorktown in 1686. (This farm was the site of Cornwallis’s surrender in 1781.) He surveyed land for the British Crown in both Gloucester and York Counties. In 1691, he received fifty acres of land as payment for surveying and laying out the town of Yorktown. He also received considerable other land for importing people from England to Virginia.

Like several of my colonial ancestors, he was involved in Bacon’s Rebellion. “In 1676, he commanded 111 men out of Gloucester County at a fort near the falls of the Rappahannock River, and the same year he led the trained bands of Gloucester against the rebels under Bacon.” Thus, he was fighting against some of my other ancestors who sided with Nathaniel Bacon.

Page 43 of Families of Virginia shows the connection between Lawrence Smith and John Battaile:

His children with Mary Debnam (name is sometimes different) are Mary (1652), John (abt. 1653), Capt. Charles (1655), Elizabeth (abt. 1665)—my 8th great-grandmother who married John Battaile, Col. Lawrence, Maj. Augustine (1666), Sarah (abt. 1661), and Capt. William (1687). These dates vary slightly in different sources.

In 1699, he was recommended for a King's Councilor post, but did not live long enough to be seated.  (His son John was then given the post.)

The Internet provides plenty of information about Major Lawrence Smith. 

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Matthias Nehs

The early Naces spelled their last name in various ways: Nehs, Näss, Neass, Noes, etc., which has made researching them difficult. Even first names vary—Matthias, for instance, is sometimes Mathias. Thanks to the Internet, though, I’ve finally been able to trace our Nace line back to the first one of our line in America. Our Nace family comes from the Palatinate.

Matthias Nehs, a blacksmith, was born in 1673 at either Mitschdorf or Preuschdorf, Bas-Rhine, Alsace, France—which is on the German border. He married Mary Barbara Barba, daughter of Joseph Barba and Anna Marie Winterman, in 1699 at Bavarn Pflaz, Germany.

In the fall of 1731, he arrived in Philadelpha aboard the Britannia with his wife, six sons, two daughters-in-law, and four grandchildren. According to the passenger list, this was the family: Men 16 Years & Up: Mathias Nace (58), Johan Nehs (26), Dewald Nehs  (24), Hans George Nehs (21), Matthias Nehs, Jr. (27), Michael Nehs (30), Jacob Nehs (31). Women 16 Years & Up: Maria Barbara Nehs (60), Ana Katherina Nehs (28), Dorothea Neahs  (27). Children Under 16: Magdalena Nehs (7), Hans Jacob Nehs (5), Michael Nehs, Jr. (1), Katherine Nehs (2).

The Britannia, captained by Michael Franklyn, originally sailed from London/Cowes, but it picked up passengers in Rotterdam before sailing to Philadelphia. Soon after the ship landed in Philadelphia on 21 September 1731,  the passengers went to the courthouse to take an oath of allegiance to Great Britain.

By 1727, the influx of these foreigners into Pennsylvania assumed such proportions that the authorities became alarmed and the Provincial Council adopted a resolution requiring that all masters of vessels importing Germans and other foreigners should, before sailing from the European port, make a list of the names of all passengers, particularly the males over sixteen; though often the names and ages of all passengers, including women and children were set down. Then, upon reaching Pennsylvania, the foreigners were obliged to sign a declaration of allegiance and subjection to the King of Great Britain and of fidelity to the Proprietary of Pennsylvania. This oath was first taken in the courthouse at Philadelphia, September 21, 1727, by 109 Palatines. From The Strassburger Family and Allied Families of Pennsylvania, by Ralph Beaver Strassburger, 1922

The family remained in Pennsylvania for a time. Matthias’s first wife must have died not long after their arrival, for he married a second time to Anna Barbara Hoerter at Skippack, Montgomery, Pennsylvania, on 28, November, 1733. They had two sons, John Henry and Johan Owldrick (or Ulrich), before Matthias died on 31 Jan 1741 in Phildelphia, PA. He is buried at Little Zion Lutheran Church Cemetery, Earlington, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

Matthias’ son Hans Georg (who had been born in 1710 in either  Mitschdorf, Alsace, France, or Ittlingen, Heilbronn, Baden-Wuertemberg, Germany) married Anna Maria “Mary” Eichelberger on 13 March 1744 at the Lancaster Pennsylvania Moravian church in Lititz. Hans Georg died in 1785; his wife in 1814.

Their son George Nace was born in the 1740s—probably in Hanover, York County, Pennsylvania. He served in the Revolutionary War on the Pennsylvania line and was for a time in Count Pulaski’s regiment. For his service, he received a land grant for a hundred acres in Maryland. His Maryland plantation was called “Nace’s Tavern.”

George and his wife Mary (maiden name unknown) had the following children: George, Mary, William, and John. George died around 1808-1809 in Baltimore. His son William inherited the farm, and his son John (1760-1852), who had married Catherine Filston 1764-1855), received a land grant in 1782 for 170 acres in Botetourt County, Virginia.

This John would have been the first John Christian Nace—the founder of the Botetourt County, Virginia Naces. See “Nace Family Introduction,”  the first post in this blog. 

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Andrew F. Spence

I've blogged about the Spence connection before. But where the father of Sulmana "Frances" Spence Nace came from has been a family mystery for decades. It's documented that Andrew F. Spence married Mary Lucy Goff, daughter of Archibald Goff, on Dec. 19, 1849. She was about  sixteen. During the course of their marriage, they had ten children. Here's the list from the family Bible:

• John Henry Spence Born De  24 1850
• Edward [Lott?] Spence Born Feb 10 1853
• William [G?] Spence Born Feb  3 1855
• Mary [?]Spence Born De 5 1859
• Alexzander [?] A. Spence Born June 8 1863
• Selmenia F. Spence Born De 14 1864
• Daniel [might be David?] M. Spence Born June 12 1867
• Lucie Jane Spence Born De 9 1869
• Walter F. Spence Born July 9 1875
• one infant Boy Born Apr 11 1858

The Spences were said to be from the Big Island area of Bedford County, and indeed, many are still there. But Andrew F. Spence didn't seem to connect to them. Why not?

On September 7, 1860, 33-year-old Andrew, 27-year-old Lucy, their sons John H (age 9), Edward J (age 6), and William A (age 3), and their 4-month-old daughter Mary C.S. were living in the northern district (Lone Pine Post Office) of Bedford County. John was attending school. Also in their household was 30-year-old Mary Sweeney, whose vocation was "serving." Was she employed by the Spences, or was she somehow kin? 

A close look at the 1860 census reveals that Andrew was a stone mason who was born in New York and that his personal estate was worth $200.

Perhaps, being born in New York, he wasn't close kin to the Spences who were already  in Virginia. 

Andrew served in Company C of the 58th Virginia Infantry in the Confederate army—the Big Island Greys (Chilton's/Arthur's Company) of Bedford County. The ten companies in the 58th were from Amherst, Franklin, Patrick, and Rockbridge Counties. The regiment was with General Jubal Early to defend Lynchburg in mid-June 1864. Andrew must have gotten leave a few times, since Alexander was born in 1863 and Frances in 1864.

In the August 18, 1870, census for the Liberty Post Office area of Charlemont in the Northwest section of Bedford County, the family had increased. Now 4-year-old "Sylwina" (who'd later be known as Frances), 2-year-old Daniel, and baby Lucy had joined the family. John, who'd likely started his own family, was no longer living with his parents. What became of Alexander? He likely died young.

By June 2, 1880,  Andrew and Lucy, along with their 15-year-old daughter Frances had moved to Buchanan in Botetourt County. Son William—now married to a Mary (who is 3 years older than he) and  has three sons (Alonzo-4, Jessie-2, and baby Ira)—either lives with his parents or lives next door. William has apparently followed his father into the stone mason business. But what became of little Daniel and Lucy and Walter and the unnamed baby? Had the Spence family lost four young children in a 10-year period? Five in a 15-year-period? At any rate, half their children didn't survive until adulthood.

Living in Buchanan, Frances was now in a good position to meet William Robert Nace. They were married on December 28, 1882.

Census records aren't available for 1890, so tracing the Spence family isn't easy. Andrew and Lucy don't appear on the 1900 census. However, their son does—a 45-year-old William  Spence and his 48-year old wife Mary are living in Forest in Bedford County. He now is a farmer and owns his land. They have four children at home: Maud, Walter, Bell, and Edgar. 

Also, in 1900, a 47-year-old stone mason named Lott Spence lives at Charlemont in Bedford County with his 42-year-old wife Mollie T, and son and daughter. His brother-in-law, Robert Goff, lives with them. Could Lott be Edward Lott, born in 1853? It seems likely. And there's another Goff connection.

So, part of the Spence mystery  is solved. But there are still some unanswered questions.

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Update: Recently, thanks to the Internet and Ancestry.com, I learned that his name was actually Andrew Frederick Spence, and he was born on December 1, 1829 (or possibly 1827) in Orange County, New York. I also learned his parents' names: John Frederick Spence (who was born in Orange County, New York) and Mary Catherine Andrews.


This makes sense. He got his middle name from his father, and he named his first son John Harrison Goff, likely John for his father. Andrew's wife was Mary Lucy Goff—the daughter of Polly Harrison and Archibald Goff, so that accounts for the Harrison middle name. His first daughter, actually his fourth child, was named Mary Catherine (1858-1879)—his mother's name.


Despite being from the north, Andrew served in Company C of the 58th Virginia Infantry—the Big Island Greys (Chilton's/Arthur's Company of Bedford County. The ten companies in the 58th were from Amherst, Franklin, Patrick, and Rockbridge Counties. The regiment was with General Jubal Early to defend Lynchburg in mid-June 1864. Andrew must have gotten leave a few times, since Alexander was born in 1863 and Frances in 1864.

I was able to find his death certificate online (he died April 18, 1912 of "Euremic convulsion"), and now I know he is buried in Lithia Baptist Church Cemetery, where his Nace in-laws and some of his descendants are buried.

 

 

He was still alive when his granddaughter Annie Pearl Nace died mysteriously in July of the previous year. That must have been hard on my great grandmother, Frances Spence Nace, to lose a child one year and her father the next.

ANOTHER MYSTERY: I can't find his grave listed in Lithia Baptist Church Cemetery. Nor can I find out when his wife died or where she is buried.

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