Fry Genealogy

Thanks to Suzy and Buddy Fry for bringing this information to the reunion last week. Double click on the pages below in order to enlarge them. This first page begins with William Fry b. 1528 in Corston, Wiltshire England and 12 generations later there's Isaac Henry Fry b. 1877 in Peterstown, WV.

Elderberry Wine, Dried Peach Wine and Blackberry Wine

For a prominent Baptist family, I was a little surprised to see these recipes---on G.H. Alderson's letterhead, no less. I've transcribed some of these in case you have 2 lbs. of dried peaches or 8 qts. of Elderberries that you don't know what to do with. Thank you Buddy and Suzy for sharing these recipes.

Elderberry Wine
8 qt. berries, 4 qts. boiling water poured over the berries. Let stand 12 hours stirring occasionally then strain well pressing out all the juice. Add 3 lb. sugar and 4 qt. juice, 1 oz powdered cinnamon 1/4 oz. powdered cloves. Boil 5 min. and set away to ferment in stone jar with cloth thrown over it. When done fermenting, rack off carefully as not to disturb the lees (?lus?). Bottle and cork well.

Dried Peach Wine
2lbs. dried peaches, pour 4 gallon of hot water over them, add 5 lb. sugar and 1 yeast cake, stir well and ferment in a stone jar. When through working, rack off into clean bottles or jars and cork for 10 days before using.

Blackberry Wine
Add 1 qt boiling water to each gallon mashed berries. Let stand 24 hours stirring occasionally, train and add 2 lbs. sugar to each gallon. Cork tightly pressing cork in cask tighten each few days until tight. Then let stand till Oct. then bottle.

Col. George Alderson's Family History

In 1860, Col. George Alderson wrote his family history. It was later published in the newspaper and re-typed. I believe the underlined words and names were misspelled, and Allie Millard (a notary public) typed it corrected the mistakes in 1935. Double click on each page to enlarge---use the back arrow to come back. This blog is longer than usual because there didn't seem to be a good place to break the pages.

Alderson History from Family Bible

This first page taken from the Alderson Family Bible, first tells a little about Polly and Joseph Alderson but then lists the children of Jennett Mc Cleary and Colonel George Alderson (married July 1813): John Marshall Alderson (high sheriff of Greenbrier), Jane Creigh Alderson (married James Remley and moved to Iowa), Thomas Creigh McCleary Alderson (a merchant in Russel,VA), Margaret Alderson, Jonathan Newman Alderson(died at 20 while preparing to study medicine), Joseph Allen Alderson (successful lawyer and in the Virginia legislature), Mary Newman Alderson, Peggy Katy Alderson(married William Aston a lawyer and former VA legislator), Sabina Isabella Alderson(died at 14 while her father was in Richmond with the Legislature), Sarah Martha Alderson (". . .gave her father the slip and married William Zall. They went to Missouri), George Alderson, Jennet George Alderson and several infants that died unnamed. To read the pages, double-click on the photos to enlarge them. Italics information from a document written in 1860 by their father Col. George Alderson. After Jennet McCleary Alderson died, he married Eliza Ann Davis(daughter of Captain Charles Lewis Davis, of Ameherst VA. She is related to the Ellises and Floyds) and had more children: Jennet Creigh Alderson (grown and at home), Georgia Ann Alderson (married S. McClung, "a well-doing farmer of Nicholas"), Rebecca White Alderson (grown and at home), George Henry Clay Alderson (my husband's great-grandfather), Josephine Davis Alderson, Alice Ellis Alderson, Francis Lewis Alderson, Overton Davis Alderson, Lewis Newman Alderson plus several unnamed infants. Do you get the feeling they were running out of names? (4 had the name George/Georgia, 3 were Creighs, 2 Davises, 2 Lewises, 2 Jennets) But my favorite is Jennet Creigh who was named for his first wife!

In another document, Col. George Alderson mentions that the other children are all minors and adds: ". . .I have lost in my family an affectionate wife and twelve children, beside eight servants, three grown and five children."


I photographed these pages at the Fry Family Reunion in 2009. It seems that I'm missing a few pages. Col. George Alderson (father of George Henry Clay Alderson) wrote this in 1860. This page 5 does mention William Morris. Click here for more information and his daughter-in-law "Caty Carroll" who was married to William Morris, Jr.Page 6 discusses William Morris, his son and his grandchildren. It also mentions John Mathews of Lewisburg.
Page 7 discusses George Alderson uncle of the man pictured at the top of the page (nephew of William Morris) and his father Elder John Alderson and the development of the Greenbrier Church. Most of the rest of the document is about the Alderson family.

Fry Family Reunion: 1969 Jamaica Queen

The Fry Family took a cruise to Jamaica in 1969. Again, the Morgans did not attend, but I do have a report of the cruise probably written by Mildred Fry. The section above tells about their meeting at the Howard Johnson Hotel before boarding the Jamaica Queen :
"after a l-o-n-g, h-o-t wait in line. At 4:45 P.M. we bade Miami good-bye among streamers, confetti and music. Hardly had we gotten our breath and cleared the harbor, when we were instructed in a ships drill as to what to do in case of trouble, abandon ship, etc. Everyone looked very fetching in their orange life jackets. Some clown was circulating trying to bribe women and children to let him go first in the lifeboat. Guess who?"

Double click on any of the photos of documents for more details---the section above is about the entertainment aboard the ship including a costume party which Alfreda and Alderson participated in.
This section tells about the Captain's Dinner: "At the close of the dinner, all the lights were turned out and thee waiters came in bearing the dessert, Baked Alaska, topped with sparklers. All very festive and fun. The Frys toasted the Vogts with champagne for being "such jolly good fellows" and for arranging the trip."

Then, there's a description of Kingston comparing it to West Virginia. Below, describes Port Antonio and the "Family Meeting".
Below are the minutes of the meeting including a statement of how Irene wanted to be "memorialized." She outlived most of her younger siblings dying at 100 years old.

Fry Reunion 1967: A Ranch Reunion

The Fry Family tried a ranch in Texas in 1967. The Morgan Family didn't attend so I don't have many details or photos. The newspaper article above lists the participants, describes some of the entertaiment and lists previous reunion locations. A copy of a brochure below describes the "points of interests".
Double click on the photos to make them easier to read. Below is a map showing where the ranch was.
Here are the letters from Hale to Alfreda giving the details of the reunion.

Fry Reunion 1961: Islamorada, Florida

In contrast to Phil's brief, business-like note, Eloise wrote three pages to introduce and inform the family about the Fry Reunion of 1961 at Islamorada, Florida "100 miles south from the southern exit of the Florida Sunshine Parkway. . . .80 miles north from Key West on U.S. I". She, first, discusses Hurricane Donna which hit there Sept. 1, 1960. Then, she describes the vicinity and the 9 efficiency apartments which she had requested.

She then describes each apartment and the amenities: shuffleboard, sunning beach ("remember you will be living on a reef of coral"), boat dock ("with a long enough rod you can fish from the bedroom window"). She, also, tells them that there are boats available for renting.

"We inquired about man's natural enemy, the mosquito, and Mr. Cucklew stated that a community spraying co-op plan practically makes the area clear of the winged pests. Let's hope so, anyway."
This section of the letter mentions the businesses down the road and tells a little about the Bucklews who own the resort. The price would be $3 per person per day. The big question, though, was whether to have the reunion in July or August.
Eloise would have preferred the reunion in August because so many of the "children" were college age and needed to work. She comments,"We have found that leaving a young person at home to 'batch' for himself is just as expensive as taking them along besides suffering the anxiety about their welfare while they are home alone."

Then, she invites everyone who wants to see some of Miami to stay with Grover's brothers Paul and Lowell who both have pools . She also discusses how sad she is at Hurricane Donna's destruction.
Finally, she re-assures everyone there are no bargains in South Florida during August despite "the fantastic tales". She discusses Aunt Zela's move and requests that the form at the bottom of the page be returned before Christmas.
The newspaper article below indicates the reunion was held July 2-9. Also, it does not mention Dave's name---he insists he was there, but Harry had to stay home because he had a job at Emerson.

Fry Family Reunions---1950's

After my husband's grandmother Alice Alderson Fry died in 1949, her nine children decided to meet every other year for a family reunion for a week. The first reunion (1951) was held at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina where the siblings, spouses and children stayed in two big houses. Although we have movies, this is our only photo.

L-R: Tom, Bobby, Davis, Harry, Cecil

Other reunions were Point Peleee in Windsor, Ontario Canada (1953), Daytona Beach, Florida (1955), Nagshead, North Carolina (1957).

The 1959 reunion organized by Phil Fry brought the family back to their roots in West Virginia. They stayed in cabins at Bluestone State Park in Hinton, W. Va.
The above is a letter from Phil---$86.70 including tax for a 6 person cabin for a week. Phil reminds everyone to bring shorts for the day but jeans and sweaters for the nights.
This article in the newspaper gives some family history about them having many relatives around Alderson, W. Va and Nicholas County, W. Va. While 31 were in attendance (all of the siblings), four could not make it including Nell Fry who was expecting. Then, the article listed the names, home towns and occupations for each of the siblings. Somehow, they merged Eloise and Irene, though, stating, "Mrs. Eloise Morgan, St. Louis, librarian at Dearborn College, Dearborn, Mich." That would be some commute. Eloise was a librarian at Riverview Gardens High School (where I attended) and Irene Fry Vogt was at Dearborn College.

L-R: Davis, Linda, Bobby, Cecil, Tom, Arlene, Alice, Sandra, Carolyn, Marilyn; Front row: Michael, Buddy (Phil, Jr), Marsha

Roy M. Long Coming Home

Within a year of going to France, Roy M. Long was back home. Again, I will transcribe to the best of my ability. The note above says:

"March 3, 1919

I am ______ you this card to let you now that we land in the morning in new york and that i well and get a long fine and hope it finds you the same.
Your son,
Roy M. Long"
This next note (above and below) says:
"March 19, 1919
I went through Niagra Falls last night and I sending you this pictures of it. Be sure and keep this because I want it when I get home. Roy M. Long"


For more information on Roy M. Long in World War I with photos and discharge papers, Click here.

Roy Long in France 1918-1919

These are post cards with no messages on them. I think people bought more post cards back then because they didn't have cameras or cell phones to take photos. :-)
These photos all have to do with World War I in France, but I don't read French and can't give more detail. If you do know French or just want a closer look, double click on the photos and use the back arrow to come back to this page/

This post card looks like a typical "tourist" post card. But, maybe Roy Long visited there or was stationed nearby.

The gentleman below is Marshall Joseph Joffre whom was considered a hero by many at that time, but history has not been so kind. Click here for more information.
Again, thanks to my sister Jane who shared Grandpa's post cards.