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.