Wednesday, April 1, 2009

The Linkous Family History

linkous book
(affectionately known as the "Green Book" (1982) and the Expanded version known as the "Red Book" (1997)) is registered in the Library of Congress (Catalog Card Number 97-74305). The family sometimes introduces themselves by their generational number. Mine is 11132342.

Linkous House website

The roots of this line have been traced back to 1542 in Weissenbom-Luderode, Germany. Henry Linkous came to North America as a German "Hessian" soldier aboard the ship Friesland in 1776. He served with British General Burgoyne in upper New York State. Henry received a pocketknife from the General for repairing his saddle.

Photobucket
Surrender of General Burgoyne
John Trumbull
Oil on canvas, 12' x 18'
Commissioned 1817; purchased 1822; placed 1826
Rotunda, U.S. Capitol, Washington, DC
The scene of the surrender of the British General Burgoyne at Saratoga, New York, on October 17, 1777, was a turning point in the Revolutionary War that prevented the British from dividing New England from the rest of the colonies. The central figure is the American General Horatio Gates, who refused to take the sword offered by General Burgoyne, and, treating him as a gentleman, invites him into his tent. All of the figures in the scene are portraits of specific officers. Trumbull planned this outdoor scene to contrast with The Declaration of Independence beside it.

The Hessians

Albemarle Barracks
Henry was probably only there less than seven months as his first child was born May 21, 1780.

The Linkous house in Blacksburg, Va.
National Register Linkous-Kipps House

linkous house

The Linkous/Kipps Homestead in Blacksburg, Montgomery Co., Virginia. This is on the original site of the home built by Henry Linkous & his wife Elizabeth Shiflet in 1799. This is the home that replaced the original one. It is still owned by family and is a National Historical Site. It has added the Kipps name because the granddaughter of Henry married Michael Kipps in 1856. He intern willed it to his son and it stayed the Kipps name for about a century. All of the Kipps have died since then and the land and the house were purchased by Colonel Bob Linkous. There are Elementary Schools in Blacksburg, Va. named after both Linkous and Kipps. The Linkous house was occupied at different times by both Union and Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. Although the Linkous book accounts for many of the family members as joining the side of the Confederates. This is not surprising to me as my grandmother often expressed her intollerance of blacks and that well known rascist and Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd is a Linkous descendant.

Generations in America:
Heinrich (Henry) Linckost m. Elizabeth Shiflet
1) John (1780-1822) m. Elizabeth Trolinger
11) Adam (1806-1892) m. Nancy Long (1809-1896)
111) John Francis (1825-1884) m. Tima Virginia Walters (1825-1880)
1113) Floyd Montgomery (1850-1937) m. Olivia Grissom (1851-1915)


olivia linkous
Grama Grissom at her loom.

11132) John Robert Wayne (1871-1954) m. Mary Etta Rader (1871- )
Photobucket
"Bob" was the first in his family to go to college. He was a teacher and a carpenter.

granny linkous
Mary Rader, "Granny Linkous"

111323) Thelma Mildred (1906-1989) m. Thomas Franklin Weaver (1900-1974)
thelma 1
thelma 2
Thelma was a secretary for many years at Mt. Vernon Elementary School in Alexandria.

1113234) Carolyn Ruth Weaver (1942- ) m. Ronald Zelman Lewis (1942- ) m. (2) Thomas Whitaker

Photobucket

11132342) David Franklin Lewis (1964- ) m. J L Cassidy (1966- )
111323421) S F Lewis (1991)
111323422) S C Lewis (1993)

There are many soldiers, politicians, preachers and teachers in the Linkous family.
thelma and julius
Thelma and her brother, Julius, unk. date (they call it the Linkous forehead). Julius was a minister at the Disciples of Christ Church for 51 years in Christiansburg, Va., a chaplain in WWII with the rank of Captain and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

memaw
Thelma (Linkous) Weaver
"I remember running through her immaculate house, swinging on the porch swing on humid Virginia summer afternoons, eating delicious Sunday dinners, sleeping on starched white sheets. She could sew an outfit for me to match one of my mother's or her own. She crocheted doilies and handkerchiefs and afghans. She said words like chiffon-robe and davenport. She took me to Sunday School. And afterward, when I got to go into the "big church" she'd always have a pencil and paper for me if I got restless, or a soft lap of muskrat to lay my head upon if I got tired. If I scraped my knee, there was always a squirt of Bactine and a kiss and a pat on my head to run along and play again. There were Saturday night baths in a claw-foot tub. After which she'd pin curl my too-straight hair, wrapping it carefully around her finger and pinning it to dry into a style that was more in step with the rest of my curly headed cousins. There was Lawrence Welk."
-copied from a blog my sister, Sharon, wrote about Memaw.

3 comments:

Mary Perrine said...

David, I knew there was a reason I liked you. I too am descended from Hessians. Very interesting history there. My are the Coopers from Coopersville, PA, while the other side of my family fought in the Revolutionary War on the other side.. Annewaldt.

Chasity Clark said...

David,
I am also a descendant of Henry Linkous. I was not raised by my father, so I was completely unaware of my ancestory. At the age of 18, I began to do genealogical research. Much to my amazement, I found a vast amount of information within minutes! I eventually reconciled with my father, and he was amazed at my knowledge of the Linkous history. I also eventually contacted Clovis Linkous, and thanked him for all of the work and effort that went into his findings. I would like to thank you as well, for posting this. I never get tired of learning more about our family tree!

Your distant cousin,
Chasity

David Lewis said...

Sorry I never saw these comments. I didn't even realize they were still posted. I forgot I had this blog.