Below is my transcription of the letter in the previous post.  For the most part, I copied it without change, though I must admit I changed the abbreviations for the states.  There was a transcription in Mom's paperwork, that I scanned.  Since a copy of a copy can be difficult to read, I re-typed. --Cheri

James Stuart was a descendant of royal Stuart family of Scotland.

Vincenth Fry’s wife’s maiden name was Moss. He was born near Salisbury, North Carolina in Rowan Co. of German descent. Rowan Co. has since been divided into 30 counties, some are in VA and TN as well as NC. Their children were David, Peter, Daniel, Wm., James, Hannah, Emira, Elizabeth, Jane.

In 1953, Ed Fry was at Salisbury, NC for 2 days looking up records of the Fry family at the Court House. He found 2 real estate deals by Vincenth Fry and a will of Peter Fry. The deed would give certain trees or springs as the boundary lines. The David Fry Family moved from NC and KY to IN about 1822. In 1837, they moved to MO where they lived 2 years, then went to IL till 1840 when they moved to Lee County, IA. They lived in Lee Co. till 1848, then went to Appanoose Co., IA. Then, in 1850, they moved to Mills Co., IA. Lived there 3 years and came to Harrison Co. [IA] Feb. 1853. The John McIntyre family came at same time but later moved to Monona Co. [IA]. David Frys moved to KN 1867-1872. Returned to Harrison Co. 1872 and lived there till their deaths. Both are buried in Biglers Grove Cemetery.

Their children:

1. Myra (Elmyra) born in Greene Co., IN, May 12, 1824, died June 12, 1905 in California. She married John McIntyre who was born July 4, 1823, died February 5, 1902. John was an Elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He and Myra moved with the group who settled at Preparation, IA. Later, they moved near the David Fry homestead near or in Bigler’s Grove, 4 miles west of Woodbine [IA].

John was an efficient worker in wood and iron and a builder of many log houses. Both were honest, honorable, and hard working. Both are buried in Bigler’s Grove Cemetery.

2. Sarah, born in 1826, died before 1860, married John Holeton. He died before 1860. Buried at Bigler’s Grove [IA]. 4 children.

3. Mary Ann-born 1828, died 1902, married 3 times, James Bowes, Wm. Palmer-one of three daughters, Rose, married Geo. Bunnell. Their daughter, Rosamond [was] wife of Wallace Smith, [former] president of R.L.D.S. Church. Geo. Headlee or Headley was her (Mary Ann’s) first husband. She had 15 children in all. I [who?] have their names and some of their mates and children’s names.

4. Elizabeth, born Mar. 29, 1830, married Lewis Coon, born May 29, 1820. Were parents of 11 children, only 4 of whom lived to age of 30. Both are buried at Silver Hill Cemetery, 4 miles north of Logan [IA].

5. Jane or Amanda Jane, born 1832, died Mar. 16, 1902. She was married twice, first to Ansylum Coon who died in 1859, leaving 2 daughters. She later married James Headlee. She is buried at Bigler’s Grove [IA].

6. Amon, born Aug. 13, 1834, married Mary Ann McKenzie, Jan. 21. 1864. Had 11 children, 5 of whom grew to maturity. He died in 1906, she in 1915. Buried in Bigler’s Grove Cem.
7. Joseph V., Mar. 9, 1837, died 1901. He was the only one of the children who wasn’t a member of the church. He was blessed as a baby by Joseph Smith, Jr., and given his name. Burial Bigler’s Grove [IA].

8. Nathan 1839-died in infancy.
9. Hyrum, born Jan. 22, 1841, died in 1922, married Jane Craig in KN. They had 2 children, both died in infancy in Bigler’s Grove [IA]. She later returned to KN. He went to CA and died and was buried there.
10. Vesta, b. May 10, 1844. Married twice, Wm. Craig and Wm. Waiters. Lived much of adult life in CA. Buried there.

Children of John and Myra McIntyre:

Joseph Menassah, b. , died Sept. 15, 1943 in Coalinga, CA

Amon

Geo. Edward

Janey Bowerman

Edna Trimble

Alvin

Wm. Henry

David

James Nelson

Thomas Jefferson

John Richard

John R. McIntyre’s maternal grandfather, Jacob Hittle was born in PA of German descent. During the Revolutionary War, he fought under Gen. Washington in several battles. He died in 1835 at age of 95. Uncle John came to Iowa to Appanoose Co., 1848. He married Elmyra Fry, Aug. 29, 1843. In 1850, they came to Mills Co., IN. 1853 to Harrison Co., and Monona in 1878. He died Feb. 5, 1902.

Earl--

I hope this agrees with what you have, if not maybe someone can correct it. The material is mostly from my mother’s and Uncle Ed’s writings.

Mary Foutch

P.S. I forgot to include Hyrum Fry was blessed by Hyrum Smith who gave him the name of Hyrum.



Earl McIntyre's paternal grandmother was Elmyra Fry, wife of John R. McIntyre.  She was the daughter of David Fry and Dorothy Stewart. Dorothy was a direct descendent of royalty, but that's not tonight's post.  Later.  My first post consists of the scan of a 1970 letter sent to Grandpa Earl by Mary Foutch.  From the context, Mary seems to be a cousin.

Christopher Sexton

      Christopher Columbus Sexton was Nancy Belle's grandfather.  Her cousin, Letcher Sexton, told his family's story to his sister, Edrie Huff in 1979, who recorded the account.  It was transcribed and published in the Spring, 1986 issue of the Scott County (Tennessee) Historical Society Newsletter. The entire account is posted as "Early Days on Paint Rock: An Oral History."     You can read the entire article at www.tngenweb.org/scott/fnb_v3n1_oral_history.htm


    Recently, I was ignoring a show on the television.  I can't tell you the name, or even what channel it was on.  One statement caught my attention:  mini-balls caused many deaths in the Civil War. It was at that point that I realized the Christopher had been severely injured during the war.  He carried a mini-ball in his leg until the end of his life.  I had thought "mini," no big deal, but apparently, it was.  Then, I started wondering how the war had affected Sexton.  A portion of the "Oral History" may give us a clue.  On the bottom of the seventh page of part two, Letcher tells of a rather strange encounter with his grandfather:


     I think I’ll tell about a visit that Grandpa CHRIS SEXTON made to our homeplace on Paint Rock. At the time, I was around five or six years old. My grandpa came walking up through the field with his walking stick — I was playing outside — and I ran down to meet him. Well, he was giving me a look-over, didn’t say anything, just kept right on walking. Come on up to the house, went up on the porch, saw a chair and went on over and sat down in it. Mother came out and they greeted one another with a few words. Mother asked him if he wanted anything to drink, and if he wanted anything to eat.


      "No, no."

     And she looked kind of funny.

      And he said, "I just needed a little walk and I thought I'd walk down here and see how the family was along I’ll be going in a few minutes."

     And directly he kind of perked up and said, "How ‘bout taking him with me?"

     Mother said, "Alright," as far as she knew.

    He said, "Alright, get him ready."

     So, she got me ready and he stuck his finger down in a few minutes and come off the porch with him. We walked on until we come to a fence about 100 yards from the house that we had to go through to follow the old wagon road that went up through Paint Rock, where we could get on the railroad and continue walking toward Tunnel Hill.
       "No, I just want to rest a few minutes."     "Won’t you come into the house?"


      "Won’t you come into the house?"


       "No, I just want to rest a few minutes."


       And she looked kind of funny.


      And he said, "I just needed a little walk and I thought I'd walk down here and see how the family was along I’ll be going in a few minutes."


     And directly he kind of perked up and said, "How ‘bout taking him with me?"


     Mother said, "Alright," as far as she knew.


     He said, "Alright, get him ready."


I'm not sure where this was taken, it was in with
some old family photos. I don't know who took
 it.  The caption at the bottom reads,  "Wrecking
 Crew" and a date.

        Now, he hardly said a word and I turned the finger loose and continued to jog along beside him. We got on up through Paint Rock a little ways and we-came to what was called a rock cut, and there the water was gushing out and there was a tin cup sitting by it and he picked up the cup, took a drink of water himself, caught another cut and give me a drink of water and I wondered why he didn’t give me a drink of water first. And the only answer I could figure out was, if it’s good enough for me it ought to be good enough for you. I’ve tested it and it ought to be safe enough for you. So, we drank the water and he emptied the cup and sat it back and started just a little farther and the section foreman of the railroad maintenance crew was tamping the ties at the upper end of the cut. And, as soon as we got up with them, GEORGE SHARP seemed mighty happy to see grandpa and they talked a minute or so — George did most of the talking —and then he looked over at his crew and he said, "Put your tools on and set it on." Then he picked me up and set me on (the section car) with the tools. Then he told the men we’d go up to Tunnel Hill, he had a little job that needed to be done up there. And that was about three quarters of a mile, partially upgrade all the way to Tunnel Hill. So, grandpa and GEORGE SHARP, the foreman, walked back behind and I couldn’t hear what they said. But I was rather amused to get to ride on this section tool car. There was four men and they just pushed you.., and, finally, we arrived at the entrance to the tunnel.


      GEORGE came over and put me off, then he said to the men, "Set her off." They picked it up, one at each corner, set if off at the side of the track. Then he said, "Bring your tools and fix this track along here." And while they were doing that, grandpa stuck his finger down to give me the sign that I should go with him. He took a little path along the right side of the road that went on up the side of the tunnel and up to a ridge road at the top of the tunnel that led westward. So, we followed on up to this ridge road to kind of a haul road, a wagon haul road, and we followed on across the hill, climbing a little higher and higher.

     We got all the way to the top just before we turned down a little bit, to come down to the brow from which we could look down on the CHRIS SEXTON farm. He had 109 acres there and partially cleared with some fields in the valley and some fields on some ridges. And he had a pasture and a meadow and fields for corn and fields for hay, and all that I could see down there. But what interested me more was looking down on the barn and seeing all those guinnies and turkeys and geese and pigs and the cows and the calves all running around. Then I looked down a little farther to the right in a hollow to the right of the house and there was a colt and a mare and a mule and another kind of bayish colored animal, horse. And looked toward the house and there was apple trees all along, and a paling fence along the side. And I know today that there was about two acres reserved along that paling fence for his garden area. And then right between the house and the garden was a great big top of a barn. And over to the left was a big feed shed and another shed. On down was the house, a great big double loghouse, quite long and it had a big long porch along the right hand side. And on the left hand side of the logs an enclosed area that might have been a porch that was now used for a kitchen.

      Anyway, grandpa and I went on down this hill and down past the barn and through the gate and on past the well and around into the house. Of course, at that time, there was my grandma, Aunt MARTHA, and WINNIE, and MANDY and Aunt SALLY still at home. I was kindly restless and wanted to look around. And Aunt WINNIE took me to walk around the house. And they had flowers in little beds all along the front of the house. We walked on around past the smokehouse, looked over at the big cedar tree at the back of the bow of the hill. Under there was a bird with a long tail, the longest tail that I’d ever remembered seeing. And that was, Aunt WINNIE said, the old peacock.

FNB Chronicle, Vol. 3, No. 2 – Winter 1992

First National Bank

P.O. Box 4699

Oneida, TN 37841

(p5-7)

   

Unknown (Or At Least Unsure) Photos

       There are several photos that I can't identify.  A distant cousin, a sweet lady, sent me some photos in hopes that we (the McIntyres) might be able to put some names with the faces.  Her relatives also include the Cecils, who are not related to us. Some of these may be Cecils. I'll post a few now.  I think I have the one family identified; see if you agree.

   

Martha Sexton Crain
b. 1848, d. 1923

      This is Martha Sexton Crain, born in 1848, died 1923, sister to my gg grandfather, Christopher Columbus Sexton. As I've been looking at these for the last few months, I've noticed that:

1.  She has a lot of hair

2. That her hair sweeps from her left to her right

3. She has high cheekbones

4. Slightly probtruding earlobes

5. Her face is triangular, wider at the top, more narrow chin

6. Her mouth is large

7. She is wearing a collar that covers her neck

8. Her hair is light. Most likely gray or blonde.

9. A little research shows that she had three daughter, Savannah, Laura, and Salina

I have one more photo identified as Martha Crain in which she looks almost identical.



        I think this is the same person. She has the triangular face, hair that sweeps from her left to right. The ears and mouth also look right to me.   If it is Martha, then, my guess is that this is husband, William Crain, and the three daughters

   Sallie Sexton's brother and sisters are featured in several portraits along with their mother, Nancy V. Phillips Sexton.  I have seen only one poor quality photo of Christopher Columbus. Starting with the known, there is this photo.

And then, there is this one:

Bottom Left to Right: James William Truesdale "Bill" Sexton
and Caswell Sexton
Two Sisters in Back Row

     Personally, I wonder if these could be spouses instead of sisters, the pose makes me wonder. Does anyone know who they are?

   I'll post more unknown photos another day.

--Cheri

A Little More in the Same Vein





  

     This was in the same pile as the RLDS Church Directory that was in the last post.  If you look directly above the "IA" in the caption, there is a large box.  I happened to zoom on that part of the photo and this is what I found: 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               


      The sign on the side says "gasolene," so it must be an early gas pump.  I have never seen anything similar.  I wonder how many cars were in Moorhead, IA during the second decade of the twentieth century. Were the farmers using tractors and others gas-powered equipment? 

      Along with the ad for the McIntyre Drugstore, I'm reposting the fan.  Here's a little piece of ephemera, designed to be thrown away, but instead stuck in a drawer.  It amazes me that a piece of cheap paper has survived so long. 



      

1910 RLDS Directory











       I found this directory among some family photos.  Moorhead is a tiny town in Monona County, IA  northeast of Omaha, NE.  The early histories of Monona and Harrison Counties list the McIntyres, the Frys, the Adams, and the Manns.  All are related to us. 





A. (Ammon) McIntyre was Grandpa Earl Mc's father who is listed on this page as the Presiding Teacher of the church.  The clerk was Mrs. Perry Mann.  Louella Wilson Mann married Ammon after the deaths of their respective spouses.  My mother and her siblings referred to her as "Grandma Lou."

  




      In an earlier post, I stated that the McIntyres were back in Iowa by 1910.  Here is the ad for the drugstore and in the following pages, the family members are named as members of the church.





      Even if my surname was Outhouse, I don't think I would use it as the name for my real estate business, and  I also don't think the slogan would be "Make this Real Estate office your Headquarters." 

 



 

 

Helenwood, Tennessee

     An eccentric, enterprising relative is believe to be responsible for the “Helenwood” name given to a small town in Scott County, Tennessee. The name, so the story goes, was shortened from “Hell in the Woods,” referring to the time when a demon was discovered buried in a shallow grave. Well, maybe...

     Reuben Crusoe Sexton was the son of Christopher Columbus Sexton and Sarah West. Sallie Sexton’s father was also Christopher, but her mother was Nancy Phillips.

     While in the army, “Cruise” saw huge, monstrous statues and upon his return to Tennessee, he decided to create his own sculpture. Using bed clay located near an abandoned coal mine, he painstakingly made a detailed figure, spending years on detail work. With horns, a large head, and long arms, the figure appeared so vicious that Sexton fashioned a chain around the creature’s neck. Wings reached almost to its feet. Twenty-four teeth were visible in large mouth. The statue even sported clay genitals.

     Fearing her son had a still hidden in the woods, Cruise’s mother followed him to the mine. (From what I’ve heard, moonshine was a popular way for some of the Tennessee Sextons to get a little extra cash.) Instead of liquor, Mom found a “demon” who frightened her so much that she started spreading the story of the horrible monster she’d seen. And our good, old boy figured the tales circulating could be profitable. He made up a story claiming that the creature had been found in July of 1921, under five feet of dirt in his backyard. He said that his belief was that he had unearthed an ancient idol.

     As the story of the devil spread, Sexton and his brother,Jerry Smith, put the devil in an oversized coffin and carried it to Jerry’s yard in town. Some said the creature weighed a ton, others claimed only five hundred pounds, but which ever it was, transporting it must have been a difficult task. Not so surprisingly, with a little help from Sexton, I’m sure, the tale of the demon became more exaggerated, and it was taken to Helenwood Railway Station where it was displayed. Twenty-five cents bought twenty-five minutes of viewing. By August of 1921, there was so much notoriety that the New York Times wrote two articles. People nationwide were travelling the rails to see Sexton's creation.


      In September of 1921, J.C. Pemberton of nearby Oneida, Tennessee paid two thousand dollars for the monster and immediately showed it in the Somerset Fair in Somerset, Kentucky. The demon was the top draw at the fair. A professor from an “Eastern School” espoused that the statue was an idol from an early race.  Cruise signed an affidavit stating that the statue was authentic while a guard watched over the casket now reinforced with four iron bands. Some supposedly fainted at the viewings, others claimed the demon was a fake. However, despite cries of fraud, Pemberton was able to bargain for a reported twenty-five thousand dollars sale to parties who showed it at the Chicago World’s Fair of 1923.

     After the Fair, the devil didn’t return to Scott County. Some said that it was put on display on in a small museum in the Northern United States. Others said  it disintegrated.
    
     For some odd reason (were people that naïve?), Cruise Sexton was never pegged as the source of the monster. Residents of Cruise’s hometown decided that the devil had visited their hometown because of the sins of the people who lived there. They pointed to the drinking, saloons, and violence as evidence and soon the little town was called “Hell in the Woods.” The name stuck.




Chart showing the relationship between my grandmother, Nancy Belle Waters, and Robinson Crusoe Sexton

   

     It would be wonderful if the stories I find had enough details to exactly pinpoint the people involved, especially the eccentric ones. However, many times, it comes down to a presumption and a hope that someone will help correct mistakes.

     I glanced down a record of military actions in China to see if I could determine which “Cruise” started his own lucrative business in an abandoned coal mine. In this case, an uncle, named Reuben Crusoe Sexton (b. 1872), and his nephew, Crusoe Reuben (b.1896) are the two most likely entrepreneurs. American soldiers were in China from the 1890’s to 1918. So either one could have visited there. As this tale dates from 1921, I thought that the younger came back from World War I, worked on the statue for three years, and then started selling tickets. On the other hand, I remember seeing somewhere that Sexton worked on it for seven years. If that is the case, the younger is ruled out. Also, Jerry Smith helped Cruise take his monster to town (and here I envision them dressing the creature in tails and a tophat). Jerry Smith was a brother to the elder, the two shared a mother. If I were to hang out and do something a little shady, my more likely companion would be my sibling, not my uncle.  So,  this account is written assuming the uncle was the sculptor.
                                                                                                                                            -Cheri