JOSEPH DIMMIT FLEECE, 1827-1899
West Virginia to Ohio.
The purpose of Stray Branches is to bring forth stories that are little known or to call attention to new facts and resources that may have been difficult to find in the past.
Overview.
Joseph was born in 1827 in what is now Morgan County, West Virginia, county seat Martinsburg. However, when he was born it was actually Berkeley County, Virginia, county seat Berkeley Springs. Berkeley Springs, Virginia is now also in West Virginia. The two towns are about 25 miles from each other. To further complicate things Berkeley Springs (the city) used to be known as Bath, named in honor of England's spa city of Bath because of the hot springs but was changed to Berkeley Springs in 1802. So early Fleece records sometimes say Bath, Virginia.
"George Washington slept there" is in fact, true, but the subject of another story.
Joseph's middle name of Dimmit supposedly comes from the maiden name of a grandmother. This story comes from my grandfather Ira, whose middle name also came from a grandmother, in this case Trimble and proved to be true. Grandpa's oldest brother David also carried the Dimmit middle name and it appears he had a son named Dimmit David. I had some notes somewhere on the Dimmit family prior to three moves in five years and no online tree. Hopeful they will resurface because I haven't located a Fleece tree with that connection yet :-(
1860 census in what is now Morgan County, West Virginia. From Ancestry.com.
There is a migration story in our family and I wish I knew with whom it originated. A cousin of my mom's wrote it out when I started interviewing relatives. A brief version of it appears in the Joseph's biography: The History of Hardin County, Ohio, pgs 978-79. The year 1864 from West Virginia to Ohio seems accurate since he and his family were in Hardin County, Ohio in the 1870 census but I plan to back this up with deed records at some point.
1870 census in Richland Township, Logan County which borders McDonald Township, Hardin County. From Ancestry.com.
This blog examines the conflicting information about Joseph's Civil War service. While searching through the surname files in the Logan County Genealogy Society, I ran across the obit of Joseph, and also his wife. (Have you checked the Genealogy Society of the county in which you are researching for something like Surname Files? It is unbelievable what you can unearth there!)
The Civil War Story.
Joseph's obituary was published in the West Liberty Banner which was also a surprise to me, because West Liberty is on the extreme southern edge of Logan County. The Fleeces actually lived (most of the time) in Hardin County, north of Logan County. However, I had multiple family lines centered in the Belle Center area, in Logan County, but very close to the Hardin County line, and they liked to bounce back and forth across it. Of course they did!
During Josephs's era, newspapers were competing for readership and shortly after the Civil War, these small-town newspapers found that running little gosippy columns about small communities, rather they had their own newspaper or not, boosted sales. So I should really have not been surprised to see a Belle Center news section in the West Liberty Banner.
If you are new to genealogy, obituaries of the 1800s were rarely the biographies they are today. However, my farmer ancestors seemed to have been fairly involved in civic and community affairs, so were well known enough that death information showed up in the local press.
The West Liberty Banner noted he was a "Confederate soldier and fought under Stonewall Jackson".
Well, there we have it, right? It was in the newspaper so it must be true, yes? Well...
...why is there a GAR (Grand Army of the Republic - a fraternal organization made up mostly of Union soldiers) marker on his grave and a flag every Memorial Day?
West Virginia to Ohio.
The purpose of Stray Branches is to bring forth stories that are little known or to call attention to new facts and resources that may have been difficult to find in the past.
Overview.
Joseph was born in 1827 in what is now Morgan County, West Virginia, county seat Martinsburg. However, when he was born it was actually Berkeley County, Virginia, county seat Berkeley Springs. Berkeley Springs, Virginia is now also in West Virginia. The two towns are about 25 miles from each other. To further complicate things Berkeley Springs (the city) used to be known as Bath, named in honor of England's spa city of Bath because of the hot springs but was changed to Berkeley Springs in 1802. So early Fleece records sometimes say Bath, Virginia.
"George Washington slept there" is in fact, true, but the subject of another story.
Joseph's middle name of Dimmit supposedly comes from the maiden name of a grandmother. This story comes from my grandfather Ira, whose middle name also came from a grandmother, in this case Trimble and proved to be true. Grandpa's oldest brother David also carried the Dimmit middle name and it appears he had a son named Dimmit David. I had some notes somewhere on the Dimmit family prior to three moves in five years and no online tree. Hopeful they will resurface because I haven't located a Fleece tree with that connection yet :-(
There is a migration story in our family and I wish I knew with whom it originated. A cousin of my mom's wrote it out when I started interviewing relatives. A brief version of it appears in the Joseph's biography: The History of Hardin County, Ohio, pgs 978-79. The year 1864 from West Virginia to Ohio seems accurate since he and his family were in Hardin County, Ohio in the 1870 census but I plan to back this up with deed records at some point.
The Civil War Story.
Joseph's obituary was published in the West Liberty Banner which was also a surprise to me, because West Liberty is on the extreme southern edge of Logan County. The Fleeces actually lived (most of the time) in Hardin County, north of Logan County. However, I had multiple family lines centered in the Belle Center area, in Logan County, but very close to the Hardin County line, and they liked to bounce back and forth across it. Of course they did!
During Josephs's era, newspapers were competing for readership and shortly after the Civil War, these small-town newspapers found that running little gosippy columns about small communities, rather they had their own newspaper or not, boosted sales. So I should really have not been surprised to see a Belle Center news section in the West Liberty Banner.
If you are new to genealogy, obituaries of the 1800s were rarely the biographies they are today. However, my farmer ancestors seemed to have been fairly involved in civic and community affairs, so were well known enough that death information showed up in the local press.
The West Liberty Banner noted he was a "Confederate soldier and fought under Stonewall Jackson".
Well, there we have it, right? It was in the newspaper so it must be true, yes? Well...
...why is there a GAR (Grand Army of the Republic - a fraternal organization made up mostly of Union soldiers) marker on his grave and a flag every Memorial Day?
To be continued...
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