Craig - sure did enjoy your story - reminds me of the ones my grandmother, Jennie Berry-Ryder Jones used to tell us when we were kids. She lived to be 92 yrs of age. She was born in Syria and I recall her talking about Slate Mills. I would surely enjoy the photos. Thanks so much - Paulina Yager Campbell (Page County) pyc105@highspeedlink.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "Craig Kilby" <persisto@earthlink.net> To: <vaculpep@rootsweb.com> Cc: <kilby-l@rootsweb.com>; <germanna_colonies@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, November 15, 2008 10:42 PM Subject: Re: [GERMANNA] [VACULPEP] A day in Culpeper and Rappahannock > If anyone wants photos from today's event, Mike Lyman has already > sent the important one by email. I'm afraid I was the designated > photographer on most of them, but they are still very telling. > > Send me an email off list and I'll forward Mike's email to me with > the photos. > > Again, the "Culpeper Minutemen" Chapter of SAR really made this day > (along of course with Lucia Kilby, Dr. Walter Kilby, and others). > What an adventure. If nothing else, these photos give an idea of the > landscape of the Culpeper/Rappahannock/Madison County border and the > Piedmont. (Slate Mills is right where those 3 counties converve. We > crossed the Culpeper/Rappahannock County border at least twice on > this trip, and when asked where James Kilby, father of Leroy, was > buried, we just pointed across the hill.) > > Craig > > On Nov 15, 2008, at 10:36 PM, RockCatt@aol.com wrote: > >> What a great day, Craig! Thank you also for your kind words >> regarding Marc >> Wheat, the President of the Germanna Foundation. It's good to >> know that he >> also dances while discussing Germanna! >> >> Barb Price >> >> >> In a message dated 11/15/2008 15:56:08 Pacific Standard Time, >> persisto@earthlink.net writes: >> >> Dear Listers: >> >> In the many years I have been doing genealogical research, today must >> rank among one of the most memorable ever. Not all things have to do >> with court houses. They sometimes have to do with cemeteries, and on >> very special occasions, they have to do with ceremonies for soldiers >> past. Since getting there is half the fun, please allow me to share >> a most enjoyable day. >> >> It all started over a year ago, when Mike Lyman, a fellow SAR >> compatriot of the Richard Henry Lee Chapter in Lancaster County, >> Virginia, and past President of the Virginia Society War of 1812 >> Virginia, came into the Mary Ball Museum & Library to donate his >> latest work, "Location of War of 1812 Veteran Graves in Virginia" I >> told him I knew of a grave I bet he didn't. He was all ears. I told >> him about the Kilby family grave yard at Slate Mills in Rappahannock >> County, where lies Private Leroy Kilby (1785-1859). >> >> Fast forward to today. I drove up yesterday (Friday) to do some >> research for a client at the Culpeper Court House. (If anybody knows >> where the MISSING "Foushee vs. Foushee's Executor" chancery suit, >> settled in 1845, has gone to, please let me know. It contains the >> will of one Thornton Foushee whose will was recorded in MISSING Will >> Book "M".) >> >> I had not been to Culpeper for any length of time in at last ten >> years. I must say, the downtown is quite a hopping little place for >> night life. I had a wonderful mug of "Crab Swiss Fondue" soup at >> "The Pub" on East Davis, which is in a basement off of an alley, and >> is the site of the old Culpeper County jail, where my poor old great- >> great uncle Joseph Kilby died while there in 1845. He was >> incarcerated for bad debts relating to questionable horse dealing. I >> toasted him in front of the roaring wood burning fireplace. I'm sure >> it was all just a minor misunderstanding. (When I relayed this story >> to the staff, I was informed the place is very much haunted.) >> >> But the thrust of this trip was all about today. >> >> Today began with intermitment rains, and did not bode well for any >> outdoor activities. To start the day, however, was an in-door >> meeting of the Culpeper Minutemen Chapter of the SAR here at the Best >> Western Hotel where I am staying and from which I write this account. >> >> My local SAR chapter apparently does nothing by the rule book. We >> are simply a social organization that meets for cocktails at 11:30 >> a.m., have a nice lunch and a good speaker, and go home. Always a >> good crowd, and that is all I thought it was supposed to be. >> >> Let me tell, when I walked in I saw half of the people there in >> period costume, including Mike Lyman, who had told me in advance that >> I would learn what a "real" SAR meeting is all about, I knew I was in >> for something quite different. I'll skip all the formalities here. >> As people introduced themselves, I learned that our featured speaker >> today was none other than Marc Wheat, President of the Germanna >> Memorial Foundation. Now this came as quite a shock as just this >> very morning I had been exchanging emails with John Blankenbaker >> about the origins of the First Colony. >> >> A huge pang of guilt also hit me, as I had not renewed my membership >> to Germanna in some years. I rectified that immediately! I had >> never met Marc in person, and I knew nothing of his professional >> background (very impressive), and I was quite eager to hear his >> presentation. Unfortunately, most of it was drowned out by a live >> band at a birthday party in the next room, and an Evangelical choir >> group across the hall. Bad planning on the part of the Best >> Western. Marc did a good job of going with the flow, even dancing to >> the music at one point. >> >> These "real" SAR meetings really drag on. Everybody gets an award >> for something. >> >> But, dear reader, if you have stayed with me this far, we get to the >> really good part of the day. >> >> The Society for the War of 1812, under Mike Lyman diligent pursuit of >> making this happen, was scheduled for 3:00 at the Kilby Family >> Cemetery at Slate Mills. I must here mention my dear cousin Lucia >> Kilby of Sperryville who coordinated this with Mike Lyman. >> >> Now, as I said at the beginning, getting there is half the fun. >> Today, it was nearly all of the fun. Remember, it had been raining >> most of the day, and most of the previous two days before. >> >> The Kilby cemetery is not exactly anywhere anyone would ever find >> it. In fact, it is no where anyone would ever find it. Knowing >> this, Lucia Kilby had arranged for us all to meet at the Slate Mills >> Baptist Church. Finding even that is not an easy task, but we all >> had good directions. >> >> Driving from Culpeper to Slate Mills in a driving rain, not even >> knowing if Lucia would show up or not (the dear lady is in her 80s), >> I arrived ahead of most of the group (nearly all from the local SAR >> chapter, but some from as far away as Fairfax County), and there were >> a few already assembled. To my surprise and delight, this group >> included Dr. Walter B. Kilby, a direct descendant of Leroy Kilby, and >> Lucia's nephew. (Lucia's own children could care less about these >> things, it being deer season.) >> >> The only person who knew how to get to the grave site was Lucia >> Kilby. It's a good thing I have a jeep. >> >> She explained that this grave yard was on private property, and that >> we had to go through several gates and up a hill which has no road to >> get to it. That was an understatement. >> >> Thankfully, it had quit raining. >> >> Since we were still waiting for others, It was decided to take an >> advance convoy of three vehicles, including Mike Lyman's van with all >> of the appurtenances for the ceremoney, and come back for the others >> later. >> >> With Craig and Lucia in the lead, in my jeep, we wound our way >> through some back roads, arrived at the farm in question, and >> proceeded along. At this point, Lucia's memory got a little foggy on >> just where the grave yard was. Not where it was, but how to get to >> it. She hadn't been there in years. (She, in fact, is the one who >> discovered it umpteen years ago.) >> >> So, not seeing any viable way to get up that hill, she said we should >> just drive through the ladies' yard and go around it, and then up the >> hill. Which, after another gate, we did. >> >> Definitely time to put the jeep in 4-wheel drive mode. >> >> To my surprise, Mike Lyman's van actually made it up that mud, >> slippery hill. But there was one more hill to go, and poor Mike's >> van just didn't make it that far. Lucia and I proceeded and finally >> spotted the serene, hill top, iron fenced graveyard. >> >> There, we were first greet by two donkeys, followed very shortly >> afterwards by about 20 wet and very curious horses, ponies and >> colts. Did we bring food? >> >> The third vehicle in the caravan, also a jeep, came up a bit later, >> informing us that the old ladies who lived there did NOT appreciate >> our driving through their yard. Didn't we see the gate we had passed >> to be used for that purpose? (Obviously, we did not.) >> >> Alright, after much shuttling back and forth, about 20 people and 20 >> equines gathered around the grave of Leroy Kilby for a very elaborate >> ceremony to mark the grave of Private Leroy Kilby, who spent all of >> six weeks at Camp Selden. (We are not sure where that was, but it >> was probably on the Potomac River to guard against British man-o-wars >> coming upstream to burn down Washington and Baltimore. As we all >> know, that was not a success.) >> >> And, I must add, just as the ceremony began, the sun came out in >> brilliant display. Dr. Kilby unveiled the marker, taps was played, >> prayers were said, and, well, it was just a most remarkable day for >> one and all. >> >> So, here ends my brief story of one day in the Piedmont of Virginia. >> >> Who says genealogy is dull? >> >> Yours in History, >> Craig Kilby >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> GERMANNA_COLONIES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' >> without the quotes in the >> subject and the body of the message >> >> >> **************Get the Moviefone Toolbar. Showtimes, theaters, movie >> news & >> more!(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1212774565x1200812037/ >> aol?redir=htt >> p://toolbar.aol.com/moviefone/download.html?ncid=emlcntusdown00000001) >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to VACULPEP- >> request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes >> in the subject and the body of the message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > GERMANNA_COLONIES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > -- I am using the free version of SPAMfighter. We are a community of 5.6 million users fighting spam. SPAMfighter has removed 1299 of my spam emails to date. Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len The Professional version does not have this message