Does anyone know which paper this came out of? Who is Shirley Donnelly and why would she have files on the Handley family? Yesterday and Today -- Brief History of Handley Family – Part I By SHIRLEY DONNELLY After my old friend, Dr Harry E. Handley, had answered the summons to “join that innumerable caravan which moves to that mysterious realm where each shall take his place in the silent halls of death” March 8, I intended to write about him but never got to it until now. Dr. Handley was president of the Greenbrier County Historical Society and its moving spirit. If ever there was a person in whom the elements of history fused, it was this World War I veteran from Greenbrier. The story of the house of Handley is interesting. My files on this family are far from complete but I have considerable notes dealing with the doctors forebears. DR. HARRY. E. HANDLEY (July 3, 1896-March 8, 1964) was the son of Charles William Handley, born in the Civil War, March 5, 1861. The mother [crossed out and the word wife inserted] of Charles William Handley was Mary Austin McNeel Handley. Paternal grandparents of Dr. H. E. Handley were Harvey and Mary Bell Handley who were married at Goshen in Rockbridge County, Va., on June 14, 1862. Mary Bell was the daughter of Joseph and Maryanna Nelson Bell. She was born at Goshen, Va., Sept. 13, 1822. DR. HANDLEY HAD nine uncles and aunts on his father’s side of the family, The family included William M. Handley, (April 8, 1843 — June, 1848); Joseph B. Handely [sic], born Jan. 4, 1845, and became a Confederate soldier, of which more anon; Mary A. Handley, born Oct. 28, 1846; John O. Handley, born May 25, 1849; Bettie P. Handley, (May 12, 1851-October, 1861); Thomas A. Handley, born June 9, 1853; Robert D. Handley, (Nov. .9, 1855-September, 1865); Harvey J. Handley, born Jan. 31, 1859; Charles William Handley, (father of Dr. Harry E. Handley), born March 5, 1861; and Mary B. Handley, born October 12, 1863. The foregoing ten persons were the children of Harvey Handley and Mary Bell Handley. PARENTS OF Harvey Handley, and the great-grandparents of Dr. Harry E. Handley, were John Handley and Elizabeth Shanklin Handley. John Handley was born Oct. 28, 1817. His maternal grandfather came from Ireland in 1769 and settled three miles west of Lewisburg in 1784. There he died some time later. REFERENCE WAS made above to Joseph Bell Handley, an uncle of Dr. Harry E. Handley. Born Jan. 4, 1845, this second child of the Harvey Handleys was just the right age to see service in the Civil War. In the fall of 1862 he enlisted at Richlands, Va., in the 14th Virginia Cavalry of the Confederate Army, serving in Company K until its division when he was placed in Company E. Joe Handley’s Company stayed in Greenbrier County about a year and was engaged in the skirmish at Tukwillers Hill. Headquarters of the company that winter of 1863 was at Monroe Draft. Next spring they were ordered over Lynchburg way to throw a roadblock across the path of Gen. W. W. Averill’s Federal forces. If it was action that young Joseph Bell Handley was itching for, he found aplenty. He took part in the marching, countermarching, and engagements of the Valley campaigns until in January, 1865, the 14th Virginia Cavalry was transferred to Beall’s Cavalry Brigade, operating with Lee until the surrender at Appomattox on April 9, 1865. AMONG THE engagements in which Joe Handley took part were Monocacy Maryland; Georgetown, Fishers Hill, Kernstown, Cedar Creek, Cedarville, Winchester, and Timberville. In the command under Lee, Handley participated in the bloody battles of Five Forks and Appomattox. In the dying kick of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox, soldier Joe Handley was busy firing his piece from daybreak until 10 o’clock the morning of Lee’s surrender day. When the order reached him to cease firing his gun barrel was hot from firing it so much that sad morning. He was never wounded nor made prisoner. More than once when the smoke of the battlefield cleared away his ragged uniform was found shot full of holes. AFTER THE WAR young Handley returned to the farm near Lewisburg. At Richlands on Feb. 27, 1878 he married Miss Sallie Smith Watkins, a native of Charlotte County. She was born to William Leigh Watkins and Ann Cobbs Harris Watkins, near Smithville, Va., on July 11, 1858. More of the Handley family story on the morrow. In the history of the Handley family, occasioned by the death of the late Dr. Harry Edwin Handley (July 3 1896 – March 8, 1964), president and moving spirit of the Greenbrier Historical Society, mention might be made of another uncle, John O. Handley. Harvey and Mary Bell Handley had 10 children altogether and John O. Handley, born May 25, 1849, was the fourth of the brood. He married Mattie Bell at Lewisburg on Sept 14, 1882. She was the daughter of Johnson E. Sarah A Wayte Bell. Mattie was born in Lewisburg, Jan 7, 1846. Her father was born Rockbridge County, Va., on Dec 16, 1816, and lived in Greenbrier County until 1845. Mother of Mattie was born in Augusta County, Va., Oct. 9, 1882. She died in Greenbrier County Jan. 4, 1869. AUSTIN HANDLEY was a son of John and. Elizabeth Shanklin Handley. His father, John Handley , was born Oct. 28, 1817 and died Sept. 21, 1875. His mother, Elizabeth Shanklin Handley, died Feb. 22, 1854. Wife of Austin Handley was E. Bell a native of Bath County Va. He and Mary E. married in Rockbridge County Va., Nov. 15, 1855. They had the following children: Bessie D. Handley, born Aug. 11, 1857; Charley B. Handley, born Jan. 3, 1859; Hattie B. Handley, born Aug. 1, 1860; Sallie A. Handley born June 30, 1862; Jane Lee Handley, born May 12, 1864; Mary Lewis Handley, born Aug. 10, 1874; Philip N. Handley, born. May 12, 1868; George Lacy Handley, born March 21, 1870; Lucy J. Handley, born Aug. 10, 1874; Henry M. M. Handley, born Jan. 21, 1876; and John A. Handley, born May 8, 1880. Salle died in 1863, Hattie in 1881 and John on April 13, 1883. The Mother of Mary E. Bell Handley and grandmother of. the, foregoing 11 children, Mrs. Harriet. P Dickeson, died in Bath County, Va., in 1847. DURING THE CIVIL WAR when Greenbrier was overrun by Union forcer they dealt cruel blows to Austin Handley and his family. On Jan. 10, 1863, the Yankees laid waste the estate of Austin Handley because he was a southern sympathizer. They burned to the ground his house, his barn, and all his stables, and farm buildings. ------------------------------------------------------ Get the Latest News at CNN Interactive: http://CNN.com