Thanks for the story. Very informative. Vanessa Paul & Marianne Kepler wrote: > > My Great-Aunt Oba (Obedience C. Algeo) put together a family genealogy > called "A Pioneer Heritage, The Algeo-Vestal Story". I have found many > mistakes, but the general thread of it all is pretty correct. My goal is to > someday publish a corrected and expanded edition. I promised Peggy Hill that > I would re-type the chapter on the Vestals for all of you, even tho it may > not pertain to many, I think it's interesting. > > page 21 > Records of the Families > > The information contained in this geneagogy has been obtained from Oba > Algeo's notes and from information given by members of the family as of > April 1972. No attempt has been made to verify this information with > official records. Any error is unintentional. > > For the prupose of this publication, only the direct descendants of John > Mahan Algeo and Amy Vestal Algeo have been included. > > Children too young to have seen married at the date of publication of this > book have not been listed in the succeeding generation(s). > > An asterick (*) indicates twins. > > page 9 > The Vestal Story > > Thomas Vestal I, my great-great-grandfather, married Elizabeth Davis in > England. Her father, Charles Davis, is said to have left a fortune in > England when the family immigrated to America. Because immigrants were not > allowed to take money out of England, the fortune was finally put in a > chancery. In 1898 a cousin, Asa Vestal, was collecting five dollars from > each heir to see if he could send a lawyer to collect this money for the > heirs. I never have known what resulted. I only know that we did not get > anything. > Elizabeth and Thomas I lived in Chatham, North Carolina, where they > raised ten children: Jemima, Thomas II, Hannah, Mary, William, Rachel, John, > Jesse, David and Silas. The Vestals were birth right Quakers, and a quiet > conservative family. > Thomas Vestal II, my great-grandfather, married Amy Thompson, and had > nine children: William (called Billy), Elizabeth (called Lizzie), Hannah, > Phoebe, Polly, Thomas Curran III, John, Rachel, and Jerimiah. > My mother, Amy, was born in North Carolina in 1835, the seventh child in > a family of eleven children born between 1822 and 1847, before the family > came to California. The other children were William (called Billy), Rebecca, > Mary, Thomas Hardin, Elizabeth, Sarah Ann, Lemuel Hadley Hobson, Obedience > Lucinda, and Rachel Williams. > I do not know how long they lived in North Carolina. Mother went to > school there. They finally migrated to Missouri. She was a teenager there. > Her teacher was Martin Rice, who wrote several books about the people who > had immigrated from North Carolina to Missouri. In 1885 Martin Rice sent my > mohter one of his books, TALES AND RHYMES OF OLDEN TIMES, autographed by him > and dated August 22, 1885. > The Vestals were very conservative people and were not sure that they > should risk going to a new country. They lived a number of years in > Missouri, But after William (the oldest son) made a trip to see if the > family should go to California, they finally decided to go. In 1852 the > Vestal family crossed the great plains in an oxen train, through Utah, and > finally landed in the little settlement of Wheatland in Yuba County, California. > Grandfather Thomas Vestal was a farmer, and he took up land there. Their > first ranch, near Wheatland, was where the ALgeo's stayed overnight in 1852 > when John Mahan Algeo first met Amy Vestal, whom he later married. Thomas > Vestal III was unable to get a clear title to his land near Wheatland > because of a Spanish Land Grant, so he gave up those acres and took up land > near the Algeo ranch four miles from Nicolaus. He farmed this new ranch > until he was too old to farm and his children all had homes of their own. He > and Obedience raised nine children there. They finally moved to Petaluma to > be near their two oldest sons. Thomas III died there July 3, 1880. > Grandmother Obedience Vestal then went to Sacramento to live with her > youngest daughter, Mrs. Lyman Gilman, my Aunt Rachel. Grandmother was blind > before she passed in 1888. While she was living at my Aunt Rachel's she > invited me, a ten year old school girl, to visit her in Sacramento, and help > her use a music box that had been given to her. I enjoyed doing this, but > went back to the ranch when school started. I was named for this > grandmother, and she gave me little extra thoughts and gifts occasionally. > I remember the lovely pieced quilts Grandmother Vestal used to make so > well. She made me one when I was about ten years old. It was made of my > dress scraps, beautifully quilted, and I used it many years. > It is interesting to notice that both the Vestal and Algeo families were > in the habit of naming new babies after someone already in the family. I > have never found any consistant rule regarding it, but it is a rather nice > plan, for namesakes are given special attention through the years. I was > named for my maternal grandmother, Obedience Williams. My whole name was > Obedience Caroline Algeo. When I was six years old and started to school in > the Illinois District in Sutter County I found it difficult to learn to > write my name and still keep it on the paper. I did not like "Obie" so I > finally cut it down to Oba C. ALgeo. > My sister Maggie was three years older than I was. After her marriage to > Alanzo Jopson she had four boys, but was determined to have a daughter. Her > fifth child was a girl whom she named Oba after me. I am indeed thankful > that she did, for now that I am the last child of the John Mahan Algeo > family, my namesake is wonderful to me. I thank God dearly for her. > I have never used my real name. We both like the shortened name, so use > it happily. > <->-<->-<->-<->-<->->-<->->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<->-<-> > Paul & Marianne Kepler > 15913 Mt. View Drive > Nevada City, CA 95959 > (530) 265-3666 > > ==== VESTAL Mailing List ==== > Please Help Support Rootsweb! By becoming a member, your donation will continue to have this great surname e-mail list, and the new surname boards on a website at Rootsweb! Your donations are the only thing that keep them going! Just go to: http://www.rootsweb.com/