Person Page 270

Letter from John David DeVault's son, Joseph G. DeVault to Newland DeVault, dated 1952.

"John David DeVault, my father, left the DeVault Settlement (DeVault's Ford area) when he was a young man and went to Wells X Road, Washington Co., (which shows on some old maps) 25 miles away where he learned the tanners' trade and married his boss's daughter, Cynthia Wells, and later lived on her inheritance in Sullivan Co. He had a tannery there until the close of the Civil War when the Federals destroyed it. Everything he had was destroyed, except the land ---- he raised a large family of twelve and did not have much time to talk of the past." [His brother, George Henry DeVault also operated a tannery at Elizabethton, Tennessee, which was also destroyed by the Federals.]

"My grandfather [Jacob DeVault, Sr.] came to the DeVault Settlement when my father was a young man, 16 years old." [Joseph remembers his father telling him this and as his father was born in 1819, this would make the year 1835, when Jacob, Sr. left Washington Co., Tennessee and moved to Sullivan Co., Tennessee, just east of DeVault's Ford. This was about the time of Jacob, Sr.'s second marriage.] "The home in which my Grandfather lived near the DeVault Settlement, on the Watauga, was burned. He was badly burned and spent the remainder of his life with his datghter, Mary, who married Warrington Hunt and was buried in the old Cemetery at Jonesboro. I do not know where or when his first wife died or was buried."

Note: Jacob, Sr.'s first wife, Rachel Dorothy (Kitzmiller) Dewald died on August 8, 1826 and was buried in the church yard of St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Hanover, Pennsylvania.

(from Tracy DeVault):

The following is an excerpt from a letter written by Franklin Hunt Broyles, M.D. in 1933. See notes under Franklin Hunt Broyles for the complete text of the letter.

" I visited Uncle Michael K. DeVault in Illinois more than fifty years ago but had not corresponded with any of them for fifty years but once in a while I would send Cousin Laura a birthday card, or a picture of some place of interest I visited but never heard from her. Just this last Christmas I sent her a Christmas card, and two or three weeks later I received a letter from her niece saying her Aunt Laura died three years ago. That her grandparents, her father and her uncle and aunt were all dead and that as far as she knew one brother was the only living relative she had on earth and that if I was a friend of the family or knew any thing about the DeVault family she would be glad to hear from me. I went back to her great, great, grandfather and gave her a quite complete history down to herself, so complete should she wish to join the D.A.Rs she can do so. Although I stopped with the birth and death of my own mother of that branch of our family. I will give this to her in another chapter. I have not heard from her since I sent her that letter, and she has no idea she and I are second cousins. It is too bad relatives get so scattered they loose all trace of each other, but I can I think understand how it is she knows not of her father's family. Uncle Michael DeVault was one of the best men I ever knew, and his wife was just as good as long as she was boss and every one bowed to her, but when they did not she was a regular she devil. Their oldest son Elbert married a young lady his mother had taken a dislike for and I heard her say she never wanted to see him again and that she never wanted to look in her face either in life or death. This marriage took place at the time I visited them, and it is my opinion he gave his family a wide bearth and told his children nothing about them, altho the rest of the famiy never said a word in my presence against the young lady Elbert married. The other two children never married. I know cousin Laura had an opportunity to marry a young man who has made a splendid success of his life, and her mother was willing that he and Laura marry, provided they would move right in and live with or very near her for he would would not be domineered over by her and Laura did not want to live with her for she knew no one could do so in peace, but at the same time she said she could never marry with out her mother's consent and if she did not marry this particular young man she would never marry any. That decided the young man to break the engagement and some years later married a jewel of a young woman. None of the children were at all like their mother in disposition but seeing the heart aches caused by her brother's disobedience caused her to sacrifice a happy married life with a home and children of her own.

Obituary -- The Cecil Whig, Elkton, Cecil County, Maryland, Saturday, March 21, 1891:

Death of a Pioneer Railroad Man.

Mr. John Perkins of this town received a telegram on Friday morning informing him of the death of his father-in-law, Mr. William Roberts which occurred at his home in Philadelphia about ten o'clock on Thursday night. Mr. Roberts who was one of the oldest railroad men in the country, was just entering his 80th year, having been born on the 14th of February 1812. He was a native of Frederick county, Md., of which county his wife who was Miss Rigney was also a native. When quite a young man he entered the U. S. mail service, then carried by stages from Baltimore to Wheeling, and afterwards entered the service of the B. & O. railroad, being the driver of the first car drawn by horses, from Baltimore to Ellicott Mills, as well as conductor of the first car after the application of steam. About the year 1850 he entered the service of the P., W. & B. railroad company, in which he remained until his retirement from active business pursuits some fifteen years ago. He enjoyed a wide circle of personal and business acquaintances, and was universally esteemed for his stern integrity and high character, a fact recognized by his company in retiring him upon full pay. Mr. Roberts was the father of twelve children, eight of whom are living, four daughters and four sons, his eldest daughter Virginia being Mrs. John Perkins, and who was with her father at his death.

Newspaper article -- Evening Star, Washington, DC, June 4, 1902, page 3:

Lunacy Proceedings

Justice Barnard late yesterday afternoon directed that John J. Dolan, Ray C. Callahan, John A. Curran, Loulne H. Ellwood, William Moxley, Henry Smith, Lotta V. Sommers and Ann E. Jewell be committed to the Government Hospital for the Insane for care and curative treatment.

Evening Star, Washington, DC, September 10, 1902, page 19:

Deaths in the District

The following deaths were reported at the health office during the twenty-four hours ending at noon today:

Ann E. Jewell, 79 years; . . .

Jacob Ellis, J.P. performed the marriage ceremony

John's father, Martin Kitzmiller, sent John on a business trip to Pennsylvania. On his way to or from Pennsylvania, John met his cousin, Louise DeWald. This meeting eventually resulted in a marriage in Tennessee.

Story told to Newland DeVault by Frederick Russell DeVault.