Person Page 3,746

"Charley Lung" was named on the 1942 Tennessee Delayed Certificate of Birth as the father of David Clemmie Lung, as sworn on affidavits on the reverse of the form by Chessie O. (McCray) Kitzmiller, David's aunt, and Alice Tate, neighbor. A family Bible record is also cited. The birth date is 11 MAR 1905, and the location is Harr, Tennessee.

In reviewing the affidavits, it appears that both are in the same handwriting. This suggests to me that the verbal statements of the two ladies were recorded by a third person, probably the E. S. Adams who notarized the affidavits. This means that the spelling of names was potentially subject to misunderstanding of the verbal communication. Moreover, the state of literacy being what it was in that timeframe, they were not likely to have been in a position to correct a spelling error. Alternatively, and equally likely, is that "Lung" was in fact their belief and understanding about the surname, as it appears that way on the 1910 census as well. However, as described below, it appears that if this gentleman was a Lung, then he was not from their region of the country, so their knowledge may have been only from hearsay.

Chessie's affidavit states that she was present at the birth of David. On 11 MAR 1905 she would have been just 13 (January 1892 birth date). This almost certainly means that David was born in his mother's parents' home.

A search of the 1900 and 1910 censuses of Sullivan and Washington Counties, Tennessee, and Scott, Wise, and Washington Counties, Virginia, (on ancestry.com), reveals no Lung families whatsoever. Ernest "Lung" in Hamilton County, Tennessee has been corrected to "Lang" by an ancestry.com user, and shows the wife's name. A family in Culpeper County, Virginia was enumerated as "Lung" but again has been corrected to "Long" by an ancestry.com user. It is apparent that there were no Lungs living anywhere near David's birthplace. So, if the gentleman's surname was in fact Lung, he was a visitor from a distant location, and did not stay in the area.

Harr, in Sullivan County, Tennessee is a place name located just south of the Virginia-Tennessee border and just east of South Holston Lake, where Harr Road intersects with Denton Valley Road.

With this much information, it is safe to state the David's biological father was probably a Long or a Lang, of which there were numerous candidate families in the area on both sides of the Virginia-Tennessee border. The circumstances of the birth in Eula's parental home, and the later need for a delayed birth certificate, together with the lack of any indication of a marriage of his parents, strongly suggest an out-of-wedlock birth. DLB 2022.

Obituary -- Daily Independent Journal, San Rafael, California; Wednesday, 1 FEB 1967, p.4 (Newspapers.com):

DAVID KITZMILLER

Funeral for David Kitzmiller, a resident of Marin for 30 years, will be held at 10 a.m. tomorrow at Keaton's Mortuary, San Rafael. Interment will be at Mount Tamalpais Cemetery.

Kitzmiller, 62, died Monday at a local hospital after a long illness.

A retired heavy equipment oiler, he was a member of Operating Engineers Union, Local 3, and had worked for many contractors in Marin County.

Kitzmiller was born in Virginia and came to California at about 24 years of age after serving an enlistment in the Army.

He lived at 197 Bolina road, Fairfax.

Kitzmiller is survived by his wife, Catherine; two sons, Glenn E. and Robert W. Kitzmiller of San Rafael; three sisters and two brothers in Tennessee, and nine grandchildren.

The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California); June 7, 1937; Page 27 (Newspapers.com)

Mt. Rubidoux Crash Fatal

Youth Killed, Three Hurt as Car Plunges Into Canyon, Overturns

Riverside, June 6, -- Mt. Rubidoux had its first traffic fatality today.

The mountain highway, over which thousands of motorists have passed, especially on Easter mornings when the famous Sunday services are conducted, was the scene of a crash that carried a motor car to the bottom of a canyon, bringing death to John Kitzmiller, 20 years of age, of Riverside.

The car Kitzmiller was driving and occupied also by Ray Clemmens, Barbara Blaylock, and Nina Baird, all of Riverside, failed to negotiate a curve on the ascent and hurtled 20 feet into a canyon, overturning and pinning Kitzmiller beneath it.

The others were thrown clear of the machine in the fall and suffered only minor injuries.

OBITUARY - The Kingsport Times, December 14, 1943

Death Notice

Howard Anderson

Howard Anderson, 30, died Monday at 10 a.m. at the Holston Valley Community Hospital after an illness of three days. He had been a resident of Kingsport for the past 25 years and was living at 1022 Globe Street at the time of his death.

He had been an employe of the Blue Ridge Glass Corporation for two years.

He is survived by his wife, Frankie Kitzmiller Anderson; his mother, Mrs. Mina Anderson; two sisters, Mrs. Herbert Calhoun and Mrs. Leslie Perry and one brother, Robert Anderson, all of Kingsport.

Funeral services will be conducted from the Hamlett-Dobson Chapel Thursday at 2 p.m. with the Rev. Rand Dillon officiating. Burial will be in the city cemetery.

Pallbearers will be fellow workers at the Blue Ridge Glass Corporation.