Ninth Generation


557. Annie Porter "Dot" ROBERTS was born on 22 June 1876 in Joplin, Jasper, MO.2084 She Piano Recital on 8 July 1892 at 302 S. Fifth St. in Hannibal, Marion, MO.2085 "Invitation and Program for a Greig Recital by Annie P. Roberts, at the Home of Mr. A. R. Levering, Friday, Eighth July, 1892. 302 South Fifth St., Eight P. M.
Program: No 4. a. "Tanze aus Joster," b. "Grisin," c. Trauzigesang" and No. 1 Suite Opus 40. "Aus Holberg's Geit" - Prelude, Sarabande, Gavotte, Air, Rigandon. She Visiting SF with family on 29 August 1896 in San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.1911 Dot died on 1 July 1953 at the age of 77 in Hannibal, Marion, MO.2086,2087 She was buried on 3 July 1953 in Mt Olivet Cemetery, Hannibal, Marion, MO.2088,2089 She has reference number 410. Annie Porter Roberts Hodgdon was a great friend of her sister-in-law, Abby Marble Hammond Roberts - wife of Annie's brother, Gilchrist Porter Roberts. She was known and loved by all of us and was always known as "Aunt Dot." She had a goiter problem and had the accompanying prominent eyes, which were quite fascinating to me as a young child. But her charm and energy took over and soon all else was forgotten. We all adored her. When attempting to fill in the gaps of the family genealogy I was charmed all over again by re-reading all of the letters from her that were saved by my grandmother, Abby. Aunt Dot is unquestionably the author of the famous "Two Days in Pike County" and I'm convinced that the letter was addressed originally to my grandmother.

The 'letter' was first found with gaps in the wording - I and my cousin Alice Roberts Rodhouse (she's a descendant of "Gussie" in the letter) filled in the gaps to the best of our ability. It has proven to be a great asset in the process of working on the Roberts family history.


TWO DAYS SPENT IN PIKE COUNTY

I have always said that the scenery in Pike County, Missouri cannot be surpassed by any in the United States, and especially if you see the hillsides in October where the frost has touched the leaves just enough to bring out the gorgeous Autumn tints. The oaks this October 1930 were the most beautiful I have ever seen there, with all the shades of russet, brown with touches of green and red – the brilliant sumac, the sassafras and maples. It was a sight never to be forgotten.

A joint meeting of the Northern and Southern Convocations of the Diocese of Missouri was held at Calvary Church in Louisiana October 28th, 29th and 30th so I decided to go down Wednesday morning and hoped Frank could go also, but when he found he could not get away I decided to go down on the train reaching there about 11 o'clock. There was an interesting business session and then we went out to the Louisiana Country Club to a beautiful luncheon. Gussie Roberts, Mrs. Edith Roberts and Mrs. Mackey of Clarksville had driven up to the meeting, and it had been arranged before hand that I was to be met there and go to Clarksville for the night with Gussie. The luncheon was delicious, the most marvelous fried chicken being the piece de resistance. The principal speaker after the luncheon was Mr. George M. Block of St. Louis, and spoke of his love for Pike Co. and the beautiful old St. John's church which was built by his grandparents and other Virginians who had settled in Pike Co. about the same time. He also mentioned Col. Edw. W Dorsey.1 The Louisiana Country Club is 4 miles from Louisiana and is on the old Jackson farm belonging to Mr. Mark Gillum's maternal grandparents, who are buried on the farm.

After luncheon we drove to the home of Mr. & Mrs. Paul Stark, which is almost seven miles from Louisiana and is on the top of a hill and looks over into the valley towards Clarksville. I have never seen anything more beautiful than the foliage in these hills nor the entire panorama. It was a perfect October day – bright, clear and warm and it was a joy to be out of doors. That evening we listened to a fine sermon by Dr. Block of St. Louis and then went to Clarksville for the night.

During the night had come a hard rain and the weather had turned cold, so Gussie and I stayed indoors and visited all day. Friday was a perfect day, and before I had finished dressing Gussie told me that Mr. Mark Gillum had invited us to drive to Bowling Green with him that morning and we would start at nine o'clock. A young Mrs. Boone, who as a bride had just come from Savannah, Georgia to live in Clarksville, was the fourth in our party.

The air was sharp and bracing, and no schoolchildren, starting out for a day's picnic could have been more excited than we. Our only disappointment was that John could not go with us, but as Publisher of "The Clarksville Sentinel," he was having his busiest day of the week and could not leave. We drove out towards Paynesville, and as we leisurely rode along, Mr. Gillum pointed to each farm telling stories about the early settlers whose names were most familiar to me.

The hills in Pike County have a peculiar shape, all of them being what they call sugarloaf shaped, rounding rather than pointed, and there are distinct ridges with very fertile valleys between them, and the hillsides densely wooded. Then turning around we obtained marvelous views of that grand old Father of Waters, the Mississippi.

It was eleven o'clock when we reached Bowling Green, and the person with whom we sought an interview was Uncle Simeon N. Gillum, son of Nathan Smith Gillum, and grandson of John Gillum II and his wife Elizabeth Smith. Uncle Simeon gave us little information except that Nathan Smith Gillum was the youngest son of John Gillum and that he came to Missouri in 1833 and settled on a farm near Ashley, Mo. He then went back to Virginia and brought his father and others out to Missouri.

Nathan Smith Gillum was born in Albemarle Co., Va., May 15, 1815. I do not know the date of his death but John Gillum II died in 1837. We then went to see Mrs. Champ Clark, thinking that she might know something of the Gillum family, but found that she did not and was unwilling to talk of anything except the Porter family whom she had known so well in Clarksville. Mrs. Clark, as Genevieve Bennett was a seat mate of Aunt Nannie Porter's and was introduced by Aunt Nannie to Mr. Champ Clark whom she afterwards married. I wanted to linger with Mrs. Clark, but feeling that our object was to locate the Gillum family we reluctantly left, promising to return another day.

It was noon! So we decided to stop and eat our lunch, before we went on in our search for Ancestors. Having satisfied the lunch inner man we went to call on Judge and Mrs. Gray, who are living in the old Porter-Broadhead home. It is a beautiful home of the low rambling type, with two types of dormer windows. It sets well back off of the street and has been beautifully preserved. The same old stone front door step is there. The same very thick front door, with the same door knob, lock and hinges. You enter a rather narrow hall, with narrow stairs leading up to the second story. There is a room on either side of the hall in front with the same small panes of glass in the windows; the same high base board around the walls, and it is so beautifully furnished in antique furniture, so suitable to the home – Judge Gray is the Probate Judge of Pike County, and his wife a descendant of the famous Gentry family. She is in D.A.R. But we had to hasten on.

The highways are paved now out of Bowling Green, but you, sister and Eleanor know what kind of mud6 they had to travel through in the olden times, because none of us will ever forget that ride to Bowling Green five years ago. Do you remember the Bank I went into to inquire about the Porter home? Well, Uncle Sim Gillum is President of that Bank, and if that young man had only asked him he would have taken us right to the house, because it is only three blocks from the Courthouse. Wasn't that a terrible pity! You simply must come back to Mo. because now that the highways are paved we can drive to Bowling Green in one hour.

About ten miles south of Bowling Green is the old Myers farm on Buffalo Knob, from 2 and one half to 3 miles west of Edgewood. When Jeremiah Roberts and his wife Lucy Mildred Fagg Roberts came out to Missouri in 1835, they brought with them three children, John Orville, James Boyd and Mary Ann (who was a baby in arms) and some negroes. They went first to Mr. Myers, as he had married Elizabeth Gillum's cousin, and Mr. Myers gave him a sight for a log house and a field to plant. The house was situated on a knob, called Buffalo Knob, and Spout Spring where they obtained their water supply, is down the hill on the left. It is still an active spring. Here Richard Morris Roberts was born Sept. 27, 1837.

Mr. Myers simply gave Jeremiah Roberts the use of this land until he had time to look around for a permanent location. During their residence here they formed a close friendship with Captain Edward Dorsey's family who lived on another hill just across the Valley. Aunt Mary Broadhead told me about staying all night many times with Aunt Millie Roberts, when Uncle Jerry, as she called them, was away from home. Grandmother Roberts was afraid to go to sleep so she kept Aunt Mary awake by telling her an entire novel by Scott or Dickens. Aunt Mary said she had never known anyone who could relate as interesting a story. One negro man's name was Bob.

Only one room of the old house built by Jeremiah Roberts remains, but several wonderful old trees are still standing which look as if they were one hundred years old.

Mr. Gillum said he had walked all over this farm with Uncle John Roberts, and had heard him say, "I remember playing here when I was a little boy," or "I remember carrying water up from old Spout Spring," etc. In this particular part of Pike County were settled Mr. Carter who was such a large owner of slaves, that he was said not to know all of them sight. It was reported that the majority of slaves in Pike County were owned by Mr. Carter, Dr. Bankhead and Captain Edward Dorsey. Captain Archy Bankhead was a very intimate friend of Uncle Cale Dorsey's2 and they with Uncle Sim Gillum fought in the same Company during the Civil War. All of their farms adjoined. We walked over the farm and to the fence that divided the Dorsey and Roberts places.
I heard this story:

It seems that when the Dorsey family sold their farm, they had an old slave named Cato, who was now free, but who had stayed on with them. They gave him a deed to ten acres of land and he lived on it, in his little log cabin until he died. He is buried in a little private burying ground near there. His place was called Cato's Patch, and the Bankhead family have paid taxes on it ever since old Cato's death, many, many years ago. It is all thickly overgrown with underbrush now and is not valuable, but it adjoins their land and as there was no one to claim it, they have just included in their farm. We also saw a farm called the Cale Dorsey3 farm just adjoining the Captain Dorsey farm. There we went over to "Briar Patch" which is such an attractive log house built on the Gillum place. It was built about nine years ago for a hunting lodge and has been used for many happy and gay house parties. It is ideally situated in a grove of beautiful trees and is an ideal place to go to thrown off care and trouble and enjoy life.

Very reluctantly we entered the car for our homeward journey. One marvelous view we had going home was from the old McCune farm. It is on the crest of a hill and the view of the hills and valleys is marvelous. We passed Cousin Chris Merriweather's home; Mr. Heppie Merriweather's; Aberdeen the lovely old home of Mr. & Mrs. H. V. P. Block and "Falicon" the wonderful country home of the Dameron family. It was a day long to be remembered and I can never thank Gussie and Mr. Gillum for making the day possible.

Saturday Gussie drove me out to the lovely old farm where she was born, and to Brookhill Farm, Dr. Clopton's home, also up to Mrs. Roberts's which she bought from Uncle John Roberts. It was a perfect visit and one I shall never forget. That day we also went to the home where Papa and Mamma were married and where Sister was born. We stood on the porch and looked up and down the beautiful Mississippi and remembered the stories of Mrs. Porter sending word to the Captain of a steam boat to please wait for Mrs. Porter she had decided to go to St. Louis. We went inside this old home and were taken from room to room by Mrs. Holmes, the charming owner of the house. She has not disturbed much of the old house but has left windows, doors, etc. as they were years ago.

I cannot complete an account of this visit without mentioning John Orville's son, John Orville Roberts IV. He is such a bright, wholesome looking baby and is very handsome with hair almost read and very large dark brown eyes. Mr. Jake Huckstep of Bowling Green told John Orville that Frederick Roberts, Jeremiah's brother had red hair, so John thinks perhaps he may have inherited it!

Before I left Clarksville, Mr. Gillum said he would invite Frank and me to "Briar Patch" for a week-end, so imagine my surprise when a week from Sunday I had a long distance message from Bowling Green to come down for three days. Frank said he could not go but for me to go and he would drive me down. We were at Mother's for dinner, and did not get home until after three o'clock, so I hurriedly packed my bedding and a few things and we drove to Bowling Green to meet Mr. & Mrs. Russell Bankhead and Mr. Merrill of St. Louis. They have beds & mattresses at the lodge but do not keep any bedding down there. As the quail season opened Monday morning Mr. Merrill and Mr. Bankhead were planning to hunt and took three dogs with them. It was six o'clock when we reached "Briar Patch" and we found a good hot chicken dinner ready for us and Mr. and Mrs. Gillum and Dr. Randolph Bankhead waiting for us. After a delicious meal we sat around the beautiful big fireplace and talked until far into the night. It was wonderful sleeping so far away from civilization and we were all greatly refreshed and ready for an early rising, breakfast and start by eight o'clock for a busy day – Monday. We drove down the highway past Eolia almost to Auburn then turned onto the country roads to Elsberry where we were to find Mrs. Lizzie Stone, whom we found to be most interesting. (Mrs. Lizzie H. Stone, RR #3 Box 115). She was wide-awake, interesting little woman and told us many interesting things. She showed us a quilt her Mother made in 1858, which is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. Her Mother in 1852 started a scrapbook and in it she had written the names of all of the descendants of John Gillum and Elizabeth Dickerson. I have written to her and asked her to try and find out for us the birth, death and marriage of this John & Elizabeth Gillum and Elizabeth Gillum and Richard Morris. Leaving Mrs. Stone we drove north to Little Ramsay Creek and found the farm where Jeremiah Roberts moved before his daughter Ellen Lewis was born in 1839. He moved over to Little Ramsay to be near his Father-in-law John Fagg, who with his family had moved out from Albemarle County, Virginia in November 1837. We were told that their house, which was very quaint and interesting, was not the one where Mr. Roberts lived, but some of the outbuildings were still standing.

We then rode over to the Fagg farm, which is on the other side of the creek and further up the road and at the base of a hill. The front part of the old log house is still standing and I regretted so much not having John's Kodak. Downstairs were two rooms separated by a very narrow hall and narrow stairs led to the upper rooms. The plaster was off the wall in one room and we could see the logs very distinctly. There were the deep window sills showing how thick the logs were. There were small windows in the upper rooms. We then drove up the hill about a quarter of a mile to the family burying ground where we found the grave of John Fagg with the following dates on his tombstone. Born August 14, 1775, died October 12, 1846. Also Elizabeth W., wife of John Fagg born January 11, 1782, died March 5, 1851. Then Horatio T. Kent born October 12, 1811 died May 31, 1849. He was the husband of Mary Ann Fagg, born 1808, daughter of John Fagg. The view from that plot was beautiful. You could look down upon the house, and the lovely hills in every direction. There is a little country school out in the public road called the Fagg School. Reluctantly we drove away, -- mind filled with memories of all we had heard about those who had called these very places home. It was very wonderful to me to the there.

We again resumed our ride and were getting very hungry, as it was after one o'clock. We found a persimmon tree, loaded with the most luscious fruit and stopped and gathered some. On we went towards Paynesville, where Dr. Bankhead had lived for many years, and where Grandma Porter and all of her family had visited many, many times. The house had been destroyed by fire and all that remains are the avenues of wells, which stood one between each two negro cabins on the farm. This was Mrs. Gillum's father's home. There are some charming old homes still standing in Paynesville and I was glad to have seen them.

We reached "Briar Patch" about two and had a refreshing luncheon, after which Mr. Gillum and I left the others to rest and took to the road again.

This time we drove up to the Dorsey farm and walked all around. One room of the old house is still standing so the present occupants thought, the present house being well built by a Mr. Chilton. There they told us of the old family burying ground. We walked over to it and found the graves of Emma Rebecca, Lizzie Rebecca and Margaret Porter, infant daughters of Grandma and Grandpa Porter. Also a stone marked Larry Dorsey4 who died in his 33rd year. I do not know who he was – do you?* I learned when I was in Bowling Green, that --?-—11 Lev Lawrence5 is still living there. Wasn't his Mother a sister of Great-grandmother Dorsey? Is there anything you would like to learn if I ever saw him?

My visit came to an end all too soon. Frank came for me Tuesday afternoon. We met in Bowling Green. Mrs. Gillum is a very charming woman, a true Southern Aristocrat and Mr. Gillum a real Southern gentleman. They were wonderful to me and I feel so strongly drawn to them, that in my quest for Ancestors, I feel I had truly found real cousins.

*The inclusion of this personal question has always suggested to me that Aunt Dot was really writing a letter to her sister-in-law, although much of the voice of this piece suggests a newsletter article.

NOTES:

1. Dorsey – Col. Edward Worthington Dorsey, originally from Baltimore, MD had a large farm across the road from the place where Jeremiah Roberts originally settled with his family in Pike County. Years later, the granddaughter of Edward Dorsey, Julia Porter, married Richard Morris Roberts, the son of Jeremiah Roberts.
2. Cole was actually ‘Cale’ Dorsey – Caleb Dorsey, the sixth child of Edward Worthington Dorsey – and the only member of the Dorsey and Roberts families to fight in the Civil War. Caleb Dorsey never married, left Missouri after the bitter loss of the war, traveled through Mexico with a thought of settling there – but finally settled in Stanislaus County, CA. His Pike County family eventually joined him on the west coast, settling in San Joaquin County, CA.

3. Again, must be “Cale” – or Caleb Dorsey. Only time I have ever heard of him owning a farm. An exhaustive search of Pike County land records has never produced any evidence that he owned or controlled a farm. He sold his rights to the estate of his father, who died in 1858, to his brother Thomas Beale Dorsey, prior to leaving for the war.

4. Larry Dorsey was actually Larkin Dorsey – also a Dorsey from Anne Arundel County, MD – unmarried son of John Dorsey and Sarah Hammond. His younger brother, Sheredine also migrated to MO from MD, married and died in 1879 in Pike County.

5. Cousin Levin Lawrence – and his mother who was Theresa Josephine Brown, a sister of Eleanor Elizabeth Brown, wife of Edward Worthington Dorsey.


ANNIE PORTER ROBERTS

Annie Porter Roberts, or Aunt Dot, the author of this letter, was the youngest daughter of Richard Morris Roberts and Julia Porter. Her brother, Gilchrist Porter Roberts (widely known as Porter or Port) married Abby Hammond in 1903 and were the parents of my father, John Hammond Roberts. Aunt Dot, who married Frank Trowbridge Hodgdon, was a tiny woman, always busy and talkative and was widely adored by all of us, her family, and friends. She became fast friends with my grandmother, and they carried on a very active correspondence. Aunt Dot and my grandmother shared a great love for genealogy – and this article/letter is but one example.


Annie Porter "Dot" ROBERTS and Frank Trowbridge HODGDON were married on 2 June 1898 in Hannibal, Marion, MO.2090,2091 They2090,2091 appeared in the census in 1900 in Hannibal, Marion, MO.2092 They2092 appeared in the census in 1910 in Hannibal, Marion, MO.2093 Dot and Frank2093 appeared in the census in 1930 in Hannibal, Marion, MO.2094 Frank Trowbridge HODGDON, son of Charles F HODGDON and Alice Regina TROWBRIDGE, was born on 13 April 1873 in Quincy, Adams, IL.2095,2096 He appeared in the census in 1880 in Quincy, Adams, IL.2097 He died Suicide on 2 October 1950 at the age of 77 in Hannibal, Marion, MO.2098,2099,2100,2101 Frank was buried on 4 October 1950 in Mt. Olivet Cemetary, Hannibal, Marion, MO.2102 He has reference number 644.

Annie Porter "Dot" ROBERTS and Frank Trowbridge HODGDON had the following children:

579

i.

Anne Dorsey HODGDON was born on 20 September 1910 in Hannibal, Marion, MO.2103 She served in the military on 27 August 1942 in Hannibal, Marion, MO.2104 She served in the military in 1944 in Des Moines, Polk. IA.2105 About 1960 Anne was an employee of the Farmers and Merchants Bank in Hannibal, Marion, MO.2106 In 1970 she was a self-employed tax consultant in 1000 Hill St, Hannibal, Marion, MO.2107 She signed a will about 1970 in Hannibal, Marion, MO.2108 Anne died on 26 May 1974 at the age of 63 in Hannibal, Marion, MO.2109,2110 She was buried on 2 June 1974 in Hannibal, Marion, MO.2110,2111 She has reference number 645.

+580

ii.

Frank Trowbridge HODGDON , Jr was born on 29 April 1899.2112 He died on 9 October 1962 at the age of 63 in La Jolla, CA.2113 He was buried after 9 October 1962 in Mt Olivet Cemetery, Hannibal, Marion, MO.2114 Frank has reference number 646.

+581

iii.

Julia Porter HODGDON was born on 15 February 1908 in Hannibal, Marion, MO. She has reference number 647.