Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Biographies.....Edmunds, Elizabeth Barnes Hodge 1831 - 1885 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00001.html#0000031 February 15, 2008, 9:20 pm Author: Leonard Wilson (1916) ELIZABETH BARNES HODGE EDMUNDS TO the student of historical and genealogical lore, the illustrious ancestry of this well-known and highly esteemed lady possesses unusual interest, and, among the blending of eminent families which compose her lineage, there stand out prominently the names of Lyne, Boyd and Hodge. From the following notice inserted in the Richmond Standard of November 27, 1880, by Robert Lyne, Esq., of Dublin, Ireland, we learn of some of that name who were doubtless ancestors of, or at least near of kin to, the founders of the American Lynes: "A reward of three guineas is offered for the registry of baptism of Henry Lyne or Line in 1678. He died at Little Compton, County Gloster, in 1743, aged 65; or for his marriage with Catherine _____ about 1711. Rewards also for the following: Registry of baptism of Thomas Lyne, son of the above with Jane Mansel, about 1750, and baptism of any of their children—viz. Thomas, John, Mary, William, Robert, Sarah, Anne, Hannah, Susannah, Henry and Joseph, born between 1751 and 1772. The following are also wanted: Marriage of John Lyne (born at Swaicliffe, County Oxford, in 1645, to Dorothy, and his burial subsequent to 1680. Baptism of Matthew Lyne, father of the above-named John Lyne, about 1620, his marriage with Elizabeth ______ 1645, and his burial." During the early part of the eighteenth century at least three Lynes, and possibly others, left England to make their homes in the land of promise beyond the western sea. Thomas Lyne emigrated from Bristol, England, to Westmoreland County, Virginia, where he married Mary, daughter of Robert Standford. Of the seven children born to them, one son, Robert, removed to Carolina, while his son James went to Mason County, Kentucky, where he left several descendants, and his son Thomas to Loudoun County, Virginia. Descendants of the latter are found in Kentucky and Ohio. William Lyne. later known as William Lyne(1), the progenitor of Mrs. Edmunds, settled in or near Williamsburg, Virginia, while another Lyne, believed to be William's brother, came about the same time, and settled in or near Philadelphia. In discharging his duties as an officer of the Crown in connection with the treasury of the Virginia Colony, William proved his sterling worth and business ability. Two sons were born to him, William and Henry, and perhaps other children. William(2) kept the line of the family in Virginia, and Henry removed to North Carolina, making his home in Granville County. William (2) and his sons, Henry, George, Edmund, John and William^3), were prominent citizens in the Virginia Colony. William and John Lyne, doubtless the father and son, were among the trustees appointed in an Act passed in November, 1760, to dock the entail of lands of Richard Johnson in King and Queen County. Twelve years later William Lyne is appointed for a similar duty in connection with the lands of a William Todd. In Volume 10 of Henning's Statutes at Large, we find the account of the division of the very large parish of Drysdale into two parishes, to be known as Drysdale, and St. Asaph. To the Commissioners, of whom William Lyne was one, was given authority to sell the glebe and buildings of the then parish of Drysdale, and divide the proceeds between the two new parishes. By an Act of December 6, 1793, William Lyne, Sr., and William Lyne, Jr., were appointed among the trustees in charge of twenty-five acres of land on the Mattapony River, in King and Queen County, with authority to lay off half-acre lots and put in convenient streets for a town to be known as Dunkirk. George Lyne, brother of William, Jr., was in 1775 authorized to sign certain notes in connection with the Virginia Treasury. An Edmund Lyne was appointed one of the Commissioners to open a road from the Falls of the Great Kanawha to Lexington, Kentucky, and also a trustee to assist in establishing the town of Washington, in Bourbon County, Kentucky. On June 15, 1773, according to the records of the Land Registry Office of Virginia. an Edmond Lyne received a grant of 17G5 acres of land in Pittsylvania County. An Edmond Lyne, possibly the same one, perhaps his nephew, the son of William (3), was among the pioneers in Mason County, Kentucky. A strong military and patriotic tendency was shown by these five Lyne brothers, all of them serving their country nobly as either Colonel, Captain or Major in the Revolutionary War, while their sisters married Continental Army officers. Susannah married William Starling, of King William County, in 1774, and after a residence in Mecklenburg County, near Boydton, for several years, the Starlings, like many other Virginians, felt drawn to the new state of Kentucky, whither they emigrated with their numerous family in 17S0. The family of Anne Lyne, who married Major Howe, of Winchester, Virginia, consisted of two daughters, but no sons. By his membership in the Virginia House of Burgesses in 176S and 1770, his service on the Virginia Committee of Safety at the beginning of the Revolution, and as Colonel in the Continental Army, William Lyne(3) played the part of a true patriot and was justly honored by his fellow citizens. Prior to the Revolution he had married Lucy Foster Lyne, his cousin and the daughter of Henry Lyne, of Granville County, North Carolina. To them were born six daughters and four sons: William, James, Henry and Edmund. The descendants of the last-mentioned are known to have been numerous, many being now residents of Kentucky. Robert B. Lyne, who was a prominent Richmond citizen and business man during the nineteenth century, was a son of William, the son of William and Lucy Lyne, and was survived by two sons, William H. Lyne and Robert B. Lyne. James, second son of William Lyne(3), married Frances Bullock, daughter of Leonard Henley Bullock, and went to reside in Granville County, where his will was probated. To them were born four children, George, Leonard Henley, Henry and Lucy. George and Leonard removed to Kentucky, where some of their descendants live at the present time. Henry died unmarried, but his will, recorded in Granville County, devised his estate to his sister Lucy, who had married James Boyd. The North Carolina State records reveal an interesting story of a company raised from Granville County men under the leadership of Captain John Taylor, of which company a James Lyne was a member. They encountered the Hessians, and were surrounded by several hundred of them from whom with difficulty they made their escape, about three thousand bullets being sent after them! The Hessian rifle which he captured served James Lyne in after years as a reminder of the occasion. Perhaps James was the son of the Granville County pioneer, Henry, and the brother of Lucy Foster Lyne, who married William Lyne(3), of Virginia. Like the Lynes, the Boyds were distinguished pioneers. The town of Boydton, in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, was named for Alexander Boyd, an enterprising and thrifty Scotch merchant, whose wife, Ann Simpson, was, like himself, a native of Scotland. On his tomb near Boydton is found this inscription: "Sacred to the memory of Alexander Boyd, a native of Scotland, who suddenly departed this life in the Court House of this County while on the seat of justice in discharge of his duties as magistrate; August 11, 1808, in the 54th year of his age. * * * * * * God send his soul to endless rest, They loved him most who knew him best." His sisters, Anne, Mary and Jane, married three Hawkins brothers, who were, respectively, Governor William Hawkins, of North Carolina, Joseph Hawkins and John D. Hawkins. Jane Boyd Hawkins was the great-grandmother of Mrs. Kate Skelton Meade, of Danville, Virginia. Alexander's son, James, who seemed to inherit his father's business ability, became a successful merchant at Townesville, North Carolina. He married, as previously stated in the account of the Lynes, Lucy Lyne, youngest child of James Lyne, son of William Lyne(3), the Virginian. There were two children born to them, Frances Ann and James, Jr. Young James was enjoying a horseback ride on the public highway, when some men, who were racing their horses, came dashing by at high speed. His horse became unmanageable and threw him to the ground so violently that he was instantly killed. It is believed that the hair in a pin of jet and gold, owned by his niece, the subject of our sketch, and inherited from her mother, his sister, was his. After the death of James, his widow, Lucy (Lyne), married Colonel John Taylor. They moved to Tennessee, then a sparsely settled frontier region. Here were born their daughters, Polly and Lucy Lyne. The latter married Dr. James Macklin and went to live at or near Beaver Dam Forks, in Tipton County, Tennessee. Frances Ann Boyd was twice married, her first husband being William Henry Hodge, of Tarboro, North Carolina. Like the Lynes and the Boyds, the Hodges are widely scattered throughout our land, and were settled in many of our States at early dates. They were among the earliest New Englanders, many of whom were mariners, and in the course of their seafaring trade visited the coast towns of the Carolinas, where genial climate and other advantages led them to settle and establish homes. Some of the North Carolina Hodges are among their descendants. Others came by way of Virginia, which continually served as a feeder to the new States to the southward and westward. The 1790 United States Census reveals many Hodges in the State, and the name appears frequently in the early records. For many years, a Mr. Hodge, whose name appears as "A. Hodge," faithfully and ably served the State as public printer for a moderate stipend. Later mention is made of the firm of Aruett and Hodge, public printers, then Hodge and Blanchard, and later Hodge and Willis (or Wills). In 1789 a Hodge served as member of the legislative body, and his name is once written as "J. Hodge." A Joseph Hodge, possibly the same, was a representative from Orange County to the North Carolina Convention held at Fayetteville in 1789. Among the names of Revolutionary soldiers, reported by the Secretary of State to Congress in 1835, was an Alexander Hodge, who had been a private and a lieutenant, and a George Hodge, a private. William Henry Hodge, who married Frances Ann Boyd, received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1825 at the University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill. He owned the "gold mine" near Morganton, Burk County, North Carolina, which remained in the possession of the family until 1914. The children of William Henry and Frances Ann Boyd Hodge were: Lucy Lyne Hodge; Elizabeth Barnes Hodge, born June 22, 1831; James B. Hodge, and William Henry Hodge. After Mr. Hodge's death, his widow married Colonel John Lewis, who had one daughter by a former marriage. Their residence was upon the large estate known as "The Grove," located about seven miles from Clarksville, in Mecklenburg County, Virginia. Here Elizabeth Barnes Hodge, with her sister and brothers, and their step-sister, Mary Eliza Lewis, grew to maturity. Mary Eliza Lewis, later, married Ben Marshall, of Charlotte County. To Colonel and Mrs. Lewis were born several children, among whom were: John Taylor Lewis, who married Lucy Townes; Richard Bullock Lewis, who served in Company E, 14th Virginia Regiment, C. S. A., went to live at Clarksville, and married Sallie Moss; Fannie Lewis, who married Townes Boyd, and moved to Covington, Tennessee, and Leonard O. Lewis, of Clarksville, who married Sallie Townes, sister of Lucy Townes, above-mentioned. Colonel and Mrs. Lewis were laid to rest in the garden of their country home. In the late summer of 1847, Elizabeth Barnes Hodge, then just sixteen, but already affianced to Joseph Nicholas Edmunds, a rising young lawyer, with her sister, and step-sister, visited their mother's half-sister, Mrs. Lucy Lyne Taylor Macklin, in Tennessee. This journey, at that time, was quite a serious undertaking. Mrs. Lewis's letters to "Betty" (Elizabeth Barnes Hodge) are full of tender maternal solicitude. The distance separating them, which we would now consider trifling, looms up, in her anxiety for their welfare, to vast proportions, as she writes to her half-sister, Mrs. Macklin: "Oh, how I do wish I could see you and your children. But I am afraid I never shall. I wish you and the doctor (Doctor James Macklin, her husband), would return with the girls." The young ladies' visit lasted through the winter. In January, Elizabeth's fiance wrote of the possibility of his coming out to escort them home in the month of April, "if the ice did not get off the river till then," but if the ice melted early in the season, he suggested that he might come the latter part of February and they might all return together about the middle of March. He remarks that it took Elizabeth's last letter twenty-five days to reach him. According to agreement he went out in the spring to bring home the girls, and on July 10, 1848, Joseph Nicholas Edmunds and Elizabeth Barnes Hodge were united in marriage at the home of the bride in Clarksville. Mrs. Edmunds' sister Lucy passed away in her early womanhood, having never married. Her brother James married, but had no children. The youngest of William Henry Hodge's children, William Henry Hodge, Jr., married Sallie Jennings, and to them were born four children, Bettie, James, Nannie and Mildred. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Nicholas Edmunds lived for a time at Charlotte Court House, Virginia, where Mr. Edmunds engaged in the practice of law with his brother-in-law, but later removed to the large Woodburn plantation on the Staunton river. Their children were: Lucy Lyne Edmunds, who married Captain Edwin Edmunds Bouldin, of Danville; Henry Edmunds, who died in infancy; Frances Boyd Edmunds, who married Robert LeRoy Coleman, of Halifax County; Joseph Littleton Edmunds, born August 29, 1S56; Elizabeth Hodge Edmunds, born June 18, 1860. who married Edward Ragland Monroe; Martha Morton Edmunds, born April 25, 18G4; and Mildred Annie Edmunds, born July 10, 1872, who married Thomas Nicholas Gaines. It was in the midst of the stirring and heart-rending experiences of the Civil War, which occurred during the early childhood of the elder Edmunds children, that their father, with other members of Company B, First Virginia Regiment Reserve Forces, performed gallant service in defense of their home and community. Elizabeth Barnes Hodge Edmunds died in 1885 and was laid to rest in the cemetery at Danville, Virginia. Her husband, who died six years later, and her son Joseph Littleton, who died unmarried in 1910, rest by her side. Mrs. Edmunds' daughter Elizabeth, who married Mr. Monroe and resides at Brookneal, Campbell County, Virginia, is greatly interested in genealogical and historical studies, and along these lines, in tracing her family history, has done expert work. She has in her possession many interesting letters and other relics closely connected with her family history, and among these, none are more highly prized than a family set of jewelry inherited from her mother. The set consists of a bracelet, a ring and a pin. The bracelet is formed by two oval clasps of gold framework, and is of unique design. On the back of the pin is engraved the inscription: "Frances Lyne, N. A. Jany 19, 1770. O. B. Aug. 23, 1789." This Frances Lyne was Frances Bullock, who married James Lyne, and through four generations this precious heirloom has come down to its present owner. Additional Comments: Extracted from: MAKERS OF AMERICA BIOGRAPHIES OF LEADING MEN OF THOUGHT AND ACTION THE MEN WHO CONSTITUTE THE BONE AND SINEW OF AMERICAN PROSPERITY AND LIFE VOLUME II By LEONARD WILSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ASSISTED BY PROMINENT HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WRITERS Illustrated with many full page engravings B. F. JOHNSON, INC. CITY OF WASHINGTON, U. S. A. 1916 Copyright, 1916 by B. F. Johnson, Inc. 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