Since we strongly suspected that Margaret and Eley were buried on the family farm in Princess Anne County, the next logical step in our search was to find the current owner of the Bryant farmland. We found her! She is a 90-year old woman who lives in a modest ranch home across Blackwater Road from the property. Her name is Doris (family name, Frost), and she was born in the original farmhouse which had been located across the street (our family's home?) where there is now a barn owned by another family.
Here is how we found her:
Cousin Terry invited three of us, including my sister and a mutual friend, to meet her for breakfast on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023 at the Redhead Bay Cafe very near the location of the old Fletcher farm in Pungo. The mutual friend is a member of the Princess Anne Historical Society, and she had a particular interest in the history of lumber mills in the County. After breakfast Terry suggested we go for a ride and see the family properties that had taken so much effort to find three years ago.
We first drove across the Pungo Ferry bridge toward Blackwater Road, pointing out the Fletcher property. Turning left on Blackwater, we saw the old Blackwater Store and the pond where the lumber mill must have been. Heading back in the other direction, I pointed out the 40+ acres that was once the Bryant farm, now all soybean fields.
A man was out in his front yard across the road. His house and fields took up the triangle at the corner of Blackwater and Head of River Roads where Blackwater Road had once been straightened. We got out of the car and approached him. He wasn't friendly at first. He even challenged the story we told him. But then his wife (?) came out and she was more interested in helping us. They told us that "Doris" is the current owner of the property and lives right across Blackwater Road... and... look! She's home right now, waiting for a ride to go somewhere. Hurry and catch her!
We drove immediately to Doris' house and got out of the car. The front door was open and Doris came right out. She soon warmed up to us and told us about being born in the old farmhouse there. She pointed directly across the road to where a barn now stands. Learning the location of the house was significant in that we realized the Bryant property had been divided sometime after 1908. We explained that we were searching for graves. She assured us that she has walked every inch of that property and there are no graves. We thanked her and told her that she had saved us a lot of trouble and satisfied our curiosity.
I remember seeing the name "Frost" on an old map. Next step is to follow up on that lead.
NEW DEVELOPMENTS: Here we are more than a YEAR later! November 2024!
Matt discovered that Ancestry added the death registries for Virginia, and he found Portsmouth 1900-1908. There was Margaret, on May 18, 1908, age 73, dau. of Wm Cobb and Evelyn Wallace, burial permit #1401, Snelling & Knight Undertaker, place of burial Hickory Grove (Ground?).
There is no cemetery by that name in Portsmouth, Chesapeake, or Va. Beach. The invoices from Margaret's death and burial indicate that her body was transported from Portsmouth to Blackwater for "services and burial." Blackwater in Virginia Beach is very close to the Hickory area of Chesapeake. There is currently a voting district in Chesapeake called Hickory Grove. It was all part of Norfolk County in that time period. The closest match on FindaGrave was Pleasant Grove cemetery in Hickory.
On Wednesday, November 6, Holly, Clayton, and I set out for Hickory in Chesapeake. We stomped around several cemeteries looking at old grave markers. No luck. Clayton called Hickory UMC (formerly "Hickory Ground Methodist" we later learned) and spoke with a staff member there about the church history. No cemetery there.
Matt suggested that I try going through the individual cemetery records in Family Search or checking the collections in local libraries. I went through the probate record with a fine-toothed comb, and so did Holly. We didn't come up with anything helpful except that the body was taken to Blackwater by train. I researched the train system at the time and found that there were railways that ran close to Blackwater and Hickory.
On Halloween, the "Norfolk County Historical Society of Chesapeake, Virginia" posted a photo of a cemetery on Facebook. I made a comment on the post about looking for my ancestor, and on November 25, I received a reply from a volunteer with the organization offering assistance! After a few emails back and forth, now two more researchers are taking on the challenge.
One of the researchers, Suzy, wanted to know the address of the Bryant farm. That was not an easy question! The farm's original property line had been changed due to the straightening of Blackwater Road. The original house was gone, and part of the property (where the house had stood) was sold out of the family. The best I could figure out is that the property's address became Head of River Road (3101?), as it was now cut off from Blackwater Rd. I sent her copies of the map with the property marked, and the current owner's house circled. I also sent her the property description from the probate documents.
Suzy sent copies of Margaret's obituary (which I already have) and told me that according to the newspaper, she was buried in Blackwater. I then sent her the Portsmouth death register that indicated the cemetery, "Hickory [Grove?]". She then brought in another researcher to interpret the handwriting on the record, believing it to say "Ground," not Grove. I found a 1911 map showing the railways, and sure enough, one of the stations, the closest to Blackwater, was called Hickory Ground.
Searching through South Norfolk/Chesapeake documents online revealed that Hickory Elementary was once called Hickory Ground Elementary, and that Hickory UMC (in front of the school) was called Hickory Ground Methodist Church. As I mentioned before, Clayton had already called the church and learned that there was no cemetery there.
Suzy sent an email today (Dec. 2, 2024) saying that "Kay" had searched all of the deeds and found nothing. She suggested I call or go to Virginia Beach and search the deeds at the courthouse. There are no gravemarkers listed in Chesapeake for Margaret and Eley, according to a book that I can purchase for $20. She said that it was most likely that they are buried on their property. We may just have to accept that conclusion. I made a joking comment about their graves being covered by soybeans. She said that is often the case. Often farmers have no regard for graves on their property. They find many graves in soybean fields.
There is a corner of the Bryant farm property that is still forested. The owner says she has walked every square foot of the land, but could they be in that little wooded section? Or maybe they were buried near the house, in which case, it would be on property that belongs to the family that lives in the little triangle of land that got cut off by the road straightening.
Next steps: the deed room at VB courthouse. Try to find W. E. Charlton who performed the services at burial. Also, look up burial permit #1401 (per Portsmouth death register).
My thoughts about W. E. Charlton... according to a receipt in Margaret's funeral papers, he was paid $7 for "services at burial." We have been thinking he was a clergyman of some sort who performed services. No person by that name came up in any records, including Ancestry. However, now that we have come to believe she was buried on the farm, we think he might have been a local laborer who dug the grave for them. Interesting sidenote: the receipt was written in elegant handwriting.
Also, as Charles Bryant stated in a 1924 letter to Bluke, "I must find someone to take care of Mothers and Fathers graves." This strongly indicates a private cemetery. If Margaret and Eley were buried on the farm, it would make sense that the 1908 deed at the time of sale would show the location of the graves. The farm was sold to J. F. Cox on November 16, 1908. That deed of sale should show the house, and hopefully, the graves.
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| Could this be the very train that brought Margaret's body to Blackwater in 1908? |
Personal note: it was such a relief to identify Hickory Ground (instead of Hickory Grove), and to learn confirm that Margaret's body was taken to Blackwater in [what is now] Virginia Beach. There were some very puzzling coincidences that almost made me give up. There is a Blackwater River and a Hickory Grove Church in Isle of Wight County, both near the Bryant/Cobb ancestral home. And, to complicate things more, I searched in Glen Allen in Richmond, near Ida's home where Margaret had been living for several years. There is a Hickory Grove church there as well. It was hard to figure out which direction the family would have taken. At last, we have narrowed the search to the farm in Virginia Beach.
Update: Dec. 18, 2024
On a Facebook page, "Abandoned Places in Virginia," a comment (from someone I know!) suggested contacting the City of Virginia Beach Historial Preservation person. I sent an email explaining my quest and am awaiting reply.
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