I have previously written about some things that happened while I was living in Fayetteville in my fifth grade year. Not long after we moved there in August, I fell out of a tree and “broke” my arm. Even though I was wearing a splint when school started, I managed to get off to a good start. I also wrote about Christmas and how my whole family was sick, especially me, since I had scarlet fever. However, I haven’t mentioned a few other important things about that year. I’ll write about those next, but today I have to go back in time a little.
BEFORE I CAME ALONG
I had an awareness when we moved to Fayetteville that I would be on the old stomping grounds of my ancestor, Revolutionary War veteran Abraham Vandal. I have written before about the ancestry of Abraham Vandal (ad nauseam) and also about his descendants. Here.Here.And here. The Fayetteville website seems to play down Abraham Vandal’s role, and that’s fine with me.
The bank in Fayetteville was supposedly just about where Abraham’s house was.
He and his wife, Mary Dillon Vandal, had a tavern where travelers could stay overnight. Since it has been claimed he was the first settler there, that obviously put him on the main road.
Apparently, Abraham was well acquainted with the leaders of Ansted around the time Fayette County was formed. Some of them wanted Ansted to be the county seat, but Abraham did some “negotiating” to get Fayetteville, then called Vandalia, to be the county seat. He donated the land for the courthouse. This is discussed in Chapter XI of the History of Fayette County, West Virginia at FamilySearch.org. It is also discussed in Chapter XXIII in the pages about Fayetteville’s history. I am including the pages about Fayetteville’s history because you may come across some names you recognize.
NEXT
We will now leave Abraham Vandal behind, but I still have a bit more to tell about my time in Fayetteville. Stay tuned.
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My mother's grandfather was John C Arthur 1855-1936 (wife Emily Avis Bennett, Hinton WV). Their children were: Ernest C Arthur 1878-1953, Fred Everett Arthur 1880-1962, Hallie Arthur Willis 1887-1966 (Hallie's husband owned the water works in Beckley. She was married to a Webb and Jones before Willis. Their home sat where Raleigh General now sits on Harper Rd). Myrtle Arthur (Myles), Nina Arthur (Nelson), Douglas Arthur (Julia). Skelton Arthur was the father of John C Arthur and his mother was Susan ?. I have seen his named spelled differently, according to where I looked (Skiller). I haven't been able to go back any farther and I have no pictures. When I was in high school there was another family of Arthur's (no kin as far as I know). A friend's name was Marianna Arthur.
I noticed a surname of ARTHUR in the beginning of this story. That is my grandmother's maiden name on my mother's side. The Arthur's were from Beckwith. The first names, Alexander, Chandler and J W were not familiar to me, though.
My mother's grandfather was John C Arthur 1855-1936 (wife Emily Avis Bennett, Hinton WV). Their children were: Ernest C Arthur 1878-1953, Fred Everett Arthur 1880-1962, Hallie Arthur Willis 1887-1966 (Hallie's husband owned the water works in Beckley. She was married to a Webb and Jones before Willis. Their home sat where Raleigh General now sits on Harper Rd). Myrtle Arthur (Myles), Nina Arthur (Nelson), Douglas Arthur (Julia). Skelton Arthur was the father of John C Arthur and his mother was Susan ?. I have seen his named spelled differently, according to where I looked (Skiller). I haven't been able to go back any farther and I have no pictures. When I was in high school there was another family of Arthur's (no kin as far as I know). A friend's name was Marianna Arthur.
I noticed a surname of ARTHUR in the beginning of this story. That is my grandmother's maiden name on my mother's side. The Arthur's were from Beckwith. The first names, Alexander, Chandler and J W were not familiar to me, though.