NOTE: I'M REPOSTING MY INITIAL POST LISTED UNDER THE PROJECT "ABOUT" SECTION, AS I INTEND TO UPDATE THAT SECTION AS NEW INFORMATION IS GATHERED. I WANT THAT TO BE A COMPREHENSIVE PLACE WHERE ALL RELEVANT FACTS CAN BE FOUND.
Despite many family trees on the web listing this early settler of Augusta County as marrying an Elizabeth Preston in Ireland, I have yet to find any original source material confirming this claim, which makes me wonder if Robert's "Elizabeth" was never a Preston, but rather a Renick all along.
From all of my research, I can divide the earliest possible sources claiming a Poage-Preston connection into 2 groups, designated by (1) and (2) below...
(1) The first potential source is an annotated copy of the book, The Preston Genealogy, published back in 1900. I found this after coming across a claim online that "Elizabeth Preston and Robert Poage were married in England, according to margin notes in John Preston family history."
Unfortunately, no further details are given about this "margin note" or annotation that was added to this particular copy of the Preston family history book. I tried tracing this source back to see if I could get more information about it. The oldest citations of it on the web that I've come across are the following two family trees' Robert Poage profiles:
http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi... http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=b......
However, on the second family tree, I found additional information under the profile for Elizabeth Preston created back on 8/31/2005:
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=j......
There it says the following:
Elizabeth Preston was a sister to John Preston [wife Elizabeth Patton]. An annotated copy of the Preston Genealogy [Fam 00-05] contains a notation to the effect "John Preston's sister Elizabeth Preston came to America with her brother's group. She married Robert Poage in England." Also a notation that the date of immigration was 1735, not 1740. It is quite possible that they lived a few years in Maryland, where Robert see ms to have had relatives among earlier settlers there, or they could have lived elsewhere in Virginia or in Pennsylvania. The actual record of arrival or ships' list has not been located as yet. [1988]. There are Pogue/Poague/Poage records in both Pennsylvania and Maryland, in addition to those in Virginia.1
1. Abbrev: Fam 00-05 Preston Title: ed. L. A. Wilson under the direction of William Bowker Preston, The Preston Genealogy 1040 to the Present (the Deseret News, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1900).
I tried contacting the publisher of this profile, Jean T. Gillett, through a couple different email addresses that I've seen used by her on different family trees or genealogy forums online, but both email accounts are no longer active. She last updated the above tree back in 2005 and I think the last activity I could find of her on a genealogy forum was in 2011. Alas, she may no longer be active on the web, which means it could be very difficult to find out anything further about this "annotation in the margins" source, as well as the other ideas she alludes to (Robert seeming to have Poage relatives in Maryland).
I also tried emailing the publisher of the other Robert Poage profile, Terry D. Smith, but got another notification that the email account is no longer active. His tree was last updated in 2005 as well. It looks as though his tree copied the information from Jean T. Gillett's profile for Robert Poage, as he list her as a source and his Elizabeth Preston profile does not have the more detailed information about the annotated Preston book. I don't know to what extent he was ever in communication with her.
That being said, just this evening (6/23/2015) I noticed one other profile for Elizabeth created on 2/1/2005 that has the same information.
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=b......
I just sent an email to this person (Frank Grether) and did not get an inactive notice response, so hopefully I will actually hear from this person.
The ultimate question here is the following: Can we really trust a "margin note" in a book as a source if it does not point back to a primary document? I think most researchers would say "no", and it certainly doesn't help that we haven't even been able to locate this margin note yet.
Let us move on then to the second group of sources...
(2) This second group of sources is derived from the "Introduction" to the classic 2-volume 1954 book by John Guy Bishop, titled The Descendants of Robert and John Poage. This book makes the claim that Robert's wife was "Elizabeth Preston" (on page 2 of volume 1, "On these primarily the House of Robert Poage rests; John Preston's wife Elizabeth was a sister of James Patton, his sister Elizabeth was wife to Robert Poage."). The primary author behind the book, John Guy Bishop, also had a new gravestone erected in 1938, listing "Elizabeth Preston" as the wife ("Sacred to the memory of ROBERT POAGE, immigrant from Ireland, 1739--elder in Augusta Stone Church--justice first Commission of the Peace, Augusta County, 1745--died in 1774--and to the memory of his wife, ELIZABETH PRESTON").
But what sources was he relying upon to make this claim of a Poage-Preston connection so confidently? The "Introduction" to the book (written by editor Robert Bell Woodworth) along with the sources it cites, will be analyzed below under (2a), (2b), and (2c)...
(2a) Edgar Woods and daughter Ann Eliza (Mrs. John Russell Sampson)
The first sources mentioned in the introduction are those compiled by Rev. Edgar Woods and his daughter Ann Eliza. Here's what is said (2 paragraphs):
"Shortly before Robert and John Poage settled in Augusta County, in the year 1734, one Michael Woods came from Pennsylvania with three sons and three daughters and settled at the head of Rockfish River in present Albemarle County. Andrew Woods, son of Michael, married Martha Poage, daughter of Robert, and so founded another large and influential branch of the clan. "Some old letters, stowed away in an attic, led to an investigation of lines of kindred before unknown." And so Rev. Edgar Woods, DD, pastor of the Presbyterian church of Charlottesville, Va., published in 1894 One Branch of the Woodses, a copy of which came to the editor by the kindness of Rev. Henry Woods McLaughlin DD. This little book gives merely, in general, only names of men and women, their spouses and children and places of residence, but has been quite helpful in checking other data down to its date.
"Dr. Woods' researches were continued by his daughter, Ann Eliza, (Mrs. John Russell Sampson), who published her data and recollections in Kith and Kin, Richmond, Va.,1922 (Supplement, 1929). This volume has very few dates and descent is shown chiefly by chart, a quite useful medium for her Woods line and collaterals, especially valuable for lists of ministers and foreign missionaries."
I have not yet been able to locate the 1894 book/booklet One Branch of the Woodses, but I did come across the papers of Edward Woods - they are kept in the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia:
Edgar Woods papers [manuscript] 1894-1903.
Woods, Edgar,
Format Mixed Materials; Archive Description 5 items. Summary The collection contains the final manuscript and two preliminary versions of the Rev. Woods' "Albemarle County in Virginia," 1900. The collection also contains a printed pamphlet by the Rev Woods "One branch of the Woodses," 1894. A letter, 1903 May 9, Jesse Bryon to the Rev. Woods discusses the Moorman family of Louisia County, Va. Cite as Edgar Woods Papers, 1894-1903, Accession #6378, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.
http://search.lib.virginia.edu/catalog/u3991116 http://small.library.virginia.edu/
If anyone lives near this library and is able to review these records to search for information about a Poage-Preston connection, that would be extremely helpful in bringing us a step closer to resolving this mystery.
That being said, I did come across the 1922 book Kith and Kin. In that book Mrs. John Russell Sampson assumes that Robert's wife Elizabeth was a Preston, but she also admits to knowing of no evidence that this Elizabeth was the sister of John Preston (2 paragraphs):
"Bishop Dudley, of Kentucky, thought he belonged to Wm. Dudley, but I could not find the connecting generations. Nor did I put Bp. Richard Sampson in the list, since no record supports the tradition, as it does in John Rogers? case.
"For the same reason, I have included none of all the fine Preston preachers, except the sons of Sally Lyle Caruthers and Col. T. L. Preston; for I do not know by any record that Robert Poage's wife, Elizabeth Preston, was John Preston's sister. However, I believe all these, and the Campbells as well, are our kindred. But as there are no records extant to prove the facts, we welcome but do not count them."
http://people.virginia.edu/~rtg2t/kin/data/Kith.and.Kin.txt
I have not yet seen or come across the 1929 Supplement to the Kith and Kin book, but this might be worth looking into if it can be located. Based upon the descriptions of both books though, I'm doubtful that we would find any kind of documentation for a Poage-Preston connection in these writings. No primary source is given as justification for the claim that Elizabeth was a Preston. However, I repeat what I said earlier, namely, that if anyone lives near the University of Virginia, it would be extremely helpful if they could review this collection of Edgar Woods papers. At this point though, these records (2a) have also not yet turned up any Poage-Preston connection based upon a primary source from the 1700s or even 1800s.
The editor of the 1954 "Descendants" book closes this paragraph about Ann Eliza with the following remark: "But the most complete, careful and thorough collections of genealogical data have been made by three men, lineal descendants of Robert Poage, and on their collections this work is chiefly based." Who are these three men?
(2b) Andrew Woods Williamson and brother Henry Martyn Williamson
The first two men were brothers Andrew Woods Williamson and Henry Martyn Williamson. The "Introduction" says the following about them (2 paragraphs):
"Meantime, impressed with the worthiness of his ancestral lines, in 1893 Andrew Woods Williamson Ph.D (P 11676), professor of mathematics and secretary of the Faculty of Augustana College, Rock Island, Ill., began to collect family data in a systematic way by means of questionaires sent to members of the family he might reach. He died at Portland, Oregon, on October 11, 1905 when his collection and accumulated research data passed to his brother, Henry Martyn Williamson (P 11679), lawyer, editor and secretary of the Oregon State Board of Horticulture, who continued to accumulate genealogical data by means of questionaire, correspondence and personal research until about the time of his death also at Portland, November 29, 1917. And there the matter rested. These two men were descendants of John Poage, second child of pioneer Robert Poage and Elizabeth Preston.
"In 1938 Mr. John Guy Bishop (P 1945151), a lineal descendant of Thomas Poage, last child of pioneer Robert, partner of Bouvier, Bishp and Company, stock brokers, New York, but born in the Augusta Stone Church district of Augusta County, Va., visited the grave of Robert Poage at Augusta Stone Church, erected a monument to his memory, solicited funds for a proper separate wall and remembered the Poage data last in the hands of Mr. Henry Martyn Williamson. He located them in the hands of a Mr. Barton Rees Pogue of Greenfield, Ind, and set himself to the task of bringing the records down to date with a view to publication."
As you can see, it appears as though much of the information listed on the infamous memorial stone comes from the Poage data collected by the Williamson brothers. Could that include the claim that his wife's name was Elizabeth Preston?
Well, I also located a manuscript collection titled the "Williamson family papers":
http://www.augustana.edu/SpecialCollections/Resources/finding%20aid...
The papers are located in the Special Collections department at the Thomas Tredway Library at Augustana College in Rock Island, IL. This is the college that Andrew Woods Williamson taught at! The web page above gives the following custodial history for the papers: "Materials received from Richard W. Oram, Special Collections Librarian at Washington and Lee University, December 14, 1982. The materials were apparently originally assembled by Sumner C. Williamson for a Pogue-Williamson genealogy, then given to a local public library, which gave them to Washington and Lee University." The "creators" listed are Thomas Smith Williamson (1800-1879) and son Andrew Woods Williamson (1838-1905). Also, this is what is listed as included in the papers relating to Poage history:
Genealogical research (1854-1950 and undated) Pogue/Williamson family research notes, 1854-1908 and undated Correspondence about Pogue family genealogy publication, 1950
Unfortunately, I have reviewed these papers thoroughly and found no mention of a Poage-Preston connection.
Incidentally, after locating the above papers, I came across another collection of Williamson papers held by the Minnesota Historical Society - unfortunately these appear to deal exclusively with Indians:
http://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00952.xml
As for Andrew's brother Henry Martyn Williamson, while I know of no manuscript collections for him, I have read one article by him, titled "The Pogues" and first published in The Register in Portland, Oregon, on December 10, 1907. All it says about Robert Poage is the following:
"William Poage came with his parents, Robert and Elizabeth Poage from Ireland settled near Staunton, Virginia about 1737. The name Poague or Pogue was in Scotland spelled Pollock. It is the same name in origin as Polk, and Robert Poague who settled in Augusta County, Virginia, was a nephew or grandnephew of the Robert Pollok or Polk who came from Ireland about fifty years sooner, settled in Maryland and founded the Polk family of America. A few of the descendants of Robert Polk in the direct male line of descent now spell their name Pogue and Poage."
As you can see, while Robert's wife is specified to be "Elizabeth", no last name is given. Therefore, of these records (2b), there is still no known mention of of Robert's wife Elizabeth being a "Preston".
(2c) John Guy Bishop and Robert Bell Woodworth
But the records don't end there. As the last sentence in the excerpt above indicates, John Guy Bishop began to gather records himself, with his primary task apparently being "bringing the records down to date with a view to publication." The "Introduction" says the following about the remaining work that was done by Bishop and the editor Woodworth:
The method followed by these men was to record the names, dates and addresses where given in record books of different sizes and to file the personal, detailed questionaires in a standard office file cabinet. So that when the records came to the editor he received ten record books, five file case drawers, a twelve drawer five by three inch alphabetical index card file listing addresses of about twelve thousand living descendants, and numerous written and printed books of genealogy and pioneer history.
In 1940 while the editor was collecting genealogical material for the appendix of the 1942 edition of The Captives of Abb's Valley he came in contact with Mr. Bishop and began to exchange data. When that book was published Mr. Bishop invited him to arrange, digest and supplement the accumulated Poage data for publication. He agreed to do that when the History of the Presbytery of Winchester (on which he had been at work before he began to collect data for the Abb's Valley book) was printed; which was done in 1947. Preliminary studies were made in 1947 after the record books had been received from Mr. Bishop and typewriting of printers' copy began in earnest in January 1948, since which time it has continued without intermission so far as the editors health and limited, spare time permitted. Down to that time Mr. Bishop continued to receive completed questionaires.
The editor did not agree to do any research or questionaire work but has supplemented the questionaires by data which came to him from members of the family ahead of where he was writing and from library materials at his disposal, particularly the alumni directories of Hampden-Sydney College, Washington and Lee University, Princeton Theological Seminary, Union Theological Seminary in New York and Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. Because of that fact and the further fact that, in general, the Poages have been Presbyterian, the Presbyterian ministers have a disproportionate share of the mention. The editor has not failed, however, to record in every case all the data given on the questionaires as to the man's education, where he lived and what he did.
These three items the editor considers most essential. Unfortunately they are just the items most frequently not given on the questionaires and family lists. While Dr. Wood's booklet, for instance, gives names and places, not a line indicates what the people did.
So the data collected by John Guy Bishop might also be important, but it sounds as though his focus was on more recent Poage generations. Still, if he obtained and possessed copies of all of the data from the Williamson brothers, then his collection would be the most all encompassing.
Unable to locate a collection of John Guy Bishop's papers anywhere, despite him clearly having the largest collection of research material, I decided to see if the records have been passed down through family members. I located his family information in the 1954 Descendants of Robert and John Poage book. One thing worth noting, I didn't realize how old he was (1) when he had the memorial stone installed at the grave in 1938 (about 68 year old) and (2) by the time the book was published in 1954 (about 84 years old). He had 4 children. His son, John Guy Bishop is the only one who is listed in the book as having children, 3 of them, born between 1947 and 1951. I found John Guy Bishop's gravestone - he died in 1995 and was buried in Fairhope, Alabama:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=25951995
While I was able to get in touch with one of John Guy Bishop's grandchildren, but they have been unable to locate any manuscripts among family members. If anybody reading posts on this forum can locate these papers, these too could prove extremely helpful in resolving this question.
In summary, at this point, our earliest sources referring to Robert Poage's wife Elizabeth as a Preston are (1) a margin note (with no idea as to when it was written) in a copy of The Preston Genealogy book published in 1900, (2a) Mrs. John Russell Sampson's 1922 book Kith and Kin, and (2c) John Guy Bishop's 1954 book Descendants of Robert and John Poage.
In contrast, there are multiple primary documents from the 1700s suggesting that Robert Poage's wife Elizabeth was actually a Renick. A review of those will come shortly.
I look forward to hearing what people think of this anaylsis.
Chris McAnall
