Author: Jim Wansley
Date: 2018-08-19
Introduction
My name is Jim Allen Wansley. I am a great-grandson of James Hamilton and Sarah A. Eavenson Wansley, the grandson of Marvin Belve and Lela Mae Rhodes Wansley and the eldest son of Eldridge Belve and Billie Joe James Wansley. Currently, I’m one of several members of the James Hamilton Wansley branch of the John and Mildred Wansley family tree that are launching and providing information for the Wansleyfamily.org website.
Ours is only one branch of a much, much larger family tree that began initially from a humble and fairly clearly defined beginning in the 1700s in colonial Virginia and spread to many other areas of the growing United States throughout the ensuing years. Unlike more common names, and due in part to the fortunate existence of certain records in colonial Virginia for John and Mildred Wansley, we are able to define our Wansley family tree origin and development to a greater extent than many others.
James Hamilton Wansley’s parents were Johnson Wansley and Frances Louise (or Louisa) Roebuck. Johnson’s parents were Reuban Tabor Wansley Sr. and Elizabeth Cunningham. Reuban was the son of John Wansley and Mildred (Millie) Whitten. Thus, James Hamilton was the great-grandson of John Wansley and Mildred Whitten Wansley.
I’ve written this report regarding the Family Bible that belonged to James Hamilton and Sarah Eavenson Wansley. For simplicity during the rest of this report it will be referred to as the Family Bible or just the Bible.
How I Came to Possess this Bible
Upon the passing of both James and Sarah Wansley their Family Bible became the responsibility of their children’s generation, ending with the passing of the last of their children, Lucy Jane Wansley Duncan, in 1989.
Upon Lucy’s passing responsibility for the Family Bible passed to my father’s line, concluding with his brother Gaines Gartrell Wansley and his wife, Marie Linnstaedter Wansley. When Marie and then Gaines passed they were the last of their generation of the Marvin Wansley line to bear responsibility for the Family Bible.
I served as the Executor for my uncle Gaines Wansley’s estate, which included the Family Bible. Upon his passing the Bible became my responsibility and, ultimately, that of my generation. I soon began researching our Wansley Family history in earnest, with emphasis on the James Hamilton and Sarah Eavenson branch. However, my interest and research soon spread to encompass our entire lineage going back to John and Mildred Wansley.
Not long afterward I received a letter originally sent to my brother from James (Jim) Baker Evans, a cousin from my generation who was reaching out to determine who had the Family Bible. He sent out a number of letters to Wansley family members enquiring as to who possessed it, with no positive result until one found its way to me.
Enter Jim Evans and the Web
Jim Evans had for some time been involved in extensive research into our ancestry working closely with Joan Horsley, a John and Mildred Wansley descendent, and her husband Barry Gilbert. Their report is available on the Wansleyfamily.org website. It is the most well researched and historically accurate one to date. Thanks to their diligence and to the research tools and information now available they have addressed inaccuracies that plagued earlier Wansley Family treatises.
His reaching out to determine who had the Family bible began a collaboration between Jim Evans, myself and other cousins and their families, primarily those still residing in East Texas. We had a series of meetings to share historical documents, pictures and information and to discuss how to pass the torch to the next generation. A number of our children and grandchildren were able to meet for the first time and learn about our branch of the Wansley family tree. My eldest son, James Allen Wansley, has the right skill set and agreed to help create the Wansleyfamily.org website.
The website is up and running and this report is one small contribution. We hope the website will provide an incentive for others to contribute as well. My generation, which includes Jim Evans, is entering its twilight years. It is our hope that this website will help define and preserve, as accurately as possible, our Wansley Family history. Further, that it will inspire future generations to continue what we’ve begun and to find and connect with others that share our lineage. There is no other agenda.
The Award Winning Bible Producer
For this and other images, you can use the zoom feature in your browser to enlarge the image
The Family Bible was produced by D. W. Thayer & Co. of Atlanta Georgia. In The Scroll of Phi Delta Theta, Vol. 5; Vol. 7 for the May-June 1883 edition is the notation: “Brother D.W. Thayer, Pennsylvania has established a branch publishing house for an Eastern firm at Atlanta Ga.” I have so far been unable to positively identify the Eastern firm. However, in the July 7, 1892 edition of the Atlanta Constitution, on page 7, there appears a statement concerning “the firm of D. W. Thayer & Company 40 Marietta St. Atlanta, general agents for the International Cyclopdeia published by Dodd Mead Company New York.” That in itself isn’t completely conclusive, but Dodd Mead of New York is very likely the “eastern firm with a branch in Atlanta.” Especially so, since Dodd Mead is the publishing house that both created and produced the International Cyclopedia and would almost surely have utilized its branch publishing house in Atlanta, Thayer & Company, as its general agent.
Our Bible was a handsome example of Family Bibles of the time but is in poor condition today. It has no publishing date. However, a listing of copyrights secured for our Family Bible edition is provided on the back side of the cover page. Ten separate copyrights are listed. They begin in 1872 and end with the one for 1885.The time between copyrights varies, with the longest time between the “Copyright Secured” filings being no more than three years.
Also provided on the same page is a listing of awards made to Thayer & Company for their illustrated editions of the Holy Bible. Publishers competed for these awards at Exhibitions across the United States to enhance the value of their Illustrated Edition Family Bibles and Photo Albums and bring prestige to the publishing house. The first such Exposition award listed for our Family Bible took place in 1876 and the last one listed was in April of 1885.
Thus it would appear that this Family Bible was likely produced in one of the years from 1886 to 1888, possibly 1889. If produced after 1889, based on the copyrights timeline history, a copyright securement later than 1885 would have likely occurred and would have appeared in a Family Bible edition produced later than 1889.
In further support for the 1886 to 1889 Bible production timeframe, an examination of the handwriting for the entries written on the Family Bible Births page indicate that dates for James, Sarah and their children who were born during the years 1879 to 1889 were entered at the same time, by the same person and using the same writing implement and ink. The last two Births entries for their children, those occurring in 1894 for Marvin Belve and for Hoyt in 1896, exhibit different handwriting characteristics for each of the two entries, and both are also different from the 1879 to 1889 entries.
It seems likely that a Family Bible produced within the 1886 to 1889 timeframe could have come into the possession of James and Sarah Wansley and that the Birth records for James, Sarah and their children born up to 1889 were then entered at the time the Bible was obtained. The next Birth entry in 1894 was clearly not done at same the time as the earlier group entry. Therefore, the Family Bible acquisition almost surely happened sometime between 1889 and 1894.
Entries in the Marriages and Deaths pages further support that conclusion. Examination of the handwriting of those making entries in the Bible on those pages and the dates of the entries provide significant conclusions.
James Hamilton and Sarah’s marriage on the 28th day of November 1878 by the Reverend John D. Adams is recorded and witnesses are recorded as C. A. Pledger and Miss Fannie E. Maxwell on the illustrated Holy Matrimony page, with the marriage occurring at the home of John W. Eavenson, Sarah’s father.
On the following Marriages page the marriage of Sarah’s parents, John W. Eavenson and Miss Lucy J. Brown, on November 6, 1860 is recorded, in the same handwriting and with the same pen as that of the Holy Matrimony page of the bible. The only other entries on this page were likely made by Lucy Wansley Duncan and included births and marriages for her and her two daughters. They begin with the marriage of Lucy to Graves Duncan in 1908 and end with the birth and marriage of Lucy’s daughters, Estelle and Inez. It is apparent that Duncan family entries were not made by the same person who made the Eavenson Holy Matrimony or the Marriages entries.
It is my belief, based on the handwriting and dates of the events recorded, that the Bible came into the James Hamilton and Sarah Eavenson Wansley family sometime after the birth of Lucy J. Wansley in 1889 and before the birth of Marvin Belve Wansley in 1894. Based on the handwriting a series of entries for events that occurred on or before 1889 were made by the same person, with the same writing instrument, and likely at the same time and were done once the Bible became available. Again, this conclusion is supported by the previously stated time line for production of the Bible during 1886 to 1889 time frame. The Thayer & Company Exposition awards entries in the Bible also support the same timeline conclusion.
A series of other entries for births (circa 1813 to 1885) and deaths (circa 1897 to 1903) that appear on the Births page and on the Deaths page of the Bible were also likely entered by one person, using the same writing instrument and ink. They are done primarily to chronicle births and deaths from the Johnson Wansley (b. 1813; d.1897) family. However, this person also recorded the death of Hoyt Wansley, the last child born to James Hamilton and Sarah Wansley on February 22, 1896 and who passed on May 8, 1903. None of their other children’s deaths were recorded in this Bible. The last death recorded by the unidentified person was for Henry Clarence (H. C.) Wansley (b. 1860; d. 1906), a son of Johnson Wansley and brother of James Hamilton.
When James and Sarah left Georgia in the late 1890s and established themselves outside of Lindale Texas they prospered. All but one of their children lived to maturity and married. Most produced families and, through their marriages, brought numerous other family lineages into the mix.
Others of the John and Mildred Wansley lineage residing in Georgia likely preceded James and Sarah in moving to East Texas and encouraged their move to the Lindale area. But, then, that’s a subject for another report.
Hand-written Notes Stored within The Family Bible
The following hand-written notes were found stored between the pages of the Wansley Family bible. The author of these notes is unknown. Although some of the notes contain errors, they provided some helpful research information.
