Sandlick Township tax assessments interesting
MOUNTAIN ECHOES > ANITA BELCHER
May 14, 2008
I think you folks who live in the Sandlick area will find this week’s column especially interesting, although I have no doubt that everyone who reads it will think back to the years of which I write and be astounded at some of the differences that have taken place.
In the year of 1871, Henry Deel was living in the “Sandlick Township” of Russell County. His township levy on personal property and free school was 83 cents, and the tax on his land was 54 cents, bringing the grand total to $1.37.
On another ticket his township levy was 42 cents, tax on his land was 28 cents and the capitation tax (poll) was 25 cents. This is a tax that was levied on persons rather than on land to have the right to vote, and in later years was declared unconstitutional in the United States. The name of J.H. Duty, Treasurer, is signed on these tickets.
It’s very interesting that there is a ticket (or tickets) for Mr. Deel in 1871 in Buchanan County. Evidently he had land in both counties which later became a part of Dickenson County.
I did not think to ask Lucille about that part of the story because I was so interested in the old tickets themselves that I let that information slip by. Maybe some of the younger generation in this great family (or older) would like to take it on as a project in history to unravel “The Mysteries of the Old Trunk.” I would if I had time.
Anyway, the tickets for the Township of Sandlick, Buchanan County were $2.88 for value of 144 acres of land, property income tax was $4.39 cents and the poll tax was $1.
Clynard, Lucille and I tried very hard to figure out the signature of those tickets and I copied it the best I could. It looked something like “Ab LS? Adener.” There were no periods, it was written in cursive and each letter was carefully drawn out.
This gentleman was the treasurer and one can almost visualize him, studiously signing his name on these important documents. He never dreamed that they would be preserved for more than 100 years.
I hope you have enjoyed that bit of our “grassroots” history and we are indebted to Sarah Anderson Deel for preserving it for us and to Lucille Browning Sutherland for sharing it.
Now, about the picture you are looking at. We have Bill Anderson to thank for sharing this picture, and I’m copying the information for you that’s written on the back of the frame.
From left, you are looking at Flora Edwards Deel. She was Bill’s aunt, sister of his mother Verna. She married Charlie Deel, son of Andy Floyd and Martha. Charlie and Flora had two sons, Woodrow and Charles. Woodrow is in the picture sitting next to his mother.
Both sons died, Charlie Jr. at birth and Woodrow when he was five or six years old, and the father, Charlie, died at age 20 or 21. (I cannot resist noting how beautiful Flora was.)
The lady next to Woodrow is Vicey Clevinger Reece and next is Melvina Clevinger. The third one is Martha Clevinger Deel. Melvina was the mother of Vicey and Martha.
(Note the aprons that the women have on. They were considered part of the necessary dress in those days. Many times they were worn to church. Martha’s is checked, probably red or blue.
I have often told our grandchildren how our grandmothers would turn their children over their “red-checked apron” for a spanking, and several of our own grandchildren love to think they got a spanking over my apron like this.
Also note Martha’s pretty string of beads. Our older generation of ladies liked to look good for picture-taking and church, even though many of them worked in the fields and garden throughout the week.)
The following was written by Bonnie Owens when she did a family history for the Andy Floyd Deel descendants. Bonnie wrote this about Melvina Clevinger:
“Melvina was a midwife for about 30 years, delivering most of the babies in the area. She kept a record by putting a straight pin in a piece of red flannel cloth. This cloth was about 10 inches wide and 18-20 inches long. The pins were in rows.
“She would ride behind the father-to-be on horseback or she would walk. She served the area 10-15 miles in all directions from her house.
“After her death, Martha served the women in the area in the same way. There was one young man who, when he got old enough to work in the mines and received one of his first paychecks, came to Martha and said that he wanted to pay his father’s debt for the babies she had delivered for him and his wife. He paid her $5 for each of the children in his father’s family.”
There is so much more that could be written about the history of David and Elizabeth Coleman Deel and the many generations that have descended from them, and there are stories that should be told which some of their descendants remember personally, or they remember the stories that have been passed down to them.
If you are one of those people, then you should write down those stories and preserve them for future generations as Sarah Anderson Deel did.
http://www.thecoalfieldprogress.com/news.php?viewStory=15960