When people think of handing down things, often they think of people handing down clothes to younger siblings or handing down family heirlooms to the next generation.  This article, however, takes a look at some of the other things, many non-material, that were handed down from one generation to the next in the Peelle family.

 

Handed Down In Families

Families also pass down skills, abilities, interests, beliefs, lifestyle, culture, longevity, stories, tendencies for particular diseases and more.  Some of them genetically and others via teaching or sharing with their children.  All things they “hand down” to the next generation are important as they are important components in making the next generation who they are.

This article takes a look at some physical traits and then touches on several other things that were passed down in the Peelle family.

 

Hair & Eyes

Physical traits handed down from generation to generation are more obvious in some families than others.  The Peelle family is one family where physical traits are interesting. 

 

Passco & Martha

It was said that Martha (Johson) Peelle had very dark or black hair and dark eyes.  The first photograph, which is believed to be Passco and Martha (Johnson) Peelle soon after they married, shows that she has very dark hair.  The details aren’t clear.  However, her eyes do appear dark.  Passco appears to have a bit lighter hair.  His skin appears a bit ruddy, likely from being in the sun.

The next two photographs show Martha and Passco in their later years.  Their hair has grayed; however, it is clear that Martha has dark eyes.  Passco’s eyes, on the other hand, are not clear in the photograph.

 

 

 

 

 

The Kids

The next group of photographs show six of Passco and Martha’s eight children.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have photographs of all the children.  Additionally the children vary in age, which is not ideal.

The first image is Mossie Lea (Peelle) Wilkie.  Although her hair and eyes do not appear as dark as Martha’s, she clearly favors her mother.  She has brown hair and brown eyes.

The second image is Emaline “Lillie’ (Peelle) Potter.  Since she is older, her hair color is not known.  However, she clearly has brown eyes.

William Johnson Peelle is the third image.  His hair is a much lighter brown and his eyes appear to be light.  Thus, likely blue.

On the next row is Rachel (Peelle) Benson.  Her hair is very dark, possibly black.  However, her eyes do not seem as dark as Lillie’s.  They appear to possibly be blue.

The next is Elzena “Jennie” (Peelle) Lewis.  Her eyes appear very dark  and her hair, although not well seen appears to be reasonably dark.

The last photo is of Sarah (Peelle) Longnecker.  Her hair is dark, but possibly not as dark as some of the others.  However, she seems to have lighter eyes.

 

The Grandkids

Example: Rachel’s Children

Using Rachel (Peelle) Benson and her children as an example, it can be seen that three of the four appear to have dark brown hair with one having lighter brown or blond hair.  The three females appear to have brown eyes with her son William’s eyes being unclear in the photograph.

William’s military draft record, however, clarifies the situation stating that he has brown hair and blue eyes. His brother Emmerson’s records say that he also has blue eyes and states that his hair is dark.

 

Overall View

I took a look at the hair and eye color for as many as of Martha and Passco’s grandchildren where I could determined even one of the two attributes.  Much of the information came from draft registrations.  I supplemented it with my best guess of each by looking at photographs.  Given that the photographs were almost all black and white, it is a bit of a guess.  Yet, it is quite interesting.  When looking at hair color a majority had brown, dark brown, or black hair.  About 30% had light or blonde hair.  It is interesting that given the hair color that over 50% of the grandchildren had blue eyes.

 

With the exception of one of Passco and Martha’s children, all of them appeared to have had children with a range of hair color from light to dark.  In that particular family, none of the kids had light hair or blue eyes.  The remaining families had either a mix of blue and brown eyes or exclusively blue eyes.

 

Example: Grandma & Her Sister Lydia

The photograph demonstrates the differences in coloring between Grandma Nellie (Peelle) McCracken and her sister Lydia.  Grandma’s hair is light and she had very light blue eyes.  Meanwhile, Lydia’s coloring is much darker as she had brown to dark brown hair with brown eyes.

Grandma clearly favors her father’s coloring (See William Johnson Peelle above).  Lydia, on the other hand, appears to be darker than her mother and her grandfather John Jury, Sr.  Thus, it would appear that she probably got part of her hair and eye color from Martha Peelle.

That is, if she is in fact a full sister to Grandma Nellie.  Given the stark differences in their coloring, I have considered if she was actually William J. Peelle’s daughter or not.  Her mother Matilda (Jury) Peelle was pregnant when she married William J. Peelle.  Thus, adding even more intrigue.  However, this question will likely never be answered since Lydia did not have any children. 

 

Their brother Pat’s coloring was somewhere in-between Grandma’s and Lydia’s.  This makes it seem more likely that they were all full siblings.

 

The Hair Line

Another thing that was passed down to many of the Peelle men is the hairline.  It is shown of an unknown man in the Peelle family.  If you look at William Johnson Peelle’s hairline and Passco’s hairline, you will see that they are similar.  Passco’s is more noticeable in the picture when he was younger.

Longevity

Passco and Martha each lived into their eighties, giving their descendants a good foundation for a long life.

This chart clearly shows that if a person in the family made it to adulthood, that they had a high chance of living into their seventies or eighties.  It is not uncommon that multiple people had heart related issues that caused or contributed to their death.  This occurs a lot in families.

One set of deaths that is a bit unusual is that of Mossie Lea (Peelle) Wilkie and her son Ollie Wilkie.  Mossie took a cold in 1905 and it quickly worsened.  Nine days later she died of pneumonia.  Two years later, her son Ollie became suddenly ill while visiting friends.  A few days later, he died from pneumonia.  It seems that they both had a weakness that allowed pneumonia to quickly overtake them.

 

Personality

Although each person has their own personality, some personality traits tend to run in families.  One of the areas that the Peelle’s were similar is being strong minded.

 

Strong Minded

In my experience the Peelle’s and their descendants were very strong minded.  As Grandma Nellie, who to most people would seem as a quiet, very nice lady, would say, “My head is made up!”  This meant that you didn’t need to even argue your case that something was different than her point of view because she had already decided.  I know a few cousins where this definition fits.  I have also communicated with distant cousins where this was definitely the case.  They were sure they were right no matter what evidence exists or doesn’t exist.

 

Interests/Skills

Occupation

When considering occupations, one has to dig a big deeper as Martha and Passco had only one son.  That said, most of this branch of the family farmed as their primary occupation.  However, the Peelle family also continued an interest in law as Passco’s brother and multiple of Passco’s brother John’s children practiced law.  In our family line, William Johnson Peelle did not practice law, but was very interested in it.  He attended trials from time to time.  In addition, he was involved in several inquests when someone died.

Does that interest and knowledge transfer to the next generation automatically via DNA? Or, does the next generation learn and absorb via being around family members?  I can’t answer that question with certainty.  However, I have been accused by multiple people of having a background in law.  And, I know that my parents did not express that interest to me while I was growing up.

 

Education

Another area of interest seemed to be education.  Both the McCracken and Peelle families seemed to emphasize education.  Great grandfather William Johnson Peelle was always attending different events in the evening – literary, spelling classes, debate, etc.  He also practiced his writing by writing brief entries in his journals.  It would be interesting to do a survey of the Peelle family and see the grade level of education attained through the generations.

 

Jack of All Trades

Life in the 1800s led many people to be jack of all trades.  This was true of women and men, although it was different skills for the men and women.  However, this seemed to be more prominent in the Peelle family than it was in some other families.  For instance, William J. Peelle was a carpenter and farmer by trade.  What is interesting is that his carpentry included making anything and everything.  He made tools, wagon beds, crutches, rudimentary furniture, and houses/rooms added to houses.

His carpentry skills clearly meant that he had good visualization skills as he had no set of plans or diagrams to work from.  In some cases, he didn’t even have another similar item to view before making the new item.  Dad also had excellent visualization skills, which I suspect he got from both his mother’s and father’s families.  Matter of fact, he had a semi-photographic memory as does one of my sons.  Dad could visualize pages from books that he had read.  This skill came in handy when working on cars and machinery as he could visualize how the parts needed to go back together.

 

The Stories

Most families hand down some stories.  In the case of the Peelle family, the most famous story they handed down is that Passco’s grandmother Tabitha (Dunigan) Peelle was the daughter of President John Adams, conceived out of wedlock.  It was assumed by cousins that this relationship was the reason that William Adams Peelle, Passco’s brother, was given the middle name of Adams. 

A scrap of paper exists with the claim of Tabitha’s parentage written on it by a member of the family back in the 1800s.  However, it also has other incorrect information on the same paper.

Personally, I have not seen any actual facts that lead me to conclude that the story is true, but some distant cousins have their heads made up! (See, they got it, too!)

 

 

 

 

 

Newspapers reported that although they could report on John Peelle’s stories, a person had to hear them directly from John to properly appreciate them.  He told many of the same stories over and over.  Yet, it seemed the people of Wayne County, Indiana never grew tired of hearing them. 

Old Settlers Organization

Organizing

The Old Settler’s Organization held an organizing meeting on July 21, 1855.  John Peelle, son of Passco and Tabitha (Dunigan) Peelle, was not only a founding member, but was also elected to serve as one of the two vice-presidents.

On September 7, 1855, they met at the Temperance Hall in Richmond.  Four rules were adopted:

• Meetings would start with a prayer.
• Old settlers would share stories about how things were in the olden days, how things had changed, interesting incidences, etc.
• They were to make each other sociable and agreeable.
• A book would be obtained to record the names of old settlers, their age, and when they came to the area.

 

The Program

After the business was complete, a program was held.  The auditor brought records from the county clerks office which showed the growth in the county based on the very small amount of paper required for tax records in 1819 compared to 350 large pages that were needed for the same task in the most recent accounting.

The auditor also presented records that showed that the Board of County Commissioners fixed rates for taverns in those early days.  Prices were fixed for meals, lodging, whisky, beer, brandy, and wine.  By 1855, this was not in effect.

Following the information shared by the auditor, some of the men began sharing their stories.  It was on this day that John told his story to the old settlers for the first time.  However, it would be far from the last time as he was a highly requested speaker and told his story over and over for years to come.  In his later years, he would begin, “I have so often told you the same old story, that you know it by heart.”

 

Old North “Carliner”

His story would usually start with his birth on March 27, 1791 near (David) Beard’s Hatters Shop in Wayne County, Old North Carolina or “Carliner,” as he would say.  He told of the early days before the cotton gin was common.  Everything with cotton had to be done by hand.  He was required to pick seeds from the cotton.  He admitted that sometimes he burnt some of the cotton to cut down on the number of seeds that needed to be picked out.

 

Indiana Here We Come

When he was a young man, John became restless and went on an adventure to Indiana Territory, arriving in August 1813.  He worked near Richmond for only a few days and then worked for another man for $10 per month.  John had only a tin of milk and a similar amount of mush to eat.  He claimed, “He had often got up from his meals, oh! So hungry, and with tearsi n his eyes.”  It made him long for North Carolina, where people had two-part homes.  One part where they lived and slept and another where they cooked and ate.  He eventually returned to North Carolina. 

 

The Silver Dollar

On March 6, 1815, he married Penina “Penny” Pate.  John paid the minister, who married Penina and him, with a silver dollar that he claimed was once owned by John Wesley.  Now, how someone who grew up in the Society of Friends (Quakers) would have come to have a coin once owned by John Wesley, a Methodist leader who died prior to John’s birth, is unknown.  However, I am sure John had a story about it.

At the Old Settler’s picnics, he would often pull out a silver dollar (or English shilling, as some report) that he said was a mate to the one that he had paid when he married the prettiest woman in “North Caroliner.”  Even when she was in her seventies, he stated that he had never seen a prettier one – ever.

His story did not end there.  He went on to explain why he had kept the coin.  He said that at the time of his marriage that witches were very bad in the Carolinas.  If a man had no money, they would eat him.  Thus, he kept the silver dollar so that he always had money on him.  Now, never mind that in his story about the early days in Indiana, he says that he arrived in the territory without any money.  Details, details, details . . .

 

Moving West

On March 6, 1815, he married Penina “Penny” Pate in South Carolina.  Three days after John and Penina married, they piled their belongings into a two-horse wagon, said, “Good-bye” to their friends and family, and left for Indiana. 

John and Penina arrived in Indiana in October.  They had been on the road for seven months.  Their journey had taken them through the Appalachian Mountains, across streams and rivers, and through wilderness.

They stopped where Richmond, Indiana stands.  They found John Smith selling goods in a small building on the corner of Front St. and Main St.  Although Main St. still exists, I have not yet identified this specific location.

 

Life In Indiana

John and Penina settled in Randolph County, Indiana just to the north of Wayne County.  They cleared the land and made a home.  It was here that their first child, a son, was born.

John and Penina had grown up in the Society of Friends (Quaker) faith.  However, after the Methodist Episcopal Church formed in the area, they became early members.  It was the “old religion” as the pioneers would later say.  They thought “old religion” was better than “new religion.”  One factor seemed to be that in the days of few settlers clearing the wilderness to create farms everyone for miles around was considered a neighbor and friend that could be counted on.

 

Hard Times

Those early days in Indiana were not easy.  He claimed he arrived in Indiana with no money.  Now, he may have meant that he had no significant money.  In any case, “he traded his wagon for a cow and some sheep.”  As he told it, “Dogs killed his sheep, his horse died,” and the cow killed itself by drinking syrup.

In those early days, John would make money by killing wolves.  The county would pay a small amount for each wolf scalp that he brought in.  Despite this, he said that he was not a skilled hunter.  Still, on one occasion, he claimed to have killed two wild geese with one shot.

John’s story of hardship in the old days continued, “You know the plow made of a forked stick; the cotton rope traces; my tanning of leather or pretending to for the purpose of making my wife’s shoes, which hurt her feet to this day.  You know I have told you before that after I came to this state, I often got up from the table hungry.  I sighed with tears in my eyes for my mother’s milk house in North Carolina.”  He went on to say that he thought he had “seen as hard times as the next man.”

 

Things Are Looking Up

John kept a positive outlook on life.  He stated, “We soon raised plenty of corn and squashes and pumpkins on which we fared sumptuously.  We used to hand around a basket of turnips in place of apples.  I remember once at a neighbor’s house I did not scrape the turnip as close as the good lady of the house thought I ought to; so she scraped it again and ate it herself!”

 

Wayne County

John and Penina stayed in Randolph County two years before moving to Wayne County.  Their new property was approximately two miles north of where New Garden was laid out in 1818.  The name of New Garden was changed to Newport in 1834.  Today the town is called Fountain City with the last name change occurring in 1878.  Here they again cleared the land to create a farm.  Their last 11 of 12 children were born in this home.

Around 1854 or 1855, John and Penina made a move again.  This time they moved to Centerville, the county seat of Wayne County.

 

The Old Settlers Picnics

Living in Centerville was convenient for anyone involved in Old Settlers.  Although some meetings were held in Richmond, many of the picnics over the years were held at the Centerville Fair Grounds or in nearby groves.

By 1875, the 20^th year of the organization, the Old Settlers Picnics had grown tremendously.  The crowd was estimated at 4000 people, a bit over four times the population of the town.  It drew people from the surrounding areas and even some old settlers who had moved far away returned for the annual event.

 

Events of the Day

Over the years the event had settled into a general pattern.  The picnics generally opened with a prayer sometime in the mid to late morning.  Often music followed and possibly a speech or two would be given to complete the morning.

Dinner (noon meal) was a time to eat the food they carried in while enjoying their surroundings and  conversing with new and old friends and neighbors.

After dinner, they would tend to the business of determining officers and people for planning next year’s event.  Typically, that was followed by  speeches by old settlers and the displaying of old items.  When known, the history, usage, or story about items was also explained.  Occasionally, special guests would also speak.

Music was also inter-weaved into the event with both bands and singing.  The event ended with the playing and/or singing of “Yankee Doodle.”

By now, the regulars like John Peelle, and their stories were well known to most of the members of the crowd.  John was known to many as Uncle John.  However, he referred to himself simply as “Old Peelle.” 

Besides the stories previously mentioned, he spoke of wearing leather pants, nettle shirts, and going completely without breeches wearing instead a gown that tied close at the neck.  Apparently, he also had some interesting adventures serving as constable.  However, two stories seem to stick out as favorites . . .

 

 

 

Judge Peelle

At each reunion, John would have to mention his nephew Judge William Adams Peelle, who was the son of his brother William (my great-great-great grandfather).  In 1820, John had help lead William and his family on their journey from North Carolina to Indiana.  His nephew was an infant at the time the family made the journey.

John would say that “he (William Adams Peelle) was as bad a child as I ever knew.  He cried nearly all the way from North Carolina, for which I often wanted to thrash him.”  John’s brother William explained to John that young William was crying because he had colic.

John also told about William’s adventure in North Carolina.  As a young man, William had gone to North Carolina to see family.  While there he met a young lady and took her to church the following Sunday.  According to The Richmond Independent, he “attracted the attention of the congregation a great deal more than the sermon did, and so William got up and walked out.  But the congregation followed him, and William sat down at the foot of a large pine tree, while the folks eyed his pegged shoes, the greatest curiosity they had ever seen.  William sat at the foot of the tree for awhile, and when he attempted to get up to go home with the girl he brought, he found that the turpentine and tar had run down and stuck him fast!  The people had to cut him loose with their knives.”

John would go on to say that young William had now become “quite a man.”    And, that he was.   William Adams Peelle was a teacher, lawyer, judge, and had served as Indiana Secretary of State. 

 

The Pantaloons

On one occasion, John started to wrap up his talk and leave the stand without telling the full story of the pantaloons.  And, the audience quickly reminded him that without the story of the pantaloons that he was not done.  Apparently, no Old Settler’s picnic would be complete without it.  So famous were John’s pantaloons that a newspaper article about a gathering, which had nothing to do with John Peelle, mentioned this famous story.  Likewise, one newspaper reporter even believed that it was worthwhile to come to the event just to hear the story of the pantaloons one more time.   

As the story goes, at each event John claimed to be wearing the “identical pantaloons” that he had swapped for soon after he came to Indiana Territory.  The pantaloons were snowy white cotton dimity with stripes and steel buttons.  He said that he had gone to a log-rolling contest and had decided to swap pants with Thomas Woodard, another young man in attendance.  Why they exchanged trousers, I do not know.

He went on to explain that they went to the nearby New Garden Meeting House (Quaker), which was a log cabin at the time, to exchange pantaloons.  The Richmond Independent reported that “he said it was the only time he ever saw two gentlemen in such airy a costume inside a church.”  John was quick to point out that no meeting was in progress and that the two men were the only ones inside during the exchange.

John said that when he got the pantaloons that they were tight as skin.  Still, years later he was wearing them.  One day, Penina let out the secret that she had removed the waistband and made other adjustments as John had become a bit thicker around the middle over the years.  I really wondered if this had been a repetitive process and if she had also had to patch the pantaloons.

In 1874, he indicated that he had owned them for 61 years, which would have meant that he got them when he traveled to the area prior to his marriage.  He went on to indicate that he didn’t actually know the true age of the pants, as he didn’t know how old they were when he obtained them. He wondered if there were others that had “survived the wear and tear of time” as well as his.

To emphasize his story and make sure everyone could see his pantaloons, he would often slap his leg.  He was known to take off his jacket and vest for a better view as they were somewhat like overalls with the buttons for suspenders between the shoulder blades.  When he was 86 years of age, he took it a step further and climbed up on a table so that everyone could get a better look.

 

The End of The Stories

An Aging Man

John appeared to have aged gracefully.  On August 15, 1872, the Cambridge City Tribune described John as “aged 83 years and as spry as any boy of 50 or 60.” (Note: John would have only been 81 in 1872.)

Still, John described himself as “a little, poor, worn-out feller.”  The Richmond Daily Independent disagreed saying, “he is a well preserved, bright old gentleman, straight as a cadet, and spry as a cricket genial and pleasant, as an aged Christian ought to be.”

Proving how spry he was, John celebrated his 86^th birthday by walking from his home at Centerville to Richmond, Indiana, a distance of approximately 6 miles.  He arrived in Richmond in time to have breakfast with his nephew Judge William A. Peelle.  He returned home that evening.  The Richmond Independent Telegram reported he was “feeling as good as a North Carolina bridegroom.”  The Cambridge City Tribune said that he was “straight in body and morals” and that was why he had lived so long. 

 

The Last Speech

1878 brought John’s last opportunity to tell his stories at the Old Settler’s Picnic.  As usual, the crowd laughed and cheered as the 87-year-old entertained them.  He would only live another few months.

He died April 20, 1879, less than a month after he turned 88.  In their later years, John and Penina had returned to the Society of Friends.  Thus, his death is recorded in their records.

In John’s will dated approximately one year before his death he showed his unwavering affection for his wife by writing “my beloved wife Penina who has been my partner in life.”  Calling her his partner in life is very unusual.  It was very touching and special given the year.

After John’s death, Penina lived alone for several years before a daughter helped her out.   She died in 1892 at age 96, but had lived long enough  to see the birth of her great-great-great granddaughter.