(Thanks to Amy Johnson Crow for posting this challenge!)
I’d Like to Meet. . .
The ancestor that I would most like to meet is my paternal great grandmother, Anna Witt.
Anna was born in June 1867 in Washington County, Virginia, to Fullen Witt (sometimes spelled Whitt) and Cynthia Longley.1 She married Rush Floyd Delp on 20 March 1884 in Washington County, Virginia.2 Anna’s father had to give permission for the marriage as she was only 16.
Together, Rush and Anna had the following children:3
- Harry, born 1884
- Charles Harvey, born 1885
- Susan, born 1886
- John, born 1886 (by 1910, John was in the Southwestern State Hospital.4
He died at the VA State Epileptic Colony 1914 at the age of 28). 5 - Elisha, born 1889
- William Franklin, born 1890
- Rufus, born 1892 (he does not appear on the 1900 census)
- Arthur, born 1894
- Jennie, born 1899 (no trace of her after the 1900 census)
Rush filed for divorce in 1904 in Washington County, Virginia on the grounds of adultery.6 However, in the petition, Rush indicated that they had been separated since March 1899. (This date is questionable as Annie is enumerated on the 1900 Census in the household of Rush.)7 The divorce was granted in June 1904, and Anna was prohibited from marrying again.
My grandfather, Mack Rosenbalm, was born in May 1901.8 Although he used the surname Rosenbalm (from his stepfather), it was widely known in the family that Sam Rosenbalm was not his father. The assumption was that his father was Rush Delp; however, DNA evidence suggests that another man is Mack’s father.
On 26 September 1905, Samuel Rosenbalm and “Annie” Whitt filed for a marriage bond in Sullivan County, Tennessee.9 The bond was never completed, presumably because Annie’s was prohibited from marrying again. Together they had two daughters, Stella (1905) and Cora (1907).10
The only children from Anna’s first marriage that were known to Mack’s family were Harry and Arthur.
Annie died 5 March 1923, from stomach cancer.11
When I first started my genealogical journey, I didn’t even know Annie’s name. So, while I have been able to piece together her life, there are so many questions to ask Annie. The biggest question is who is Mack’s father?! Where did she live and how did she support herself before she met Sam? Was there an estrangement between Annie and her other children? What happened to Rufus? What happened to Jennie? Did she know about John’s epilepsy? Did she know that he was in the hospital?
We’ll never know the answers to these questions. We can guess. We can make up stories. But, sometimes the truth is taken to the grave.
FOOTNOTES;
1 900 U.S. Census, Scott County, Virginia, population schedule, Estilleville, sheet 24
(stamped),dwelling 354, family 355, household of Rush Delp; image no. 48 of 56, Ancestry.com
(https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4117933_00557 : accessed 2
Jan 2023); citing microfilm publication Series MT623, roll 1727, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
2 “Virginia, Bureau of Vital Statistics, County Marriage Registers, 1853-1935,” database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:D94K-2W3Z : accessed 2 Jan 2023), Ann L. Whit in entry for Rush P Delp, 20 Mar 1884; citing Marriage Registration, Washington, Virginia, United States, Virginia State Library and Archives, Richmond.
3 1900 U.S. Census, Scott County, Virginia, population schedule, Estilleville, sheet 24 (stamped),dwelling 354, family 355, household of Rush Delp; image no. 48 of 56, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4117933_00557 : accessed 2 Jan 2023); citing microfilm publication Series MT623, roll 1727, National Archives, Washington, D.C.; for Harry, see: “Mack Rosenbalm,” obituary, The Bristol (Tennessee) Herald Courier, 4 December 1960; p.2, col. 3; image copy, Newspapers.com. (https://www.newspapers.com/ image/586612595 : accessed 16 September 2020).
4 1910 U.S. Census, Smyth County, Virginia, population schedule, Southwestern State Hospital, sheet 1B (stamped), entry for John Delp; image no. 2 of 16, Ancestry.com (https:// www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7884/images/4454881_00051 : accessed 2 Jan 2023); citing microfilm publication Series T624, roll 1649, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
5 “Virginia, Death Records, 1912-2014”; database, certificate range 24627-25173, John Delp, 14 July 1914; image 118 of 555, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/9278/images/43004_162028006053_0047-00118?pId=228935: accessed 2 January 2023); citing Virginia, Deaths, 1912-2014, Virginia Department of Health, Richmond, VA.
6 Washington County, Virginia, Chancery Causes – Appalachian Plateau Region (1849-1913). Divorce index no. 1904-95; R.F. Delp.v. Ann Delp; “Chancery Records Index”, database, Library of Virginia (https://www.lva.virginia.gov/chancery/case_detail.asp?CFN=191-1904-095: accessed 18 May 2021), The Library of Virginia, Richmond.
7 1900 U.S. Census, Scott County, Virginia, population schedule, Estilleville, sheet 24 (stamped),dwelling 354, family 355, household of Rush Delp; image no. 48 of 56, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4117933_00557 : accessed 2 Jan 2023); citing microfilm publication Series MT623, roll 1727, National Archives, Washington, D.C
8 Sullivan County Death Certificates; 1960, Mack Garvey Rosenbalm, 3 December 1960; Certificate No. 60-33473, image 1837 of 1942,”Tennessee Death Records, 1908-1958 Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1566558:2376? tid=107182367&pid=290059396405&queryId=fdcdec208a773876c762c09dd9c62f25&_phsrc=T
sF7347&_phstart=successSource: accessed 2 January 2023); citing Tennessee Death Records 1908-1958, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, TN.
9 “Tennessee, County Marriages, 1790-1950,” database with images, Sullivan > Marriage records, 1863-1950, Rosenbaum, Saml-Sanders, William B > FamilySearch (https:// familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G93F-W1TW? cc=1619127&wc=Q63S-1Q3%3A1589264493%2C1589374195 : 2 January 2023), Samual Rosenbalm and Annie Whitt, image 13 of 2982; citing Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville.
10 1910 U.S. Census, Smyth County, Virginia, population schedule, Southwestern State Hospital, sheet 1B (stamped), entry for John Delp; image no. 2 of 16, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7884/images/4454881_00051 : accessed 2 Jan 2023); citing microfilm publication Series T624, roll 1649, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
11 “Tennessee Deaths, 1914-1966,” database with images, No. 004183081, Annie Rosenbalm, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6SRS-Q2H? cc=1417505&wc=34DH-RM9%3A1580553301 : 2 January 2023), image 1599 of 2449; Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville.
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