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James Reid Sterrett (b. August 09, 1819, d. January 01, 1866)

James Reid Sterrett (son of Robert Douglas Starret and Isabella Dunlap)^{760, 761, 762, 763, 764, 765, 766, 767, 768} was born August 09, 1819 in "Bells Valley" Farm on Little Calf Pasture River, Rockbridge County, Virginia, USA^{769, 770}, and died January 01, 1866 in "Oakley" Farm near Lexington, Rockbridge County, Virginia, USA^{771, 772, 773}. He married Rebecca Alexander Willson on May 16, 1843 in Brownsburg, Rockbridge County, Virginia, USA⁷⁷⁴, daughter of Samuel Willson and Phoebe Tate.

Notes for James Reid Sterrett:
Born August 9, 1819 at Bell's Valley, Virginia, USA; died January 1, 1866, at Oakley, Lexington, Rockbridge County, Virginia, USA. Married, May 16, 1842 at Brownsburg, Rockbridge County, Virginia, USA, Rebecca Alexander Willson, born July 27, 1825; died June 19, 1889; daughter of Samuel and Phoebe (Tate) Willson; granddaughter of John and Rachael (Downey) Willson, and great granddaughter of James Wilson, born in Ireland in 1715, and his wife Rebecca, who came to America in 1753, settling in Penn first, but going to Virginia, USA in 1771. Phoebe Tate was the daughter of Robert and Margarette (McClung) Tate.

James was a twin. He died at his farm "Oakley" . Tombstone says "aged 47 years". He was a farmer at the home place "Oakley".

Rockbridge County Death Records.
1866, In. 21; "James R. Sterrett/WM/ died-Jany1/place-Rockbridge/cause-Fever/age 43/parents-Robt & Isabella Sterrett/born-Rockbridge/Consort-Rebecca Sterrett/Sam Sterrett, son reported."

The Lexington Gazette, Wed. February. 21, 1866 pg. 3 reported;---

"At his residence, in this county on the 1st day of January, in the 46th year of his age, MR. James R. STERRETT - a Ruling Elder, in the church of Timber Ridge." Followed by;

"SESSIONAL MINUTES ON THE DEATH OF/ James R. STERRETT---

We the surviving Ruling Elders, of Timber Ridge Church, with bowed and chastened hearts, desire to record our feelings under the painful bereavement which we experience in the death of our beloved brother, James R. Sterrett.

1st. We desire to bow meekly to the stroke which has fallen upon us, and be cheerfully submissive to the will of our Heavenly Father in the removal from his earthly labors, of our valued co-laborer in the work of our Master, being fully persuaded that the loss, so painful to us, is his unspeakable gain.

2nd. We desire here to record our profound appreciation of his modest worth; his blameless life; his earnest judgment; his wise discretion; his lowly piety; his holy living; his earnest love of the Church, and his happy efficiency in his labors to promote her best interests.

3rd. And while we record his virtues, we desire to commend to ourselves, and to others, his godly example - that we "may be followers of him, as he was also of Christ." In him we would "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man in piece."

4th. But in our sad bereavement, we find encouragement in the remembrance of the many prayers he offered for the prosperity of our beloved Zion; and especially that Last prayer, which was commenced several hours before his death, and continued, with scarcely any interruption until - ended in Heaven-"The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availed much."

5th. Our tenders sympathies are hereby offered to the afflicted family of our dear brother, and to our smitten congregation - accompanied by the prayer that the "Husband of the widow and the Father of the fatherless, "may take them now into his holy keeping, and bring them and us, to the rest of him who has gone before.

6th. In this dispensation of God's providence, we recognize, as a Session the solemn admonition of the Master - "Take heed therefore into ourselves, and to all the folk, over which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers, to feed the Church of God, which he has purchased with his blood."

By order of Session W. W. Trimble, Moderator."

1 " OAKLEY

The burning of Oakley mansion recalls the fact that this property has been the home of only two families, namely Lyle and Sterrett. The former owned it about eighty years, and the latter have owned it nearly fifty years, and are likely to continue to own it for some time to come. The Lyle family has been described in the historical papers of Washington and Lee University. Samuel Lyle, one of the founders and officers of the Liberty Hall Academy, was the first owner of the Oakley lands. His son, Captain Wm. Lyle, built the house which has just been burned, almost exactly 100 years ago. It was surrounded by oak trees, and thus derived the name. The house was strongly built of well burned brick and well seasoned timber. It had two rooms in the basement, four on the first floor, and four on the second floor. The upper was half-story with a sub gable over the front porch, which faced east. After Mr. James Sterrett bought the place he thought of building a new house, but found the old one so substantial that he contented himself with raising the walls so as to make the upper a full story.
At one time Oakley farm contained 1,200 acres, all good limestone land, lying well, except the rear ran up on the gravel ridge in one part, and was bordered by the river cliff in another part. At the time the only public road that passed through it was the Brownsburg road, which then ran much nearer to the house than it does now."

1 From Isabella Brown's scrapbook a newspaper item with no date but from the Rockbridge County News, written by W. H. RUFFNER, which is divided into three sections. They were; Oakley, the house, which also included information and advise on land management (the first part is above); John D. Sterrett's book, which is quoted under his section of this family history and Professor Sterret's work, which is in his section.

James REID STERRETT (1819-1866)

BY James ROBERT (BOB) STERRETT

(Note this is a talk I gave at the 1990 Sterrett picnic. I spoke from notes so this is not my exact talk; however, it is similar. I tried to give a "broad brush" picture of James Reid Sterrett and the times. However, I have additional details for those who are interested.)

James Reid Sterrett was my great grandfather. He was born before the Civil War and died approximately 7 months after the end of the war on Jan, 1, 1866 at age 47. We know very little about him, at least little about his actions, his beliefs, his character, or what he looked like. If you have information on him in your family notes, please give to me or Mary Lipscomb. We will try to preserve for future generations. He was born in Bell's Valley, Rockbridge County, Virginia, USA; and, he married Rebecca Alexander Willson when he was 24 years old and she was perhaps 18. She lived her early life in what is now Mary and Alex Lipscomb's home near Brownsburg. He was a twin of Margaret Ann Sterrett.

James Reid and his wife lived much of their adult life at OAKLEY. The name seems to be used either as the farm or the house. This farm and house were given him by his father, Robert Sterrett, in a deed dated in 1851 (note a); His father having purchased 3 acres in 1843 and 816 acres in 1851. Of course, he and his wife may have lived there before the deed was recorded as he married in 1943. This was a very large farm; it's sided were irregular. The long side was at least 1 1/2 miles and the sides varying from 1/2 to over 1 mile. It was approximately 4 miles NNE of Lexington, some parts extended east of Mill Creek and extended west to the Maury River, then North River. The farm has been divided many times since then. Meadow-View subdivision is now located on the southeast part of the Oakley Farm. You can now drive through parts of the then Oakley Farm on both state road 39 and state road 645. No Sterretts own any of this land now except my wife and I who own approximately 4 acres, without buildings and near the site of the Oakley house.

We know the location of the Oakley Home which burnt in 1897. It was located just north of the end of what is now state road 811. As a child, I played on the old brick foundation. It was located mainly on the top of a hill, but partially on the hill side; today you can see signs of the foundation; however, it has been partially filled. A depression caused by the foundation is on the west side of the entrance road and approximately 75 feet south of a house built about 1950 by a Mr. Patrick and now lived in by Prentis Womeldorf. We know what it looked like because of a county paper description of it. From the rear it appears to be 3 stories. From the front it appears to be 2 stories. The lower floor had 2 rooms plus a basement. The first floor and second floor had 4 rooms each. James Reid made improvements to the house including raising the roof making the top story 4 rooms instead of two. It was a brick house, the bricks having been made on the farm. It apparently was an extremely nice house for that day. It was called Oakley because of many very large oak trees. When I was a child there were at least 8 or 10 large oak trees in sight of the house. They were very large and tall and I remember that the lightening struck and killed most of them. Today there is at least one of those oak trees still living. It's base diameter is greater than 6 feet. While professional foresters never told me its age, I imagine it is over 200 years old and still going strong. (note b.)

James Reid and his wife had 11 children, seven were living at his death. All seven had descendants. As I said before, we know very little about James Reid's life. He was of course a farmer; we have a copy of a weight master's receipt for a ton of hay that he sold to Stonewall Jackson in 1861 for $15. He also purchased other farms in partnership with his family. We know he was in the Confederate Army. He is listed as being a Captain and spending most of his military time in Staunton, Augusta County, Virginia, USA. (note c.) I do not know whether he was in the regular army or the home guard. The home guard was very active in Rockbridge County. The Federal Troops kept treating Rockbridge County almost from the beginning of the War. Remember the western part of Virginia, USA had broken away from Virginia, USA and became West Virginia, USA, a northern state and the Federal Troop would approach Rockbridge from the west as well as the north, Federal Troops being several times in Covington. The regular Troops with the Home Guard troops would move out to block them. Apparently these stays were short and little fighting took place, but some men were killed in small actions. Whether James Reid was in any of these actions I do not know.

James Reid was also an elder in Timber Ridge Presbyterian Church. Church records say he was very helpful in the church and strengthened that church when it was weak. He is buried in the cemetery at Timber Ridge along with his wife and some of his children.

Just a few words about the Oakley Farm main barn. It was located south of the Oakley house and had many long hewn logs in it, some at least 75 feet long. It was built around 1800, and I had it torn down in the 1970's. The timbers were eventually given to "The Lime Kilm Theater", an outside summer theater located just west of Lexington. In some of their plays they use one of the long timbers for the actors to walk onto the stage. When I see the timber, I say to my wife "Look there", and she says "sh- not so loud". I tell you this because these logs are also part of Sterrett history. Many of your great grandfathers, great uncles, grandfathers, etc. worked, played, and walked on and around these logs. How many man-made possessions of your ancestors can you say this about? Unknown (note d. )

Now a word about the Sterrett Wives. For example Lets look at Rebecca Alexander Willson Sterrett on Jan. 1, 1866. Now I do not know what happened that day, but I invite you to use your imagination along with me. The Civil War had just ended and her country had been badly beaten. Federal Troops had more or less been in control; of Rockbridge County for something like a year, taking food and supplies when they wished. Food was short, many men including her son had died in the War, and husband, James Reid Sterrett had just died that day (without a will). And she was left with many children. Let's name some of these. Charles Reid, the grandfather of Bill Sterrett was less than 2 years old. Tate, who we usually associate with Warm Springs was less than 4 years old. Ira Franklin, my grandfather was less than 6 years old. Madison McClung, the grandfather of Mary Lipscomb was less than 9. Now I skip to the oldest child, Samuel Willson, the grandfather of Margaret Sterrett was less than 18. The future must have looked extremely bleak; and, Rebecca Sterrett knew a life style was gone forever. Many other Sterrett wives at other times have been faced with somewhat similar disasters as many Sterrett husbands died early in those days. (Hopefully it has changed now.) But these Sterrett wives persisted and raised their families somehow, as is indicated by the fact that we are here today. So I say "Hats off to the Sterrett wives, past, present and future"!!!

In closing I would like to leave you with a pleasant feeling about the James Reid Sterrett family. To help with this, I have written a poem. It's a silly poem, but I hope you agree with me when I say: "Humor is a gift from God, useful both in sorrows and joy". However, all school teachers can close their ears now! It is important that you note the subject of my poem. Now my poem!!

LUCKY ME
(About my ancestors you'll see)

James Reid Sterrett was my great granddad
He left Belle's Valley with all he had
To find a fine wife
To live with without strife
Rebecca Alexander Willson was her name
The daughter of Samuel Willson, the same

Someone said "Holy so-moakley"
He'll take her to Oakley
Move to Oakley, they did
Where they raised many a kid
They lived useful lives
And their sons took wives

You know their name
But here's some samples, just the same
Charles Reid after looking over the map
Married Angeline Dunlap
And Madison McClung was never sorry
He married Anna Laura
Ira Franklin was busy as a bee
Wining the hand of Isabella MacKey
Daughter, Isabella, took
A husband with a Thompson Look

When Thomas married Miss Kinnear
Several maidens shed a tear
Samuel Willson was married twice
And both ladies were nice
At the wedding of Mariah Boys and Tate
No one was late

All had both sorrows and joys
As well as many girls and boys
And this is why you see
We have such a large family tree
And you all must agree
Many fine cousins, there be
And each Sterrett member
In August please remember
That descendants we are
Coming from near and far
To renew our joys
Just like the Oakley boys
Now I must stop
Or some one will surely top
This corny silly dilly
Since we Sterretts can be silly.

[It helps when reading the poem to pronounce many "Y's" as "EE"]

(The End)

Now I hope that leaves you with a warm spot in your heart for the James Reid Sterrett Family.

Information on OAKLEY FARM and other land purchased;

1. From deed books in the Rockbridge Court House, we know:
(A) Robert Sterrett purchased 3 acres from the Insley family in 1843 by an indenture. This was part of some land adjoining Cameron farm, but was not recorded until 1851. Robert Sterrett also purchased, for under $14,000, 816 acres from Lyles in 1851. (Deed Book 88, pages 353 & 431/ think.) Both of these parcels were transferred to James Reid Sterrett in the same year (1851). An indenture is apparently a contract or an agreement for obtaining land by various methods. {editor's note -- Indenture was a legal contract established by mutual agreement or by court order for payment of services, a purchase or en leau of an obligation. Examples - indentured servants - to pay the cost say of transportation to the new world or to pay a court sentence. Usually the term of indenture would be recorded. In James Reid�s cast more than likely his father indebted James to "X" number of years to work for Mr. Insley, kinda like a tenant farmer, for so many years or until he paid off the debt in cash. Some indentured servants were only one step above a slave. An apprentice was another type of indenture for educational purposes. Apprentice was a higher type of indenture, and could be terminated by either party with court approval.}

This makes a total for Oakley Farm of ---------- 819 acres.

(B) In 1869 a court action was necessary to define how much of the John Sheltman farm belonged to the Sterretts (NE side of Oakley Farm). There is a sketch of this land in Deed Book NN page 326. The court said approximately 90 acres belonged to the Sterretts. This 90 acres is apparently part of the 816 acres purchased by Robert Sterrett in 1851. There were other results for others from this court action in regard to other Sheltman land.

(C) In 1876 or 1877 there is a recorded deed in Deed Book PP page 144 that gives a word description of land that was transferred to James Reid Sterrett's heirs {ed. I am sure this was the settlement of his estate, which could be confirmed by checking the Will Books.} All of this land is part of the Oakley Farm. It refers to a missing sketch as follows;

1. Life interest to Rebecca Sterrett, two parcels (200 + 50 acres) -- -- -- -- 250 acres
2. Fee simple to Ira Franklin -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 64 acres
3. Fee simple to Madison McClung -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 64 acres
4. Fee simple to Tate -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 61 acres
5. Fee simple to Charles Reid (2 parcels 171 + 4) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 175 acres
6. Fee simple to lsabella (could be = 4 acres) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 106 acres

(Deed mentions this was 90 acres of Sheltman land) (which is approximately equal to (A) above)

(D) Court records mention that: (1) Sons, Samuel Willson and Thomas Alexander obtain Crab Bottom, (2) also some money to other heirs to make inherence equal, (3) Tax books show previously 100 acres to John Douglas Sterrett (Exc. I think). I believe this 100 ac. is only a paper transfer to pay a lien and not a final transfer. (4) You cannot tell from Deed if there are buildings; however, Tax books could clarify this point if needed.

II. Other land purchases: John Douglas Sterrett, a brother of James Reid Sterrett, stated in some of his writings that James Reid Sterrett, some of his brothers, and sometimes his father, Robert, purchased many other parcels of land in West Virginia, USA, and Virginia, USA. One of these was Crab Bottom, Highland County, Virginia, USA (see (D) above).

Some notes to the text

Note a. The early part of the 19th century was economically good to Rockbridge County (except for depressions). There were several reasons for this. One was that wheat from the valley was much in demand. Note that McCormick, of Rockbridge, took his first patent for the reaper in 1832. Another reason was that the United States was expanding rapidly to the west and south west, and many people were passing through Rockbridge County buying supplies. Some events of the time were: The Texas, USA War of Independence, and the Mexican War which ended in 1848.

Note b. In addition, to my remembering when the lightening struck the large oak trees I remember my parents talking about the trees dying, not only because they were Sterrett landmarks, but because the trees were magnificent beautiful trees. The present six foot diameter tree is almost directly below and west of the site of Oakley house. A large spring is just below this tree and the Sterretts must have gotten their water there. The Sterretts at some time stopped referring to the farm as Oakley, at least partially because some neighbors started to call their farm "The Oaks".

Note c. My notes say that on page 443 of Morton's History of Rockbridge County, that Captain James Reid Sterrett was in the Confederate Army, Avis County of Provost Guards at Staunton, Augusta County, Virginia, USA, serving the greater part of the time as clerk in the Provost Marshall Office.

Note d. At one time, a county road passed between the Oakley Home and the main Oakley barn. This road then turned north and became the main road to Brownsburg. This road also continued from Oakley barn southwest toward Lexington passing in front of a home now lived in by M. W. (Pete) Straub. Some of General Hunter's Federal Troops used this road on their way to Lexington near the end of the Civil War, and it was said that they camped near the Oakley main barn. Apparently the present public road near Mill Creek did not exist in early Oakley times. At one time the road going north from the Oakley Home branched east to a home on the Sheltman portion of Oakley. This home may have been the early home of lsabella and Stuart Thompson. (You can see indications of this road from the present Lewis Straub home which is very near the E. boundary of Oakley).

More About James Reid Sterrett:
Burial: Aft. January 01, 1866, Timber Ridge Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Timber Ridge, Rockbridge County, Virginia, USA.⁷⁷⁵
Name - Alternate: John Reid Sterrett.
Residence: Of Rockbridge County, Virginia, USA.⁷⁷⁶

More About James Reid Sterrett and Rebecca Alexander Willson:
Marriage: May 16, 1843, Brownsburg, Rockbridge County, Virginia, USA.⁷⁷⁷

Marriage Notes for James Reid Sterrett and Rebecca Alexander Willson:
Rockbridge County Marriage Register, Book 1 (1978 - 1865) and 1A (1865 - 1889) typed, page 1-343; "James R. Sterrett & Rebecca Wilson by Rev. James Morrison - 16 May 1843

Children of James Reid Sterrett and Rebecca Alexander Willson are:

+Isabella Dunlap Sterrett, b. August 10, 1851, "Oakley" Farm near Lexington, Rockbridge County, Virginia, USA⁷⁷⁸, d. June 07, 1921, Timber Ridge, Rockbridge County, Virginia, USA⁷⁷⁸.