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Note: estors of Augusta County, VA. (a double �n� in the surname). There was good genealogical information for the sons of John Elliott Denison, but little about John Elliott himself or before him. Although, not a complete lineage of Dennison�s has yet been found, more is known about them now than when the research began and there were some accidental, serendipitous discoveries along the way.
The Surname
One discovery was that the surname had not always been spelled with a double �n�. Before the early 1920�s, in census and birth records, the surname spelling was rather consistently a single �n�, although at times the double showed up. Once the 1887 marriage certificate for John Elliott Denison and Fanny Shelton Henderson was found, the spelling matter was largely put to rest. In that document, Elliott spelled his own surname in his own handwriting with a single �n� (Denison). The question begged, why do his grandchildren and great grandchildren spell their surnames with a double �n�? One of Elliott�s granddaughters, Frances Dennison Custard Howell (daughter of Elliott�s son James Hugh Denison) appears to have been the only living relative who knew the story of the double versus single surname �n�:
�You asked why your grandfather (Walter Elliott Bruce Dennison, son of J. E. Denison and Fannie Shelton Henderson Denison) changed the spelling of his name. Uncle Glenn (Glenn Emory Denison, son of J. E. Denison and Fannie Shelton Henderson Denison) was real young - teenage boy, the way I remember the story. Uncle Harry (Harry B. Denison, son of J. E. Denison and Fannie Shelton Henderson Denison) was living in Texas and somehow it was decided to let Glenn go live with him. I suppose he was really upset over his parents� death and needed supervision. Anyway, he stayed out there for awhile, then came back to Staunton. It seems he was pretty wild, drinking, etc. like so many teenagers, couldn�t seem to find what he wanted to do. He worked at the Western State Hospital for some time. I began to remember that he was quite a �rounder� and he finally ended up washing dishes in a restaurant.
Your grandfather was up in the church - liked to talk good religion - and could not associate with Uncle Glenn. Fact is, he changed our name so people would not think he was kin to Glenn. Both being there in Staunton where so many would know that two Denisons were bound to be kin. My Dad (James Hugh Denison, son of J. E. Denison and Fannie Shelton Henderson Denison) was heavily influenced by Uncle Bruce. They had both lived close to each other and were much closer than Dad had been to Glenn. Glenn was about 12 years younger than Dad. So Dad started using two n�s, too. It is on my birth certificate like that.
As Bruce and Glenn got older they became good friends - buddies. Glenn calmed down, married, had a daughter - Frances Marie - who died as a baby. This is/was my name. It is on a tombstone in Mt. Carmel. He also has another daughter, Elizabeth.� (From Letter Correspondence to Marian Scott (Scottie) Dennison from Frances Dennison Custard Howell, dated August 8, 2000)
The Clan
Another of the serendipitous discoveries was that several other complete family genealogies came to light as heavily intertwined with the Denison line over decades. There appears to have been a large extended family, perhaps akin to a clan. There were families Given, Hanna, McClung, Bell, Henderson and Parris.
Elliott
Among the many family relations along this Denison line, perhaps the most pivotal is John Elliott Denison (b. 1859). John Elliott, known as Elliott or Ellie, emerges from this genealogical adventure as the portal between the past and the present. He would never, in his lifetime, have expected to see himself emerge as the Denison family patriarch, but that has become his family legacy. Like the Denison ancestors before him, Elliott�s life, genealogically, was not much more than a silhouette. Another of Elliott�s granddaughters, Gennivee Shelton Dennison Carey wrote, � . . . no one seems to know too much about Elliott�s past.� (Gennivee Shelton Dennison Carey, Letter Correspondence to Marian Scott (Scottie) Dennison, January 6, 1997)
In another letter from Mrs. Carey, she further illustrates Elliott�s rather mysterious life: �John Elliott Denison was raised by cousins �Givens? of Raphine, VA. He went by the name of Elliott. His mother was buried at Mossey Creek Church Cemetery??. A search was made for her grave but never found. Elliott�s father was James Denison. This is the extent known about Elliott, no mention has ever been made as to brothers, sisters, etc.� (Gennivee Shelton Dennison Carey, Letter Correspondence to Marian Scott (Scottie) Dennison, Undated Letter, 1990�s)
As private and elusive as Elliott�s life was to those who are only one generation removed, many of the people with whom Elliott surrounded himself throughout his life (families Given, Hanna, McClung, Bell, Henderson, Parris) have all emerged as bonified, genealogical research routes to his life and some of the Denison�s who came before him. Earlier individual Denison�s are scantily documented - written records are elusive, if non-existent. Despite the shrouded knowledge of Elliott his ancestors, in life, Elliott surrounded himself with what are certainly keys to the Denison ancestral past, while ushering in a developed genealogical future.
? The name �Givens� quoted by Mrs. Carey has been found to be �Given�.
?? Elliott�s mother, Jane Given, was never buried at Mossey (Mossy) Creek Church Cemetery. She is buried, along with her 3rd husband William Voley, their infant daughter Effie, and son Howard E. in the Handschumaker Cemetery at Upper Glade (Nicholas County, WV) - Stephenson and Associated Families, March 1, 2000, Chapter 3, page 3.
Elliott's Early Life (Letter Correspondence from Gennivee Dennison Carey to Marian Scott (Scottie) Dennison, letter dated January 6, 1997):
"He seemed to have lived with the Gibbs (inventor of the sewing machine)* and also in the home of John & Jane Bell, all of Raphine. These people were all cousins of Elliott�s. All the Dennison boys often spoke of Uncle John & Aunt Jane Bell. A family of �Hockmans� did live in the Gibbs�s homeplace in Raphine - this was awhile past."
*As to Mrs. Carey�s memory of a Gibb being the inventor of the sewing machine, Frances Dennison Custard Howell has the same memory: "I saw one of the Gibbs sewing machines. A friend had it -- It had no bobbin and the thread from the top someway made the stitch - I wish I had paid closer attention." While history does not include a Gibb as being the inventor of the sewing machine, nearly all of what these two women have related as oral history has been proven, so there must be some validity to this claim.
Mrs. Carey also remember that Elliott has only one arm. It is not know when this happened:
"Elliott Denison had only one arm, one arm was missing from the elbow down - cause: Osteomyelitis (so Vernie (Vernie Burgess McCroy Dennison, wife of Walter Elliott Bruce Dennison) told me." (Letter Correspondence from Gennivee Dennison Carey to Marian Scott (Scottie) Dennison, letter dated January 6, 1997)
Elliott and Fanny
In letter correspondence from Gennivee Dennison Carey to Marian Scott (Scottie) Dennison(undated letter from mid 1990�s), Mrs. Carey relates how Elliott and Fannie met:
"Fannie Shelton Henderson of West Virginia, came for a visit to the Givens, married Elliott, her (first or second) cousin. The Givens gave a parcel of land to the newly married couple. This land is located at Marlbrook (not too far from Vesuvious, VA)."
Another version of Elliott and Fannie�s first meeting, also related by Mrs. Carey (in letter correspondence from Gennivee Dennison Carey to Marian Scott (Scottie) Dennison, letter dated January 6, 1997), reads a little differently:
�Fannie (Henderson), J. E. Denison�s wife and mother of all the Denison boys, came from WV. She stopped at the home on a visit where Elliott lived (Elliott being J. E. Denison), at which time they must have fallen in love because they married. This is when a tract of land was given to them and also a house was built for them.�
Elliott and Fannie were married in Rockbridge County on September 8, 1887 by A. T. Shields, Deputy Clerk.. The marriage license says that Fannie was widowed.
The Denison Homeplace: Marlbrook
John Elliott Denison lived at Marlbrook, known as The Homeplace to family. His granddaughter, (daughter of Walter Elliott Bruce Dennison), Gennivee Shelton Dennison Carey, describes the location of Marlbrook and a bit of its history:
�This area has quite a few places you would never find on a map, such as Cornwall and Mary Creek. Marlbrook and Cornwall and Mary Creek are all very close to Vesuvious. The Dennison homeplace is located on Route 608, four miles south of Vesuvius. At one time a very large tract of mountain land was owned by the McCrory family (descendants of Vernie (McCroy) Dennison. Hugh Dennison�s land came from this tract, when he married Aunt Carrie. His land was located over the hill from his homeplace - at one time all McCrory land.� (Gennivee Shelton Dennison Carey, Letter Correspondence to Marian Scott (Scottie) Dennison, January 6, 1997)
Marlbrook had quite a bit more history than Mrs. Carey described. It�s story dated back to the earliest settlements in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.
�This land was a portion of the famous �Borden Grant,� which was granted to Benjamin Borden by Governor Gooch on November 6, 1739, containing 92,100 acres, and this grant is recorded in the Land Office in Richmond, Virginia, in Book 18, page 360.
Benjamin Borden deeded a portion of this land to James McClung in 1742, but as there was some complications connected with the sale, the deed was not made until 1745, which is recorded in the Clerk�s Office in Augusta County, as Rockbridge County was not laid out until 1777.
At the death of James McClung about 1785, by the terms of his will, which was dated October 2, 1779, and recorded May 3, 1785, and recorded in the Clerk�s Office of Rockbridge County in Will Book 1, page 230, after certain personal and other bequests, his property was to be divided among his three sons: James, Henry, and William.
It appears that James McClung purchased the interests of his two brothers, Henry and William, and became the owner of the property, and at his death, the property passed by the terms of his will to his sons, James Gardner, Henry, and John. This will is recorded on January 2, 1817, in Will Book 4, page 210. James Gardner appears to have purchased the interests of his two brothers, Henry and John, and became the owner of the property.
James Gardner McClung was born in 1806 and died in 1862. He married Matilda Jane Scott Parris.? They had no children. After the death of James Gardner McClung, his widow married John Cyrus Bell. They had no children.
James Gardner McClung willed his property to his wife, Matilda Jane, who afterwards married John Cyrus Bell, will recorded on November 5, 1879, Will Book 23, page 155.
Matilda Jane Bell deeded it to J. E. Dennison, an adopted son, on January 13, 1898, Deed Book 85, page 270.
J. E. Dennison deeded it to W. E. B. Dennison on January 6, 1922, Deed Book 134, page 330.
W. E. B. Dennison deeded it to John H. Snider, December 31, 1923, Deed Book 138, page 288.
John H. Snider is the present owner in 1937.
The first house to be built on this site was a small two-story log structure, in 1742, by James McClung, but it was not long afterwards, exact time not known, this house was burned, but soon afterwards, with the assistance of his neighbors, who were very few at that date, he soon had the second house ready for occupancy, and this house is standing at this date, 1937, with comparatively few changes. It, too, was a two-story log structure, but in recent years, it has been weather-boarded, but the log structure and the original chimney remains at this date.� (�Historical Significance of Rockbridge County Virginia, James McClung, McClure Company, Inc, Staunton, VA 1939)
Mrs. Carey relates the reason that Marlbrook changed ownership from Dennison to Snider in 1923.
�When Vernie [Vernie Burgess McCroy Dennison, wife of Walter Elliott Bruce Dennison, son of J. E. Denison] consented to marry Bruce, she made him promise when Elliott passed on they would leave the country (mountains) and move to Staunton. Bruce was no farmer and she was a smart lady. Fannie [wife of John Elliott Dennison] died before they married and this left Elliott, Bruce and little Glen in the homeplace. She moved in, took care of Elliott till the last, sent Glen to Texas to live with Harry and his wife, sold the farm, came to Staunton. He got a job in a store called The Valley Store (I believe like one of our department stores) and went to Dunsmore Business School at night.� (Gennivee Shelton Dennison Carey, Letter Correspondence to Marian Scott (Scottie) Dennison, January 6, 1997)
Marlbrook is still standing at the beginning of the 21st century, and Margaret Ann Whittington now owns it. Rather than being called Marlbrook, its name has been changed to �Peace and Plenty Farm�.
Perhaps the most arresting historical event surrounding Marlbrook is narrated in the �Historical Significance of Rockbridge County Virginia, James McClung, McClure Company, Inc, Staunton, VA 1939.
�The following well authenticated story is told concerning James McClung, the 2nd.
�Soon after his emigration to Virginia, while in the timber making rails with which to fence his farm, he was attached by five savage Indians, who proposed to relieve him of his scalp. He asked permission to finish splitting his log before being scalped, and his request was granted. Under the circumstances, he found the log very difficult to split, and asked the Indians to assist him, and they, thinking that they would have his scalp that much sooner, consented to do so. He placed them on opposite sides of the log, with their fingers well inserted in the crack, and gave them order to pull with all their might, while he drove in the wedge. Then, in desperation, he gave the wedge a desperate stroke and knocked it out of the log, causing it to close upon their fingers, and held them fast, while he, amidst their shrieks, dispatched them with his axe.� (Genealogy of the McClung Family, Rev. William McClung, 1904)
In later years, this tragic incident has been attributed to Daniel Boone and others, but the sources of information given below, clearly and without doubt makes James McClung the man who trapped and killed five Indians, who sought to take his scalp.
�Mr. J. E. Dennison, the owner of the farm on which this episode occurred, states: �I was raised an orphan in the home of James McClung�s grandson, James Gardner McClung, and I have often heard him speak of this event, and told me that without doubt, it was James McClung who killed the five Indians in the log of wood.�� (Genealogy of the McClung Family, Rev. William McClung, 1904)
�Miss Susan Hite, who lived to be over 80 years of age, and asserts that she was born and raised in this immediate section where the McClungs lived, and she has heard them relate this incident time and again, that James McClung was the man who killed the Indians in a split log.� (Genealogy of the McClung Family, Rev. William McClung, 1904)
�Phoebe McClung, a granddaughter of James McClung, says that she lived in this neighborhood, and that she was 85 years old, and told the write (Rev. William McClung) just before her death that it was James McClung, her own grandfather, who killed five Indians, and that they were buried near the spot where they were killed, on the second level above Cold Spring, which flows into Little Mary Creek, three miles east of Fairfield.� (Genealogy of the McClung Family, Rev. William McClung, 1904)
* 27 July 1882 John C. Bell, 57, W, b/Rockbridge, Farmer, son of A. N. Bell & C. Bell, married Matilda J. McClung, 40, W, b/Augusta, daughter of G. Parris & N. Parris, A.H. Hamilton officiating. (Marriages, Rockbridge County, VA 1851-1883 - B Male surnames, http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/va/rockbridge/vitals/marriages/rcvd1998/bmarriag.txt
Note: The Dennison genealogical research began in the early 1990�s as a search for the Dennison anc
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