Robert Haskell Quillen Continued

 

Back to Robert Quillin…his efforts to prove Ira D’s service during the Civil War fell short. See Robert’s letter and the xerox copy of the article for the Gate City Herald written by Joel Shelley on 14 July 1904.  Robert and his cousin contacted a Civil War writer in Roanoke, VA, who said he would investigate. To my knowledge they never heard anything back from him; therefore, leaving us with the unknown about Ira D Quillin’s Civil War service. Only spoken words.
Possible source: The Virginia Regimental Histories Series
 
Robert never really researched family lines. He lived so close to the Quillin heritage in the area that I’m sure the Quillin name was taken for granted.  In fact, in one of Robert’s letters he said that we had conflicting parents for Edna Vineyard Quillin.  It has been substantiated that her parents were George and Hannah Vineyard, though he stated they were Elisha Vineyard and Polly Agner.
 
I very much appreciated that Robert quickly ‘hit the streets’ for me and visited the courthouse and the Public library uncovering the newspaper article and a few census sheets, even though we came up a bit short. I still have the article and the words that Robert remembers his grandfather saying about Ira D Quillin and Beverly Johnson Quillin
 
I continued to have contact with Robert off and on for several years. He begged me to come to Bristol so that he could show me all the Quillin places, which included the place where Beverly Johnson and Edna lived.  He even went to the old homestead and found an old stove front from Edna’s stove and mounted it on wood for me.  Robert and his wife Barbara signed up for a tour of the Hill Country and came to the Austin area. I went out to visit with them and it was then that he presented the ‘gift’ to me.  He was a kind, gentle hearted man….my kind of people and I do regret, as he told me I would, that I never made it to VA to visit him in his home and see for myself the Quillin homestead.
 
Now many years later, I found that his sister Audrey Faye Quillen Doran and her son, Willie Troy Doran must have taken up the responsibility and pridefully took care of the Quillin cemetery.  As of 25 Jan 2019, the Ira Quillin Cemetery is listed on Find A Grave.
 
Sadly, as I began to finalize my documentation of this line, I learned that Robert Haskell Quillen passed away on 15 Jan 2010 Scott County Virginia.