Robert Quillen's letter 1995

 

Gate City Article from 14 July 1904

Robert Haskell Quillen sent me this article. 

It was disappointing that this did not reveal Ira D Quillin's name.

 

Robert Spoke of Joel Shelley - Civil War Informaion

Joel Shelley (1842 – 1929)          

The man who said he knew Ira D Quillin

Compiled by Nancy Quillin Long  

Nov 8, 2020

 

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/178569758/joel-shelley
Joel Shelley b. 14 Oct 1842 Scott Co VA  d. 7 March 1929 Scott Co VA buried in the Shelley Cemetery, Bristol City VA
 
Joel Shelley wrote a newspaper article for the Gate City Herald dated July 14, 1904 (1901?)
Mr. Shelley is the man who told William Isaac Quillen, grandson of Ira D Quillen, that he (Joel Shelley) was with Ira D when Ira died. The article details how Company H came to be and listed the names of those he could remember. (see attached photo copy of the Gate City Herald article)
 
In June 1861, Mr. Shelley was a volunteer that helped form Company B, 48^th Virginia Volunteers. They were reorganized in 1862 as Company H, 48^th Virginia Volunteers and remained as Company H until Lee surrendered at Appomattox. Mr. Shelley wrote an article for the Gate City Herald, the local newspaper, published in the July 17 1904 (1901?) edition.  Shelley commemorated the men who served in the Company for the Confederate Army.  Shelley states that “it is difficult to remember distinctly the things of forty years ago.”  In the article, Mr. Shelley listed the Christian names of those who served in this company. 
 
Mr. Joel Shelley enlisted 11 Aug 1861 when he was about 18 years old. He was a private from Pocahontas WV.  Company H, Virginia, 48 Infantry Regiment
Possible source: The Virginia Regimental Histories Series
 
My Bristol VA contact Robert Haskell Quillen, keeper of the Ira Quillin cemetery, found this article for me in the Scott County Public Library. (see attached doc titled Important Source) Robert corresponded with me during the 1990s in order to help me document Ira D Quillin and Edna Vineyard Quillin Barker
 
Robert was sorely disappointed that Ira D Quillin’s name was not on the list in the 1904 article.  Robert recalls that his father, William Isaac Quillen (brother to my great grandfather, Beverly Johnson Quillin) had personally spoken with Joel Shelley many years ago and that Mr. Shelley had told him that he was with Ira D when he died.
 
Robert Haskell Quillen < Willie Quillen < Patton Presley < Ira D Quillin
(Patton Presley Quillen was the brother of my great grandfather, Beverly J Quillin.)

Robert's Letter 1993

 Though Robert never did family research, he was willing to at least try to find some things for me.

Ira Quillin Cemetery

 https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2679389/ira-quillin-cemetery

 I will always want to know about the last person on this list for Mrs. Wright. Supposedly Polly Sprowls (who married B.J. Quillin) mother's name was Millie Wright. The Sprowls have been a dead end for me.
IRA QUILLIN CEMETERY
Find a Grave Cemetery: #2679389
The Information about this cemetery was added on 25 Jan 2019  by:
Phyllis Peterson
MEMBER of Find a Graver for 10 years · 17 days
Phyllis Peterson’s FIND A GRAVE ID   is:   47360019
 
Ira Quillin Cemetery #2679389
LOCATION: West End of CR 697
Hiltons, Scott County, Virginia, USA
 
“This cemetery is located slightly to the west of due north of Herman Chap Methodists Church, on the old QUILLIN farm on Fowlers Branch. It is located on the hillside a few hundred yards past the end of the maintained Route 697. The cemetery is unfenced and clean. It is marked by two large cedar trees which were placed at the head and foot of CICERO QUILLIN's grave. TROY DORAN took GUY SANDERS and me (Phyllis Peterson) to the cemetery and gave us a list of six of the eleven or more persons buried there. Troy made the list by discussing it with his mother, AUDREY QUILLEN DORAN. TROY presently leases the farm from his uncle, ROBERT QUILLEN, who owns it. ROBERT said that his father gave him a list of eleven people who were buried there, but the list was lost long ago. IRA QUILLIN SR died during the Civil War and is thought to have been buried near Manassas, VA. [From Donald W. Lane, Jan 2003]
 
8 people were added to Find A Grave by Phyllis Peterson which included the following:
All were buried in the Ira Quillin Cemetery at Hiltons, Scott County, Virginia.
 
Cicero Columbus Quillin
BIRTH  1855
Scott County, Virginia, USA
DEATH 4 Apr 1890 (aged 34–35)
Scott County, Virginia, USA
Drowned in the Clinch River. (Marked by two large cedar trees at head and foot of the grave)
MEMORIAL ID 196357272 ·
 
Patton Presley Quillin
BIRTH  10 Jan 1860
DEATH 10 Mar 1933 (aged 73)
Find a Grave Memorial 196357210
 
Elizabeth Isabell Reynolds Quillin  (wife of Patton Presley Quillin)
BIRTH  16 Apr 1871
DEATH unknown
Find a Grave Memorial 196357688
Martha Virginia Hart Quillin  (wife of Patton Presley Quillin)
Gravesite Details Marked with a fieldstone
BIRTH  11 Sep 1863
DEATH Dec 1896 (aged 33)
Find a Grave Memorial 196357220
 
Ira D. Quillin Jr.
BIRTH  14 May 1863
DEATH 11 Sep 1928 (aged 65)
Find a Grave Memorial 196357184
 
Henry Clay Quillin
Not on Audrey Quillen's list, but known to be buried here according to his grandchildren
BIRTH  1868
DEATH 1894 (aged 25–26)
Find a Grave Memorial 196357596
 
Billy Vineyard   A Baby
BIRTH  unknown
DEATH unknown
Find a Grave Memorial 196357368 
 
Mrs Wright
BIRTH  unknown
DEATH unknown
BURIAL
Ira Quillin Cemetery
Find a Grave Memorial 196357317

My Sister's 4th Birthday

 1954

This is my older sister, Paula Fae Quillin Ford. She is pictured here with another wonderful cake made by our grandmother, Ava Ella Jones. 

My sister was 6 years older than me, and she watched over me pretty well back then. I think she has always had that protective older sibling feeling towards me. 

1957

Looks like we all needed a nap!

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.