Return to the John A. Via Cemetery

On October 18, 2010, after leaving the Allen farm, we went back to the John A. Via cemetery in search of the remains of the home which we'd heard were nearby.

We parked the car at the same gate and climbed over. It was much less muddy this time, which made things easier! We walked immediately up to the cemetery and went through the gate. We found that the cemetery had been worked on recently. The Virginia Via reunion is held Columbus Day weekend and one of the reunion activities is to clean up Via family cemeteries, including this one. The John A. Via stone had been repaired and some brush had been cut back. The sign by the gate had been taken down for repairs but was due to be replaced soon.

After exploring the cemetery we moved up road behind it, just to see where it went. We had some information that described approximately where the house was, but wanted to explore all we could. Up this road we found bones of cattle and an old dozer. It seems that the dead cattle were carried up here to be butchered, but we're not sure. The road continued up the hill but we didn't follow it all the way. I believe it goes to the top of the mountain.


We returned to the cemetery and then set off to the west across the open pastures. We headed straight towards the western corner of the fields, where we had seen something that could have been the remains of a house on Google Earth. This along with our other information from Via family researchers turned out to be correct and we came across the remains of the home without having to really search at all.


The first thing that stands out is the old metal roof that covers much of the remains of the house. The wooden boards have fallen into the cellar and at a glance appear jumbled randomly. If you look closely though you can make out what was once the floor and the walls and you start to see how the house was situated.


We began to explore around the house and noticed that the nails were made by hand. This is a sure sign that this was a very old house. We also discovered some non-native plants, probably planted by the Vias growing around the house. There were also old bottles, and pieces of ceramic (see above). I'm not sure how old these might have been.



There is still a lot we don't know about the house. When was it built? When was it abandoned? When did it collapse? We were told by one source that there used to be a small village in the area, but that everyone moved out during the depression.

Enlarge the map below to see the relative locations of the cemetery and house.



This calf kept following Grandma! We had to shoo it away. Perhaps it was her red sweater tied around her waist. Check out its shifty eyes!

Visiting the John Allen family farm

On October 18, we had the opportunity to visit, and walk the grounds of the John William Allen family farm in Greene County. We were greeted by Tom Allen and his son Brad. Tom is the son of John Arthur Allen who in turn was the son of John William Allen. They showed us where the old house used to be. It stood directly behind the modern home at the front of the parcel, now occupied by Shelvia Jean Allen. All that is left is the well. The well once was part of the back porch. The picture to the right shows a couple of views of the house. The top photo shows construction of the modern house taking place directly in front of the old. Tom also mentioned that he was in possession of the still once owned by his grandfather. The still's top was removed when prohibition was enacted and from then on used to make apple butter. Hilda Allen recounted some memories of the old house. She particularly remembers the smells associated with visiting her grandparents. She recalled the smells of bread that Mary Maiden Allen would bake, and also of coffee, which Mary apparently drank frequently.



After Tom and Brad had to leave, we went down the hill below the farm and looked around the area where Allen family reunions were once held. The area has overgrown some, but the spring house is still visible. In the past, during reunions, tables were set up here where everyone sat and enjoyed a large meal. As a child, I remember playing in the creek and seeing the watermelons floating in the spring house to keep cool. We also saw a large pile of stones across the stream. It looks to be a particularly large example of a stone pile made from the clearing of a field. We do not know when this was done or who did it.

From the bottom of the hill we could look up at the old barn. We weren't sure exactly when it was built, but we are sure it was there during John William Allen's time. In viewing the barn from below we saw that this was near the spot where a photo was taken of my great grandfather Russell Allen with his brother George. See the photos below.








We wandered back across the land to another old building that has no doubt been around since the time of John Allen. Hilda Allen remembered this being where the sheep were kept. It is a very interesting building, looking almost like a home. It sits at the southern end of the property. Just north of this building was the spot where softball games were held during the reunions.

We next headed across the property to check out a small cemetery that Tom Allen had mentioned to us. This sits is to the east of the barn on land now owned by Stephanie Allen Deal. The deeds to the property describe the land as the old Martin Collier home place and mention a Collier family burial ground (see older blog posts) and we believe the two small field stones we found may indeed mark this Collier burial ground. Enlarge the photo below to see the two field stones. It is possible these mark the graves of the aforesaid Martin Collier and his wife.

All in all we had a great time exploring the John William Allen family farm and we hope to do it again soon. It is in a beautiful setting with views towards Shenandoah National Park, Bacon Hollow and Powell Gap. It is quite possible that John William and Mary Maiden Allen brought their family from Rockingham to this new farm in 1901 by passing over Powell Gap and through Bacon Hollow. The farm house would have faced almost directly towards the spot that Johnnie Shiflett grew up with his mother Frances, almost as if it was looking back to the past, just as we had been doing on that day.



The Google Map below shows the barn (left) and modern house (right). Just south of the modern home is the site of the original John William Allen house.


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