Adventures in the Woods

On Sunday, April 18, 2010, a group of us drove up to Shenandoah National Park to explore the land that once belonged to Francis Shiflett (our great, great, great grandmother) and her son John William Allen. We parked at Smith Roach Gap and hit the Appalachian Trail looking for an old wagon road. Unfortunately we found no sign of it! So it was on the plan B, head down another wagon road just a short distance back up the Skyline Drive.

This road was obvious and relatively easy to follow. A short distance down the switchback road, we came to a rock wall. Just above this wall were what is left of the Smith Roach family cemetery. It is now overgrown, but some fence posts remain standing with rusted barbed wire running along the ground. At first we saw no headstones but we soon realized the cemetery was much larger than we though and we started to see many stones. Most of the stones were simple markers with no inscriptions, but a few were inscribed and some graves were only known by a depression in the ground. It was interested to note the writing on the stones (click on the image to the left to view it full sized and examine the writing). Like many people of the time, including Francis Shiflett who was listed as being unable to read or write on the census, their writing (and spelling) skills were minimal.

It is very likely that Frances and John knew the Roach family. Smith Roach's grandmother was a Shiflett so it's quite possible that we are related to those buried in the cemetery we passed, albeit distantly.

We moved on out of the cemetery and headed further downhill, still not on the old family land. We could see the land dropping off to our left (west) to a stream that we were confident is the branch mentioned in the deed records. We passed some large rock outcropping and then, after crashing through some thick brush, we found ourselves at a rock wall along the stream where the road curves to parallel the water. We decided to have a snack/lunch here. It crossed my mind that it was quite possible that John Allen had passes this very rock wall at some point. Maybe this was even the road he took when he moved his family back east of the mountains into Greene County?

After refueling, we continued down the road trace, past another long rock wall. The stream had picked up some smaller branches and its flow was greater here. There were a couple of small waterfalls and large boulders below. We found a promising place to cross and we were finally on the land!

This part of the land along the stream (see image at left) was covered in rocks. Looking around, it was obvious that there would be no home site down here. We knew from our maps that another road crossed east to west across the land. After scrambling up away from the stream we found ourselves on this old road. It was more narrow than the one we descended with many more obstacles to overcome.

We continued up this "road" hoping to find a piece of land that looked like it could be the location of a home. There was no flat ground to be found anywhere! Russ and I explored away from the road, towards a cluster of evergreens that looked like it might have some flatter ground, but it was an illusion. We saw what looked like a road heading to the west, but quickly found that the road vanished and it went by what looked like a wildcat den, complete with deer carcasses! We continued uphill, climbing Bush Mountain, and the road's condition deteriorated. Shortly after another stone wall, we were unable to follow it further. This stone wall was likely getting very close to the western edge of the property. It was probably a feature familiar to Francis and John.

We decided to take a direct course back to the car at Smith Roach Gap, and not try to follow the roads anymore since it was already getting late in the afternoon. There were thorns and brush everywhere but we stuck to a steady course around Roundtop Mountain. We found the going easier after a few hundred yards and make better time until we approached the gap, where the thorns and brush returned. The last 100 yards might have been the toughest of all, but soon we were standing on the Appalachian Trail, right where we'd looked for the old road trace we'd wanted to follow earlier in the day!

We picked off our ticks and got back in the car, then continued to pick off more ticks. Those who had not brought a full lunch ate it now. We stopped at the Sandy Bottom Overlook and looked back on where we'd walked. It was a beautiful afternoon and a great view.

Grandma had promised her 2nd cousin H.L. Maiden that we'd stop by, so, since we were already late, we decided to be a little later and go by his home in Elkton. We were graciously welcomed and he and his wife Mildred provided us with food, drink and hospitality. H. L. then took us to the Maiden Family Cemetery, back inside the national park boundaries, just off of Beldor Road and Route 33.

We followed the gravel road to the cemetery and H. L. pointed out where the old home place used to stand until John Luther Maiden was removed from the land in 1937. He told us the foundations were once visible but he hasn't explored the woods in a long time. We'd like to go back and do that ourselves sometime. The cemetery itself is in a beautiful setting. There were violets blooming everywhere. There were also some very large trees scattered about, including two huge boxwoods.

We quickly found the grave of Frances Shiflett. It sits near the middle of the cemetery, but with no other marked graves very close. The stone reads:

Francis A Shiflett
Died Oct 25 1898
In her 76th year
Gone but not forgotten

We then noticed that her grave rests beneath a rather old locust tree. In the deed where John William Allen sold the logging rights to his land, he specified that the locust trees around the spring near the dwelling were not to be touched. Could it be that these were his mother's favorites? Could this tree have been planted there when she died? Or is it just a coincidence? There is another, much larger and older locust tree a short distance away. The one by her grave could just be a seedling of this older one. We will probably never know, but it's fun to speculate.

We explored more of the cemetery and found several graves of ancestors including John Tyler Maiden and his wife Ann Davis and many of their children (Mary Maiden Allen's siblings). John Tyler Maiden's father William Maiden and his wife Sarah Gardner are buried there as well. It is said that William Maiden donated the land for the cemetery and his stone is among the oldest there.

The sun was starting to set over the Shenandoah Valley so we decided we had all better get home. We are all looking forward to being out there again very soon. Who knows? Maybe we'll find Francis Shiflett's old home?

The Google Maps image below shows the location of Frances Shiflett's parcel (shaded in blue) and the approximate route that we walked (yellow lines).