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Family History

Introduction

This page started Monday (9/18/2006) as a result of James' request for information on his Great-Great Uncle Edward Moreland, whose working years were spent in the Boston area.  In the ensuing 24 hours, its scope expanded into a broader effort covering family history and we've refined its objectives.

We're a bit surprised at this flurry of activity on documenting family history.  It has been on our to-do list for quite some time, but was continually pushed back by other seemingly more important activities.  We're pleased that it has moved up in priority.  If we don't do it, we run the risk of losing details and documentation that may some day be important to you.

Thanks to John (for putting up with an early "walk down memory lane" during a trip to Knoxville), to James (for expressing an interest in the "Boston Connection"), and to Gretchen and Julie (for putting the effort in the context of a gift to each of you).  And also to Christy, whose questions several years ago about family background spurred some introspection about the impact of family on our lives.  Their interest helped us recognize that we need to give the effort priority.

We have a trove of materials from which to draw.  Previous generations have done their part to provide charts, notes, and privately published books detailing family history.  In particular, Dad's father Pharoah Cobb, assisted in his later years by Jere Mitchum, did a good job of documenting his history and melding it with other personal and family materials available to him.

Previous generations did not, however, have the technology to capture and easily disseminate the information they recorded.  Much of the material resides in widely spread storage boxes and file cabinets.  Some of it is quite presentable, and some has been either privately or commercially published.  We have a unique opportunity to begin the process of assembling a digital record of our heritage.  It will be a process, and not an event.

Scope and Objectives

We have no hope of capturing all available materials in one place.  What we do foresee is documenting unique aspects of our family history, and melding our efforts with the efforts of others who are concurrently working on similar processes for their branches of the broader "family".

By family, we think we mean starting with us (Mom and me) and looking backward to our families of origin:  Cobb, Card, Jutras, LaPierre.  We'll leave documenting the Baker, Garrison, Wallace, and Dhuyvetter  histories to others.

By unique aspects, we think we mean looking at the day to day trivia -- work and otherwise -- that makes us interesting people.  Many people going into this seem to address it from the perspective of pure genealogy.  For example, a quick review of the internet shows many sources for Cobb genealogy.  We cannot add value here, and have little interest in doing so.  What we can do is to flesh out who we and our progenitors are so that when your great great grandchildren ask "who is that person", their parents have a resource for learning interesting things about the subject's life.

By history, we think we mean a focus on four generations, with opportunistic forays as opportunities arise and the mood strikes us.  That means us, our parents, our grandparents, and our great grandparents.

The histories will use formal names.  This is not a sign of disrespect, but a recognition that doing so will make it easier for non-family readers and will foster long-term maintainability.

You can help.  Keep us informed of materials you encounter.  Forward documents, internet addresses, and ideas that might hurry the project along.  Encouragement is always appreciated.

Returning to James' question, Edward Moreland was part of the Margaret Cobb's side of the family, so our current focus is there.

After this is completed, we expect that emphasis will shift toward P. L. Cobb's side of the family, followed by the Jutras and LaPierre sides.

Let us know if you have preferences as to how we proceed.

Here are short-cuts if you want to skip around:

Sidney Turner Moreland (1852 - 1932)

Sidney was born in Americus GA in 1852. 

He graduated from Washington & Lee University in 1874 (BA, BS, & CE) and 1876 (MA).  After graduation, he taught at McDonogh School, a private school in Baltimore, for four years (1876 - 1880) and was the McCormick Professor of Natural Philosophy (Physics) at Washington and Lee University for 18 years (1880 - 1898).  During his last two years at Washington & Lee Sidney was also Dean of the Faculty and Acting President of the University.

He married Sally Preston Leyburn in 1882.  Four of their five children: Elizabeth, Edward, Margaret, and Katherine were born while Sidney was at Washington & Lee.

He left Washington & Lee in 1898 to become Principal of the McDonogh School.  Sally the fifth child, was born in 1900 at McDonogh School; she died six months later.

The picture of the four children was taken in 1906 beside the Chapel at McDonogh.  Elizabeth was 23, Edward 21, Margaret 14, and Katherine 10.

Sidney was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree in 1907 by his alma mater, Washington & Lee University.

Margaret died in 1912.  She was 20.

Sidney left McDonogh in 1914 to become Professor of Physics and Dean of the Pre-Medical College at the University of Tennessee.

He retired from UT in 1926.  At his retirement he became Professor Emeritus.

Sidney and Sally lived in a large house on Yale Avenue in Knoxville, on the edge of the UT campus.  The campus was smaller then, and was a small community within the larger city of Knoxville.  A nice place to live.  A number of their faculty friends lived close by, providing many social opportunities.  The house burned in the 1920's(?); it wasn't completely destroyed and was rebuilt.  They lived there until their deaths in 1932 and 1939 respectively.  The Yale Avenue house is no longer there, and today the lot is part of the University grounds.

Elizabeth Fletcher Moreland (1883 - 1967)

Elizabeth (better known as Buff) was Sidney & Sally Moreland's first child.  She was born in Lexington VA in 1883.

Elizabeth never married.

After she graduated from Goucher College, she traveled with the Goucher family.  (John Goucher founded the Baltimore women's school that later became Goucher College -- something we didn't know until we started this trek).  The Gouchers were involved in missionary work, and spent a good bit of time in China spreading the Word by establishing schools and churches. 

Many of the brass ornaments in Margaret Cobb's house were brought back from China by Elizabeth.  China in the early 1900's must've been an experience.

She eventually returned to Knoxville & worked as the Extension Librarian for the University of Tennessee.

While at the University, she lived in a house on 17th Street with Phoebe Parks.  It was around the corner from Sidney & Sally's Yale Avenue house.    I suspect from the room design and Elizabeth's age that the picture was taken in the 17th Street house.

When she retired, she moved into an apartment in West Knoxville close to her sister and brother-in-law, Katherine and John Card.

The world is small.  Bill visited in Elizabeth's 17th street home frequently when he was young.  He joined Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity in 1960 and his fraternity house was across the street from Elizabeth and Phoebe's house (it was the ZBT fraternity house in 1960) and around the corner from Sidney & Sally's Yale Avenue house site.

Elizabeth was very active in her church (Presbyterian), and held weekly Bible study groups in her home until late in her life. 

She died in the Fall of 1967, shortly after Bill entered the Army.

Edward Leyburn Moreland (1885 - 1952?)

Edward was Sidney & Sally's second child.  He was born in 1885 in Lexington VA.

Edward married Francina Campbell in 1913; they had no children.

Edward and Francina lived in Wellesley MA; they also had a cottage on the Cape in Falmouth.

The summer Katherine Cobb was born, Katherine Card took Bill by train to visit Edward and Francina.  Bill has good memories of the trip, including:

Excerpts from comments in an internal MIT publication about his retirement give a good overview of his education background and professional career.

His resume, based on what we dug up on the web, includes:

Katherine Moreland Card (1896 - 1976)

Katherine (known as Mema) was Sidney & Sally Moreland's fourth child.

She was born in Lexington VA in 1896 (while Sidney was at Washington & Lee), moved to Baltimore when she was 2 and grew up there.  She attended McDonogh School, where Dad Sidney was Principal.

She moved to Knoxville with her family when her Dad joined the University of Tennessee (she would have been 18), and attended UT.  She was a member of Chi Omega sorority.

She and John Wesley Card met at UT; they were engaged during her Junior year at UT and married in Knoxville in 1918.  Her Uncle, Dr. Edward R. Leyburn, performed the wedding.

She and John had one child, Margaret, born in 1919.

To our knowledge Katherine never worked outside the house, and concentrated on providing a stable home environment for John, Margaret, and whatever grandchildren were around.

Katherine was the most loving grandmother known to mankind.  Margaret & son Bill lived with Katherine & John while P. L. was overseas during World War II.  Bill would've been one year old when they moved there and three when they left.  Margaret worked, so Katherine took care of Bill.  Bill doesn't remember a cross word from her -- only good examples and lots of love.

Bill still smiles when he thinks of her and John.

Katherine died in 1976 in Knoxville TN.

John Wesley Card (1893 - 1979)

John was born in Dayton TN in 1893, grew up in the coal fields of Tennessee and Kentucky, studied Electrical Engineering at UT, co-oped at Alcoa to pay for college.  At UT, he was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity.

John joined the U. S. Army in 1917 as a Regular Officer shortly before completing studies toward his degree, and shipped out to Europe.

He was returning to the United States from Germany on the USS President Lincoln in May of 1918 when it was struck by three torpedoes from the German submarine U-90.  He documented his recollections of the event; we'll add them later.  Others' stories of the ship's sinking can be found in the ship's web site.

John and Katherine, who met before John joined the Army, married on June 29, 1918, shortly after John's adventure on the USS President Lincoln.

Margaret was born in 1919.

After the war, John was assigned to the Army of occupation in Germany and moved Wife Katherine and daughter Margaret to Germany.  They were there for 18 months.  Margaret learned to speak both German and English when she learned to talk.  Katherine didn't learn to speak German, so Margaret was the household translator.

The picture of John & Margaret was taken on Christmas, 1921 at Camp Sherman in Chillicothe, Ohio.  Katherine's note on the back of the picture reads "Last stretch in Army".

John resigned his commission in 1922, returned to Knoxville, & went to work for Brookside Mills in their Knoxville plant.  The plant manufactured corduroy fabric in the 70's; we don't know what fabrics it manufactured while John was there.

He became Superintendent of the plant sometime in the 30's.  He and Katherine built a house in Holston Hills in 1936 or 1937, and moved into it from Sidney & Sally's house.  Margaret would have been in her mid-teens when they moved.  The house still stands; its site and view are beautiful as ever.  John Cobb & Bill drove by it in 2004(?), stirring a lot of good memories.

Katherine and John celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in 1943 at the Holston Hills home.  Bill attended.  He was one year old and staying with Katherine and John while Margaret was in New Orleans with P. L., who was preparing to ship out to Europe and World War II.  The situation must have rekindled Katherine and John's memories of their similar situation 25 years before.

Brookside Mills, which had been family owned, changed ownership in the late 40's.  John didn't feel that the new owners shared his concern for the welfare of the employees, and after a few unsuccessful attempts to change them decided to change careers. 

He spent a year or so casting about for a new career, and decided to become a home builder.  He worked with an established builder for a year or two, then struck out on his own.  He was a low volume builder, building 10 - 12 small, good quality, ranch-type homes each year.  He built first in Holston Hills, then in West Hills. 

John was an ardent baseball fan.  Home building usually slowed down in the winter, which allowed him to visit Florida for a month or so each year during spring training.  The trip also gave him a chance to visit his step-mother Sara Card Thomas, whom Dad Card married after John's mother passed away.  Sara remarried after Dad Card passed away in 1924, but John continued his relationship with her for the rest of his life.

He retired from homebuilding when he was 75, in 1968.

Katherine and John celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1968 at their Sequoia Hills home in Knoxville.  Bill also attended that celebration; this time he was the one in the military, and was accompanied by his six month old son John Cobb and wife Lynda Cobb.

John died on April 19th, 1979 in Knoxville TN.

Margaret Card Cobb (1919 - 2004)

Margaret was born in 1919 in Knoxville TN and died in March, 2004 in Sarasota FL.

When Margaret was born, Katherine and John were living with Sidney and Sally in a large house on Yale Avenue in Knoxville, close to the UT campus.  The house burned when Margaret was a child; the fire was a memorable evening in Margaret's life.  Living in a house with three generations was also memorable.

The Yale Avenue house was a half-mile or so from the railroad tracks; Margaret told stories about hobos appearing at the back door looking for handouts during the depression.  She also had positive memories of the mutual support among families and neighbors fostered by the depression.

She attended UT for 2 years and was a member of Chi Omega sorority.  She transferred to Wellesley after her sophomore year and finished her education there.

More later ...