Date: Mon, 24 Jul 1995 21:30:04 -0400
From: toadvine@shore.intercom.net (Mel Toadvine)
Subject: Re: Toadvine Family

Robert: I got a letter from Robert Wentzel from California tonight who saw
my link on your page. I am incuding the letter I sent to him here for your
interest. 
Mel Toadvine


From: toadvine@shore.intercom.net (Mel Toadvine)
Subject: Re: Toadvine Family

I am 54 years old and have been interested in family history for 30 years
now. I actually did more research and study when I was in my 20s and early
30s when my wife and I would take treks to old courthouses and old
graveyards. I carried a camera, a tape recorder and a notebook. It was quite
a surprise to actually find a tombstone of someone you had been searching
for for years. I am sure you know the feeling. As my career demanded more
from me, I gave up my work on the family history. I think I was satisfied
inasmuch as I had traced my ancestry back through my father to the first
Toadvine who landed here. I wanted to know as much about each as I could
find so it was important to me to look up wills and inventories in addition
to census figures. Inventories told me a lot about my ancestors. I was able
to establish for myself knowledge of their lifestyles and their financial worth.

Along the way I found some very interesting stories, some my kin received
through word of mouth that they did not want me ever to publish. I made so
such promises. I have amassed a lot of material, much of it was gathered
before me by Nellie Toadvine Wimbrow, the aforementioned cousin. She was
actually of my father's generation. Like him, she is dead. If she were alive
today, she would probably be in her 90s or even near 100. When I was young
and first started out looking for information on the Toadvine family, she
paid me little attention, thinking I was too young to care. I found out much
on my own and some of it had already been discovered by her when I finally
received her notes later in life. When she died, she left her research to a
first cousin, Emma Holloway VanAuken, whose mother was a Toadvine. Emma,
also an elderly woman, did nothing with the records until a month before she
died which was probably 15 years ago when she summoned me one day to her
house and gave me the papers and said they belonged to me that I had done as
much work as anyone. Not having time to assemble the information and since
we had no comptuers then, the work sat in my attic until about two years ago
when I lent it to a cousin I found in California who has sense moved back
here to her "roots," where she is now trying to put the stuff on the
computer. I am more interested probably in the past than I am in now and the
present. So I am not really interested anymore about who the present
generations are. I guess that it means little to me. I have found that many
people related to the Toadvines have contacted me because of a booklet I
personally published 20 years ago and has found it way across the country. I
got a call one night from a chap in Oregon who said his grandmother was a
Toadvine and wondered if I could help him discover his roots. I told him
what I knew. He was related to the family you referred to in your email, the
Kentucky Line, I call them.

I discovered that Nicholas Toadvine did indeed emigrate to the colonies in
1675. On board the ship was a young woman named Sarah Lowry who he married
when they arrived in Maryland in old Somerset County. I don't believe
Nicholas' last name was spelled any way like it is today. It is an
Americanized version of either Tostevin or Taudenvin of French origin. I
prefer the first, Tostevin, because I wrote back and forth for some time to
a retired teacher back in the 1960s who lived on Guernsey Island. She has
since died. She worked with me to try to determine the name of Nicholas'
father. She found what she believed were records in one of the parishes on
Guernsey Island and located the grave of Covin Tostevin, who she believed to
be the father of Nicholas. That was as far back as I have been able to go. I
never visited Guernsey Island and have not tried to correspond with anyone
there for all these years. In her letters she seemed truthful about what she
had found out so I have to accept it as that.

Nicholas was not educated. I do not think he ever learned to read and write
as his will was signed with an "x" in later years. It is my conjecture that
when he applied for a marriage license, he pronounced his name and the clerk
of the court of Somerset County spelled it the way it sounded to him.
Thusly, everyone including me has been called Toad and Frog ever since. I
pronounce the tame Toad Vine, like frog and grape. My wife says I am wrong
that it is Toad Vin and that is how she pronounces the name and even dares
to spell it in her business. That should really confuse future historians,
don't you think? 

Nicholas had several children (about 10 I believe - my records are not here
presently). I traced my family from a son named Henry. There were two other
Henrys in the family that I named Henry II and Henry III although on the
court and church records they were simply "Henry." 

There are only a few Toadvines left in this area although many others are
related to the Toadvines but they are not aware of it unless they are
interested in genealogy. I guess all told, there are about six males left
with that last name. I and my two brothers count for three of the six. It's
regarded as a historically important name here inasmuch as the first mayor
of the city was named Augustus or Gus Toadvine. No there are no monuments to
his memory. Ha Ha. I did find the poor man's grave out in the country
several years ago. It was all grown over with thicket. I think an uncle has
since tried to preserve it and one of the local historians has written about
the Toadvines for me at the newspaper which I have published.

One of the ancestors was E. Stanley Toadvine who served as a state senator
from this area in the mid 1800s. Another ancestor was Pvt. William Toadvine
who fought at Valley Forge. His name has been memoralized along with many
others in the tablets area by the Daughters of the American Revolution. I
suppose Toadvines have fought in every major war from the American
Revolution to the Vietnam War.

There is a Toadvine on the Vietnam Wall in Washington, D.C. Believe it or
not, several years ago when the wall was first new, it was featured on CBS
News and Walter Cronkite was announcing something about the wall and the
camera zoomed in on a cluster of names for a split second. I could not
believe it but I saw the name of Toadvine. Of all the 58,000 names they
could have zoomed in on, it was Toadvine and others. Soon after that I drove
to Washington, D.C. with my daughter and we found the young soldier's name
on the Wall. I photographed it. He is also from the same Toadvine line as
you referred to, the Kentucky and Ohio line.

My brother fought in Vietnam and nearly lost his life. I was a desk editor
then and it was my job to edit all the stories from Vietnam. It was an eerie
job to look at the names of the casualities during those troubled years. An
uncle fought in the Korean War and a great uncle fought in World War I. An
ancestor named John Toadvine fought in the Civil War. While in prison, he
met a fellow soldier who became very fond of him for defending him while in
prison against a bully. The man was from Alabama and he promised John
Toadvine than when the war was over he was going to name a town for him. The
guy apparently knew how to do that (I would not have the slightest idea how
to name a town for someone today) and when he got home, he created the
little hamlet or town of Toadvine, Alabama, near Birmingham. It is nothing
but a crossroads today. I have photos of the town marker and I have an
envelope postmarked 1870 from the Toadvine Postoffice. I got these things
simply by writing and asking and writing and asking many years ago when I
was young and had the time to be persistent. There is even a book that was
published called Toadvine in its Heyday. It is a history of the town and the
story I just related to you is in there. Someone was even kind enough in
those years to send me a copy of the book. My cousin Nellie Toadvine
Wimbrow, who would not give me any time, was jealous when I told her I had a
copy of the book.

But back to what you wrote me about -- Nellie Toadvine Wimbrow did document
much of the early history of the Toadvine family in Kentucky. Like I said,
it is in the Fooks Family book. You may find it in the genealogy sections of
your library if you are indeed lucky. Nellie told me before she died that it
was sent to many large libaries across the country. She went to Kentucky to
collect her work and talked to many descendants who were alive in the 1950s.
I am sure most of them are dead today.

The connection to Fooks is that Purnell Toadvine married Zepporah Fooks,
according to Nellie's research. Nellie did the genealogy from Purnell and
Zeppporah down to the 1950s. Although she missed some, you would be
surprised of the hundreds and hundreds of names she was able to locate and
apparently document. I do not find a William Toadvine as a contemporary of
Purnell. More later on that at the end of my  letter. Although the names are
there, I find it boring as there is no other information about the people,
just names and names and names. You can trace back to Purnell and Zepporah
if you learn how to use the book. The Toadvine part starts on page 87. On
page 88 in the first paragraph it reads in part: ".... Benjamin Fooks'
daughter Zepporah was born 1789 and married Feb. 21, 1811 to Purnell
Toadvine. Purnell Toadvine and wife, Zepporah gave deed for their property
March 7, 1811, less than a month after their marriage. Benjamin Fooks and
wife, Hannah evidently were the first to decide to go to Kentucky as they
sold one property March 12, 1808, and the other April 11, 1809. Apparently
Toadvine and Zepporah Fooks decided to marry, sell property and go along.

The first deed for Benjamin Fooks and Purnell Toadvine in Court House,
Cynthiana, Kentucky, was recorded in 1814 and Benjamin Fooks' wife was
mention as Hannah in the deed. The date of Purnell Toadvine's marriage to
Zepporah Fooks was recorded in marriage bonds in Snow Hilll, Md., as
2-21-1811 and this same date was recorded in family history marrige date for
Purnell and Zepporah Toadvine in Cynthiana, Ky. (By Mrs. David H. Wimbrow --
Nellie Toadvine Wimbrow) of Salisbury, Md."

Then the following appeared: (I have eliminated the numerical references)
Zepporah Fooks m. Purnell Toadvine. Ch: Eleanor, (Nellie), b. 1813; Mary
Ellen, b. 1814. d 1-26-1896; James Harvey m. Eades, 1 ch; William Henry, b.
12-22-1819 d 1-18-1901; Joanna; Sallie m. William holly; Martha Toadvine m.
Jacob Debrular; John Fletcher, b 2-16-1823 d. 2-7-1908; Harriet, d. at age
19; Louisa, b 11-10-1825 d. 1-28-1903; Hiram Purnell, d 1902; MacKendria, b
1-20-1830 d. 1-31-1904."

You mentioned a William Toadvine as a contemporary of William Toadvine. The
name of William Toadvine appears to be a son of Purnell and Zepporah. There
is also mention of a grandson later on to William Thomas Toadvine, son of
William Henry. It is clear in my mind that Purnell Toadvine was the only
Toadvine that emigrated from here to Kentucky. No brothers or cousins went
along as far as I have ever determined. Purnell and his wife, and her mother
and father, traveled by covered wagon  to Kentucky where they settled and
rasied a large family. There is a large family reunion there every summer, I
am told, as I have written and corresponded with Toadvines everywhere.

What's fun is to have my secretary escort someone to my office every
summer. I look up and they say, "Hello, are you Mel Toadvine? We are your
distant cousins and we were traveling on vacation and we thought we wouuld
stop...." I have met Toadvines from all over. Many who I meet I am never
able to put into the proper place in the history but I try to give them
enough information from the first Toadvine on down so maybe they can find a
link themseleves if they are interested. I met a guy online two years ago
from Florida who said he had never heard of anyone else named Toadvine as
his father had died when he was young and he had no brothers, uncles or any
other relatives. He was quite stunned when I told him there were indeed
hundreds of us all over the place. I think the most came from the Kentucky line.

I have met another relative who says her mother has a stone that legend
says was brought over here by Nicholas Toadvine 300 years ago. (I'm trying
to get it.)

If you are interested in your records (and it seems you have done a lot of
work), you may want to see if you can find the book to which I referred. It
will only give you hundreds of names from Purnell and Zepporah to about
1953. I am in the book, too, only because I am related to the Fooks family
through my mother's side of the family which is Matthews. Frank Perdue, the
chicken magnate is also in the book as he is also related to the Fooks.
Other names in the book from early settlers here are names like Hastings,
Jones, Hammond, Matthews, Bozman, Coulbourne and many many  others. The book
is quite thick, too with lots of historical information.

I am planning to put up a Toadvine Family page on the World Wide Web just
as soon as I can find time to do so. I think it would be interesting to tell
all that I know from the beginning and just let anyone who wants to connect
to it find it through a Web crawler. I am also knowledgeable about creating
Web pages and have a good friend who has a Web site. I have portions of our
newspaper online and there is a section where my columns are carried along
with a photograph. If you are interested call up URL address of:
http://www.shore.intercom.net/dailytimes/. If that doesn't work for you,
just call us http://www.shore.intercom.net and follow the links to The Daily
Times Online and columns. You will find me and my columns on that home page.
I think I may scan in photos of old graveyards, the signs and photos from
Toadvine, Alabama, the photo of the Vietnam Wall, and old pictures of some
of the Toadvines that I have collected. I never got around to a book so the
Internet will be the next best thing. Just this week, I have had two people
write me like you did inquiring about the Toadvine name. Amazine. I know
Robert Simms has a page on the Web and I told him he could link to me. The
name Toadvine is already in the Web crawlers and others which will link to
my paper. The Times is a medium sized paper with about 100,000 readers.

I am sorry to have written an epistle but I thought you may be interested
especially in the Fooks Family book. Let me know if I can help you any more.
I could inquire with the Wicomico Historical Society if you want me to to
see if they have any more books. They reprinted the book back in the 60s or
70s and who knows, there may be some left around somewhere, but I think it
is unlikely.   

Call me Mel, I am just a kid at heart. Let me hear from you ... Tell me how
old you are and a little about yourself. I don't mind zeroxing copies of the
pages about Toadvine for you if you want. I'll do it down at the office if
you want. I am looking for Matilda Toadvine and can't find it in the early
names. I will study your paper. Thanks for sending this to me.


Your William Toadvine is a real mystery to me. I have no records of another
Toadvine leaving the same time to go to Kentucky. And because Purnell's
children were born between 1813 and 1830, it is indeed a mystery to me. Your
dates make him an adult while the date of William Toadvine here would make
him a minor. What is the reference LDS? Is Harrison County near Cynthiana?
You may be on to something if William was a brother to Purnell. I will have
to get my records and see if Purnell had a brother, William. Wow, this would
be rally new information unknown to me. 
Later, Mel
         

>>Mr. Toadvine:
>>The first Toadvines in Harrison Co. were Purnell, William and Matilda
Toadvine.
>>Harrison Co. marriage records show a William Toadvine was married to
>>Matilda Gardner (LDS has Gardener), 5/29/1817, by Josiah Whiteker. Also,
>>that a William Toadvine was married to Matilda Miles, 7/22/1819, by John
>>Whiteker. A Matilda Toadvine was married to Noah Bose [Boyce], 7?/30/1821
>>(dates penciled in), by J. W. Whiteker. Purnell and William appear to be
>>brothers, but I don't have anything to back that up. One person named
>>William probably married twice; but, again, there isn't any proof of that.
>>LDS has Matilda Toadvine m. Noah Boyce in 1818 and nine children surnamed
>>Boyce born to them from 1819 to 1834. I suspect that these LDS dates are
>>wromg, because they conflict with the county records which I have seen and
>>which are clear. If Matilda did marry in 1821, then she could be William's
>>widow or possibly his sister. An examination of the deed from Jas. Coleman
>>to the heirs of William Toadvine (1821 - 50 A's Curry Run - Book 7, Page
>>423) might provide the answer. Purnell probably married about 1810 to 1813
>>in Maryland since no record of his marriage appears in Harrison County.
>>
>>The Tax Books of Harrison County list Purnell Toadvine from 1814 to 1828
>>and William Toadvine from 1816 to 1819 (1820 is missing; 1829 and later has
>>not been examined). William was taxed three times on 50 acres and once on
>>60 acres of land. Purnell's land acreage was listed over those years as
>>135, 77 1/2, 86 1/2, 275, 287, 300, 278, 246, 250 and 227. It appears
>>William got his 50 acres from Purnell and that Purnell added about 200
>>acres to his land in 1817/1818. Their land was along Curry's Run, which is
>>probably the current Curry Creek, about 8 miles north of Cynthiana.
>>
>>William was not on the 1820 census in Harrison Co. and his heirs conveyed
>>his 50 acres of land in 1821, so he probably died in 1819 or 1820. Purnell
>>is on the 1820 and 1830 census in Harrison Co. and probably died about 1836
>>when his heirs received a deed. The 1820 census appears to show Matilda
>>living with Purnell. There were also 5 girls and 2 boys who were probably
>>either Purnell or William's children. In 1830 there were 3 more boys and 2
>>or 3 more girls who were probably all Purnell's. In 1840 there did not
>>appear to be any new children. Purnell was born about 1780 to 1790 in
>>Maryland. His only apparent wife, Zipphronah (or Zephora; also seen with
>>other spellings) was born in Maryland about 1780 to 1790 according to the
>>1820, 1830 and 1840 censuses. If her 1850 census age of 50 is correct, she
>>would have been born about 1800.
>>
>>Marriage records of Harrison Co. show 7 Toadvine women (Mary, Eleanor,
>>Martha, Johanah, Louisa, Sarah, Zepporah) marrying between 1834 and 1847. 5
>>of these appear with their husbands/families in 1850. Martha may be listed
>>as Mary, but also may have already died, leaving children and a husband who
>>had married again. Zepporah is probably Purnell's widow, but she could also
>>be their daughter, if she married in 1847 and died or moved away before
>>1850. Zipphorah Toadvine, 50 years old on the 1850 census, may have
>>remarried in 1847, had her new husband die before the census and then been
>>listed with her old surname.
>>
>>James K. Toadvine was married to Eliza C. Eads, 6/1/1837, by James Ward.
>>LDS records had their names as James Harvey Toadvine and Eliza Clark Eads,
>>married about 1838. He bought and sold land in 1839, but is not found in
>>Harrison County in the 1850 census. 4 males married between 1843 and 1851,
>>all of whom appear in 1850 and remained in the county. They were William,
>>John Fletcher, Hiram P. and McKendrie Toadvine.
>>
>>In 1850 William was a Saddler and Fletcher, Hiram and McKendrie were Stone
>>Masons. In 1860, 1870, 1880 and 1900 all four were farmers, except that in
>>1880 McKendrie was again a Stone Mason and in 1900 William had no
>>occupation (retired, I guess). All four do not appear on the 1910 census
>>and were probably deceased by that time. Some families moved to Bourbon,
>>Casey & Boyle, Fayette and Nicholas Counties and their descendants lived
>>there and also in Boone, Boyd, Casey, Franklin, Harlan, Jefferson, Kenton
>>and Pendleton Counties.
>>
>>McKendrie Toadvine, born about January 1830, was married to Elvira King,
>>11/18/1851, by James C. Crow. Their children were: Hiram (died young), Mary
>>C., Joanna, Sarah E. (Susan), Cornelia, Lizzie T., Irene (Ida), Gerarld
>>(born about 1876, probably died young) and 2 others (died young).  Elvira
>>and her descendants, probably all through her daughters, are those directly
>>related to my research. There is also a younger MacKendrie Toadvine, born
>>about June 1873, that I have been unable to link into the family, although
>>he is of this family group. This "Mack" Toadvine moved to Casey Co. and
>>then to Boyle Co.
>>
>>I became interested in the Toadvine Family while studying some other
>>families in Harrison County, Kentucky and am now assembling a much more
>>detailed account of these families from the records that I have been able
>>to easily access. These have been the census records (I live near the
>>Laguna Niguel Federal Archives), Harrison County marriage and deed index
>>records, Bourbon County marriage records, Kentucky birth, marriage and
>>death vital statistics (1851-1859), Kentucky death vital statistics (since
>>1911) at the University of Kentucky and a variety of other books I have run
>>into at family history centers or libraries.
>>
>>Do you know into which Maryland Toadvine family the Harrison County
>>Toadvines fit? Do you know of anyone who is a descendant of a James K.
>>Toadvine or one of the four 1850 male Toadvines of Harrison County? Is
>>there any other information about this group that you would like?
>>
>>Robert F. Wentzel
>>1812 River Ford Road
>>Tustin, CA 92680
>>(714) 731-3965
>>email: vhunter@e4e.oac.uci.edu (Valerie Hunter)
>>
>>
>>
>