Treasure Chest Thursday - Martha and Her Family

This is a photograph of a portrai. The photograph was taken through the glass of the original frame to the portrait, and as such, isn't the best quality. I had seen copies of this photo before, all were extremely dark, and you couldn't see the facial features, mostly just the outline of the individuals. But I put the photo into GIMP and was able to lighten it considerably. [Much more and the light reflected in the glass begins to take on a mind of its own and whites out the entire portrait!]. So I was quite pleased with this final result!

So... just who are these individuals?

The man seated is Joseph Preston McCormack. And the woman is his wife, Martha Caroline Bean McCormack.

The young lady standing in the back is Martha's daughter from her first marriage, to Thomas Steele. And the younger children are with Joseph.

Martha was the youngest child of William Bean [1792-1864] and his wife Rachel Wiseman Bean  [1790-1856]. Martha was born in Monroe County in 1836 and died there in 1893. She was 57 years of age.

Martha was my great-grandfather's sister.

Martha and her husband are buried at the southeast corner of New Zion Union Church in Waiteville, Monroe County, West Virginia.

I am thrilled to finally have a face to put with Martha. Perhaps giving me a glimpse as to what her mother might have looked like.

Tombstone Tuesday... Martha Caroline Bean McCormick

Martha C. McCormack

Jan 6, 1836

June 3, 1893

Martha Caroline Bean was born January 6, 1836 as the youngest child of William Bean and Rachel Wiseman Bean.

She married Joseph Preston McCormick [aka: McCormack] [1842-1915] on 08 Jan 1867 in Gap Mills, Monroe County, WV.

The couple went on to have four children:

Leonidas Wellington [Bud]  [1867-1944]

Lucy Nannie Florence [d. 1932]

Annie [1872-1934]

Joseph P. [b. 1870]

It is unknown the cause of Martha's death.

She is buried at the southeast corner of the New Zion Union Church in Waiteville, Monroe County, WV.

Upon his death in 1915, Joseph was buried at her side. The couple share this same stone. Her name facing the southeast and his the northeast.

Tombstone Tuesday......James P. McCormack

JAMES P.

SON OF

J.P. & R.A.

McCORMACK

MARCH 4, 1909

JANY. 12, 1910

Another little angel stone.

James P. McCormack was the son of Joseph Preston McCormack and Roena Ann Porterfield.

At first glance, one would wonder why this little lost boy is even in my genealogical tree. But bear with me.

Roena Ann Porterfield was married four times in her lifetime. The first time to my grand uncle, William Ballard Preston Beane, or my grandfather's brother [1859-1893]. "Uncle Billy", as I have always known him, died at a young age due to bleeding ulcers. Grandpa said he always had to drink milk and buttermilk to get any relief from the "terrible suffering he endured". Uncle Billy and Roena had five children together.

After Unlce Billy died, Aunt Roena married second, Joseph Preston McCormack [1842-1915].  It was Joseph's second marriage as well. He was a widower. His first marriage had been to Uncle Billy's aunt, [my great-grand-aunt], Martha Caroline Bean [1836-1893]. Aunt Martha Caroline was buried at the corner of the church in Waiteville when she passed. And when Joseph died, Aunt Roena made sure to bury him right beside her. When the church was added onto [about 1916 or 1917], the new addition is almost to their grave! There is about a 2 feet distance between the church's corner and their joint stone.

Aunt Roena and Joseph had 4 children together. The youngest one being James P.

So, while neither Joseph McCormack or Roena Porterfield are by blood related, they are both "uncle" and "aunt" through marriage. And while Joseph and Roena's four children are really of no relation to the Bean's... they have always been called "cousins". [No other way to put it, than my family history is terribly convoluted! I really must put it all down in a legible form one day, so that others can untangle the web that is formed by a genealogical software when saving this information!]

Aunt Roena went on to marry [third] after Joseph died to Samuel Lewis Bruffey [1858-1926], which ties the Bruffey's [of Methodism] to our tree.

When Sam Bruffey died, Roena then married Calvin Aliff [1856-1941].

Both third and fourth marriages remained childless.

Aunt Roena died in 1956. She is buried at the side of Uncle Billy at New Zion Union Church Cemetery, just a short distance from Aunt Martha Caroline and Joseph P. McCormack [her seond husband], and a short distance from her little angel son, James P.

Tombstone Tuesday - December 15, 2009

Joseph Preston McCormack

20 Jun 1842 - 19 Mar 1915

Joseph McCormack was born in Monroe County, in what is now West Virginia in 1842 to parents [as of yet, Unknown].

He married Martha Caroline Bean [1836-1893], the daughter of William and Rachel [Wiseman] Bean, in Monroe County on 08 Jan. 1867 in Gap Mills. To them were born at least 3 children [and possibly a fourth]: Leonidas Wellington "Bud" [1867-1944]; Joseph P. [b. 1870]; Annie [1872-1934].

After Martha died in 1893, Joseph married Roena Porterfield [1865-1956] on 28 Oct. 1896 in Monroe County. And to Joseph and Roena were born five children: Arbana Elizabeth [1897-1976]; Norah March [Unk]; Edwin Powell 1902-1905]; Mary Perilee [b.1905]; and James P. [1909-1910].

The descendants of the latter children of Joseph McCormack's have been frequently noted to state that they are descended from the Bean's, when in reality, none are. In the confusion of the children of the first marriage calling the Bean's "aunt's" and "uncles", etc. the younger children assumed they were thus related, but in fact were not. Although there are those to this day that will say, "I know I'm related to you....I just don't know how!"

When Joseph died in 1915, Roena buried in the New Zion Union Church Cemetery at Waiteville, beside his first wife, Martha. The couple share this obelisk stone, which sits at the southeast corner of the church itself. After new additions were made to the church in the 1930's or 1940's, the church's new foundation is within 4 feet of the graves, so they have the distinction of being the persons buried closest to the church. As most of the church cemetery is also on the hillside, this is one of the few graves that sits on the level.

Incidentally, Roena Porterfield was married four times in her lifetime. Joseph was actually her second husband. Her first was to William "Billy"Ballad Preston Bean [1859-1893]. He was the nephew of Martha Caroline Bean, Joseph's first wife. After Joseph's death she married Samuel Lewis Bruffey [1858-1926] in 1917; and lastly Calvin Aliff [1856-1941] in 1933. When she died in 1956, she was laid to rest beside her first husband, William "Billy" Bean, within 30 feet of her second, Joseph McCormack.