First Cousins: Thomas Clingman West and Thomas Harvey West

Thomas Clingman West



Thomas Harvey West
America McNeil West

There isn’t any doubt that these two men are not related!  Their pictures are “worth a thousand words!”



In order to put this narrative in perspective, let’s go back a couple of generations from these cousins.  John Balus West and Mary Ann “Polly” Swanson, my 3^rd great grandparents, were the parents of Franklin W. West and Alexander Balus West.  Thomas Clingman West (1856-1944) was the son of Franklin W. West and Cynthia Adeline Holder.  Thomas Harvey West (1858-1949), my great grandfather, was the only child of Alexander Balus West and Nancy E. Land.  Therefore, they were the grandchildren of John Balus and Polly West and were 1^st cousins.  Not only did Thomas Clingman West and Thomas Harvey West share the same first name, only two years separated them in age, both lived in the same area of Wilkes County, and they were likely playmates.



T. C. West's Homesite, Beaver Creek



Thomas Clingman and Bethanie
Triplett West's Tombstone

Thomas Clingman West married Bethanie Triplett on February 5, 1880, in Elk Township, Wilkes County, North Carolina.  They had six children: Junius Roby, Dicia Albertha, Mary Anna, Jesse, Joel Franklin, and John Carter.  Apparently, Joel Franklin died at the age of 4.  Thomas Clingman and Bethanie moved to the Beaver Creek area of Wilkes County sometime prior to the 1895 U. S. Federal Census and remained there until they passed away.  They are buried in the Beaver Creek Baptist Church Cemetery.



America McNeil and T.H. West's
Tombstone





My great grandparents, Thomas Harvey West and America Ann McNeil, were married on January 5, 1882, in Mt. Zion, Wilkes County, North Carolina. They had 13 children: Nannie Lou, A. Judson, Martha Alice, Milton McNeil, Rosa Belle, William Charles, Sallie Jane, Robert Leonard, Ethel Elizabeth, Willard A., Flora Annie, Guy Harvey, and Viola N.  Two of the sons, A. Judson West and Willard A. West, died at early ages, Judson at approximately 2 months and Willard between the ages of 1 to 3 years old.  Judson and Willard are buried in the Land Family plot at Stony Fork in Wilkes County.  Viola passed away at the age of 15 and is buried in the Banner Elk Cemetery on the campus of Lees-McRae College.  Thomas Harvey and America Ann McNeil and Thomas Harvey’s mother, Nancy E. Land, are buried there as well. The family moved from Stony Fork in Wilkes County to Banner Elk about 1902.

Nancy E. Land West's Tombstone



When I first saw the photograph of Thomas Clingman West, I was astounded by the resemblance that he and my great grandfather shared.  They could have been brothers!  Thanks to my 4^th cousins, Jeanette and Joanne, the great granddaughters of Thomas Clingman West, for giving me a copy of his picture.

As I look back on my past, about which I have known so little until I began researching my West family, I have become so appreciative of my heritage and of my newly discovered cousins.  I am so thankful that we are able to share information and stories about our common heritage.  Furthermore, I experience a certain fulfillment knowing that their stories are being recorded.  Isn’t this partly what genealogical research is all about?













James Larkin Pearson’s Poem, “My Love Lies Still, Lies Silent”

On April 11, 2012, Ashtyn added a comment to my December 13, 2011, post “North Carolina Author: James Larkin Pearson (1879-1981).”  In that comment she expressed an interest in finding the poem, “My Love Lies Still, Lies Silent,” which Pearson wrote after the death of his beloved, first wife Cora Ann Elizabeth Wallace.   I was able to obtain a copy of this poem from Christy Earp, the director of the Pardue Library at Wilkes Community College, and today received permission from Ms. Earp to post this poem in my blog.   Ashtyn, this is for you and others who love Pearson’s poetry!

      My Love Lies Still, Lies Silent

In Memory of Cora Wallace Pearson

My love lies still, lies silent;

She sleeps the longest while.

She does not wake at morning;

She does not speak nor smile.

Her lips are pale as lilies

Grown in some shadow’d place,

And something more than beauty

Lies on her sleeping face.

Her eyes, sealed fast with kisses,

See not the dark nor dawn,

And from her ears forever

The sounds of earth are gone.

My love does not remember;

She does not understand

How long I will be waiting

In such a lonely land.

                James Larkin Pearson