MAPS LOCATING MARLBROOK
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A STORY OF IRISH CREEK
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MARLBROOK IN 2004
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MARLBROOK
Marlbrook. This picture was probably taken around 1920.
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John Elliott Denison lived at Marlbrook, known as "The Homeplace" to family. His granddaughter, (daughter of Walter Elliott Bruce Dennison), Gennivee Shelton Dennison Carey, describes the location of Marlbrook and a bit of its history:
"This area has quite a few places you would never find on a map, such as Cornwall and Mary Creek. Marlbrook and Cornwall and Mary Creek are all very close to Vesuvious. The Dennison homeplace is located on Route 608, four miles south of Vesuvius. At one time a very large tract of mountain land was owned by the McCrory family (descendants of Vernie (McCroy) Dennison. Hugh Dennison's land came from this tract, when he married Aunt Carrie. His land was located over the hill from his homeplace - at one time all McCrory land."1 Marlbrook had quite a bit more history than Mrs. Carey described. It's story dated back to the earliest settlements in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. "This land was a portion of the famous "Borden Grant," which was granted to Benjamin Borden by Governor Gooch on November 6, 1739, containing 92,100 acres, and this grant is recorded in the Land Office in Richmond, Virginia, in Book 18, page 360. Benjamin Borden deeded a portion of this land to James McClung in 1742, but as there was some complications connected with the sale, the deed was not made until 1745, which is recorded in the Clerk's Office in Augusta County, as Rockbridge County was not laid out until 1777. At the death of James McClung about 1785, by the terms of his will, which was dated October 2, 1779, and recorded May 3, 1785, and recorded in the Clerk's Office of Rockbridge County in Will Book 1, page 230, after certain personal and other bequests, his property was to be divided among his three sons: James, Henry, and William. It appears that James McClung purchased the interests of his two brothers, Henry and William, and became the owner of the property, and at his death, the property passed by the terms of his will to his sons, James Gardner, Henry, and John. This will is recorded on January 2, 1817, in Will Book 4, page 210. James Gardner appears to have purchased the interests of his two brothers, Henry and John, and became the owner of the property. James Gardner McClung was born in 1806 and died in 1862. He married Matilda Jane Scott Paris. They had no children. After the death of James Gardner McClung, his widow married John Cyrus Bell. They had no children. James Gardner McClung willed his property to his wife, Matilda Jane, who afterwards married John Cyrus Bell, will recorded on November 5, 1879, Will Book 23, page 155. Matilda Jane Bell deeded it to J. E. Dennison, an adopted son, on January 13, 1898, Deed Book 85, page 270. J. E. Dennison deeded it to W. E. B. Dennison on January 6, 1922, Deed Book 134, page 330. W. E. B. Dennison deeded it to John H. Snider, December 31, 1923, Deed Book 138, page 288. John H. Snider is the present owner in 1937. The first house to be built on this site was a small two-story log structure, in 1742, by James McClung, but it was not long afterwards, exact time not known, this house was burned, but soon afterwards, with the assistance of his neighbors, who were very few at that date, he soon had the second house ready for occupancy, and this house is standing at this date, 1937, with comparatively few changes. It, too, was a two-story log structure, but in recent years, it has been weather-boarded, but the log structure and the original chimney remains at this date."2 (See photo below.) |
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Marlbrook, showing the weather-boarding. It is a guess that this photo was taken around 1937. Photo scanned from "Backroads", Vol.18, No. 226, November 2000
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Mrs. Carey relates the reason that Marlbrook changed ownership from Dennison to Snider in 1923.
"When Vernie [Vernie Burgess McCroy Dennison, wife of Walter Elliott Bruce Dennison, son of J. E. Denison] consented to marry Bruce, she made him promise when Elliott passed on they would leave the country (mountains) and move to Staunton. Bruce was no farmer and she was a smart lady. Fannie [wife of John Elliott Dennison] died before they married and this left Elliott, Bruce and little Glen in the homeplace. She moved in, took care of Elliott till the last, sent Glen to Texas to live with Harry and his wife, sold the farm, came to Staunton. He got a job in a store called The Valley Store (I believe like one of our department stores) and went to Dunsmore Business School at night."3 Marlbrook is still standing at the beginning of the 21st century, and Margaret Ann Whittington now owns it. Rather than being called Marlbrook, its name has been changed to "Peace and Plenty Farm". Perhaps the most arresting historical event surrounding Marlbrook is narrated in the "Historical Significance of Rockbridge County Virginia". "The following well authenticated story is told concerning James McClung, the 2nd."4 "Soon after his emigration to Virginia, while in the timber making rails with which to fence his farm, he was attached by five savage Indians, who proposed to relieve him of his scalp. He asked permission to finish splitting his log before being scalped, and his request was granted. Under the circumstances, he found the log very difficult to split, and asked the Indians to assist him, and they, thinking that they would have his scalp that much sooner, consented to do so. He placed them on opposite sides of the log, with their fingers well inserted in the crack, and gave them order to pull with all their might, while he drove in the wedge. Then, in desperation, he gave the wedge a desperate stroke and knocked it out of the log, causing it to close upon their fingers, and held them fast, while he, amidst their shrieks, dispatched them with his axe."5 "In later years, this tragic incident has been attributed to Daniel Boone and others, but the sources of information given below, clearly and without doubt makes James McClung the man who trapped and killed five Indians, who sought to take his scalp."6 "Mr. J. E. Dennison, the owner of the farm on which this episode occurred, states: "I was raised an orphan in the home of James McClung's grandson, James Gardner McClung, and I have often heard him speak of this event, and told me that without doubt, it was James McClung who killed the five Indians in the log of wood." "Miss Susan Hite, who lived to be over 80 years of age, and asserts that she was born and raised in this immediate section where the McClungs lived, and she has heard them relate this incident time and again, that James McClung was the man who killed the Indians in a split log." "Phoebe McClung, a granddaughter of James McClung, says that she lived in this neighborhood, and that she was 85 years old, and told the write (Rev. William McClung) just before her death that it was James McClung, her own grandfather, who killed five Indians, and that they were buried near the spot where they were killed, on the second level above Cold Spring, which flows into Little Mary Creek, three miles east of Fairfield."7 |
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