Reflections From the Fence: Rufus Edward Darden & his wife Martha Rebecca (nee) Barham Darden, Daughters Marry Brothers, Research Report, the As It Is Series.

This continues what I hope I can turn into a series of posts, done in a very efficient (make that speedy fast) manner to share some research on the ancestors. This is NOT intended to be the end all to end all report. It's a work in progress, to show you what I have found, right or wrong. Kind feedback is welcomed via comments.

Let's begin - -

Meet Rufus Edward Darden and his wife Martha Rebecca (nee) Barham Darden:

Today we are interested in his daughters Louisa and Francis. Last time we discussed Rosalind and Edward and their connection to the Picot clan. At some point I may circle back and chat more about Rufus and Martha specifically, but for now I will just tell you that Rufus has a Find A Grave memorial at # 19442130. Martha has a Find A Grave memorial at # 60364923. You will note I do not have her parents indicated on my image, I have not yet chased down this line.

Onward to Francis J. Darden. You might remember I discussed her in a post I did about her biological son Charles Edward Channing.

Francis J Darden

in the 1870 United States Federal Census

Name: Francis J Darden

Birthplace: Virginia

Dwelling Number: 297

Home in 1870: Jerusalem, Southampton, Virginia

Race: White

Gender: Female

Post Office: Jerusalem

Occupation: At Home

Cannot Read: Yes

Cannot Write: Yes

Inferred Father: Rufus E Darden

Inferred Mother: Martha R Darden

Household Members Age

Rufus E Darden 28

Martha R Darden 30

Rosaline Darden 4

Jno D Darden 3

Francis J Darden 1

Louisa Barham 59

Fannie J. Dardew

in the 1880 United States Federal Census

Name: Fannie J. Dardew

[Darden]

Age: 11

Birth Date: Abt 1869

Birthplace: Virginia

Home in 1880: Newsoms, Southampton, Virginia, USA

Dwelling Number: 30

Race: White

Gender: Female

Relation to Head of House: Daughter

Marital Status: Single

Father's Name: Rufus E. Dardew

Father's Birthplace: Virginia

Mother's Name: Martha R. Dardew

Mother's Birthplace: Virginia

Maimed, Crippled, or Bedridden: Yes

Attended School: Yes

Neighbors: View others on page

Household Members Age Relationship

Rufus E. Dardew 38 Self (Head)

Martha R. Dardew 49 Wife

Rosoline Dardew 14 Daughter

John B. Dardew 13 Son

Fannie J. Dardew 11 Daughter

Eddie T. Dardew 9 Son

Lou Dardew 6 Daughter

**She seems to favor the nickname Fannie - -

Virginia, U.S., Select Marriages, 1785-1940

No record image

Name: Fannie J. Darden

Gender: Female

Marital Status: Single

Race: White

Age: 18

Birth Date: 1868

Birth Place: Southampton Co., Virginia

Marriage Date: 29 Sep 1886

Marriage Place: Southampton Co., Virginia

Spouse:

Charles A. Charming *** It's Channing. And, it is Charles N. Channing, see birth record of Edward - -

FHL Film Number: 34036

Reference ID: p58

**Note: This extraction from Ancestry dot com, FamilySearch has:

Name Charles N. Channing

Age 24

Birth Year (Estimated) 1862

Birthplace Southampton

Race White

Spouse's Name Fannie J. Darden

Spouse's Age 18

Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated) 1868

Spouse's Birthplace Southampton

Spouse's Race White

Spouse's Father's Name R.e. Darden

Spouse's Father's Sex Male

Spouse's Mother's Name Darden

Event Date 29 Sep 1886

Event Place Southampton, Virginia, United States

Event Place (Original) Southampton

Event Type Marriage Registration

Charles N. Channing's Spouses and Children

Fannie J. Darden Spouse 18 Southampton

Other People on This Record

R.e. Darden M

Darden F

No death record found as of January 2022. No obituary found January 2022. No Find A Grave memorial as of January 2022.

We did however, find a detailed Chancery Case in Southampton County, Virginia (thanks to my genie angel for kicking me in the right direction on this one), this case is close to 50 pages. We find Francis gives a deposition in 1893 and signs a document giving power of attorney in 1895 (or similar, remember, I am no lawyer, eh? Frankly, I was more interested in the last date I could find where it showed her as still living than the specifics of the document, I circle around during research and come back to the "meaning" of the document later.)

We also find this, noting it is only part of the page, reference the section that states she died in June of 1897. She is named F. D. Channing in this page.

At this point Charles Edward Channing, born 1887 is an orphan. He is under age, an "infant". He eventually is found living with his aunt Lou and uncle Joseph Channing.

So, now, let's chat about Louisa Pope "Lou" Darden:

Lou Dardew. **More questionable indexing/extractions/transcriptions abound.

in the 1880 United States Federal Census

Name: Lou Dardew

[Darden]

Age: 6

Birth Date: Abt 1874

Birthplace: Virginia

Home in 1880: Newsoms, Southampton, Virginia, USA

Dwelling Number: 30

Race: White

Gender: Female

Relation to Head of House: Daughter

Marital Status: Single

Father's Name: Rufus E. Dardew

Father's Birthplace: Virginia

Mother's Name: Martha R. Dardew

Mother's Birthplace: Virginia

Neighbors: View others on page

Household Members Age Relationship

Rufus E. Dardew 38 Self (Head)

Martha R. Dardew 49 Wife

Rosoline Dardew 14 Daughter

John B. Dardew 13 Son

Fannie J. Dardew 11 Daughter

Eddie T. Dardew 9 Son

Lou Dardew 6 Daughter

Louisa P. Darden

Virginia, U.S., Select Marriages, 1785-1940

No record image

Name: Louisa P. Darden

Gender: Female

Marital Status: Single

Age: 20

Birth Date: 1875

Birth Place: Southampton, Virginia

Marriage Date: 30 Apr 1895

Marriage Place: Southampton, Virginia

Father: Rufus E. Darden

Mother: Martha R. Darden

Spouse: Jos. H. Channing

FHL Film Number: 34037

Reference ID: 378

Louiza Chiniry. (The spellings/extraction/transcriptions on this are awful.)

in the 1900 United States Federal Census

Name: Louiza Chiniry

[Laniz L Chriniy]

[Louiza Channing]

Age: 25

Birth Date: May 1875

Birthplace: Virginia, USA

Home in 1900: Newsom, Southampton, Virginia

Sheet Number: 19

Number of Dwelling in Order of Visitation: 354

Family Number: 362

Race: White

Gender: Female

Relation to Head of House: Wife

Marital Status: Married

Spouse's Name: Joe F Chiniry

Marriage Year: 1895

Years Married: 5

Father's Birthplace: Virginia, USA

Mother's Birthplace: Virginia, USA

Mother: number of living children: 0 **

Mother: How many children: 0 **

Can Read: Yes

Can Write: Yes

Can Speak English: No

Neighbors: View others on page

Household Members Age Relationship

Joe F Chiniry 31 Head

Louiza Chiniry 25 Wife

Charles E Chiniry 12 Nephew **** Son of Charles N Channing and Frances J Darden

William M Cole 20 Nephew

Rufin E Dordin 58 Boarder ** Her father

Bettie Barnes 20 Cook

Eddie T Dordin 29 Boarder. ** Her brother

Louise Channing

in the 1910 United States Federal Census

Name: Louise Channing

Age in 1910: 36

Birth Date: 1874

[1874]

Birthplace: Virginia

Home in 1910: Newsoms, Southampton, Virginia, USA

Street: Seaborar Air Line

Race: White

Gender: Female

Relation to Head of House: Wife

Marital Status: Married

Spouse's Name: Joe H Channing

Father's Birthplace: Virginia

Mother's Birthplace: Virginia

Native Tongue: English

Able to read: Yes

Able to Write: Yes

Years Married: 15

Number of Children Born: 0 **

Number of Children Living: 0 **

Neighbors: View others on page

Household Members Age Relationship

Joe H Channing 41 Head

Louise Channing 36 Wife

J D Guinns 60 Boarder

Grace Lovelace 27 Boarder

Fannie Sheldon 26 Boarder

Bryant Robe 18 Boarder

** NOTE: even if her father was still residing with her, this enumeration was done on April 26, 1910, several weeks after his death.

Louisa D Channing

in the 1920 United States Federal Census

Name: Louisa D Channing

Age: 44

Birth Year: abt 1876

Birthplace: Virginia

Home in 1920: Newsoms, Southampton, Virginia

Street: Newsoms Village no Street number

Residence Date: 1920

Race: White

Gender: Female

Relation to Head of House: Wife

Marital Status: Married

Spouse's Name: Joseph H Channing

Father's Birthplace: Virginia

Mother's Birthplace: Virginia

Able to Speak English: Yes

Able to read: Yes

Able to Write: Yes

Neighbors: View others on page

Household Members Age Relationship

Joseph H Channing 50 Head

Louisa D Channing 44 Wife

Victoria Macoy 38 Boarder

Constance A Trice 24 Boarder

Lilla Neblet 27 Boarder

Bob Barrett 70 Laborer

Loise Channing

in the 1930 United States Federal Census

Name: Loise Channing

Birth Year: abt 1875

Gender: Female

Race: White

Age in 1930: 55

Birthplace: Virginia

Marital Status: Married

Relation to Head of House: Wife

Homemaker?: Yes

Home in 1930: Newsoms, Southampton, Virginia, USA

Map of Home: Newsoms, Southampton, Virginia

Street Address: Handsom To Sunbeam

House Number: 376

Dwelling Number: 460

Family Number: 460

Age at First Marriage: 28

Attended School: No

Able to Read and Write: Yes

Father's Birthplace: Virginia

Mother's Birthplace: Virginia

Able to Speak English: Yes

Occupation: Laborer

Industry: Hotel

Class of Worker: Working on own account

Employment: Yes

Household Members Age Relationship

Joe Channing 60 Head

Loise Channing 55 Wife

Hazel Barnett 21 Boarder

Norman Turner 21 Boarder

Elmer Mallory 20 Boarder

Elizabeth Hornnete 20 Boarder

Vernon H Morrell 22 Boarder

Georgia E Pope 70 Servant

Mrs J H Channing

in the 1940 United States Federal Census

Name: Mrs J H Channing

Respondent: Yes

Age: 64

Estimated Birth Year: abt 1876

Gender: Female

Race: White

Birthplace: Virginia

Marital Status: Married

Relation to Head of House: Wife

Home in 1940: Newsoms, Southampton, Virginia

Map of Home in 1940: Newsoms, Southampton, Virginia

Street: Newsoms

Inferred Residence in 1935: Newsoms, Southampton, Virginia

Residence in 1935: Newsoms

Sheet Number: 3A

Attended School or College: No

Highest Grade Completed: College, 3rd year

Income Other Sources: Yes

Neighbors: View others on page

Household Members Age Relationship

Joe H Channing 70 Head

J H Channing 64 Wife

Beba Collier 27 Lodger

Marie Hundley 24 Lodger

Irma Vanrfran 36 Lodger

Carrie Moore 33 Lodger

Mrs Louisa Pope Channing

in the Virginia, U.S., Death Records, 1912-2014

Name: Mrs Louisa Pope Channing

[Mrs Louisa Pope Darden]

Gender: Female

Race: White

Death Age: 76

Birth Date: 5 May 1874

Death Date: 22 Nov 1950

Death Place: Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Virginia, USA

Registration Date: 27 Nov 1950

Father: Rufus E Darden

Mother: Martha Rebecca Barham

Spouse: Joseph Henry Channing

Certificate Number: 1950024729

From the Times Dispatch, Richmond, Virginia, published on Nov 23, 1950:

"MRS. LOUISA CHANNING

FRANKLIN, VA., Nov. 22 - - Mrs. Louisa Pope Channing, 76, resident of Newsoms, died Wednesday in a Portsmouth hospital. She was the widow of Joseph Henry Channing, of Newsoms. She is survived by one sister, Mrs. G. C. Picot, of Como, N.C. The body was taken to the W. J. M. Holland & Sons Funeral Home, in Franklin, and on Thursday will be taken to the Newsoms Baptist Church, where it will lie in state for one hour before the funeral rites. A funeral service will be held at 2:30 P.M. Thursday at Newsoms Baptist Church, with burial in Newsrooms Cemetery."

There is also an obituary at the Southampton County Virginia USGenWeb Archives site, I urge you to have a lookiesee, their web site is outstanding. They have obituaries, and many times there is additional information and links if they can be found. Impressive work by dedicated volunteers.

Louisa has a Find A Grave memorial at # 35414912.

There we have it, two sisters (daughters of Rufus and Martha Darden), marry two brothers (sons of James and Evelyn Channing), and raise one son. It was quite the search.

* Disclaimers, I use Find A Grave, Ancestry dot com, FamilySearch, several newspaper subscriptions, free sites, such as Virginia Chronicles, Virginia Chancery Cases online at the Library of Virginia and more to research my ancestors. I pay for subscriptions, full price.

** This time frame is difficult to research, relationships are not clearly indicated in so many of the sources. My judgements may or may not be correct. Transcriptions may or may not have errors.

*** Links, URL's, for the most part will not be included henceforth on my posts, as so many of them change and then I have to come back and try to re-discover and relink. Frankly folks, I have no desire to spend my limited time here on this side of the sod with those kinds of do overs. As researchers, or just members of the internet community, sites such as Find A Grave are easy to find, some are free to use and with the information I am sharing you, hopefully, you can duplicate the research/findings. That said, I have seen memorials at Find A Grave be removed. If you have questions, I suggest you leave a nice comment for me. OR find the method I have outlined on my blog for contacting me.