A certain Judge James H. Miller wrote the following description of Carl's paternal ancestors in the early 1900s. The person who sent it to us was hoping it was his family. He wanted to have the history printed on vellum, elaborately framed, and hung in his den. Alas, he could not claim them but we can. Here, for your enjoyment, is the Honorable Judge's opinion of our early family:
"One of the oldest families of people in all this region of the New River Valley was that of Adkins/Atkins or Atkins. They are said to have come into this region during the time of the Revolutionary War, and were first discovered living under cliffs on the Summers side of the river from New Richmond Falls, supposed to be the magnificent cliffs in the canyon at the mouth of Laurel Creek which empties into the New River half a mile from Lick Creek at New Richmond Post Office. They were hunters and trappers in the earliest days, and have continued so as long as there was game in this region, and their descendants are scattered one place and another throughout this region and other counties.
Once in awhile you will find a member of the generation rising above the common level, but no great advancements have been made in this race. There was a Parker Adkins/Atkins, a man noted for his nose, the end of it being half the size of a man's fist; Riley Adkins/Atkins, known as the "Chestnut Mountain Lawyer"; Leonard Adkins/Atkins living in the Chestnut Mountain area; Albert Adkins/Atkins, one of the most intelligent, lives near Hinton. Hen Adkins/Atkins, one of the race, was drowned in Laurel Creek with L. M. Alderson's wedding suit on. Mr. Alderson was married twice and this was the suit he had purchased for his first marriage. He said that he sold a steer to secure the broadcloth suit. Sometimes the name is spelled Atkins and sometimes Adkins/Atkins. The Gills are said to have come into the country about the same time and to have lived about the same way. The Gills and the Adkins/Atkins have intermarried. There is an intelligent family by the name of Atkins, now residing in the Little Bluestone country of a different generation. A thriftless, harmless, indolent, unambitious race of people but without malicious cunning or dangerous, indigenous race are the Gills and Adkins/Atkins. Possibly the ancestors were Tories who emigrated into this then vastness to escape military service."
Now I have to tell you the honorable Judge was wrong about a few things. Several of the Adkins/Atkins males served in the Revolutionary War and received large land grants in the area that became West Virginia. They undoubtedly owned those cliffs they were living under. Although Carl's grandfather was named Parker Adkins, he wasn't this particular Parker with the big nose and we claim no knowledge of Mr. Alderson's wedding suit or why one of the family was wearing it that day. We only know one Gill family, Sue and Jim, but they are from Florida and they don't look like us. There may be some strong cliff-dwelling tendencies remaining to the present day, however, as evidenced by these photographs of Carl and his bride. Where in the world could he have found her? She must have been from a similar race.
"One of the oldest families of people in all this region of the New River Valley was that of Adkins/Atkins or Atkins. They are said to have come into this region during the time of the Revolutionary War, and were first discovered living under cliffs on the Summers side of the river from New Richmond Falls, supposed to be the magnificent cliffs in the canyon at the mouth of Laurel Creek which empties into the New River half a mile from Lick Creek at New Richmond Post Office. They were hunters and trappers in the earliest days, and have continued so as long as there was game in this region, and their descendants are scattered one place and another throughout this region and other counties.
Once in awhile you will find a member of the generation rising above the common level, but no great advancements have been made in this race. There was a Parker Adkins/Atkins, a man noted for his nose, the end of it being half the size of a man's fist; Riley Adkins/Atkins, known as the "Chestnut Mountain Lawyer"; Leonard Adkins/Atkins living in the Chestnut Mountain area; Albert Adkins/Atkins, one of the most intelligent, lives near Hinton. Hen Adkins/Atkins, one of the race, was drowned in Laurel Creek with L. M. Alderson's wedding suit on. Mr. Alderson was married twice and this was the suit he had purchased for his first marriage. He said that he sold a steer to secure the broadcloth suit. Sometimes the name is spelled Atkins and sometimes Adkins/Atkins. The Gills are said to have come into the country about the same time and to have lived about the same way. The Gills and the Adkins/Atkins have intermarried. There is an intelligent family by the name of Atkins, now residing in the Little Bluestone country of a different generation. A thriftless, harmless, indolent, unambitious race of people but without malicious cunning or dangerous, indigenous race are the Gills and Adkins/Atkins. Possibly the ancestors were Tories who emigrated into this then vastness to escape military service."
Now I have to tell you the honorable Judge was wrong about a few things. Several of the Adkins/Atkins males served in the Revolutionary War and received large land grants in the area that became West Virginia. They undoubtedly owned those cliffs they were living under. Although Carl's grandfather was named Parker Adkins, he wasn't this particular Parker with the big nose and we claim no knowledge of Mr. Alderson's wedding suit or why one of the family was wearing it that day. We only know one Gill family, Sue and Jim, but they are from Florida and they don't look like us. There may be some strong cliff-dwelling tendencies remaining to the present day, however, as evidenced by these photographs of Carl and his bride. Where in the world could he have found her? She must have been from a similar race.
