Page News and Courier, Luray, Page County, Virginia, Tuesday, 11 Feb
1930,
page 1:
J. F. LUCAS LEFT PAGE COUNTY 70 YEARS AGO, NEVER TO RETURN.
From Mrs. Maude Bailey, nee Gray, of near Stanley, we have some
interesting matter regarding J. F. Lucas, age 86, of Newton, Iowa, who
left
here seventy years ago with his brother, Charles Lucas, and has
never
returned. The two Lucas brothers were half brothers of R. C. and Joseph
Gray, and Mrs. Fannie Nickles, deceased, of near Stanley, and of Elic,
James and Lanzie Gray, living, of the same section. Charles Lucas died a
good many years ago, but J. F. is still living at Newton, Iowa, where he
is
spending the winter with his daughter, Mrs. Nellie Zimmerman. In a
letter
to Mrs. Bailey, the Iowa cousin encloses a clipping from the Des
Moines
Tribune-Capital, which contains a picture and write-up of the former,
Johnny Reb, J. F. Lucas. The article recites the fact that Mr. Lucas
left
his home in Page county at the age of sixteen and joined the
Confederate
army; and three weeks later took part in the battle of First Manassas.
He
followed the stars and bars for three and a half years being in many
of
the
great conflicts of the war. His company was the Thirty-third
Virginia
Infantry to which many Page soldiers belonged. Mr. Lucas was married in
Morgan county, Ill., in 1874, and his wife is still living. We make the
following extracts from Mrs. Zimmerman's letter to Mrs. Bailey, dated
Jan.
15, 1930:
"Dear Cousin: - Pa and Ma are with me again with winter. It is hard
for Ma to write any more though she is lots better this winter than last.
She is seriously afflicted with gland trouble, and was under the
treatment
of a specialist in Des Moines. Now she makes quilts, washes dishes
and
does her work except her washing.
"Pa has been having rheumatism in his shoulder but his worst trouble
is with his knees and ankles. He is so weak he can hardly get around,
and
he has always been so active. Pa and Ma were in Des Moines when a
newspaper reporter was out to see him. In a few days Pa's picture came
out
in the paper. I will send mine to you. So many Lucases wrote or
called
for matters about relationship afterwards.
"We wondered if Pa's half brothers knew any Lucases who lived in or
near Luray. One man said his father's name was Thomas Lucas, who lived
in
or near Luray but died forty or fifty years ago. Maybe you could
find
about some of them.
"We've had a big snow, about nine inches, and it is pretty cold. Pa
said tell you he took care of his garden last summer and Ma raised a few
chickens. Pa said he surely would like to see his brothers and sisters.
They are so much younger than Pa is, why can't they come out to see him?
I
have a daughter teaching school and a son aged 22, who is a rural
carrier.
Ma has a brother at Nevada, about forty miels from here. They are
going
there next week to visit for ten days."
*****
* John J. Armstrong, 5009 Utah Drive, Greenville, TX, 75402-6239
* justjohn(a)webwide.net, (903) 454-8209
* surnames: ARMSTRONG, LUCAS, ZIMMERMAN, GORANSON, TEMPLIN
* research project: Hunt County, TX, newspapers index
* 1868-1997 (169,000+ topics,106,000+ references)
* The man who knows nothing and knows he knows nothing knows a lot.
*****