In what has become an annual excursion, descendants of Isaac and Caroline Wilson Greer, my Civil War great, great grandparents, have taken to visiting ancestral sites in southeastern Virginia, western North Carolina and upper eastern Tennessee. I was not able to make this summer's trip, but am happy to produce the following article written by family historian, Clinton Getzinger. Clinton deserves a tip of the hat for organizing the 2015 gathering and for his continuing research! - GNH
The Forrester-Wilson Family Tour, 2015
by Clinton Getzinger
by Clinton Getzinger
"On Saturday morning, May 23, 2015, nine
descendants of Martha Wilson Forrester and one descendant of John Wilburn
Wilson gathered in the Pine Branch Community of Grayson County, Virginia. They
toured the former property of Martha Wilson Forrester (1857-1904) and her
husband Andrew Johnson Forrester (1866-1938).
Martha Evaline Wilson Forrester
was the fifth child and last daughter of Isaac Wilson (1822-1864) and Caroline
Nancy Greer Wilson (1828-1911) of Wilson Branch, Sutherland, Ashe County, NC.
In 1898,
Andrew and Martha and four of their children traveled by covered wagon to
Grayson County, Virginia to make a new home. At this writing, we are not
certain why they moved away, but two of Martha’s adult children lived in the
Pine Branch Community on Kendrick Mountain and that is where they built their home.
As they built a new farm, it
was necessary to plant an apple orchard and a maple tree to provide apples for
desserts and syrup to sweeten their stack cakes. Martha’s sister, Jane Wilson Proffit (1852-1937), had used a
slight bit of molasses or maple syrup to sweeten her cornbread, so the
Forresters may have done the same. Their Grandma Frankie Brown Greer (1810-1905) also grew a
maple to provide syrup on her North Carolina farm. Although Hurricane Hugo destroyed most of the maples, one maple still exists to this day.
On the Forrester farm was a
barn for the horses and other outbuildings such as a corn crib. The barn no
longer stands, but some of the other outbuildings do.
Home
of the Forrester Family built circa 1898
The tour began early in the morning
at Mouth of Wilson. Ten Wilson descendants drove on to the Pine Branch
Community that began at the Roger Cole Family Farm.
Our gracious hosts, Mr. and
Mrs. Roger Cole, took us up to the former Forrester farm that is still a part
of their land. We went inside the house and toured the inside and tried to
imagine the Forresters living inside of the various rooms.
Immediately after we took a
family photo in front of the house, we drove on to see the cemetery where
Martha and her daughter Lelia Wilson Hash are buried, as well as Martha’s
youngest daughter, Callie Forrester Anderson. After we explored the cemetery,
we went to tour the inside of the present Pine Branch Baptist Church where we
discovered a pew with a memorial plaque dedicated to Lee and Lelia Wilson
Hash.
Before we left the Cole Farm,
Mrs. Cole presented this author with several jars of homemade apple butter
made from the Forrester apple tree. Each Wilson descendant took home a jar of
apple butter.
The tour ended at Ciro’s
Restaurant in Independence where two more family members met this group for
lunch. All family members had a great time and discussed getting together
again in the near future." - Clinton Getzinger
Front left to right: Sandy Gentry, Clinton Getzinger, Phyllis Watt, Shirley Sorrell, Vickie Stamper and Phillip Marcus
Clinton also runs two family pages on Facebook that are of interest to Wilson-Greer-Osborne-Forrester and associated families. Write him at these addresses and he will warmly welcome you to these sites: https://www.facebook.
All
are invited to join in building the family tree at
Wilson-Greer-Osborne-Forrester-Donnelly and Associated Families of
Western NC at Ancestry.com. Just write to glennhistory@gmail.com for an invitation.
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