Family  |
James BACKUS, b. 25 Apr 1822, Harrison Co, (W)VA  d. 15 Jun 1877, Harrison Co, WV (Age 55 years) [3] |
| Marriage |
7 Dec 1843 |
Harrison Co, (W)VA [4] |
| Notes |
- The following biographical information was posted on Ancestry.com by RobEugGault, great-great-grandson of James Backus and Julia Etta Davis::
James served in the Civil War, being mustered in as a Private, March 15, 1865, at Wheeling, West Virginia. He was in Company E, 7th Regiment West Virginia Infantry Volunteers. His regiment saw action at Appomatox in April, 1865, and also at Farmville and Saylers Creek in the same month. The unit was commanded by Captain Richard C BURTON. James was honorably mustered out at Munsons Hill, Virginia July 1, 1865.
James was a farmer. On March 12, 1853 (?1847) he purchased fifty acres in Harrison County on the head waters of Coburns fork of Ten Mile Creek. In later years he obtained acreage on Cherry Camp Run and Raccoon Run in the same vicinity. He also purchased 75 acres of the original 200 belonging to William Jr which, was part of the 400 acre Land Grant of William Sr. He left farming briefly when the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was being built between Grafton and Parkersburg to work on its construction in 1852-53.
After James death, Julia received a pension of eight dollars a month, which ultimately was increased to thirty dollars a month. She lived with her grown married children for many years after James' death, Her final years with her youngest son, Clarence, in Parkersburg. Aunt Libby remembered her well. She didn't like the way Julietta had to stay in a small room off the kitchen . Juliaetta was blind then and Libby would read to her from the Bible or the Harper's Bazaar magazine. Juliaetta had a pocket sewn in her petticoat and had new nickles for the children when she would visit.
This came from Aunt Freda Smith: "Julietta told about her parents (Asa and Content Ann Davis) living in a log cabin (probably at Cherry Camp). One day she was playing with brothers and sisters in the front when Content heard Indians coming through the woods. She had been making soap over a fire outside (it couldn't be made inside because of the lye). Asa was away in the settlement at the time so she herded the children into the cabin, as she grabbed up a kettle of the boiling soap. ... She didn't want the Indians to steal it. When one of the Indians tried to push open the cabin door, she poured hot soap on his arm, scalding him and causing the two to leave. Several weeks later , two Indians came into the settlement to trade . One had a bad burn-scar on his arm. The men made the two leave the area."
Juliaetta called her husband "Jeem". She said he liked to dance (not accepted well by the Seventh Day Baptist Church, which could account for his name to be absent from the church rolls!). He also was a good whittler and made dolls for Mary Ellen and Mitt [short for Curmetta]. Julietta had curly hair that was white and very thick in her old age. She died at 99, had very blue eyes and a happy disposition. She was short and chubby. She always visited with her felt slippers (she wore them in the house).
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| Children |
| > | 1. Monterville BACKUS, b. Apr 1851, Cherry Camp Run, Bristol, Harrison Co,WV d. 22 Nov 1881, Doddridge Co, WV (Age ~ 30 years) |
| > | 2. Ira James BACCHUS, b. 9 Mar 1862, Doddridge Co, (W)VA d. 20 Aug 1934, Parkersburg, Wood Co, WV (Age 72 years) |
| + | 3. William Arzy BACKUS, b. 26 Jul 1868, Harrison Co, WV d. 28 Nov 1948, Mt. Gilead, Morrow Co, OH (Age 80 years) |
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| Family ID |
F42954 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
1825 - 1922 (97 years)