Mesmerized by an interesting article my parents saved, entitled "Jacob and Mary Ann Magee Photographs Donated" published by renowned historian Daunton Gibbs in October of 1979, my original intent was to relay the information therein and to feature the Magee house that became a part of Mile Branch Settlement in 1977.
But with it placed behind the Sylvest Cabin, comprising a dining and kitchen area, I am compelled to start with the Sylvests for they are family, that of my husband Rodney Bateman. The Sylvest Cabin belonged to his paternal ancestors. The Sylvest Cabin was also donated to Mile Branch Settlement in 1977 by Mr. and Mrs. T.C. Sylvest.
Rodney's beloved grandmother Sadie Sylvest Bateman (1911-2001), married to Robert Hugh Bateman (1906-1975), descended from Nehemiah Sylvest (1846-1916) who built the double-pen log house in 1880-1881. He and wife Lenora Sylvest (1855-1935) were "Maw Maw" Sadie's grandparents. Sadie was the daughter of James William Sylvest (1873-1928 or 1936) and wife Lenora "Nora" Green Sylvest (1882-1936). The couple had a number of children, and among their offspring were John U. Sylvest, Joseph Burke Sylvest, Electa Sylvest Burris, William Sterling "Bill" Sylvest, Elsie Sylvest Kliesch, Lynn D. Sylvest, Sadie Sylvest Bateman, Atwell Walter Sylvest, and James William Sylvest, Jr. The elder James Sylvest was the oldest of the twelve children, of Nehemiah and Lenora Sylvest, who were raised in the log house.
My best memory of the Sylvest house at Mile Branch Settlement is with "Maw Maw" Sadie volunteering, seated in the parlor behind the rope. Each year at Fair time, we would bring our daughter Betsy to Mile Branch Settlement to see "Maw Maw" as she fondly called her, and each year, like clockwork, Sadie Sylvest Bateman would raise the rope for Betsy to climb up on her lap. But this became a bit of an issue when Betsy became school age. On official school tours ---- we arrived annually on buses on the Thursday of the Fair-- - Betsy followed protocol when she arrived at the Sylvest Cabin. Her classmates constantly complained, "Why does Betsy get to go under the rope?" She and Maw Maw were undeterred. I can still hear them chuckling.
Back to the history of the Sylvest house, Nehemiah was the son of Francis Sylvest (1808-1896), who was born in Portugal, and his wife Martha Stevenson (1820-1882). Nehemiah's wife Lenora Sylvest was the daughter of Emanuel Sylvest (1821-1901), who also was born in Portugal, and wife Nancy Warner Kennedy (1826-1886). They were not kin. And one other interesting feature is their Portuguese ancestry, something Rodney's friend (and mine) Bill Stafford informed me of years ago. While Rodney and I have visited nearby Gibraltar, we did not traverse the remaining 374 miles to Portugal. We very much regret not doing so because my family friend Jo Jan Moore Miller, daughter of Duke and Marilyn Upchurch Moore, contacted me last year while Rodney and I were in Provence; she was living in Portugal and offered tours. Given another opportunity, we would jump at the chance to visit and explore Portugal, in light of Rodney's ancestry which traces directly back to Lusitania. Tuga, I believe is the word.
Back to Washington Parish, in the beginning Nehemiah and Lenora Sylvest had five children, and the family lived in the smokehouse which had a dirt floor while he built the house. And as their family grew, the house grew with them from what was known as a single pen (wing) to a double pen (wing) that had front and back porches and a hall/dog trot. Each pen had two rooms. One front room was the parlor or guest bedroom while the other front room was the master bedroom. The children's bedrooms were the two rear rooms, with girls on the right and boys on the left. Lean-to rooms were added to the original structure as needed. The dining room, kitchen, and back porch were added, coming into being after the sawmills were in operation in our area. They were connected by a long dog trot. The structure and family history, as described in the 2012 Mile Branch Settlement brochure, follows:
"All rooms were accessible from the wide hallway. The master bedroom was to the left and furnished with two double wood beds, a chest with a trunk that held Nehemiah's important papers, his chair with a cowhide bottom, Lenora's chair and a wooden rocker. A small reading table attached to the rear log wall served as Nehamiah's reading corner where his Bible and the Baptist Chronicle were always in view. This area was always respected by all children as his space.
The other front room-parlor/guest bedroom-was furnished with two wood double beds, a pump organ, a dresser and chairs. The children's bedrooms were furnished 'dormitory style' because of the large number of children using those rooms.
The kitchen originally had a clay fireplace, later replaced by brick, and then by a cast iron stove. The dining table consisted of a wood board table with seating of wood benches and chairs. The dining table is believed to have seated 25."
The twelve children who grew up in the Sylvest house were, as follows: James William Sylvest (1873-1936), who married Lenora Green (Maw Maw Sadie Sylvest Bateman's parents); Nancy Winnie Sylvest (1875-1941), who married George Seymour Brumfield; Martha Viola Sylvest (1876-1947), who married John Lee Smith; John Dolphus Sylvest (1879-1965), who married Minnie Fendlason; Thomas Christopher Sylvest (1881-1962), who married Edna Davis; Annie Antee Sylvest (1883-1940), who married William Bush; Lenora Washtella Sylvest (1885-1961), who married George Oliver Brumfield; Walter Jerome Sylvest (1888-1974), who married Nancy Etta Owen; C. W. McCune "Homer" Sylvest (1890-1925), who married Alba Creel; Myrtis Agnes Sylvest (1892-1953), who married Joseph O. Roberts; Cluster Nehemiah Sylvest (1895-1971), who married Lucille Snyder; and Stevenson Ard Sylvest (1897-1957), who married Anita May Cox. There is no shortage of progeny. For example, in 2012 the Mile Branch Settlement Honoree was Freda Welch, a dedicated volunteer, wife of Enoch Welch, and a direct descendant of Nehemiah and Lenora Sylvest.
Mile Branch Settlement enjoyed tremendous success from the start. By November of 1977, just one year after its establishment, there was a reported crowd of nearly 30,000 visitors to the Settlement during the four days of the Fair one-month prior.
•More on Nehemiah and Lenora Sylvest next week before we finally get to the Magee Cabin.
