Have you ever fallen down a rabbit hole? Not a literal one, but one where you go in one direction, and something distracts you; then you head in a completely different direction? While researching for this week’s column, the sweetest little letter caught my eye and it turned into a full-blown pursuit to find out more about Miss Mary Virginia Dunkley and her friends.
The following letters are from the newspaper, Presbyterian of the South, that was formed through the union of three newspapers: Richmond’s Central Presbyterian; Milledgeville, Georgia’s Southern Presbyterian; and the South-Western Presbyterian of New Orleans. The first issue of Presbyterian of the South was published in Atlanta on January 6, 1909. In 1911, when it moved to Richmond, the paper had an impressive circulation of 15,000.
According to the Library of Virginia, the newspaper appeared on Wednesdays and ran about 35 pages in length. It included editorials, special sections for women and children, daily Bible readings, and church news from around the South. The paper solicited donations for the Presbyterian Church and encouraged missionary work. While it did run advertisements for general products, ads primarily focused on Christian literature, military schools, and Christian schools and universities.
7th June 1916
“Dear Presbyterian: I am one of your new friends. I am a little girl ten years old. My school is out. My teacher’s name was Mr. Jesse Hollingsworth. I like him fine. I am in the fourth grade at school. I have three sisters and three brothers. This is my first letter. I hope you will print it. Your friend, Mary Dunkley. Claudville, Va.”
21st of June 1916
“Dear Presbyterian: This is my first letter to you. I am a little boy 6 years old. I have a pet calf. Its name is Jerry. It is red and white. I have two brothers and four sisters; my oldest sister is married. As I want to surprise my mother and father, I hope you will print my letter. Your little friend, James Dunkley. Claudville, VA”
“Dear Presbyterian: This is my second letter to you. My mother takes your good paper. I enjoy reading the children’s letters and Mr. Hutchison’s stories very much. I have a little bantam hen. She has forty chickens. My aunt has a new car. As I am afraid my letter is getting too long, I will close. Your friend, Mary Dunkley.”
28th August 1918
“Dear Presbyterian: I have not written you for some time, so I thought I would write. I go to Sunday school every Sunday. I have received two Sunday school pins for going three months. My Sunday school teacher is Miss Mary Arrington. I like her fine. I am sending you two squares for your quilt. I hope they will be all right. I am going to send some more when I get the yarn. I have a brother in the Navy. Your loving friend, Mary Dunkley.”
25 September 1918
“Dear Presbyterian: As you were kind to print my other letter, I thought that I would write you again. I am 13 years old; my birthday is the 7th of August. We are building a new Presbyterian church. Rev. Roy Smith will preach in it on the fourth Sunday. Our school will begin October 1st. My teacher’s name will be Miss Clara Wilson. I have three brothers and three sisters. My sister is going off to school and I have one married and a brother in the navy, so there will be four children at home this winter. I am in the sixth grade. My daddy is a farmer. We have two large bay horses and a sorrel which we call our “saddle horse.” Your loving friend, Mary Virginia Dunkley. Claudville, VA”
Who was this Mary Virginia Dunkley of Claudville, Virginia and her brother, James (who had only written once)? While researching, I discovered that Mary Virginia Dunkley and James Dunkley were the children of Robert Henry Dunkley and Nancy Ada Dobyns. Robert Henry Dunkley was the son of Samuel Henry Dunkley and Lucy Frances Bennett. Nancy Ada Dobyns was the daughter of Samuel Green Dobyns and Ruth Elizabeth Lawson. I suspect the aunt with the new car was Lucy Frances Dunkley who married Rufus Edgar Woolwine, the Commonwealth’s Attorney of Patrick County for a half century, but that’s another story.
Mary Virginia and James Dunkley’s family moved from Claudville to Powhatan, Virginia in 1920 and the following year, at age 15, Mary Virginia married George Palmore. The couple had three children and Mary passed away in 1993 at the age of 86. James Dunkley enlisted in the United States Navy in 1927 and achieved the rank of Brevet Colonel before retiring in 1947. James lived in San Diego, California and passed away in 1970 at the age of 60.
“Dear Presbyterian: I have never written to you, but I thought I would. I am a girl of 15 years of age. I go to Sunday school every Sunday I can. I am in the eighth grade at school. My teacher’s name is Miss Mayme Frayser. I like her fine. She is such a sweet girl. I live with my grandma. My uncle carries the mail. He has a Ford car. Your unknown friend, Sallie Elva Anderson. Claudville, VA”
Sallie Elva Anderson was the daughter of John William Anderson and Geneva Alice Bateman of Claudville. I am guessing the uncle/mail carrier Sallie mentions in her letter was Merritt Bateman. Sallie Elva Anderson married Walter Green Arrington around 1920. Walter Green Arrington was the son of Robert Andrew Arrington and Alice Sarah Handy, who lived on Dobyns Mountain but later moved to Little Patrick in Amelia County, Virginia. Sallie and Walter remained in Patrick County and still have many descendants that live here today.
30th October 1918
“Dear Presbyterian: I am a boy sixteen years old. I live with my sister on a farm. We have a store and a Ford car. We have nice times riding. I went to Silof Mountain last Sunday. Tootsie and Merritt Bateman went with us. We had a delightful time. I want to surprise my friends, Tootsie and Bobby. I hope to see this in print. Your unknown friend, Claudville, Va.”
This letter is a puzzle. I have no idea where Silof Mountain is located nor the identities of Tootsie, Bobby, and the mystery writer.
“Dear Presbyterian: I wonder if you would publish a letter for me? This is my first attempt to write your paper. I am a girl of sixteen and live on a farm. I go to Dunkley’s High School and am in the eighth grade. I attend the Bethel Presbyterian Sunday school and belong to the same church, which has just been finished. I have three brothers and two sisters. My two elder brothers are in service, one in the Army and the other one in the Navy. My father is dead. I hope this war will soon be over (as I think it will), so my big brothers can come back home. My youngest brother is thirteen years old, so we haven’t anybody much to work on the farm. We have one horse and two cows, one hog and one pig. I will close. Your unknown friend, Exony Emma Clark, Claudville, VA.”
Exony Emma Clark’s prayers were answered because both big brothers came home! James Hatcher Clark remained in Claudville and lived to the age of 90. Claude Swanson Clark moved to Winston-Salem and lived to the age of 61. They were all the children of Nathaniel Greene Clark and Annie Margaret Hatcher. Exony’s sister, Mattie Clark, married Merritt Bateman and was Mary Virginia Dunkley’s teacher, as she states in her last letter.
6th November 1918
“Dear Presbyterian: As you printed my other letters, I thought I would write you again. I am going to school every day. I like my teacher fine. We have a three-room school. Our teachers’ names are Miss Mayme Frayser, Miss Mary Soyars, and Miss Mattie Clark. I like all three of them. I think they are real sweet. The name of our school is Dunkley’s High School. We have a piano, library, and several pictures of the great men, and a nice teacher’s desk. We have a fine school- I went to Stuart Thursday and came back Saturday afternoon. I had a nice time. I am going to knit some for the soldiers’ quilt when I get some yarn. I can’t get any now. Are you still making the quilts? I go to Sunday school every Sunday. I have received two pins for going three months and not missing. I will get my six-month pin next Sunday. I am afraid my letter is getting too long. I hope to see it in your good paper. I will close by asking a question: What is the shortest verse in the Bible? Your little friend, Mary V. Dunkley. Claudville, Va.”
Woody may be reached at rockcastlecreek1@gmail.com or (276) 692-9626.
