Lunceford Family Homestead

Thanks for dropping by the Homestead. It's my hope that this place will provide each member of our family with a deeper understanding of who they are and where their ancestors were from.
I began researching our family history in 1996 when I was given information about a certain Sir Thomas Lunsford who came to Virginia from England in 1650. I had hoped to find a direct line from this fellow and in the process I've gained a far better understanding of history and the roles our family has played in it. I've found no evidence that shows any relationship between Sir Thomas and our family, but the old man inspired me and I think it's only fair to show his likeness here. This is taken from a full length portrait that hangs in the Manor House at Audley End, Essex, England.
Ironically, the manor was built by descedants of Sir Thomas' arch-rival, Oliver Cromwell.


Sir Thomas Lunsford, Kt.

Our Family History

Our Family history can only be verified back to an approximate birth year of 1764. This was based on the entry in the 1850 Federal Census for Fauquier County, Virginia which shows, "Lunceford, Baldwin - age 86 yrs. - Farmer - illiterate"
Given that the age here may not be accurate, since Baldwin was illiterate, we have to give a couple of years to possible inaccuracy. His wife then, Judith (Creel) whom he married in 1796, was shown to be 71 and "keeping house." This was Baldwin's second wife after his first wife, Anna (Ball) whom he married in 1792, had died shortly after the birth of Benjamin, our next ancestor in this line.
Benjamin was born in 1793. It was thought that he had a sister, Elizabeth "Batsay", but I've found no documents that verify this. The name "Batsay" is believed by some of us to be a bad transcription of Baldy found in an old guardianship record concerning Benjamin. He appears in the Federal Census before 1850 as married with children but not holding slaves. Benjamin was married to Mary (Griffith) in 1818. She's seen in their marriage record in Fauquier County, mentioned in her fathers will and later found in the records of Long Branch Baptist Church at Halfway, Virginia until her death in 1848. Her father was Elijah Griffith and a transcript of his will is available on the "Wills and Parish Records" page. Her grandfather was Evan Griffith of near Cardiff, Wales, married  to Sarah (Willoughby), and was apparently very wealthy, as you can see from his will transcript on the "Wills and Parish Records" page.
The next individual in this line is Elijah Chilton Lunceford, born in 1827. He married his cousin, Harriet (Griffith) in about 1853. He joined with John Singleton Mosby in the Civil War and rode in Co. E under Captain Samuel Chapman. He drew a $30 per year Confederate pension from the State of Virginia from 1902 until his death in 1920. His pension states that he suffered from old age and "rheumatism brought on by exposure during the War." In the pension he states that he had lived in Halfway, Virginia "all my life." During Prohibition, he used some of his pension to buy whiskey which was brought from Baltimore by wagon each month. According to his grandson, Wilson Fairfax Lunsford, "he played cards, chewed tobacco, drank whiskey and lived to the age of 93."
The next generation in this line is actually given in 4 parts, one for each of the sons of Elijah Chilton.


William Rhodes Lunceford

William Rhodes Lunceford was the oldest son after two of his brothers died from dyptheria in 1846. He was about 9 yrs. old when his father joined Mosby's Rangers. He married his cousin, Elouise "Ella" (Hawes) and came to Missouri in about 1886. Her parents, Oliver and Alcinda (Lunceford) Hawes came to Missouri before 1884, as their son Granville appears in the will of John Beazer Campbell which was dated 21 May 1884. Alcinda was a younger sister of Elijah Chilton Lunceford. I'm not sure why the family came to Missouri, it might be that they were unable to recover their losses from the Civil War. My theory is that the Hawes and Lunceford families came because of the Methodist Church. We may never know for certain.
Willie and Ella had 7 sons and I descend through their third son, Lewis Normen Lunceford. Willie and Ella are buried at the Oakland Methodist Cemetery near Grain Valley, Missouri.

William Rhodes Lunceford with his "Missouri Mules."
Lewis Normen and Nona Mae (White) Lunceford's wedding photo.

Samuel Shelton Lunceford

Samuel Shelton Lunceford was the next younger son. He married Frances Hannah (Brammer) in Jackson County, Missouri. Frances was the daughter of James Namen Brammer, a Confederate veteran buried in the Confederate Cemetery at Higginsville, Missouri. There were 12 children in this family, Edythe Ailene (Lunceford) Zemites was 95 yrs. at the time of her passing in April 2002. I found Samuel Shelton listed in an old Independence, Missouri city directory from 1932 that gave his position as a plumber and living in Fairmount, Missouri. Fairmount is on the western edge of Independence, Missouri. Shelton and Frances are buried at Oakland Methodist Cemetery near Grain Valley, Missouri.

Samuel Shelton and Frances Hannah (Brammer) Lunceford

John Henry Lunceford

John Henry Lunceford came to Missouri sometime after 1895, the story goes that he was, "running from the law" after he allegedly shot a lawman in Virginia. He later returned to clear his name for a "government job" and the court ruled the incident "self defense." The government job that this story refers to may have been with Jackson County, Missouri. John was County Road Overseer for the Fairmount district of Jackson County until his death from an "extended illness" in 1933. We haven't been able to track down any of John's descendants, one of his daughters went to California. John and Madie are buried at the Oakland Methodist Cemetery near Grain Valley, Missouri.

John Henry Lunceford

Edgar Marshall Lunsford

Edgar Marshall Lunsford was the youngest son in this line. He changed the spelling of his last name from Lunceford to the one used here. There is some speculation that he changed it to avoid confusion with his mail delivery, another theory was to avoid the association to the black Lunceford families. I'm not certain whether there were any black Lunceford families in Fauquier County, Virginia at that time. There were slaves held by Lunceford families that may have taken the name and lived there. I haven't researched this.
Edgar stayed in Virginia and worked as a stone mason, a trade that he passed down to his sons. He married Ethel (Wine) and they had 8 children. Ethel died after the birth of her youngest son.
Edgar later remarried Eleise (Moore) and had a daughter. He lived in Marshall, Virginia. His home and outbuildings still stand on the edge of town, they have been remodeled and are said to be in very good condition now.

Edgar Marshall and Ethel (Wine) Lunsford

Edgar Marshall Lunsford's home in Marshall, VA

Elijah Chilton Lunceford with his grandkids and Ethel

Other Family Lines

I was contacted by another descendant of Baldwin and Judith (Creel) and he assisted me with will and marriage information. He descended through Wormley Lunceford. Wormley was Judith's younger son. He married his cousin, Mahala (Ball).
Another child of Baldwin and Judith, Mary (Lunceford) Kemper has descendants in Illinois. The cousin I talked to has researched the Creel and Kemper lines and provided me some help with marriage record clarification in these families.
Some of our cousins were also in Mosby's Rangers with Elijah Chilton and I've been in touch with descendants of some of these men, either through email or visiting them while in Virginia. One of these Rangers was John Lunceford. His grandson, also named John, was kind enough to invite me into his home at Marshall, Virginia to play guitar with him. He was self-taught, as I am, but is a great deal better. He plays the old honky-tonk or Rock-a-Billy style which is one of my favorites.
Another man Elijah Chilton served with was Albin Peyton Ball, a descendant of Anna Ball's family. Some of his descendants are located in Ohio and Jim Ball has shared some of his research with me concerning the Lunceford and Ball families.

There will be more cousins that turn up as the research effort progresses and this Homestead will welcome them, as I hope it has done you.
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