One of the great resources available to Danville historians is Lee Wayland’s book If Streets Could Talk. One of the streets missing from Wayland’s book, however, is Jefferson Avenue. Perhaps, after all, the street was simply named after Thomas Jefferson. Though there were certainly Jeffersons associated with Danville’s established history, none of the candidates seem quite old enough to have earned the memorial, as the street appears, so named, on a map that dates from around the 1840’s. Interestingly, however, there were Jeffersons involved in the early days of the Old West End’s development.
John Garland Jefferson was born on the 30th of November 1812 in Amelia, Virginia, to John Garland and Nancy Anne Booker Jefferson of Winterham Plantation. Through John Garland Jr.’s great grandfather, the brother of Peter Jefferson, John was the first cousin, twice removed, from Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States.
In 1942, John married Otelia Mansfield Howlett, eleven years his junior, in Chesterfield, Virginia. Otelia was the eldest of five daughters born to Thomas Augustus and Elizabeth Burfoot Howlett.
Though John owned a large portion of land in Danville, it’s unclear if he ever lived there. Judging by census records, he was occupied as a farmer living in Amelia County for the majority of his life. Mr. Jefferson’s holdings included fifteen lots with four lots fronting Holbrook Avenue near the corner of Holbrook and Gray, and then, rounding the corner, eleven lots stretching southward and fronted by Gray Street.
Mr. Jefferson served in the Civil War, though by his own confession, he was not a major player in any of the battles or conflicts. When John applied for amnesty in 1865, he implied in his letter to President Jackson that his service was somewhat reluctant (though this attitude might have had more to do with the nature of the plea he was making). He stated that he did not actually participate in any combat, but that, through his commission, he was merely charged with buying and supplying food to General Lee and his soldiers. In that same letter, John states that, in 1865, he was 52 years old, had a wife and eight children, the oldest being ten years old. This seems not entirely to be the case as his first child, born a year after his marriage, was twenty at the time, and his second child, Thomas Garland, was old enough to do his own part in the conflict and in fact died on the 18th of May 1864 from wounds received three days prior.
The Shenandoah Valley Battlefields website recounts a little of Thomas’ history and of his death. Thomas was a cadet at the Virginia Military Institute when the war broke out. At the age of 17 he found himself at the Battle of New market. Lydie Crim, a young woman of 24 who lived in New Market at the time, recalled the battle thusly:
“My little brother called me to come and look at the fine soldiers coming down Shirley’s hill. This was the first time I ever saw the Virginia Military cadets. They looked so nice and trim as they ran down the hill. I yelled: “The French have come! the French have come! We will win the day! we will gain the day!” Just then a terrible shell exploded right in front of the line as they came down the hill and knocked a gap in the ranks. They just ran together elbow to elbow in an instant and closed up so beautifully. I can see it now; I will never forget these brave boy soldiers as they ran down the hill to victory and death.”
Jefferson escaped the initial blast. When a fellow cadet was hit, Thomas stopped to help. He removed his canteen, tore the strap from it, and fashioned it into a tourniquet which saved his comrade’s life. He then proceeded onward, advancing toward the line of battle. Upon reaching the orchard near Bushong House, the fire became so intense “it seemed impossible that any living creature could escape.” It was here Thomas was struck in the chest by a bullet. He fell, and when his fellow cadets stopped to help him, he urged them onward. “You can do me no good,” he told them, and sent them on their way.
After the battle, the townspeople carried the wounded and dead from the field. Thomas was found and carried to Lydie’s home, where he was placed in her mother’s bed. A surgeon cut the bullet out of Thomas’ back, but the damage was done. He died three days later.
John was well acquainted with grief, it seems, even before his son’s death. His sister, Martha Giles Jefferson White, had lost her husband and was rendered a widow shortly after her marriage in 1825. John had taken her in and had supported her since that time. After the death of his oldest brother, William Daniel Jefferson, in 1856, John had taken in his five children and, with the help of his wife, reared and educated them as his own. There was room for them at Winterham, no doubt, but the devastation the war had left was real, both in financial losses and in loss of life.
By 1870 things were looking up. John had acquired land in various places, including the up and coming tobacco center of Danville where, in 1869, he purchased a large parcel of land from the Nathaniel T. Green estate. He also discovered on his Amelia County property a large deposit of mica. A mine was opened on his property in 1871 which found the family, and those who worked it, considerable prosperity. In November of 1872, he sold the mine for $42,000.
John died in February of 1873, and his wife and children shortly thereafter sold the Danville property off. Among the buyers was Captain Edwin Edmunds Bouldin who built the Bouldin-Edmunds House at 636 Holbrook Avenue. The Venable House at 622 Holbrook Avenue was also later built upon the land formerly owned by Mr. Jefferson.
Sources:
Census and Vital records found at Familysearch.org
Images and vital information, including biographical sketches found at FindaGrave.com
Death notices and other information found in the Danville Register, Danville Bee and other newspaper archives at Newspapers.com and GenealogyBank.com
Also see above linked sources
