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- Find A Grave Memorial # 177613955
Child #11 of Captain Francis Asbury Munsey & Catherine Grabeel Munsey, born at Hagan, White Shoals District, Lee County, VA. His siblings: 1. Jacob G. (1851-1856), 2.Robert P.(1853-1929), 3.Louisa Jane, 4.Rosanna C. (1856-1864), 5.Josephus G., 6.Hannah V., 7.Rutha (b. 1860), 8.Mary Catherine "Mollie", 9.Martha Ella/Ellen, and 10.Sarah Octavia Munsey Combs.
According to the US Census of 1940, John Francis Munsey completed a 7th grade elementary education (that was normal for the time), he lived on Road 664, White Shoals, Lee Co., VA with his second wife Amanda. According to the biographical sketch of his daughter Mae Smith, "John F. Munsey was a man of distinction...He was interested in a progressive pulse beat for his community. He attended the School of Medicine at Lexington, but lack of funds altered his desire to become a family doctor. He returned to the farm, then became employed by the Railroad. He carried a railroad pass that (his daughter) Mae (Smith) has today as a keepsake. 'Brotherhood of Locomotive Fireman Traveling Card--J.F. Munsey fireman', the card reads. The fireman seal is in the upper right corner; a sketch of a locomotive in the left. On reverse, 'This card is good to the close of quarter ending December 20, 1897...John F's business life conintued in real estate, timber buying, he was active in Democrat politics..."
He married Flora Barbara Bartley, daughter of John C. and Jane Randolph Fletcher Bartley, on 4 July 1895, Lee County, VA. They began their married life at Hagan, White Shoals District, Lee County, VA. Then they lived for two years in Blue Field, Tazewell County, VA. The couple had five children, the first 4 were born in Lee County, VA: Margaret "Maggie" Mae Muncy, Massie Bartley Muncy, Mark Allen Muncy, Edith Catherine Jane Muncy (03 Oct 1902-10 Sept 1903, buried Milan-Hobbs Cemetery near Rosehill,Lee Co., Virginia), and an infant son born on 27 June 1905 and died 01 July 1905. Flora died from the childbirth three days after her baby, on 04 July 1905, 10 years to the day of her marriage. At that time, the family was living in Paw Paw, Elk County, Kansas. Flora's death is recorded at Severy, Greenwood County, Kansas. [This also is the area where John's sister Hannah V. Munsey Street, and others were living].
After Flora's death, John remained in Kansas until the wheat was harvested. Then he took his three living children with him back to Hagan, Lee County, Virginia to live. There, he married Amanda Taylor, daughter of Cyrus Reed Tyler and Susannah Hatfield Tyler, on 11 October 1906, at the home of brother Pete Tyler by Baptist minister Arthur Ely. [Amanda was born 02 Nov 1875 in Virginia].
"Mae was fond of her new mother. For all the family, Amanda went a long way to fill the love vaccuum created by Flora's death. Sometimes in adversity there is a growth opportunity. The youthful cook branched out to take music lessons on the organ." And with all his heart, John played the dulcimer, a stringed instrument 34" long and shaped like a pear. It sounds like a mellow banjo and played with a bow or plunked with a quill on the player's lap. Songs John played were "Boll Weevil", "Hard Times In The Mill", "Pie In The Sky", "Frankie and Johnny", "Around Her Neck She Wore A Yellow Ribbon", "When The Saints Go Marching In", and "Barbara Allen".
John preceeded Amanda in death on 8 March 1946. Amanda died at the home of Mae Smith, her "daughter" on death certificate-(actually her stepdaughter) on 28 July 1960, at the Clark Hospital in Jeffersonville, Clark County, IN. Her usual residence was Fredericksburg, Washington Co., Indiana. She lived to be 84y 8m 26d. She was buried in the Big Stone Gap Cemetery 30 July 1960.
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1869 - 1946 (77 years)
