Getting through Stokes County

As we began our journey to Stokes County, NC to find out about my father's family, we started our research tour in Raleigh, NC at the state library and began looking for information about James Ingram.  Our first major find was the marriage record for James Ingram and Minnie Gann.  I remembered daddy talking about James and Minnie.  James Ingram’s father was listed as Isaac Ingram and his mother was listed as Jane Adams.  We also found cemetery records for James and Minnie in Walnut Cove, NC.  This information started us on our journey to find the grave sites of James and Minnie. 

So, the next day, we struck out for Walnut Cove, NC which is north of Winston-Salem.  It’s also not far from Germantown, and Sandy Ridge, which were two places daddy mentioned from his youth.    From our research at the library, we were looking for Pine Ridge Primitive Baptist Church in Walnut Cove.

We did find the church and the grave sites of James and Minnie and two of their daughters.  While we were there, I was reminded that my sister Peggy had commented that Idell Bowman, one of granddaddy Tom’s sisters, was still living in Walnut Cove.  So we decided to try and find her and stop by and say hello if possible.  Interestingly enough, Idell lived on Bowman Road, not far from the church.  So, as we drove down Bowman Road looking for her house, we noticed a woman standing in her yard and decided to stop.  I rolled down my car window and introduced myself and asked if she knew Idell Bowman.  She replied, “Why, that’s me”.  Idell asked us in and offered us cookies and cokes.  We had a wonderful chat sitting there with her and reminiscing about family.  After a nice visit and some home-made cookies, we left Idell.  She later wrote to me with a list of her family members and told me Mencye Foster has the Bible for the James Ingram's family.

As we left Idell, we decided to head to Danbury, NC which is the county seat for Stokes County.  On the way, we stopped in Walnut Cove, and went into the hardware store on Main Street.  The place seemed like it had been there for a long time.  I thought about granddaddy and daddy walking the streets of this town and maybe doing business at this hardware store.  In Danbury, we went to the courthouse and searched for family documents.  We found a copy of the marriage license for James and Minnie, along with birth records for all of their kids and a copy of the deed for the property they purchased after they had been married a couple of years.  I think Daddy told me James operated a saw mill on the property which was near Walnut Cove.