| Notes |
- I BELIEVE THIS FAMILY TO BE DESCENDANTS FROM WILLAM WOMACK (1782 TAXLIST RECORD FOR FREDERICK COUNTY, VIRGINIA, 9 WHITE, 6 BLACK) OFFREDERICK COUNTY, VIRGINIA. ALSO, BERKELEY AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES OFWEST VIRGINIA WERE FORMED FROM FREDERICK COUNTY, VIRGINIA. BERKELEY& JEFFERSON COUNTIES, WEST VIRGINIA (FORMERLY PART OF FREDERICKCOUNTY, VIRGINIA) IS THE KNOWN BIRTH PLACES OF CARL LEE & CHARLES W.WOMAC/WOMAX OF OHIO, DIRECT DESCENDANTS.
NOTE: "Berkeley County, West Virginia Formed: 1772 Parent County:Frederick Martinsburg
Berkeley County is the second oldest county in West Virginia and wascreated (while part of the state of Virginia) in 1772 from thenorthern third of Frederick County, Virginia. The county seat wasestablished in the colonial village of Martinsburg and wasincorporated in 1778. During the Civil War, Berkeley County, still apart of Virginia, experienced conflict and much destruction, as didother areas, and families became divided. After November 1863,Berkeley County became part of the new state of West Virginia. Whereother areas are mentioned, it is possible you may find more completebiographies by visiting the GenWeb pages associated with the area,e.g., Jefferson or Morgan County, West Virginia". Source:WWW.USGENWEB.COM - Berkeley County, West Virginia
"Further queries in the Berkeley Co. courthouse records finds a NettieWOMAX b. 19 July 1899 to Jesse & Mary WOMAX of Hedgesville, WV."
"ps. Also found in a cemetary book at the courthouse, which could helpsomeone else but we've yet to make a connection here, was a CoraWOMIX, b. 31 Nov. 1881 in Berkeley Co., dau. of J.F. & B. ["Becky"?]WOMAX - another book states that her parents were John F. and RebeccaJ. WOMIX. She d. 17 Feb. 1889 (listed as age 6 yrs., 3 mons. 17 days)and is buried at Little Georgetown Methodist Cemetery. "
http://www.womacknet.com/message/archive/2003/2003.02.html
Monday, February 10, 2003 at 18:41:38 (PST)
Brandie justeastofeden@msn.com"
"16 October 1850 United States Federal Census
Name: John F Wamick
Age: 4
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1846
Birth Place: Virginia
Gender: Male
Home in 1850(City,County,State): District 58, Shenandoah, Virginia
Household Members: Name Age (2 ? people over 50 yrs old undable toread/write english)
Mary E Fravel 0 F, VA
Emily J Proctor 20 F, VA
Jesse Wamick 50 M, Miner, VA
John F Wamick 4 M, VA
Lucinda Wamick 26 F, VA
Margaret A Wamick 0 F, VA
Mary J Wamick 2 F, VA
Thomas J Wamick 8 M, VA
Source Citation: Year: 1850; Census Place: District 58, Shenandoah,Virginia; Roll: M432_976; Page: 131; Image: 263; Dwelling 1816/1828;Lines 14-21. Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc.,2005."
"15 July 1870 United States Federal Census; www.Ancestry.com; 27 May2007
Name: John F Womax
Estimated birth year: abt 1846
Age in 1870: 24
Birthplace: Virginia
Home in 1870: Long Marsh, Clarke, Virginia
Family and neighbors: View Results
Race: White
Gender: Male
Value of real estate: View image
Post Office: Berryville
Household Members: Name Age
John F Womax 24
Rabecca Womax 26
Jessy Womax 4
Lucy Womax 2
Alice Womax 1
William H Womax 4/12
Estell Hill 30
Source Citation: Year: 1870; Census Place: Long Marsh, Clarke,Virginia; Roll: M593_1641; Page: 509; Image: 178; Page 32.Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line].Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2003. Original data:1870. United States. Ninth Census of the United States, 1870.Washington, D.C. National Archives and Records Administration. M593,RG29, 1,761 rolls."
A lot of records in this area were destroyed in the many wars orskirmishes against the Indians, during the struggle of independencefrom the British, and during the Civil War era of major upheavels.Carl Lee Womax (Womac) stated on his daughter, Dorothy Mae WomaxMcCoy, birth certificate that he was born in Charles Town, JeffersonCounty, West Virginia, and on his brother Charles W. Womax (Womac)'sWorld War I Registration Card it was stated that Charles was born inBerkeley County, West Virginia, and lived in Cherry Run, (BerkeleyCounty) West Virginia. Both counties were originally in FrederickCounty, Virginia. In the 10th of January 1920 Census record forTuscarawas County, Ohio, their mother "Mary" states that she is fromWest Virginia, and both sons have stated that their father and motherwere born in West Virginia as well; Plus, they are listed together asbrothers on the census record. Plans are to send for Carl Lee and hismother Mary's death certificates in hopes of discovering more aboutthe family. Re. The name of Carl & Charles' father, and who Mary'sparents were. It is doubtful though that beyond those two records,that much more about the family may be found out since that will taketheir history back to the Civil War era of upheavels intoBerkeley/Jefferson Counties, Virginia in the 1860's. It is hopedthough that more clues will be ferreted out, and progress will takeplace in the genealogy research on the families history.
"Berkeley County is a county located in the U.S. state of WestVirginia. As of 2000, the population was 75,905. Its county seat isMartinsburg6. Berkeley is the second oldest county in West Virginia.It was created in 1772 from the northern third of Frederick County,Virginia and named for Norborne Berkeley, Baron de Botetourt, ColonialGovernor of Virginia from 1768 to 1770. Due to being close toWashington, D.C., Berkeley County is the fastest growing county in thestate in West Virginia.
This county is a part of the Washington-Baltimore Metropolitan Area."
"Berkeley County was created by an act of the House of Burgesses inFebruary 1772 from the northern third of Frederick County (Virginia).At the time of the county's formation it also consisted of the areasthat make up the present-day Jefferson and Morgan counties. Mosthistorians believe that the county was named for Norborne Berkeley,Baron de Botetourt (1718-1770), Colonial Governor of Virginia from1768 to 1770. West Virginia's Blue Book, for example, indicates thatBerkeley County was named in his honor. He served as a colonel inEngland's North Gloucestershire militia in 1761, and represented thatdivision of the county in parliament until he was made a peer in 1764.He claimed the title of Baron Botetourt as the lineal descendant ofSir Maurice de Berkeley, who died in 1347. Having incurred heavygambling debts, he solicited a government appointment, and in July1768, was made governor of Virginia. In 1769, he reluctantly dissolvedthe Virginia General Assembly after it adopted resolutions opposingparliament's replacement of requisitions with parliamentary taxes as ameans of generating revenue and a requirement that the colonists sendaccused criminals to England for trial. Despite his differences withthe General Assembly, Norborne Berkeley was well-respected by thecolonists, especially after he sent parliament letters encouraging itto repeal the taxes. When parliament refused to rescind the taxes,Governor Berkeley requested to be recalled. In appreciation of hisefforts on their behalf, the colonists erected a monument to hismemory which currently stands in Williamsburg, and two counties werelater named in his honor, Berkeley in present-day West Virginia andBotetourt in Virginia.
Other historians claim that Berkeley County may have been named inhonor of Sir William Berkeley (1610 to 1677). He was born near London,graduated from Oxford University in 1629, and was appointed Governorof Virginia in 1642. He served as Governor until 1652 and was laterreappointed Governor in 1660. He continued to serve as Virginia'sGovernor until 1677 when he was called back to England. He died laterthat year, on July 9, 1677.
The first settlers
According to missionary reports, several thousand Hurons occupiedpresent-day West Virginia, including the Eastern Panhandle region,during the late 1500s and early 1600s. During the 1600s the IroquoisConfederacy (then consisting of the Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, Oneida,and Seneca tribes) drove the Hurons from the state. The IroquoisConfederacy was headquartered in New York and was not interested inoccupying present-day West Virginia. Instead, they used it as ahunting ground during the spring and summer months.
During the early 1700s, West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle region wasinhabited by the Tuscarora. They eventually migrated northward intoNew York and, in 1712, became the sixth nation to be formally admittedinto the Iroquois Confederacy. The Eastern Panhandle region was alsoused as a hunting ground by several other Indian tribes, including theShawnee (also known as the Shawanese) who resided near present-dayWinchester, Virginia and Moorefield, West Virginia until 1754 whenthey migrated into Ohio. The Mingo, who resided in the Tygart Valleyand along the Ohio River in present-day West Virginia's NorthernPanhandle region, and the Delaware, who lived in present-day easternPennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, but had several autonomoussettlements as far south as present-day Braxton County, also used thearea as a hunting ground.
Following the French and Indian War, the Mingo retreated to theirhomes along the banks of the Ohio River and were rarely seen in theEastern Panhandle region. Although the French and Indian War wasofficially over, many Indians continued to view the British as athreat to their sovereignty and continued to fight them. In the summerof 1763, Pontiac, an Ottawa chief, led raids on key British forts inthe Great Lakes region. Shawnee chief Keigh-tugh-qua, also known asCornstalk, led similar attacks on western Virginia settlements,starting with attacks in present-day Greenbrier County and extendingnorthward to Berkeley Springs, and into the northern ShenandoahValley. By the end of July, Indians had destroyed or captured allBritish forts west of the Alleghenies except Fort Detroit, Fort Pitt,and Fort Niagara. The uprisings were ended on August 6, 1763 whenBritish forces, under the command of Colonel Henry Bouquet, defeatedDelaware and Shawnee forces at Bushy Run in western Pennsylvania.
During the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), the Mingo andShawnee, headquartered at Chillicothe, Ohio, allied themselves withthe British. In 1777, a party of 350 Wyandots, Shawnees and Mingos,armed by the British, attacked Fort Henry, near present-day Wheeling.Nearly half of the soldiers manning the fort were killed in thethree-day assault. The Indians then left the area celebrating theirvictory. For the remainder of the war, smaller raiding parties ofMingo, Shawnee, and other Indian tribes terrorized settlers throughoutnorthern and eastern West Virginia. As a result, European settlementthroughout present-day West Virginia, including the Eastern Panhandle,came to a virtual standstill until the war's conclusion.
Following the war, the Mingo and Shawnee, once again allied with thelosing side, returned to their homes. As the number of settlers inpresent-day West Virginia began to grow, both the Mingo and Shawneemoved further inland, leaving their traditional hunting ground to thewhite settlers.
Early European settlers:
In 1670, John Lederer, a German physician and explorer employed by SirWilliam Berkeley, colonial governor of Virginia, became the firstEuropean to set foot in present-day Berkeley County; their safety wasnot guaranteed. John Howard and his son also passed throughpresent-day Berkeley County a few years later, and discovered thevalley of the South Branch Potomac River at Green Spring. The nextknown explorer to traverse the county was John Van Meter in 1725. Hecame across the Potomac River, at what is now known as Shepherdstown,then he made his way to the South Branch Potomac River. When hereturned to his home in New York, Van Meter advised his sons topurchase land in the area.
In 1726, Morgan Morgan, moved from Delaware and founded the firstpermanent English settlement of record in West Virginia on Mill Creeknear the present-day Bunker Hill in Berkeley County. The state of WestVirginia erected a monument in Bunker Hill commemorating the event,and placed a marker at Morgan's grave, which is located in a cemeterynear the park. Morgan Morgan and his wife, Catherine Garretson, hadeight children. His son, Zackquill Morgan, later founded present-dayMorgantown.
In 1730, John and Isaac Van Meter, two of John Van Meter's sons,secured a patent for 40,000 acres (162 km²) at the South BranchPotomac River, much of it located in present-day Berkeley County, fromVirginia's Colonial Lieutenant Governor William Gooch. The brotherssold the land the following year to Hans Yost Heydt, also known asJoist Hite. In 1732, Joist Hite and fifteen families set out fromYork, Pennsylvania, passed through present-day Berkeley County, andsettled near present-day Winchester, Virginia. In 1774, John Van Metermoved to a site near Moorefield, then part of Hampshire County, butnow in present-day Hardy County. His brother, Isaac Van Meter, settledfurther to the west.
18th Century Berkeley County:
In 1748, George Washington, then just sixteen years old, surveyedpresent-day Berkeley County for Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax ofCameron. He later returned to Bath (Berkeley Springs) several timesover the next several years with his half-brother, Lawrence, who wasill and hoped that the warm springs might improve his health. Thesprings, and their rumored medicinal benefits, attracted numerousNative Americans as well as Europeans to the area.
19th Century Berkeley County:
Berkeley County was reduced in size twice during the 1800s. On January8, 1801, Jefferson County was formed out of the county's easternsection. Then, on February 9, 1820, Morgan County was formed out ofthe county's western section and parts of Hampshire County.
Berkeley County was of strategic importance to both the North and theSouth during the American Civil War (1861 to 1865). The county, andMartinsburg, the county seat, lay at the northern edge of theShenandoah Valley, and Martinsburg was very important because the mainline of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad ran through the town. The railline was of great importance to both armies. Also, Martinsburg wasclose to the Union arsenal at Harpers Ferry. Control over Martinsburgchanged hands many times during the war, especially prior to theBattle of Gettysburg in July 1863. After Gettysburg, the city remainedmostly under Union control.
Most of Berkeley County's residents were loyal to the South during theAmerican Civil War. There were seven companies of soldiers recruitedfrom the county: five for the Confederate Army and two for the UnionArmy. At least six hundred men from Berkeley County served in eitherthe Confederate or Union Armies.
Berkeley County was also the home of Maria Isabella "Belle" Boyd, afamous spy for the Confederacy. She was born in Martinsburg on May 9,1844, and lived there until the outbreak of the war. Her espionagecareer began on July 4, 1861 when a band of drunken Union soldiersbroke into her Martinsburg home intent on raising the United Statesflag over the house. As the soldiers forced their way into the house(one account has a soldier pushing Belle's mother), Belle drew apistol and killed him. A board of inquiry exonerated her actions asjustifiable homicide, but sentries were posted around the house andofficers kept close track of her activities. She befriended theofficers, and at least one of them, Captain Daniel Keily, shared withher military secrets. She conveyed those secrets to Confederateofficers via her slave, Eliza Hopewell, who carried the messages in ahollowed-out watch case. She later moved to Front Royal, Virginia tolive with an aunt. One evening in mid-May, 1862 General James Shieldsand his staff conferred in the parlor of the local hotel. Belle hidupstairs and overheard Shields mentioning that he had been orderedeast, a move that would reduce the Union Army's strength at FrontRoyal. Belle reported the news to Colonel Turner Ashby, a Confederatescout. He relayed the information to General Thomas "Stonewall"Jackson, commander of the Confederate Army. After Jackson took FrontRoyal on May 23, he penned a note of gratitude to Belle, and named heran honorary Captain. Belle was later arrested by the Union Army forespionage, spent a month in the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C.and was freed in a prisoner exchange. In June 1863, she was arrestedagain for espionage by the Union Army during a visit to Martinsburg.She remained in custody until December 1, 1863 when, suffering fromtyphoid, she was allowed to travel to England to regain her strength.While there, she began a stage career and penned her memoirs. Afterthe war, she returned to the United States, toured the western statesrecounting her exploits as a spy during the war, and died in 1900 inEvansville, Wisconsin.
Berkeley County remained in the Confederacy throughout the Civil War,and was not part of the formation of the State of Kanawha, renamedWest Virginia, when it was admitted to the Union with 48 formerVirginia counties on January 1, 1863. Rather, after the War, duringReconstruction, in 1866, two more counties decided in localreferendums that they also wanted to be part of the new state of WestVirginia, bringing the total to 50. These last 2 counties wereBerkeley County and Jefferson County."
Aler, F. Vernon. 1888. Aler's History of Martinsburg and BerkeleyCounty, West Virginia: From the Origin of the Indians... Hagerstown,MD: Printed for the author by the Mail Publishing Company.
Doherty, William T. 1972. Berkeley County, U.S.A.: A BicentennialHistory of a Virginia and West Virginia County, 1772-1972. Parsons,WV: McClain Printing Company, 1972.
Evans, Willis F. 1928. History of Berkeley County, West Virginia.Wheeling, WV: No publisher.
Dr. Robert Jay Dilger, Director, Institute for Public Affairs andProfessor of Political Science, West Virginia University.
SOURCE:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_County%2C_West_Virginia;Obtained & Transcribed on 16 July 2006 by SLJuhl, compiler.
Email:
"WOMAX FAMILY HISTORY
John F. Womax (1846) Ft. Frederick Md / Clarke County,VA
Rebecca Hill (1844) VA
Children 1. Jesse Womax 1866 Clarke, VA D: 1914 W Va
Wife Mary C. Marple (1860)
Children 1. Carl Lee (1892)
Charles William(1898)
Nettie (1899)
2 Lucy (1867)
3 Alice (1868)
4 William H. (1869)
5 Cora (1881)
Charles William Womax and Myrtle V. Farris (1st marriage)
Children Roscoe D. Womax
Paul Lee Womax
Charles and Myrtle were my grandparents. Charles is buried in the NewPhiladelphia, Ohio, Tuscarawas County. He was killed Nov. 1940 in acoal mine accident. I researched the cemetery and found him and a lotof other Womax?s dating back to the 1700?s... Charles and Myrtle weredivorced in the 30?s and she took the boys and settled in Newark,Ohio. Paul joined the Air Corps in WWII and later settled inLouisiana. He died in La Place, Louisiana in 2004.
Charles remarried to Adaline Huber and they had a son, Lionel A.B.Womax
Charles was born 19 May 1898, Berkley County, W Va, D: 8 Nov 1940.
Roscoe was born 20 April, 1916, Cherry Run, Morgan County, W VA D: 31May 1985.
Paul was born Dec 1919, D: Aug 2004"
Signed: Harley D. Womax, Ohio
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