Second Generation
4. John Dillon
VANDAL was born about 1786 in Natural Bridge, Rockbridge, Virginia.
He died about 1853 in Spring Creek, Roane, Virginia. !From the Vandal
Newsletter, July, 1990.
John Dillon Vandal was born in 1786 and was the third child and second son of
Abraham and Mary (Dillon) Vandal. He married four times, including first and
fourth to Nancy Boggs.
It was apparantly after the 1834 death of Rachel, his third wife, that, it is
said, he went West with the Mormans. This was too early for him to have gone
to Utah, so it is possible he may have joined with them at their settlement in
Jackson County, Missouri, just North of Kansas City. However, part of the
principal Mormon settlement was re-established in 1839 at Nauvoo in Haancock
Co., Illinois, on the Mississippi River.
John's reported life style does not appear to match the frugal, temperate
habits of the Mormons. Raised in a farm house which was also licensed as an
"ordinary" inn, where alcoholic beverages were provided for traveling
guests,
John apparently imbibed too, for one of our family historians wrote that "he
claimed to be a great doctor, usually when drinking".
After John's first marriage to Nancy Boggs, 28 Oct 1809, she ran off with a
cousin, George Boggs, to Kentucky, where they had two children. John divorced
Nancy, and then married Abigail Blake, by whom he had six children. Abigail
died, and John married again, 2 May 1827, to Rachel W. Wiseman. The couple
had four children and Rachel died giving birth to the last child, Amanda.
After the death of Rachel, Nancy came back from Kentucky and John re-married
her, and they lived together until death separated them. John reportedly
said he never loved anyone but Nancy, and re-married her over the family's
protests. He died in 1853, and Nancy became demented, committing suicide by
drowning in Spring Creek, Roane Co., Virginia in June of 1856.
!From L. Neil Darlington's book, "Cabins of the Loop and Environs of the
Southern Half of Fayette County, Virginia as reprinted in the Vandal
Newsletter of July, 1988.
In August, 1812, John Vandal made a land entry for 85 acres "lying in the
Loop
on the waters of New Rive4, beginning at about 60 poles below the said
Vandal's house on the top of a narrow ridge by the side of the wagon road, so
as to include the spring and farm where he now lives." From the survey
which
followed, we learn that the "wagon road" referred to was the Old State
Road
from Bowyer's Ferry.
John Vandal received an appointment as Ensign in the state militia in 1815,
and apparently was still living in the Loop in the 1830's, when he was
employed as chainman on the Bowyer survers.
!From Wayne Vandal Masterson's notes as printed in the Vandal Newsletter,
July, 1988.
The John Vandal house, located on the bank of the stream, and which gave it
the name, House Creek, was an older one, and may have been Slater's cabin
originally.
!From the Vandal Newsletter of October, 2001.
It appears that John did join the Mormon Church. On December 4, 1894, temple
work was performed for John D. Vandal in the Mormon temple at St. George, Utah
by Henry William Bigler, a missionary in the church. The information recorded
in the
temple states that "it appears that John D. Vandal joined the Church but
did not chose
to 'gather' with the other members". John Dillon VANDAL and Nancy BOGGS
were married on 15 Oct 1809 in , Greenbrier, Virginia. They were
divorced. Nancy BOGGS (daughter of John
Attie BOGGS and Susan (Susanna) DRENNEN) was born about 1791 in , Greenbrier,
Virginia. She died about Jun 1856 in Spring Creek, Roane, Virginia.
BIOGRAPHY: !As written by Earl Vandal and reported by Violet M. Brown in the
Vandal Newsletter, January, 1997.
Nancy's first husband was John Vandal. The 2nd husband was Marma Duke
Williams. He and Nancy had two children. Their names wee Marma Duke Williams
and Mariah Williams. The childrens' father died and Nancy, with her two
children, Marma Duke and Miriah, went back to Nancy's father, John Boggs. He
raised the children - therefore, the children went by the name of Boggs.
For her third husband, she married Jim Maze and later married John Vandal
again.
!Kindred Konnections Individual Record - ball3, 2/27/1999.
Nancy drowned in Spring Creek at Spencer County in June, 1856. A suicide. John
Dillon VANDAL and Abigail (2) BLAKE were married about 1814. Abigail
(2) BLAKE (daughter of Peter BLAKE and Mary CURRAN) was born about 1795 in
, Greenbrier, Virginia. She died about 1826 in , Greenbrier, Virginia.
John Dillon VANDAL and Abigail (2) BLAKE had the following children:
John
Dillon VANDAL and Rachel W. (3) WISEMAN were married on 2 May 1827 in , Greenbrier,
Virginia. Rachel W. (3) WISEMAN (daughter
of William WISEMAN and Phebe KILBURN) was born on 25 Jan 1807. She
died about 1834. !From the Vandal Newsletter, January, 1989.
Rachel (Wiseman) Vandal died in 1834, giving birth to the couple's fourth
child, Amanda. John Dillon VANDAL and Rachel W. (3) WISEMAN had the following
children:
John Dillon VANDAL
and Nancy (4) BOGGS were married about 1835. Nancy
(4) BOGGS died about 1856 in Spring Creek, Roane, Virginia. |