Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1913-11-21
JENNINGS FAMILY
WAS KNOWN HERE
Famous "A' "as Born in the Cove
Where Family Had Fled D usass
War Between the ST ,tes.

oiiy lidu Fleu II NEdesS
War Between the St aes.
-
In the last issue of tn is paper
doubt was expressed as TO the
correctness of the rstement.
made in the Saturday Evening
Post, that AL Jennings, th,s oy,ce
famous outlaw, was horn IN
this county. Investiga' ION bv a
News reporter verifies tho state
ment. A number of ennle now
living in the county Mccall the
incidents of the nara five az re- re-
lated in the publicat Ion above
reIerIeo TO- "hich is IS follows:
In 1868 Longstreet and asose-
Grams were opera tir - in Ta,.,,-
eSseei sS a1 any illsai1y GFecipitated
shield and prot ect J,Ss f,n,;lu
DIR. Jennings, wi 10Y nas y s1ronon
in the Confede- rat, 'a srnsv " Su' SD cd
VJa ulsen MS WIZ To take her
soI SJIu' So, %nS nd stock and
uian W;a,A nen ~s u ,ner mother in
ia, faread a. RS Jennings was
t'vW tSa 49, W. - ID on :. the road, says
"a eae s TAAs' T. I" and l-at an abandon
9@ SaSss sSar oil ho ase ,1Alphouso was
gSs' The XIV, h armies closed
!" about the u. AIf travel became
unsafe, so she stayed at the
school hous e awaiting the issue
of the war. 70
The "sch ool house" mentioned
was an ia brick structure,
which sto ID Near the present
residence Of Mrs. White, in the
Cove, afto rwards burned down,
which wa ga general stopping
place for ali sorts of travellers,
and soil dnrs Who chanced tc
pass tina wav II is stated upon.
good au' ihority by those who re-
mempe' 1.-The facts that the late
Orvllie Brown, either voluntari-
~ or " request of Mrs. Jen
nings' who was in delicate health
at IN Z time, took her to this old
scho' ol house on sled, and made
her comfortable there. Her baby
4 was born there. Mrs. Brown
wa tied on and cared for her dur
~ 2 her illness, and after about
II ree weeks had elapsed Mrs.
:: ennings, with her children, one
J n her arms. left. and tradition
gays, went to or near Chatham
Fill. Mrs. Brown could not be
communicated with direct, but
tthe above are understood to be
the bare facts. AS Al Jennings
y was the younges st child, this
mother, fleeing be fore an invad
ing army on foot, must have had
four other children with her at
this time, one of them, Frank,
just two years old. There were
four brothers-John, Ed, Frank
and AL, and one daughter, in the
family. The daughter may have
been younger than Al and born
after the war. The account
Estates that after year and a
half, Mrs. Jennings and her hus-
band were united, but does not
SAY where. She baked pies and
,cakes and thus made a living
for herself and young children.
After the war the family moved
to Illinois where DR.. Jennings
recuperated his ruined fortune
by the practice of medicine. At
the beginning of the war he was
opening farming business in
Tennessee. Mrs. Jennings died
in 1874 on her way back to Vir-
ginia in search of health. AL
was then IL years of age. He
ran away from home soon after
the death of his mother, and
had precarious, eventful ca
reer-boot black, cowboy, work
X. ed in theatre, student in West
SA Virginia University, lawyer,
nssak and train robber, convict
in penitentiary. Commonwealth
~ Attorney in Colorado, served his
full time in prison, now sue
.cessful, respectable, highly es-
teemed lawyer. All his brothers
and father were lawyers. Ed
was killed in a saloon fight,
growing out of legal prosecu-
tion. The father was at differ
ent times Methodist preacher,
physician, judge, etc. The fam
lily was of the "best blood of
Virginia" They came from the
Shenandoah Valley. Father and
mother were strong, heroic peo-
pie, undaunted in the face of
the direst difficulties. Who can
,in12gine' what Mrs. Jennings
,,o1ct hove o,,fforol ,,oo,,talIx,