Beverly Flanagan
(b. 1822)
My great great grandfather Beverly Flanagan was born about 1822 in
(I think) North Carolina. He married Nancy Odle in November 1840
and they lived in Ridgeway, Henry County Virginia most of their
lives. Nancy's Odle/Odell family came from Rockingham County NC.
They had 14 children (as far as I know). You would think, out of 14
that at least one would have descendants that are interested in
genealogy.
Nancy's father was James Odle, his father was William Odell, and
his father was John Odell. It is believed by most relatives that
John, born about 1727, came to VA from England as a child and moved
to Rockingham Co NC, where he died in 1799.
(Per the research of Karen Dale: The Order Book of Spotsylvania
County, Virginia, 4th of June 1745, page 323, records the
following: "John Odle in order to prove his right to take up fifty
acres of land according to Royal Instructions, came into Court and
made Oath that he came into this Colony immediately from Great
Britain about eighteen years ago and that this is the first time of
proving his said right which is ordered to be certyfed.") Info from
James C. "Jim" Hankins
It was told to my older cousins, that Beverly was a Veterinarian
(self taught I assume). He would go off into the mountains of
Virginia for days at a time to collect herbs to make his medicines.
He and one son, Walter, are said to be buried on the old farm in
Ridgeway (Walter in a marked grave and Beverly in an unmarked one).
In 1977, when a cousin visited the home place, the old chimney to the
Flanagan house was all that stood and it was being torn down by the
present land owner.
The names of the 14 children are debated, but here is the list I have
(please correct me on any): Anna, Martha Wade, Susan, Sarah Elizabeth
"Bettie", Mary, Neuton, Wilson "Wilks", Clarissa, William "Bill"
Perkin, John, "Bud" Beverly Jr, Lafayette Pack, Walter, and Nancy.
Back in these days the Flanagan, Gilley and Brim families were
supposedly feuding. (Beverly's oldest daughter Anna married J.A. Brim
and my ancestor Bill married Anna Gilley.) The feud is why my Bill
and Anna moved their family from VA to TN by train around 1888.
The story is told that Beverly's son Pack could throw rocks at
unbelievable speeds. He used rocks in squirrel hunting and once broke
a man's leg with a rock in these feuds. One day during a feud, Pack
threw a rock at great speed, missed the man, and the rock went
through the saloon window. The rock clipped off the necks of a whole
row of whiskey bottles behind the bar. Pack went before the judge on
this charge and the judge said "Pack, I fine you five dollars". Pack
answered "Thank you, I need five dollars" and walked out of court.
Another feud story finds son Wilks and one of the Brim men fighting
with knives, with the Brim getting cut. A little later Wilks was
attacked at a baseball game and killed with a bat.
Another son Walter never married and accumulated quite a bit of money
and valuables, which he kept in an old trunk. Of course the money was
Confederate, so it lost value at war time. When Walter died, an
outsider went in his home and stole everything of value.
Neuton moved to Indiana and I don't know what happened to the other
siblings.
--Penny (Flanagan) Fortune
