A Mystery About Alva Blake's Grandfathers

The handsome fellow reaching into his "poke" of Beechnut chewing tobacco is Alva Brannon Blake, born in 1892 on Clover Fork to John Jackson and Ella Mae (Foster) Blake1.

This 1936 photo was provided by Alva's granddaughter Loretta Roehrs.

Alva Blake's grandfathers had both come to Clover Fork with their parents, who were original settlers of the area. What's more, the names of both grandfathers appear on the roster of those tried in 1869 as Confederate sympathisers. So far we can find no indication of their service to the Confederacy. So many members of their families and community did support the Confederacy that we don't doubt the charge. We just wonder what they were doing.

Alva's grandfather Stewart McClung Blake was about 30 and had a wife a young family in 1860. He and his brother Anthony B. Blake were, oddly enough, mustered into the 125th West Virginia State Militia in 1860. We don't know the story of how they came to be in the Union Militia, but there must have been quite a story, because after the war they were found guilty of being Southern sympathizers and were disenfranchised in a Lewis. County Court.

To the right is Alva's dad and Stewart McClung's son, John Jackson Blake, who was born about the time his daddy was being mustered into the Union Militia.

Alva's maternal grandfather, Nimrod Brandon Foster, was also in his early 30s and married, with a young family during the Civil War. His name also appears as one of the men accused of Confederate sympathies but we find no evidence of any involvement in the War Between the States. We did find his obituary, and it speaks of a man who lived a life of respect and integrity- a long way from the accusations of being a traitor.

"... one of the oldest and most highly respected citizens of Lewis county died at his home on Clover Fork, near Orlando, on Thursday, September 23, 1915, at the advanced age of eighty-four years.He was one of the cornerstones of the Clover Fork Methodist Protestant Church--was its chief builder, and remained a pillar to the close of his life.He was a native of the "Old Dominion" but came to Lewis county with his family in his young manhood and has ever since been identified with its interests."

To the right is Ella Mae Foster, Alva's mother and the daughter of Nimrod Foster.

1. John Jackson and Ella Mae (Foster) Blake had twelve children: Alva, Vincent, Mildred, Ezra, Nora, Rufus, William Ray, Stokes, Myrtle, Lizzie, Roy and Lee Washington. Lee Washington Blake initiated the Riffle Blake Reunion and wrote the monograph Blake Riffle Family Back Seven Generations