52 Ancestors 2021: Week 3: Namesake

My name is Brecca -- and sadly, I'm not named after anyone. In fact, most people mispronounce or misspell my name as Becca or Rebecca. My name is pronounced Brek-kuh. My first name actually came from my Dad sitting back and watching an old Western movie where there was a character named "Bricka," or something similar to that. 

However, there is a gorgeous name in my family that for a couple generations was "a family name," if you will, and then it seemed to have died out, quite literally. It's my absolute favorite name in my entire family tree...

Vandalia.

The first Vandalia was my 3x Grandmother, Vandalia Delia (Gibson) Nally. I, unfortunately, have no photographs of Vandalia, even though she lived well into the 20th century. I'm not incredibly sure what or who the first Vandalia was named after... my speculation is the Vandalia territory. 

According to Wikipedia -- Vandalia was the name in the late 1700s of a proposed British colony in North America. The colony would have been located south of the Ohio River, primarily in what are now West Virginia and northeastern Kentucky. 

It's possible the Gibson family knew of this proposed colony as they came to Kentucky from Caswell County, North Carolina, and would have undoubtedly traveled through eastern Kentucky to arrive in Henderson County, Kentucky in the mid 1810's. 

Vandalia was born December 21st, 1856, in the Corydon area of Henderson County, Kentucky, where the Gibson family had been settled since Joel Gibson, Vandalia's great-Grandfather, came to the area in 1813. He came with a passel of his children, including his son Berryman Gibson, who was Vandalia's Grandfather. 

Vandalia herself was the daughter of John Gregory Gibson and Mahala Caroline Busby. She was their ninth child -- their fifth daughter. Vandalia and her older sister Neosha, were the only two daughters that lived past their 20's. 

On January 28th, 1880, at Old Highland Missionary Baptist Church in Union County, Kentucky, Vandalia became Mrs. Henry Oliver Nally. She was 23 years old. On her marriage application, she is listed as "Vannie Gibson." Vannie was her lifelong nickname. 

Henry and Vandalia were the the parents of seven children -- of those seven, there were two sets of twins. Janella & Camilla being the first, and then Henry & Vandelia being the last.

Martha Vandelia "Vannie" (Nally) Williams was born on November 19th, 1891, in Corydon, Kentucky. She was the twin of Henry Oliver "Bud" Nally. Vannie married Richard James "RJ" Williams and bore him one daughter, Eleanor Dorothy (Williams) McKasson. 

Vannie unfortunately died young, on November 9th, 1913, just shy of her 22nd birthday. 

Looking back at another of Vandalia's daughters -- Janella -- she mothered the third, and final "Vannie" in our family line. 

Vannie Louise Thompson was born to John Rowan Thompson and Mary Janella Nally on November 24th, 1911, in Henderson County, KY. Unfortunately, Vannie didn't live a long life. At almost four years old, she passed away of membranous croup and was laid to rest along with the other Vannie's in the Gibson Family Cemetery. She died November 19th, 1915. That would have been her aunt, Martha Vandelia's 24th birthday, coincidentally enough.

The original Vandalia -- she lived to see the age of 92. She passed away on July 5th, 1949, in Henderson, KY, of arteriosclerotic heart disease. 

If you ever go to the Gibson family cemetery out on top of the hill on Hughes-Sights Road in Corydon, Kentucky, remember to pay your respects to the Vandalia's of our family, especially those who didn't live a long life at all. And also, remember to pay your respects to the patriarch of the Gibson's in Henderson County -- Joel Gibson, my 6x Grandfather. Without Joel, none of us would be here today. And when I say none of us, I quite literally mean just about every person in Henderson County, Union County, and even Webster County have a line going back to Joel Gibson. 

Joel, too, became a family name in the Gibson family but, it would take me eons to gather up information on every single Joel there is in the family. There are five when I type in "Joel Gibson" into my family tree on Ancestry, but I know there are more than that, that I haven't added in. 

I have another interesting "namesake" story in my tree that I could talk about... and that's my 3x Grandmother, Mary Olive Oatman "Ollie" (Raley) Blandford. She was named after Olive Ann Oatman (1837-1903) -- an American woman taken hostage by a Native American tribe. The character of Eva Oakes, on the AMC show, Hell on Wheels, is adapted from Olive Oatman. 

The Wikipedia about Olive Oatman: Olive Oatman

Photograph below is of the real Olive Oatman, from the Wikipedia page.

My 3x Grandmother, Mary Olive Oatman "Ollie" Raley was born February 3rd, 1864, in Union County, Kentucky. She was the daughter of George Washington Raley and Frances "Fanny" Martin. She was one of at least nine children -- most of them being girls. 

On October 8th, 1883, at Sacred Heart Church, she became Mrs. Samuel Blandford, at the age of 19 years. 

Sam and Ollie had eight children together before she passed away on June 16th, 1906, at the age of 42. I'm unsure of what Ollie's C.O.D. was, as in 1906, Kentucky wasn't keeping proper death certificates yet. I believe, though, that she's buried in Saint Peters Cemetery in Waverly, Union County, Kentucky. However, no tombstone for her has been located. I've also never seen a photograph of Sam Blandford nor Ollie (Raley) Blandford. Sam re-married shortly after Ollie's death.  

I may, someday, revisit this topic and talk about all the Joel Gibson's in the family, if I ever find them all, LOL. But for now.. I think I'll wrap this up. :)