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Gleaves Family Pages

Click here to see the photos taken by Paula

Our Queen of the Monarchs - Paula Poll's Story & Photographs

I did not inherit my parents green thumbs and normally have little interest in our garden………..about a year ago a Curves friend, Alice, invited me to a Monarch Butterfly Way station dedication open house at the home of a man named Mr. Huey’s……….what is that? Not really sure but thought my grandchildren might enjoy it so I took 3 little ones and off we go to Culver City, CA to the open house. In his yard there were many examples of the caterpillars, chrysalises, and milkweed and lots of information about the dire straits of the Monarch butterfly due to the destruction of their habitat. I went by the local nursery later that week and picked up 4 milkweed plants (about $8 each)—2 for me and 2 for Alice (I was not aware that 2 plants are not enough). I set them out and pretty much forgot about them. This was in April, 2007.

A seed was planted deep in the recesses of my mind and when I was just fed up with the way garden was looking that faces the Venice Canals, I hired a landscaper to make a redo. He asked me what I wanted to plant and somehow, “A Monarch Butterfly habitat” popped out of my mouth.

In November we started with 10 milkweed plants plus a dozen or so other flowering plants while keeping my rosemary plants and my lemon tree. The area is 4’ x 30 feet south facing. The next day after the plants were all in, I invited Alice to see the garden. She was the one that looked at one of the first milkweed plants and saw to our amazement 7 caterpillers……I had planted the 10 other just in time because Milkweed is the only plant the caterpillars will eat and they would have soon eaten that one plant and would have then starved to death.

Soon enough I was able to enjoy Monarch butterflies dropping by daily and I have been able to photograph their life stages. It has brought me such joy to be able to check on them every day and watch their progress—from little tiny caterpillars to big fat ones---I have even seen them shed their skins (and one big caterpillar trying to discourage a little one from coming on to his leaf by kind of hitting at it)……I have seen several of the chrysalis and have even seen one butterfly soon after it emerged……I suspect I have seen well over 100 caterpillars. They only eat the milkweed (so you don’t have to worry about them eating your other plants) and eat they do. I have since added 8 more milkweed plants because several have not regenerated after being completely denuded. It has been such a joy and I share my joy with my neighbors and all sorts of tourists who stroll by our garden. Click here or on the small photo to see Paula's photos.

The following is from the website www.monarchwatch.com
Each fall, hundreds of millions of monarch butterflies migrate from the United States and Canada to overwintering areas in Mexico and California where they wait out the winter until conditions favor a return flight in the spring. The monarch migration is truly one of the world's greatest natural wonders, yet it is threatened by habitat loss in North America - at the overwintering sites and throughout the spring and summer breeding range as well.
See the website for more information.

I cannot tell you the joy that my garden has given me…..I check on my little guys every day and am spreading the word…..our local community organization is clearing and planting a city owned derelict lot into a Monarch Butterfly Way station due to my enthusiasm.

The plants mainly need a sunny location-good irrigation to start. They develop seed pods that produce more plants and they are very easy to grow…..if I can grow them anyone can.

I am not sure yet about the life cycle but the web site (which is from the University of Kansas) says they need the spring and summer plants to make it and that is across the US and Canada. There are different varieties of Milkweed so you will need to find the ones that are native to your own area. And you can order seeds from their site. You just have to make sure that you have enough plants for them once they find you.

So far in my own garden it appears that the caterpillars eat for about 2 weeks, the chrysalis about 2 weeks or more depending upon how warm it is and I don’t know if my butterflies are going on to Mexico or not…..they really haven’t told me their travel plans but I don’t have to insure them, or teach them their manners…….they are really the best garden enjoyment that I have ever had….paula

Prayers for our cousins

Photos of the damage is posted in the gallery.

The tornados that passed through Tennessee on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008 affected several of our Gleaves cousins living near Lafayette, Macon County, Tennessee (at the top of the state, near Kentucky). Staci Hill Waynick and her family lost their home. Staci, her husband Dennis, their daughter Sandi and their grandchild were in the house when the tornado hit. Dennis and Sandi have some cuts and bruises but Staci and the baby are fine. The house was split in half and knocked several feet off its foundation. It is standing, but it is very fragile and could fall at any time. They have managed to get a few things out, but still have a lot left in it. The church behind the house, where Dennis preached, is completely gone and they can't even find the steeple for the church.

At the current time, Staci's sister, Cindi, has loaned Staci and Dennis her camper to stay in until the government can evaluate their losses. Staci and her family have plenty of donated clothes but they will need help cleaning up the property when the government gets through assessing the damage. The entire county was declared a disaster area by the Federal Government.

Staci is the youngest daughter of Billie Hurt Hill, grand daughter of Virgil and Naomi Hurt , and great grand daughter of Katie Gleaves and Thomas Hurt. Katie Gleaves was the daughter of Malissa Gleaves, who was the daughter of William Carrel and Delilah Baker Gleaves. William was the son of James Robertson and Eliza Wood Gleaves, grandson of Thomas Harvey and Sallie Smith Gleaves, and great grandson of William Benjamin and Elizabeth Turk Gleaves.

Please remember these cousins in your prayers that their lives, home and church may be quickly restored.

Spring, 2008 Tennessee Cemetery Repairs

All pictures from these work details can be viewed in the Gallery by clicking here.

Gleaves Cemetery Angels Continue Their Good Works

The John G. Gleaves cemetery was created with the burial of Felix Gleaves, the infant son of John G. and Elizabeth Gleaves born December 26, 1834 and died August 1836. There are about 15 graves in the cemetery including John G. Gleaves, who was buried in 1854. The cemetery has always been well maintained and is mowed on a regular basis during the summer. This line of Gleaves still live near by on part of the original property.

This little cemetery was at one time very isolated but is now surrounded by houses and interstate 40. In September, 2006, the cemetery was vandalized. Every stone was turned over even the very large stone on John G. Gleaves’ grave. After the vandalism the police were called. As there were no witnesses, nothing could be done. A few days later, the smaller stones were reset.

April 17, 2008 Repairing the remaining graves
The repair of the larger stones was going to require planning. A large crane would be needed but that presented problems. First it would be very expensive. Second it could have further damaged the graves with its tracks. This put Owen Gleaves to thinking. He has a natural ability to figure out how to complete impossible jobs and in the least expensive way. During the winter when he was not busy bush hogging, he mulled over the problem. He finally figured it out and then built his contraption of steel. See the pictures to see how he did it.

Owen had the help of his always reliable cousin, George Wilkerson. This time they also had the able and needed help of Tom Gleaves, Charlie Beals and James Austin. While they were working, Tom’s parents, Oscar Ray and Elizabeth Gleaves came by to check on the progress. This is their family line and where they plan to be buried.

Gleaves-Clements Cemetery Fence Repairs

To see pictures of the cemetery before, in progress and after, click here for the gallery.

And the Job is Complete!

Saturday, April 5, 2008, the Gleaves-Clements fence replacement project was completed.
A special thank you to Owen Gleaves for undertaking this project from getting the materials bought to closing the gate on the fence.
Also thank you to his faithful and supportive worker, George Wilkerson.
Thank you to Fran Nichols for the photographs of each step of the project.
Thank you to all the rest who contributed, either by donating money for the project, helping with the work or just by lending your support.
The fence is a beautiful loving tribute to those who came before us.

A Final E-Mail from Owen - Date: Mon, Apr 7, 2008 at 10:51 AM
Good Morning
This is my finally report on the progress of the Gleaves-Clements Cemetery Fencing Project.
I am happy to say as you may already know that this project is finished. It has taken some hard work and determination. We had a good crew on Saturday. George Wilkerson, his brother Gary and Dave Velheim were there to lend us a hand. Everyone worked hard to get this job done. It was muddy and a cool north wind was blowing but we worked through it.
I just cannot say enough about my friend George so I will leave it at that.
A special thanks to Dave for taking time out to help us. He could have went fishing or just chilled out in front of the TV and stayed warm, but instead he chose to give us a hand.
We enjoyed your company Dave and here is a special thanks from yours truly.
Also a big thank you to Dollie and her husband for furnishing our meal. We enjoyed having everyone there to take part in whatever way they could.
Frances has blessed us all with numerous pictures which are important. Without her the only pictures we would have would be the before and after as we could not work and take pictures too.
I have attached more pictures of the final fence that correspond with the before pictures that were sent when the project was first started. You may notice the kink in the bottom of the fence on the right side next to the huge sugar maple tree. We moved the fence line one foot towards the right-of-way to try and get past a big tree root but we still had to fence over it. It's the best we could do.
The only thing left is to purchase a good brush killer and spray around the fence to keep the vines and tree sprouts, etc. from taking over our new fence. Dave has offered to keep it sprayed if necessary but we need to purchase the herbicide.
Thanks to everyone who donated money or played any part in getting this completed. I bet our ancestors had a party Saturday night and admired their new fence and just knowing that someone cares and they have not been forgotten.
Owen C. Gleaves

The Fencing is in the Home Stretch
The following emails were sent by Owen Gleaves with the plans to complete the cemetery fence:

Date: Fri, Apr 4, 2008 at 8:22 PM Subject: Gleaves Clements Cemetery
Hello to all
Well I hope you have been anticipating this e-mail. Linda and I visited the Cemetery around 3:30 pm this afternoon to see if we might get to finish the fence tomorrow. It is a little wet as you might expect but mainly on the left front corner. We think we can manage. Might need some boots for that front corner.
I have talked to my good friend George Wilkerson and we have decided to go ahead with plans.
I will try to be there around 9:00 or 9:30 am with all the fence supplies. I have everything we need.
Anyone wishing to help or just come and be with us welcome to do so.

Dollie
Do you still have plans to furnish the meal? If so anytime around noon will be fine.
Let me know if you need directions to the local Kentucky Fried Chicken unless you have something else in mind.
You can call me tonight or in the morning at 615-449-3385 or my Cell at 615-305-1347.
Hope to see you there.
Owen Gleaves

Date: Thu, Apr 3, 2008 at 5:47 PM Subject: Gleaves Clements Cemetery
Hi to all
Just a note to let everyone know that plans are still on for now to finish the fencing on Saturday April 5th.
I went over on Wednesday and cut a few stumps down below the ground so they would not interfer with our fence and I also pulled dirt around all the post to cover the concrete.
There is little left to do but install the fence. We do have a little raking to do of limbs, sticks, roots etc; to clean up what we messed up on our good friend Dave Velheim.
Depending on what time the rain stops on Friday, I may go over and check to see if it might be too muddy. Only one corner might give us a problem due to the exposed dirt where I dug down with my tractor. It was a pile of dirt (I believe) left over from graves.
Keep check on your mail in case there are any last minute changes.
Looking forward to getting through.
Owen C. Gleaves

Date: Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 11:04 AM Subject: Gleaves Clements Cemetery
Good Morning to all
Here are the Cemetery work plans.
We hope to make this the last trip.
I have been watching the weather forecast on three TV stations and if we can believe them it looks like this coming Saturday April 9th will be a descent day to finish the fencing. One station says dry and another says 20 % change of rain. I think we can live with that. If they don't change it again in the next day or two lets see if we can get this fencing finished.
I have talked with George Wilkerson and he is off that day. I have also talked with Albert Thompson and he thinks he might can help. Bring Paul alone with you Albert.
I have everything we need to install the fence, however if you have a pair of favorite fence pliers etc; I will leave that up to you.
If you can find the time and would like to help or just be a part and come we welcome you.
Dollie would you please let me know if you might want to furnish the meals that day. KY fryed chicken sounds good to me or whatever you might like to do. We have one here at Mt. Juliet. We will help you with the expense.
George and I will be at the Cemetery around 9:00 am so anyone that wants to can just drift in anytime you can make it.
If for health reasons you are unable help with the work you are welcome to just sit and talk, watch or whatever. You might want to bring a chair to sit in. I am sure our relatives that are buried here would rejoice in the gathering.
Keep check on your e-mail this week so I can keep you posted to any changes in plans.
Fletch
Please check the www.gleavesfamily.com to catch up on this project. Just click on Gleaves Clements Cemetery Fence Repair. We would welcome your presents.
Thanks to all and we hope to see you on Saturday.
Owen Gleaves

Date: Sun, Mar 30, 2008 at 12:48 PM Subject: Error
Hello to all
This is just to clear up an error I made on the progress report on the Gleaves Clement Cemetery.
I stated that Albert Thompson was Cindi Kelton son when in fact they are cousins.
After talking to Albert this morning we had a big laugh.
It takes my sister Frances to keep me straight on genealogy so please don't leave it up to me. I think I will stick to fencing.
Cindi and Albert
I hope this clears up my mistake. Just have another laugh on me.
Hope to see you soon.
Owen

Date: Sat, Mar 29, 2008 at 12:09 PM Subject: Gleaves Clements Cemetery
Hello to everyone
This is an end of week progress report on the fencing of the Gleaves Clement Cemetery fence project
I am happy to report that with a lot of hard work this week we have all the fence post in and are ready to install the top rail and fence fabric. I am also happy to report that all the hard work is done. George and I along with the help of my sister Frances Nichols and my wife Linda bringing us food to eat were determined to get this fence project done. I decided to set some of the post in concrete on Wednesday by myself (it was a last minute decision and I did not notify anyone) and put Frances to work holding post for me. With rain in the forecast for today (Saturday) I decided to call on George to see if he might help me on Friday.
He has such a long drive that I hesitated to call but did anyway. It was a pleasant surprise when he told me he was off that day and thought about coming anyway and mow the Cemetery. I did not bother to send out an e-mail to the group as it seems so hopeless. Everyone has public jobs or just not able to help when we need them. But that's okay as I understand. Hope no one takes offense at that statement. Tom Gleaves and his father Oscar Gleaves have offered financial help as they have been unable to work due to health.
If you have looked at www.Gleavesfamily.com you may have noticed that we also installed a gate on the easement. This was not in the original planning. Dave Velheim had a gate on the easement just pass the gate to the Cemetery to keep people from using this road to get into his property. We felt it was our obligation to put the gate back for him. We wanted it to look nice alongside our pretty new fence so I had to purchase a few more fencing supplies to do so.
It will be reflected in my itemized list below.
It is so, so sad but I had to go by the Cemetery (out of my normal route to Lowe's) and drop the trailer before going to Lowe's. I knew that while I was in Lowe's trying to purchase what we needed that someone would most likely steal every tool I had on my trailer.
Our plan for the final phase is to make one more trip to install the fence fabric.
I have been in contact with Albert Thompson, Cindi Kelton's son and he has offered for him and his brother Paul to come help if they can on their days off. They have had their hands full with all the tornado clean up. Our heart goes out to all the people that suffered this terrible tragedy. I will watch the weather forecast and try for a day when the most help can come. I don't think I need to give a reason of why I will work around George's days off. He and I can do it alone but a little more help would surely make things easier.
Here is a summary of expenses thus far.
Donation from Gleaves Family Association                $1000.00   A hearty thanks to all of you that donated. Without you this would not have been possible
Donation of money collected by Cindi Kelton             $   275.00   Thanks to Cindi's vision for getting this project started.
Total                                                                            $ 1275.00
Both these check were made out to Capital Wholesale Fence company which I presented to them for the fence material. Since the checks totaled $9.00 more than the cost of the supplies, they gave me the $9.00 cash back. My wife and I had donated $100.00 to the fund and given to Cindi so it is a part of her collection of the $275.00. I put the $9.00 in my pocket.
We had a generous donation which wishes to remain unnamed of $250.00 to be used to purchase anything else we needed.
I have receipts for the additional cost incurred which I will submit to the Gleaves Family Association as follow. This money was taken from the $250.00 unnamed donation. A great big thank you to this unnamed person.
3/18/07 Disposal of old fence wire at Wilson County Landfill      $18.00
3/18/07 6 ea 80 lb bags Quickcrete (Lowe's)                              26.02
3/22/07 Rental of Ground Hog Hole digger (Garr's Rental)          48.50
3/24/07 20 ea 80 lbs bags Quickcrete (Lowe's)                           86.74
3/25/07 Fence supplies (Lowe's)                                                  26.79
3/27/07 Fence supplies (Lowe's)                                                 45.72
3/27/07 5 ea 80 lb bags Quickcrete (Lowe's)                              21.69
Total                                                                                          $273.46
Minus the $9.00 I stuck in my pocket from above donation           9.00
Overun                                                                                 -    $14.46
I am okay with the slight overrun. If anyone has any questions or needs further explanation concerning how the money was spent, feel free to contact me.
I do not foresee any further purchases that will be necessary.
P.S. George did get the Cemetery mowed and weedeated and was still working when I left on Friday. It looks really nice.
Owen Gleaves

All You Can Call It Is a Labor of Love...
Day Five: Digging the fence post holes. Click here to go to the gallery to see pictures of this hard work.

The only person to show up to help Owen this morning (Saturday, March 22) was George. They struggled with the post hole digger and got the holes dug. However, they desperately need some more men to help them. At 11am they gave up. Owen called Dollie and told her not to come. She was already on the way with lunch.

These Fellows are Dedicated!
Day Two, Monday March 17: Owen and Linda load up the old fencing to take to the landfill.

Day Two & a half, Tuesday March 18: Early the next morning, the fencing is taken to the landfill and unloaded. Owen describes the scene: My brother Richard (great Brother) met Linda and me at the Landfill this morning and helped us unload the wire. He is 76 years old and still going strong. Boy was it a job. We were both out of breath by the time we got through. Then I was trying to get out of my truck bed (my body just ain't what it use to be) and trying to get my poor aging body to move. A gust of wind hit me just as I was climbing over the side and blew me back over in the truck bed flat on my backside. We had wind gusts here today up to 40 miles per hour. I am okay. Like I said, my body just don't move like it used to.

Day Three, Thursday, March 20: From Fran Nichols - Owen and Linda put in the 4 corner posts and got the gate posts put in. I think they worked over there most of the day. Tomorrow we are just going to finsh cutting down the dead trees, trimming some trees and removing all the brush. Then on Saturday they are hoping for several men to help put in the 45 line posts.

Day Four, Friday, Mach 21: Click here to see day four's activity in the Gallery. Fran describes the activity: We did have a good day but George, Owen and Bobby had to work awfully hard since they were the only ones working. We are hoping for more men tomorrow. They did not totally finish today. There is another rotten tree that needs to be trimmed. However, they were tired and were concerned that the limbs would fall on the tombstones. The trees they cut were almost completely hollow. Tomorrow I will send you a picture of George climbing a tree. Believe me that fireman knows not only how to climb a ladder but also how to climb a tree. It was fascinating to watch him. He was climbing the tree in order to get the rope placed higher that they were using to guide the tree down so it would not hit the tombstones. We had hoped as you know to have enought to get a tree service to come in and do that work but we did not obtain that much. Hilda came by and spent a couple of hours and William Hurt whose parents are buried there came by. However, he is on oxygen and was unable to help.

Work Continues on the Gleaves-Clements Cemetery Fence
Here is the latest update from Owen posted Monday evening, March 17, 2008:
Hello to all
This is an update as to work plans for the Clement Gleaves Cemetery fence.
Linda and I went over today and hauled off all the old fence wire. I have to take it to the Landfill where they will charge me a (what they call) tipping fee. I think it iks $9.00 or something like that. Since the landfill closes at 3:00 p.m. we did not try to make it today. Hey but we are loaded and they open at 7:00 a.m in the morning.

Looks like Thursday, Friday and Saturday are going to be ideal days to work. I got a couple corner post dug today and had to quit because one of our batter boards was in the way. George and I decided to move the fence over about 12" to try and miss the big sugar maple tree roots. That's why the corner batter board has to be moved. Didn't have the right tools with me so Linda and I plan on going back Thursday and finish digging just the corner post and the two gate post. Will set them in concrete while we are there. Will pick up some quickcrete in the morning. They need to be up first so we can pull a transit line to line up all the line post.

George and I also decided that if we wanted to cut, or trim any of the trees (some are either dead or almost dead) that before the fence is installed is the time to do it. Too late after the fence is up.

So here are the plans.
We will plan on working March 21st (Friday and remove the trees first. Paul Odum (a school mate) gave me permission to haul to the brush piles behind the Cemetery. If any of you can work a few hours that day or just want to come and be with us, please do so. I will plan on being there around 9:00 am. I have all the tools we will need to get the job done. We just need workers. Its also nice to have someone just to get us something to eat for lunch. We will look forward to seeing you there.

If everything goes well on Thursday, I have plans to dig the line post holes on Saturday.
I have checked with Garr's Rental (Roy Garr is a friend of mine) about a Groundhog post digger and will reserve it first thing tomorrow morning. The cost is $85.00 per day and I have a $15.00 coupon. I will let you do the math. This is a digger on trailer wheels around 20 horse power. It has to be pulled around from hole to hole by manpower. I had a digger offered to me by a friend that would operate from my tractor but his auger was 12" which is too large. It should not take long to dig 45 holes.
Again we need your help as this is too hard work for just two or three. If you can come and help us with this project, we will surely welcome you and appreciate your efforts.

I have talked again today with Dave Velheim who owns the land next to the Cemetery. He has been more than supportive. We own him our thanks. As we all know it could have been different. He has assured me that moving the fence on the west side is not a problem. He already has an extension cord ran from his garage for us to run the concrete mixer. He said he has the plat that shows a 15 foot easement to the Cemetery and has offered us a copy. A copy would be good for the Gleaves Family Association records for future generations.
Thanks again Dave.

If everything goes as planned it will take two more trips after Friday and Saturday to finish. The line posts have to be set in quickcrete and let it cure at least overnight and then we can install the fence.

Feel free to contact me if any question either by e-mail or by phone. I can be reached at 615-449-3385 or cell at 615-305-1347.
You can keep up with the progress as pictures are being posted.
Sorry for such a long e-mail.
Hope to see you real soon.
Owen Gleaves

Work Begins on New Fence for Gleaves-Clements Cemetery
The following email was sent Wednesday, March 12, 2008 by Owen Gleaves to his hard working cemetery crew. If you would like to help/bring refreshments/admire and praise their wonderful efforts, then send a contact message and we will get it to Owen.

Hello to all
Well looks like spring is just around the corner and it is time to get started on the fencing of the Clements Gleaves Cemetery. As you are all aware by now this project got started last fall. Cindi Kelton (who has kinfolks buried their) and her family were trying to raise the money and collections were going kind of slow. With the help of the Gleaves Family Association enough money was collected and the fence material was purchased. This cemetery measures 70 feet X 168 feet. The existing fence is in real poor condition with some of it already falling down.
I have purchased all the chain link fence material and it is here at my home. It will be 4 feet high complete with top rail with a 8 foot gate (two 4 ft.). The fence material cost $1266.32 and we still have $250.00 left to purchase quickcrete. We will also need to purchase some good brush killer as the fence rows will just grow back up.

I will leave any detailed history about this project to the Gleaves Family Association. During the fencing project my sister Frances Nichols will be taking pictures to be placed on the Gleaves web site to keep everyone updated as to the progress.

My main and only goal is to get the fence put up as soon as possible before the summer heat sets in and before I get too busy with my Bush Hogging business to be of help. I know each of you have either your gardens or yard etc;

I was and still am so proud of all the volunteers we had cleaning up all the Cemeteries before. This job will be nothing compared to what we have already accomplished.

I am hoping we can all get together again on this project. It will be a big job for just a couple of people but with several we can really get in there and get this job done.

I have been in contact with Dave Veltheim who owns the adjoining property in front of the Cemetery and he has offered us water and electricity for our cement mixer. He is also on this group e-mail so he will know our plans and when we will be there.

George Wilkerson and I will be working on Thursday March 13th and try to get the old fence taken down and the fence rows cleaned up to where we can set the new posts. Our plans are to meet at the Cemetery around 9:00 am and work until around 3:00 p.m.
If any of you want to come please do so.

I am retired so I can work just about anytime. However, we will try to work on as many Saturdays as the weather permits so any of you that might like to help can do so.

If you are unable to work for health reasons, etc, please come and be with us anyway. You are most welcome to join us. Who knows maybe we will get us something to eat and have a big party.

In the future I will just send you an e-mail and let you know what day and time we will be working.
I would appreciate a reply to this e-mail so I will know that you have read it.
Looking forward to seeing you there.
Owen Gleaves

Owen and crew:
Thank you for all of your hard work. We look forward to seeing pictures (which will be posted here when we receive them).
The Gleaves Family Association

Our Letter Transcribers

Lois Gleaves
Lois began to transcribe letters from this web site by using the loaded images and we offer our many thanks to her for help with this endeavor. After working on several letters, she used the Contact page to let us know of her work and asked how to get her letters loaded. When we learned of her efforts, we wrote back to her with the instructions and we sent her copies of the original scans of the letters.

If you are interested in transcribing some letters, please use the Contact page to let us know of your interest. We will then send you a copy of the original scans which are a much higher resolution than the web images and much easier to read.

Lois, thank you for your help.

Virginia Melton
Virginia is currently applying for membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution along her Michael Gleaves line. She says that if her papers are accepted (and they have been), then others of his line only need to use her number and their connection to him and they will not need to find all of his "stuff". Anyone who is interested in contacting Virginia can use the site Contact to get in touch with her as she will be happy to help them. Her local DAR chapter office thinks that she has enough proof for membership. She has worked months trying to get everything together. Good luck, Virginia!

Our Family Letters

As the old year ends and the new one is about to begin, enjoy the recent addition to the Letters section all of the current transcriptions that the editor has. Read about Jane Gleaves health failing in one letter and then her husband, B. F. Gleaves' loneliness following her death in another letter soon thereafter. Read about Guy Trigg Gleaves' second marriage. Read about Robert Harvey Gleaves' experience at West Point in the 1850s and contemplate how his decision could have and did affect his life in the next few years.

Then make a resolution for the New Year to add to the transcriptions. Any subject line with "Letter" and a number means that this letter has not yet been transcribed. Select a letter and let us know that you are transcribing it and imagine that you have just received this letter from your kin (could acutally have been your grandparent) and experience their life, their joys and their sorrows.

No transcription has to be perfect. Write what you can read, guess at what you can't, use a ? where you are completely baffled and we will take it from there. There is NO better way to get to know your ancestors than to read the thoughts that they committed to paper.

2005 Reunion Greetings from President Bush

On short notice prior to the 2005 Reunion, a note was written to the White House informing them of our Gleaves reunion. This letter arrived a few hours too late to be brought to Nashville for reading while we were together.

Barton Baird Cemetery Cleanup

Saturday, Oct 22, 2005

Weather: 7am – misty rain – 48 degrees

8am – cloudy – 50 degrees

Mid-morning: Sunny and cool perfect weather to work

Who: Girl Scouts (primarily Troop 0035) parents, descendents of those buried, interested community people, Subdivision developer. Head count at break 38 total. Others from the community came in later primarily to see how we were doing.

3 men with chainsaws kept everyone else busy pulling brush out of the cemetery. Girls were extremely good workers. Their range was second through sixth grade. Part of the cemetery was raked, vines cut, tombstones righted. Large number of small trees cut down and the brush was removed.

Mid morning snack break and history lesson: Those speaking: a great granddaughter of Dr. W. P. Barton and Fran G. Nichols, a distant cousin of Guy Trigg Gleaves. Donna Ferrell presented two demonstrations: 1) how to dust flour on the old tombstones to read the writing, and 2) how to probe suspected graves to see if there was a body present at one time.

Photographer: Fran G. Nichols: Also met with the developer and discussed the cemetery and its occupants. He said they were planning to fence the cemetery and thanked us for our work.

A weenie roast at the cemetery is planned to burn the brush and have a celebration.

Interesting Fact: William C. Baird, born 1838 died Dec. 13, 1862 in 7^th Tenn, Reg. Killed in Battle of Fredericksburg, Va. Mother Julie Baird Gleaves sent a wagon to Fredericksburg to return his body to be buried with his father in this cemetery. Scouts challenged to check mileage to Frederickburg and figure out how long it took to get the body here by wagon traveling at 10 to 15 miles a day.

Contact person for scouts:

Patty Biggerstaff

403 Sunset Drive

Mt. Juliet, Tn 37122

Phone: 754-7490

Photographer:

Fran Nichols

209 Rollingwood Dr

Lebanon, Tn 37087

453-3945

Click here for more information on this cemetery.

Click here to see pictures of the clean-up.

Welcome to the Gleaves Family website. This site has been put together to help compile information about the Gleaves genealogy, as well as to provide information about upcoming reunions, links to other Gleaves sites, discussion and forums as well as a gallery of Gleaves past and present.

Gleaves Family Coat of Arms