John Adam Drumheller and Susannah J. Hestland Drumheller

John Adam Drumheller was a tanner by trade. He worked with animal pelts to turn them into leather in order to provide them to other craftsmen who would then make saddles, shoes, and many other things out of the tanned hides.

When John was born on May 27th, 1804, Thomas Jefferson was president of the United States. John was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, one of the ten children of Jacob F. Drumheller and Susan “Sally” (Davis) Drumheller. John’s great-grandparents had immigrated to the US from Germany in 1754.

When John was twenty-two, he married seventeen-year-old Susanna Hestland. The young couple tied the knot on December 17th, 1826 in Albermarle County, Virginia.

Now, Susanna is a bit of a mystery. She was born about 1809 in Amherst, Virginia, and her surname is recorded on documents several different ways – Hestland, Hiestand, Hesland. I haven’t been able to determine with any amount of certainty who her parents were. There is a possibility I looked at that are linked to her on the Family Search website, but zero records to actually tie them together, so for now, my own records show that her parents are unknown.

John and Susanna spent their entire married lives in Amherst County, Virginia. They were the parents of six children: John Jacob, born 1830; Margaret B., born 1833; Jeannette Malone, born 1836; Abraham Alexander, born 1837; Mary “Molly” L., born 1844; and Frances, born 1850.

Speaking of 1850, that is the first year I find them on the federal census. The census taker came around on December 9th of that year and recorded the Drumheller family living in Amherst County. John was 46, working as a tanner, and Susannah was 41 and keeping house. Their oldest son, Jacob, was 20 and worked as a shoemaker, as did a 20-year-old man by the name of George L. Snead, who lived with the family. He was possibly a boarder.

In the April 23rd, 1853 edition of the Lynchburg Daily Virginian newspaper out of Lynchburg, Virginia, John is listed as having been appointed to the district Vigilance Committee for the Whig party. The Whig Party was a conservative political party formed by Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and a few other men. It pretty much disintegrated in 1854, so unless John had been involved before that newspaper mention, he didn’t have much time as a committee member.

The census takers stopped by the Drumheller house again on June 12th, 1860. John is still tanning hides but has now added currier, (horseshoer) to his occupation. Son Alex, at 21, is still at home and working as a farmer. Daughter Margaret is 27 and working as a seamstress. Jeannette is 24, and “at home” which I’ve recently discovered was the term used on censuses for unmarried, unemployed women. Daughter Mary is 16, and young Frances is nowhere to be found, making me think she may have passed away before 1860. A 50-year-old man from Saxony, Germany is living with the family and working as a farmer.

In April of 1861, the Civil War broke out. From records, we know that both of John and Susannah’s sons fought for the confederacy. Their oldest son, Jacob, was killed in May of 1862 during the Battle of Williamsburg, and son Alex was wounded in the same battle.

The 1870 census finds the Drumhellers still in Amherst County. John is now 66 and Susannah 61. Wounded soldier Alex is 32, farming, and living with his parents. John is still working as a tanner, and a 24-year-old man named Zachariah Larahorn in living with them and working at the tannery.

John passed away at the age of 70 on June 16, 1873. The registration of his death notes the cause as jaundice.

After John’s death, the next time I find mention of Susannah is in the record of son Alex’s marriage. In 1877, Alex married a young woman named Ellen Peters and the couple settled Pedlar, still in Amherst County, and now I believe a part of Lynchburg.

With the 1880 census, Susannah is now living with Alex and Ellen, and their growing family. Alex is farming, Ellen keeping house, and they now have two young children – Lilia and James. Ellen’s sister Susan is also living with the family. A thirteen-year-old girl, Marie Hicks, is listed as a mulatto and is living with the Drumheller family and working as their cook. 13! Oh, Marie. I need to know your story.

As I mentioned earlier, Susannah is a bit of a mystery. Not only are her parents elusive, but I haven’t been able to find any information about her death. Some people on Family Search and Ancestry have it listed as 1882, but again, I haven’t been able to verify that. When I do, I’ll update this post.

Since John and Susannah’s son Alex is mentioned often here, and she spent her last years living with him and his family, I thought I’d share the following picture of him.

Alexander lived to be 91. A woman named Tonya Frederick shared this picture to Family Search. So, Abraham Alexander Drumheller was a confederate civil war veteran. He enlisted with the 19th Virginia Infantry on Apr. 15, 1861, and, as mentioned earlier, was wounded in the Battle of Williamsburg where his older brother, Jacob, was killed. He died at age 91 of pneumonia in his home at 605 Cabell Street in Lynchburg, Virginia. He is buried in the Spring Hill Cemetery in Lynchburg.

(John and Susannah are my husband Riff’s 3rd great-grandparents. Alexander is his 2x great-uncle.)