Saturday, May 26, 2012

Virginia's Timeline

Virginia Lyon born in August of 1837 in Indiana and was the sixth child of Micajah Lyon and Minerva Henderson.  She married Cornelius "Buck" Cain and they had four children:
Mat (listed as Macgregor on census), James, Minerva, and John Samuel.

In the 1860 Census she was listed with Cornelius Cain, but they cannot be found in the 1870 Census.  There are a couple of theories as to why they are not listed.

   1) This was the first census after the Civil War and several genealogist I have spoken with say that because of the war, there was not a lot of money that could be spent on the census.  Therefore it is not a very accurate census?  I can buy that, we will have to find other records to verify if Virginia was still in the area at the time.

   2) Another theory is that the railroad ran from Hot Springs, Arkansas to Austin, Texas at this time.  Cornelius had deserted from the Civil War twice. Did that bring shame on the family?  Did Cornelius begin a second family, forcing Virginia to leave with four small children for a new life? 

In the 1880 Census we find Virginia working as a cook in a hotel on Congress and Brazos.  Today the Driskell Hotel is there.  It was not built until 1886, so we are unsure as to what hotel Virginia worked at.

By the 1900 Census she had married Richard Forehand (m. 30 September 1890 in Travis County), and was living in Taylor, Williamson County, Texas with the five grandchildren.  Grady the youngest of the grandchildren was only 9 years old.

By 1910 Virginia and Richard were still alive.  Vernon and Grady were the only two children left at home.  Virginia had one child living out of four (this would have been John Samuel as he died in 1943).

Virginia died on 27 March 1914 and is buried in the Taylor City Cemetery (there is no marker).
(Thanks to Burney Cain for his extensive research on Virginia's story.)

Beginnings.....

Virginia Lyon Cain is my Great Great Grandmother.  For 32 years she was a mystery.  I only knew her as Virginia Forehand, the grandmother of my grandfather Vernon Doak Moore Jr.  I did not know her story or how she obtained the Moore Children.  I found I was not alone.  One by one I am finding descendants of Virginia, each with their own theories and stories to tell of their own journeys with researching Virginia.  As more and more research is done, and more of her story learned, the time has come to gather us all and piece together her story.

It is my hope that this site will help us do just that.  In time, I will post our research, findings, and theories here.  I believe Virginia has a unique story to be told.  For so long I saw her as only a name on a piece of paper. Today I see her as an incredible woman with a great courage and strength to make it through her journey on earth.