Leftover stories from Korea

Zann Miner / Culpeper Star Exponent
Published: March 19, 2008

During the last couple of months the stories of Katherine Riley and Korea have consumed an extraordinary amount of time and research. I am not unaware of those who might question my general state of sanity for pursuing what appear to be such mundane and insignificant occurrences. Mundane perhaps, insignificant never.

These stories are the very heart of our community. We can only hope that someone 50 or 100 years from now will consider the lives we have enjoyed as worthy of comment. I will confess that I struggle with the stories, but not for the reasons one might think.

For every story I write about there are a dozen more revealed. The dilemma is never about a shortage of information, but rather where does one stop, at least for the time being-

Anyone who has engaged in the telling of a tale knows full well that a 15 minute story may require 40 hours of research. The breadth of information is necessary to support the facts and lays the ground work for another story.

Today I wish to share three vignettes that were the result of the investigation of Mrs. Riley and Korea and the fodder for future writings.

Roger Clement, mentioned in last week's article, as store owner and postmaster at Korea after Warren McDaniel, sold the store and became a Baptist minister. He would later serve the congregation of Jeffersonton Baptist Church. Roger Clement was the uncle of Culpeper's own Betty Clement Adair.

The next discovery is incomplete and can be enhanced by the knowledge of someone in the community. Amongst Katherine Riley's incredible collection of photographs and family portraits was found the photo of a very light skinned African-American.

The picture appeared to be taken by a professional photographer in a studio setting. Someone had written on the back and identified the young man as Robert Johnson. Mrs. Riley explained that he helped to take care of her mother (Virginia Goff) and her siblings when they were children.

At one time the Goff's lived in Charlottesville and Robert Johnson could have been from that area. The family members, however, were residents during the longest stretch of time in the Korea, Va. A Robert Johnson, single black male born about 1865 living in the Jefferson District of Culpeper County is found in the 1880 Census. Further study of the record indicates the residence was in the Korea of that district. This time period and the young man's age, though inconclusive fits with the age of the Goff children. Robert, his mother and siblings were listed in the same household (does not necessarily indicate same house) as the Samuel and Eliza Chilton family.

The last story was of the stuff that tends to keep one up late at night. I had the advantage of meeting Maxwell Lacy, the postmaster at Oak Hill in Madison County and a collector of historic postmarks. Not only did he share an envelope bearing the Korea postmark, but directed me to additional resources for postal information. While visiting with him and his wife, I had the opportunity to read a letter dated 1878 and postmarked Madison Court House.

The letter was clearly addressed to Mr. Henry Rankin and was written by a woman named Ada over a period of about three weeks. Reading the letter one could quickly surmise that Ada was smitten with Mr. Rankin. We closed the letter wondering many things not the least of which was who was Ada and did she and Henry ever marry.

I was obsessed with the puzzle and hit the Internet as soon as I got home. Armed with dates, the gentleman's name and address and of course Ada's name, I hit the jackpot. They indeed did get married and raised a family.

But the story gets better. The date of their wedding was the very day we made the discovery; they would have been married 127 years to the day. I began a search to find a living descendant. Before the day was over, I had found a great-granddaughter living in the Shenandoah Valley. She is now in touch with the Maxwells and will be able to enjoy the writings of her ancestor first hand.
Until next week.

Zann Miner, former director of the Museum of Culpeper History, can be reached at or write Zann Miner c/o the Culpeper Star Exponent 471 James Madison Hwy. Suite 201 Culpeper, VA 22701.