Joressia Dovie Reid Jamison 1866-1943

Joressia Dovie Reid (some listings show the first and middle names reversed), my great grandmother, was born March 28, 1866 in Rich Patch, Virgina, lived her life with her husband and family on their farm on Potts Creek in Alleghany County, Virginia, and died December 20, 1943.  Her father, George Washington Reid and mother Virginia Crush, raised her in the Rich Patch region, the village of Paint Bank.

At 19, she married James Henry Jamison, a 26-year-old farmer and together they had nine children, including my grandmother, Lillie Mae Jamison Tingler, born on the farm in 1888.  Lillie Mae was born second, but was their first child to live beyond infancy.  When her first child died at birth on April 2, 1887, the doctor told Dovie she would not be able to have any more children.  Thankfully that judgment proved to be incorrect as she became the mother of eight more lives.

Dovie, as we're told she preferred to be called, was a great home maker and farm wife.  She was a strong believer in Christ and with her husband James Henry, members and regular participants in the Old Order Dunkard Bretheren church.  Her husband often sermonized at their local congregation in the absence of the circuit riding preacher that served it.  The children they raised report that they were loving but strict in their discipline and that they established high standards.

We know a lot about Dovie because of a pair of excellent articles published in the 1990s by Covington's Virginian Review.  The column titled, "Another View with Leonard Jamison," gives a very comprehensive account of Dovie's wedding, her life on the farm and her philosophies of life, as well as a wistful nostalgic view of her life and extended family.  I will email copies of the two articles I have, dated November 12, 1990 and January 10, 1996, to anyone interested.

A brief extract of the 1990 article:  "Grandma put in as many hours as Grandpa.  In addition to the numerous chores, she did everything from making soap and crocheting bedspreads to organizing quilting bees.  For relaxation, she sat at her little secretariat in the evening, hummed church tunes and wrote letters...."

She participated in the farm work, planting a garden, raising chickens, gathering eggs produce for sale in nearby Covington, milking cows, canning and preserving fruits and vegetables, making whatever was needed around the house and farm.  It seems she never learned to drive, though they had their first car, a Model T Ford, while she was young enough to do so. 

Dovie is buried in a family cemetery across the road from the old family farm on Potts Creek Road, Route 18, south of Covington.