Susan Ruth Dandridge

Family/Spouse: John Paul McFarland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Abigail Kathleen McFarland

Robert married Sarah Ruth Anthony [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

PARENTS: A History of Henry County Virginia, Judith Parks America Hill

[Broderbund WFT Vol. 11, Ed. 1, Tree #0089]

Lived in Stuart for a while (rented a room and, at one point, probably stayed with some of his mother's family). The daughter of the lady from whom he rented the room supplied the only known picture of John Robert Dandridge.

According to son Hugh, John Robert Dandridge attended medical school in Richmond, but dropped out after one year when he came down with typhoid. The disease left him slightly weakened in one leg and he had to wear a support stocking for the rest of his life.

Also according Hugh, he bought land at "Rock Run", a few miles up from Rangeley community where State Routes 683 and 924 intersect. The family's home was located at the top of a hill, close to the north-east corner of that intersection.

Daughter Elaine (Essie Mae) did not dispute Martha Anthony's statement that John Dandridge was a very soft-spoken man but, "he was hard on us [the children], but was [routinely] taken advantage of by others". She did not elaborate further. As far a being affectionate with the kids, Hugh said that his father was very fond of daughter Mary (he called her Polly) and that he would hug up son Harry, the baby of the family. He would ask them both into his "pen" formed with his legs and arms when he sat down.

Son Harry said that about the only thing he could remember about his father was his saying that "when he called to them in the morning, he better hear feet hitting the floor."

Hugh said that his father played the banjo ("strummed, rather than picked") and that he may have had or been in a [blue grass] band. Elizabeth said she remembered him warming up the "cow hide" on the banjo in front of the fire so he could play it. Again according to Hugh, John kept informed of political activities and would frequently visit with nearby black families to talk politics and to share some [corn] squeezings.

Hugh also said that his father went to church (Methodist) "fairly frequently." John's wife, a Primitive Baptist, did not go often since there was no P.B. church near by.

John Virgil Anthony, Jr. was a roommate with John R. Dandridge at Shackelford Hospital on Church St., Martinsville in 1946. He told his niece Martha A. Anthony that it was sad that so few family came to visit John Dandridge while he was hospitalized for pneumonia; complications which soon led to his death.

John married Annie Delma Lovell on 18 Dec 1912. Annie was born on 10 May 1886 in Henry County, VA; died on 24 May 1955 in Lynchburg, VA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

[Broderbund WFT Vol. 11, Ed. 1, Tree #0089]

R. J. Dandridge Jr.'s memory of his grandmother was that she was nearly always silent. He remembers her sitting in the bathroom giving herself an injection of insulin; rolling out biscuits in her kitchen on Dye Plant Road; and seeing her sitting/lying in bed in a Lynchburg hospital after she had had her leg amputated. He wondered often why his he never saw his grandmothers together and why they weren't friends.

According to Janet Lee Dandridge, who was taken under Lucille's wing and visited once for several days with John and Annie Dandridge, Annie made wonderful biscuits.

Annie was a Primitive Baptist and possibly a member of Camp Branch Prim. Baptist Church on Figsbrough Rd. or Moons Creek Prim. Baptist Church in Providence N.C. where her mother is buried. Since Primitive Baptists have no ordained ministry, they often met only once per month.

Notes:

[Broderbund WFT Vol. 11, Ed. 1, Tree #0089]

Was told by his granddaughter Mary (Dandridge) Main that "his nanny, Aunt Easter probably spoiled him" and that he did not have any [self] discipline. This could be interpreted to mean that he drank too much or that he may have become involved with other women.

Dr. Dandridge and his wife, Susan W. Rangeley, were estranged over the last years of his life. She moved to and kept a home in Martinsville; it was stated that his daughters Una and Annie would have nothing to do with him.

Was told by Martha A. Anthony that she had heard the reasons Susan Rangeley left him was because he had a drinking problem and that there were rumors he fathered a child/children by a black mistress. Martha also said that she believed (no basis stated) that Susan left him because RBD was not supporting her in the manner she would like (this is the preferred response!). Virginia (Puckett) Hodnett said that she had not heard why RBD and SWR separated - "that sort of thing just wasn't talked about much." She, too, thought he may have had a drinking problem; but that "times were tough after the war."

Mary Main said that, after his body was discovered by his housekeeper, his sons John Robert, William (her father), and possibly Thomas, carried his body from his home to [what is now] the Horsepasture Christian church a few miles away by wagon. It was a cold and blustery February day and only a very few attended the funeral. Mary did not believe that his estranged wife or daughters attended the ceremony. As of 1981, there was no marker; RBD's final resting place was identified only in church records "Dr. Dandridge - d: 1907", there was no stone. A few years later, Mary and Martha Anthony arranged, through the United Daughters of the Confederacy to have a marker placed at his grave site.

From impressions by Virginia Puckett, there seems to have been a situation in which the girls (Annie and Una) seemed to remain close and identify with their mother.

Ltr. dtd. Nov. 27th, 1865 to Mr. [John] Rangeley:
Sir, You are probably aware that Miss Sue & myself are engaged to be married. and I feel it my duty to consult - both your wishes and your lady's. Hoping this will be agreeable to you both. I am, very Respectfully R.B. Dandridge

BIRTH-PARENTS-SPOUSE-CHILDREN: A History of Henry County Virginia, Judith Parks America Hill
Graduated in medicine at the Virginia Medical College, Richmond, 8 Mar 1860; took post graduate course at the University of Virginia,
Charlottesville. Returned to "Locust Grove" where he had an office and established a practice in the surrounding country. Enlisted for service in the Civil War 5 Jun 1861 at Lynchburg. Entered as private, Co. H, 24th Regiment, Va. Infantry, CSA. Promoted to Hospital Steward 24 Nov 1861; discharged 3 Jun 1862.

Robert married Susan Webster Rangeley in Nov 1866 in Henry County, VA. Susan was born on 30 Nov 1843 in Stuart, VA; died on 26 Sep 1936 in Martinsville, VA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

BIRTH-PARENTS-SPOUSE-CHILDREN: A History of Henry County Virginia, Judith Parks America Hill

[Broderbund WFT Vol. 11, Ed. 1, Tree #0089]

According to Granddaughter Lucille Dandridge who stayed with her during her last 3 years of high school, Susan made her come straight home from school with out being allowed to play basketball "because Tom, her favorite son (Will and Daddy [John] resented it), might come [to supper] early".

Again according to Lucille, Susan R. Dandridge was a "little general" in her home; if she went to bed at 8:00, everyone went to bed at 8:00. Once her granddaughter Elizabeth Dandridge answered the telephone and was angrily ordered to never answer the phone while she, Susan, was home. There was one person (probably a teacher at nearby Martinsville High School) she had known for a long time who roomed with her.

Virginia (Puckett) Hodnett said that Susan R. Dandridge was "just the mildest sort of person" who wasn't much of a housekeeper (used to other people running the household - wouldn't even know her way around a kitchen). Virginia said that Susan's father and brothers ran a tannery and store in Stuart, Va. and that her home was where the old hotel (now burned) was located.

Neither Harry nor Lucille, her grandchildren were aware that Susan and Robert Bolling Dandridge had separated before his death; it appears Susan never talked of her husband to her grandchildren. Virginia Hodnett was aware but it "just wasn't something people talked about back then". She believed "the reason might have been that Robert Bolling "may have had a drinking problem - times were hard!". Grandson Hugh also made mentioned that he had heard Robert Bolling Dandridge had a drinking problem.