The Good Earth: Family Ties to the Land—Sampson Smith Frum and Elizabeth VanGilder

The topic for the 73rd edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will be: The Good Earth. Were your ancestors sharecroppers or land barons? Perhaps an ancestor was a logger or a miner. Do you have stories of homesteading? Is there a master gardener in your tree? If your ancestors lived in the city did they keep a square foot garden or escape the city to a favorite park? Tell us about your family's ties to the land! Apple will host the next edition of the COG on Apple's Tree.

     My paternal great great great great grandfather, Sampson Smith Frum, was, at his death, the largest land owner in Monongalia County, West Virginia. Sampson was the son of William Frum and it is believed his mother was Anna Smith (I have also seen her listed as Mary Ann Smith on ancestry.com). He was born on January 27, 1790 in Frederick County, Virginia in the Back Creek area.¹

     To date no records have been found to prove the name of his mother. The dilemma stems from the records in Frederick County, Virginia of the Jeremiah Smith II family. There is no record of the marriage of William Frum to a Smith woman. There is a will belonging to Samuel Smith, the son of Jeremiah II. Samuel mentions all of William Frum’s children in the will. The son’s are bequeathed sizeable tracts of land and in 1803 my ancestor, Sampson Smith Frum, was given the 200 acre farm of Samuel Smith.² Other brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews are also listed in the will giving rise to the feeling that the Frum children were also relations.

     Several years ago someone sent me a rather interesting website that has a memoir entitled, Notebook of Aristotle Smith, Eden, West Virginia, that puts forth the story that Samson (Sam’s son) Frum was actually the son of the bachelor, Samuel Smith and Anna Frum.³ Oddly, the Frum’s had two sons with similar names: Samuel Samson Frum and Sampson Smith Frum. The recollection of Aristotle Smith is that Samson Frum removed to Taylor County, West Virginia. In actual fact, the Frum son that lived in Taylor County was Solomon Frum. It’s difficult to know just how much credibility to give to the story; however it does provide a new slant to the Frum/Smith mystery.

     At one time there was War of 1812 on Sampson's tombstone.  When I visited the cemetery, there was no indication of his service. Fortunately, there was a cemetery reading back in the 1940’s, long before the cemetery was partially destroyed and the tombstones badly weathered.

     This documentation was sent to me by another researcher (Zinn, 345-346)

"1815 Monongalia County Court.  To the Monongalia County Court. 'Joseph Allen, your petitioner, begs leave to report to Your Worships Sampson Smith Frum being the person elected in my company as Lieutenant to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Jacob Madera and wish the said Frum be by your worships recommended to the Governor and Council of the Commonwealth of Virginia to be commissioned a Lieutenant in the Grenadier Company in the 78th Regiment, 10th Brigade and the 3rd Division of the Virginia Militia.'

Signed by

Joseph Allen

8 May 1815

     Sampson was a Lieutenant from Monongalia County, (West) Virginia. He resigned the position in 1817.⁴  

      To date, I have not found any documentation regarding Sampson's actual involvement in the War of 1812.  The above country court records are dated after the War, although they suggest that the Lieutenant position could have been a promotion from the rank served earlier.

     Sampson, age twenty-five, married Elizabeth VanGilder, age twenty-three, daughter of Jacob VanGilder and Anna Margaret Gibler (Kibler) in Monongalia County, Virginia on June 11, 1815.⁵ 

     At an early age, Sampson realized the value of land and began purchasing parcels in and around Morgantown, often with his father. From 1817 until 1853, Sampson Smith Frum purchased 1279 acres of land primarily in Monongalia County, (West) Virginia. He owned the largest acreage of any single individual in the county at his death in 1862.⁶

3 farms in Uffington--283 acres
1 farm on Cobun's Creek--85 acres
4 farms on Aaron Creek--551 acres
2 houses on 2 lots in Morgantown
360 acres in Frederick County, Virginia

     According to research done by a relation of mine, Dr. Robert Poole Wilkins, livestock and farming were Sampson’s primary interests. “He found little market for his cattle in Morgantown, so he moved them east to Baltimore. The cattle were driven by foot with the resting place on his farm near Winchester, Virginia, before moving on to Baltimore and many being exported to Europe."⁷

1820 (West) Virginia Census
Eastern Division, Monongalia County
August 7, 1820

Sampson Frum

Males ages 26 thru 44--1     Sampson Frum

Females under age 10--2     Anne Louise and Matilda (?)

Females ages 26 thru 44--1  Elizabeth Anne VanGilder Frum

1830 (West) Virginia Census
Eastern District, Monongalia County

Sampson S Frum

Males under age 5--1  Alpheus Frum

Males age 5 thru 9--2  Sampson S Frum

Males age 20 thru 29--1  Unknown

Males age 40 thru 49--1  Sampson Smith Frum

Females under age 5--1  Margaret Frum

Females age 5 thru 9--1  Matilda Frum

Females age 10 thru 14--1  Anne Louise Frum

Females age 30-39--1  Elizabeth Anne VanGilder Frum

1840 (West) Virginia Census
Eastern District, Monongalia

Sampson S Frum

Males age 10 to under 15--1  Alpheus Frum

Males age 15 to under 20--1  Sampson S. Frum

Males age 50 to under 60--1   Sampson Smith Frum

Females age 5 to under 10--1  Elizabeth Jane Frum

Females age 10 to under 15--1  Margaret Frum

Females age 15 to under 20--1  Matilda Frum

Females age 40 to under 50--1  Elizabeth Anne VanGilder Frum

My great great great grandmother, Anne Louise Frum was married to Reverend William Lanham Pool May 14, 1839.

     On August 1, 1845, Elizabeth Anne VanGilder Frum died at the age of fifty-three.  She was buried on a piece of her husband's land next to Aaron Creek.

1850 (West) Virginia Census

Eastern District, Monongalia County

August 5, 1850

Sampson Frum, age 60, male, farmer, value of real estate owned $17000, born in Virginia

Margaret Frum, age 22, female, born in Virginia

Alpheus Frum, age 20, male, farmer, born in Virginia

Elizabeth J Frum, age 18, female, born in Virginia

John Smith, age 13, male, born in Virginia (? relation through Sampson's mother's Smith line)

     Letters at the Morgantown Post office on February 1, 1852.  Sampson Frum is listed as is my other paternal great great great great grandfather, Asby Pool.  Sampson's daughter, Anne Louise Frum, married Reverend Asby Pool's son, William Lanham Pool.  

1860 (West) Virginia Census
District 2, Morgantown Post Office
September 1, 1860

Sampson S Frum, age 70, male, farmer, value of real estate $18,000, value of personal estate $700, born in Virginia.

Margaret Frum, age 32, female, born in Virginia.

     Son, Alpheus Frum and his family, are enumerated directly below his father.  He is probably farming and living on his father's land.

Children of Sampson Smith Frum and Elizabeth Ann VanGilder

1. Anne Louise Frum born September 2, 1817 Monongalia County (West) Virginia, died August 11, 1893 Monongalia County, West Virginia, married Rev. William Lanham Pool. (My Paternal Great Great Great Grandparents)
2. Matilda Frum born September 26, 1821 Monongalia County (West) Virginia, died December 29, 1898 Monongalia County, West Virginia, married James Donaldson Fleming.
3. Sampson S. Frum born January 6, 1822 Monongalia County (West) Virginia, died November 26, 1893 Monongalia County, West Virginia, married Eleanor Anne McBee.
4. Margaret Frum born September 23, 1825 Monongalia County (West) Virginia, died February 6, 1905 Monongalia County, West Virginia, married John Beall.
5. Alpheus Frum born June 7, 1830 Monongalia County (West) Virginia, died October 6, 1901 Monongalia County, West Virginia, married Elizabeth Janes Hayes.
6. Elizabeth Jane Frum born June 1834 Monongalia County (West) Virginia, died February 2, 1910 Morgantown, Monongalia County, West Virginia, married John Kinsley.

     Sampson, Elizabeth and some of their children and descendants are buried on a hillside overlooking Aaron Creek on land that once belonged to Sampson. 

     Elizabeth Ann VanGilder Frum was the first to be interred in The Old Frum Cemetery. She died on August 1, 1845 in Monongalia County, (West) Virginia at age fifty-three.  

     Sampson Smith Frum died on his farm on November 13, 1863 at the age of 73 years, 10 months and 16 days.⁹ A listing of those buried in this small family graveyard is on findagrave.com.

In Sampson's will the following property was disposed of:⁸

Alpheus Frum--143 acres on Aaron Creek
Ann Pool--210 acres on Aaron and Booth Creeks (my line)
Margaret Beall--148 1/2 acres of two parcels
Sampson, Jr.--153 acres
Elizabeth J. Kinsey--145 acres
Matilda Fleming--98 1/2 acres and two houses and lots

Updated:  August 2025

Notes

1. Cemetery Readings in West Virginia: Monongalia County, 1940

2. Will of Samuel Smith, Frederick County, Virginia, 1803, Probate September 29, 1803 at Superior Court, Will Book SC 2, page 10.

3. Wilson, M. Blaire, Notebook of Aristotle Smith, Eden, West Virginia, Internet.

4. Zinn, Melba Pender, Monongalia County, (West) Virginia Records and the District, Superior and County Courts Volume 10: 1815-1819, (Heritage Books, 2000), 168, 251-1817, Monongalia County Court.

5. Monongalia County, West Virginia Marriage Records, Volume 1 Page 725.

6. Robert Poole Wilkins, Research done at West Virginia University Genealogical Library.

7. Robert Poole Wilkins, Frum Genealogy: A Manuscript.

8. Grantee Index to Deeds, Monongalia County, West Virginia, Volume 4, page 151-155.

9. Cemetery Readings in West Virginia: Monongalia County, 1940.

    Zinn, Melba Pender, Monongalia County, (West) Virginia Records and the District, Superior and County Courts Volume 9: 1813-1817, (Heritage Books, 1998), 345-346, Monongalia County Court.