Flipside: Sampson Frum Pool--My Paternal Great Great Grandfather

I am sorely behind blogging about so many of my ancestors. It is not due to the lack of documents....more due to lack of time to review, write and edit. I am taking a day or two each week that I am laid off from the coronavirus shutdown of my employment to remedy the situation.

I will admit that my paternal great great grandfather, Sampson Frum Pool was somewhat of a mystery for many years. He lived his life on farms outside Morgantown, West Virginia and although I have driven there numerous times to visit cemeteries and spend time in the genealogical library on WVU's campus, there was simply not much information. Like with many genealogical brick walls, a day comes when they crack open. Such was the case with Sampson.

Monongalia County, (West Virginia) birth records list that Sampson Frum Pool was born on February 20 1843. The son of Rev William Lanham Pool and Anne Louise Frum Pool he joined two older sisters on his family farm. By the time Sampson was fourteen the Pool family had grown to nine living children. One sister died at age one in 1849.

Sampson, the first son born to the marriage, was named for his maternal grandfather, Sampson Smith Frum. He was a toddler when his maternal grandmother, Elizabeth VanGilder Frum died; however, his Grandfather Frum lived until Sampson was nineteen. I am sure they spent time together.

As was mentioned in my blog regarding Sampson's wife, Sarah Louise Harner Pool, Sampson grew up in Morgantown, (West) Virginia during the 1850's and it was a time of great development. The area was moving from a pioneer village to an actual town with roads, a newspaper, schools and two higher learning academies.

!850 Sabraton Area outside Morgantown. Pool parcels are marked

The national unrest building in the 1860's also reached Morgantown. Sampson was in his young twenties and helping his father with the family farm. Rev William Lanham Pool mustered in to Company I, 14th West Virginia Infantry in 1862. At that time Sampson and his brothers were in charge of running the farm. Perhaps they were also tending to one parcel of land on Aarons Creek given to their mother, Ann Louise Frum Pool by her father, Sampson Smith Frum.

In October 1863, Sampson is listed as subject to military duty. He is twenty-one, a laborer and at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania driving for the government. There is documentation on the West Virginia Archives website, that Sampson Pool was a private in the Monongalia County 14th Militia, Captain L.S.Hayes B Company--a Union soldier. These two documents were the first I had seen that mentioned Sampson other than census reports. Needless to say, it was a happy dance day. I have not found a pension file, and perhaps his service did not qualify for one.

A major family historical artifact is a letter written for Sampson by a fellow soldier, dated Martinsburg, May 23, 1863. The letter is to his mother, Ann Louise Frum Pool and is in response to a letter he received from her . He talks about the farm, his horse and send his love to family and friends. Transcription of Sampson Frum Pool's Civil War Letter. Thanks go to my cousin Phyllis for sending the letter to me years ago.

New information comes on line all the time and I am updating this blog in 2022.

Muster Roll of Captain L. S. Hayes, 1864

This is a crop of the actual Muster Roll dated August 8, 1864 to October 16, 1864. Sampson Pool, written Samson Pool, is listed. Difficult to read, even when enlarged, plus his name is listed under the darkened area on the left. His name on the right is perfectly legible.

Samson Pool, private, paid account by order of the government, August 8, 1964 to September 29, 1864, by paymaster, 16 days, Samson Pool was present, period paid for 16, amount of pay per month $13, amount of pay $6.93, received payment Samson Pool signature, witness--cannot read.

From these three documents, Sampson was serving in the Civil War on October, 1863 and later. He was paid for sixteen days of service in August-September, 1864. So many muster rolls have been lost or are illegible, Did Sampson serve for more time then these three documents outline?

As mentioned in the blog about Sampson's wife, I have no idea how the two met; however the family farms and homes were somewhat close together. Both the Pool and Harner families were pioneers, large and spread throughout the Morgantown area. I think I will cut and paste the marriage information from Sarah's blog.

On May 26, 1866 in Monongalia County, West Virginia, twenty three year old, Sampson Frum Pool married twenty two year old, Sarah Louise Harner, daughter of Philip William Harner and Sarah Fearer Harner. The marriage was performed by Sampson's paternal grandfather, Reverend Asby Pool.

Sampson Frum Pool's farm is shown at the top of the map
and two properties owned by his mother, Anne Louise Frum Pool,
located on Aarons Creek are shown at the bottom of the map

Sampson and Sarah lived on a farm north of Morgantown in the Morgan District, almost to Easton, West Virginia. Together they had eight children; Nettie M. Pool, Sarah Ann Pool, Jessica B. Pool (my paternal great grandmother), Olive Pool, Annabell Pool, Estelle Pool, Philip Albert Pool and Eleanor Pool. The siblings appear to be close in their adult years, spending time together on many visits recorded by Sarah Ann and printed in the Charleroi, Pennsylvania newspaper. Also, at some time after 1900, Pool changed to Poole in many documents.

It is my understanding that many of the children of William Lanham Pool and Ann Frum Pool cut their ties with their father following the divorce. My feeling is that Sampson was close to his mother as shown in the Civil War letter. Sampson was fifty years old when his mother died on August 11, 1893. Court documents from Monongalia County list the division of Ann's real estate following her death. Sampson received the road from his sister's, Elizabeth Pool McClure's, property, 35 1/2 acres and $100.00. His father outlived him by three years.

Sampson lived his life on farms. I imagine there were animals to care for and acres to till, plant and harvest. Much of the farm work was done by hand with the assistance of wagons, horses and tools. No big machines like we find on today's farms. Probably the children assisted with some of the work. Back in that day, work was gender based. The girls may have helped with the animals; however, were primarily assisting Sarah with household duties. The Pool's had only one son, so Philip was out working the land with his father. I will mention that the Pool children did attend school--all were literate. I have noticed that Sampson and Sarah were not. Sampson had a friend write the Civil War letter and Sarah signed papers with an "X".

I wonder if religion was a part of the Pool Family life? Sampson came from a line of Methodist preachers. My guess is yes. The country church was a source of not only spiritual needs but also social ones. Today there is a small church, Mount Union United Methodist Church, located across from the cemetery where all the family is buried. It was located there during the 1800's. I wonder if that was the church the family attended? The Pool farm was located up in that area. Or did they travel by wagon into Morgantown to attend services?

Sampson Frum Pool was front page news on the day of his death, Tuesday, December 14, 1909 at the age of sixty six. I was thrilled to find this obituary scrolling through microfilm at the WVU library years back. It is the reason why obits are so important, giving a family member years later a peek into the persons life. What I gleaned from this obit. The Pool farm was near Number 5 coal mines. His son, Philip Albert Pool, lived near his parents.

My paternal great grandmother, Jessie VanGilder was living in the Sabraton area in 1909 with her four daughters and housed her father
while he died. Her mother must have continued to stay at the Pool farm. Dr. Aaron Moore Buchanan of the Morgantown Presbyterian Church was to officiate at the funeral. Death records indicate that Sampson died from complications of diabetes and was medically attended to by Dr. E. A. Taylor.

There is a Pool section and marker at Union Cemetery, Route 119 north, also known as Point Marion Road. Sampson was laid to rest there near two of the Pool daughters who died earlier, Estelle and Nettie. His wife Sarah would join him in 1911.

As mentioned in Sarah's blog, all of the Pool children are buried in Mount Union Cemetery. Jessie Pool VanGilder is in the VanGilder plot, Philip Albert Poole has his own marker, Annabell Pool Davis has a marker and is in the Pool section. Eleanor Pool Bashaw, Olive Pool Reeves and Sarah Pool Pinyerd do not have markers. I am guessing they are buried in the Pool section. All are listed on Find A Grave.

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Court documents outlining the division of Ann Louise Frum Pool's estate was shared by Dr. Robert Poole Wilkins when we corresponded in the 1990's. He was a genealogist, historian, cousin and friend. Thank you.

Updated: September 13, 2022

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