Roudabush Document Archives
This is a brief compendium of files from the Page County Courthouse. Many involve the history of Cherry Hill Farm, but some involve family history particular to James P. Snyder or the geography near the farm located south of Marksville (near Stanley, VA) in Page County, VA. There is another document that was scanned (32 pages) that documents the Suthard Family. Let me know if any of this is of assistance to your research. Since these documents are in the public domain, you are free to save these files and use them for your own purposes.These linked files are in TEXT or .PDF format for easy updating- and you will need to click on the “BACK” button on your browser to get back to this page. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat, it can be downloaded from http://www.adobe.com.
| History of Cherry Hill Farm (CHF) circa 1934 |
| Original Handwritten Deed between the Snyders (similar to document below) |
| First deed change from John Snyder to his children (CHF) |
| Mineral rights deed for CHF for Jacob Sigler’s use given by the Snyder children (1866) |
| Will of James P. Snyder (1911) passing CHF to Eliza Suthard, Lula Ann Roudabush, Hortense Huffman (Lula’s sister) and her husband. |
| Here is where history becomes ugly. The Snyder children filed a lawsuit claiming that Eliza Suthard et al. manipulated James P. Snyder in his older age to make Eliza the sole heir. This document sheds new light on another person- Evangeline Suthard- daughter of Eliza Suthard. These documents make the first documented claim that Evangeline was the product of an affair between Eliza Suthard and James P. Snyder in 1873. Snyder paid well for Evangeline’s education at a music conservatory which would have been well out of the reach of the Suthards- who worked the farm for Snyder. There is no real independent record where the Suthards lived prior to this, but the History of the Suthard Family document shows a property plat where the Suthards were the next door neighbors of Snyder. Apparently JC Suthard never moved off of Pine Grove Road in Stanley, VA. |
| The First lawsuit between the Snyder children and Eliza Suthard |
| The Second lawsuit between the Snyder children and Eliza Suthard |
| Deed in 1927 between Hortense Suthard Huffman and Lula Ann Suthard Roudabush to sell Hortense’s portion for one dollar. |
| Bond between Lula and Robert T. Roudabush and Grover Miller. This is the beginning of the financial woes of RT and Lula. |
| This is the sale of CHF for proceeds going to Grover Miller. After Lula Roudabush died, the farm was sold for the indebted amount. At public auction, Miller Elbea Roudabush purchased the farm for the debt amount, and sold it to the Mims Family (second document). |
| This is an account of the Mims selling a parcel of their farm to another party. |
| CHF deed from JR Mims to William R. Gifford 1964. |
| William Gifford to John H. Gordon in 1976. The subsequently changed the name to “Gordonia”. I had the pleasure of meeting the Gordons in 1985 and spending an afternoon at the farm. The farm has been sold again and renamed “Cherry Hill Farm”. It is believed that there is still one old cherry tree borne from the seeds brought back from the 1849 Gold Rush by James P. Snyder. I have visited the farm, and it is finally getting the proper restoration by it’s new owners. |
| History of the Suthard Family by Calvin E. Suthard of Boca Raton, Florida (32 pages). A lot of good information here. |
| Excerpts of the “History of the Descendants of John Koontz” (16 pages). |
| Excerpt from the Marksville School Register of 1900. Some of my relatives attended here. Marksville is now nothing except a memory and a road sign, but is located at the end of Pine Grove Road in Stanley, VA. |
| Passenger List from the “Dragon”- the ship that started it all for me- where Hans Heinrich Raudenbusch came to America. The manifest spells their name “Rowdenbosh”. Courtesy of the Library of Congress. |
As I gather more, it will appear here.
All information on this site is Copyright 1998-2008 © , Michael Habersack, Sr.