Libby's Genealogy: Sions Family

The Sions Family

What is known:
1Peter Nicholas Sions came from Holland or Germany with two brothers. A family story says that one brother ate poison berries and died before the trip across the mountains was completed. All we know of the other brother is that his name was Job.

Peter was engaged to Susan Jones. Susan became pregnant, but they never married, Peter died before his son was born. Susan married George Hartman when her son, Adam Sions, was 3 years old. Adam never took the Hartman name.

2Adams Sions married Susan Leatherman and built a home on the mountain east of Foreman and cleared off the land known as the Sions place. This farm was later called the Carpenter place and later the Freed place. Located between Burnt and Henry mountains in West Virginia. Today the property is owned by the Ours family.

Adams children were born on this farm. He, his wife, one or more children and one grandchild, the daughter of his son Peter are all buried on this farm. The old house showing port holes for Indian fighting was torn down in 1954. Before his death, Adam bought a large tract of land near the next mountain east. This tract of land included most of High Knob mountain and several thousand acres west of High Knob. Most of the land between High Knob and Wild Cat mountain was at one time a part of this tract. Much of it is still owned by the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Adam Sions. (information from Sions family history by Cread Sions)

According to the 1850 Hardy County Census, Adam was a farmer and owned $1000 in real estate. His name was spelled Sine on the census report. Also at the time of the census, three other individuals were listed living with the family: Peter Hartman, age 20, Laborer; Frederick Foley, age 22, Laborer and Margaret Fuller, age 22, who was listed as unable to read or write. I assume Margaret was hired to help with the household duties, as I'm unaware of any family connection at this writing (Jan.1999).

In December of 98, my grandfather took me to the old Adam Sions homestead, where Adam and Susan are buried. This was a very special trip for me. Below are some of the photos I took that day. I hope you will enjoy them.

Photo of where the Adams Sions home use to stand, the only thing remaining are the stones from the chimney which now lay on the ground. You can still tell where the foundation use to be, but it is very vague.

The mass in the center are the same stones shown at left. This is the view from where the home stood. The area is called "Long Hollow Field", there is a rock wall along the tree line to the left.

This is just a small family plot and if you did not know what you were looking for you wouldn't even know it contained graves. It was overgrown with thickets and briars, which we had to stomp down before taking photos.

Three small stones mark the graves of Adam, Susan and an Infant which is unknown. The markings on the infant stone were not legible. If anyone knows who is buried here I would appreciate the information.

Family Statistics:
2Adam Sions b:1818 d:May 1, 1871 married Susan Leatherman b:Aug. 23, 1816 d:June 26,1896 on Oct. 6, 1938 in Mineral County, WV. There are three known children of this marriage; Job 1843, John 1845 and Peter 1850.

3John Sions (of Adam) b:Dec. 28, 1845 d:Aug. 20, 1928, married Sydney Shoemaker b:Jan. 26, 1855 d:April 6, 1941 on Oct. 23, 1873. There were nine children of this marriage; Nellie 1874, Charles 1877, Lillie 1879, Elijah 1881, Annie 1883, Mary 1886, Herbert 1888, Clarence 1893 and Edith 1895.

4Elijah Sions (of John) b:Nov. 29, 1881 d:Dec. 7, 1961 married Minnie Lyon b:Dec. 2, 1885 d:March 20, 1964 on Sept. 19, 1905. There were eleven children of this marriage; Cread 1904, Lottie 1906, Berrel 1907, Sampson 1909, Calvin 1911, Sidney 1913, Fausta 1915, Haven 1917, Stella 1919, Gilbert 1921, and Floyd 1923.

The Elijah and Minnie Sions family
1-Haven, 2-Stella, 3-Floyd, 4-Fausta, 5-Gilbert, 6-Sidney,
7/10-Berrel/Lottie(not sure which is which), 8-Cread, 9-Calvin, 11-Sampson, 12-Elijah, 13-Minnie.


This photo is of the Elijah Sions home in Old Fields, WV. The family owned a working farm which supplied the needs of their large family. The men hunted wild game for meat and they grew all their own produce. Cows and chickens provided dairy and poultry. At the general store they traded eggs for staples like sugar and flour.

This is a photo of my grandfather the day we walked the property. In his hand he holds the blade of an old sickle that we found while wandering...a truly exciting find. To think that at some point in history, Adam Sions or one of his laborers very likely used this sickle to cut the grass in the fields where we stood that day. Moments like these are the fruits of the labor of a genealogist!