Family Tree of
Virginia May Jarvis - Atkins (1899-1934)
Mathews County, Virginia
May Married Jesse Clifton Atkins, A World War I Veteran
This web page was made possible by researching some generic family information
originally provided on December 27, 1986 by Jason Lester Atkins,
Oldest Son of Jesse Clifton Atkins and Virginia May Jarvis-Atkins.
Some of the Jarvis ancestor information below was provided by Richard L. Jarvis.
Some of the Fernald ancestor information below was provided by Roland Callis and Dana H. Black.
| Jarvis Family Tree | . . . | Fernald Family Tree |
| William M. Jarvis (1800 to 1850/60) | | Daniel David Fernald (1818 NH to ? VA) |
| Mary W. "Polly" (Maiden Name Unknown) | | Jane E. (Maiden Name Unknown) (1822 VA to 1894 VA) |
| \/ | | \/ |
| James Wesley Jarvis, Sr. (Jan. 1829 to 1900?) | | George Elijah Fernald (1851 to 1934) |
| Sarah Elizabeth Davis | | Virginia May Hall (1853 to ?) |
| \/ | | \/ |
| James Wesley Jarvis, Jr. (1874 to 1947) | | Emma May Fernald (1877 to 1911) |
| Father of Virginia May Jarvis | | Mother of Virginia May Jarvis |
Virginia May Jarvis:
Nickname: May
Born April 4, 1899
Died March 17, 1934 (Heart Failure - Age 34¾)
Right photo taken in the year 1918 - May was 19 years old.
In the year 1918 very few women had good jobs. The telephone was a relatively recent invention and it represented the newest technology of that era. May was the Telephone Switchboard Operator for Fort Monroe, Virginia during World War I and she handled all the incoming calls to the military base. May was proud that she had a good job working with the best technology of her era.
That was how she met Jesse Clifton Atkins, who was a Sergeant stationed at the military base at Fort Monroe. Both May and Jesse were excellent dancers and both of them could do the Charleston, and many other dances, in the classic styles.
May was a self-taught pianist and she played and sang many Christian Hymns. She had a beautiful singing voice and she sang many of the war songs of her era, such as “Over There” and “The Yanks are Coming.” May was jovial, smart, and pretty. May’s favorite pastime was working the crossword puzzle in the newspaper every day because it provided a challenge for her superior intellectual abilities.
May married Jesse Clifton Atkins in the year 1918.
May and Jesse had eight children as follows:
Jason Lester Atkins (Les, 1919)
Bernice Ophelia Atkins (Bernie, 1921 to 1997)
Catherine Elizabeth Atkins (Catherine, 1922 to 2004)
Gladys May Atkins (Gladys, 1924)
Edith Virginia Atkins (Gina, 1925)
James Clifton Atkins (J.C., 1927)
Thomas Gerald Atkins (Jerry , 1929 to 1931)
Jesse Lee Atkins (Lee or Tommy Lee, 1932 to 2004)
The following individuals are all buried at Christ Church Episcopal near the town of Mathews, Virginia:
James Wesley Jarvis (1874-1947)
Emma May Fernald-Jarvis (1877-1911)
Edith Hurst-Jarvis (1891-1971)
Virginia May Jarvis-Atkins (1899-1934)
Thomas Gerald Atkins (1929-1931)
George Elijah Fernald (1851-1934) is buried at St. Paul Methodist Church near the town of Mathews, Virginia.
You may click on any underlined name ABOVE to see additional information about that person.
Additional Information about George Elijah Fernald
His great-grandchildren called him “Pa Elijah.” He was about 5 feet 8 inches tall, with blue eyes and blonde hair. He had a stocky build with a large chest and arms. He had a good work ethic. He built his own two-story farm house. He farmed and earned a living selling oysters and crabs. He kept a boat until his late 70’s. He was a kind and gentle man.
Additional Information about James Wesley Jarvis, Sr.
James Wesley Jarvis, Sr. enlisted in the Mathews Light Artillery on September 1, 1862 during the American Civil War. James served in the Confederate Army until the end of the war when General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House in Virginia in 1865.
Additional Information about James Wesley Jarvis, Jr.
James Wesley Jarvis, Jr. was about 5 feet 10 inches tall, always less than 165 pounds, black hair, black moustache, dark brown eyes, very white teeth, and a dark complexion. Overall, he had a Spanish appearance. When James was young he had tattoos put all over his arms. When he was older he was very ashamed of his tattoos and he always wore a long sleeve shirt, even during the hot summer months. His advice about tattoos to his children and grandchildren was simple: "Never get any kind of tattoo for any reason. Never. Never. Never." His advice is still valid today.
James Wesley Jarvis, Jr. had four sisters: Rosanna, Mary, Lelia, and Lucy, and two brothers: Alexander and Ernest. Ernest died on a Sunday while singing in the choir at Church.
James Wesley Jarvis, Jr. and Emma May Fernald-Jarvis had three children at Mathews, Virginia: a son named George Vernon Jarvis (December 1896), a daughter named Virginia May Jarvis (1899), and a daughter named Rosa Jarvis (about 1903). James moved his young family to the Hampton, Virginia area prior to 1910.
George Vernon Jarvis drowned around 1915 during a heroic Coast Guard Rescue attempt when he was 18 years old. During a very bad storm with 10 to 20 foot waves, a passenger liner was in serious trouble off the coast of New Jersey. The U.S. Coast Guard asked for volunteers to attach a line by hand to the passenger liner. The five men had to row a small lifeboat over to the passenger liner to complete the rescue effort. George and four other heroic young men volunteered. While trying to row to the passenger liner, their small lifeboat capsized and three of the five men drowned. George's body was lost at sea and never recovered. However, his family did place a marker in a graveyard in his memory.
Rosa Jarvis married first to a Mr. Saros, and second to a Mr. Amos Blevin.
After his first wife Emma died, James married his second wife, Edith Hurst. James and Edith had two children together: James Maywood Jarvis and Dorothy Jarvis.
You may download the above picture.
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Permission to copy picture granted by Jason Lester Atkins and Robert Wayne Atkins on September 16, 2004.
Henry Atkins and Sarah Dendy-Atkins Family Tree Page
located at: http://www.grandpappy.info/atkins.htm
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