Letter from G. E. Valley Jr. to Anne F. Wilcox of Elkton, Maryland, written days after the death of her mother, Genevieve Frazer Cockey, his third cousin. He describes how he came to the Ringgold and Cummins research and asks about the years after the Civil War.

[Notebook p. 1. Carbon/printout of GEV's typed letter, pasted in. Note at top: "Wilcox/Ringgold". Date stamp JUL 1 1986.] GEORGE E. VALLEY, JR. 607 MAIN STREET, CONCORD, MA 01742 617 369 5692

June 30 [typed 28, corrected by hand], 1986

Ms. Anne F. Wilcox 269 East Main Street Elkton Md. 21921

Dear Ms. Wilcox:

Your mother's letters made her seem a vivacious person, a vibrant personality that one would have been glad to know. I feel her loss, for I shall no longer be able to ask for her opinion. Someone wrote recently that "death is a door slammed in your face", and indeed it is.

We had exchanged several letters since you were good enough to forward my first to her. She had sent me information about the Ringgolds that easily fit into what I knew, and which I intend to quote in my paper about the Ringgolds and the Cummins's during and after the Civil War.

Her grandmother was first cousin to my grandfather, and when your mother announced that they had played together as children, the difference of 5 years in their ages could be overlooked. After all, grandpa had an older brother, your great grandmother had a younger sister, the Cummins place near Galena was only a few hours ride from Thomas Ringgold's family in Millington, and it is very likely that the cousins visited and played together frequently. Perhaps my Grandpa wasn't really the "beloved childhood playmate of my grandmother"; perhaps it was grandmother's sister, or grandpa's brother--but it's a pretty turn of phrase that your mother used, and I shall quote it.

I learned little about the Ringgolds as a child, except that they were important, grew tobacco, and kept slaves. Then I found Scharf's "Maryland" in the Concord Library, and it told me a lot about the Ringgold family during the Revolution. Later on Mrs. DeProspo of the Kent County Genealogical Society answered my letter, and ultimately xeroxed her copy of Mildred Schoch's Ringgold in The United States, as well as some other documents.

Suddenly, from knowing very little I knew a good deal, but for several months after Professor Hancock sent me a bedraggled copy of your mother's short story, I didn't connect it with my family; until one evening I looked up the people mentioned in it, and lo, they were all close relatives of grandpa!

Your description of the genealogical files your mother left you is fascinating, and I wish I could read the Ringgold sections.

Your friend Mrs. Cummins sent me some papers from her late husband's collection, but I have not finished analyzing them. At first I thought, from an old letter of Frances D. Cummins to Benjamin, that he might have been a descendent of my grandfather's older brother, but the more recent papers she's sent seem to contradict that. I shall try to fit Benjamin's family into my more complete picture, and if necessary, I shall ask Professor Hancock what he has from Mrs. Cummins's [continued on p. 2]

[Notebook p. 2. Page 2 of the letter to Anne Wilcox.] To Anne Wilcox 2 G.E.VALLEY

manuscript. Since Hancock is away for the summer, some time may pass before I get an answer from him.

It is good news that Peale's portrait of Thomas Ringgold is now in a Baltimore museum; I shall write and ask them for a photo of it. There are fewer likenesses of Ringgolds than of Cummins's available. I have only the pen drawing of Major Sam taken from Scharf's Maryland. If you know of any others I will try to locate them and get photos.

Ms. Marian Steuart wrote me some weeks ago; she had asked Mildred Schoch's husband to search her papers, but without discovery. However she did make a remark about Helen Cummins Ringgold, who was the daughter of Clayton Ringgold and his fourth wife, my grandfather's half-sister Martha. This easily fit in with other knowledge that I had, and I have asked Ms. Steuart for other facts about Clayton Ringgold's family: how they fared after the war; when White Hall was lost to the Ringgolds, and similar topics.

The big gap in my knowledge of the Ringgolds is what they did during the years following the Civil War, when so many of them were ruined. I can understand that this information may not be thought memorable, but it is part of the picture for me because my grandfather migrated to New York City as poor as the lowliest immigrant. I need to explain his penury, because all the other Cummins's who remained in Delaware also stayed rich, unlike my great grandfather and his family.

Your mother mentioned that the Elkton Public Library has a file of The Kent Shoreman, including the issue with her story in it; I enclose a copy of a note to the Elkton librarian asking her if she will copy it for me. If you know the lady, a word from you would be appreciated.

I do hope that when next you are in New England, you will be able to visit Concord. It is one of the better preserved towns near Boston, although perhaps one can see more representative town commons further north and in Vermont.

Thank you for your help, and for having had so remarkable a mother.

Sincerely, [signed] George Valley George E. Valley, Jr.

Printed on June 30, 1986, FILE VLCME5