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EIGHTH GENERATION

153. Joseph Pumphry Wilkerson Jr. Born June 1829. Died 1899. He married Emily Roach.

I once read that, in the 19th century, valentines had to be handmade and handwritten -in original verse- in order to be taken seriously.

 

Years ago my father-in-law, Kenneth Wilkerson, found such a valentine in an old trunk in Grayson County, Kentucky. This old valentine, written a year after Abraham Lincoln was licensed to practice law and when Mark Twain was about 3 years old, belonged to his grandmother Emily Roach Wilkerson, my wife’s great grand mother.

 

“Kenneth never had a picture of his grandmother but did say she was a tall, attractive woman with dark brown eyes and hair. To make a long romantic story short, it was discovered to have been written by the person later to become Kenneth’s grandfather Joseph Pumphry Wilkerson Jr.

 

The plain white paper on which it is written has eight hearts and 16 diamonds cut out of it. Between the hearts and diamonds, written in a circle around the valentine, are the original verses. I have selected these excerpts to share with you:”

 

I chose you out, as you may see,

Because I had respect for thee,

And I send you this that you may know,

We will be married if you say so…

 

But if my paper you refuse,         

Burn the same, and me excuse,

While it’s consuming in the flames,

Your charms will surely ease my pain.

 

And death at once will be my doom,

For I shall shortly then consume,

And cold death will be my friend,

To bring my sorrows to an end.

 

And now I write these words so bold,

To you, the idol of my soul,

For Cupid with his fatal dart,

Has wounded my poor, tender heart.

 

And has between us set a cross,

Which makes me so lament my loss,

For now I write without control,

You are the pleasure of my soul

                                                                                               

And by this you may plainly see,                                 

I’ll have you if you will me…

 

Note: Above paragraphs (exclamations) is an excerpt from an article written about the valentine by Byron Crawford in the Courier-Journal newspaper in Louisville, Ky. This article featured a picture of Kenneth and his sister Hazel Tucker holding the Valentine.

 

   This is the original Valentine Written by Joseph P. Wilkerson.

 

     Tombstone Of Joseph P. Wilkerson at Edwards Cemetery.  

 

Joseph Pumphry Wilkerson Jr. and Emily Roach had the following children

child+238 i. Francis J. (Frank) Wilkerson.
child+239 ii. Buel Wilkerson.
child240 iii. Patty Wilkerson(77).
child241 iv. Kate Wilkerson(77).
child242 v. Andrew Jackson Wilkerson(77).
child243 vi. Robert Wilkerson(77). DIED YOUNG.
child244 vii. Fanny Wilkerson(77).
child245 viii. Mary Wilkerson(77).
child246 ix. Ann Wilkerson(77).
child247 x. Stephen Wilkerson(77). DIED YOUNG.
child+248 xi. James Roach Wilkerson.