FAMILY MOTTO:'Hora E Sempre'---'Now and Forever'
Who we are often hinges on rare and coincidental occurrences in our 
family history.

 I was born and and raised in Bluefield, Mercer County, West Virginia. My brother Roger and I have
worked together compiling our family genealogy, and discovering those who we are descended, come
from the Great State of Virginia.Mercer County West Virginia, is nestled deep in the heart of the
Appalachia Mountains. The area is filled with a rich history of coal mining and the unique
culture that emerged. Coal mining communities created a type of hospitality that is unmatched
anywhere in the south. In the History of Mercer County and details events, the Farmer ancestors were
some of the first settlers here. You will see Baileys, Belchers, Clays, Fletchers, Frenches, and
others who we are descended from.

Also there are family members in Civil War Regiments.

Our G Grandfather James Thomas Farmer, and his brother's, fought for the Confederacy and listed as
enlisting in Princeton Mercer Co VA, Apr 10 1862 as a Pvt, Co B, 23rd Batt'n, Virginia Infantry.Our
G-G Uncle George Washington Piles fought for the Union and listed as a Pvt, Co H, 1st Reg't Kentucky
Calvary.


When our people entered upon the war it was with brave determination and vigor--not counting the
cost. It was to them simply the question of defending Virginia, and Virginia's soil from the
threatened invasion of a Northern army; and to preserve our rights and liberties as free people, and
for which our ancestors had shed their blood in our contest with Great Britain.


It was not a war on the part of our people to preserve or perpetuate slavery, for thousands of our
best and bravest soldiers, nor their ancestors had ever owned a slave. We were forced to the choice
of which master we should serve--we could not serve both. We regarded our primary allegiance due to
the state which, with the other states, had given life and existence to the Federal agent that now
proposed to turn upon, crush and destroy its creators. These were the arguments and presentations of
the question at that time. For these contentions our people stood ready to surrender their lives,
their all, save honor, and fought to the finish, only yielding to overpowering and overwhelming
force, but not surrendering an iota of the, principles for which they so long, so faithfully and
bravely battled.


These principles are just as sacred today as they ever were, they were not lost by the results of
the war, only the effort to maintain and establish them by the arbitrament of the sword was a
failure.


The admission of West Virginia, as State in the midst of a war, was an unusual event in the history
of our nation. The circumstances of its admission leaves doubt as to whether the granting of
statehood to West Virginia had a basis in law. The Census Bureau and the Association of American
Geographers still consider West Virginia part of the South.


With the military history that we have found, in the search of our ancestors, we are both proud
members of "The Sons of Confederate Veterans" for our Heritage, not Hate.


The desire, usually possessed by civilized men, is to learn the history and character of their
ancestors, who they were, and whence they came, excites regret that this history is the more often
involved in obscurity; no one has thought it necessary to keep a correct record of the family.


Tradition alone, depended upon to supply the place of recorded facts, is often so obscured by the
efflux of time and other causes, that it cannot always be relied upon as a safe guide to truth. Yet
when tradition and known facts are closely coupled together, the former is greatly strengthened and
becomes much more reliable.

 
Our ancestors who came across the mountains from the East and settled upon the Western waters were
not, as a rule, college bred people; in fact, most of them had had few advantages along this line.
They came bringing with them all their world's goods of which they were possessed,consisting usually
of a horse or two, a cow, rifle gun, a dog, and such an amount of household furniture as could be
carried on horses.


Already the time is here when the names of many of our ancestors who felled the forests, stood on
the frontier, risked their lives, and endured untold hardships, have been forgotten. Their names
should, as far as possible, be rescued from the obliteration of time and their illustrious deeds
recorded upon the pages of history, lest they be forgotten or left to be preserved only in the
indistinct memorials of tradition.


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