Annie Lorinda Mundie (Munday) was born 27 April 1881,
daughter of Richard Arnold Mundie and Kate Conway Clarkson. She is my second cousin, three times
removed. Her parents were married in
December 1878, and they resided in Baltimore Maryland during the early years of
their marriage. But, sometime before
1900 the Mundie family returned to live near their ancestral home in Essex
county Virginia. Annie Mundie had an
older brother Julian Conway Mundie who appears as an infant in the 1880
census. It is believed that he died
young, leaving Annie Lorinda Mundie as the only living child of her parents.
We do not have details of Annie Mundie's childhood. The 1940 census indicates that she completed
an education through grade six. She may
have suffered with health issues through her life. A letter between her cousin RA Clarkson and
his son SE Clarkson in March of 1906, makes this mention,
I found a
nice letter awaiting me from sister Kate [Kate Clarkson Mundie]. She invites us to make her another visit this summer.
Richard’s [Richard Mundie]
health was very poor during past winter – but better now. Annie [Annie Mundie]
still quite deaf, with no prospect of getting better. She had been helping her
father in his grocery store.
From this snippet, written when Annie Mundie was about age
twenty-five, we learn that her father, Richard Mundie operated a grocery
store. This was probably in the
community of Tappahonnock in Essex county Virginia. Richard Mundie died sometime between this
1906 letter and the 1920 census, when Annie L Mundie, age thirty-eight, appears
in the home of her widowed mother in Albemarle county Virginia (City of
Charlottesville). It is not known how
Kate Clarkson Mundie and her daughter Annie supported themselves after Richard
Mundie's death, but there is clear evidence that my Clarkson ancestors provided
generous bequests, and a regular stipend through the years. This was evidence of the great affection held
by my great, great-grandfather, Richard Albert Clarkson, for his cousin, who he
always called “Sister Kate”.
Kate Clarkson Mundie died in Charlottesville Virginia in
1931. Her obituary mentions the care she
gave her “invalid” daughter Annie.
Beyond deafness, the nature of Annie Mundie's illness is not known. After her mother's death she managed to care
for herself. The 1940 census shows her
as a resident of the Martha Jefferson Sanatorium, also named as “The Old Ladies
Home”, in Charlottesville, Virginia.
In the 1950's she maintained a correspondence with my
grandfather, Albert Clarkson. Two
surviving letters, written by Annie Mundie in 1954 and 1956, provided a wealth
of information on my Clarkson ancestors.
When Arnold Motley, Clerk of Essex County Virginia, compiled his ClarksonFamily Research (probably in the 1950's or 60's), Annie supplied much of
the data he included in his report. Obviously she listened (despite deafness)
to the Family Stories, recorded them in her memory, and willingly shared them
with others who wanted to hear. I will
be forever grateful!
For more details on Annie Lorinda Mundie, visit her page at Family Stories, pamgarrett.com. If you would enjoy reading her letters, full
of wonderful family history, they are included in the pdf document titled, Clarkson
Family Letters, available in the Features Archive at Family Stories,
pamgarrett.com. See pages 5 – 7 of the
Clarkson Family Letters.
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