| The railroad arrived in 1854 and probably
led to growth that resulted in the formation of
Pamplin. Train service has ceased and the depot
is now being turned into a community center and
museum. |
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The old town center is
now abandoned. It is located across the street from
the train station. |
| A home pipe industry began in the
area in the 1700s using native clay and based on
Indian knowledge. In 1880 a Pipe Factory was built
and it operated until 1951. At peak production it
was said to produce one million pipes per month.
It is now the Pamplin Pipe Museum and is shown below
left. Below right is the factories kiln. |
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| Coleman Ledbetter was living near
present day Pamplin when he married Tabitha Moss
in 1805 in Prince Edward VA. Note that Appomattox
County was formed in 1845 out of Prince Edward and
three other counties. In 1839 Coleman signed a partition
favoring the formation of Appomattox County at Matthew's
store near Pamplin. Coleman lived the remainder
of his life and died near Pamplin. Coleman and Tabitha's
sons Joseph and JWA were both placed in Pamplin
in the mid 1850s. JWA Ledbetter married Margaret
Elizabeth Davis in 1856 in nearby Hampden Sydney
College. Their son John Peter was born in Pamplin
in 1861. His son Royal Aubrey Ledbetter Sr. told
of living in Pamplin and visiting an Aunt at the
Pipe Factory where she was employed. The home shown
below was the Ledbetter home supposedly built by
one or more of the Ledbetter's prior to 1854. |
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| Margaret Elizabeth Davis's father
Peter Davis was born in 1804 in Prince Edward County
VA. He likely lived most of his life in the Pamplin
area with his son John Littleton born in the new
Appomattox County in 1846. He owned considerable
acreage Southwest of Pamplin. Most of his children
populated the area with many buried in local cemeteries.
An early Davis home is shown in painting below right
and the chimney of another below left. This chimney
is located on the above map at the Davis Homesite.
The painting is known to be of a home of Peter Davis's
son Robert. It is believed that Peter Davis lived
very near the Davis Homesite. |
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| Several of the Peter Davis descendents
recently found each other through the Internet and
had a little Davis reunion in Pamplin. Below are
photos of the group taken after a Pipe Museum tour.
Three of the four Davis descendent cousins are below
left. |
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Family History in Pamplin VA
