24 JUN 1930 - Haynesville, Richmond, VA
12 DEC 2005 - Kilmarnock, Lancaster, VA

"Gramps" Elton Ralph Dameron

Show Family Line Ralph Dameron >> Mark Dameron

Ralph Dameron was a VMRC Inspector and a farmer. He was a County Supervisor and a member of White Stone and Corrotoman Baptist Churches.

Elton Ralph Dameron, Jr. was born on June 24th, 1930, to Elton Dameron and Louise Bryant. He went by his middle name. He grew up attending Totuskey Baptist Church. The 1940 census showed his family living off of Route 619 in Haynesville. Ralph was 9 years old and marked as finishing 4th grade.1 He went on to finish school in Richmond County and attended college at Richmond Professional Institute (Now Virginia Commonwealth University).

On the 1950 census Ralph was recorded at age 19 still living with his parents in Haynesville. He and his father were both listed as farmers, Elton reported working 70 hours the previous week, Ralph reported working 50. Supplemental census questions asked of Ralph reported that he finished the 12th grade, worked all 52 weeks of 1949 and earned wages in 1949 totalling $1,300.2

Ralph married Frances Catherine Franklin on June 13th, 1953.3 They were married at her parent's house by Rev. Jesse Clay. The new couple along with Ralph's parents moved to White Stone.4 Ralph and Frances and lived in a house they called "the shanty," across from Enon Hall on Antipoison Creek. A small bridge went over the creek to the Enon Hall farmhouse where his parents lived. Ralph worked for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission as a supervisor in the conservation division. He was with VMRC for 17 years.

In the early 1960's they built a home farther down the creek.5 Ralph worked with his father farming on Enon Hall and raising pigs. Ralph and Frances were members of White Stone Baptist Church and were involved in many church activities. Ralph also served on the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service Committee and for Southern States Cooperative, organizations supporting farmers.6 7

In the 1976 Ralph and Frances moved to Monaskon where he farmed kept cattle.8 In 1983 Ralph ran for a won a seat as a Lancaster County Supervisor.9 During his time on the board he weighed in many times in favor of protecting the county's water resources while supporting local water men, and against commercial development.

After he was mostly retired he still kept some cattle around his farm. He hauled livestock to and from the market in Fredericksburg for himself and other local farmers.

Heart trouble affected Ralph later in life. In the early 2000's he sold the farm and moved to a home in the town of Lively. Ralph passed away on December 12th, 2005 at Rappahannock General Hospital in Kilmarnock. His funeral was held at Corrotoman Baptist Church with burial at Totuskey Baptist Church in Haynesville.10

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More Memories:

Mark Dameron remembers his father bagging many deer when the lived in the shanty:
When we lived at the “little shanty” at the head of the creek, a black man , Howard Adkins, lived within shouting distance . On still fall mornings, Gramps could hear Howard chopping wood early in the morning and would holler “hey Howard, turn them loose” (his two black & tan deer dogs) and almost every morning they could have a deer chase going in a few minutes. Back then high powered rifles were legal and Gramps had a .30/.30 lever action Marlin with open sights. He told me that one season he bagged 13 bucks (no doe hunting back then).

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Sources:

  1. Year: 1940; Census Place: Washington, Richmond, Virginia; Roll: T627_4288; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 80-6
  2. 1950 United States Federal Census, Virginia, Richmond, Washington, 80-7, Page 25, Line 41, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2022.
  3. Virginia, Marriage Records, 1936-2014
  4. Northern Neck News, Volume 75, Number 5, 19 June 1953 (Move to Enon Hall 1953)
  5. Rappahannock Record, Volume FORTY-SEVENTH YEAR, Number NUMBER 31, 9 May 1963 (Home Built in 1963)
  6. Rappahannock Record, Volume THIRTY-NINTH YEAR, Number NUMBER 47, 1 September 1955 (Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service Committee 1955)
  7. Rappahannock Record, Volume SIXTY-THIRD YEAR, Number NUMBER 45, 16 August 1979 (Move to Southern State Cooperative Board 1979)
  8. Rappahannock Record, Volume SIXTIETH YEAR, Number NUMBER 43, 5 August 1976 (Move to Monaskon 1976)
  9. Rappahannock Record, Volume SIXTY-EIGHTH YEAR, Number NUMBER 6, 10 November 1983 (Board of Supervisors 1983)
  10. Rappahannock Record, Volume EIGHTY-NINTH YEAR, Number NUMBER 11, 15 December 2005 (Obituary 2005)

Parents:

Spouse & Children:

Siblings:

  • Hilda Alice Dameron
    • 1926-2020
  • Marguerite I. Dameron
    • 1927-2014
  • Mabel Louise Dameron
    • 1934-2022
  • Anne Leigh Dameron
    • 1950-

Last Updated: 10/29/2023