Samuel Skinker and His Descendants

Originally published in 1923 by the author. This book is printed to order
by The Apple Manor Press.

My third great-grandfather, Dr. John William McIlhany of Warrenton, Virginia, served as a surgeon for the Confederacy during the Civil War. His wife was Margaret Bispham Skinker (1837-1896). I have spent fifteen years researching the McIlhany family, and am thrilled to have my own copy of this book.

A manuscript of about twenty pages of this book was passed down from my grandparents; perhaps it is original, but it seems to be a copy. I first laid eyes on the actual book about two years ago in Augusta, Georgia, when my Dad and I traveled to meet long-lost McIlhany relatives. I made a connection with Kristy Hyatt, granddaughter of Rob Milton McIlhany, who was the brother of my great-grandmother, Nellie Keith McIlhany Burtnett. We had a small group of McIlhany/Skinker descendants who met among scrapbooks, photos, and papers.

Kristy's sister, Kathy, owns a grand, old, hardback copy of this Skinker book. It was too much for me to pore over in one sitting, but I put it on my back burner and remembered to ask for it this Christmas. The trouble I'm having is where to start! Another issue is getting this volume away from my husband long enough to look at it!

What I enjoy most about the book is the balance of names and information. It's more than a list of pedigrees; one can get lost in the magic of letters, descriptions, and stories that make the lists of ancestors come to life. Thomas Skinker has given us the gift of getting to know our predecessors as souls with joys, fears, sorrows, likes, and dislikes. 

My husband, Jeremy, and I agree that the excerpts included from the diary of James Keith Boswell are a treasure. Boswell's mother was a Skinker, making him not only a cousin by marriage to Dr. John McIlhany, but also a personal friend. The two men mention each other in their individual writings: McIlhany in a letter to his wife, and Boswell in his diary. After being made Captain of Engineers, Boswell reported directly to General T.J. "Stonewall" Jackson, and in May of 1863, received a fatal wound from the same volley that hit Gen. Jackson, who later died of pneumonia.

I am overwhelmed by the store of information in this one publication. Another relative on the McIlhany side, Hugh Milton McIlhany, published a volume in 1903 entitled Some Virginia Families. Owning a copy of this in addition to Samuel Skinker is a privilege for anyone of these family lines. It's a sweet surprise to discover that my affinity for family history is actually inherited. Thomas Skinker himself describes the book as "An Account of the Skinker Family and All Their Kindred Who Have the Blood of Samuel Skinker in Their Veins." That's me; that's my children! 

Today's culture seems to have lost the importance of looking to our ancestors for lessons in wisdom and life. We think that "progress" means eschewing all things old, as they seem "outdated." I'm grateful for men like James Boswell whose chronicles are fascinating to read today, and to others like Thomas Skinker and Hugh McIlhany, who recognized the importance of preserving the words and lives of those who came before us. "There is a virtue in blood that stimulates the energies and preserves the honor of men" (Col. W.H. Stewart, 61st Virginia Regiment). I feel it, and itch to know more of it.