‘THE LESTER FAMILY oF FLOYD COUNTY AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY VIRGINIA Marguerite Tise Copyright © Marguerite Tise 1996 Al rights reserved Second (revised) printing 1997 Floyd, VirginiaFOREWORD My original intention, when I became interested in the Lester family, was to research and publish the family of Hulen Lester, youngest son of John and Catharine Lester and my great-great-grandfather. In the course of my searching, many, nany new Lester names, previously uilmown to me, cane to Light. As they were identified and put in their proper places, other branches of the family began to take shape and as I endeavored to fill in the missing nanes, eventually my project expanded to include the entire Lester family originating in Montgomery and Floyd counties. John Lester I had eleven children. His descendants were likewise prolific and had lazge families. The size of the family took on major proportions and becane almost unmanageable. This collection has over 3000 names and later generations have had to be limited, for which I am sorry. It could be broken up into several books but has been kept together in its entirety as I believe that the overall picture of the whole family is of value and interest. ‘The Lester fanily history is not yet complete and the search could go on and on but this is as far as I can go at the present time. I will be glad to hear from anyone and will be appreciative of additions and corrections. # ‘The numeral in front of each nane represents the generation in the family to which the individual belongs, beginning with John Lester I as the first generation. The letter after the numeral indicates the order of birth of the individual in his immediate family. For example: “Zi. Hulen Lester," the figure 2 shows that he is of the second generation, and the letter i (ninth in the alphabet) shows that he is the 9th child of his parents. "4e. George Lester," shows that he is the 4th generation, and the letter ¢ shows that he is the third child in his family, ete. Abbreviations: Floya County (F) Patrick County (Pat Go) ™_7 Razried ra Montgomery County (M) Radford (Rad) bar, - buried Roanoke County (Roa Co; be = born angen Pulaski County (Pul Co, d. - died ae In many instances the usual punctuation has been omitted to save space. aACKNOWLEDGMENTS: I wish to express my grateful appreciation to the many people who have helped me in various ways in compiling this history. A project of this size could not have been completed without the support of many individuals. I owe a special debt to Betsy Owen for generously sharing with me the results of her extensive research on the Lester family which has revealed, among other things, previously unknown information on early family history in this country. (ne of the enjoyable aspects of preparing this history has been getting to know new relatives and renewing old acquaintances. For the contribution of family data and other pertinent information, I wish to express my thanks to ‘all those who have come to my assistance and particularly to: Mr. and Mrs. ‘Aaron Altizer, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Altizer, Lacy M. Altizer, Lozetta Altizer, Virginia Altizer, Mildred Carter Bowyer, Mary Kay Lester Cooper, June S. Earles, Morris Elliott, Pat Lester, Robert Lester, Mrs. Fannie Sue Lucas, Alma Wade Manon, Bertha Mannon, Ola Nannon, Anita Lester McDowell, Everette McGrem, Don and Donna MoGuire, Mary B. Mitchell, Sam Moore, Claude Pugh, Lois and Curtis Roop, Viola Lester Newby, Mrs. Evie Shelton, Edith Sled, Mrs. Erma Sowers, Velma Spangler, Katherine Howard Spyhalski, Ollie Underwood, Archa Vaughan Jr., Lottie Lester Walker, James Wood, Opal Young, Patricie Ann Noses. I am grateful to those who have loaned pictures for inclusion in this ‘dock: Loretta Altizer, Virginia Altizer, Andy Cox, Mary K. Cooper, Alna Mannon, Anita McDowell, Margaret McDowell, Donna McGuire, Sam Moore, Viola Newty, Evelyne Rutrough, Mrs. Evie Shelton, Edith Sled, Mrs. Erma Sowers, Katherine Spyhalski, Archa Vaughan Jr., Althea R. Weeks. To my sisters, Virginia Kirkwood and Jessie Heafner, sincere thanks for their continuing support. Marguerite Tise P. 0. Box 343 Floyd, VA 24091-0343