Susanna Lunsford (1840-1914), quilter, friend to all, Two's maternal grandmother

 Susanna Lunsford (Sept 28, 1840 - April 25, 1914) 

Susanna, aka "Susaner", Two's maternal grandmother, grew up on a farm in Cabell County Virginia (the western most part of Virginia that became West Virginia in 1863).   She was the oldest of ten siblings.  Neither she nor her mother could read or write.   

Susaner married George Washington Leadman sometime before 1860.  They made their home in Cabell County near Mud Bridge, and then Teays Valley in Putnam County.  

George Washington Leadman and Susanna Lunsford, 1860's 

Susaner and George had nine children, the eighth child being Two's mother Ollie Mae. 

In 1892 George died.  Susaner was 51 and would live another 22 years as a widow.  She lived near lots of family, including grandchildren. 

In 1900 she was living as head of household on a farm that she owned, with her daughter Lucretia, and her youngest son, John Elza, age 14.  

In 1910, we find her still in Teays Valley, still with Lucretia and John.  John is now head of household, together with his wife and young children.   

Two (Una Fisher) had fond memories of her grandmother Leadman:

• Two told how Susanna made a quilt each Christmas for a family in need at their church.  The family belonged to the Beales Chapel Methodist Church.  
• An early memory for Two was that her mother sent her over to Grandmother Leadman's to get a dried onion, but Grandmother wasn't there.  Two picked the first red rose of spring instead (and Two's mother wasn't happy that she'd taken that flower).  
• When Grandmother Leadman lived at [Two's Uncle John Elza's] farm, he would have a big watermelon festival.  People from all over would come to enjoy the watermelons.  This would have been around 1905-1914, when Two was old enough to remember, and before her Grandmother passed away. 

GW Leadman and Susaner Leadman gravestone, location ? 

She was a kind and 

affectionate wife

a fond mother

and friend to all 

Sources: 

1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910 federal census 

Memories from Una Fisher (Two) as told to her daughter Mary Lou. 

Gravestone image from Ancestry dot com 

Cynthia Poth Nanto tree on Ancestry dot com