Fascination with my Vail family began as an attempt to solve a mystery: A Robert Vail (born 1849 and my gggrandfather) family bible
exists somewhere that states he is a descendant from a Paul Vail of London,
England and that the father of Robert Vail is the enigmatic Charles N. Vail (I
have not seen the bible, only a transcription of the records written
by my grandmother Virginia Vail-Finnie).
I have been researching this Vail family for over 20 years and I can
tell you that beyond a shadow of a doubt, the information in that bible is just
not accurate. The father of Robert Vail,
born 1849, is James Henry Vail, who himself was of London, England, though only
briefly. The confusion, I believe, began
with an old Vail letter that still exists, passed down the Robert Vail line to a
descendant. I currently have a copy of
this letter, with several others.
Fortunately, I also have a copy of the envelope. This particular letter, dated 1842, was
written by an Eliza Vail-Edmond to her brother in Mobile, Alabama. The letter is addressed
to Jas H. Vail and I will admit, the script makes the name looks a lot like “Chas N. Vail”
because of the extravagant handwriting of the period. I suspect this to be the source of the
confusion though I have no idea where or when the referenced Paul Vail is
created.
This 1842 letter is hard to read and initially, I could only read names of family in New
York state. It was not until I finally
translated the word “Troy” that I linked our Vails to the Rensselaer County,
New York Vail family. My Vail line goes
like this, generation by generation, beginning with me:
Daniel Kenneth Drost
Betty Lou Finnie
Virginia VanZandt Vail
Quitman Daniel Vail
Robert Vail
James Henry Vail
James Vail
Moses Vail
Aaron Vail
Arthur Vail
Samuel Vail
Thomas Vail, the English immigrant
After translating the letter (which was quite a few years
ago), I decided to contact a known grandchild of Robert Vail. I sent her
a letter reporting the exciting news that I had connected our Vails to the Rensselaer County New
York Vails. In the days before the computer and internet, I waited what
seems like years for a response. Finally, a letter arrived. Yet, I
did not get the thanks or gratitude I thought I would receive. Instead Robert
Vail's granddaughter politely informed me that I was incorrect and that Charles
N. Vail was Robert Vail's father. This type of story is not rare in
family history and I can only wonder if decades ago, the Vail family did not
attempt to hide some drama that transpired long ago.
This website will follow
Moses Vail and his son James Vail from their birth to death. Additionally, I will track James Vail’s son
James Henry Vail, also following him from birth to death. Many gaps are found in the existing
data. Gaps have been created by information
that is missing - either never recorded or lost at some point in the last 200+
years. There is also, I am sure,
information out there that still exists and may provide us with a deeper
understanding of these men. Until these
missing documents are found, the tales here will the best we have. If you know more, I would love for you to
contact me! These makeshift biographies
are attempts to keep the memory of these men alive so that what they did and
who they were is not lost to history and to those family members they
created. Ultimately, I am trying to provide
their ancestors with a connection to a piece of their past, their Vail past. Laying all known information out in order
helps us to understand how these Vails were shaped by the things that happened
in their lives. The stories will include
local, regional, and world happenings as they certainly had an impact on who
they were.