The second in what will be a continuing series . . .
The name of Lanexa has always perplexed me. Originating in 1882 as the name of a train stop on the just completed Peninsula Extension railroad it bears a striking resemblance to only one other location that I know of in the United States. That is Lenexa Kansas, founded in 1869 in the vicinity of Kansas City. That name is said to originate in the name of the wife of the local Shawnee Chief Blackhoof spelled a variety of ways including "Na Nex Se" or "Len Ag See."
But what does that have to do with Tidewater Virginia?
Well there may be a clue.
The Virginia Gazette of October 10, 2022 included an article titled The Rise and Fall and Rise Again of Toano by Frank Statz. In it I found this . ..
In 1881 the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway expanded and laid track through the center of Burnt Ordinary. The crew that had been working on the Union & Pacific Railroad in the Sierra Nevada Mountains before coming to this area. They notice that the land ran uphill from Windsor Shades to to Burnt Ordinary.
In 1883, the village was renamed Toano, named for the Paiute Indian word meaning "high ground.
So we have a Western Indian name being used for a stop on the railroad in 1881. Could Lanexa have also originated from the mind of a railway-man just back from the West?
Hello, my name is Cindy and my grandfather was born in Plum Point, New Kent County, Virginia in 1897. My husband and myself visited Plum Point around August 2025. I know that things burned in the area, but is it possible to find out info on my family through other sources? My grandfather's sister passed away around 6 years of age as well as a little brother after the 1900 census. My great grandfather made 2 gravestone out of concrete with the family name on at least the largest one. It had an iron fence around it. His sister supposedly died from the smallpox vaccination at 6 years of age or so. Is there a way some newspaper or church records or funeral homes would still have this info. I probably still have more questions, but maybe another time, if The Lord allows. My phone number is 608-434-4673. I live in Wisconsin. Thanks, Cindy
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