Slonaker farm and homestead near Ganotown

John and Ida Slonaker raised their sons from the late 1800s through the 1920s. Their farm produced fruit.

A photo posted by Timothy Bennett on the VintageAerial.com website shows the old farm of John Lemuel Slonaker and his wife, Ida May Mason Slonaker. The location is just north of Ganotown.

John and Ida raised their sons here from the late 1800s through the 1920s. The farm produced fruit.

John was born in Ganotown in 1868, shortly after the end of the Civil War. He was among the older offspring of a big family into which at least 14 children were born. His father, Jeremiah “Jerry,” had also been a farmer in the region. His grandfather Michael Slonaker had settled in the area sometime in the 1800s from his native Timber Ridge, Virginia.

On his mother’s side, John was descended from the Dicks of Frederick County, Virginia, who had come to this part of Berkeley County by the mid-1800s.

When John was 11, an infection killed his toddler sister Effie.

When he was 22, he lost another sister, 19-year-old Laura Place, who died in childbirth a few days after her first wedding anniversary. (Laura’s widower, Richard Place, had a sister Minnie Place who married Laura’s and John’s brother Wesley.)

At age 23, John married Ida May Mason, who was 16. Ida’s parents had to write a note giving consent for the marriage.

John and Ida welcomed their son …