Della

 

The marriage of Burgess Oliver Dunbrack and Della Iota Deshong in 1913 served as a major genealogical bridge in central Pocahontas County. While the Dunbracks brought distinct Canadian-Scottish roots to the area, Della's branch of the Deshong family carried a heritage that helped anchor their ten children into the most prominent pioneer families across the Huntersville, Edray, and Little Levels districts.

The Dunbrack-Deshong line integrated into the local community network through several key families:

1. The Moore & Miller Connections (Buckeye & Edray)

The most prominent extension of the Dunbrack-Deshong line came through their son, Eugene Richard Dunbrack (1927–1999), who married Oleta Mae Moore (1932–2025) of Buckeye.

• Deep Pioneer Ties: The Moore family was among the very first to patent land in the Greenbrier Valley in the late 1700s. Oleta’s lineage brought together the Moore and Miller bloodlines (via her parents, Warren George Moore and Mary Alice Miller).

• The Modern Web: This single marriage branch linked the Dunbrack-Deshong descendants directly to the Edgars of the surrounding valleys and the Bennetts of Dunmore, weaving the family tightly into the contemporary civic fabric of the northern and central county lines.

2. The Jack Family Connection (Hillsboro & Little Levels)

Another substantial regional anchor was established through their son, Curtis Grey Dunbrack (1930–2017). Born in Marlinton, Curtis later moved south and married Alice Jack.

• The Jack Lineage: The Jack family represents a long-standing agricultural and working-class presence in the southern half of Pocahontas County, particularly around Hillsboro and the Levelton area.

• Spreading South: Curtis’s long career as a coal miner and his family's integration into the Little Levels district effectively balanced the family's geographic presence, ensuring that while some branches remained tied to the town affairs of Marlinton, others were firmly rooted in the farming and rural communities of the south.

3. The Wider Sibling Network

Because Burgess and Della raised a total of ten children, the sheer size of the household meant that their marriages multiplied across the county's central districts over a thirty-year span:

• The Neighborhood Fabric: Through siblings like Hallie, Louise, William, and others, the Dunbrack-Deshong name branched into localized industrial and trade families who operated the central county’s service infrastructure, from the timber camps to the early municipal utilities.

• The Mountain View Rest: The generational continuity of this branch is physically marked at Mountain View Cemetery in Marlinton, which serves as the final resting place for Burgess, Della, Curtis, Eugene, and many of their spouses.

Through these specific unions, the descendants of Della Iota Deshong and Burgess Dunbrack successfully bridged the gap between old-line 18th-century Appalachian settlers and the 20th-century working families who drove the county's modern development.