David Purington Cardin - Colporter

In 1850 my 3rd Great Uncle lived in a Bunk house type of dwelling in Dinwiddie Virginia with 21 workers who listed their job title as Laborer.  The Railroad Contractor , Assistant to the Contractor and David Purington Cardin, my uncle who was the Overseer also lived in the building.  Most of the men were from Virginia with 1 from New York, 2 unknown 3 from Ireland and 2 were from England.  The Southside Railroad was under construction at the time as was another line going in in the Northern edge of the Dinwiddie County where they were living.

In 1852 Uncle David married the beautiful Martha Susan Ayres. They had 7 children.
Mary Ella
William A
Sarah Elizabeth
Josephine P
James Burruss
Oliver Hatcher
David Ripppitoe

In the 1860 Uncle David is living in Buckingham Virginia and is  a Colporter.  What is that you ask? A colporter is a distributor or peddler of books, newspapers, pamphlets, fliers sometimes religious in nature. During the Civil War the Chaplains in each Company were often called Colporters because of the Bibles and religious pamphlets they carried with them.  Public preaching, and distributing religious pamphlets was a large part of what the Chaplains of the Confederate Army of Virginia did. Moody Publishers founded by D.L. Moody started the company in 1893 under the name Bible Institute Colportage Association. 

He is a farmer living in Summersville Town, Nicholas County, West Virginia in 1870. 

David Purington Carden died on 4 July 1873.