John Bayliss, Businessman of Salem

 Salem was a bustling town when John Bayliss arrived about 1816. Salem,  the seat of justice of Livingston County, was a busy place especially the county courthouse, which faced what is today US Highway 60. It was but a few years prior to John's arrival that the courthouse was the scene of one of the most acclaimed trials in the history of Livingston County when the nephews of  Thomas Jefferson were tried for the murder of a slave. This trial would have been recounted through the years and, without a doubt, John Bayliss heard all about it shortly after his arrival.

John quickly settled into life in Salem and married Elizabeth Thompson, daughter of local businessman, William Thompson, 17 October 1816. They had at least one child before Elizabeth died a few years later. John Bayliss then married Susan Boggs, daughter of William Boggs,  17 September 1823.  John and Susan had several children, including two who died as infants.  

John Bayliss and William McCroskey entered into partnership to conduct business in Salem. At some point, they had a saddler shop, but perhaps had other business interests, also. Their saddler shop was located catty corner across the public square from the courthouse.

In 1836, John Bayliss  decided to relocate and sold his town lots in Salem (Deed Book EE:144), to James Campbell. In this deed, John reserved " 10 feet including the graves of his children in the garden ... and permission to inter his Wife in sd. space" unless he decided to move the corpses later.

John moved to Paducah and formed a partnership with John A. Calhoun. The partnership did not last long and was dissolved in 1841, the same year John wrote his will. In his will, John named his wife, Susan, his son, William, born of the marriage to Elizabeth Thompson, and his daughter, Sarah Margaret, born of the marriage to Susan Boggs. The executrix named in his will was his wife, Susan.

Because the partnership assets had not been assigned before John died, a law suit ensued which dragged on for several years. It was disclosed in this law suit that Susan Boggs Bayliss' agent, William Kay, who was also John Bayliss' brother-in-law, had dissipated the assets of the Bayliss-Calhoun partnership and there was not enough money to cover the estate debts. The administration of the estate was later turned over to Berry Hodge. Susan, who had suffered a number of losses during the past few years, was committed to the Tennessee Lunatic Asylum in Nashville, where she died circa 1843.

William Bayliss, only surviving son of John Bayliss' first marriage, was born 26 July 1817 in Salem. After his father moved to Paducah, William Bayliss and William McCroskey formed a partnership in a dry goods business in Salem.

On the 27th of November 1841, William "being sick and weak but of sound mind and memory" and to restore his health, "I intend starting in a few days to New Orleans and may go to Cuba ... and the possibility that I may never return."  In the will, he mentions a wife, Mary, who was to receive his entire estate. To date, a marriage record for William and Mary has not been found. William did go to Havana, Cuba, where he died 24 January 1842. There is a tombstone in the old, abandoned Pippin/Butler Cemetery in Salem. Whether his body in interred there or the stone is simply a memorial to his life is unknown. A large stone, it is broken and layes on its side amid downed branches and with myrtle surrounding it.

Sarah Margaret Bayliss, who was born 19 November 1828, was the only surviving child of the marriage of John Bayliss and Susan Boggs. After her father's death, she  moved to Montgomery County, Tennessee where she married J.N. Corbett 19 February 1846. The Corbetts  moved to Nashville and had a number of children. Sarah Margaret died in Nashville 30 January 1900 and is buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery.

The burial places of John Bayliss and his two wives are unknown. Perhaps they are also buried in the Pippin/Butler Cemetery. If so, no record of their burial survives.

 Originally published 7 Feb 2013 and reprinted 10 Mar 2025.

 

Died of Cholera

 

G.P. Evertson

Born Oct. 4th 1818

Died March 5th

1849

in New Orleans of Cholera

Tis Sweet to believe of the absent

we love if we miss them below

we shall meet them above

Buried Hurricane Cemetery, Crittenden County, Kentucky. Tombstone photographed 7 November 2014.

George P. Evertson married Lucinda Jane Walker 27 April 1843 Crittenden County. The couple had at least two children, Mary H. and Elizabeth G., who were living with their mother in the household of Robert and Ellen Walker on the 1850 Crittenden County census.

New Orleans, a city of much steamboat traffic, was hit hard by a cholera epidemic in 1848-1849. Steamboats arriving from other ports carried the disease to cities across the country. 

Aside from telling where and how G.P. Evertson died, there is additional information on his tombstone that is interesting. The name of the stone carver is given.

W. Smith   Smithland  KY

William Smith is the same person who created the H.F. Given Tomb and the William McCroskey tombstone, both in Livingston County. 

Originally published 17 Dec 2015 and repeated 10 Feb 2025.

Idiot or Lunatic?

 Many of us have come across records of someone being declared an idiot or lunatic and perhaps placed in an asylum. What do the terms mean and how do they differ?

The words "idiot" and "lunatic" are often used to denote the same medical condition, but the meanings are not the same.  According to Compendium of the Common Law in Force in Kentucky by Charles Humphreys, 1822, pages 125-126, "Idiots are persons of unsound minds from their birth. Lunatics are those who become insane by some infirmity after birth."

It goes on to say that "A man is not an idiot if he has any glimmering of reasons, so that he can tell his parents his age ... But one born deaf, dumb and blind is considered in the same state as an idiot.

"A lunatic is one who has his reason impaired by some infirmity and ... only occasionally in that condition, having lucid intervals, sometimes depending on the change of the moon. However, the word lunatic includes all person who become incapable, by any impairment of mind, of conducting their own affairs."

Originally published 27 Dec 2013 and repeated 8 Jan 2025.

Martin Gahagen and Wife

 

Gahagen

Arelia

His Wife

Born

Nov. 11, 1843

Died

May 15, 1905

Martin

Gahagen

Born

Apr. 4, 1823

Died

July  10, 1914

Buried Green's Chapel Cemetery, Crittenden County, Kentucky. Tombstone photographed 9 March 2017.

The tombstone above gives no hint to the circumstances surrounding the courtship and marriage of Arelia (Sabin) and Martin Gahagen. They became acquainted through correspondence and never met until Arelia arrived in Evansville, Indiana from her home in Michigan. They met in Evansville,  married on 21 February 1900 and returned to Martin's home in Weston, Kentucky. [1] Unfortunately, Arelia only lived five years after her marriage.

This was not the first marriage for Martin Gahagen. On 4 March 1868 he had married Miss Margaret T. Cain in Crittenden County[2]. They were married a number of years before their marriage ended in divorce. Then came the marriage to Arelia Sabin. On 20 February 1906, Martin married Mrs. M.B. Ford[3], who survived him.

---

[1] "Met By Correspondence," Evansville Courier, Thursday, 22 February 1900; reprinted in Crittenden Press.

[2] Brenda Joyce Jerome, Crittenden County, Kentucky Marriage Records, Vol. II 1866-1886, (Evansville, IN: Evansville Bindery, 1991) 16.

[3] Crittenden County Genealogy, Inc., Crittenden County, Kentucky Marriages 1900-1910, (n.p., 2016) 91.

Originally published 21 Dec 2017 and repeated 11 Dec 2024.

Jack Going's Petition for Freedom 1847

 

Being free in Kentucky did not guarantee a person of color the same rights and privileges as a white person. Their movements were often restricted to the area where they were known. Traveling outside their immediate area and sometimes even in their own area required papers identifying them as free.

Several free men of color, all carrying the surname of Going settled in Livingston County prior to 1820. They lived in the part of Livingston County that would become Crittenden County in 1842. One of those men, John "Jack" Goin, was born about 1787. In 1847, Going wanted to visit Mississippi to claim his portion of his brother’s estate. The following petition was filed Wednesday, 26 May 1847 and is found in Crittenden Circuit Court Order Book A, pages 308, 312 and 322. Although called John H. Going in the circuit court sessions, he is listed as Jack Going in the order book index.

"To the Honorable Judge of the Crittenden Circuit Court ... Your Petitioner John H. Going, a man of color a resident of this County would Respectfully [say] to your Honor that he has lived where he now does & its neighbourhood for near thirty five years that he is very well Known to many persons of the County & he hopes & believes favourably Known that he is a free man & has been so since his birth altho his color is dark & might be taken as prima facie evidence that he was a slave. That his Mother was named Agnis an Indian by blood his father a free man of color. He would further represent to your Honor that he has a brother by the name of Thomas Going of the County of Claibourne & state of Mississippi - that he has been dead some years & died without children leaving him as he understands one of his heirs that the Estate is valuable & time enough has elapsed since his death for its full & entire settlement ... and he now desires to go to sd. state of Mississippi & claim his wrights But he finds some difficulty in travelling because of his collor. He therefore humbly & Respectfully petitions & asks your Honor to permit him to introduce in Court proof of his freedom & have it certified to all whom it may concern so that he shall be able to pass & attend to his business."

Two days later, John H. Going filed the depositions of Thomas S. Phillips and Ira Nunn. Phillips stated that he had been acquainted with Going for about 30 years and during that time he had resided as a free man of color and was not born a slave. It was reported that he was of Indian and Negro blood or parentage [and] from information he had a brother by the name of Thomas Going who was an eminent Physician and died in Mississippi and affiant [Going] had an uncle who was a Physician who once practiced medicine in copartnership with Thos. Going.

Ira Nunn stated in his deposition that he had known Going for 30 years and that he was raised in the same county in Georgia as Going. He also stated Going had always been considered & recognized by his neighbors as a free man of color.

The following circuit court entry is dated Saturday, 29 May 1847: "It appearing from the petition and the Depositions that the petitioner has for the last 30 years been acknowledged and recognized in the community ... to be a free man of color & that he was born free considered of African & Indian blood [and] it is therefore considered that Going be recognized and considered to be a free man of color and entitled under the laws of this commonwealth to all the privileges such persons are entitled."

John H. Going is listed on the 1850 and 1860 Crittenden County census records as a wagonmaker born in Georgia. In 1867, L.J. Crabtree submitted a claim to the Crittenden County Court for "hauling Jack Goins a pauper from Bells Mines to Marion .... $5.00" The reason for this claim is unknown, as are the date and place of John Goins' death, but could it be Crabtree's claim was for hauling Jack Goins' body after his death?

Originally published 21 Mar 2008. Published again 6 Nov 2024.

 

Short History of Weston Kentucky

 On the 14th of August 1854, Richard M. Ford, proprietor of the land, "including the place known as Flynns Ferry," petitioned the Crittenden County Court of his intention to establish a town. According to law, Ford posted his intentions in three public places, including the Courthouse door in Marion and in the Paducah newspaper. The location of the town began at the "lower edge of Cedar Bluff at high water mark ..." and contained about 15 acres. He proposed calling this new town Weston. Ford, who had married Nannie, daughter of Claborn and Frances V. West, named the town after his wife's family. The following persons were appointed trustees of the town: W.P. Miles, N.S. Long, Richard M. Ford and Jackson B. Hill.

In early October of 1854, a license was issued to Richard M. Ford to keep a tavern at his wharf boat on the Ohio River at Flynn's Ferry. Apparently, the new name of Weston had not taken hold yet.

Two months later, Ford petitioned the court for a license to establish a public ferry. In order to have the ferry rights at Weston, Ford was required to "keep at all times one good substantial ferry boat and not less than one good hand to manage same ..."

The sale of lots in Weston progressed slowly at first with Hugh McKee, Stephen H. Walker and John Darby being among the earliest lot owners.

Being located on the bank of the Ohio River, Weston offered a ring side view of skirmishing throughout the Civil War, but especially during the summer of 1864. In June of that year, guerrillas fired on the 7th Ohio Volunteer Infantry on board the steamer Nightengale as it passed Fords Ferry. The news was passed along to the steamer Mercury, who was headed towards that town. As the Mercury reached Weston, the ladies of the village, in a supposed friendly manner, waved to passengers on the steamer. On the bluff on the northern extremity of the town, as the steamer approached, bullets tore through the air toward the boat. Fire was returned and the rebels were seen retreating. Some took shelter behind a house. A volley was fired at the house and was literally riddled by bullets. The rebels retreated in every direction, carrying their wounded with them.

After the war, Weston began to grow and sported hotels, dry good stores, taverns and churches. Many who died were buried in the cemetery on top of the bluff. While Weston's location on the river was advantageous in shipping and receiving goods, it also flooded every time the river rose. The great Flood of 1937 devastated every town along the Ohio River, including Weston. Weston never recovered and today the town consists of only a few houses and exists mainly in yellowed newspaper articles and in the memories of former residents.

References:
Crittenden County, Kentucky Court Order Book 2, pp 102, 115, 121.
Evansville Daily Journal 23 June 1864

First published 10 Oct 2009 and repeated 13 Nov 2024.

Tombstone of Nova Scotia Native

 

In
Memory
of
Mrs. Margarette
Sherar
native of
Nova Scotia died
Novr 17th 1843
Aged 28
years
And closed for ay
the sparkling glance
that dwell on me
so kindly

Buried in Smithland Cemetery, Smithland, Livingston County, Kentucky. Margarette Sherar was likely the first wife of Robert Sherar, who was born 21 October 1805 Canada. Sherar arrived in Smithland the middle of 1842 and purchased part of lot 49 on the corner of Main and Charlotte streets. After his wife's death, he moved to Paducah, Kentucky. Sherar married secondly Mary Adkins 5 September 1852 McCracken County, Kentucky and can be found on McCracken County census records thereafter. He died 31 January 1887 and is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, Paducah.

The tombstone of Margarette Sherar was photographed 4 April 2009.

Originally published 1 Dec 2009. Repeated 23 Oct 2024.