Tombstone Tuesday - John D. Worley

John D. Worley
Co. E
48 Ky Inf.

Dec. 18, 1842
Feb. 16, 1919

Buried at Crooked Creek Cemetery, Crittenden County, Kentucky. The 48th Kentucky Infantry (Union) was organized at Princeton, Kentucky. This is a military tombstone provided by the U.S. government.

John D. Worley was the son of Matthew and Huldah Worley and was born in Bond County, Illinois. By 1850, the family was living in Crittenden County. Death certificate #31867 (1919) lists John D. Worley as a chairmaker.

Military Pension File - Josiah Puckett

The Act of Congress of 1818 provided that all indigent persons who had served for nine months or longer or until the end of the Revolutionary War would receive a pension. The following document was found in Livingston County Clerk’s Loose Papers (1818) in the Livingston County Clerk’s Office, Smithland, Kentucky.

"At a County Court held at Salem in the County of Livingston State of Kentucky Appeared Josiah Pucket applying to be heard as an Indigent Soldier of the revolution entitled to the provision made for such person under the law of Congress of the 18th of March 1818 and made Solemn oath that he inlisted in the Continental army for during the War in March 1781 the same year that for of the battle of Gilford in a Regiment Comanded by Col. Cambell that he fought in that battle & that after [illegible] serving 18 Months in that Regiment he Entered into a Corps of Continental Light Horse commanded by Col. White & continued in the Service until the End of the War when he was furloughed home ------ and that from his reduced circumstances he needs assistance of his country for support."

Josiah Pucket, whose name is also listed as Puckett, received a pension of $8.00 per month from 1818; pension claim R.8510. In August 1820, Puckett, age 68, appeared in Montgomery County, Tennessee Circuit Court and requested his file be transferred to Montgomery County, where he had married Martha, surname unknown. He died 9 September 1843 in Madison County, Tennessee. His children were listed as Peter P. Puckett of Madison County in 1853, Mary Stove and Sarah Thedford.

Romantic Runaway

Shawneetown, Gallatin County, Illinois has long been the destination of young couples wanting to marry quickly and secretly. This is especially true of those living in western Kentucky counties bordering the Ohio River. The following is one account of such a marriage and is from the Evansville, Indiana Courier of 31 July 1893.

Morganfield, July 30 – Quite a breeze of excitement was created on the street last night by the rumor that Tom Sales and Miss Minnie James had gone to Shawneetown for the purpose of getting married. It seems there was some opposition on the match on the part of the young people’s parents so they decided to steal a march on them and hied them to Gretna Green, where loves young dream might be consummated without let or hinder. Mr. Sales called at the Givens House, where his lady love was boarding with her mother about 7 o’clock, ostensibly for taking a moonlight drive. To disarm suspicion, they started out on the Sulphur Springs road, but turned about soon, came back by a street skirting the Givens House to the Shawneetown road.

They drove rapidly to the river opposite Shawneetown, were ferried over, and at 2 o’clock this morning were married by Justice Hart. The happy twain returned at once, arriving about 6 o’clock.

Mr. Sales is a popular young salesman in the dry goods firm of Newton, Robinson and Waller and the bride is the attractive daughter of Mrs. McIntire, formerly of Union City, Tenn., who has been a resident here several months, engaged in teaching music and dancing.

Book Sale

The following books are on sale until 1 August 2009:

Caldwell County, Kentucky Wills & Estate Records 1809-1834
Regular price $28 - Now just $23

Crittenden County, Kentucky Births, Deaths, Etc Vol. 1
Regular price $28 - Now just $23

Crittenden County, Kentucky Newspaper Abstracts 1896-1900
Regular price $25 - Now just $18

Livingston County, Kentucky Estate Records 1799-1842 Regular price $27 - Now just $22

All books are postage paid. Indiana residents please add 7% state sales tax. All of the above book prices revert to regular prices on 1 August 2009.

Order from:
Brenda Joyce Jerome, CG
PO Box 325
Newburgh, IN 47629-0325

Wordless Wednesday - Lola, Kentucky

The old post office in Lola, Livingston County, Kentucky has not been in operation for a number of years.

Tombstone Tuesday - Rachel D. Brown

In loving
Remembrance of
Mrs. Rachel D. Brown
Died
July 8, 1887
Aged 87 years

Buried at Uniontown Cemetery, Uniontown, Kentucky. Tombstone photographed 21 June 2009. Rachel D. Brown is found on the 1880 Union County census in the household of her son, E.J. Brown, a druggist in Uniontown. According to Incidents From the Farm Account Books of James Beard Crutcher 1857 – 1893, Mrs. Brown, wife of James Huston Brown, died in Mt. Vernon, Indiana. She was born in Spencer County, Kentucky 7 June 1800. Her husband was a soldier in the war with England in 1812 and he died 26 February 1868.

Coroner's Inquisition 1811

When a person died unexpectedly in Kentucky, the coroner called a jury of twelve men to examine the facts surrounding the death and determine the probable cause of death. Coroner’s inquisitions are often found among loose papers in the county clerk’s office. The following inquisition was found in a file marked “Oaths 1811” in the Caldwell County clerk’s office, Princeton, Kentucky.

“Whereas We Joseph Morgan Chittenden Lyon Wm. Birdsong Wm. Darnal Wm. Johnston Zachariah Chandler Reuben Martin John E. Pound Christopher Hammond Wm. S. Norris Sam Black and Michael Mobley being Summoned by Edward Robison Coriner of Caldwell County at the House of Cobb & Clark in Eddyville on the first of July 1811 to Enquire in to the cause of the death of John Watson Infant Son of Samuel Watson aged about 14 years. The Jury on there oaths from the Information of George Miller Samuel C. Clark & John Phaora[?] Say the above [illegible word] John Watson came by his death accidentally. “ Chitt. Lyon foreman.

Sinking of the Belmont 1884

Tombstones of Mathew and Sarah Lyon, Oak Hill Cemetery, Evansville, Indiana.

After Mathew S. Lyon married Sarah Frost in 1845 Hopkins County, Kentucky, they settled down to rear their family. Lyon was first a merchant and later a hotel keeper in Madisonville. By the mid-1860s, the family had relocated to Evansville, Indiana, where Lyon became a clerk and loan agent. The family grew to include the following children: Ella, Lawrence, John, Sallie, Harvy, Thompson, Laura, Edward and perhaps others.

On the morning of the 30th of August 1884 in Evansville, Sarah Lyon and two of her daughters, Mrs. Sallie Bryan, a young widow, and Miss Laura Lyon, boarded the transfer steamer, the Belmont, which was headed toward Henderson. The Belmont was towing a barge containing a passenger train carrying about 60 people.

Suddenly, a cyclone blew in along the Ohio River, striking the Belmont and causing it to rip apart from the barge. The Belmont, which was carrying about 20-25 people, turned bottoms up, throwing passengers and crew into the dark water or trapping them in their rooms. There was no chance for escape as the storm raged for over an hour. All aboard the Belmont drowned in the storm. Among those who perished were Capt. Smith and his crew, who remained with the sinking boat until the end. All passengers on the barge survived.

The storm also hit Uniontown, Kentucky and damaged Hamilton’s warehouse, Dr. Brown’s residence, the roof of the Commercial Hotel, Cartmell’s warehouse and there was much destruction to crops in the fields. Also badly damaged were the Evansville steamers, Josh V. Throop and Silverthorn.

The body of Sarah Lyon was among the first recovered from the river. It was placed on the steamer, Iron Cliff, and returned to Evansville. The bodies of Mrs. Sallie Bryan and Miss Laura Lyon were recovered shortly thereafter. All three bodies were placed in a vault at Oak Hill Cemetery, Evansville, to await burial the following day.

The funeral for Mrs. Lyon and her daughters took place on Sunday, the 31st of August. The bodies were laid to rest side by side – Mrs. Lyon on the left, Mrs. Bryan on the right and Miss Laura in the center. A large crowd was in attendance as the Rev. Mr. Berger of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church read a scripture and said a prayer.

Mathew S. Lyon moved to Sturgis, Union County, Kentucky and died there on the 19th of May 1890. Sadly, his obituary in the Evansville Courier of 20 May 1890 does not mention the deaths of his wife and daughters. His body was brought back to Evansville and he was laid to rest beside his family at Oak Hill Cemetery.

Tombstone Tuesday - Elizabeth Lake

In Memory
Of
Elizabeth R.
Wife of
John A. Lake
Born
July 6th 1802
Died
January 14
1830

Smithland Cemetery, Smithland, Kentucky. Tombstone photographed 16 April 2009. This tombstone, even though almost 180 years old, is in fairly good condition. Click on photo for an enlarged view.

Elizabeth R. Brown and John A. Lake married 19 October 1828 Livingston County, Kentucky. The 1830 Livingston County census shows John A. Lake with one female child under the age of five in his household. This child is believed to be Elizabeth Lake, who married Emilius P. Haynes 20 July 1846. She is the only known child of Elizabeth Brown and John A. Lake.

John A. Lake died before 7 December 1835, when letters of administration upon his estate were granted to James McCawley, who was also appointed guardian of Elizabeth Lake. It is likely that Martha (Brown) McCawley, wife of James McCawley, was the maternal aunt of Elizabeth Lake Haynes.

FGS Conference 2-5 September 2009

The Federation of Genealogical Societies and its local host, the Arkansas Genealogical Society, invite you to Little Rock this September 2-5 for this Conference for the Nation’s Genealogists. Almost 200 lectures, workshops and other presentations await your inquiring mind. What else will you find at such a conference? Many of the countries top researchers, speakers, vendors, archivists, librarians, editors and others in the field of genealogy will be converging on Little Rock eager to share their genealogical knowledge and experience. The conference theme is “Passages through Time” and you will come away with the energy and knowledge to take you through time to research your ancestry with up-to-date techniques, records, and databases.

Register by July 1, 2009 and save $50.00 off the full conference registration. Your full conference registration provides entrance to all lectures during the full four days except for a few with an extra fee. Hear speakers from all around the United States. Ask them questions, learn from your fellow genealogists, figure out ways to find Grandma's marriage record, purchase books, CDs, software, maps, databases, memberships, and come away with a renewed energy that can only be found at such a conference. Learn about military, land, school, tax, county, court, probate and other record types. Learn ways to get around brick-wall research. You will receive tickets that enables you to participate in door prize drawings. A conference tote bag and a CD containing the handouts from 99% of the lectures is also yours. If you wish this material in paper form, that is available for a low fee.

Registrants to date are coming from all over the U.S. and some from Canada. This conference has topics for everyone no matter how long you have been doing genealogy. Wednedays’ Networking Luncheon will have some tables designated for specific discussion topics including genealogy bloggers, Arkansas research, military research, Tennessee research and others.

For more details visit www.fgsconference.org and keep up-to-date on conference news, tips, previews, and more at www.fgsconferenceblog.org. See you in September! Be a part of the more than a thousand registrants who will be attending.

Old Bethel Church

The following article has been transcribed from the Henderson Gleaner and Journal, Sunday, 21 March 1926.

One of the oldest churches in Henderson County is located near Hebbardsville. In fact, the old Bethel Church was the second church erected in the county, the first being the Grave Creek Church.

This church was organized in 1811 by members who, before building the church, held their meetings in tents, in what was known as camp meetings, and the preaching services would last all during the day and until late at night on Sundays.

The Old Bethel Church was organized by a group of members who withdrew from the Grave Creek Church. The Grave Creek Church was the only Baptist church in the county, and members lived miles away, but would go there to attend services. Finally, some of the members in this locality decided it was too far and it was from this decision that they set to work and built a church in their own community.

When Old Bethel was first erected, there was only one room, which was built of logs and had a mud chimney. During this time people used to attend church here from Indiana and Illinois. They would cross the river at Red Banks, now Henderson. In later years the old logs were torn down and brick building erected out of brick donated by James Priest, the brick having been made on his farm near Hebbardsville. The building was constructed by Tuck Landrum.

When the members were making a canvass for money with which to build the church, John Priest told them he would give $200, saying "I am giving you $100 provided you build it at Hebbardsville, and $100 if built near my farm," which is now known as the Ella Hamilton farm. When Mr. Priest came to Henderson County, he moved his family across from Green River in rocking chairs, the river having been frozen over.

In 1842, this church had 48 colored members, and they were all dismissed during that year, when the slaves were freed to worship as they pleased. The church had 200 white members.

At the present time Old Bethel has a membership of 300 and the pastor is Rev. Balldock, of Russellville, Ky. Preaching services are held semi-monthly.

Besides Bethel, there are four other churches in Hebbardsville, they being the Hebbardsville Baptist, Methodist, Christian and Cumberland Presbyterian.”

Uniontown Fire 1894

Fire has always been a concern in small towns, especially as fire-fighting equipment was scarce or non-existent. The following is an account of a fire in Uniontown, Union County, Kentucky as reported in the Evansville Courier, Sunday, 13 May 1894 and reprinted here in the Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog.

Uniontown, Ky., May 12 – The sun rose this morning upon an ugly mass of ruins, damaged machinery, etc., where stood for 24 years the city roller mills, solely owned and controlled by Wm. Rathman. At 2 o’clock a fire was discovered in a part of the building as leads to the inference that it originated in the engine room. There was $10,000 insurance upon the mill, but that sum is not sufficient to make Mr. Rathman’s loss tolerable. The loss to the town, unless rebuilt, will be great.

A large frame warehouse, which stood across the street from the mill, belonging to Mr. Sam Taylor, was burned. This had wheat stored in it belonging to Martin J. Clements and Geo. W. Cambron.

J.F. Roberts lost an uninsured blacksmith shop, and a small frame cooper shop, in which the barrels for use at the mill were made, belonging to Mrs. Nancy Livesay, was also burned. The three buildings in close proximity to the mill were saved. The nearest of these was Mr. Rathman’s three-story grain elevator built of brick and iron roofed, the second, his dwelling, just back of the mill. It is of frame, iron roofed and was saved but the out buildings were burned.

Mrs. Nancy Livesay’s two-story, shingle roofed frame dwelling is the third and it was only because of the good facilities her grounds afforded for water that it could be saved by the efforts of citizens.

Mr. Wm. Rathman, who is the principal loser by the fire, has been 41 years a resident of the town, coming here from Evansville in 1853. He worked for 17 years for H. Munchoff and then built the mill which burned last night. This is his second heavy loss by fire, he having $6000 worth of wheat stored in a warehouse burned in the big distillery fire of 1874.

Wordless Wednesday - St. Ann's Church

St. Ann's Catholic Church, Morganfield, Union County, Kentucky. Established 1877. Photographed 24 May 2009.

Copyright on photo by Brenda Joyce Jerome.
Published 10 June 2009, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

Tombstone Tuesday - Maud Gough

Maud

Daughter of
Robt. & Isabelle Gough
Born Nov. 8, 1883
Died Oct. 8, 1891
[on right side of monument]

Safe in the Arms of Jesus
[on left side of monument]

The most poignant tombstones are those for children. This tombstone for little Maud Gough is found in Lot 296, Space 4, Fernwood Cemetery, Henderson, Kentucky. Someone has placed artificial flowers in her hands. I have been told that this type of statute was often carved in the likeness of the child. This tombstone was photgraphed 2 June 2009.

Maud’s parents, Robert and Isabella Schopflin Gough, both died in 1932 and are buried at Fernwood Cemetery.

News From Sebree 1904

The following news items are taken from the Henderson Daily Gleaner, Tuesday, 2 February 1904

Sebree, Ky., Feb. 1 – Mrs. George Linsey of Winslow, Ind. Is in town visiting her father, Mr. Tom Scott.

Mr. John Watts, who has been visiting his mother, Mrs. John Springfield, returned to his work at Flora, Ill.

Mr. Rubin Walker, of near Steamport, died Thursday afternoon of pneumonia. Mrs. Walker had only been married about one year. She was the oldest child of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Shelton. She leaves a husband and little babe about eight or ten days old to mourn her sad demise.

The second term of our graded school will begin today.

Mrs. Nat Montgomery is quite indisposed at her home near the springs.

Miss Nannie Purtle, who has been visiting friends in Henderson, has returned home.

Rev. W.A. Easley, formerly of this place, but now of Princeton, Ky., was in town last week.

The infant babe of Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Callis has pneumonia.

Mr. Lafe Dodson and wife, Mrs. Mary Purtle and daughter, Miss Nannie, attended the burial of Mrs. Rubin Walker Friday.

Little Miss Julia, the babe of Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Springfield, has been real sick but is better now.

Misses Maggie and Townia Berry spent Sunday at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Lanier in the county.

Dr. E.W. Davidson, who has been on a visit to relatives in Thomasville, Ga., has returned and looks natural on the streets and among the sick. He is a promising young doctor and success should crown his efforts.

Crittenden County Estate Administrators 1881

Administrators of estates were usually appointed at the next term of county court following the death of a person who did not leave a valid will. The administrator was required to post bond with at least one person as surety as a guarantee for the faithful performance of his duties. Administrators’ bonds are helpful in determining the approximate date of a person’s death. The records below have been abstracted from Crittenden County Administrator’s Bond Book 1876-1884.

The following definitions may be helpful in reading administrators’ bonds. This information comes from Black’s Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, 1994.

Administrator: A person appointed by the county court to manage the assets and liabilities of a decedent.

Administrator de bonis non: A person appointed by the court to administer on the effects of a decedent which have not been included in a former administration.

Curator: A temporary guardian or conservator appointed by the court to care for the property or person of an incompetent, spendthrift, or a minor.

W.J. LaRue was appointed administrator of the estate of John M. Lear 10 January 1881.

Stephen Riley was appointed administrator of the estate of W.H. Kemper 12 January 1881.

J.L. Boon and H.S. Hill were appointed administrators of the estate of Arch Allen 14 February 1881.

Mrs. L.P. Duvall was appointed administrator of the estate of J.M. Duvall 7 March 1881.

J.G. Barnes was appointed administrator of the estate of B.W. Barnes 4 April 1881.

R.N. Walker was appointed administrator of the estate of R.A. Gettings 11 April 1881.

J.L. Riley was appointed administrator of the estate of Wm. Belt 25 April 1881.

A.H. Cardin was appointed administrator of the estate of P.M. Cardin 11 May 1881.

Chesley Nunn was appointed administrator of the estate of Wm. Straker 20 May 1881.

M.A. Hardesty was appointed administrator of the estate of W.T. Hardesty 21 May 1881.

Aaron Towery was appointed administrator de bonis non of the estate of John Mitchell 13 June 1881.

J.A. Gray was appointed administrator of the estate of Shemi Watson 8 August 1881.

J.R. Finley was appointed administrator of the estate of R.J. French 31 August 1881.

J.P. Pierce was appointed administrator of the estate of Mrs. Julia A. Koon 31 August 1881.

G.L. Boaz was appointed administrator of the estate of Susan Boaz 12 September 1881.

W.T. Pickens was appointed administrator of the estate of J.B. Pickens 26 September 1881.

S.H. Watson was appointed administrator of the estate of Saml. M. Watson 26 October 1881.

J.P. Pierce was appointed administrator of the estate of N.R. Black 14 November 1881.

J.P. Pierce was appointed curator of the estate of Joseph Anderson 14 November 1881.

R.S. Thurmond was appointed administrator of the estate of W.R. Thurmond 5 December 1881.

Alex Woody was appointed administrator de bonis non of the estate of Joseph Kemp 12 December 1881.

E.C. Flanary was appointed administrator of the estate of Saml. E. Bracey 21 December 1881.

William J. Dallam

Dallam Tombstone, Oak Hill Cemetery, Evansville, Indiana.

William J. Dallam was surely a product of western Kentucky, having lived in several different counties before moving to Indiana. He was born in 1821 and was the seventh child of Nathan Dallam and Sarah Hicks, who left Clark County, Kentucky and migrated to Christian County, Kentucky. About 1825, the Dallam family settled in Caldwell County, where William J. spent his childhood and youth. Nathan and Sarah Dallam are buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Princeton, Caldwell County. Of the ten children of Nathan and Sarah, only William J. Dallam went to Indiana. His siblings lived primarily in Paducah, Smithland, Princeton and Henderson, Kentucky.

In 1840, William J. Dallam moved to Old Salem, Livingston County, where he served as Postmaster and Deputy County and Circuit Clerk. Later he was a merchant in Marion, Crittenden County, being one of the first to engage in business there after the county was created in 1842.

William J. entered the dry good business, first in Paducah and then in Livingston County. Later he moved to Caldwell County were he went into business with his brother, Lucian Dallam. Still later he moved to Henderson, where his brothers, Frances Henry and Lucian Clay Dallam, and his sister, Virginia Josephine Dallam Atkinson, also lived.

In July 1862, William J. Dallam advertised his “two-story brick Dwelling-House situated on the corner of Main and Elm” for sale or rent. It was during that year that Dallam moved his family across the Ohio River to Evansville, Indiana, where he lived at 600 Upper 1st Street. Dallam and his son, William Jr., became wholesale and retail dealers in boots and shoes at a shop on Main Street.

Dallam married Kate Miles in 1843 at Old Salem and they had the following children: Sarah Isabelle “Belle,” James L., Charles Francis, William J. Jr., and Douglas Dallam. Kate Miles Dallam died of malarial fever 22 January 1882 at the age of 60 years and is buried in the family plot at Oak Hill Cemetery, Evansville.

On the 25th of May 1893, the Evansville Courier announced “the sad intelligence of the entrance into eternal rest of the spirit of W.J. Dallam” the previous day. He had been ill for several weeks and, while it was known that he could not recover, he remained cheerful to the end. His funeral services were held at the residence of his daughter, Belle, and his remains were laid to rest at Oak Hill Cemetery in a private ceremony.

Copyright on text and photographs
Brenda Joyce Jerome, CG
Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog

Wordless Wednesday - Fernwood Cemetery

Fernwood Cemetery, Henderson, Kentucky. Photographs dated 2 June 2009. Click on photos for enlarged views.

Tombstone Tuesday - Wm. and Clarissa Davis

Dr. Wm. C. Davis
Lick Creek, Ill.
Aug. 13, 1871
Smithland, Ky
Mar. 30, 1941

Clarissa Mary Elliott
His Wife
Greenville, Ohio
Sept. 25, 1878
Smithland, Ky
Jan. 11, 1926

Buried Smithland Cemetery, Smithland, Kentucky. Tombstone photographed April 2009. Click on photo for enlarged view.

According to Kentucky death certificate #8136 (1941), Dr. William C. Davis was the son of William Marshall Davis and Addie Clemens. Death certificate #2262 (1926) shows that Clarissa Mary Elliott was the daughter of Jas. C. Elliott and Sue S. Scott, both born Preble County, Ohio. She died in Riverside Hospital, Paducah, Kentucky.

Dr. Davis' obituary in the Paducah Sun-Democrat, 31 March 1941,  states he practiced medicine in Smithland for 20 years and in the county for many years prior to that. He was a native of Lola, Livingston County, and graduated from the University of Louisville Medical School.