Manumission of Ivy 1825

Slaves in Kentucky were manumitted [emancipated] through the county court or through a provision in the last will and testament of the slave's owner. The amount of the bond was not paid unless the slave had no support and became a charge upon the county. The following manumission is recorded in Caldwell County, Kentucky Order Book D, pages 160 and 169.

"A Deed of manumission from Hugh McVay of this County to Iras commonly called Ivy was this day produced in open Court and acknowledged by McVay to be his act and deed for the purposes therein named and ordered to be recorded, to wit:  State of Kentucky  Caldwell County To wit: Be it Known that I have this day emancipated and set free my negro Woman named Iras commonly called Ivy  of dark complection  aged about forty five years which said girl was purchased by me of and from David Tucker of Mecklingburg County and state of Virginia hereby Renouncing all claim to her from henceforth, and do request the County Court of Caldwell to give the Certificate a place on their records. And furthermore request any person to treat her with friendship so long as she may deserve the same. In Testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand and seal this 17th day of January 1825 at Princeton." [signed] Hugh McVay.

"On motion of Hugh McVay, who at the January term last of this court recording his Deed of emancipation, by which he set free & emancipated his negro Woman named Iras commonly called Ivy  of dark complexion  aged about forty five years, leave is given him & he enters into and acknowledges bond in penalty of $1000, payable to the Justices of the Caldwell County Court and their successors in office, to keep his negro from becoming chargeable to said county, conditioned according to law, together with Kinson McVay his security and it is ordered that a certificate of freedom be granted said negro woman."  18th April 1825.

Published 16 August 2018, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

Tombstone Tuesday - Jordan and Isabella McVay

Sacred to the Memory of
Mr. Jordan M'Vay
who was born Apr. 3,
1781
And died Sept. 8,
1826

Sacred
to the Memory of
Mrs. Isabella Hughes
who was born Oct. 30th
1794
departed this life
Oct. 26, 1831

Buried Hill Cemetery, off Highway 91, Caldwell County, Kentucky. Tombstones photographed 1993.

Jordan McVay, the son of Hugh McVay, was likely born in South Carolina. He first appears on Kentucky tax lists in Livingston County in 1814. The following year he is listed in Caldwell County and remains on tax lists for that county until his death. Jordan married Isabella Cruse 17 July 1815 Livingston County, Kentucky. Isabella married Thomas Hughes, as her second husband, on 27 February 1827.

Tombstone Tuesday - John E. Wilson



John E. Wilson

Died

Nov. 2, 1853

Aged

About 73 Years

Sarah

Daut. of

John E. & Nancy

Wilson

Born

Mar. 18, 1843

Died

Aug. 7, 1852

Buried at Crooked Creek Cemetery, Crittenden County, Kentucky. The last line of the inscription is now below ground. This tombstone has become badly stained by the elements in the past few years. Many tombstones display a hand with the finger pointing upward, signifying "Gone to Heaven." It is of interest that on this tombstone, the finger points sideways. Does that mean "Gone Thataway?"

John E. Wilson, my ancestor, was born in North Carolina and probably came to what is today Crittenden County with his first father in law, Hugh McVay, by 1816. Born to the first marriage with Miss McVay were Manerva, Claibourn, Martha/Patsy and Letty Keziah. Following the death of his wife, Wilson married Harriett Brooks, daughter of Dabney Brooks, 11 November 1816 Livingston County, Kentucky. Born to this union were Mary P., Eleanor Brooks, Harriet Cassander (my line), Franky and Sarah. Harriett Brooks Wilson died circa 1830 and John E. Wilson, in 1831, married Nancy Franks, daughter of John and Juda (Brown) Franks, who left Laurens County, South Carolina to settle first in Smith County, Tennessee and later in Livingston County ca 1830.

John E. Wilson and Nancy Franks had three children: Pernesia, Sarah (named for her sister who had died shortly before the second Sarah [above] was born) and Claibourn (named for his brother, Rev. Claibourn, who had died the year of the younger Claibourn's birth).

Hugh McVay - Kentucky Pioneer

 

 

Caldwell County can count a number of Revolutionary War veterans among the county’s earliest settlers. One such man was Hugh McVay. On the 29th day of August 1832, Hugh McVay, age 90, appeared in the Caldwell County court and gave a declaration regarding his military service.

McVay first entered the service of the United States in Caswell County, North Carolina about 1778 as a volunteer in the militia and served three months against the Tories. Following his discharge, he went to Lawrence [Laurens] County, South Carolina, in the frontier, where his brother lived, and volunteered for three more months of service. Later he returned to Caswell County, North Carolina and was drafted into service of the militia for nine months. After the expiration of this tour, he was discharged, but was again called into service. In all, he served four tours against the Tories, British and Indians.

McVay stated he was born 18 April 1741 in Richmond County, Virginia on the Rappahannock River. When young he moved to Lunenburg County and then to Hallifax County and lived there until about the time of the Revolution. He then moved to Caswell County, North Carolina, where he entered the service at age 35. After the war he moved to South Carolina and lived there about 23 years and moved to Tennessee a while, and then moved to this county [Caldwell], where he has lived upwards of 20 years. He is now extremely old, has no record of his age, having lost it in the time of the Revolution, and "keeps his age now by his memory." In his present neighborhood he is known to Arnold Jacob, Henry Machen, Thos. Hill, Tho. Jackson, Wm. Ford, Rev. Jas. W. Mansfield and many others could testify as to his character for veracity and their belief of his services as a soldier of the Revolution.

Hugh McVay was married to Martha Langston and some descendants believe Martha, or "Patty" as she was usually known, was his second wife. McVay received a land grant on Crooked Creek in Livingston County, Kentucky (present day Crittenden County) in 1806, but, before 1815, he moved to Caldwell County, where he bought land on Skinframe and Livingston creeks.

Hugh and Patty McVay had a number of children, but only a few of them moved to Kentucky. A son, Jordan McVay, married Isabella Cruise in Livingston County in 1815. Jordan, who was born 3 Apr 1781 and died 8 Sep 1826, is buried at Hill Cemetery just off Hwy 91 in Caldwell County. Another son, Kinson, lived in Caldwell County for a while before moving to Tennessee. Still another son, Pleasant, received a land grant on Hoods Creek in what is today Crittenden County in 1806, but died young without issue.

A daughter, given name unknown, married my ancestor, John E. Wilson, by 1806 probably in Tennessee and died before Wilson’s second marriage in 1816. Children born to John E. Wilson and Miss McVay were Manerva, Claibourne, Martha "Patsy" and Letty Keziah. In 1826, Hugh McVay began disposing of his property. He conveyed a slave to his son Kenson; a slave to his daughter Sally P Pool and to his four Wilson grandchildren (Letty Keziah Wilson, Minerva Wilson McCluskey, Claibourn Wilson and Martha "Patsy" Wilson) he left household items, a slave and land. In none of the deeds involving his grandchildren, did he ever name their mother. Although I descend from John E. Wilson’s second wife, Harriet Brooks, I would love to have proof of the name of his first wife.

Hugh McVay died 24 September 1834, probably in Caldwell County. His burial place is unknown.
Published 5 March 2008, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog,  http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com

My Favorite Ancestor

Do you have a favorite ancestor? It’s hard for me to narrow down my favorite to just one, but I do like John E. Wilson, who was buried at Crooked Creek Cemetery in Crittenden County in 1853, age about 75. This area was part of Livingston County, Kentucky until 1842, when Crittenden County was formed.

John E. Wilson just shows up in Livingston County in 1816, when he married Harriett Brooks. John E. doesn’t appear on the tax lists there until 1818, but he bought land on Crooked Creek from David Dickey in 1817 and then is on the 1820 census record. Bit by bit, I was able to learn more about him. John E. had an earlier marriage to the daughter of Hugh McVay, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, and he had a third marriage to Nancy Franks in 1831. I also learned that his oldest child was born in Tennessee about 1807/08. Prior to that, his whereabouts were a mystery.

Long after John E. Wilson's death, a deed was recorded which conveyed land for an addition to the cemetery at Crooked Creek Baptist Church so I knew he lived near the church. The area around Crooked Creek was settled mainly by people from the upstate area of South Carolina. None were named Wilson except John E. and he listed North Carolina as his place of birth on the 1850 census. Maybe he was actually born in South Carolina or maybe he was born in one of counties along the North - South Carolina border. Previous research on other Wilson families in the area had shown that several Wilson brothers who settled in the Bells Mines area were from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, but I had eliminated them as relatives of John E. Settling over in the Piney area was John M. Wilson, but he was from Roane County, Tennessee and came to Kentucky later than John E.

Sometimes when you can't find the info you need by researching the person directly, you have to try a different tactic. It was time to research anyone who might have had contact with John E. I gathered as much information as possible on the neighbors of John E. Wilson - their marriages, who witnessed their deeds, who owned land adjoining that of John E. Wilson, who was also buried in Crooked Creek Cemetery, and anything else I could turn up. There was some success as I did learn that William McMican, who bought land from John E. Wilson in 1820 was married to Rhoda Brooks and her death record lists her father as Dabney Brooks. Interesting. There was no other Brooks family in the area so maybe Rhoda and Harriett Brooks were sisters, or at least closely related. I also learned that each of John E. Wilson’s three wives had some sort of connection to Hugh McVay, his first father-in-law, either through blood, marriage or location. Hugh McVay was also in Tennessee before receiving a land grant in Kentucky. Perhaps that is where his daughter met and married John E. Wilson. No marriage record has turned up, though.

I’ve learned a little more about John E. Wilson and it causes me to feel there was a strong connection to Dabney Brooks with Dabney probably being the father in law of John E. Wilson. John E. and Dabney Brooks were both in southern Indiana, not far from where I live, at an early date and, while Dabney stayed and died in Indiana, John E. apparently went back to Kentucky. Dabney also shows up in some of the same counties and states as Hugh McVay and there is a connection by marriage years before they both show up in Kentucky.

I have been in contact with other researchers who suggest that John E. is connected to Aquilla Wilson, who left Maryland and settled in Rockingham County, North Carolina. Some members of this family migrated to Giles County, Tennessee. I haven’t seen any proof, but, if this is true, it is quite a coincidence as my Joyce and Bostick families also lived in Rockingham County. They, too, went to Tennessee, just one county west of Giles.

As far as I know, John E. Wilson didn’t participate in any great event, he owned but little land, and he has managed to keep his birthplace secret for years and years. I’ll keep on searching and sometime, somewhere I’ll turn up that piece of information to complete this puzzle. In the meantime, I’ve learned quite a bit about his neighbors and that isn't bad.

Another time I’ll tell you about my Livingston County ancestor who had several children and no husband. What a challenge she has been! Also, be thinking about your favorite ancestor and what makes them special. Maybe you will share that information with us.