Thou Shall Not Labour on Sunday ...

 In the 1800s performing work and labor on the Sabbath was frowned upon and usually resulted in being brought before the court and fined. The following cases are found in Crittenden County Circuit Court case files, Accession #A1994-267, Box 4, Bundle 21, Dept for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort, Kentucky.

 Presentments against William Walker and Jeremiah Dunning are listed in Crittenden County Circuit Court Order Book A, page 307, 26 May 1847, but the details of the case are found only in the case file. Rarely did anyone get away with laboring on Sunday as there was always a nearby neighbor willing to report the offenders.

 The Grand Jurors … at the May term of the Crittenden Circuit Court in 1847 present that William Walker, yeoman, on the 9^th day of March 1847 did … violate and break the Sabbath by performing work and labour on the Sabbath, in his usual avocation: taking coal from the pit and transporting it to a place of deposit for sale; labour not being the ordinary household business or labour of necessity, or charity.

Information given by T.S. Phillips and John W. Phillips.

The Grand Jurors … at the May term of the Crittenden Circuit Court in 1847 present that Jeremiah Dunning, yeoman, on the 9^th day of May 1847 … did violate and break the Sabbath day by … labouring at his usual business: packing timber for making staves, the work or labour not being the usual or ordinary household and domestic business nor work of necessity or charity.

Information given by Bennett Crouch, yeoman.

Originally published 1 July 2021, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

Land Patenting Process in Kentucky

Originally published 15 Feb 2017 and re-published 9 Jan 2023.

Acquiring land through the patenting process in Kentucky consists of the following steps:

1.  The Warrant - authorizes a survey. There are four types of warrants: Military Warrants, Pre-emption Warrants, Treasury Warrants and Exchange Warrants.  Warrants could be traded, sold or assigned.

2.  The Entry - signals the intention of filing for a patent and contains the name of the person wanting to patent the land, the type of warrant authorizing the survey and the date of the entry. The date can be very important, especially when there were conflicting claims on the same land.

3.  The Survey - describes the metes and bounds of the land and names the closest watercourse. The only exception to this surveying method is in the Jackson Purchase, which uses sections, townships, ranges in their surveys. The survey includes the names of the surveying party (chain carriers and markers).

4.  The Grant (Patent) - final step in the patenting process. The grant lists the name of the recipient of the land, date of the survey,  type of warrant, description of the land and date of the grant was issued. The grant could not be assigned.

Sources:

"Land Distribution in Kentucky," Kentucky Dept. for Libraries and Archives leaflet, Dec. 1995.

"The Kentucky Land Grant System," Saddlebag Notes, Technical Leaflet, The Circuit Rider, Historical Confederation of Kentucky, Vol. 13, No. 3: May/June 1990.

"Non-Military Registers and Land Records," Kentucky Secretary of State Website , accessed 17 Jan 2017.

Written In Stone Doesn't Make It Right

William Shewmaker and Mary "Polly" Adams were my 3rd great-grandparents. They married 29 Aug 1809 in Caldwell County, Kentucky and sometime between 1820 and 1830 they migrated across the Ohio River and settled in the part of Pope County, Illinois that is today Hardin County, Illinois.

William and Polly had several children, including my 2nd great-grandmother, Elizabeth Shewmaker, who was born about 1810 Kentucky. Elizabeth married Abraham Womack 26 Nov 1831 in Pope County and died after 1870. Elizabeth is buried in Good Hope Cemetery in Hardin County, while her parents and other relatives are buried in Lavender #1 Cemetery in Hardin County.

Buried next to William and Polly Shewmaker in Lavender #1 Cemetery  is a daughter, Mary.  Very little is known about Mary except she never married and lived with her parents all her life. According to her tombstone,  Mary, age 66,  died 8 Nov 1882, just slightly more than a month before the death of her mother, who died 27 Dec 1882.

 

Mary Shewmaker

Died Nov. 8, 1882, 

Age 66 yrs

Because the death dates  of Mary and her mother, Polly, were so close, I had wondered if there was an epidemic of some disease in the area, but I found nothing to indicate that to be true. Nevertheless, I kept on looking and just recently while reading old issues of the Hardin County newspaper guess what was found -   a death notice for Mary Shewmaker, who died 8 November 1881, age 67 years, 7 months and 7 days. [1] The death date on her tombstone was off by a year!  The death notice would have been generated shortly after Mary's death and carries more validity that a tombstone that may have been created long after her death. 

Hardin County, Illinois Independent 18 Nov 1881, p. 5

I think it is safe to say that just because a date is written in stone, it is not necessarily true. I am happy to have verification of her date of death.

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[1] Death notice of Mary Shewmaker, Hardin County, Illinois Independent, Fri., 18 Nov 1881, p. 5.

Published 15 Aug 2019 and re-published 4 Jan 2023, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog