A Surprise With Hiley

If you ever think that you have the “complete” information on a family – be prepared to be wrong.  I didn’t feel quite that confident about the family of Levi Pennington and Elizabeth Henson, but I was pretty sure that we had a pretty good list of their children.  I was definitely proved wrong.

A few years ago, I began hearing about a Hiley Pennington.  Now…I had never come across this name and so it was pretty interesting.  She was born between 1816-1818 in Ashe Co., NC and died 4 Nov 1895 at Sturgill, Ashe Co., NC.  Hiley was married to James Emmett Lewis  in August 1837 probably also in Ashe Co., NC and they were the parents of eight children.  I went through my normal research to see if I could figure out where she belonged.  The more I looked the more suspicious that I got that I was looking at a daughter of Levi Pennington and Elizabeth Henson.

Levi Pennington was born abt 1794 probably in Ashe Co., NC and died sometime bet 1886-1887.  He married Elizabeth Henson probably around 1815.  They have been said to have anywhere between 12 and 16 children.  I really felt that I could only prove 12 children and so that was on my list.  However, I became convinced that Hiley was actually one of those children and therefore I had to raise my number to 13.  Their children are:

• Dora Pennington b. bet 1810-1820 (no further info)
• Edy Pennington b. abt 1815 Ashe Co., NC d. abt 1866 Ashe Co., NC m. Nathan Eastrage
• Hiley Pennington b. bet 1816-1818 Ashe Co., NC d. 4 Nov 1895 Sturgill, Ashe Co., NC m. James Emmett Lewis
• Elijah Ephraim Pennington b. bet 1819-1822 Ashe Co., ND d. 4 Nov 1895 Ashe Co., NC m. Mary Osborne
• William Pennington b. abt 1821 Ashe Co., ND d. aft 1880 m. Frances Blevins
• Larkin Pennington b. Jan 1826 Ashe Co., NC d. 6 May 1901 Ashe Co., NC. m. Lydia Lewis
• Harvey Pennington b. 29 Feb 1828 Ashe Co., NC d. 21 Apr 1922 Ashe Co., NC m. abt 1850 Easter Little m. 2. Oct 1896  Martha Ann Brooks  
• John Pennington b. 10 May 1829 Ashe Co., NC d. 5 Mar 1917 Ashe Co., NC m. 16 Feb 1859 Manda Hurley m 2. Abt 1860 Emeline Kilby
• Anderson Pennington b. 1832 Ashe Co., NC d. 1850 Ashe Co., NC (Drowned)
• Andrew Pennington b. 1834 Ashe Co., NC d. aft 27 Aug 1863 (Civil War) m. 5 Nov 1857 Mary Little
• Levi Daniel Pennington b. 1837 Ashe Co., ND c. 17 Jan 1909 Morganton, Burke Co., NC m. 17 Dec 1854 Elizabeth Osborn
• Elizabeth Pennington b. abt 1839 Ashe Co., NC d. bet 1883-1887 Johnson Co., TN m. 17 Jan 1857 Alexander Monroe Dollar (my line)
• Martha Pennington b. 29 Mar 1843 Hemlock, Ashe Co., NC d. 21 Dec 1926 Eldreth, Ashe Co., NC m. 21 Mar 1872 Marshel Gilley

There may be more because we have a few unidentified names that we have found in a Probate document on Levi Pennington.  I’ve not yet been able to identify Isaac Cartron & wife and C. A. Warren and wife Catherine.

Clip listing the children of Levi and grandchildren (if parent had passed away)

 

This gives me hope that someday, someone will find another document that answers all the questions that this Probate document poses.  Although you must admit that it is interesting that there is hope that if you keep searching even on families that you think you have a complete history…you never will know when something shows up that offers a delightful surprise piece of information.  So…Hiley was a surprise all those years ago…but she was also a good lesson.  Never believe that your information is complete – there always might something else that explains yet another mystery.