Ashe Co Penningtons - Part 1

This is probably near the original homeplace of Andrew Pennington, son of Ephraim Pennington.  The land was sold to Levi Pennington's grandson,  Isaac around 1852, before Andrew moved to Johnson Co., TN.

I have been researching the Pennington family for over 15 years and during that time, I have had to widen my focus.  So, you might wonder what I mean when I call someone an Ashe Co., NC Pennington.  I use that term for any Pennington who has come through Ashe Co. NC or the immediate counties surrounding Ashe County such as Grayson Co., VA, Johnson Co., TN, Washington Co., VA, Smyth Co., VA and Watauga Co., NC.  To someone looking at this from the outside – it might seem like a wide scope of an area, but it really isn't.  It is a small corner between Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia where there is pretty close borders and people traveled often around these areas.  Besides the geographic area that I have outlined, there are also specific families that I include in my definition.  I believe that these families are all genetically related as has been shown by DNA – we just don’t have documentary proof as to who the common ancestors are. 

The first family group that I started researching was the descendants of Micajah Pennington.  Micajah was born in 1743 probably around Rowan Co., NC.  It is believed that is father was Benajah Pennington and mother was named Elizabeth….however we have no proof of that.  Ashe Co., NC didn’t exist until it was incorporated in 1799.  Having said that, Micajah was probably one of the earliest citizens.  We know that Micajah paid taxes on land in 1800 and that he probably lived in that same area for many years preceding 1800.  He was married to Rachel Jones on 28 Jan 1761 probably in Wilkes Co., NC.  We can guess that he lived in that general area for several decades.  Two of his daughters are listed on Bible record as being born in hollow of the Yadkin River on the east side of the Blue Ridge and New River in Wilkes Co., NC in 1765.  Since Ashe Co., NC was carved out of Wilkes Co., NC – it is most likely in modern day Ashe Co., NC.  If someone knows the exact location and I am wrong…please let me know.  Micajah and Rachel were the parents of ten children including:

• ·         Elijah b. 1761 d. ?
• ·         Micajah, Jr b. 1763 d. aft 1850
• ·         Mary b. 1765 d. 1842 m. Jesse Bowling
• ·         Levi b. 1767 d. abt 1815
• ·         Edward “Neddy” b. 1769 d. 1860 m. Martha Flanary
• ·         Rachel b. 1771 d. ?
• ·         Elizabeth b. 1774 d. 1857 m. John Barton
• ·         Sarah b. 1776 d. 1817 m. Dr. Samuel Johnston
• ·         Johanna b. 1776 d. 1860 m. Douglas Dickson
• ·         Benajah b. 1782 d. ?

Of these Pennington children we know only that the descendants of Johanna stayed in Ashe Co., NC and Elizabeth Pennington Barton’s family generally lived nearby in Grayson Co., VA.  The rest of the family moved to Lee Co., VA or Kentucky. 

Here are a few blogs that I have written about the Micajah Pennington branch of the Ashe Co Penningtons.

• The Mysterious Four (Children of Micjah Pennington)
• Greenberry’s Complications
• Mary Pennington Bowling
• Johanna Pennington Dickson
• Generations of Micajah’s
• Edward Pennington & Pennington Gap
• Pennington Research Lessons
• Penningtons & Robbins

When I first started researching the Pennington family and was concentrating on the descendants of Micajah, I believed that I was descended from Levi Pennington.  My ancestor, Levi was born 1794 and d. abt 1887.  Other researchers originally believed that Levi was the son of Levi Pennington and  grandson of Micajah Pennington.  This was a a theory that I originally believed but after several years of research with several other Penningtons, we came to the conclusion that my Levi b. 1794 was not the son of Levi but rather, Ephraim Pennington b. 1769.  This has been a topic that I have written often about – probably because it is a reminder that one should always look at information closely and be open to new interpretations.  I would say that many of the Penningtons in Ashe Co., NC today are most likely descended from Ephraim Pennington through his son, Levi Pennington.  We know of three children who definitely connected with Ephraim – Levi whose family stayed in the Ashe Co., NC area for the most part, Daniel – whose family traveled to Claiborne Co., TN and Andrew whose family lived in Johnson Co., TN.  My particular branch lived in Ashe Co., NC until the 1880’s and then moved to Johnson Co., TN.  My great grandmother left Tennessee in 1910 for Oregon and later Idaho which is where I live.

 Here are more blogs that I have written about the Levi Pennington branch

• Harvey’s Long Life
• Levi Pennington Family & the Civil War
• Daniel Pennington
• Levi Pennington & Elizabeth Henson Family
• A Surprise with Hiley
• A Tale of Two Andrews
• Facts, Assumptions & Theories

In Ashe Co., Penningtons - Part 2 - I will talk about the Group 30 Penningtons and the Group 12 Penningtons.

Mary Pennington Bowling...

According to just about every notation that I have read – Mary Pennington was born at the hollow of the Yadkin River on the east side of Blue Ridge and New River in Wilkes Co., NC.  Now someone who knows the area fairly well can probably tell me where that is, exactly.  I suspect that it is probably near or in what is now known as Ashe Co., NC.  Ashe Co., NC was carved out of Wilkes Co., NC in 1799.  We know that Mary Pennington’s father, Micajah lived in Ashe Co., NC and probably had land there when she was born. 

Mary Pennington was the oldest daughter of 10 children and married her husband when her youngest sibling was only three years old.  Jesse Bowling was probably a widower with one son when he married Mary Pennington when she was 19 years old on 6 Jan 1785 in Wilkes Co., NC.  He was a veteran of the Revolutionary War having served as a Sergeant from North Carolina and has a recorded pension (#514974).  He was the son of Benjamin Bolling and Patsy Phelps.  There has been an ongoing discussion for years that Jesse Bowling was a descendant of Pocahontas…I have enough trouble keeping up with Bowlings who are related to the Penningtons without getting into that discussion.  So here is Mary, newly married and a new step mother and married to a man who is a military veteran.  In the early years of their marriage they are recorded in Wilkes Co., NC, Lee Co., VA and Hawkins Co., TN.  Jesse and Mary probably moved to Hawkins Co., TN at least by 1794 and perhaps earlier.  Jesse is baptized by Rev. Andrew Baker of the Blackwater Primitive Baptist Church and was himself a Baptist preacher. So that perhaps explains their wanderings in the early years of their marriage.

By 1804, they are probably back in Lee Co., VA according to the birth places of their children and it is likely they were living close to her parents by that time.  By 1810, Jesse and Mary are in Clay Co., KY and are recorded in the census there.  I find it very interesting that they live in Clay Co., KY because I find traces of several Penningtons there as well as other members of the maternal side of my family.    Jesse and Mary are recorded in 1820 in Perry Co., KY.  This doesn’t necessarily mean that they moved much because Perry Co., KY was formed from Clay and Floyd Co., KY and when they are recorded as dying in Breathitt Co., KY aft 1840, it is still could be the same area as Breathitt Co., KY was formed out of Clay, Estill & Perry Counties.  Since I am not that familiar with where they lived exactly, history and geography tell me that they probably lived in the same area but the county lines might have changed on them.

So, they have traveled from North Carolina, to Virginia, to Tennessee and then back to Virginia and finally have settled in Kentucky.  Along the way, Jesse worked as a Preacher and they had 12 children together.  Their children were:

• Hannah Bowling b. 28 Apr 1786 Lee Co., VA d. 1841 m. Nelson Gay m. Leonard Huff
• Mary “Polly” Bowling b. 1 Mar 1788 VA/NC d. aft 1880 Perry Co., KY m. Abraham Barger
• John S. Bowling b. 1789 Hawkins Co., TN d. 26 Jul 1838 Krypton, Perry Co., KY m. Mary Lewis
• Justice Tucker Bowling b. 1790 Wilkes Co., NC d. 1880 Perry Co., KY m. Hanna Reed
• Rachel Bowling b. abt 1792 m. Joseph Reason
• Elizabeth Bowling b. 1 Apr 1794 Hawkins Co., TN d. Feb 1866 Jackson Co., KY m. Abel Pennington
• Eliajah “Lige” Bowling b. 22 Jan 1798 Lee Co., VA d. 22 Oct 1883 m. 1 – Susanna Roberts m. 2 – Mary Ann Keen m.3 – Nancy Ann Bryant
• Jesse Bowling, Jr. b. abt 1800 d. bet 1848-1850 Breathitt Co., KY m. 1 - Nancy Dewees m. 2 – Winifred Lewis
• Margaret “Patsy” Bowling b. 1804 Lee Co., VA m. 1 – Joseph Spencer m. 2. - ? Maggard
• William “Priimpy Bill” Bowling b. abt 1806 Lee Co., VA m. Deborah Duff
• Nancy Bowling b. abt 1808 Lee Co., VA or KY m. Edward Begley
• George Bowling b. abt 1810 m. Phoebe Lewis
• Jesse’s oldest son from his first marriage was John E. Bowling b. 1777 Wilkes Co., NC d. aft 1839 m. Susan Sizemore

This is a large family – but the two most intriguing children are Mary Polly Bowling and Elizabeth Bowling.  Mary “Polly” Bowling had at least 5 children but they intermarried with their Johnston cousins through their mother’s family (Sarah Pennington m. Samuel Johnson/Johnston) and their children marry into some of the more well-known families in Kentucky such as Gay, Brewer, and Spurlock.  Elizabeth marries her possible cousin Abel Pennington and their children also marry into some well-known families including their Johnson/Johnston cousins, Combs, Turner, Moore & McGee.  Between these two daughters, I have met the majority of Mary Pennington descendants through my research.

Jesse and Mary Pennington Bowling died with a year of each other.  Jesse died 10 Mar 1841 and Mary died 21 Mar 1842 both in Breathitt Co., KY probably around Quicksand creek.  For their time period, they both lived to be old people and probably also saw the death of at least three of their children.  There is a lot left to be done to fill out the families and probably many puzzles to unravel.  These families seem to intermarry enough and used so many similar names that sometimes it is very difficult to figure out which is which…but if you are descendant of Mary Pennington through her daughters Elizabeth or Mary – you could be a member of three different Pennington family groups – which is certainly confusing enough.

Finder's Delight

Imagine the delight of the researcher who one day decided to get a copy of the John Barton Revolutionary pension file.  You must imagine how it might have happened.  They have been vainly searching for more information on John Barton and Elizabeth Pennington.  Perhaps they didn’t even know Elizabeth’s last name or the names of her parents and siblings.  Can you imagine the frustration?  Then one day after waiting for several weeks, you get a package in the mail from the US Archives – and there it is – spelled out in black and white – a list of their children and Elizabeth’s family!

The early Pennington researchers spent a great deal of time trying to piece together families with sometimes limited resources.  It isn’t like now when there is a wealth of information available for sometimes for little money or for free.  I can download a copy of the entire John Barton pension on my library’s website through Heritage Quest.  I know that when I ordered two Civil War pensions that they cost me about $40 a piece.  You never quite know what you are going to get when you order a military pension.  Sometimes it is a bonanza of information and other times it can be merely a curiosity.  However, this particular pension has a wealth of information in the first two pages alone.  It lists the complete list of children for John and Elizabeth Pennington Barton and then on the second page it lists her entire family. 

This second page was particularly important to a lot of Pennington researchers.  It isn’t very often that you have exact birth dates or a complete listing of family members from a family who were all born in the 1700’s.  If it wasn’t for this record – we might never know about Rachel Pennington b.25 Dec 1771 because I know of no descendants for her.  Yet Elijah, Levi, & Benajah remain enigmas.  For many years it was assumed that my ancestor Levi Pennington b. 1794 was a son of Levi b. 1767 – but other evidence has suggested otherwise.  Levi b. 1767 disappears from records after 1815 – he may have gone elsewhere or passed away.  Elijah supposedly married a Susannah Kelley and went to TN. I’ve never found trace of him after 1800 or so and I have never been sure where the marriage record came from.  We have listings of descendants of the rest of the children, but only one stayed in Ashe Co., NC.  Benajah pretty much disappears from history after a power of attorney document was found in 1812 concerning his father.  After that, there is no further trace that has yet been found.

Micajah, Jr went to Lee Co., VA and Harlan Co., KY – we don’t know the name of his wife, but we do have several children who are attributed to him.  He died sometime after the 1850 census probably in Harlan Co., KY.  Mary Pennington married Jesse Bowling and ended up in Breathitt Co., KY and died in 1842.  Edward “Neddy” Pennington married Martha “Patsy”Flanary and moved to Lee Co., VA.  Elizabeth married John Barton, Jr and lived in Grayson Co., VA.  Sarah “Sarey” Pennington married Samuel Johnston, Sr and moved to Buckhorn, Perry Co., KY and died in 1817.  Johanna married Douglas Dickson and died sometime after 1860 in Ashe Co., NC

There are a lot more details that I can include on these families…and probably will sometime in the future – but imagine the delight of discovering the proof of the kinship of these brothers and sisters with their parents.  Much of this information was first spelled out by Bee Holmes who was one of the founding members of the Pennington Research Association.  I could easily put myself in her shoes and imagine the “genealogy high” she must have experienced when she saw that document for the first time.  I think that “high” is one of the reasons that so many of us out there spend so much time in genealogy research…that kind of experience can spur you on to even more devoted research in hopes of finding another great piece of documentation.

List of Micajah Pennington Family - Pg 1

List of Micajah Pennington Family - Pg 2