John Barton Pennington - Oregon Pioneer

Group 7 of the Pennington Research Association includes three distinct groups – those that descend from Micajah b. 1743, those that descend from Ephraim b.1769, and those that descend from Benajah b. 1770.  The only one of those groups that stayed in Ashe Co., NC is the descendants of Ephraim.  Micajah’s line mostly left and went to Lee Co., VA and Harlan Co., KY.  Benajah took a different route and ended up in TN and later Alabama and Missouri.  His son, John Barton Pennington traveled even father and was a pioneer in his own right.

John Barton Pennington was b. 25 Apr 1820 in Blue Springs, Roane Co., TN as the fourth child of Benajah Pennington and Matilda Emery Hembree.  On 7 Apr 1841 in Dade Co., MO, John married Sarah Elizabeth Hembree, his first cousin.  Their first child was born in Dade Co., MO in 1842 and on 21 May 1843, John, his wife and one year old daughter (Martha Matilda) left Independence, MO on a wagon train heading to Oregon.  Two of Sarah’s brothers traveled with them and in August of 1843, Sarah gave birth to another daughter (Mary Jane) near South Pass in modern day Wyoming.  In a time when many women were coddled during the last months of pregnancy, Sarah was heavily pregnant and traveling on a wagon train.  The wagon train arrived at Fort Vancouver in November and along with Sarah’s brothers, claimed land near McMinnville, OR with about 400 acres each.  Three more children were born in Oregon until Sarah’s death on 25 Feb 1851.

Two years later, John married Elizabeth Jane Sportsman and in the next 11 years, five more children were born, and in about 1865, John sold his land and moved his family to Visalia, Tulare Co., CA and is recorded there in 1870.  His wife, Elizabeth dies in 1872 and John marries Margaret Fisher, a widow.  In 1880, John and Margaret with her children and his daughter Clarissa Ann are found in Douglas Co., OR near Roseburg.  By 1883, John is back in California and his daughter Clarissa is marrying George Washington Hensley.  John’s third wife, Margaret dies in 1906 and John lives with his stepson, James Fisher until they moved from the Fresno, CA area when John moved in with Clarissa and her husband.  John died on 4 Oct 1910 when he fell from a wagon and broke his neck.

When you look at the history of the Oregon trail and those that first traveled west, one of the most important characters of history is Marcus Whitman.    He was a missionary who came out around 1836 with his wife, Narcissa.  He traveled back east to convince those in power to keep the missions open in Oregon.  I’ve grown up in Lewiston, ID which is just west of the Spaulding mission near Lapwai, ID.  Henry Spaulding and his wife came west with the Whitman’s to found their missions.  Henry Spaulding with his near Lapwai, and the Whitman’s with their mission near Walla Walla, WA. So, I’ve lived my whole life hearing stories about the Spaulding’s and the Whitman’s.  The missionaries came west in 1836 and started their missions.  

Whitman traveled back and helped lead the same wagon train that John Barton Pennington came west with.  He mostly likely delivered the child that John’s wife Sarah delivered near South Pass since he was a medical doctor.  Tragically the Whitman’s were killed by the Cayuse Indians after a measles epidemic in 1847 when about half of the Cayuse Indians and almost all of their children died. 

So John Barton Pennington not only was one of the first to travel the wagon trains west on the Oregon trail he also knew someone who was incredibly important in the settling of the west – especially in the region that I live in.  The life that these settlers encountered when they first came to Oregon couldn’t have been easy.  Fort Vancouver was a well-established trading post but once they left and headed down the Columbia, they left all civilization and had to build a new life.  There were no roads and the only settlements were in Salem and Fort Vancouver.  It wasn’t until after the Gold rush in 1849 in California when supplies were brought in more regularly. So the John Barton Pennington family had to live through a lot of hardship and were truly pioneers. (Special thanks to Stephen Crawford for telling me this story)

Descendants of John Barton Pennington

Generation No. 1

1.  JOHN BARTON⁴ PENNINGTON  (BENAJAH³) was born 25 Apr 1820 in Blue Springs, Roane Co., TN, and died 04 Oct 1910 in Fresno, Fresno Co., CA.  He married (1) SARAH ELIZABETH HEMBREE 07 Apr 1841 in Dade Co. MO, daughter of JAMES HEMBREE and NANCY PETTIT.  She was born 10 May 1816 in Warren Co., TN, and died 25 Feb 1851 in Yamhill Co., OR.  He married (2) ELIZABETH JANE SPORTSMAN 25 Feb 1853 in Yamhill Co., OR.  She was born Abt. 1827 in IN/MO, and died Abt. 1872 in Visalia, Tulare Co., CA.  He married (3) MARGARET J. FISHER 26 May 1875 in Visalia, Tulare Co., CA.  She was born Abt. 1833 in MO, and died 1906 in Fresno, Fresno Co., CA.

More About JOHN BARTON PENNINGTON:

Census 1: 1870, Visalia Twp, Tulare Co., CA, Pg. 4, #22

Census 2: 1850, Yamhill, Oregon Territory, Pg. 18, #116

Census 3: 1860, Lafayette, Yamhill Co., OR. Pg. 437, #3466

Census 4: 1880, Dist. 39, Calapooia, Douglas Co., OR, Pg. 25, #221

Death Cause: 04 Oct 1910, Broken neck sustained from fall from wagon.

Immigration: 1843, One of first to cross the Oregon Trail

More About SARAH ELIZABETH HEMBREE:

Census: 1850, Yamhill, Oregon Territory, Pg. 18, #116

More About ELIZABETH JANE SPORTSMAN:

Census 1: 1870, Visalia Twp, Tulare Co., CA, Pg. 4, #22

Census 2: 1860, Lafayette, Yamhill Co., OR. Pg. 437, #3466

More About MARGARET J. FISHER:

Census: 1880, Dist. 39, Calapooia, Douglas Co., OR, Pg. 25, #221

       

Children of JOHN PENNINGTON and SARAH HEMBREE are:

                   i.    MARTHA MATILDA⁵ PENNINGTON, b. 28 Jan 1842, Dade Co., MO; d. 26 Mar 1929, Mt. View, Santa Clara Co., CA.

More About MARTHA MATILDA PENNINGTON:

Census: 1850, Yamhill, Oregon Territory, Pg. 18, #116

                  ii.    MARY JANE PENNINGTON, b. 06 Jul 1843, Ash Hollow, North Platte, UT Territory; d. 05 Oct 1899, Yamhill Co., OR.

More About MARY JANE PENNINGTON:

Census 1: 1850, Yamhill, Oregon Territory, Pg. 18, #116

Census 2: 1860, Lafayette, Yamhill Co., OR. Pg. 437, #3466

                 iii.    MINERVA CAROLINE PENNINGTON, b. 1845, Yamhill Co., OR.

More About MINERVA CAROLINE PENNINGTON:

Census 1: 1850, Yamhill, Oregon Territory, Pg. 18, #116

Census 2: 1860, Lafayette, Yamhill Co., OR. Pg. 438, #3466

                 iv.    CATHERINE FRANCIS PENNINGTON, b. 27 Mar 1847, Yamhill Co., OR; d. 19 Apr 1929, Fresno, Fresno Co., CA.

More About CATHERINE FRANCIS PENNINGTON:

Census 1: 1850, Yamhill, Oregon Territory, Pg. 18, #116

Census 2: 1860, Lafayette, Yamhill Co., OR. Pg. 438, #3466

                  v.    MALVINA ANN PENNINGTON, b. 06 Mar 1849, Yamhill Co., OR; d. 01 Oct 1915, Joseph, Wallowa Co., OR; m. JAMES MADISON ISLEY, 16 Oct 1865, Yamhill Co., OR; b. 04 Jul 1825, Gwinnett Co., GA; d. 05 Apr 1893, Pendleton, Umatilla Co., OR.

More About MALVINA ANN PENNINGTON:

Census 1: 1850, Yamhill, Oregon Territory, Pg. 18, #116

Census 2: 1860, Lafayette, Yamhill Co., OR. Pg. 438, #3466

       

Children of JOHN PENNINGTON and ELIZABETH SPORTSMAN are:

                 vi.    LORINDA O.⁵ PENNINGTON, b. 1855, Yamhill Co., OR.

More About LORINDA O. PENNINGTON:

Census 1: 1870, Visalia Twp, Tulare Co., CA, Pg. 4, #22

Census 2: 1860, Lafayette, Yamhill Co., OR. Pg. 438, #3466

                vii.    SARAH ELIZABETH PENNINGTON, b. Abt. 1859, Yamhill Co., OR.

More About SARAH ELIZABETH PENNINGTON:

Census 1: 1870, Visalia Twp, Tulare Co., CA, Pg. 4, #22

Census 2: 1860, Lafayette, Yamhill Co., OR. Pg. 438, #3466

               viii.    STEPHEN PENNINGTON, b. Abt. 1859, Yamhill Co., OR.

More About STEPHEN PENNINGTON:

Census: 1860, Lafayette, Yamhill Co., OR. Pg. 438, #3466

                 ix.    JOHN BARTON PENNINGTON, b. Abt. 1862, Yamhill Co., OR.

More About JOHN BARTON PENNINGTON:

Census: 1870, Visalia Twp, Tulare Co., CA, Pg. 4, #22

                  x.    CLARISSA ANN PENNINGTON, b. 28 Aug 1864, Yamhill Co., OR; d. 03 Nov 1933, Fresno Co., CA; m. GEORGE WASHINGTON HENSLEY, 08 Jun 1883, Merced, Merced Co., CA.

More About CLARISSA ANN PENNINGTON:

Census: 1870, Visalia Twp, Tulare Co., CA, Pg. 4, #22

  

A Unusual Benajah

One of the more common names in Pennington research in the Ashe Co., NC region is the name of Benajah.  I have three of them in my database that I am relatively sure of.  The first was born about 1720 and may the progenitor of all of the Ashe Co., NC Penningtons or at the very least the brother of the progenitor.    The next one is a son of Micajah Pennington and Rachel Jones and is born 15 Jun 1782.  The last trace of him is a legal document concerning his father’s estate in 1813 in Barren Co., KY. The third Benajah stands almost alone.  He is most assuredly connected with the other Ashe Co., NC Penningtons because of the genetic testing that has been done…but how he fits in the puzzle is an ongoing mystery.

Benajah Pennington was born 18 Aug 1770 probably in Grayson Co., VA (a neighboring county to Ashe Co., NC).  He died in Stockton City, Cedar Co., MO on 12 Oct 1855.  Benajah married Matilda Emery Hembree on 26 Jul 1814 in Roane Co., TN.  Matilda was a widow with a young son.  Benajah is a unique figure to me because he took a different geographic trek during his lifetime.  He is married in Roane Co., TN in 1814.  That is quite some distance from his birthplace in Grayson Co.  VA.  He has no other recorded wife and would be 44 years old at his first marriage.  Benajah is in Morgan Co., TN in 1830 and in Jackson Co., AL in 1840 and also in 1850.  At the time of his death on 12 Oct 1855 he is in Stockton City, Cedar Co., MO.  The locations of Roane Co., TN, Jackson Co., AL, Marion Co., TN, Ripley, Butler and Cedar Co., MO show up in the locations of all eight of his children…but I have a hard time finding any true logic as to why he made so many moves in his lifetime.  This alone makes Benajah unusual.  The intervening years from his birth to his marriage are also a curiosity for me.  I do find a record of a Benajah Pennington listed as being a private in the War of 1812 and listed as a member of the Rangers, United States Volunteers. 

Benajah and Matilda were the parents of the following children:

• Joel Harrison Pennington b. 13 May 1815 TN d. 24 Jun 1897 Jackson Co., Al m. Hannah Caroline Hembree on 7 Feb 1839 (she was his first cousin)
• Sarah S. Pennington b. abt 1817 TN d. abt 1892 MO m. abt 1834 William Griffin Blake, Sr
• Isaac Washington Pennington b. 14 Oct 1819 TN d. 5 Mar 1908 Butler Co., MO m1 abt 1836 Martha Patsy Ryburn m2 24 Dec 1871 Nancy Williams m3 11 April 1875 Nancy Caroline Rogers   (I have 22 children listed for him with his three wives)
• John Barton Pennington b. 25 Apr 1820 Blue Springs, Roane Co., TN d. 4 Oct 1910 Fresno, Fresno Co., CA m1 7 Apr 1841 Sarah Elizabeth Hembree (his first cousin) m 2 25 Feb 1853 Elizabeth Jane Sportsman m3 26 May 1875 Margaret J. Fisher
• Andrew Jackson Monroe Pennington b. 30 Oct 1824 Jackson Co., AL d. 11 Feb 1863 Winchester, Franklin Co., TN m. abt 1846 Roseda Elizabeth Tankersley
• Newton Pennington b. abt 1825 TN d. abt 1875 TN m. abt 1847 Elizabeth
• William Jordan Pennington b. Aug 1826 Marion Co., TN d. abt 1911 Ripley Co., MO m1 abt 1847 Nancy Clark m. 10 Jan 1858 Camilla Carmeline Wyatt

You can find a photo of Benajah’s gravesite at Find a Grave.com.  Benajah and his descendants are considered to be part of the Pennington Research Association’s Group 7 which was originally the descendants of Micajah Pennington. This assignment to Group 7 by members past was probably because of the similarity in the known age at the time to the Benajah, son of Micajah.  Through diligent research by Gene Pennington, the actual date of his birth and death are now known.  He is actually 12 years older than Micajah’s son – so the original assumption certainly doesn’t work.  The best proof we have that Benajah is related to the rest of the Ashe Co., NC Penningtons is based on DNA.  We all hope to sometime put together the pieces of these early Penningtons with documentation rather than theories.  However, among the Ashe Co., NC Pennington group, Benajah stands alone.   He seemed to take a unique trek through Tennessee, Alabama and Missouri.  His wife, Matilda, outlived him by 23 years and she is buried near him at the same cemetery that Benajah is buried in.  I would still like to know what happened in those intervening 44 years between his birth and marriage.  One never knows when another clue might appear…which is one of the fun and frustrating aspects of genealogy research.