Harvey's Long Life

There are a lot of children to look at when you are researching the Levi Pennington and Elizabeth Henson family.  Depending on whose research that you look at there can be up to 16 children.  I personally have a list of 13 children...but it is a list that can change at any time.  You might say there is wiggle room for a few more children and it wasn't that long ago when I added a new child because of new research.  I've always been interested in Harvey Pennington - number seven on my list of Levi Pennington children.

Harvey was born on 29 Feb 1828 in Laurel, Ashe Co., NC - I suppose one would call him a leap baby? Remarkably he lived to 21 Apr 1922 and was 94 years old when he died at Piney Creek, Ashe Co., NC. As almost the middle child in such a large family, I imagine that sometimes it would have been easy to get lost in the mix.  He had three older brothers and three older sisters as well as four younger brothers and two younger sisters.  His siblings were born between 1815 and 1843. In about 1850, Harvey married Easter Little, the daughter of Isaac Little and Elizabeth Poe.  (Easter's younger sister, Mary married Harvey's brother Andrew and she was left a widow when Andrew died in 1863 when he also served during the Civil War.  It is unknown if Andrew actually died during battle or just after he was mustered out of the North Carolina 34th Infantry, which is the last time he was known to be alive) Like most young men of his age, Harvey joined up and served with the Confederacy during the Civil War with the North Carolina 66th Infantry.  I am curious as to why certain young men served with certain units.  His brother in law (my 3rd great grandfather) was in the 58th NC and they were quite notorious for deserters and my 3rd great grandfather was one of them.  Nevertheless, Harvey survives his Civil War service and after the war rejoins his family in Ashe Co., NC.

Unlike his father and siblings, Harvey lives in a different area than they...in 1860 he is found at Horse Creek in the Helton District which is northeast of his family and later lives a bit further south at Staggs Creek.  Like his parents, Harvey also has a large family of  10 children.  In the 1870 census, his nephew (Andrew and Mary Little's son) is also living with them.  Of his 10 children, only one dies young under the age of 10:

Harvey & Easter's Family:

• Sarah Pennington b. 8 Jul 1855 d. 27 Oct 1925 m. Adam Miller
• Elizabeth b. Dec 1856 d. 25 Mar 1922 m. Joseph Roten
• Mary Pennington b. 27 Jun 1857 d. 15 Jul 1934 m. Rueben K. Elliott
• James Aaron Pennington b. 16 Feb 1859 d. 11 Mar 1904 m. Genelia Ann Campbell
• Martha W. Pennington b. abt 1861 d. bef 1870
• Lucinda Pennington b. 14 Jun 1864 d. 15 Oct 1945 m1 Joel Tedder m2. Filmore Brown
• Levi Pennington b. Nov 1867 d. 19 Jun 1914 m. Amanda Turner
• Cora Ellen Pennington b. 14 Jun 1868 d. 9 Jun 1960 m. John Williams
• Isaac C. Pennington b. 14 May 1873 d. 20 May 1950 m. Mary Miller
• Caroline Pennington b. Aug 1875 d. ? m. David Jones

Harvey's wife Easter died on 26 Aug 1894 and a few years later in Oct 1896, Harvey married a widow named Martha Ann Brooks and within a year had an 11th child:

• Roy Everett Pennington b. 7 Sept 1897 d. 13 Aug 1972 m. Martha Ann Greer

I think there are actually some living grandchildren of Harvey Pennington who are still alive today.

Looking at the scope of Harvey's life is really astounding.  He probably lived through more change during his long life than most have ever seen.  His childhood was one of an agrarian childhood in small isolated group of communities in North Carolina.  That lifestyle was blown apart with the Civil War and the devastating impact it had on the entire American society.  Following the Civil War was probably the most turbulent and quick change this country has seen.  We went from a horse and buggy way of life to one of trains and later automobiles.  What was once an isolated area was now opening up to the outside world and influences. Sadly for him, he lived to see another war that was broadcast across the radio and news could arrive almost instantaneously as long as you could get a radio signal.  Harvey's father was born in the 18th century with twenty years of the founding of this country and Harvey lived to see it almost reach 150 years old.   Harvey was the longest lived of his family and only his youngest sister lived past 1922 when she died at 1926 at the age of 83.

Harvey's second wife only outlived him by a month despite being 26 years younger than him.  Wouldn't be wonderful if Harvey had left behind the story of his life - I'm sure it must have been an interesting one!

Levi Pennington Family & the Civil War

The Civil war was as devastating for the Pennington family.  They had three sons who fought in the war and two son-in-laws.  They all fought for the Confederacy as did most of those who lived in Ashe Co., NC.  These weren’t families who had slaves but probably most likely fought for their homeland.  It left a devastating effect on the Levi Pennington family.

Andrew Pennington was born about 1834 in Ashe Co., NC and married Mary Little on 5 Nov 1857 in Ashe Co., NC.  Andrew enlisted on 10 Aug 1861 as a Private and later on 25 Oct 1861 enlisted in the 34^th Infantry Regiment North Carolina.  He was mustered out on 27 Aug 1863.  From that point he disappears from history.  It is thought that he died soon after.  Andrew left a wife, Mary Little and two small boys, the youngest only a few months old.

Levi Daniel Pennington also enlisted in the military and fought for the Confederacy.  He was born in 1837 and married Elizabeth Osborne on 17 Dec 1854 in Ashe Co., NC.  Levi Daniel and Elizabeth had three children, the second one dying as an infant.  Levi Daniel was injured in the Civil War and the doctors inserted a ceramic plate in his head.  By the 1870 census, Levi’s wife and children are no longer living with him and he is listed as insane, living with his parents.  By 1887, he was put in a Mental Hospital in Morganton, Burke Co., NC where he died on 17 Jan 1909.  I’ve heard from a descendant that Levi Daniel had turned extremely violent and unpredictable and had tried to strangle his wife.  It is no wonder that she took her children and left him in order to protect herself and her children.

Harvey Pennington seemed to have escaped the Civil War without long lasting damage.  He was born on 29 Feb 1828 in Ashe Co., NC and married Easter Little.  After her death in 1894, he married again to Martha Brooks.  He had 10 children with Easter, and 1 child with his second wife.  He served in the Whitman’s North Carolina 66th Infantry Regiment and returned from the war seemingly whole.  He lived to be 94 years old and was the longest lived of his siblings.

Alexander Monroe Dollar was the husband of Elizabeth Pennington.  He was born about 1838 and enlisted in the 58^th Infantry Regiment of North Carolina on 20 Jul 1862.  Within a short time, he did something that was pretty common in for those in the 58^th North Carolina – he deserted and later took a oath of allegiance to the Union.

James Emmett Lewis was born in 1817 as the son of Nathan Lewis and Eleanor Roark, he married Hiley Pennington in August 1837.  Unlike his brother-in-laws, James Emmett Lewis served in the 13^th TN Calvary and fought for the Union. Upon his return, he was murdered by a Thomas Royal in Ashe Co., NC on 3 April 1865.  One wonders if he was murdered because of his allegiance to the Union.  He left his wife with 8 children.  His wife, Hiley, received his pension and she died on 4 Nov 1895. 

So with three sons, and two son in laws – the Levi Pennington family lost one son in the war, another son to insanity, a son in law to murder and the other two survived to live long lives.  One wonders how many other families suffered the same types of hardships.  It is no wonder that the Civil War changed the fabric of our society and so many families.

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.