Levi Pennington & Elizabeth Henson Family

The earliest Pennington relative that I discovered is my 3^rd great grandmother.  With name of Elizabeth Pennington – she had an unfortunate commonality with a lot of female Penningtons, the first name of Elizabeth!  In my Pennington database alone, I have about 28 Eliza or Elizabeth Penningtons.    So even though I knew her name, it took a lot more time to figure out which Pennington line that she belonged to.  Turned out that she was the second youngest child of Levi Pennington and his wife, Elizabeth Henson – I have thirteen children listed for this family.  Some number their children as many as 16, but I have stuck with the 13 children that I can identify and connect through documentation.

Levi Pennington and Elizabeth Henson probably married around 1814 or 1815.  I doubt if it was much before that because Elizabeth Henson was born in 1799 and would have been a little young.  Here is a list of Levi and Elizabeth’s children:

• Dora  b. bet 1810-1820
• Edy b. abt 1815 d. abt 1866 m. abt 1835 Nathan Eastrage
• Hiley b. bet 1816-1818 d. 4 Nov 1895 m. Aug 1837 James Emmett Lewis
• Elijah Ephraim b. bet 1819 – 1822 d. Jan 1892 m. abt 1846 Mary Osborne
• William b. 1821 d. aft 1880 m. abt 1848 Frances Blevins
• Larkin b. Jan 1826 d. 6 May 1901 m. 11 Feb 1857 Lydia Lewis
• Harvey b. 29 Feb 1828 d. 21 Apr 1822 m. abt 1850 Easter Little m. abt Oct 1896 Martha Ann Brooks
• John b. 10 May 1829 d. 5 Mar 1917 m. 16 Feb 1859 Manda Hurley m. abt 1860 Emeline Kilby  
• Anderson b. 1832 d. 1850
• Andrew b. 1834 d. aft 27 Aug 1863 m. 5 Nov 1857 Mary Little
• Levi Daniel b. 1837 d. 17 Jan 1909 m. 17 Dec 1854 Elizabeth Osborn
• Elizabeth b. abt 1839 d. bet 1883-1887 m. 17 Jan 1857 Alexander Monroe Dollar
• Martha b. 29 Mar 1843 d. 21 Dec 1926 m. 21 Mar 1872 Marshall Gilley

If you read my previous 1940 Laurel Twp Census blogs – you will have found a prominent position for the children and grandchildren of Elijah Ephraim Pennington, John Pennington and Edy Pennington Eastrage.  These three children of Levi stayed in the Laurel area.  It is unknown where Edy is buried, but John is buried in a family cemetery in the Laurel area, and Elijah is in the Elijah A Shepherd Cemetery.    John Pennington’s name is fairly prominent because he acted as a Justice of Peace and you will find Elijah Pennington’s name quite often as well.  Especially at the Little Laurel Baptist Church where several of the stained glass windows are in memorial to he and other members of his family. 

Little Laurel Baptist Church

Elijah Pennington window

Isaac Pennington window

The land in the Laurel area that these families lived on were land grants that has been gained by Ephraim Pennington b. 1769 d. aft 1852 and in all likelihood his father as well (Probably Ephraim b. 1745).  We know that Ephraim had at least three sons – Levi b. 1794, Andrew b. 7 Sept  1813 and Daniel b. bet 1813-1814.  Ephraim is last recorded in the 1850 census, living with Andrew in Ashe Co., NC.  Andrew sells his land to his nephew and moved over to Laurel Bloomery, Johnson Co., TN and Daniel ended up moving to Claiborne Co., TN.

These close connections between families can make research at times somewhat difficult.  Just when you think you have your data correct…you learn yet another connection.  It is much easier than it was when I first started researching Pennington’s nearly 15 years ago.  There are more records available online and more researchers available via email to communicate with.  At least now, if someone is a descendant of an Elizabeth Pennington – I have 28 connected…and perhaps I can help!

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.