Edy Pennington Eastrage

Depending on whatever theory that you believe in…Edy Pennington is most likely the oldest child of Levi Pennington and Elizabeth Henson.   I am fairly confident that Levi Pennington and Elizabeth Henson had at least 12 children and possibly as many as 14.  I am descended from one of the youngest daughters, Elizabeth, but I have always been interested in Edy Pennington.

Edy was born about 1815 likely around the Little Laurel region of Ashe Co., NC.  Her parents probably either married the year she was born or just before.  It would have put her mother at the age of 16 and her father at the age of 21.  Edy marries a Nathan Estrage in about 1835.  He was likely a close neighbor.  Nathan was the son of Henry Eastridge and Elizabeth Floyd.  I’ve never spent a lot of time looking at Nathan’s ancestry but I have spent a bit of time trying to figure out if the name is supposed to be Eastrage, Eastridge, or Estrage.  I’m still not sure of the spelling but I have gone with the spelling of Eastrage because that is what I have found in census records.

Edy and Nathan had children right away after the marriage and had at least six children.  According to the estate record of Levi Pennington, we actually have a pretty good rundown of the children.

• Elizabeth was born abt 1836 in Ashe Co., NC and d. bef 1865. She was married to Radford Davidson on 17 Jan 1852 also in Ashe Co., NC.  Elizabeth died before 1865 and her husband died before 1870.  I’ve had limited luck tracing their children any further.  I only have limited information on the children and a death date on one of them. 
• William Harrison was born 2 Jan 1840 in Ashe Co., NC and d. 6 May 1925 Ashe Co., NC.  He was married to either Mary Dishman or Davis.  They had 9 children spent their lives in the area.
• Catherine was born Jun 1842 and d. 8 Nov 1915.  She married Charles A. Warren on 3 May 1869 and they had three children.
• Nancy was born about 1845 in Ashe Co., NC and d. bet 1876-1880.  She was married to John H. Shepherd and had six children. 
• Edia was born about 1848 in Ashe Co., NC and d. Feb 1880.  She was married to Alvin Columbus Lou Allen.  (Alvin’s brother Calvin, was married to Edia’s 1^st cousin, Tishia Pennington)  I have very little on their two daughters, although I suspect on the little bits of information that I do have that the family might have ended up in Johnson Co., TN
• Hiley was born about May 1850 in Ashe Co., NC, married Wiley Elbert Vanover on 18 Aug 1882 in Johnson Co., TN and they are next found in the 1900 IL census with three children.

It is obvious that Edy named at least one of her daughters after her sister Hiley and possible that she named another one after Elizabeth…but I think it more likely that she was named after Nathan’s mother.  Every one of these families is due more research because there is always new information that seems to come to light and sometimes new ways to search.   However, Edy seemed to leave her mark.  She stayed her entire life in Laurel Twp., Ashe Co., NC and sadly preceded both her parents in death.  Her husband never remarried as far as I can tell and stayed in the Laurel Twp., Ashe Co., NC.  Their burial location is unknown but they are probably buried in a family cemetery nearby.  

1940 Laurel Twp, Ashe Co., NC - Penningtons (Part 3)

Photo of Big Laurel Creek - taken by Mary Almaroad

Onward to the rest of the census – in Laurel Twp in Ashe Co., NC.  I’m sorry to say that I don’t have a lot of insights into the remaining pages of the census records.  Mostly because we are out of the Pennington area that I know about.  That isn’t to say that we are completely out of Pennington relations in the area, though.

There is a close relationship in that township amongst several families.  They may not be related by blood but they are by history.  Most of the Farmers in the next several pages of the census are descended from Thomas Farmer and his 10 children,  I don’t even have anywhere close to a good database on theses Famers…but there are a few mentioned that are interesting.  On page 7A, there is a Ettie Farmer listed in the middle of the page.  Her maiden name is Pennington  (Her name should be Campbell and not Pennington - she was married to William Farmer as his second wife)  – I don’t know as yet where she fits.  Her son, Elmer, married Dora Pennington, daughter of Ephraim Stacy Pennington Maggie Roark.  In this census, Etta is the widow of William M. Farmer (he was the son of Calvin Farmer and Emeline Graybeal) and she is listed with 5 children and I still have to search for the rest of her children as she had 10 children.

This may be somewhat disappointing – but there really aren’t any other names that I recognize right away.  I recognize the last names of Eastridge, Graybeal, Osborne and Farmer and the Shepherd name on Page 7B is particularly interesting.  There are few cemeteries in the Laurel Twp that I have either visited or know about.  The Mock cemetery is one of them and there is also a Farmer cemetery – but the one that is probably most interesting to Pennington researchers is the Elijah Shepherd Cemetery.  This is where many of the Penningtons are buried.  Isaac and Elijah are there with many of their family members.  The remaining pages of the census must cover the lower section of the Laurel road.  Just because I don’t have the names in my database right now…this will be something that I will spend some time on. 

Elijah Shepherd Cemetery - taken by Carolyn Waters

Mock Cemetery sign near the road
Below the Mock Cemetery on the hillside
 - Taken by Mary Almaroad

Whenever you spend any time on a family that has lived in a specific region for a long time – you generally spend some time researching allied families.  There is a lot to be learned from this research.  Sometimes there are intermarriages; sometimes it is another location to search for cemetery records.  I am reminded of this because of an experience I had many years ago in Johnson Co., TN.  I was talking to a lady who had lived in Shingletown for most of her life.  She was at that point taking care of her elderly mother.  The lady shared with me some photos that she had of my cousins.  While I was there, I got some information on her family because she didn’t know all that much.  As I started tracing her line back, I found out that she was part of the same Pennington family as I…just a few generations back.  I also found that at least 60 % of those buried at the Wesley Methodist Cemetery in Shingletown had some relation to Andrew Pennington and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Pope.  So, even though I don’t have a complete picture of the rest of these families – if I take the time to get the basic information down on them, it may lead me down some research paths that I had not considered.  So…while I don’t know where the rest of these families fit – I will keep looking in my research materials to see if I can figure it out!