1940 Laurel Twp, Ashe Co., NC - Penningtons (Part 2)

I’m back on my 1940 Pennington search.  If you would like to read my previous article, go to http://genheirlooms.blogspot.com/2012/04/1940-laurel-twp-ashe-co-nc-penningtons.html - I left off with Page 2A of Laurel township.  As I am looking at Page 2B – there aren’t too many familiar names until I get to the bottom of the page where I find Kirby Pennington.

Kirby Smith Pennington is the 3^rd generation down from Levi Pennington and Elizabeth Henson through his father Melvin and Grandfather John Pennington.  He was married to the much younger Lula Victoria Jones.  She was born about 1906 to John C. Jones and Sallie – now, I don’t have her lineage right now, but the Jones family is also quite prevalent in this area. 

On page 3A – we move on to William Osborne who is married to Vertie Pennington, also the daughter of Melvin Pennington.  This is a great entry because it allows me to fill out names and birth years.  Williard is connected with the big three families in Ashe Co., NC – the Pennington by marriage and the Osbornes, Graybeals, and Estridges in his family background.  Even though I don’t see any other Penningtons on the rest of the page, evidently by notes listed on the far left – most of the information came from a neighbor named Mrs. Rash who supplied the census taker with the data.

It isn’t until the bottom third of the page until I find another familiar name.  Tom L. McCoy is the son of William McCoy and Mary Brown…several of his siblings married Pennington relations.  Near the bottom of the page is William Riley Pennington with his wife, Hattie Edmonson.  William is the grandson of Elijah Ephraim Pennington and Mary Osborne and the great grandson of Levi Pennington and Elizabeth Henson.

Page 4A has several familiar names, but no one I can identify exactly.  There is a widowed Maggie Pennington with son, Ethan…this will lead me into the pursuit to discover who they are.  Near the top of Page 4B is Quincy Williams with wife, Rosa – who is the daughter of Isaac Pennington and Martitia Osborne.  Next is another Jones and Oliver family.  This Oliver family is one of the more well known.  Etta Jane Pennington married James Oliver in 1914 and I believe their oldest daughter is still alive at near 97 years old.  Seeing that Ruth Oliver isn’t listed with her family and knowing that she is married to a Greer, I believe that she is at the top of the page with her husband Russell.   Next is an Eastridge family that is probably connected…but I don’t what it is.  Then comes Mack Farmer who I believe according to another researcher, has the original Levi Pennington home place.  Like many others, if they aren’t connected to the Penningtons, then they are to either the Osbornes or Graybeals, in this case Mack is the son of Emeline Graybeal.

So, ends a journey through another four pages of the Laurel township in Ashe Co., NC in 1940.  There is a reason that I spend so much time looking at peripheral families.   Sometimes my work with these families helps to fill in blanks in some of the other lines that I research.  Between funeral records and census records there is still lots of research to be done. 

Generations of Micajah's

Micajah is a common name in Pennington research and almost all of them are related.  There are three generations of Micajah and they have been confused by researchers for decades.  When I first started researching Micajah Pennington – I reached the same conclusions that many other researchers had made. 

The first generation of Micajah’s starts with Micajah, Sr who was born in 28 Aor 1743 probably in Rowan Co.,  NC and probably died sometime after 1815 in either Ashe Co., NC, Grayson Co., VA or Lee Co., VA.  Since Ashe Co. NC didn’t become a county until 1799, Micajah’s children were born probably in Wilkes Co., NC.  Micajah worked for many years as a surveyor and owned many parcels of property.  His signature is on many land documents so it is also very likely that he was fairly well educated.  He is recorded on the tax list in 1815 and may have lived as late as 1817.  I suspect that Micajah, Sr. probably died around Grayson Co., VA because that was the location of his land parcels; however his son Micajah, Jr. is even more mysterious.

Micajah, Jr. was born 13 Dec 1763 probably around the Wilkes Co., /Ashe Co., NC area as the second son of Micajah Pennington and Rachel Jones.  His wife’s name was unknown.  It is apparent that he was married to a woman of a similar age from at least 1790 until 1840.  We know this because he is recorded in the census in every year with another woman of a similar age.  It wasn’t until the 1850 census when all the members of the household were recorded in the census.  So, therefore the name of his wife is unknown.  Now…this hasn’t stopped researchers from claiming that the Micajah Pennington who married Linthey “Cynthia”  Jones in 1822 was Micajah, Jr and therefore claiming that Cynthia was the mother of Micajah, Jr.’s children.  There was also a record of a marriage to a Nancy Baker in 1812.  The supposition was the Micajah, Jr’s wife died and he married Nancy Baker.  She died sometime before the marriage to Cynthia Jones.  In fact, we don’t know who Micajah, Jr’s wife was and probably will never know her identity unless someone has a magic document in hiding.

Marriage record with Nancy Baker

Now Micajah, Jr had a son named Micajah III.  Micajah III was born about 1794 and was probably the second or third son of Micajah, Jr.   It is Micajah III who married Nancy Baker on 13 Aug 1812 in Madison Co., KY.  Nancy was the daughter of Rezin Baker and Eleanor Roberts.  She was born about 1797 and died around 1821 in Lee Co., VA.  Micajah Pennington III then married a Cynthia Williams on 8 Dec 1822 in Clay Co., KY.  Cynthia was the widow of William Jones.  The Cynthia Jones that everyone assumed was Micajah’s  wife was mistakenly listed as Cynthia Corey and she was married to another William Jones in 1818 and was actually was recorded with her husband in the 1850 census.

 

Micajah III and his wife Cynthia probably died sometime before 1850.  The exact date or location is at this point unknown.  However, they left behind three children:  twins Phebe and Nancy and yes…another Micajah Pennington.  All three were probably born in Kentucky and all three married had families of their own.  Micajah C. was born 6 Apr 1825 in either IN or KY and married a widow named Jane Robertson Parnell on 29 Oct 1848 in Jackson Co., MO.  They had two children…and they finally broke the Micajah streak…this time they gave their youngest son the middle of Micajah.  Micajah C. died 23 July 1892 in Christian Co., MO.

Marriage record with Cynthia Williams aka Linthey Jones

This entire tangled skein was unraveled several years ago with a genealogy partnership between me and several other researchers.  The documents that we have were provided by the research and persistence of Rosalie Graham.  I’m sure that there will be more insights into these Micajahs…perhaps someday; someone will discover what happened to Micajah III and his wife Cynthia and perhaps the name of Micajah, Jr.’s mysterious wife.  I would be happy to be able to do a search on Micajah Pennington, Jr and not find him married to Cynthia Corey.  It is harder to correct misinformation than to spread it.

Piecing it together…

I have a pretty good database of Penningtons from Ashe Co., NC.  I have been a member of the Pennington Research Association for about 15 years now and have been head of Family Group 7 within that group for almost the same amount of time.  In the beginning, I spent most of my time gathering information about my specific branch of the family moving beyond that within a few years.  I concentrated only on the descendants of Micajah Pennington for a few years (Micajah is the head of Group 7 – b 1743 NC).  Since then I have branched out even further to look at all of the Penningtons in Ashe Co., NC and their surroundings.  This goal at times – has forced me to try and figure out where a family belongs. 

I am a member of the New River list (Yahoo Groups newslist)…and every few weeks someone posts local obits from the area.  These obits usually come from North Carolina, Virginia, or Tennessee.  The Pennington families from that area are primarily the descendants of Group 7 – Micajah Pennington, Group 12 – Samuel Pennington, and Group 30 – Abram Pennington.  If you want more information on these groups…please check out the PRA website at www.penningtonresearch.org. Anyway, a few weeks ago, someone posted an obit on a Joseph Max Pennington b. 8/15/1941 d. 1/2/2012. 

Max was born at Independence, VA, the Saddle Creek Community to the late Joe Pennington and Grace Ward Pennington. Surviving, brother-in-law, John Williams of Lynchburg, VA and several cousins also survive. Graveside service will be held at 3:00 p.m., Thursday, January 5, 2011 at Saddle Creek Cemetery, Independence, VA Elder Curtis Hash officiating. Military rites conducted by Grayson County VFW Post 7726. There will not be a visitation at the funeral home.

It gave me the information that he was the son of Joe Pennington and Grace Ward.  Since he was born after 1930 – my search is automatically made a bit harder.  Here is what I do when I am trying to figure the lineage out:

1. Check my database.  Sometimes, I already have him in my database and I just need to add the additional information.
2. See if I have his parents – I usually try the father first and then the mother.  It is sometimes easier to search for the mother because the Penningtons made a habit of naming their children family names that got duplicated many times.  Sometimes it is difficult to figure out who is who.
3. If I don’t have either the individual or the parents in my database, now I have to do a bit more research.  One of my best places to search is www.findagrave.com – which people have posted gravestones of those who have passed.  The first place to look is the cemetery where Joseph Max is to be buried.  Using this method, I am able to locate his parents as well, because he is to be buried in the same cemetery as his parents.  At this point, I still am not sure which group Joseph Max belongs in, so I keep searching.
4. I will then probably logon to www.ancestry.com (a paid resource) and look up census records on the parents and see if I can figure out who his parent’s families are.  I figure out that Joseph C. Pennington (Joseph Max’s father) is the son of William Columbus Pennington and Bena Phipps and checking out www.findagrave.com, I discover that they both are also buried in the same cemetery.  This method takes me back to William Columbus Pennington’s parents, Johnson A. Pennington and Elizabeth Poe.  All this time, I am adding details such as census data, additional siblings and death dates as I find them.  I never know when this information might be useful. 
5. At this point, I may check out WorldGenconnect on www.rootsweb.com and see if someone else has posted information on this family.  This information can point me in the right direction to find more information on the family.  While doing this, I notice a curious coincidence.  I already have William D. Pennington and Sarah in my database (Johnson’s parents).  I don’t however; have Johnson Pennington under that family.  I notice a curious coincidence though – I have a Jonathan Pennington and Johnson Pennington under the same family with the same birthdate.  I look further to see what other information that I have because this could be the same person or they could be twins.

a.       Jonathan is married to Jane Gincy Hash on 3/15/1874 and she dies on 7/14/1886.

b.      Johnson is married to Elizabeth Poe abt 1877.

Until I have further information, I will leave both in my database with a note reminding myself of what I have found.  My best guess is that I might be dealing with twins, but I can’t be sure with what data is available to me at this time.

I have come across this family before and at that point, I could not make a conclusion as to which family group that they belonged in.  I can make an educated guess that it is probably Group 30 – but William D. Pennington b. 1806 doesn’t fit there.  So – where does he fit?  The answer is “I don’t know?”  However, I have put in the data that I have been able to find at this point and the family will come up again during my research, and perhaps someday I will be able to find that final piece.