Happy Mother's Day - Mom!

Mother’s Day is a bittersweet day for me these days.  I lost my mother the day after Christmas in 2005.  Today my father and I placed Mom’s favorite red roses on her grave just as we have done every year since she has passed.  As the youngest of four children, I probably got the opportunity to spend the most one-on-one time with my Mom…and I consider myself pretty lucky because of the privilege.

My mother was born Betty Jean Tannahill on 5 October 1941 to Oliver Richard Tannahill and Capitola Ester Friddle.  Mom was the youngest of two children…she had an older sister named Joan.  Mom’s family lived right next door to her grandparents and many of her stories of her childhood include many stories of her beloved “Mom & Pop Friddle.”  Mom lost her father, Richard, in a hunting accident in 1947 and Mom’s life was forever changed.  She had few clear memories of her father – but as she grew up and met others who had known her father, she was always told that he was good man.  I think she always found comfort in that.  About a year later, her mother remarried to Gwen Shearer.  Gwen was Richard’s best friend as well as business partner.  I have often thought how difficult it had to be for my grandmother in 1948 to be a businesswoman, widowed and with two young children.  Joan and my mother spent a lot of time growing up going to piano lessons and both girls were musically talented.  Mom used to say that they could always get out of doing dishes by going in and practicing their piano.  My grandmother could play the piano but she wasn’t a musician…there is a big difference.  Both of her daughters were musicians. My mother met my father towards the end of her senior year and by the next October; they were engaged to be married – they married in December of 1959.

 

I have always believed that I really had a wonderful childhood.  There were a lot of camping trips, picnics, and family time.  Mom would pack up the camper or tents and when Dad came home from work, he would take a shower and off we would go camping.  When Dad was working, Mom would take us each week to the library.  Each one of us would get our selection of books and when we got home the TV never was turned on.  Each one of us would be in our little corner of the living room reading our books.  I can remember putting together crossword puzzles at the kitchen table and playing games with my siblings and their friends with my Mom right in the middle of the activity. 

Mom organized trips that we took as a family to places like Yellowstone, Glacier Park and the Redwoods.  One of our most amazing trips was the one where we traveled around the United States for a month when I was eleven years old.  We traveled around in a Pickup and Camper and covered 40 states in a month’s times.  From the Mt Rushmore and the Badlands to Gettysburg, Mount Vernon, the Blue Ridge Parkway, Savannah, and Disney World to New Orleans – we saw a lot of our country.  You might say that she helped me gain my love of history.

What really makes all of this really amazing is the fact that Mom battled health problems for most of her life, but she never really let it stop her or stop her from enjoying her family.  It would be easy to dwell on some of the hardships that she faced…but Mom always kept a positive attitude even to her last days.  Mom was diagnosed with lung cancer for a second time in December of 2005 and she died only four days after the official diagnosis.  In those four days, we had time to celebrate Christmas and Mom was determined to make the most of it.  She gave every bit of energy she had to take the opportunity to enjoy her family and the celebrations.  The day after Christmas, she left us. 

I have wonderful memories of my mother – I wish everyone was so fortunate with their parents.   My mother lost her mother when she was 45 years old and she told me before she died that she still missed her mother.  It had been almost 20 years, but she felt the loss.  Last year my father and his sisters were all together for Mother's day with their mother and she passed this past December.  I suspect that if we are so lucky to have a wonderful mother that we always miss them and feel their loss.  

Martha Brown Friddles Tester Dyson?

On the whole, I have been pretty successful in finding and gathering information pertaining to my various family lines.  However, there are a few brick walls that have presented themselves through the years, especially with the Friddle family.  I don’t know if I ever will make much progress on Moses Friddles past his supposed 1826 birthdate – but I have had almost as difficult a time on my great grandfather’s mother as well.

Martha “Mattie” E. Brown was born Sep 1862 in North Carolina probably either in Ashe Co., NC or Watauga Co., NC.  She was the daughter of a John Brown born abt 1836 in North Carolina and his wife, Margaret J. b. abt 1844 in North Carolina.  Her family is recorded in the 1870 census in Taylorsville, Dist. 2, Johnson Co., TN Pg. 3, #18.  By the 1880 census, Martha is married to Moses Friddles.  I have to wonder on a personal note if the pickings were pretty slim.  When she married Moses Friddle on 12 Oct 1878, she was 16 years old and he was 52 years old and she was his 4^th wife.   Moses died in 1890 and by that time, they had had six children in 10 years.  The youngest was my great grandfather.  Their children were:

• Roby B. Friddles b. 23 Mar 1879 Johnson Co., TN d. 25 Aug 1928 Johnson Co., TN m. Dora McLain
• Jesse C. Friddles b. 16 Mar 1881 Johnson Co., TN d. ?
• Calia Friddles b. 16 Mar 1883 Johnson Co., TN d. bef 1910 m. Clayton Matherson
• James Blaine Friddles b. 29 Sep 1884 Johnson Co., TN d. 10 Oct 1928 Johnson Co., TN m. 1 25 Dec 1901 Dora Nevada Heck m. 2 4 Nov 1917 Emeline Guy
• Roy Friddles b. 4 Feb 1887 Johnson Co., TN d. bef 22 Apr 1891 Johnson Co., TN
• David Carl Friddle b. 1 May 1889 Johnson Co., TN d. 4 Jan 1955 Lewiston, Nez Perce Co., ID m. 22 Dec 1908 Sophia Vestelle Dollar.

The only reason that I have definite dates on their children is because the information came from Moses Friddles Civil War pension.  Evidently, Martha attempted to claim a few children who were no longer living.  I’ve never been able to find out much on her siblings or her parents after the 1880 census when they are still recorded in Johnson Co., TN.

By the 1900 census, Martha has remarried to John M. Tester (m. 18 Jun 1899) and is living with him, however her children are not.  My great grandfather is located in the household of Richard A. Wilson and is listed as a servant at the age of 11.  A short distance away, Calia is listed as a servant of Nathaniel Ward in his household.  Roby is listed in the military at Balincaguin, Philippine Islands, Military and Naval Forces, Pg. 1 - 36th Inf, Co H.  I’ve never located James and I believe that Jesse and Roy are both dead at this time.  I don’t know if Martha and John Tester divorced or separated, but John Tester is remarried after 1903 and Martha marries a T. F. Dyson on 29 Nov 1908 and she herself dies on 16 Jun 1909.  I’m not really positive about the third marriage, but I know that the first two did occur and that John M. Tester marries a Virgie in 1903.  According to the death record that I found for Mattie Dyson, she died of paralysis at about the age of 50.

My great grandfather never really wanted to go back to Tennessee especially after his brother, James died in 1928.  The bare facts of his childhood support the fact that he didn’t have a happy childhood and probably never really had a real childhood or a close relationship with his mother.  I know that she worked as a servant for a while for a Judge Vaught and that the old Judge taught my great grandfather how to read and write and that was probably the most formal education he had until he married my great grandmother.

Mattie still remains a mystery.  I have some clues to what happened to her but few facts.  I can’t seem to find the right section of Browns that would include her family.  In this area of Tennessee and North Carolina, Brown might be a more common name than Johnson and then to stick the first name of John on the front really makes it difficult.  I was excited a few years ago to finally get a copy of a picture of her.  It must have been taken at about the time of Calia’s marriage.  Perhaps someday, I will find out more about who she was and who her family was.

Upper level - James Blaine Friddles next to Calia Friddles - Lower - possibly Clayton Matherson, Dora  (James'  wife holding baby Jessie)  and Martha Brown Friddles Tester on the lower right.

Mary Pennington Bowling...

According to just about every notation that I have read – Mary Pennington was born at the hollow of the Yadkin River on the east side of Blue Ridge and New River in Wilkes Co., NC.  Now someone who knows the area fairly well can probably tell me where that is, exactly.  I suspect that it is probably near or in what is now known as Ashe Co., NC.  Ashe Co., NC was carved out of Wilkes Co., NC in 1799.  We know that Mary Pennington’s father, Micajah lived in Ashe Co., NC and probably had land there when she was born. 

Mary Pennington was the oldest daughter of 10 children and married her husband when her youngest sibling was only three years old.  Jesse Bowling was probably a widower with one son when he married Mary Pennington when she was 19 years old on 6 Jan 1785 in Wilkes Co., NC.  He was a veteran of the Revolutionary War having served as a Sergeant from North Carolina and has a recorded pension (#514974).  He was the son of Benjamin Bolling and Patsy Phelps.  There has been an ongoing discussion for years that Jesse Bowling was a descendant of Pocahontas…I have enough trouble keeping up with Bowlings who are related to the Penningtons without getting into that discussion.  So here is Mary, newly married and a new step mother and married to a man who is a military veteran.  In the early years of their marriage they are recorded in Wilkes Co., NC, Lee Co., VA and Hawkins Co., TN.  Jesse and Mary probably moved to Hawkins Co., TN at least by 1794 and perhaps earlier.  Jesse is baptized by Rev. Andrew Baker of the Blackwater Primitive Baptist Church and was himself a Baptist preacher. So that perhaps explains their wanderings in the early years of their marriage.

By 1804, they are probably back in Lee Co., VA according to the birth places of their children and it is likely they were living close to her parents by that time.  By 1810, Jesse and Mary are in Clay Co., KY and are recorded in the census there.  I find it very interesting that they live in Clay Co., KY because I find traces of several Penningtons there as well as other members of the maternal side of my family.    Jesse and Mary are recorded in 1820 in Perry Co., KY.  This doesn’t necessarily mean that they moved much because Perry Co., KY was formed from Clay and Floyd Co., KY and when they are recorded as dying in Breathitt Co., KY aft 1840, it is still could be the same area as Breathitt Co., KY was formed out of Clay, Estill & Perry Counties.  Since I am not that familiar with where they lived exactly, history and geography tell me that they probably lived in the same area but the county lines might have changed on them.

So, they have traveled from North Carolina, to Virginia, to Tennessee and then back to Virginia and finally have settled in Kentucky.  Along the way, Jesse worked as a Preacher and they had 12 children together.  Their children were:

• Hannah Bowling b. 28 Apr 1786 Lee Co., VA d. 1841 m. Nelson Gay m. Leonard Huff
• Mary “Polly” Bowling b. 1 Mar 1788 VA/NC d. aft 1880 Perry Co., KY m. Abraham Barger
• John S. Bowling b. 1789 Hawkins Co., TN d. 26 Jul 1838 Krypton, Perry Co., KY m. Mary Lewis
• Justice Tucker Bowling b. 1790 Wilkes Co., NC d. 1880 Perry Co., KY m. Hanna Reed
• Rachel Bowling b. abt 1792 m. Joseph Reason
• Elizabeth Bowling b. 1 Apr 1794 Hawkins Co., TN d. Feb 1866 Jackson Co., KY m. Abel Pennington
• Eliajah “Lige” Bowling b. 22 Jan 1798 Lee Co., VA d. 22 Oct 1883 m. 1 – Susanna Roberts m. 2 – Mary Ann Keen m.3 – Nancy Ann Bryant
• Jesse Bowling, Jr. b. abt 1800 d. bet 1848-1850 Breathitt Co., KY m. 1 - Nancy Dewees m. 2 – Winifred Lewis
• Margaret “Patsy” Bowling b. 1804 Lee Co., VA m. 1 – Joseph Spencer m. 2. - ? Maggard
• William “Priimpy Bill” Bowling b. abt 1806 Lee Co., VA m. Deborah Duff
• Nancy Bowling b. abt 1808 Lee Co., VA or KY m. Edward Begley
• George Bowling b. abt 1810 m. Phoebe Lewis
• Jesse’s oldest son from his first marriage was John E. Bowling b. 1777 Wilkes Co., NC d. aft 1839 m. Susan Sizemore

This is a large family – but the two most intriguing children are Mary Polly Bowling and Elizabeth Bowling.  Mary “Polly” Bowling had at least 5 children but they intermarried with their Johnston cousins through their mother’s family (Sarah Pennington m. Samuel Johnson/Johnston) and their children marry into some of the more well-known families in Kentucky such as Gay, Brewer, and Spurlock.  Elizabeth marries her possible cousin Abel Pennington and their children also marry into some well-known families including their Johnson/Johnston cousins, Combs, Turner, Moore & McGee.  Between these two daughters, I have met the majority of Mary Pennington descendants through my research.

Jesse and Mary Pennington Bowling died with a year of each other.  Jesse died 10 Mar 1841 and Mary died 21 Mar 1842 both in Breathitt Co., KY probably around Quicksand creek.  For their time period, they both lived to be old people and probably also saw the death of at least three of their children.  There is a lot left to be done to fill out the families and probably many puzzles to unravel.  These families seem to intermarry enough and used so many similar names that sometimes it is very difficult to figure out which is which…but if you are descendant of Mary Pennington through her daughters Elizabeth or Mary – you could be a member of three different Pennington family groups – which is certainly confusing enough.

My Grandmothers Life during the Depression

The depression shaped our families in ways that many of us will never know.  I used to tell my nieces and nephews that they had “fun” grandmothers who loved to do things with them and bought them frivolous toys and presents.  There was never anything that was “happy-go-lucky” about either one of my grandmothers – they had lived during some of the hardest times that this country has faced.

Many think of the depression as a short period of time from the stock market crash in 1929 to the early 1930’s.  I think that for some, the depression hit much earlier in the 1920’s and lasted until after the start of World War II.  There was a terrible drought that hit much of the farming areas in the Midwest so prices on things like cattle and pigs weren’t getting the prices that they had before.  If you lived in a rural area, things might have been better because at least you had something to eat. 

Grandma Marian in her 1st Communion Dress

My paternal Grandmother, Helen Marian Gage Johnson, remembers as a girl having store bought dresses and silk stockings for church.  She had a special dress for her First Communion that her father had bought for her in Chicago during one of his trips to take his cattle to market.  Before the depression hit, her family was probably doing fairly well.  Her mother had over 200 chickens and sold the eggs and her father was able to raise beef cattle and pigs and make a decent living selling them.  They had bought a new Model T in 1926 and had a fairly nice farm back in Iowa.  After the depression hit, they were no longer able to sell their cattle or pigs for a decent price and their primary source of income was gone.  I think that my grandmother especially bemoaned the loss of the cream.  One of her favorite things to eat during her entire lifetime was bread and butter…since her family sold off all of the cream, there was no butter. 

By 1933, her family was in danger of losing the farm entirely.  Grandma Marian’s father signed the farm over to his friend and neighbor, shipped their furniture and machinery up north, and headed for South Dakota.  Granddad was going to raise and sell beef cattle on a share of land up in South Dakota.  In Iowa, they had had problems selling their goods, but in South Dakota the drought made things much worse.  The crop they put in was destroyed and they had to put it up as hay, they couldn’t raise a garden to help feed the large family and one of their sons got desperately sick.  Knowing that they couldn’t support their family there in South Dakota, Grandma’s family once again shipped their goods off and took off for Dover, ID.  It wasn’t until 1935, until they settled in Hatter Creek, ID.  By the fall, they had a log home and were once again settled on their own place.  Granddad Gage was 47 years old and he had bought property filled with stumps from a logging operation.  Before he could plant to do much of anything, he had to get rid of those stumps.  So, he first worked at the local “Company Ranch” and later at the Potlatch mill and came home and removed stumps by blasting and digging.  My grandmother had no time for any frivolity.  She did attend school, but she also spent a lot time working out of the house for families doing cooking and cleaning.  Grandma Marian stayed for a month or two at a time with families to work for them and her paycheck went home to her family to help support them as a whole.

Grandma Cappy's High School Graduation Picture - 1928

Grandma Cappy didn’t have an easy time either.  She was several years older than Grandma Marian so her perspective was a bit different.  Grandma Cappy’s family had originally homesteaded up on Grouse Flats, Wallowa Co., OR and left there in the early 1920’s.  To Grandma Cappy and her brother – those were wonderful days.  They had chores to do, but they both enjoyed country living.  For her mother, it must have been almost hell on earth.  Brutal winters where you would hear the screaming of the mountain lions and the have to worry about the dog dragging frozen rattlesnakes into the house and horribly hot summers.  She was out there in the middle of nowhere while her husband was away working with two little children.  When Jack got old enough, she wanted to move to town so he could go to high school.  So in the mid 1920’s they moved to Pomeroy, WA and were in Lewiston, ID by 1928.  Perhaps, they weren’t as bad off as many – Grandma Cappy’s father was able to butcher a pig to sell so she would have money to go to college.  When she wanted to learn to play the piano, she and her mother worked three summers picking lettuce to buy the used upright piano.

Both of my grandmothers experienced the loss of their childhood innocence in the face of the depression.  They didn’t get the chance to be carefree children or young adults.  As young mothers both had to learn how to make do and not waste time with what they couldn’t have.   So, when I was child – I didn’t receive things like an alien from Men in Black or Barbie dolls and clothes – my gifts were practical like underwear, socks, and school clothes.  I can remember the one occasion when I went shopping with my Grandma Cappy.  She drove all over town to get the best deals and agonized over each item that she bought.  At this point, she could have afforded whatever she was required to pay, but if an item was 10 cents cheaper somewhere else, that is where we went.  Grandma Marian rarely ever bought herself anything that was not a necessity.  But she certainly showed a childlike joy when she received a gift that was special.  I think that my parents tried to think of things to give her that she would never buy for herself. 

Both of my grandmothers gave of themselves freely…and I deeply admire and respect the women for who they were and what they accomplished in their lifetimes.  My grandmothers both made me feel special and loved and while they might have not been all that “fun” they both hold a special place in my heart.  I was lucky to have known them as their granddaughter – and equally lucky to learn about their experiences as they grew up.  I’ll probably never face what they had faced, but they have shown me the value of character, hard work, and fortitude and have given me an example of what to strive for.

Johanna Pennington Dickson

The Penningtons in Ashe Co., NC include several families that are separate but somehow connected by DNA.  It used to be that we in the PRA (Pennington Research Association) thought that most of these Penningtons descended from Micajah Pennington.  In actuality, almost none of them do!

Micajah Pennington and Rachel Jones had 10 children…we know all of their names and their birthdates from the bible entry that is recorded on Elizabeth Pennington Barton’s pension application for her husband’s military service.  Of those 10 children, it is unknown what happened to Elijah Pennington b. 9 Dec 1761, Levi Pennington b. 21 Dec 1767, Rachel Pennington b. 26 Dec 1771, and Benajah b. 15 Jun 1782..  Elijah likely moved away from the area and whatever happened to him is unknown.  It is likely that he owned land and paid taxes in Ashe Co., NC but there is no trace of him after 1805.  Rachel Pennington most likely died young and Levi probably moved away to Lee Co., VA – the Levi that is recorded after 1815 is a different Levi and not the son of Micajah Pennington and his wife, Rachel Jones.   It is unknown what happened to Benajah – there is a record of him that turns up in Kentucky in 1812 but he disappears from record after that.  However, there is one family member that lived in Ashe Co., NC…their daughter Johanna. 

As far as I have been able to ascertain, all of the children other than Johanna moved to Lee Co., VA, Grayson Co., VA or Kentucky (Perry Co., Harlan Co., and Breathitt Co.) Johanna  was born 24 Mar 1779 probably in modern Ashe Co., NC but at that point, it was still Wilkes Co., NC (Ashe Co., NC didn’t become a county until 1799)  She married Douglas Dickson sometime before 1804 as her first known child was born at that point.  Here is a list of their children:

• William Douglas Dickson b. 23 Jun 1804 Ashe Co., NC d. 31 May 1880 Reynolds Co., MO m. Nov 1824 Frances Cross
• David Dickson b. 4 Mar 1811 Ashe Co., NC d. 10 Nov 1888 Ashe Co., NC m. Phoebe Sullins
• Lucy Ann Dickson b. abt 1815 Ashe Co., NC d. 1883 Ashe Co., NC m. abt 1831 Daniel Blevins
• Mary J. Dickson b. abt 1818 m. abt 1844 Timothy Poe
• Emily Dickson b. 16 Sep 1822 Ashe Co., NC d. 11 May 1894 Ashe Co., NC m. 11 Nov 1854 Jefferson Adkins

There are three other children that are attributed to her but I don’t believe that she is their parent but rather their grandparent – she would have been simply too old to have them.  They are:

• Nancy Dickson b. abt 1829 Ashe Co., NC d. abt 1879 m1 21 Feb 1846 Wellborn Ray m2. 22 Oct 1857 Aswell Peter Eller
• Sarah Jane Dickson b. 14 Sep 1830 Ashe Co., NC d. 21 Mar 1890 Wyoming Co., WV m. abt 1855 John Wiggins Ray
• Caroline Dickson b. 4 Mar 1832 Ashe Co., NC d. 26 Jan 1925 Ashe Co., NC or Roane Co., TN m. 21 Nov 1848 Ashe Co., NC Calvin Eller

I’ve always suspected that I didn’t have a list of missing children born between 1804 and 1811 and have thought that they were responsible for the younger three daughters.

This family is significant in Ashe Co., NC mostly because of the marriage of Lucy Dickson and Daniel Blevins.  There are some unexpected ties between two Pennington lines and the Blevins family.  Daniel Blevins had a sister named Hester that married Andrew Pennington of the PRA Group 30 and he also had a brother named James who married Artremecia Pennington (Andrew’s sister) and their oldest sibling, Wells also married another sister of Andrew named Elizabeth.  So between the three Blevins siblings who married Pennington siblings and the younger Daniel who married a Pennington granddaughter, there are some interesting family ties.  There are several who can claim ancestry through both Group 30 and Group 7.  There is certainly a DNA tie within these families but at this point, don’t know what it is.  There is however, a lot of circumstantial evidence that these families have close ties based on the marriages alone.

The rest of Johanna’s siblings moved away, but Johanna lived her live in Ashe Co., NC and died sometime before 1860 most likely in her mid 70’s.  Her husband, Douglas died after 1860 as he is recorded in the 1860 census.  Their burial location or actual death dates are unknown.  There is a lot about their lives that seem to be mysterious to me.  Most especially that gap between  1804 and 1811…as well as three children attributed to the couple when Johanna would have been 50 plus years old.  These three are not recorded in the household in the 1850 census, but I have never found anything else that proves or disproves the fact that they had a familial relationship.  I suspect that there are a few illegitimate children that are also represented so it makes the waters somewhat murkier.

As with any research process, there is always new information that might be found.  So…sometime in the future, I need to once again attack these families and see if something new is to be found.  I, myself, find it interesting that for so long researchers have attributed the majority of Ashe Co., NC Penningtons to the descendants of Micajah Pennington – when in reality the only child of his who stayed there married a Dickson, so therefore I know of no known Micajah Pennington descendants in Ashe Co., NC with the last name of Pennington.

John P. Allen

Speaking of common names like Smith, Johnson, and Jones…there is another name that has bedeviled me off and on for some time…Allen.  You wouldn’t think that the Allen name would be that big of a deal…but think about it – is it from English ancestry…German…Irish….something else?  When you don’t have the parents’ names to go from…there seems to be a multitude of choices, and when they have a common name like John…there are even more choices.

Phoebe Allen Gage with Gilbert Gage, Jr's children.

My great great great grandmother was Phoebe Ann Allen.  She was born on 7 Jan 1830 in Knox, Albany Co., NY and d. 30 Dec 1912 also in Knox, Albany Co., NY.  She married Gilbert Gage around 1849 in Knox, Albany Co., NY and had five children, all of whom survived and families of their own.  Her husband preceded her in death by 18 years, so she lived a long time as a widow.  Phoebe was the middle child of John P. Allen and Elizabeth Zeh.  She had 4 full siblings and 7 half siblings.  Her father, John P. Allen was born 24 Sep 1783 in NY and d. 2 Apr 1868 in Knox, Albany Co., NY.  He was married first to Anna Eva Weidman in about 1807 and she died around 1821 probably around the birth of her last child Susanna.  John didn’t remarry until abt 1825 when he married Elizabeth Zeh, the daughter of Annatje Truax and Peter Jost Zeh.  One would think that I would have difficulty in finding information on someone with the last name of Zeh…but not so.  I have quite a bit on Elizabeth Zeh’s ancestry, John Allen – I have zilch.

The biggest problem with John P. Allen is that is names are so common.  Every time you think that you are making headway, you run into another brick wall.  As you are researching…they even seem to multiply.  Living so far away doesn’t really help either.  One of the things that I usually try to do is research the siblings.   John P. Allen and first wife, Anna Eva Weidman had the following children:

• Asa Allen b. 26 Dec 1806 Berne, Albany Co., NY d. ?
• Hannah Maria Allen b. 11 June 1808, Berne, Albany Co., NY m. 8 Aug 1825 John Grassfield d. aft 1880
• William Allen b. 11 Oct 1810 Berne, Albany Co., NY m. abt 1831 Elizabeth Ann Engle d. abt 7 Oct 1892
• John P. Allen , Jr. b. 19 Jun 1812 Berne, Albany Co., NY m1. 4 Jun 1835 Catherine Margaret Beller m2. Mlinda Haverly 23 Nov 1876 d. 28 Dec 1883 NY
• James Ira Allen b. 8 May 1817 Berne, Albany Co., NY  m. 15 Feb 1838 Eva P. Ball  d. 7 Oct 1866 Janesville, Rock Co., WI
• Sylvester Allen b. 7 Jan 1818 Berne, Albany Co., NY m. abt 1839 Sarah A. Bunzey  d. 20 Sep 1898, Albany Co., NY
• Susanna Allen b. 7 Jul 1821 Berne, Albany Co., NY m. Jan 1846 Jacob Henry Haverly d. 29 May 1889

 So, even though I have their names, I’ve never been able to find out the death dates on three of Phoebe’s full siblings…John Allen and Elizabeth Zeh’s children are:

• Ann Eliza Allen b. 27 Jul 1827 Knox, Albany Co., NY m. ? d. ?
• Emma Elizabeth Allen b. 28 Aug 1828 Knox, Albany Co., NY m. ? d. ?
• Phoebe Ann Allen b. 7 Jan 1830 Knox, Albany Co., NY d. 30 Dec 1912 Knox Albany Co., NY
• Peter Zeh Allen b. 14 Dec 1830 m1.  13 Jan 1849 Harriet Charlotte Schoonmaker , m2. Abt 1851 Sarah E. m3. Abt 1857 Phebe A.  d. ?
• Elizabeth Allen b. 27 Mar 1833 Knox, Albany Co., NY d. 22 Jan 1918 m. 19 Dec 1852 George Haverly.

It doesn’t make much sense…I have lots of info on the older children, but not so much on the younger family.  Perhaps I’ll have more luck when death records don’t cost an arm and a leg in New York State.  I think the last records I ordered cost me $27 a piece…which makes me appreciate the records that I get on Ancestry.com for the fee I pay yearly.  Whatever the case, John P. Allen’s ancestry remains a mystery.  I have come to a few conclusions though.  I suspect that he might be of German ancestry mostly because both of his wives were definitely German and his children seemed to marry into some of the local German families.  I’ve looked into the Haverly, Ball, Engle, Beller and Weidman families as well as the Zehs and haven’t really ever made much progress on John P. Allen.  However, I have found lots of tie-ins with other families that I have researched, so it is not a total loss.  Like anywhere else there seems to be a pattern of intermarriage between families in small geographic area.  It is always startling to find out how closely some of these families are related.  For now, I will continue my intermittent search for the ancestry of John P. Allen.  I don’t really expect much success but really the search can be a lot of fun!

Jacob C. Smith...

Some family names seem almost impossible to research; such as Johnson, Smith or Jones…I have all three.  My father’s great grandmother was Mary Ann Smith – growing up I heard her name as Polly Smith or Schmidt or Mary Ann Schmidt.  Eventually, I found her name really was Mary Ann Smith and that she was the daughter of Jacob C. Smith…now the real research was to follow.

Jacob Smith's grave - Taken by Lowell & Bonnie Johnson

Eleanor Wilson Smith - Taken by Lowell & Bonnie Johnson

 

New Market Church & Jacob Smith Memorial - Taken by Lowell & Bonnie Johnson

It is funny that I have exact dates on Jacob Cunningham Smith but no notion of who his parents were or where he was born exactly.  I have the dates from his gravestone which is at the New Market Presbyterian Cemetery, New Market, Jefferson Co., TN.   (He was b. 15 Oct 1801 in VA d. 4 May 1848 Union, Sullivan Co., TN) I know that he married Eleanor Wilson on 12 Feb 1824 and that they had five children.  I don’t know who Eleanor’s parents were either but she was born 10 Dec 1803 in TN and died 15 Nov 1834 in Jefferson Co., TN and is buried at the same cemetery as her husband.  Their children were:

• Amanda Alvira b. 17 Dec 1824 New Market, Jefferson Co., TN d. ?
• Sumner W.  b. 28 May 1826 New Market, Jefferson Co., TN d. 1863 in AL or AR
• John James b. 1 Mar 1828 New Market, Jefferson Co., TN d. Jul 1874 Gaylesville, Cherokee Co., AL
• Mary Ann b. 16 Apr 1830 New Market, Jefferson Co., TN d. 14 Mar 1916 Kirkman, Shelby Co., IA
• Margaret E. b. 7 Jan 1833 New Market, Jefferson Co., TN d. ?

A little over a year after Eleanor’s death, Jacob married a widow – Catherine Kelly Moser Jarnigan.   Her husband William Calvin Jarnigan died on 26 July 1833 and their son (William Calvin Jarnigan was born 7 Nov 1833 in TN d. 30 Apr 1920 Jefferson Co., TN.)  Catherine married Jacob on 4 Feb 1836 in Jefferson Co., TN.  They were parents of the following children:

• Francis Morgan b. 14 Sept 1839 Jefferson Co., TN
• Edward Hamilton b. 8 Jan 1843 Jefferson Co., TN d. 19 Jan 1892
• Sarah Eleanor b. 14 Dec 1844 New Market, Jefferson Co., TN d. 26 Jul 1850 New Market, Jefferson Co., TN
• Jacob Cunningham, Jr b. 19 Jul 1846 Jefferson Co., TN d. 10 Aug 1911 Jackson, Madison Co., TN
• Catherine Kelly b. 17 Jun 1848 Jefferson Co., TN d. 23 Jul 1850 Jefferson Co., TN
• Nicholas Keffer b. 19 Jan 1851 New Market, Jefferson Co., TN d. 25 Mar 1929 Memphis, Shelby Co., TN
• Emma Regina b. 29 Jun 1852 New Market, Jefferson Co., TN d. 3 Jan 1912 Horry Co., SC
• Hugh Calvin b. 4 Dec 1854 Jefferson Co., TN d. 13 Mar 1939 Evanston, Cook Co., IL

Catherine Kelley Moser Smith  - taken by Lowell & Bonnie Johnson

Catherine Kelley Moser died on 25 Jul 1857 in Jefferson Co., TN and she too is buried at New Market Presbyterian Cemetery, New Market, Jefferson Co., TN.    Almost a year later, Jacob married July Arants on 5 Jul 1858 and she was born 17 Dec 1824 in TN and d. bef 1870.  His last marriage was too a Sarah whose name appears with his in the 1870 census.  She was born about 1836.

There are few clues about Jacob’s place of birth.  Virginia is a common location that covered two modern day states (Virginia and West Virginia).  He is close enough to the Virginia border that it might not be all that far away.  I suspect that his middle name of Cunningham has some significance…but I don’t know what that might be.  I was contacted recently and told that he was a carpenter and had some furniture that someone was looking in to.  But…there is little information on him.  Few of his known 14 children stayed in the New Market area…in fact only his stepson is buried at New Market alongside his Jacob’s two daughters who died young.  Since there are some new databases, I will probably try to follow up on some of his children again – but Smiths from TN are very plentiful.

Jacob C. Smith - Owned by Lowell & Bonnie Johnson

One thing I am fortunate to have is a photograph of him.  Several years ago, while we were visiting some Johnson cousins in North Dakota they showed me some wonderful tin types of Mary Ann Smith and Washington Abraham Smith, my great great grandparents.  They had never noticed it before, but at the bottom of the box of that held those two old tintypes was another tintype of an older man who we believe to be Jacob Cunningham Smith.  So…who knows – perhaps someday I will be able to smash through that Smith brick wall and perhaps even that of Eleanor Wilson.