Pryor Ancestor Thomas Thomson

There were multiple Thomson/Thompson/Thomasson families in Louisa County, Virginia circa 1750 and much confusion on the internet about these families. Mourning Thomson Pryor, mother of James & Jonathan Pryor of Graves County, was the daughter of Thomas Thomson of Louisa County, Virginia. She is named in the 1774 will of Thomas Thomson along with all of her siblings in addition to Thomas' wife Hannah.

Virginia Northern Counties 1775

The internet is full of misinformation regarding the parentage of Thomas Thomson.  Countless trees incorrectly identify his father as Samuel Thomson. Samuel Thomson's 1753 will (Louisa Co., VA WB 1, p. 29) named a son Thomas who was a completely different individual from Thomas Thomson who died in 1774. Our Thomas Thomson's parents are unknown and were probably living in Hanover County. 

Thomas Thomson or Thompson the son of Samuel Thomson was a completely different individual. It was he who lived in Fredericksville Parish of Louisa County. There were definitely two different Thomas Thomsons, the one with the slave Frank (left in Samuel's will to his son Thomas) being enumerated near Samuel Thomson's other sons and the one who left the slaves York and Sibba in his 1774 will being enumerated in Trinity Parish where Moses Clack, who married this Thomas’ daughter, was working as an overseer. 

By 1770 the Thomas who owned Frank and lived near Samuel's other sons and the Thomas who owned York and Sibbe were on two separate tithable lists. Thomas with the slave Frank was still being enumerated near Samuel Sr.'s other sons after this Thomas died in 1774. Samuel Sr. deeded 400 acres on Tomahawk Branch of Christopher's Run to his son Thomas. in 1752. In April, 1753 Thomas sold 50 acres of it. The Thomas who owned the slave Frank, left to him by his father and who was enumerated near Samuel's other sons in the tithable lists, had 350 acres. In 1777, after this Thomas Thomson was dead, Thomas Thomson and his wife Ann sold 350 acres between Duckinghole and Christopher's Run at the head of a branch called Tomahawk (DB B, p.2). 

Excerpt from 1774 Will of
 Thomas Thomson

The internet is also filled with pedigrees recording Thomas' wife as Hannah McAllister. It was Thomas Thomasson who married Ann (Hannah) McAllister. Thomas Thomasson was born February 25, 1737, in Hanover County, Virginia, the son of George and Mary (Pollard) Thomasson. Thomas grew up on the Louisa plantation and married a neighbor's daughter, Anne Mackalester (McAllister), daughter of William Mackalester and his wife, Elizabeth Garland. They moved to Granville County, North Carolina with their extended family before 1800. Thomas Thomasson died in Granville County, North Carolina in 1818.

One of the other questionable entries found at various sites on the internet gives the name of Mourning's mother as Hannah Glass. Until recently, there seemed to be no primary source documenting that maiden name. Countess serious Thomson researchers were as mystified as I about Hannah's name and origins. Very recently another Thomson descendant and researcher discovered a Louisa County deed which referenced a tract of land in Hanover County. The 1765 deed (Louisa County VA, Deed Book C-1/2, pgs 123-125) is from Thomas and Hannah Thomson to James Tait. This deed for land was stated as being initially conveyed to Thomas & Hannah Thomson by an Indefeasible Estate of Inheritance from Thomas Glass of Hanover County.

This discovery does not prove that Thomas Thomson's wife Hannah was Hannah Glass, but it appears to be the first documentation of a connection with the Glass family of Hanover where Thomas Thomson is believed to have originated.  Research by several Thomson descendants after this deed was found has identified a community in the area of Totopottomoy's Creek in Hanover County where Glass, Thomson, Moorman, Anderson, Tait, Waddy and several other families with connections to our Thomson family were neighbors.  In the course of this search, I even discovered Pryors in New Kent County from which Hanover was created.

Sadly, Hanover and it's parent county, New Kent, are burned counties and have few extant records.  However, over the last few weeks we've learned enough to tell us that our Thomsons, Pryors and perhaps Glass ancestors all came from this community.  

Curtis F. Reeves' Missing Children

Confluence of the Ohio & Tennessee Rivers at Paducah, Kentucky

It's been eleven years since I last posted about the lost children of Curtis Reeves so I thought I should probably revisit that family's story. There's really no new information, just a hint of one possible child whose descendant has been a Y-DNA match to the descendants of William Reeves of Wake County, North Carolina and George Reeves of Grayson County, Virginia.

My 2nd great grandfather's brother, Curtis F. Reeves was born on the 24th of January, 1807 in Madison County, Kentucky to George Reeves and Elizabeth Wilkerson. Curtis died in 1845 at the young age of 38. For many years Eliza Bryant who he married in McCracken County, Kentucky in 1841 was believed to be his only wife and their sons Benjamin F., born about 1843 and William H. born a year later were thought to be his only children. A few years ago I became aware of a prior marriage to Delilah Doolin of Butler County which was adjacent to Warren County where his family had moved around 1820.

Although there is no marriage recorded between Curtis F. Reeves and Delilah Doolin, in April of 1833 after the death of her father, Delilah, her mother Nancy and her siblings conveyed a tract of land on the banks of the Green River in Butler County, Kentucky to Jesse Lee. Curtis Reeves signed that deed as the husband of Delilah Doolin which establishes that they had married at some time prior to early 1833. Within the next couple of years following the death of their mother, Curtis along with his younger brothers William H. and Sidney Preston Reeves left Warren County and migrated to the westernmost area of Kentucky where they were recorded in McCracken County by 1840. A biography of his brother William Harrison Reeves states that he left Warren County as a teenager after the death of his mother and lived in the household of an older brother in the Jackson Purchase area.

Throughout the later part of the decade 1830-1840, Curtis is found in various records of McCracken County. In January of 1839 he was appointed to the county court as a Justice of the Peace. The 1840 census of McCracken County shows that Curtis and Delilah had seven children by 1840. The census of that year lists their household as including 2 males 0-5, 1 male 5-9, 1 male 10-15, 1 male 30-39, 2 females 5-9, 1 female 10-15 and 1 female 30-39. Delilah apparently died sometime shortly after that census was recorded in 1840 for in March of 1841, Curtis was remarried to Eliza Bryant in McCracken County.

14 January 1839
Court Order Book A, pg 370

By July of 1840, Curtis resigned his position as a Justice of the Peace. The court order book where it is logged gives no explanation or reason for the resignation. The two sons born during his marriage to Eliza Bryant were born in Kentucky in 1843 and 1844 after which he moved to Mississippi County, Missouri. The Goodspeed's biography of his son William H. states that "owing to the overflow of that year", he became disgusted with the country (Missouri) and returned to his native State. However, he later returned to Missouri where he died in Wayne County in 1845. By 1850 his widow with their two sons had returned to Missouri where she had remarried to an Edward Fleece and was living in Mississippi County as recorded in that census. None of Curtis' children from his marriage to Delilah Doolin are listed in the household and their whereabouts are unknown.

Over the years I have searched the households of other Reeves' family members for these children but have never found any likely candidates, other than a 16 year old George Reeves living in the household of Curtis' brother William Harrison Reeves in 1850. However, since he had another nephew of that name and age, there is no way to determine whether this was one of Curtis' orphans. I continue to search for Curtis' children and hopefully someday I'll have some success.

In the meantime, I have found one possibility in Y-DNA matches. A few years ago I found a male third cousin who was willing to do a Y-DNA test for which I paid so we would have genetic evidence of any family connections. Among those DNA matches is an individual with the surname Davis. I have written to this individual but he appears to now be deceased. Besides having Y-DNA that matches all the members of DNA Group 6A where descendants of this family are found, his earliest known ancestor is recorded as having been born in McCracken County, Kentucky in 1839. To add to the inferential evidence that this could have been one of Curtis' orphans, there are several connections with the Davis family in this area. Delilah Doolin's sister Sarah also married into the Davis family in Kentucky. Although this by no means proves that this Davis DNA match is one of Curtis Reeves' children, so far nothing has been found to rule it out. I'll just keep looking for these children in hopes of eventually finding them.

Sad News

Courthouse after 11 Dec 2021 Tornado

When my ancestors came from North Carolina to Kentucky, my 4th great grandfather settled in Madison County which adjoins Fayette, then my 3rd great grandfather migrated on west to Warren County and the next generation settled in Ballard County in the Jackson Purchase. This morning's news is full of details of a massive tornado that ravaged each of those areas.

Much of Graves County has had great loss of life and immeasurable damage to the courthouse in Mayfield. The loss of life there may be as great as 100 people based upon information from the governor of Kentucky.

Each of the areas where my Reeves' ancestors settled - the Jackson Purchase, Bowling Green and Lexington received great damage by this destructive weather system. Graves County was also the county where my Wingo, Pryor and Beadles ancestors settled. Since Kentucky is such a significant factor in our family history, especially in the areas affected by this storm, I thought this event should be recorded here.

Graves County Courthouse
2009

Our Reeves Origins

William Reeves Land Grant
where Eleby Creek joins Neuse River

After 40 years of researching this Reeves family, I still haven’t found the origins of our earliest documented ancestor, William Reeves, who arrived in North Carolina’s Neuse River basin by 1746 when he received a McCulloch land grant for 400 acres. This land is now just a few miles outside of the city of Durham, North Carolina where I-85 crosses the Falls of the Neuse Lake.

As a Co-Admin of the Reeves DNA Project at Family Tree DNA, I have reached out to every new match to our DNA Group 6A in hope that someone descending from this family has new clues to its origins. Thus far, what I have learned is that the Reeves’ family of Grayson County, Virginia and Ashe County, North Carolina who descend from revolutionary soldier George Reeves are part of our Reeves’ family. When some descendants of our ancestor George Reeves who migrated to Warren County, Kentucky were found to be DNA matches to descendants of this Reeves’ family of the New River area of Virginia and North Carolina, I was completely taken by surprise. No one had ever been aware of this connection and neither had the Reeves descending from George Reeves of Grayson County.

In fact, this Reeves’ family of the New River area had been under the impression that their George was part of the family of Henry Reeves of Essex County, Virginia based upon some published misinformation in a history of that area of North Carolina. When I became aware of this possible connection, I searched all of the extant historical records for some evidence that we, and George Reeves family, could be documented descendants of Henry Reeves but that was not the case. Then in my capacity as a Co-Admin of the DNA project, I also discovered that some descendants of Henry Reeves had participated in Y-DNA testing and none of them matched our DNA Group 6A members.

Another tidbit of information found in the course of searching through scans of original documents for both families that can be found in the records online at Family Search was the way they signed their names. All of the members of these two families signed their name as REVES, not the more common version of the surname, Reeves with two E’s. It is also noteworthy that all of the male children of both William and George Reeves were literate and they all signed their name as Reves as well. Some members of the family continued with the Reves spelling of the name through additional generations.

William Reeves signature as
Executor of the Estate of Woodson Daniel c1791

1784 Signature of George Reeves, Sr.
Grayson County VA

Some years ago, online, I read a posting that referred to a letter written by one of George Reeves of Grayson’s grandsons in which he referred to his origins being in eastern North Carolina. That could serve as documentation of a connection to our William Reeves family of Wake County, so I searched all available sources for that letter. Finally, several years ago, I found that a transcription of the letter had been published in a book by a descendant of Edward Reeves of Bladen County (no relation). The passage quoted from George W. Reeves' letter contained the following:

In December, 1897* (sic) George W. Reeves of Jefferson, Ashe County, North Carolina, then almost 86 years of age, wrote: "My grandfather's name was George Reeves whose birthplace I am unable to give, but was principally raised in eastern North Carolina. He was born about the year 1704 or 1705 (sic) and came from Neuse River, N.C., to New River, Grayson County, Virginia, about the year 1725 (sic) bringing his wife with him. They had born to them seven daughters and four sons, the youngest of which was John Reeves who was my father. When my grandfather came to Virginia no others of the Reeves family came with him, but my recollection is that he left others of the Reeves family in eastern N. C. whose names I am unable to give. But well remember my father had two cousins, William Reeves and Jeremiah Reeves, who visited my father since my recollection. I also remember that my grandfather's family frequently visited their relatives in eastern N. C, and I am sure that my grandfather left brothers and sisters in that part of the state...My grandmother's maiden name was Jane Burton."

The dates as transcribed are all incorrect so apparently handwriting of the numbers was difficult to read.

I still live in hope that eventually someone will participate in the Reeves DNA Project who will provide a clue to earlier ancestry of this family. Currently none of the Reeves populations in the American colonies or the Reeves in the United Kingdom who have tested are matches to our Reeves.

New Portrait of a Clapp Ancestor

In 2013 a post I wrote for this blog shared my recent findings that Mary Boleyn, sister of Anne Boleyn wife of King Henry VIII, was an ancestor of our Clapp-Loy-Tilghman families. On that post I included a photo of a painting by an unknown artist that is on display at Hever Castle, Kent in the United Kingdom. This week I learned that another painting whose subject for many years had been a mystery has recently proved to be Mary Boleyn.

Mary Boleyn by Jordaens Van Dyck

This portrait by artist Jordaens Van Dyck had been sitting unidentified in the Royal Collection for hundreds of years until recent research determined the identity of the subject. It would appear that there were several artists painting the same subject because although very different, the clothing and jewelry are exactly the same in the portrait included in my 2013 post and this Van Dyck painting although it is possible that the second portrait was a copy of the Van Dyck. Nonetheless, the newly discovered painting of our ancestor Mary Boleyn is lovely and worth sharing.

The Tilghman family migrated to the American colonies in 1638 and settled in Somerset County, Maryland. John Tilghman or Tillman is recorded in Mormon records as being the father of Tobias Tillman who served in the Revolutionary War from Orange County, North Carolina. Our ancestor Catherine Tillman, wife of George Loy, of Orange County is believed to be Tobias' sister and the daughter of John. John Tilghman or Tillman to which it was changed after arriving in North Carolina, left Maryland after the death of his father in 1766 and is found in the few scant extant records of extinct Dobbs County, North Carolina in 1769. John's brother Stephen also migrated to Dobbs County at the same time. All of the Dobbs County records other than a few deed indexes were lost in a courthouse fire so the complete story of that family after their arrival in North Carolina may never be fully known but there are tidbits contained in the early Mormon records in Salt Lake City that connect the family to John Tilghman, son of Gideon Tilghman of Somerset County, Maryland.

Read more about the Van Dyck painting in Mary Boleyn is identified...

Thanks to Jayme for sharing the news of these new findings.

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2013 Post - JP Ancestors in the Court of Henry VIII

Benjamin Morgan & Phoebe Settle

1779 Warrant to
Benjamin Morgan

I truly thought I had completed my posts for the Morgan family of Virginia's Northern Neck but I now realize I have much more to share for Benjamin Morgan and Phoebe Settle. Over the last twenty years while searching for the actual facts in regard to who the parents of my ancestor Charles Morgan were I have accumulated a tremendous amount of evidence regarding the lives of Benjamin & Phoebe who I found were not Charles' parents as many online sites propose.  There is a copious amount of misinformation online regarding Benjamin and his brother John Morgan. Based upon findings in the records of Wilkes County, North Carolina, it appears that John Morgan & Martha Settle, Phoebe's sister, have been incorrectly credited as the parents of the children of Benjamin & Phoebe.

There do not appear to be any records in Surry or Wilkes (formed from Surry in 1778) counties, North Carolina of John Morgan, brother of Benjamin. The John Morgan in Surry County records is listed, along with Isaac and Joseph Morgan, on the tax lists as a tithe of Benjamin Morgan in 1775. Previously in 1774 Benjamin Morgan is recorded with a total of four male tithes but the names of the children are not listed however they appear to be the same individuals as those in the 1775 tax list. Capt. Allen's 1779 Wilkes County tax lists record Benjamin, Charles, John and Isaac Morgan. 

In numerous other records for deeds and land warrants these individuals as well as sons-in-laws Henry and James Gambill are recorded as witnesses to transactions of Benjamin Morgan. The 1779 warrant pictured above for Benjamin Morgan lists the chain carriers for that survey as Armistead and Isaac Morgan. Armistead was apparently not yet 16 years of age for he is not recorded on the 1779 tax list.  A Wilkes County deed of 14 Dec 1784 from Benjamin Morgan to William Johnson includes as part of the legal description of the land being conveyed "along a conditional line between Benjamin Morgan and his son Charles". [DB A-1 p504-505]

1784 Wilkes County NC Deed
Benjamin Morgan to William Johnson

Wilkes County's 1784 tax list records Benjamin, Charles, Joseph, John (noted as "in Cumberland"), and Armistead Morgan along with Henry Gambill who had married Charity Morgan in 1778. The following year Henry's brother James Gambill would marry Alice Morgan on 24 Jul 1785.

The myths surrounding this family portray Benjamin's brother John Morgan as having married Phoebe Settle Morgan's sister Martha. Martha Settle could not possibly have been the mother of these children since she could not have married before 1761 as documented in a suit among the heirs of Isaac Settle. As late as 1761 Martha Settle was yet unmarried. In a Fauquier County VA chancery case among the heirs of Isaac Settle, Martha was listed as Martha Settle while her sister Phoebe is listed as the wife of husband Benjamin Morgan. The 1760 chancery case is styled Gerard Wilkinson et al vs. Exe. of Isaac Suttle and available online in the Library of Virginia's Chancery Index. Additionally, John Morgan was married to Alice Cole and is named in the 1757 Culpeper County will of her father John Cole. The will states "I give to each of my sons in law, William Reynolds and John Morgan one cow and calf". John Cole's will also leaves a bequest to a William Morgan and is witnessed by that William Morgan and a Charles Morgan. His widow Susannah Cole died in 1761 and she mentions daughter Alice Morgan in her will. John Morgan also witnessed the will of Benjamin Taylor in February of 1775 in Culpeper County.

Chancery Case among heirs of Isaac Suttle

The prevailing Morgan myths have also credited John with being the Capt. John Morgan of Surry County, North Carolina who served during the Revolution, but that is not correct. Because of the fact that he was living in Surry County during the Revolution it seems to have been assumed that he was a member of the Fauquier County, Virginia Morgan family and brother of Benjamin. Benjamin Morgan and his sons lived in the area of Surry County, which became Wilkes and was located just below the New River. That area is now part of Allegheny County, North Carolina. Capt. John Morgan lived in a completely different area of Surry County, which became Stokes County in 1789 after the end of the Revolution.

John Morgan's wife is recorded in Stokes County deed records as Elizabeth (Betty) in two 1794 deeds where they sold portions of his original Surry County 400 acre land grant. John Morgan was recorded in the 1790 census of Stokes County in a household including himself, his wife, 5 males under 16 and 4 daughters. At the bottom of this post see scan of the Stokes County 1793 tax list for Capt. John Morgan's District which includes John in addition to Valentine Morgan who is believed to be his son. His wife Elizabeth died before 1800 for there is no wife listed on the 1800 census with John and three of his children. Capt.John Morgan died in Stokes County, North Carolina in 1819. He never migrated to Tennessee and was not killed by indians there. His estate was recorded in June Court of 1819 when an administrator was appointed. The Stokes County estate file has very little biographical information and the only child named was Elizabeth McAnnally with a notation that his other children were not living in the area. Nothing has been found in the records of Surry and Wilkes Counties that would support the belief that John Morgan and Martha Ann Settle married and were living there during the time Benjamin and these Morgan children were.

1795 Will of Jeremiah Morgan
Will Book 1, pg 2

The earliest records of the Cumberland Settlements of Middle Tennessee such as Ramsey's Annals of Tennessee written in 1858 and Early Times in Middle Tennessee written by John Carr in 1857 simply state - "They (the indians) killed old Mr. Morgan, the father of Esquire John Morgan, who owned the fort near that place...They killed Captain Charles Morgan and old Mr. Gibson, near where Gen. Hall now lived...They killed Armsted Morgan, a brother of Captain Charles Morgan, and a fine-humored, well-disposed young man, while he was guiding through from "South-west Point" Captain Handly and a company of men for the protection of the Cumberland settlements." It is only in much later publications written more than 100 years after these events that "old Mr. Morgan" begins to be identified as John Morgan.

Benjamin Morgan is documented as being present in Sumner County by 1787 for that year he was listed as a delinquent taxpayer along with Armistead Morgan who had also been killed that year. The only John Morgan listed in these Cumberland Settlement census records is John Morgan, the son-in-law of Maj. Hall. In December of 1804 a public sale was advertised for 320 acres on Bledsoe's Creek which belonged to Benjamin Morgan. The property was taken to satisfy a judgment obtained by Winchester and Cage. Evidence from the historical, primary records reveal that Benjamin Morgan was the "old Mr. Morgan" who was killed by indians in 1787.

After Benjamin's death, Phoebe Settle Morgan remained in the area of Logan and Simpson Counties of Kentucky. Her youngest daughter Mary Morgan was widowed when her first husband, her cousin Jeremiah, son of Simon Morgan of Fauquier County, Virginia, died in July of 1795. When Jeremiah died, he and Mary were also living in Logan County, Kentucky. His will of the 17th of June 1795 which included Phoebe as one of the witnesses left his plantation in Logan County to his widow Mary. Daughter Phoebe also lived in that area of Logan County where she married Leonard West in 1798. In August Court of 1803, Phoebe is recorded with a land entry for 100 acres on Red River. The last known record mentioning Phoebe Settle Morgan was on the 20th of October in 1809 when a deed from William Stewart to Leonard West includes "Phoebe Morgan's boundary line" in the legal description of the tract. [DB:B P:607]

Phoebe Morgan
Logan KY Land Entry - August 1803

Over the past century, the story of this Morgan family has been distorted to include a soldier of the American Revolution, Capt. John Morgan of Surry County NC. as an ancestor. This misinformation has been further spread in the book "Tennessee Records: Bible Records and Marriage Bonds" published in 2009. The information as pertains to the later Morgan generations after they settled in Tennessee appears to be accurate but the assertions pertaining to the earliest Morgan settlers and the death of "old Mr. Morgan" have no corresponding historical documentation. Although the book includes in its title "bible records" there seem to be none that pertain to this Morgan family. There are also no Morgan family Bibles found in records at the Tennessee State Library online. Sadly the inaccurate information that has been disseminated regarding this family may prevent any widespread acceptance of the true story of Benjamin Morgan and his wife Phoebe Settle, but I felt I should share what I've learned over the course of these many years which is that there is a preponderance of evidence that Charles, Isaac, Joseph, John, Alice, Charity, Armistead, Phoebe and Mary Morgan were their children.

More documents pertaining to Benjamin & Phoebe Morgan:

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Wilkes County NC Map of Earliest Grants

   

  

Our Immigrant Morgan Ancestor

After many years of researching Morgans in the American colonies to try to find the ancestors of our Morgan 4th great grandfather Charles Morgan, we finally have a documented trail back to Anthony Morgan of Bristol, England. The Morgan name is known to be Welsh in origin and Bristol is just across the Bristol Channel from Cardiff in Wales. Charles Morgan served as a Captain in the militia forces of South Carolina during the American Revolution. Before his death in 1832, he filed a pension request on that service and it is that document that set me off on the path to finding his family and their origins.

Harbor in Bristol, England

Anthony Morgan arrived in Old Rappahannock County along with a Charles Morgan who is described as "of the city of Bristol, mariner" in a 1678 power of attorney. That POA is recorded in Old Rappahannock County [DB6 p203-205].

In 1668 Anthony Morgan apprenticed himself to Mrs. Sarah Walker of Rappahannock County for a term of seven (7) years [DB 4 p97]. This would suggest that Anthony was around 18 years old at the time which would make his date of birth around 1650.

By 1679 Anthony is recorded in the land records of Old Rappahannock which include the mention of his wife, Elizabeth. Throughout the 1680's christenings recorded in the North Farnham Parish Register document the birth of most of his children: Charles christened 28 December 1680, Bridgett christened 14 September 1682, Anny christened 14 March 1684 and Anthony christened 20 November 1686. Son Robert Morgan does not appear in the parish register but is recorded along with Anthony II as a stepson and legatee in the 1703 will of John Ware to whom their mother Elizabeth was married after the death of Anthony Morgan I circa 1688.

In July 1711 Anthony Morgan II married Ann Duncan but by February of 1728/29, he was bound by the Richmond County Court for abusing his wife Ann and living in adultery with Sarah Ann Simonds. [Richmond County Trials 1710-54:113,145]. In 1740, he sold the mill referred to in Richmond County records as "Morgans Mill" and the adjoining land to Capt. Willoughby Newton [DB9 p667-669]. Anthony Morgan II was deceased by the 5th of March 1748 when his son Anthony Morgan III, described as "of Prince William County", filed an inventory in Richmond County as administrator of his estate. On that same date, Anthony III, as administrator, also filed an inventory of the estate of William Morgan, presumably his brother.

Sale of Morgan's Mill to
Capt. Willoughby Newton

The first extant Order Book of Prince William County 1752-1753, p. 188 dated 24 July 1753, cites a suit brought by Willoughby Newton against Anthony Morgan, executor of Anthony Morgan. In 1755 in Prince William County, Anthony Morgan was appointed constable in the room of Lazarus Taylor [OB 1754-1755 p221]. His residence in that area is further supported by the index of the only extant ledger of Daniel Payne's Dumfries Stores. That ledger which covers the years 1758 to 1763 documents that Anthony Morgan was living in the Prince William County area throughout those years. The online assertions that the children of Anthony and Mary Morgan were all born in Brunswick County is proven completely false by the records of Prince William and Fauquier counties. Son Charles, in his 1832 Revolutionary War pension statement provides his date of birth as 1757 and the place of that birth as Fauquier, Virginia. Until the extant ledger from Daniel Payne's Dumfries Store was discovered there seemed to be no way to document Charles' statements but that is no longer the case.

Fauquier County was formed in 1759 from Prince William County. A Bill of Sale dated 26 August 1763 from Anthony Morgan described as "of Fauquier County" to Bennett Price further documents the statement made by Charles Morgan in his RW pension application and coincides with the dates from the Dumfries Store ledger.

After Anthony Morgan and family left the Prince William/Fauquier area of Virginia, they are next documented in Surry County, North Carolina. The 1771 tax list of Surry County lists Anthony Morgan, Samuel Morgan and Anthony Morgan, Jr. Again in 1772 Anthony and Samuel Morgan are recorded as taxpayers in Surry County, but Anthony Morgan, Jr. was absent from the tax list that year. He has not been found in any further records and may have died around this time. It's curious that about this same time Anthony's cousin Benjamin Morgan with his family also migrated to Surry County and are found there in the 1774 tax records. The RW pension affidavit of son Charles Morgan establishes that Anthony's family was living in the area of York County, South Carolina by 1775 when Charles was recruited in the Revolutionary forces there.

1478 Map of Bristol City

In February of 1787, Anthony and his wife Mary Morgan conveyed several tracts of land on Broad River to William McBrayer. After these transactions both are believed to have died by around 1795 but there are no probate records available. Without probate records, their children have been identified by an abundance of inferential data in census and land records of that area. Their children were Samuel, married Elizabeth MNU, and Anthony Jr. both born before 1750 since they were listed as adults in tax records of 1771. Charles Morgan born 1757 married Lurena Arendell, John Morgan, born about 1759 also married an Elizabeth whose maiden name is unknown, Nancy "Nannie" Morgan born about 1760 who married John Sarratt, Margaret Morgan about 1762 unmarried in 1786, William Morgan born about 1763 married Elizabeth Arendell, Elizabeth Morgan born about 1765 married John Hugh Quinn and Peter Morgan born about 1769 married Noal Daffron.

After the death of Anthony and Mary Morgan, the descendants of many of their children, primarily John and Peter remained in the York/Spartanburg area while Charles, William and several of the sons of Samuel migrated to Kentucky after 1800. Now their descendants are spread throughout the country.

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Other posts on the blog about this Morgan Family -
The Charles Morgan Hall Family
Hall Ancestor - Charles Morgan
Morgan Family Myths
Identifying Our Morgan DNA
Finally Found - our Morgan Family Ancestor
More About Anthony Morgan III

Exciting Beadles DNA News

For a very long time, descendants of Lewis Yancey Beadles of Graves County, Kentucky and descendants of Basset Beadles who settled just south of Graves County in Weakley County, Tennessee have been searching for their origins. Karen Frazer who descends from Basset has been working with her own family members and descendants of other Beatles families to encourage male family members with the Beadles surname to participate in Y-DNA testing at Family Tree DNA. In the last week Karen has shared the matching Y-DNA results of a descendant of Basset Beadles to a descendant of James Beadles of Louisa County, Virginia who was the uncle of our ancestor Lewis Yancey Beadles of the Jackson Purchase. To add to these great results, there was also a descendant of Edmond Beadles whose DNA matched. Edmond Beadles was initially from Louisa County and also migrated to Kentucky.

Both Lewis Yancey Beadles and Basset Beadles were born in Virginia and migrated to the Jackson Purchase area shortly after it was opened for settlement arriving in May and June of 1830. Lewis Yancey Beadles received his first land grant from the Bureau of Land Management on the 31st of May 1830. Less than a month later on the 17th of June 1830, Bassett Beadles and his son William both received grants all of which are recorded in Kentucky's grants west of the Tennessee River.

The map of the Jackson Purchase area above points out Wingo, Kentucky where Lewis Yancey Beadles received six (6) sections of land adjoining the section granted to his son-in-law Jerman Jeduthan Wingo for whom the town derived it's name.

Basset's first land grant in 1830 was in the area of Cuba, Kentucky to the southeast of the town of Wingo where Lewis Yancey Beadles had settled. Within the next few years Basset moved further south and is recorded in Weakley County, Tennessee in 1840. The town of Dukedom in Weakley County is credited with having been named for Basset's son Duke.

During the 1850's Basset's son William was also a resident of Graves County, Kentucky where he was the County Clerk. William's two sons, Alfred and Marshal, became physicians and Dr. Alfred Beadles practiced in Wingo, Kentucky.

It has been speculated that these Beadles' families may have been related but until Karen received the Y-DNA results, there was nothing more than proximity to connect the two families of the Jackson Purchase. Since he was listed on the tax lists of Louisa County, proximity is also the only thing to connect the third matching Y-DNA tester's probable ancestor Edmund Beadles to brothers James and William Beadles.

There were two Edmund Beadles of the same era, one living in King William County who was a Revolutionary War soldier and brother to Joel Beadles. That Edmund does not appear to have ever left the Tidewater area for his Revolutionary War pension statement given in 1834 states that he was at that time a resident of King William County and had always been. I had initially believed that a small scrap with Edmund Beadles' signature as a witness in the file of a Louisa County chancery suit involving William and his brother James Beadles was the Edmund Beadles who migrated to Pittsylvania County and subsequently to Kentucky, but recently discovered that he signed with an X on several deeds in Pittsylvania which indicates that the signature is not his. This second Edmund Beadles who is believed to be the ancestor of the third Y-DNA tester is recorded on the tax lists of Louisa County along with brothers William and James Beadles. In 1782, Edmund or Edmond was listed on the tax lists there but by 1795 he was apparently living in Pittsylvania County for he is listed on their tax lists of that year. In 1788 he was joined by Rice and Seaton Beadles on those Pittsylvania tax lists. Two deeds dated 1797 that name him along with wife Unity indicate that they were selling their property in Virginia prior to migrating to Kentucky. By August 16, 1800 Edmond and Rice Beadles were listed on the tax lists of Lincoln County, Kentucky. The third DNA tester descends from John Beadles who married Priscilla Harralson in Person County, North Carolina around 1792 and is believed to be a son of Edmond. Person County is just below Pittsylvania County on the Virginia-North Carolina border. John was still recorded in Person County in the 1800 census but within a few years, he had settled in Mercer County, Kentucky adjoining Lincoln County.

This by no means solves all of the mysteries of the Beadles of Virginia's Tidewater region, but these Y-DNA results are an important discovery in regard to the research of the Beadles families of Virginia and has proven that they were very closely related. All three of the Beadles' descendants whose Y-DNA matched are extremely close genetically, matching on 109 of 111 SNP markers.

If you are a male Beadles' descendant with the Beadles surname, please consider participating in the Y-DNA project at Family Tree DNA and further adding to our knowledge of these families.

The William Hall Family

The name Hall is extremely difficult to research since there are so many different Hall families and our information for William Hall, the father of our ancestor Adam is so scant. If Adam's sons David and Charles Morgan Hall had not been profiled in Kentucky: A History of The State, by W.H. Perrin, J.H. Battle & G.C. Kniffin, published in 1885 we would not have known who his parents were. Thanks to that book with a collection of biographies contributed by individuals still living at the time, we know that Adam's father was William Hall, a soldier of the Revolution, and his wife was Abigail King, both of Virginia.

The first appearance of a William Hall in Logan County, Kentucky appears to be in the tax lists on Drakes Creek in 1797. From 1800 until at least 1813, a William Hall continues to be listed with 245 acres on Drakes Creek. This was initially believed to be William, father of Adam Hall but after a week of searching through the tax, deed and probate records of Logan County it has become clear that this is the William Hall, Revolutionary Soldier, who received a warrant for a 200 acre tract on Whippoorwill Creek in Logan County. These had seemed like two different people until the survey of the Drakes Creek acreage clarified the identity of the William Hall of both surveys. William Hall of the Whippoorwill Creek tract had married Margaret Neely on 25 October 1797 in Logan County. A deed recorded in Deed Book C, pg. 353 conveying the Whippoorwill tract establishes that Margaret was the wife of that William Hall. Additionally the survey of the Drakes Creek land also establishes that was owned by the same William Hall for the survey for that tract names Thomas Neely, probable relative of Margarets and an adjoining property owner as does the deed for the Whippoorwill tract which was sold to Thomas Neely.

After my recent searches of the records of Logan, Butler and Ohio counties, I am convinced that William Hall, husband of Abigail King, died soon after his arrival in Kentucky. The older William Hall of the 1797 tax list may have been him but all of the other listings in the Logan County tax records for a William Hall appear to be William, husband of Margaret Neely. By the 1820 census of Ohio County, Abigail had apparently remarried and may have again been widowed for she is listed as the head of household with the surname Hunter, living in the next residence to those of sons James and Adam Hall.

The 1807 tax lists of Logan County list James and David Hall, each over 21 years of age and with 50 acres. They are listed again in 1808, James with 30 acres on Deer Lick Creek and two other tracks that appear to be rents from individuals named Haws. David is not listed with land in this list but does have three horses. In 1808 younger brother Adam is also listed as under 21 years of age. In both of these years, the Hall sons are listed just below a Peter Hunter which would indicate that they made the trip to the courthouse to pay their taxes together. This raises the question as to whether it was Peter Hunter to whom widowed Abigail Hall was married prior to the 1820 census.

The family was counted in Butler County, Kentucky in the 1810 census. It appears that William Hall was definitely deceased by that year for the 1810 census lists son James as the head of a household that included a male child under 10 years old, 2 younger brothers, 6 sisters (possibly 5 sisters and James' wife) in addition to two older females each over 45 years of age. In 1811 both James and David were listed on the tax lists in Butler County. Again in 1812 they were listed there and joined by younger brother Adam showing a total of 230 acres on the waters of Muddy River. By the census of 1820 the Hall family was found in Ohio County. That census records Abigail Hunter as the head of household with sons James and Adam living in the next residences. David is also present in Ohio County but listed separately.

Adam married Edith Ann "Edy" Morgan, daughter of Charles Morgan and Lurena Arnold (Arendell) on 1 December 1819 in Butler County, Kentucky. His brother David had married Edy's sister Susannah, another of Charles Morgan's daughters, on the 19th of October 1812. All 3 Hall brothers had been listed on the tax lists of Ohio County, Kentucky with land along the Green River in the records there prior to 1820.

It appears that Abigail King Hall Hunter passed away sometime around 1823 for the last tax list that records her in Ohio County was 1822. William Hunter may have been a son or brother of Abigail's second husband. He was obviously of some relation to Abigail's deceased husband and is recorded as a party to various deeds in conjunction with James, David and Adam Hall. One of those deeds even states that it was the land where Hunter, James, David and Adam Hall then lived. Presumably these deeds are in effect selling the lands left to them by their mother, Abigail Hunter, but the intent is not made clear in any of the deeds. In February of 1826 there are several deeds executed by William Hunter who appears to be signing as security on notes or mortgages by the Hall children, Adam, David, James and Polly (Mary) in Ohio County.

After an intense several weeks of research on this Hall family, I still have more questions than answers but at least I've learned a little more about the family. I've also had some significant autosomal DNA matches that could eventually connect our Hall line back several generations. One of the most interesting appears to be DNA matches to an Adam Hall originally of Massachusetts who settled in Adair County, Kentucky bordering Logan. The name of the patriarch of several generations of that family was Adam, which, in conjunction with the DNA match, could be noteworthy. For now this will have to be enough, but the search to find William Hall's origins will continue.

More About Anthony Morgan III

There is no supporting documentation for the majority of the genealogical information found online about Anthony Morgan. For that reason I was reluctant to accept the theory that he was the father of our ancestor Charles Morgan who died in Warrick County, Indiana in 1832 primarily because he stated in his Revolutionary War pension statement that he was born in 1757 in Fauquier County, Virginia. There is no question that Charles Morgan (1680-1766) of Fauquier County, Virginia and Anthony Morgan (1686-1749) along with their siblings, Bridgett and Ann were the children of Anthony Morgan and his wife Elizabeth of Old Rappahannock County because their births are recorded in the North Farnham Parish Register. Brother Robert Morgan although not recorded in the births of Old Rappahannock was named, along with Anthony, as a step-son of John Ware in his 1703 Westmoreland County, Virginia will. From that point on with the exception of Charles Morgan whose life and family is well documented in the records of Fauquier County, the family history becomes fragmented and murky.

1679 POA by
Anthony & Elizabeth Morgan

The other principal theory of Charles Morgan of Warrick, Indiana was that he was the son of Benjamin Morgan and Phoebe Settle of Fauquier. Benjamin was the documented son of Charles Morgan (born 1680), but in depth research of Benjamin's family after they relocated to Wilkes County, North Carolina around 1775 and before migrating to Tennessee where Benjamin died, proved that our Charles Morgan could not have been Benjamin's son. Apparently all of the children of Benjamin and Phoebe Settle Morgan had been incorrectly attributed to his brother John Morgan and Phoebe's sister Martha Settle. There are no records that John Morgan married Martha Settle in Fauquier or elsewhere and deed records of Wilkes County establish that Benjamin's son Charles was living in Wilkes County in 1784. Charles Morgan (born 1757) was living in South Carolina from around 1775 according to his RW pension statements so he could not have been the Charles Morgan of Wilkes County. Likewise the only John Morgan found in Wilkes County was a younger John, who would also have been the child of Benjamin and Phoebe Morgan. A Capt. John Morgan referred to in various undocumented Morgan theories was actually living in Surry County during the Revolution in the portion that later became Stokes County. That John Morgan has no known connection to the Morgans of Fauquier County. See blog post Morgan Family Myths with research details and citations.

Once the theory of Benjamin Morgan as Charles' (born 1757) parent had been investigated and proved false, thorough research of Anthony Morgan was the only avenue to pursue. Anthony Morgan II remained in the Rappahannock area and is named as a step-son along with his brother Robert in the 1703 will of John Ware of Westmoreland County whom his widowed mother Elizabeth had married after his father's death. In Richmond County on the first of July 1711, Anthony married Ann Duncan. Autosomal DNA of numerous descendants of Charles Morgan of Warrick County, Indiana has high cM matches to Duncan family members. See the post Identifying our Morgan DNA in this blog which further establishes the connection to Anthony Morgan's family.

In February of 1721, Anthony bought 250 acres in Westmoreland County which he sold to Willoughby Newton on 15 July 1728. In that deed, Anthony Morgan is described as "of Richmond County". In January of 1727, Anthony had purchased 100 acres bounded by the Marshy Swamp in Richmond County from James Thomas. From that point he appears to be located solely in Richmond County. In 1740, Anthony sold the mill, referred to in other documents as "Morgan's Mill", along with forty acres to Willoughby Newton [DB9 p667-669]. It was in Richmond County that he died sometime before the 5th of March 1749 when his estate was inventoried [WB5 p598].

1740 Deed by Anthony Morgan II

Anthony Morgan III appears first as the administrator of the estate of Anthony Morgan II in Richmond County in 1749. On January 30th, 1750, he sold to William McClanahan the 80 acres of land in Richmond County described as the land where Anthony Morgan deceased formerly lived adjoining the mill. In that 1750 deed Anthony Morgan is described as "of Prince William County" and his wife, Mary, signed a release of her dower rights. Countless Ancestry trees and websites espouse a theory that Anthony Morgan III married a Mary Wilson in Brunswick County, Virginia and that their children were born there but primary sources are never provided. Obviously from the evidence found in Richmond County, Anthony had married his wife Mary (for whom there is no documentation of a surname) in one of the counties in Virginia's Northern Neck where Anthony is recorded during this period of time. As documented in another recent blog post Finally Found - our Morgan Family Ancestor, the Dumfries Store ledger proved that Anthony Morgan was a resident of Prince William and Fauquier (formed from Prince William in 1759) counties at least through 1763. At last there was some evidence that the third Anthony Morgan had actually been living in Fauquier at the time our Charles Morgan said he was born there.

Before leaving Fauquier County, Anthony Morgan executed a Bill of Sale to Bennett Price on behalf of Andrew Cochran Esqr. in payment of a debt. Anthony deeded two slaves, a bay mare, several head of cattle and two feather beds to Cochran in payment of the eighty Pound debt on 28th of March, 1763 [DB2 p71]. This was apparently prior to Anthony and his family leaving that area of northern Virginia for he is next found on the tax lists of Surry County, North Carolina in 1771 along with Samuel Morgan and Anthony Morgan, Jr. Again in 1772, Anthony Morgan and Samuel were listed on the tax lists of Surry County but Anthony, Jr. was not. After 1772, Anthony and family apparently moved on to South Carolina where by Charles Morgan's account in his RW pension statement, he was living in 1775. Maybe at a future time, Anthony Morgan will be found living for a few years in some Virginia county along the great wagon road through Virginia's Shenandoah Valley on his way to Surry County, North Carolina.

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Other posts on the blog about this Morgan Family -
Morgan Family Myths
Identifying Our Morgan DNA
Finally Found - our Morgan Family Ancestor

Mourning Pryor in Calloway County

Kentucky's Jackson Purchase

For as long as I have been working with Pryor genealogy, the date and place of death of Mourning Thomson Pryor White, Jonathan and James Pryor's mother, has been a mystery. There was much speculation and many theories, the most commonly accepted one was that she had died sometime before 1820 probably in Logan County. There are even unsubstantiated reports that Mourning, along with Jobe family relatives, attended the Old Mulkey Meeting House (Baptist) near Tompkinsville, Kentucky in Monroe County and that she lived to be past 100 years. The fact that no historical records for Mourning Pryor White had been located after 1817 resulted in any number of unfounded claims.

Since Family Search has been adding more documents to their online catalog in recent months, I began to search the Calloway County records based upon having been told many years ago that Jonathan Pryor and extended family had lived for a time in Calloway County before settling in Graves County. The first year of tax lists for Calloway County was 1823 and to my delight, in the tax lists for that year were both Jonathan Pryor and Mourning White!

1823 Tax List of Calloway County, Kentucky

After locating Mourning in Calloway County, I began searching all of the counties adjacent to Logan, where Mourning, Jonathan and James Pryor were last recorded and Calloway where they appear in 1823. Mourning White along with James and Jonathan Pryor were last recorded in tax records of Logan County in 1817 after which they could not be found. A search of all the counties west of Logan toward the Jackson Purchase was fruitless. My next plan was to start searching the Tennessee counties just below the Kentucky state line, but I decided to search one last county in Kentucky first. Simpson County, Kentucky is adjacent to Logan to the southeast and it's western boundary is only a few miles from the area along the Red River where the Pryors' land is recorded. The 1819 tax list of Simpson County shows James and Jonathan Pryor along with Mourning White. In 1821 Mourning is still listed there but James and Jonathan had left, presumably preparing for the family's move to Calloway County.

James and Jonathan Pryor are both found in Graves County tax records beginning in 1824 and in all subsequent years thereafter, but there is no further record of Mourning. I believe we can assume that she either died in Calloway County circa 1823 or moved into Graves County with her sons where she later died. After so many years of not knowing what became of Mourning Thomson Pryor White when our Pryor ancestors moved to the Jackson Purchase, I have been extremely pleased to find that she came to the Jackson Purchase along with them.

Finally found - our Morgan Family Ancestor

There is a copious amount of undocumented, inaccurate information floating about the internet regarding our ancestor Charles Morgan. After many years of searching Virginia's Northern Neck for some tidbit of documentation to identify the father of this ancestor who stated in his 1832 Revolutionary War pension application that he was born in Fauquier County, Virginia in 1757, I think I've finally found something of consequence.

The Benjamin Morgan and Phoebe Settle lineage which I spent years investigating proved to be incorrect. I shared the details of that research in a blog post five years ago. Benjamin Morgan was the son of Charles Morgan, born 1680 to Anthony Morgan and his wife Elizabeth. Charles' birth is recorded on the 28th of September, 1680 in Farnham Parish, Rappahannock, Virginia. Deed records in Wilkes County, North Carolina proved Benjamin's son Charles to have been incorrectly attributed to his brother John Morgan and couldn't have been our Charles.

The other most frequent theory found in countless sites on the internet is that he was the son of Anthony Morgan and Mary Wilson of Brunswick County, Virginia born 1764. Charles own words in his pension statement disprove Brunswick County as a place of birth and 1764 as a date. Anthony, born circa 1720 to 1730, was the son of Anthony Morgan, brother of Charles Morgan above, and Ann Duncan of Westmoreland County, Virginia. Like Charles, Anthony's birth is recorded in Farnham Parish, Rappahannock, Virginia on the 20th of November, 1686. Over the years I've frequently searched but could find no record of an Anthony Morgan living in Fauquier County, until recently when I happened upon the index of customers recorded in the Dumfries Store Ledgers of Prince William County.

Index of Customers at Daniel Payne's Dumfries' Store

Fauquier County was established on May 1, 1759, from Prince William County which fits exactly the time of our Charles Morgan's birth. At the time he was born it would have technically been Prince William County. The excerpt at right from the index of Daniel Payne's Dumfries Stores Ledger documents that Anthony Morgan was living in the Prince William County area from at least 1758 to around 1763. These records of Anthony Morgan's residence in Prince William County finally make it feasible that he could have been Charles' father. This family connection also coincides with an abundance of fairly large autosomal DNA matches on chromosome 4 to other descendants of Charles Morgan as well as to members of the Duncan family.

Much research of this family is still yet to be done. In reviewing all the sites which list Anthony Morgan as marrying a Mary Wilson in Brunswick County, Virginia and most of his children having been born there, none of them cite any sources. The only Morgan I have been able to find historical records for in Brunswick County is a Robert Morgan 1726 through 1745. It is highly likely that Robert may be another of the children of Anthony and Elizabeth Morgan of Westmoreland County. The widow Elizabeth Morgan married John Ware after Anthony Morgan's death and Robert Morgan was listed along with his brother Anthony as sons-in-law (stepsons) in John Ware's 1704 will.

One of the primary online sites proffering Anthony Morgan's marriage to Mary Wilson and living in Brunswick County, Virginia is the SARRETT/SARRATT/SURRATT Families of America where I found the following citation - "In 1755, Anthony MORGAN III was appointed constable in the room of Lazarus Taylor." This cites the source as Ibid., O.B., 1754-1755, p 221 but makes no reference to the county where this is recorded. Research of Lazarus Taylor in northern Virginia indicates that he was a resident of Northumberland County who settled in 1744/45 on Marrs Run on land believed to be located in Hamilton Parish, Prince William County, which later became part of the newly formed county of Fauquier. If Anthony's appointment as constable was in the Fauquier area, it is further repudiation of the theory suggesting Anthony was living in Brunswick County during this period.

Another potentially significant find is an Anthony Morgan recorded in the tax lists of Surry County, North Carolina in 1771 and 1772 along with an Anthony Morgan, Jr. and Samuel Morgan in 1771. Anthony's cousin Benjamin Morgan, son of Charles of Fauquier County, migrated to neighboring Wilkes County, North Carolina around that same time. This may suggest that Anthony left the Fauquier area at the same time as his cousin, settling in North Carolina briefly as he migrated to South Carolina.

Our Morgan mysteries are definitely not resolved yet, but I believe that Anthony Morgan's listing in Daniel Payne's Dumfries ledger is a huge step toward finding Charles Morgan's lineage and ultimately our immigrant ancestor.

Uncle Harley Reeves

Jesse Harley Reeves was my grandfather's younger brother, born 30 March 1890 in Blandville, Ballard County, Kentucky. Their father, Sidney Preston Reeves, died in 1905 at the young age of 46 and a few years later, Harley left Kentucky and began working in Yellowstone National Park. Harley's desire to visit this area may have been inspired by his older half brother Burley Douthit's military posting to Wyoming in 1909. Whatever the reason, Harley left Kentucky as soon as he became an adult and headed for the northwest.

Naomi Harriett Davis

In 1913 at Eagle Creek in the park, he married Naomi Harriett Davis. For the next sixteen years, Harley and Naomi with their children lived in Yellowstone. It always amazes me to think of what a brave girl Naomi was living in the wilderness and raising her small children with such incredible wildlife. But it was also a fantastic experience for the whole family.

Over the next sixteen years, Harley and Naomi had Sylvia, Jessie Harlene, Burley, Clyde and Bud. One of their granddaughters told me that they would spend the summers camped in the areas of the park where Harley was working. In the summer of 1925 they camped in the Upper Geyser Basin near Old Faithful, the summer of 1928 they were in the Norris Geyser Basin and in other summers at various other locations.

The map of the park below has notations where several of their summers were spent:

They returned to Kentucky to visit family around 1918 when the country was experiencing the terrible flu epidemic of 1918. Both Harley and Naomi along with some of the children contracted the flu but survived and returned to Montana and Yellowstone Park.

By 1930 the family had left Yellowstone for Yakima, Washington. There Harley was farming on the Yakima Indian Reservation in Washington State and the children were all attending school.

During the 1960's, Harley, Naomi and their granddaughter Doreen made several trips back to Kentucky. They even managed to visit Texas where Harley and my grandfather enjoyed several wonderful visits.

Harley and Naomi remained in Washington the rest of their lives. In Paulsbo, Kitsap, Harley died in 1960 and Naomi in Yakima in 1964 after living what I consider the great adventure of their family's time in the Yellowstone.

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Special thanks to my cousin Carole Davey, granddaughter of Harley Reeves, for sharing these wonderful pictures and the map of Yellowstone.

Reeves-Hall Family Bible

Yesterday, I received a wonderful surprise in the form of an email from my Kentucky cousin Donald J. Stewart.  I had asked him some months ago if he knew who currently had possession of the family bible kept by Perlina Hall Reeves, wife of Sidney Preston Reeves of Ballard County.  I knew the bible existed because many years ago, before the availability of copy machines and scanners, my mother had seen it and transcribed some of the information.  At that time the bible was in the possession of Donald's aunt Bonita Reeves Hutcherson.

The bible had descended through Donald's family because the terms of Sidney Preston Reeves' 1881 Ballard County will left the home place and all household goods to his youngest son, David Walter Reeves, Donald's ancestor.  What a benefit to family genealogy that those household goods included the bible and were left to a family member who continued to live in Ballard County.

Perlina Hall Reeves & Sidney Preston Reeves

The bequest to David Walter Reeves is as follows "provided my youngest son David Walter Reeves lives with me during my natural life then at my death I give to him all of my personal property after my just debts all paid provided further that if I should die before my wife Pollina Ann Reeves if my son David Walter Reeves lives with and takes care of his mother Pollina Ann Reeves during her natural life then at her death in addition to the personal property heretofore given him I give him the said David Walter Reeves the homestead containing one hundred & twenty five acres of land heretofore devised to my wife Pollina Ann Reeves during her natural life."  

Dates of birth for Perlina Hall Reeves' siblings are also recorded in the bible in addition to Reeves' family members.  Ballard County's Charles Morgan Hall was a brother to Perlina and is named.

Although the birth dates of Perlina and Sidney Preston Reeves are recorded in the bible, the birthdates of the members of their family begin with their oldest son George Adam Reeves, born February 1, 1840.  

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Thanks so much to my cousin Donald for searching for the bible and scanning its pages to share with me.