My family-tree birthdays for the week of April 13.
April 13
Sarah Perry (my second cousin four times removed on my mother's side), b. 1850 in Rushcreek Township, Ohio; d. April 12, 1856, in Ohio. Sarah was the daughter of Mary Wilson Perry (1831 to 1907) and Solomon Perry (1832 to 1905).
April 14
Lula C. Caudill (my first cousin three times removed on my mother's side), b. 1891 in Rowan County, Ky.; d. Jan. 14, 1925, in Rowan County, Ky. One of 11 children of William B. Caudill and Josephine Myers Caudill.
Ira Wilson Mabry (husband of Mary Kidd Mabry, my first cousin twice removed on my father's side), b. 1881 in Elliott County, Ky.; d. June 7, 1919, in Rowan County, Ky. Ira married Mary Kidd, daughter of John M. Kidd and Sarah Caudill Kidd, and granddaughter of Edmund Kidd and Amanda Ramey Kidd. He died at age 38, but I have not yet confirmed a cause of death.
Susan Lynn Metz Williams (wife of Dennis Wilburn Williams, my first cousin once removed), b. 1953. Happy birthday, Susan.
April 15
Sesa E. Brown Hall (my 4G aunt-in-law), b. 1826 in Morgan County, Ky.; d. July 5, 1896, in Cloverdale, Putnam County, Ind. Sesa was the wife of David Hall, son of Isaac Jacbo Hall Sr. and Ann Martin Hall, relatives on my mother's paternal line. They were married in 1851 in Morgan County, Ky. It's not clear when they moved to Indiana, but census records indicate they were living there by 1880.
Lightwell Henry Burton Tolliver (father of Mary Clementine Tolliver Hall, my 3G aunt-in-law), b. 1825 in Ashe, N.C.; d. Nov. 14, 1883 in Letcher County, Ky. I have several in-laws who are members of the Tolliver family, principals in the Rowan County War, also known as the Martin-Tolliver Feud, which threatened the security and very existence of Rowan County and Morehead, Ky., in the 1880s. I'm not positive Lighwell Henry Burton Tolliver is of the same line, but that almost certainly is the case, since the feudal Tollivers originally hailed from North Carolina and the first name of a main antagonist, who went by Craig Tolliver, was "Burton." And although their relation between branches of the family is not described therein, the book "Days of anger, Days of Tears: The History of the Rowan County War" includes a listing of both Lightwell's family and Craig's family. Lightwell's son, Wiley V., is one of them.
Charles C. Caudill (my first cousin three times removed on my mother's side), b. 1892 in Elliottville, Rowan County, Kentucky; d. Jan. 27, 1980, in New Castle, Henry County, Ind.
Final resting place of George Washington Hall and Nancy Quesenbery Hall, in the G.W. Hall Family Cemetery on Lower Oak Grove Road, just a few miles from my mother's childhood homeplace. George and Nancy were her great grandparents, though George died before she was born.
April 16
George Washington Hall (my 2G grandfather on my mother's side), b. 1862 in Rowan County, Ky.; d. Feb. 7, 1934, in Rowan County, Ky. Died of stomach cancer. Married Nancy Abigail Quesenbery and had 12 children, including my great grandmother Mahala Susan Hall Wilson. That's a heckuva multiplier effect — George and Nancy had 53 grandchildren and more than 60 great grandchildren. The Rowan County Marriages Book A, p. 11, lists marriage of George W. Hall to Nancy A. Quisenberry on July 20, 1887, (license issued same day), marriage performed by Wm. T. Hall at Oliver Quisenberry's home. Witnesses were Peter Cassity and Alice Quisenberry. Peter was the husband of George's sister Mahala Jane. George Washington Hall sold some of his land to Lee Wilson in the early 1920s. Lee then sold to his brother Burl — George's son-in-law — and the four generations lived on the farm that sprouted there. George is buried down the road from the property in the cemetery that bears his name. Also buried there are my great grandparents, Burl and Mahala; my grandparents, Oliver and Leona Wilson; and my Aunt Vada Wilson Caudill.
Elizabeth Martt Kidd (wife of David Kidd, my first cousin twice removed on my father's side), b. 1890 in Rowan County, Ky.; d. Jan. 13, 1929, in Rowan County, Ky. Elizabeth and David had seven children, the last of which was born under tragic circumstances. Zora Kidd was born six months premature and died the day he was born. "Lizzie" then contracted influenza and died seven days later. She is buried in Caudill Cemetery in Hamm, Ky. David apparently had another child, though I've not been able to identify his second wife (or for that matter, confirm that he had one.) Charles Raymond Kidd was born June 8, 1934, and if the family tree information I've discovered on Ancestry.com is accurate, he also died the day he was born.
Jesse Franklin Jennings (my great uncle-in-law), b. 1908; d. Jan. 8, 1979, in Clearfield, Rowan County, Ky. Uncle Jesse married Vada Wilson, my papaw's sister, who became Vada Jennings. An interesting fact that I'm not sure everyone in my family knows is that Jesse also had a younger sister named Vada Jennings, who was born in July 1922 and died about a month later. She was a triplet, and all three girls died at about the same time, apparently. Jesse is shown with his wife and kids in the photo at left. He is posing with Vada and their three children — Denzil, who Vada is holding; Marvin, standing at front left; and Raymond "Whitey" standing at front right
April 17
Peter Fannin-Kidd (my great uncle on my father's side), b. 1852 in Kentucky; d. Oct. 23, 1944, in Morgan County, Ky. OK, you might want to write this down because it could get confusing. Peter, shown in the accompanying photo, is a son of Mary Fannin, who married Edmund Kidd, my 2G grandfather. Edmund's son also was named Edmund, and he was the father of my grandfather, Elmer Kidd. Peter most likely was born out of wedlock. Mary, whose maiden name was Fannin, had a previous marriage to a Thomas DeHart. I have no date of death for Thomas and don't know if
Mary was widowed or divorced. At any rate, Peter was born in 1852, seven years before Mary and Edmund were married. Incidentially, Edmund's marriage to Mary was his second, as well— he had nine children with Amanda Ramey Kidd. He and Mary (who was 18 years his junior) then had at least four more children, including the younger Edmund, making for one helluva big blended family. Census data from 1860 lists eight children in Edmund and Mary's household, but Peter is the only one who does not bear the last name "Kidd" — he is listed as "Fannin." The form, unlike those of future enumerations, does not provide a space to describe the relationship between those sharing a dwelling. (But by the time this information is added to census forms, Peter is on his own.) That Peter took "Kidd" as a last name at some point subsequent to the 1860 census suggests the elder Edmund adopted him or at least raised him as his own.
That's all pretty interesting, but there's yet more to Peter's story. He married a Sarah Ann Wilson in 1876. My mother was a Wilson, too, so for a long time, I suspected Peter and Sarah's children might be double relatives. If that's the case, I've not been able to prove it — I have yet to trace Sarah's ancestors to my mothers'. However, my Uncle Kenny Wilson married a woman whose maiden name was also Wilson. When I started researching family history, their daughter — my Cousin Haley — nervously suggested I not look too far back into her mother's family tree, lest she find her mom and dad are a bit too ... um ... close. That apparently is not the case, but I did find that Kenny's wife, Ernestine, is related to Sarah's line of Wilsons, which traces its roots to very well-landed people in Greene and Clark, Ohio.
Got all of that?
Angela Mariah Brooks (my half first cousin once removed on my mother's side), b. 1988. Happy birthday, Angela. Hope you have a great day.
April 18
Sam McKee Hall (my 3G uncle on my mother's side), b. 1868 in Morehead, Rowan County, Ky.; d. Nov. 1, 1941, in Muncie, Delaware County, Ind. Sam was the son of George Martin Hall (1827-1900) and Susannah Downing Hall (1832-1900) and the brother of George Washington Hall, who was six years older and celebrated a birthday the same week.
Goldie Marie Thomas Lambert (wife of Elmer Elbert Lambert, my first cousin twice removed on my mother's side), b. 1922; details of death unknown. Elmer celebrated a birthday two weeks earlier. I noted in Elmer's birthday notes that he was a boarder with Bun and Bessie Wilson, according to the 1940 census. Among the Wilson's neighbors in that home in Carter County, Ky., were the Thomases, who are listed on the same census sheet. They had a daughter named "Goldie," presumably the woman Elmer would later marry.
April 19
Henry Amos Kendall (my 3G uncle on my mother's side), b. 1857 in Kentucky; d. Oct. 27, 1912. Henry was the brother of my 2G grandfather, David Kendall.
Francis Marion Tolliver (father-in-law of Elizabeth Kidd Tolliver, my first cousin once removed on my father's side), b. 1857 in Ashe, N.C.; d. July 5, 1936, in Morehead, Rowan County, Ky. Another of the Tolliver clan that was involved in the Rowan County War. Francis was the son of Hugh Tolliver and brother of Craig Tolliver, an important antagonist in the war, which also was known as the Martin-Tolliver Feud. I'm not sure what role, if any, Francis played in the fighting, but he was actually remembered by descendants as a peacemaker, according to "Days of Anger, Days of Fear: The History of the Rowan County War," by Fred Brown Jr. and Juanita Blair. They wrote that F.M. became a successful merchant after the hostilities. After being flooded out in Farmers, he moved to Morehead and opened the Wholesale Grocery Company on Railroad Street. He borrowed heavily to start a spoke factory, which burned down the night the load of spokes paying off his debt was loaded. F.M. recovered, however, and in fact died well-to-do, in 1936. The Tolliver Addition of Morehead is constructed on the famre that once belonged to him.
Descendants also tell this story of F.M. Two Morehead business parnters, longtime friends, had a major row — so major they decided to settle their dispute at gunpoint. They went to their homes to fetch pistols. While the town watched, they went to face off in Morehead's streets, each determined to kill the other. Then, F.M. stepped between the pistols.
"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" he asked. "Why don't you go home and think about it?" They did, tempers cooled and their friendship — and perhaps their lives — was saved from ruin.
Sam Houston Wilson (father-in-law of my Uncle Kenny Wilson), b. 1915; d. April 28, 2004, in Elliott County, Ky. Houston was the father of Ernestine Wilson Wilson, the sweetest aunt a fella could ask for — in-law or otherwise. Sam married Sabra Lela Adams in 1933.