Emily Alice Lucas Kelley: Whispers from the Grave; Klaiber Cemetery, Boyd County, Kentucky

 

Compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber 2023

 

Emily Alice Lucas Kelley was born circa 1868 in Carter County, Kentucky.  Alice was the daughter Henry Kane Lucas and Lucinda “Cinda” Sexton.  

The Henry Lucas family lived close to the Kelley family in 1880 in Carter County, Kentucky. Alice married Samuel Franklin “Frank” Kelley about 1885 when she was still a teen.  At this writing no official marriage record has been located.  Between 1886 and September 1894 Alice and Frank had five children: Henry, Dimmie, Laura, Rosie and Maude.

On 15 November 1895, Alice’s mother-in-law Eliza, wife of Joseph Kelley, died and was buried in Klaiber Cemetery. I blogged several times in 2010 about Eliza and her wayward husband Joseph Kelley.  In Joseph Kelley Goes to Prison I also talk about Alice’s husband, Samuel Franklin Kelley, son of Joseph Kelley. 

As a married woman, Alice Lucas Kelley “fell between the cracks” because so much of the 1890 Federal Census was destroyed and her husband does not appear to own land in the area.   She is cited as the mother of several of her children in their later marriage records. Alice died in 1896, at the age of 28, and the only record, thus far, is the tombstone in Klaiber Cemetery.  Despite some attempt to file death records. uniform records were not maintained until 1911.  Thus far this compiler has not located any local news article concerning Alice Lucas Kelley’s death either.

Emily Alice Lucas Kelley tombstone prior to 1990’s repair.

Klaiber Cemetery E. Alice Kelley tombstone after repair

 

Alice’s husband, Samuel “Frank” Kelley, was born in February 1865 in Lawrence County, Ohio but grew up in Boyd County, Kentucky   He was only four years old when his father was sent to prison. In the 1870’s the Kelley’s were residing on Trace, Boyd County, according to tax records (no land value).  By 1876 they begin to appear on Garner, Boyd County.

 After Alice died, Frank remarried 20 June 1897[i], to Elizabeth in Carter County, Kentucky.  The marriage leaves a little unsolved mystery for this compiler.  Henry Sexton acted as surety[ii].  Both Frank and Henry sign by mark.  The marriage states that Elizabeth’s maiden name is FULTON/FELTON and this is her first marriage. Look carefully at the marriage certificate and you will see they were married at James Osters which this compiler believes should read James Austin’s. Her obituary[iii] in May 1945 states that her brothers are James Austin(of Russell, KY) and Samuel Austin (of Rush, KY) among others.  Records for their children also state her maiden name as Austin.  The Austin’s lived on Trace, Boyd County in 1880[iv].  By 1900 James Austin was still mining coal and Samuel and James along with others are in District 7 of Carter County, Kentucky.

 

Frank Kelley was a coal miner.  Just months after his 2^nd marriage he had two horses stolen[v] which would certainly be a financial loss to the family. Coal mining in Eastern Kentucky was hard and in the 1890’s the workers in Carter County were earning below the state average.[vi]

When the mines began to produce less in Boyd/Carter County, miners moved in several directions including Coalton, Jackson County, Ohio; Morgan and Perry County, Ohio looking for work.  This compiler has a special interest in these migration patterns.  Frank and his family migrated to Morgan County, Ohio and finally settled in McLuney, Harrison Township of Perry County, Ohio.  Perry County was a tromping ground for research and cemeteries for many years for me.  Thus my interest was doubled with a connection to Klaiber Cemetery, in Boyd County, Kentucky, and Perry County, Ohio records.  Samuel Franklin Kelley died 2 October 1943[vii] at his home in Harrison Township, Perry County, Ohio. Elizabeth Austin Kelley, his wife, died 7 May 1945.  Both are buried in Iliff Cemetery, Perry County, Ohio along with other family members.  Other Austin relatives are buried in Coalton Cemetery, Boyd County, Kentucky, as well.

Emily Alice Lucas Kelley is not alone in Klaiber Cemetery.  Besides her mother-in-law both her mother and father and two brothers are at peace in this hollowed ground.

 

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[i] Ky, Carter, Marriage Bond p 134 & marriage stating Frank 2^nd married and Elizabeth Fulton/Felton age 24 first m.

[ii] This compiler believes that this Henry is Henry Powell Sexton b 22 Jan 1853 , married Hiley Jane Branham.  They also lived in Dist 7 of Carter County 1900.  Henry was s/o Samuel P Sexton and wife Elizabeth Madden.

[iii] Times Records, 8 May 1945 , page 2

[iv] 1880 Federal Census, KY, Boyd Trace…James Austin  28 coalminer b. VA, Sarah 29, ELIZABETH 9 b. KY, Maggie W 6 Cintha A 3, John Austin brother 10 coal miner

[v] Big Sandy News, 3 Dec 1897

[vi] Banks, Alan J., Land and Capital in Eastern Kentucky 1890-1950. Appalachian Journal, Vol. 8, 1989

[vii] Zanesville Signal, 5 Oct 1943

Thomas P. Jordan and Mary Elizabeth “Betty” Arden Jordan: Whispers from the Grave; Klaiber Cemetery, Boyd County, Kentucky

 

Compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber 2023

 

Thomas P. Jordan was born between May 1868 (1900 census) and  Feb 1871 (d cert) in Lawrence County, Kentucky.  His tombstone says he was born in 1870.  He was the son of Absalom and Julia Ann Coburn Jordan[i].  His maternal great grandparents were Micajah and Eleanor Clay Brumfield[ii].

Thomas married Mary Elizabeth “Betty” Arden, 25 September 1892 in Lawrence County, Kentucky.  The family settled near Willard in Carter County, Kentucky.   By 1910 they are listed at Maddox. 

On 29 August 1925 the Jordan’s purchased a portion of the land now owned by the compiler and her husband.  The Jordan’s purchased the tract of 26 + acres from John Allen and Eula Bolt Hazlett[iii].   This portion of the land includes the original one room log home which was improved and the compiler’s husband grew up in. You can read The Log Cabin Heritage at Deliverance farm by clicking here.

Thomas and Betty were residing on the property in 1930 along with their youngest daughter’s Thelma and Dorothy. The Jordan’s took out a mortgage with the Federal Land Bank in Louisville and on 28 September 1932, with a transfer of $1.00, their son William Estill “E. W.” Jordan became the owner, taking over the loan. The deed reserved the right of Thomas and Elizabeth to live on the premises during they joint lives and the survivor “may” occupy the same until their death as well.  The road was called Poor House Road during this time frame. The county changed the name to Long Branch Road at a later date. 

On 16 January 1940 Mary Elizabeth Arden Jordan died of a cerebral hemorrhage[iv]. “Betty” was the daughter of Andrew Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor Arden, both born in Virginia.  She was buried in Klaiber Cemetery 18 January 1940.  Their son Hillman Bayes Jordan, (written about in a previous blog), was buried in Klaiber Cemetery August 1931. 

The 1940 census was taken in April after Betty’s death.  Thomas is shown on Poor House Road along with daughter Hermia and son-in-law Billy Fannin and children. Daughter Goldie and husband John D Fannin live in the next residence, beside James M and Julina (Sexton) Klaiber.

Eight months after Mary Elizabeth Arden Jordan’s death, Thomas P. Jordan married Elma DeVore Davidson 23 September 1940 in Greenup County, Kentucky[v]. He was 72 years old.  Thomas Jordan made another deed, with E. W. and wife Ethel Jordan, in Boyd County on 6 August 1941 stating that Elizabeth died intestate (without a will) and that T. P. Jordan has now remarried, Elma (as spelled).

The marriage with Elma was not without drama[vi].  An article appears in the Portsmouth Times on charges of Bigamy 5 Oct 1941, Greenup County: Mrs. Alma (as spelled) Jordan 48 was arraigned today before Judge Jacob Fisher on a charge of bigamy filed by her husband Thomas Jordan who claimed that he married her in Greenup September 23, 1940 and that she was already married at the time. The charge was dismissed by Judge Fisher on grounds of insufficient evidence.”

Thomas and Alma/Elma seem to have resolved their differences.  They were remarried in Lawrence County, Ohio 22 October 1946.  The license states that he resides at Ponds Run, Ohio and is divorced.   Elma age 56 as of 14 January was born in Bluefield, Wet Virginia, daughter of James and Maxine Sayra Devour and is also divorced.[vii]  Thomas is now 78 years old.

Estill William Jordan, son of Thomas and Betty Jordan was an accountant for Pure Milk Company, on Carter Avenue, Ashland, Kentucky.

 

On November 25 1944 Estill William and his wife sold the 26+ acres to John Henry and Elsie Ellis Rucker Klaiber[viii].  This was during a period when Klaiber was purchasing the partitioned lands of his grandfather along Poor House Road. John Henry was a great-great grandson of Micajah and Eleanor Clay Brumfield thus had “family ties” to the Jordan’s.  His maternal uncle Jasper Newton Sexton had previously resided in the cabin. 

 

The log home with improvements 1940’s, Long Branch Road, Rush, KY

 

Thomas P. Jordan and, the widow of his brother David Taylor Jordan, Anna Jordan were living in Nile Township, Scioto County in 1950 along with Roy L. Jordan age 44, single.  Anna is widowed and Thomas P. Jordan is marked as separated.    The census margin reads “proceeding north from US 52 on Main on Left fork of Pond Run.” 

John and Elsie remained on the farm, on Long Branch Road, living in the house, they purchased from Jordan’s, with several remodels, during their lifetime.  Elsie called the original portion that was the one room log home her parlor, where she played hostess to guests.  Their only son James David Klaiber grew to adulthood on the farm. 

Thomas P. Jordan died in 11 July 1951 in General Hospital, Ironton, Lawrence County, Ohio. The information for his death certificate was provided by daughter Goldie Jordan Fannin.  The certificate states that his usual residence was Boyd County, Kentucky. He died from a cerebral hemorrhage and was buried in Klaiber Cemetery in Boyd County, Kentucky on the 13^th.[ix]

The compiler always welcomes additional information to keep with the cemetery records books.

 

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[i] Absolom and Juilia m 6 Jan 1860 Carter County, KY

[ii] Micajah Brumfield and Eleanor Clay m 15 Feb 1802 in Tazewell Co., VA

[iii] The Hazlett’s held title for five years

[iv] KY Vital Death Cert 158 Elizabeth Arden Jordan

[v] KY Grnp M bk 82 page 382 Thos gives his age as 69 she age 45, both reside at Rush, KY

[vi] Alma had married Boyd Adkins 28 Sep 1933 In Law Co OH as Elma Johnson

[vii] OH Law M cert 31988 volume 45

[viii] KY Boyd dbk 192-355

[ix] Oh Vital, Ohio Historical Society, Certificate  44693, volume 13034

Fleming Jordan; George Washington & Mary Jane Perkins Jordan; Ira Vernon Jordan: Whispers from the Grave; Klaiber Cemetery, Boyd County, Kentucky

 

Compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber 2023

 

Klaiber Cemetery is not without its share of mysteries and possibilities.  I first heard about a tombstone of Civil War Veteran Fleming Jordan from Evelyn Scyphers Jackson.  She even wrote about it in her Daily Independent Column called Reflections.[i] Jackson stated that the stone had been discovered in 1970 on Davis Branch, while a neighbor thought the stone had never been placed but was to go to Klaiber Cemetery on Big Garner.

Thinking someone might have ordered a military stone, I did a U.S .headstone search for military service without success.  In April 1999, I called Mrs. Walter Holbrook, owner of the property where Jackson said they discovered the stone.  Mrs. Holbrook said that Jackson had come out and she vaguely remembered there was a stone.  Mrs. Holbrook went on to say that her neighbor was getting older and may have just remembered there were Jordan’s in Klaiber Cemetery. “We decided a long time ago it didn’t belong there either…we did know where the stone is but honestly don’t any more…”

Holbrook’s neighbor was correct about one thing – there is a connection to Klaiber Cemetery.  Fleming Jordan’s son, George Washington Jordan, daughter-in-law Mary Jane Perkins Jordan and grandson Ira Vernon Jordan are all in Klaiber Cemetery.  Is Fleming Jordan at rest with them?

Fleming “Flem” Jordan was born February 1846, the son of John Jordan.  He grew up in Lawrence County, Kentucky and during the Civil War mustered into Company B of the 14^th Kentucky Infantry. After his service Fleming married 20 August 1865, Louisa Prince, in Lawrence County, Kentucky.  They lived for some time on Twin Branch in Lawrence County and were the parents of six known children.  He filed for a pension 8 July 1879 in Lawrence County[ii] By 1900 Fleming was widowed, living in the Willard area of Carter County, while son George Washington Fleming and family were residing on the East Fork, in the Bolts Fork/ Big Garner area of Boyd County. 

George Washington Jordan was born 28 April 1873, in Lawrence County, Kentucky, son of Fleming and Louisa Jordan.  Like his father, records describe him as short with light hair.  Civil War enrollment records for his father described Fleming at only five feet 3 inches tall.  The World War I draft card for George Washington Jordan does not give exact height only that he was “short.”

George married Mary Jane Perkins, daughter of James “Frank” and Martha J. Cotton Perkins in 1893[iii].  The Jordan’s had nine known children at this writing.  By 1920 the family resided on Garner in Boyd County next to the Workman family.  Among the children, Ira, only sixteen according to census[iv], was already mining for a living.

By the late 1920’s the Jordan’s moved to Guyandotte, Cabell County, West Virginia, where George gave his occupation as carpenter.  According to George Washington Jordan’s death certificate he became paralyzed in March 1929.[v]   By 1930 they were residing with son James Robert Jordan[vi] and his large family. When George died 20 April 1930 the doctor noted that he had been bedfast for six months.  The certificate also states that burial would be in Sexton Cemetery.   The name of the cemetery varied but by 1930 Julina Sexton Klaiber and James Matthew Klaiber were the owners of the land surrounding the designated burial ground. A handmade marker was placed at the grave in Klaiber Cemetery.  a

 

 

 

Son, Ira Vernon Jordan’s death, “carved in stone,” is 27 April 1933. But as I have found with other handmade stones in Klaiber cemetery there are differences in the official record.  In 1930 Ira “Vernon” was an inmate in the Spencer State Hospital in Roane County, West Virginia.  He appears both on the census for the hospital as well as residing on Bellevue Road in Huntington along with wife Lula and two daughters.   His death certificate is dated 27 April 1934.  Dr. T. R. Biggs wrote that he had attended him from March 1930 until his death 27 April 1934. The cause of his death was pulmonary tuberculosis with contributory dementia praecox catatonic type.  According to the death certificate he was married and his usual place of residence was Bellevue Road, Huntington[vii]. 

Ira Vernon Jordan married Lula Jane Stephens sometime between 1920 and 1927.

The 1930 Huntington City Directory shows Vernon Jordan and wife “Lola” living on Bellevue Road, He is a laborer. The 1932 Huntington City Directory shows Vernon Jordan and wife “Lula” on Bellevue Road.  Ira Vernon Jordan’s mother also resides on Bellevue Road the same year.  Ira Vernon Jordan was laid to rest in Klaiber Cemetery (aka Sexton Cemetery) on 29 April 1934.

The widow, Lula Jane Stephens[viii] remarried 6 April 1935 in Cabell County to Finnie Robertson. By 1940 Ira and Lula’s  two girls utilized their step father’s surname.  Lula Jane Stephens Jordan Robertson died in March 1981 and is buried in Mason County, West Virginia.

George Washington Jordan’s widow, Mary Jane Perkins Jordan, mother of Ira Vernon Jordan, continued to live in Cabell County.  In 1930 she is living with son James Robert Jordan, on Bellevue Road in Huntington.  Mary died 24 April 1936[ix] in Huntington and was brought back to Klaiber Cemetery for burial, as well.  Her stone was designed and consistent with the other members of this branch of the Jordan family.

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[i] Daily Independent, 16 Jun 1977

[ii]Fold3, Pension index,  Cert 296736 664518

[iii] 1900 census states married 7 years. No official m has been located at this writing.

[iv] Tombstone birth would make him 19

[v] WV, Cabell cert 4558

[vi] James Robert Jordan married Sarah B Stevens d/o Sam and Nell Kilgore Stevens  13 March 1914 in Boyd County, KY

[vii] WV Vital Roane Co cert 5310, 1934

[viii] In 1910 Lula and family are living on Clay Jack in Boyd County. By  1920 Lula J Stephen is 16 living with her parents Daniel and Ellen Colegrove Stephens on East Fork in Lawrence County, KY. Daniel Stephens married Ellen Colegrove 29 Oct 1892 in Lawrence County, KY

[ix] WV D cert 5310

Hillman Bayes Jordan & daughter Della Jordan: Whispers from the Grave; Klaiber Cemetery, Boyd County, Kentucky

 

Compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber 2023

 

Hillman Bayes Jordan was born 10 December 1906, in Carter County, Kentucky.  Hillman was one of seven known children of Thomas and Mary Elizabeth Arden Jordan. 

By 1929 Hillman was in Ashland along with seventeen-year-old Opal Lucas Jordan Hillman.  He was working in the Ashland Sanitary milk plant on Winchester Avenue.  They lived within walking distance of the plant.

 

 

Hillman B. Jordan went to work in the plant during a turbulent time of the company.  In November 1929 the Boyd County Circuit Court had awarded the estate of Janet Messersmith $10,0000 for her death[i].   Jane, a child, t had been hit and killed by one of the company’s trucks on June 29^th.  For many years, milk trucks and wagons delivered up and down the residential streets of Ashland delivering fresh milk products to homes.  The cost of operation for the company was up because of the Depression.   The Depression of 1929 had effected everyone and everything. The price of milk was lower and it is easy to assume that anyone working for the milk companies would be getting lower wages as well.  The death and lawsuit put a strain on everyone from the plant to the courthouse and those in between trying to make a living during such hard times.

But there certainly were happy times. On 2 July 1930 the Daily Independent   printed: “Mr. and Mrs. Hillman Jordan of Winchester Avenue are announcing the arrival of a baby girl born at the home Saturday June 28.  This is the first child in the family and has been given the name of Della Jean. Mrs. Jordan was formerly Miss Opal Lucas of Rush, KY.”

Opal was the daughter of Perry Allen and Cora May Estep Lucas. She had many relatives in Big Garner, Rush and Glancy Fork areas of Boyd and Carter County, Kentucky.  Born 6 August 1912, she was just days away from her 18^th birthday when little Della was born.

Hillman Jordan went to work on the 31^st July 1931 according to his death certificate[ii].  He became ill and died according to his death certificate 1 August 1931 from a heart block and being over heated.  His obituary appeared in the Daily Independent 3 August (Monday) stating he died on Saturday (the first) after an illness of one day.  To complicate the date and show that “carved in stone” is not always what it seems, Hillman Bayes Jordan’s homemade tombstone states he died the 30^th July 1931.

None the less it was a tragedy and the obituary states he had many friends in Ashland, while his parents still resided on Big Garner.  He was survived by wife Opal and his small daughter.   Thus Hillman Bayes Jordan was brought out to the county and laid to rest in Klaiber Cemetery near his parent’s home. 

It must have been a tragic time for Opal.   Little Della’s death date is carved on the same headstone as her father’s and states she died 30 August 1931. The stone would have been made after her death and there are several other handmade stones for the Jordan’s in the same design.  Della Jean Jordan’s birth, as stated above, was announced in the local paper and the Kentucky Birth Index as “Della J. Jordan”.[iii]  But the only record this compiler can find of her death is the date and name carved on the stone with her father.  “Carved in stone” her middle initial is “C” and the date of date is 30 August 1931.  It took several readings to determine if the it was a 0 or 1.  Della, cited in her father’s obituary, died just weeks after his death.

 

I wish to thank Judy Cantrell Fleming of the Boyd County Library, Genealogy Room, that shares my passion for county cemetery work and who has helped me obtain records now that I have a few mobile disabilities.  Over the past few years I have given her my county notebooks full of notations and photographs and she continues to add to them, update and add material at find-a-grave helping thousands of folks that can’t visit a loved ones grave in person.

Opal Lucas Jordan moved to Floyd County, Kentucky where her widowed father Perry Allen Lucas resided and on 12 April 1932 married Joseph Elmer Akers, a coal miner. For a short time in the mid 1930’s they lived in Wise County, Virginia. Opal died in 2004 at the age of 91 and is buried in Ligon, Floyd County, Kentucky.

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[i] Courier-Journal, 16 Nov 1929 page  21

[ii] KY d cert 18611

[iii] KY B cert 30459

Arthur Eugene & Charles Jones: Whispers from the Grave; Klaiber Cemetery, Boyd County, Kentucky

 

Compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber 2023

 

Arthur and Charles were two of seven known children of John and Goldie Ellen Walker Jones.  I first wrote about the brothers in a blog called Fox News in July 2011.

After serving in World War I, John married Goldie Ellen Walker 29 October 1920 in Boone County, West Virginia.  The Jones rented and moved where coal mining was hiring.  Charles Jones was born 16 June 1928 in Fayette County, West Virginia. The family lived awhile in Lawrence County, Ohio, before 1940, when the Jones family moved to Boyd County where Jones worked building roads under the WPA.  The family rented on Long Branch for some time as well as in Ashland.

The Works Progress Administrate began in 1939 and ran until 1943, created for unemployed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.  Depending on politics the folks that got jobs through the WPA were either looked down on or applauded.  The fact is the community of Garner benefited with at least two new bridges and the children had food, shelter and an education while their father gained employment and the county roads were improved.

Goodman-Paxton Photographic Collection, UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center, Box 19 item 1172, Steel arch on Garner Road

 

Over the years I have walked among the graves in Klaiber Cemetery with many relatives and made new friends with their own stories.  I met Lottie Marie Jones Lucas and her husband Norman Franklin Lucas, on a sunny Memorial weekend over twenty-five years ago.  Both are gone now and I miss their visits.  We stood by Charles grave as Lottie told how, her brother,  Charles, had been bitten by a dog, while hunting rabbits on Garner, in November 1942.  She remembered that he was in school at Oakview in Ashland but the family had no idea how serious rabies could be until it was too late. Charles died 11 January 1943 and was buried in Klaiber Cemetery.   To read more about rabies in Boyd County click the Fox News link.  In all honesty they may not have had the money for a doctor at that time.

The youngest Jones child was Arthur Eugene Jones born14 December 1941 in Boyd County, Kentucky.  He was just toddling when his brother Charles died.  In late February 1944 Arthur contracted measles complicated by pneumonia.  There was no vaccine for measles until the early 1960’s. According to the CDS “nearly all children got measles by the time there were 15 years of age.”  Just 2 years old and 2 months Arthur Eugene Jones died 1 March 1944.  The family was living at 2315 Elturu Street, off of Oakview Road, when they brought Arthur back to Garner to be buried next to Charles.

Their sister, Lottie married Norman Franklin Lucas 5 January 1946 in Ashland.  Norman’s parents are buried in Klaiber Cemetery and will be featured at a later date.  Norman and Lottie lived in Columbus, Ohio. Norman passed away in 2004 and Lottie in 2010.  After the boys died Lottie’s parents moved to Rowan County, Kentucky where John tried his hand at farming.  Sadly at the age of 44 John Jones committed Suicide, 27 June 1948[i].  Goldie lived until 15 March 1983 and died in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio.

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[i] KY D Cert 13202, Rowan Co.

Sarah Fannin Howe. Whispers from the Grave; Klaiber Cemetery, Boyd County, Kentucky

 

Compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber 2023

 

Sarah Fannin was born 16 August 1813, in Virginia, one of nine children born to John and Keziah Fannin.  By 1820 the family was living in a portion of Greenup County that would become Lawrence the following year.

Sarah Fannin married George W. Howe, born in Greenup County, 20 October 1836 in Lawrence County, Kentucky “having produced a certificate from John Fannin, father of Sarah consenting” to the marriage.  Women had no contractual rights under early Virginia and Kentucky law and two parties were needed to obtain the marriage license, one usually the father acting as bondsman.

George W. Howe was the son of James and Martha Ann Hood Howe.  Sarah first appears on a land document, with George, in Carter County, 10 October 1841 when George and James Howe of Greenup make a deed with Alexander Hannah. The deed does not give the land description.  Both George and Sarah sign the deed[i]  George’s father James died in 1845.[ii]  Howe’s lands were extensive and George W. along with siblings were involved in various suits and partition deeds following James Howe’s death.

It is the compilers believe that George W. Howe, made a serious mistake becoming indebted to Richard Apperson, a Kentucky lawyer and politician.  A Carter County, Circuit course case ended in a deed dated 19 May 1849[iii] transferring land from George W. Howe to Richard Apperson whom he was indebted to for the sum of $980.50.  The debt involved bonds of James W. Davis and Alfred Low, thus Howe mortgaged a tract in Lawrence county to Apperson.  The tract also included his right, title and claim to the “landed estate which descended to him from his father James Howe, deceased”.

George W. (as an heir of James Howe) appears again 4 November 1852 along with his siblings involving Carter Circuit Court with Apperson acting as commissioner involving land described  in the Grayham Survey to John Fannin “in Lawrence County where John Fannin now resides…”[iv]  This is Sarah Fannin Howe’s father. John, died, shortly after on 25 June 1853.[v] When John Fannin wrote his will (after providing for his wife) he included the equal division of property to his children citing Sarah as the wife of George Howe.[vi] 

Keziah Fannin, Sarah’s mother died 31 October 1854.  Keziah also wrote a will about the same time her husband did[vii] In the midst of the Fannin deaths there was also another case in Lawrence Circuit Court with Richard Apperson against George W. Howe (defendant) and others for a mortgage on 101 acres of land on the East Fork where “the defendant Howe resided.”  The Land was sold to George W. Prichard.[viii] As a woman, I can’t imagine how stressful this would be, especially with small children.

There are several more deed transactions involving George W., his siblings and the James Howe estate in both Lawrence and Carter County in the 1850s and into the 1860’s.  But reading between the lines, Sarah must have had enough, and by 1860 George is no longer on the Federal Census records for this area.   Sarah first appears, in her own right, on the Carter County Tax list, on Garner, with no values in 1857. Their youngest child, Matilda Rebecca was only four years old.

The 1860 census lists Sarah doing house work, born Virginia, next door to the Hiram Gallion Family[ix].  Sarah has eight children living with her and no adult male within the household.  The eldest child Martha has turned 21, James 19 and John 17 both day laborers along with Hiram 16, Philip 13, Sarah 11, Andrew George W 9 and Matilda Rebecca the youngest.

Several researcher’s claim that a George W. Howe, born circa 1810, Kentucky, who went to Oregon, is Sarah’s estranged husband.  This George W. Howe is said to have arrived in Oregon 30 October 1853[x].  We continue to see Sarah’s husband, George W. Howe cited, as late as 1868, on documents, in Carter, Lawrence and Boyd counties in Kentucky, including his father-in-law’s will written in June 1853. However, the deeds are all signed by commissioners or agents beginning in May 1853.  The last transaction dated 13 January 1868 has his brother-in-law, William P. Hood, acting as his agent[xi]     

The George W. Howe of Clackamas County, Oregon received donation land in 1853.[xii]  But if he is the same George W. Howe, folks in Carter, Lawrence, and Boyd County, Kentucky, were unaware of his death.  The census for Oregon City was taken  June 6^th and George W. Howe appears as a brick burner [xiii]born in Kentucky.

The George W. Howe, of Oregon City, Clackamas County came to a tragic end. The Weekly Oregon Statesmen reported on 26 June 1860 “While firing guns at At Oregon City on Thursday evening last, the vent hole of the cannon was carelessly left open and two men, one of whom is named Howe and the other a carpenter is known as Curly who was loading the gun had each arm blown off above the elbow. One of them the right and the other the left…”  On 3 July the paper reported “the names of the men injured by the premature discharge of a cannon in Oregon City are George Howe and Fred Curley. Their shattered arms have been amputated and they are both doing well.” On July 21^st the paper simply posted “George Howe of Oregon City who was injured by firing a cannon is dead.”

In George Howe’s probate packet is listed books, brick molds and the statement that there are no heirs.[xiv]  Thus if the Oregon Howe was one and the same, Sarah and his own siblings were unaware of his tragic death back in Kentucky.  There is no indication among the receipts, inventory and other documents that anyone within the court system in Clackamas County, Oregon had contact with anyone in Kentucky.

Tragedy struck when 9 December 1861 Sarah’s son John W. Howe, a soldier, died of typhoid fever while at Camp in Hardin County, Kentucky.[xv]  John had joined the Second Cavalry on 14 July 1861 at Camp Joe Holt.  The unit was moved to Camp Nevin in Hardin County, Kentucky.  Harpers Weekly showed a sketch of the camp in their publication just a few days before John died.  Dan Master’s Civil War Chronicles gives a good description of the sickness and what it was like at the camp.

By 1870 Sarah Fannin Hood is living next door to Matilda Howe Hood, sister of her estranged husband George W Howe and Matilda’s husband William P. Hood,  Sarah is living with son Phillip Howe,[xvi] who is farming, along with other family members.  The next census entry is Sarah’s son James W. Howe[xvii] and wife Sarah Elizabeth Hood Howe[xviii].

Sarah Fannin Howe died 6 June 1874, age 66 years 9 months and 31days. She was laid to rest in Klaiber Cemetery.  In June 1996 the Klaibers repaired the tablet stone that had been broken.

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[i] KY, Carter dbk 6 page 373

[ii] James Howe and wife are buried in Oldtown Cemetery, Greenup County, KY

[iii] KY, Carter dbk B  275

[iv] KY, Carter dbk 7 p 88

[v] John Fannin is buried Stewart Cem., Rt. 3, Lawrence County, KY

[vi] KY, Lawrence Wbk p 43

[vii] Kozee, Wm., Eastern Kentucky References, p 166

[viii] KY, Lawrence Dbk D p 419

[ix] Hiram Gallion is buried in Klaiber Cemetery

[x] https://secure.sos.state.or.us/prs/personProfileSearch.do

[xi] KY, Boyd dbk 3 p 458

[xii] Oregon Land Claim OC 2548; roll 29

[xiii] Brick burner in charge of kiln and responsible for correct temperature during firing.

[xiv] Oregon, Clackamas Box 13 #6 A-40

[xv] Fhl 994030 KY death records…Carter County cites parents, residence as Carte r Co and death in Hardin Co.

[xvi] Phillip later removed to Oklahoma

[xvii] James W. Howe eventually removed to Kansas

[xviii] Sarah Elizabeth is the daughter of William P Hood and Matilda Howe Hood, while James W. is the s/o George W. Howe and Sarah Fannin Howe.