Frank Kane Lucas & wife Nancy Ann Perkins Lucas: Whispers from the Grave; Klaiber Cemetery, Boyd County, Kentucky

 Compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber 2023

I wish to thank Dreama Calvo  donated  this picture of Frank Kane and Nancy Perkins Lucas. The picture is thought to be taken on their farm on Long Branch Road, just across the Boyd County line into Carter County, Kentucky.

 

Over the years we had visits with Norman Franklin Lucas and Lottie Marie Jones his wife. Many times we walked among those in Klaiber Cemetery, as Norman and Lottie told us stories.  Norman was one of thirteen children of Frank Kane Lucas and Nancy Ann Perkins, his wife. 

Norman’s father, Frank Kane Lucas was born 4 July 1885 in Boyd County, Kentucky the son of Henry Kane Lucas and Lucinda Sexton Lucas.  They lived on Garner as he was growing up. Farming was the primary source of income, and living off the land.

When Frank was twenty he married Nancy Ann Perkins, the daughter of James “Frank” Perkins and Martha J. Cotton.  Frank was deceased by the time they married and Nancy’s mother Martha J. had remarried to John “Jack” Combs.  Frank and Nancy married 17 January 1906 with the written permission of her mother, Mrs. Martha Combs, because she was only eighteen years and four days old.  Their marriage followed a miserable cold spell for the area, though a bit warmer and damp, everyone wore heavier coats.  Julina Sexton Klaiber, William Vincent Sexton and William’s wife, Elizabeth “Trudi” Enyart Sexton were witness.  They were married by J. W. Hedrick.

Tragedy struck after the birth of Carl Douglas Lucas who was born 10 January 1918 and died the 11^th of September 1918 from gastro intestinal issues. His death certificate is filed for Carter County just across the line on Long Branch.  He was laid to rest in Klaiber Cemetery.

A daughter Martha Edith Lucas was born 23 June 1919 in Boyd County. Julina Sexton Klaiber kept a diary during this time frame and entered her death on 22 October 1923 but did not write down the heartbreaking details.   Little Martha was playing with matches and caught her clothing on fire.  She was buried in Klaiber Cemetery on the 24^th.

 

 

 

Just one year before Martha’s death, Frank had purchased 22 acres on Garner Creek just over the Carter County line from his father and mother, Henry Kane Lucas[i]. Many of the farmers in our area made extra money by signing leases for oil and gas throughout the years and still do. It was an easy way to make some extra money when you owned the mineral rights to your property.  Frank had a lease, in Carter County, with Kentucky Fuel Gas Corporation.  These leases gave the company right of exploration and the possibility of sinking a well.  If the well produced the lease stipulated either royalties or the free use of gas.[ii]

In the late 1930’s Frank invested in 35+ acres along Williams Creek in Carter County[iii]. Williams Creek winds around to Glancy Fork and Denton. Long Branch Road extends, but dead ends, from Boyd County into Carter County. As I have stated many times, there was a horse path across the hill from Long Branch to Denton that was easily accessed. Frank’s World War II draft card, filed in Carter County, describes Frank as five feet ten inches tall, with brown eyes and black hair.  Farming had left him lean at 125 pounds.

Other children of Frank and Nancy that grew to adulthood but are buried in Klaiber Cemetery include Laura Jane born 3 September 1910 in Boyd County and married 20 December 1929 Marion Emerald Jarvis.  She died 31 December 1942 in Columbus, Ohio and was brought back to Klaiber Cemetery for burial. Marion remarried in 1943 Mary Brennan.  When he died 6 March 1968 he was buried in Klaiber Cemetery, as well.

Bessie Juanita Lucas was born 4 June 1926, never married and lived most of her life on Garner.  She moved to Columbus in 1965 and died there 25 November 1966 and was brought back to Garner for burial[iv].

Bessie Juanita’s father Frank Kane Lucas died 23 December 1966 after an extended illness, after farming most of his life. Nancy lived exactly one month and died 23 January 1967 from a heart attack. Both are laid to rest in Klaiber Cemetery.

 

 

Their son Ralph Clifton Lucas born 14 March 1914, married 22 October 1938 Elizabeth Alexander.  He was a member of Coalton Community Church and had worked for Jeffery Manufacturing Company in Columbus, Ohio. Ralph died 16 July 1977, Rush, Kentucky, of a heart attack. He was buried in Klaiber cemetery 18 July 1977.  His widow Elizabeth died 27 November 1989 in Portsmouth, Scioto County, Ohio and was brought back to Klaiber Cemetery for burial on the 30^th.

Frank and Nancy’s daughter Amanda Marie born 28 October 1908, had two marriages. She married Herman Burke who died in 1930 and is buried in Rice Cemetery, Lawrence County, Kentucky.  Amanda married second Thomas J. Maddox.  Thomas was born 13 September 1895 in Elliott County, Kentucky died in 1960 in Columbus, Ohio. He was brought back for burial in Klaiber Cemetery. Amanda died 17 October 1994 and is buried in Klaiber Cemetery.

Other children of Frank and Nancy include Florence Lucas McKnight buried in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio; Nora (no further info.); Lenora Irene Lucas Smith died Sandusky, OH; Hazel Lucille Lucas Davis died Greenup Co., KY and is buried White Chapel in Barboursville, Cabell, WV: Norman Franklin Lucas buried in Columbus, Franklin County, OH; Ruth Evelyn Lucas Caudill buried Franklin County, OH; Raymond Lucas buried Columbus, OH.

 

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[i] Ky, Carter deed book 39 page 285

[ii] KY, Carter Deed book 49-272 release of lease  4-3-1928

[iii] KY, Carter deed book 58 p 603,

[iv] Daily Independent Nov 1966

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

Martha J. Cotton Perkins Combs: Whispers from the Grave; Klaiber Cemetery, Boyd County, Kentucky

 

Compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber 2023

 

Martha J. Cotton was born November 1854 in Kentucky, the daughter of John Cotton and Martha Eldridge[i].  The family lived near Bruin.  When Martha was five the family appears on the Carter County, census and by the age 10, in 1870, the Elliott County, Census. 

Martha married James Frank (Franklin?) Perkins 15 February 1872 in Lawrence County, Kentucky.[ii]  Perkins was the son of Virginia “Jennie” Perkins who died 27 April 1914 in Lawrence County[iii].  Martha and Frank had six children: Amanda married a cousin; Mary Jane married George Washington Jordan; James M. Perkins; Rosa L. married Frank Turner; Nora married William Johnson; and Nancy Ann married Frank Kane Lucas. 

The Perkins family resided in the Twin Branches area of Lawrence County, Kentucky. Jesse Hicks and his wife Elizabeth sold James F. Perkins land on Cherokee Creek of Big Blaine 11 December 1878.  The deed does not cite how many acres but involved a note.[iv]  By 1880 the family had 40 acres noted as tilled  and 205 acres of woodland and a horse according to the Agricultural Census.

Martha purchased seven acres on the waters of Cherokee in Lawrence County from John and Ann Arrington 27 February 1886.[v]  The deed shows the boundary was near the Perkin’s house while another corner was near Jesse Hicks.[vi]  By 1893 John Arrington was deceased leaving Ann a widow.[vii]

James Frank Perkins died about 1893.  By 10 May 1895 Martha and heirs were cited in a commissioner’s sale in a court case involving S. W. Moore vs. L. F. Kelley.  Martha’s land were described as laying north of the land being sold in the neighbors court case.[viii]  By July, the same year, the Sheriff posted properties to be sold to satisfy owed tax. Among those listed was 200 acres of Martha Perkins, joining John Arrington for tax in the years 1893 to 1895.[ix]

By the time the sheriff’s sale was announced, Martha had been remarried six months to John “Jack” Combs.  The couple married 6 January 1895 in Lawrence County, Kentucky. John and Martha had two more children together: Cora who later married Reuben Harrison Lucas and Lewis Combs who married Julia Stephens and was killed after being hit by a train.[x]

John Combs was older than Martha and had several other marriages.  Being in ill health he wrote a will providing for Martha in Lawrence County, Kentucky in January 1903.[xi]  He bequeathed Martha $150.00 while leaving a dollar to each of several of his children including Angeline Arrington.  It is an interesting will dividing furniture among some of his children and leaving his real estate to only one son with the stipulation that Martha be paid and to pay her two youngest $25.00 per year.  The will was proven and filed 19 May 1903.

The 1910 census tells a rather sad story.  Martha, aged 55, is living on Bolts Fork Road, in Boyd County.  To make ends meet she is washing for private families.  Within the household is daughter Nora, Cora and Lewis along with two grandson’s Homer age 5 (born Ohio) and Frank age 2.

When son Lewis Combs moved to Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio circa 1917, Martha and daughter Nora Perkins Johnston, now divorced, moved with him.  They resided on Sidney Street which is just a block away from I 70 at this writing. Tragedy struck in 1923 when son Lewis and grandson James Edward Turner, along with two others, were killed when their automobile was struck by a train in Muskingum County, Ohio.

On August 9, 1930, on a trip to West Virginia, Martha was involved in an automobile accident in Huntington, West Virginia leaving her with a fractured leg, right arm and internal injuries.  She returned to Columbus where she died 10 December 1930.  The doctor wrote on the death certificate that the contributory cause of death was from injuries received from the accident.[xii]

The Ashland Daily Independent posted a short notice on 12 December 1930 simply stating “The body of Miss Martha Combs, 76, who died at her home in Columbus, Ohio Dec. 10, arrived in Ashland at 2:20 this morning and was sent out to Garner where burial will be made at two o’clock tomorrow afternoon. Her family came from Garner and she has been taken back to the old home for burial.”

Martha was laid to rest next to son Lewis and near the grave of son-in-law George Washington Jordan (married daughter Mary Jane Perkins) who had died in April in Cabell County, West Virginia, buried in Klaiber Cemetery.

 

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[i] M Law, KY 1848

[ii] KY L M 5 p 170

[iii] Buried Hensley Cem., Law., KY

[iv] KY, Law, Dbk N p 322 & Bk Q p 192   

[v] KY Law dbk Q p 192

[vi] Jesse Hicks and wife Elizabeth are thought to be buried on Clay Jack, Boyd County, KY

[vii] KY Law Wb 1821-1914 page 301

[viii] Big Sandy News 10 May 1895, page 2

[ix] Big Sandy News 19 Jul 1895

[x] Earlier blog post http://easternkentuckygenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/04/lewis-combs-whispers-from-grave-klaiber.html

[xi] KY Law Will book page 232

[xii] OH Div of Vital Death Cert 71968