Rachel Skewered my Research Skills Like a Barbe. She Was Not A Lamb, after All.

By Teresa Martin Klaiber 2020

Rachel Barbe [Henrich, Johann Jacob³, Wigandt², Johann Jacob¹] was born 30 March 1795 in Shenandoah County, Virginia died 13 Oct 1851 in Beaver, Pike County, Ohio.  She was the daughter of Henrich Barbe, Sr and Mary Winegardner.

Rachel’s first introduction to this researcher was in a family tree written in what appears to be the hand writing of, my great uncle, Henri Gorath Halderman.  The tree was folded among other family items in the Feyler family Bible that sits on our living room table.  The compiler of the tree said that Rachel’s maiden name was Lamb. I searched for Rachel Lamb, using methodical genealogical steps, for many years (and prior to web genealogy) but none of the pieces fit the puzzle.  A few other researchers were insisting that my Rachel was not a Lamb but that her maiden name was Barbe.  I could not imagine that the family tree would be wrong.    I admit I had already discovered a few flaws in family notations along my genealogy journey.  I reminded myself to keep an open mind.

Court research had proved that Rachel and husband Daniel L. Halterman were the parents of John J. Halterman, this compiler’s  second great grandfather.  Working from the known to the unknown was not unlocking a clue to her maiden name. Deed records in Pike and Jackson County, Ohio show Rachel with her married name along with Daniel. 

  

Rachel’s husband, Daniel, died in February 1849 and was buried in Mountain Ridge Cemetery, located on a hill at the edge of Beaver, Ohio.  In her husband’s will written in Scioto Township, Jackson County, Daniel left to “his beloved wife Rachael” all his personal property, money, affects and all his real estate for her lifetime with stipulations of several dollar amounts to their children.  Left a widow at the age of 54 she still had a 15 year old son, William at home.

None of the records I reviewed seemed to give clue to her maiden name.    I had already honored both Daniel L. and Rachel, at their graves, on the hill top of Mountain Ridge Cemetery in Scioto Township, Jackson County.  But nothing led to Daniel having married a Rachel Lamb as the handwritten tree suggested.

Then in May 1993, I met by chance, a fellow researcher, Lois Stange, at an Ohio Genealogical Society Convention.  She is one of those angels that have appeared from time to time in my genealogy journey.   Several had posted surnames they were working on outside their hotel room doors.  Great idea!  Our room happened to be next to the OGS social hour room so everyone passed by the names on my door.  During a social get-together, along with a glass of wine, Stange stated that there was massive material on my Halderman/Halterman family at the Cincinnati Historical Society known as the Olive McLaughlin Collection.  Among the many letters concerning the Barbe family was correspondence from Stephen Simpson Halderman, grandson of Rachel and Daniel.  S. S. is my great grandfather and the father of Henri Gorath Halderman whom we presume wrote the tree tucked in the family bible.  Lois rattled off my family names, like they were her own so I knew it was not the wine talking.

Remembering that my mother lamented about throwing away unidentified papers when they were closing the family estate, I gulped air and made a beeline to Cincinnati.   The Cincinnati Historical Society, located in the lower level of the historic Train Depot was a delight. 

The McLaughlin Collection created by Olive Amelia Barbe McLaughlin (1842-1928) consists of thirty-five boxes.  At the time of my visit there was a small finding aid.  It would be several more months before Alan Williams and Waverly Barbe[i] would organize the material and publish the findings concerning her Barbe research. 

With the finding aid and white gloves I narrowed down which boxes most likely held clues to anything involving my family. I marveled at Stange’s remarkable memory that the collection included the Halterman family. It seemed like hours but hours worth the work. Olive McLaughlin would hand write thousands of questionnaires requesting they be sent back to her.  There were no memo graphs, copiers or scanners.  She had taken on a determined, monumental task.  Finally two letters from my great grandfather surfaced and pieces of the puzzle started to fit.

Stephen wrote Olive McLaughlin that he did not know the maiden name of Rachel.  In a letter dated 15 March 1889 

” Sciotoville, Ohio Mrs. O A Barbe McLaughlin Mt Auburn, Cin., O Dear Madam Yours of March 4th recived promptly and I did not answ immediately was ...I tried to get accurate data but could get nothing very definite. Father died while I was quite young and his books and papers were not preserved. He had quite a library and many valuable papers. I know very little of my ancestors. Trusting the enclosed may be of some value. I am very resp. Stephen S. Halderman.”

McLaughlin must have been persistent for in another letter dated May 20th, 1891, from  Portsmouth, Ohio Stephen stated to Olive McLaughlin “...at the age of 15 cast upon my own resources & have known but little  of my ancestors...saw any but Grandfather Kinneson."  Kinneson was his maternal grandfather.

Thus my great grandfather  was unaware of Rachel’s maiden name. Rachel died two and ½ months before Stephen’s birth in  January 1852.  His only contact after the death of his own father in 1866 was with his mother and his maternal grandfather. If he did not know Rachel’s name until corresponding with Olive McLaughlin then we must assume that Stephen’s only son, Henri, would not be privy to the information and would have obtained the information through here-say or his own research which now is proven flawed.

Olive McLaughlin had tracked down the Halterman/Halderman family because she had knowledge that Rachel was a Barbe.  She stated that Rachel was the daughter of Henry and Mary Winegardner Barbe.  She even described Rachel as having blue eyes and black hair[ii] and had moved to Ohio about 1825/6 from the Elk Run Branch of Stony Creek in Shenandoah County, Virginia.

Rachel Barbe’s marriage to Daniel L Halterman (Jacob, Jacob, Christian Haldeman) 22 April 1815 is recorded in Shenandoah County, Virginia [iii] The bondsman for their marriage was William Bussey.  In May 1816 Daniel and wife Rachel, Peter and Eva Bussey heirs of Jacob Haltiman late of Shenandoah County sold 262 acres of land on Stoney creek. The land had been conveyed to Jacob by William Barb and Barbara his wife.[iv] [v]

She and Daniel did in fact move to Ohio in the 1820's and settled on property that bordered the Jackson and Pike County line. [vi]  They traveled from Virginia with two small children, John J. and Rachel.   She may well have been pregnant with Levi who was born circa 1820.  Son Henry M. was born February 1821 in Jackson County, Ohio.  Daniel, Jacob, Mahala, and Permelia were all born within the next ten years.  The families last son, William was born about 1832.

After Daniel’s death the 1850 census shows that son Daniel, not yet married, and her youngest son William are residing with her in Scioto Township, Jackson County. William is about the same age his uncle S. S. Halderman was when losing a father. Rachel died 13 October 1851, at the age of 56 years 6 months and 13 days.  Her youngest son William died in 4 October 1855, at the age of 20, and is also buried in Mountain Ridge Cemetery.

It is hard to let go of the piece of puzzle that have never fit into the finished picture.  Why did my great uncle put her last name as Lamb on a family tree? The surname Lamb does appear in Jackson County, Ohio. Catherine born about 1793 widow of Jacob Lamb is a contemporary of Daniel L. and Rachel Barbe Halterman.  This Lamb family migrated from Virginia to Fairfield/Perry County, Ohio before Catherine shows up in Jackson County as a widow in 1840.  Her daughter Sarah J. Lamb married Levi Fout.

Levi’s father Anthony Fout was from Shenandoah County, Virginia.  Some researcher’s place Anthony Fout’s wife as Elizabeth nee Lamb.  Anthony and Elizabeth (Lamb) Fout born about 1792 are just two  entries away from John J. Halterman in the 1850 census of Scioto, Jackson, Ohio.  Anthony’s  brother, Adam Fout married Margaret Barbe, sister of Rachel Barbe Halterman.

Let’s twist the branches a bit more.  Rachel Ann Halterman born about 1818,  in Shenandoah County, Virginia, daughter of Rachel Barbe Halterman and Daniel L. Halterman, married Daniel Fout in Jackson County, Ohio.  Daniel Fout was the son of Adam and Margaret Barbe Halterman.  That makes Daniel Fout Rachel Barbe Halterman’s son-in-law and nephew. 

At this writing the compiler has 98 dna matches, just at Ancestry, for Rachel Barbe Halterman’s father Henrich Barbe (1759-1819).  Henrich Barbe’s will in Shenandoah County lists Rachel as the wife of Daniel Halterman.  When the inventory of his estate was sold, Rachel’s brother Henry is noted as having purchased a bible written in English as well as a hymnal.  At least one of those matches links to Adam Fout and wife Margaret Barbe Fout.  If there is any Lamb dna from this family, I have not found it yet.  It has been a long journey and I have met some wonderful people along the way.  Alan Williams and I corresponded until he was to ill to reply.  I am forever grateful for he and Waverly Barbe’s work and beautiful publication.  But it was the determination of Olive Barbe McLaughlin with her incessant questionnaires that have preserved the wonderful Barbe and Halterman connections in my family.

---

[i] Barb-Barbe Genealogy…Waverly Wilson Baqrbe & Alan Lee Williams 1993

I McLaughlin Collection box 28

[iii] Virginia, Shenandoah Marriage Bonds 22 April 1815. Wm Bussey bondsman

[iv] : Mary Alice Wertz and Marguerite Hutchinson, History of the Halterman (Holdiman, Holeman, Haldiman) Ross, Cullers O'Flaherty Families of The Shenandoah Valley, VA (N.p.: n.p., n.d.), page 8.

[v] Olive McLaughlin notes Box 5

[vi] General Land Office, Chillicothe, Ohio, Patent 3436; volume 21, page 429.

John J. Halterman, Methodist Minister

John J. Halterman, Methodist Minister

Compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber, 2020

John J. Halterman,

 original possession of compiler.

 MyHeritage colorization 2020

While my great grandfather, S. S. Halderman, inferred, in several letters, that he knew little of his family.  As stated in an article at this blog site one such letter written 15 March 1889 says:” Sciotoville, Ohio March 15, 1889 Mrs. O A Barbe McLaughlin Mt Auburn, Cin., O Dear Madam Yours of March 4th recived promptly and I did not answ immediately was ...I tried to get accurate data but could get nothing very definite. Father died while I was quite young and his books and papers were not preserved. He had quite a library and many valuable papers. I know very little of my ancestors. Trusting the enclosed may be of some value. I am very resp. Stephen S. Halderman.”

 John J. Halterman did leave the family with some valuable items to follow the genealogy trail.  The above picture is from a tintype, in black & white that this compiler owns. It was among the pictures my mother gave to me.  My introduction to John J. Halterman, left me with a first impression of his being rakish.

When the Halderman/Feyler properties were sold in the 1970’s,  there was an estate sale, in Portsmouth, Ohio.  I could not attend, because of distance and toddlers, so when I made it home later that year, mother said that the estate sale manager, Vernon Waggoner, also a family friend, had a few things he salvaged from the trash for me.  Mother went on to say there were many unnamed pictures and papers that were of no family value so they had disposed of them.  She could not imagine anything of worth that Waggoner had discovered.  As a genealogist the thought of any pictures or papers being tossed made me shutter. 

Waggoner appeared later in the day with a paper grocery bag in tow.  I quickly opened it to find a very early bible, with loose pages, torn pages, and no cover.  The blessing was the title page with copyright was in tact and the family pages were full.  Mother meant well and was serious, when she said that was not her family because it was spelled Halterman, not Halderman.  I think she was flustered that I knew more about the early family than she, at that point.  The 1847 Holy Bible was and is a cherished jewel.  It has since been professionally recovered in leather and the pages professionally repaired.   I proclaimed Vernon, my angel and could not thank him enough.

The bible includes the birth of John J. Halterman, 8 December 1816 as well as his death 20 April 1866.   The marriage of J. J. Halterman to Isabelle Kinnison (stating she was the daughter of William Kinnison) 19 March 1835.

Later documentation places his birth in Shenandoah County, Virginia and their marriage in Pike County, Ohio.  Shortly after their marriage John J. Halterman is listed as an entryman with 35 acres in what is Jackson County, Ohio.   Their first child Nancy Halterman (Brown Albin) was born 9 April 1836 and when she dies states she was born “near” Beaver, Pike County.  Their second child Elizabeth was born 14 January 1838.

In 1840 their first son Martin Halterman was born 4 February.  John J. was appointed postmaster at Mountain Ridge, Jackson County which is just outside of Beaver, Ohio on Beaver Pike, the same year.  Martin died 31 July 1841 and is buried at Mountain Ridge Cemetery, Scioto Township, Jackson County.   Both dates were duly noted in the bible.

There are numerous  Common Plea entries for John J. between 1842 and 1850 concerning debts in Jackson County.  In April 1848, his father Daniel L. Halterman granted John part of lot 4 township 7 range 19 containing 10 acres in the northwest corner of the said lot with stipulations.  “…to have and to hold…during his natural life and is not to have the privilege of selling or conveying…”  The transaction was for $1.00.[i] 

After Martin’s birth/death four more children would be born in Jackson County before 1850.  The 1850 census for Jackson County lists John J. Halterman as a laborer. There is no mention of Postmaster nor of minister.  In 1851 Sarah Lamb Fout made an agreement with Halterman to quit claim Halterman the undivided half interest in Levi Fout’s  estate for a term of twelve years.  John J.’s sister, Rachel Ann, named for their mother, had married Daniel Fout.  I will leave you dangling on Lamb and Fout connections for a future article.

John J.’s mother Rachel died in October 1851 and they laid her to rest beside her husband, Daniel who had died in 1849.  Tragedy struck John J. Halterman’s family again, when the couple’s sixth child Daniel Ripley Halterman, born 30 March 1846 died 25 Oct 1852, when only six years old and again both dates are noted in the family bible.

By 1852 the family is in Ross County, near Chillicothe where their youngest son Stephen Simpson Halterman was born.

Among the tattered material received from the estate was a tiny booklet with handwritten title, A Matrimonial Register by Rev. J. Halterman.  In June 1980 I extracted and shared this short list with the Pike County Chapter, Ohio Genealogical Society which they published in their newsletter.[ii]   But it is worth repeating to a larger audience.  All spelling is copied as written on the original.  The writing is extremely poor.

Henry Campbelle to Meriah L Lowry both of Ross Co Ohio Oct 11 1855 (filed Ross County M. Register says 1854)

Samuel Diggens - Martha Vanskze of Ross Co Ohio Jan 21, 1855 (filed Ross County M Register Index says her maiden VanScoy)

Robert Clark to July Anne Miller both of Ross Co Mar 18 1855

William Kight to Ester Melsa Miner both of Pike Co Feb 17 1856

Amos Watts to Ellen Milisa Cothern both of Pike County Ohio Feb 17 1856 (Pike Co., M. Register gives her name as Ellen Malissa Cochran)

Martin Curent to Semantha Buzly(terribly hard to read) both of Pike County Ohio Mar 13, 1856

In all the entries made in Ross and Pike County marriage books his signature is simply J. Halterman, minister.

The last marriage entry in the matrimonial register is March 13, 1856.  The month prior to the entry a partition suite of father Daniel Halterman was finalized in Jackson County. 

In January 1858 John and wife Isabel along with her brother George Kinnison sold premises described as Huntington Township, Ross county beginning at a stone in the center of the Columbus and Portsmouth Turnpike.[iii] Today that is Route 23 and we travel it more than several times a year. 

Which brings me to a serendipity.  Many genealogists share their serendipity experiences.  We were driving thru Chillicothe and saw a small group of vendors aka “flea market.” Nothing unusual about that but we really needed to be on our way when I wanted to turn around.  Now we have a rule in the car about not back tracking, but this time I urged the turn around.  I felt drawn to a table full of tools and odd items.  I made a beeline past several booths, stopping at that table.  I confess I have always liked a nice walking stick, and have done some woodcarving myself, so my hand reached for an old burl handle stick that had blackened with age.  I showed it to hubby and we both commented on its age and how it must have a story to tell,  as I started putting it back on the table.  Something stopped me and I looked a little closer.  A tiny brass plaque simply says “Rev. J. H.”  We are in Chillicothe, on the “modernized” Columbus and Portsmouth Turnpike and I am holding my great, great grandfather’s walking stick.  Try to convince me otherwise!

By 1860 the family had moved to Miami County, Ohio.  My great grandfather is just seven years old when they made this move.  Yet again there is no mention of occupation of minister. The census taker simply notes he is a farmer. This was a head scratching genealogy discovery, because I had already proven he died and was buried in Adams County, Ohio.  But for the sake of chronology will place this in proper order.  In May of 1860, daughter Mary married Rockwell Barde and the census shows them residing side by side.   Besides the Barde’s, daughter Elizabeth had married 27 Dec 1857, in Ross County George Kinnison (s/o David Kinnison and Elizabeth Cutlip). Thus a twisted tree made this George Kinnison Isabel’s son-in-law  and first cousin.

Six short years later, John J. Halterman died in Locust Grove, Franklin Township, Adams County, Ohio at the age of fifty, 20 April 1866.  I had several snap shots of his tombstone with my great aunt Ruhama Halderman Anderson standing beside it, complete with notations on the back.

Ruhama Halderman Anderson, 1931, Locust Grove, Cemetery, Adams County, Ohio

Another picture taken on the same trip is the stone of John W. Bard who died 4 March 1865 age 8 months and 14 days.  This is the grandchild of John J. Halterman.

We travelled to Locust Grove, with a stop at Serpents Mound on a cloudless, sky blue day in 1980.  The over-all photo I took included the tree in the background from the 1931 pictures.

Locust Grove Cem.[iv] Aka Palestine Cemetery,  Adams County, Ohio with Halterman & Bard stones forefront.

 With every new piece in the puzzle, another develops.  Why is this tiny baby and grandfather buried in the cemetery so far from Miami County, Ohio?

The answer would not surface for another 13 years when this compiler’s great grandfather also visited the cemetery in 1879. An article of the visit was posted in the Portsmouth Daily Times.   A belated obituary of sorts:

“Dr SS Halderman, of Sciotoville, visited Palestine Cemetery, Locust Grove, Adams County, on Decoration Day with the intention of disinterring the remains of his father and removing them to the Wheelersburg Cemetery but finding that the cemetery was so well cared for there he abandoned the idea at the request of friends of the deceased in that section. No notice of the death of Rev John J Halderman having ever before appeared in print, we may add that he was born in Beaver county PA[v]., in 1816 and at a tender age removed with his parents to Jackson county, who were early settlers of the county…  owning to failing health, he removed to Adams county in 1864 thinking the chalbeate[vi] waters of that section would restore his health. He died on the 20th of April 1866. He was a minister of the Protestant Methodist Church, and this intelligence of his death, although published 13 years after his demise will be learned for the first time by his many friends in Miami and Jackson counties.”

The History of Adams County, Ohio…. by Nelson Wiley Evans and Emmons B. Stivers goes into detail concerning the chalybeate waters and the slate on South Fork of the county with cliffs 100 feet in height.  The slate is blended with copperas and alum.

But our story does not end with John J. Halterman.  Wife Isabella (Isabel) remarried 7 April 1870 in Shelby County, Ohio to Eli Baldwin.  This was a 2^nd marriage for both and it appears the descendants do not cite this 2^nd marriage on the Baldwin side any more than Stephen Simpson Halderman accepted the marriage to his mother. Baldwin died in Shelby county 29 March 1889.  Stephen brought his mother Isabella Kinnison Halterman back to Sciotoville, Ohio. She died in Sciotoville six months later. The family buried her in Stockdale cemetery, Little California, aka Stockdale, Pike County, Ohio.

Isabel’s obituary makes no mention of a 2^nd marriage. It is glued on the inner page of the bible I so gratefully received so many years ago"Death of Mrs. Halderman. Mrs. Isabel Halderman aged mother of Dr. Halderman died at her home in Sciotoville, Thursday afternoon....77 years old Sept 19 1889...sick since October 10 with senile gastric catarrh, resulting in nervous prostration heart failure...six children survive, SS of Sciotoville, Mrs. Stephen Brown of California, Ohio, Mrs. Bard of Piqua, Mrs. Kinnison of Newton, Ohio, George E. of New Hampshire, Ohio, William W. of Wabash, Ohio. Funeral will be at California, Pike County, Ohio Sunday 11 o'clock. Rev S. B. Johnson officiating" (in handwriting on edge of clipping "Died Nov 7, 1889")

---

[i] Oh, Jackson deed book J p 285/286

[ii] Oh, Pike Co., Chapter OGS, Newsletter Vol VI, No. 2

[iii] Oh, Ross,deed book 60 p 405

[iv] The cemetery is located on the southwest corner of the intersection of Ohio State Route 41 and Cemetery road (County road 16) and Frog Hollow Road (Township Road 216).

[v] Stephen S. Halterman apparently told everyone he was from Beaver, PA when in fact the family was from Beaver, Ohio.  It is assumed because he was so young when he left home and did not know a lot about his background.

[vi] Chalybeate waters are mineral spring waters containing salts of iron.

John Lesley, Bolts Fork, Kentucky: Day Tripping Around Eastern Kentucky

compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber July 2010

Driving back north on US#23 from Pike County, Kentucky to Bolt's Fork on the border of Lawrence County and Boyd County on a super highway is a breeze these days. However, viewing the changing terrain makes one think about the challenges our Eastern Kentucky pioneers had when settling the area.

In my last blog I described Lesley Settlement on John's Creek and spoke of William Robert Lesley and son Robert. When William and Robert left Virginia to travel to John's Creek, son John Lesley remained behind.

John, according to his tombstone and NSDAR papers was born 22 November 1760. Lesley served 18 months on the Clark Expedition to Illinois and is listed as receiving bounty land in George Rogers Clark Papers 1771-1784 edited by James A. James. This is probably the land that he made a survey for on the waters of the Bluestone.

John appears on the 1793 Wythe County tax list as John Lestly. He was recommended to the Commission of the peace in Tazewell County in 1812. Often the spelling of his name was contorted and read as Lasly/Lasley/Lestley/Leslie and other variants.

By 1815 John Lesley had deeded 1/2 acre near where he lived on the Bluestone, now Tazewell County, to the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church [Tazewell deed book 2 page 509] and began selling parcels of land while giving other acreage to his son William.

In Lesley/Leslie 200 Years in America the author indicates that John Lesley and family may have stopped in the area of Lesley Settlement for a couple of years between 1827 and 1833. He does appear on the 1830 Federal Census of Pike County.

John then migrated to Lawrence County, Kentucky. The trip from John's Creek northward could not have been easy. When he applied for a pension in Lawrence County, Kentucky in April 1833 [#25016] the name was filed as Lasley. At this time he states he is a resident of the East Fork of Little Sandy and is 72 years of age.

The following year, 16 June 1834, son John P. Lesley had a confrontation with Josiah Lambert. The Lawrence County Circuit Court record states that Lesley had received a brutal assault and beating at the hands of Lambert. Testimony was requested on his behalf by Gordon Coburn, Isaac Bolt, William Lesley, and Briant Fannin. In April 1835 John P. Lesley wrote a note " Mr. James Rice, Sir I want you to stop that suit of mine as we have compromised it. He says he will pay all costs. I do not see there would be any chance of getting any thing out of him for he is not worth twenty-five cents...John P. Lesley."

When Ruth Cleveland Leslie published her book in 1956 she wrote about the burial of the elder Revolutionary John Lesley: "No actual account of his death was discovered by this researcher but he apparently died before another payment was due in April 1842. The aforementioned source also states that he was also buried in Pike County. However, no information as to the specific burial place was learned." NSDAR applications simply state he died circa 1841. Some online submitted trees still show John Lesley with a death in Pike County.

There is no indication that John Lesley returned to Pike County after filing for a pension in Lawrence County, Kentucky. He appears on the 1840 Lawrence County, Kentucky census as J. Lasley. He appears on the 1841 tax list for Lawrence County as well but does not appear on the 1842 tax list.

Driving north from Pike County on US #23 then left on Old Route #3 past routes to Yatesville Lake is a wonderful afternoon drive. Head up #3 and turn on Bolts Fork Road on the East Fork of the Little Sandy, now Route #773 you meander past the pioneer lands of Isaac Bolt and John D. Ross and what was once Sandy Furnace. Beyond Sandy Furnace you will see Ross Chapel and Jacks Fork Road. And just a short distance more on the right you will see a charming cemetery known as Leslie Cemetery. When the first burials took place in this cemetery it was part of Lawrence County now Boyd County.

Under the shade trees in Leslie Cemetery is a weather beaten stone that is unreadable. Apparently Ruth was not aware of or could not read the stone when she wrote her publication in 1956. When a reading was done in October 1968 historian, Evelyn Jackson, created a rough map of the cemetery and marked a "?" for the old weather beaten stone directly under the tree. She returned to the cemetery again in March 1978 again leaving the stone as unidentified.

Between 1978 and July 2001 the old weathered stone was replaced to honor John Lesley who had helped protect Virginia, saw the Wabash, and traveled the pioneer creeks and hollows of Eastern Kentucky to settle and finally rest under the shade trees of Bolts Fork.

Lesley Settlement. Day Tripping Around Eastern Kentucky

compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber July 2010

July 2010 has had some perfectly beautiful sunny days just right for day trips around Eastern Kentucky.

Shelved within the library nook of Family Lineage Investigations is Ruth Cleveland Leslie's book Lesley Leslie 200 Years in America 1755-1955. So I was extremely pleased during our day trip this week to end up on John's Creek in Pike County, Kentucky and plant me feet at Lesley Settlement described so well by Ruth in her book.

The Kentucky road side marker is placed at Lesley Settlement at the corner of Hurt's Branch and while educational is not nearly as colorful or insightful as Ruth's publication. The marker tells us that Leslie/Lesley Settlement was the first permanent settlement of the Big Sandy Valley and named for Revolutionary soldier William Robert Leslie.

In the publication the author tries to visually describe the beauty of John's Creek. Standing there and spending the afternoon driving along the creek I can attest that words would never do justice to the area. Ruth Leslie states in the first paragraph "...that word which William Lesley is reported to have said when he first glimpsed the low-lying meadows: "God! What a Spot for Man to Live."

The family came from Virginia. The family consisted of William Robert Lesley, son Robert and Robert's wife Elizabeth and ten children. They erected a log home with the help of the family. William Robert Lesley was approximately 73 years old when they settled the area. Ruth writes on page 15 of her publication: "After the death of William Robert Lesley in 1802, the family of Robert and Elizabeth Compton Lesley increased to 15 children. The first log cabin was replaced by a larger one across the fields where there were more level space. More land was cleared and planted in a variety of grain and other foodstuffs..."

The Leslie/Lesley publication also gives the reader the answer as to why the historical marker was placed at the corner of Hurt's Branch Road. "After a number of years the approximately 500 acres of the original Lesley homestead was again purchased by a descendant of the first settlers. In 1889, Garland Hurt, a great grandson of Robert and Elizabeth Lesley, was married and soon thereafter brought his bride to the ancestral home. He rebuilt entirely most of the buildings which were very much run down..."

While our day trip car thermometer read in the 90's as I stepped out to take pictures, the soft breeze was refreshing and the air crisp. The overhanging trees shaded the road as we drove to Snivley Chapel.

Snivley Chapel was deeded to the church trustees in 1853 by Robert and Elizabeth's youngest son Martin Lesley who died six years later. I fell in love with this little chapel sitting by the side of the road graced by beautiful trees. The pretty little Methodist church was named for circuit minister Rev.
W. J. Snivley.

We hated to say goodbye to Lesley Settlement and the charm of John's Creek. A little further down the road we saw cattle and a donkey enjoying the refreshing coolness of the creek bed. But, it was time to head north to see what other discoveries Eastern Kentucky had to share with us.

Pike County, Kentucky War Heros

compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber 2010

Memorial weekend 2010 is now a memory and I am back at my desk with another tidbit.

The National Daughters of the American Revolution do remarkable tributes and is a society I have always held dear to my heart for all the things they do beyond being a lineage society.

May 30, 1929, The DAR dedicated a bronze tablet containing the names of sixteen Revolutionary soldiers at Pikeville in the public square. Both the National Guard and American Legion assisted the ladies at the unveiling. School children sang America the Beautiful and the address was given by A. F. Childress of the Sons of the American Revolution.

The 16 names inscribed on the tablet were:

John May
[ From NC died 1813]

Moses Stepp
[ From VA died Floyd County, KY 1856]

Joseph Ford
[From NC]

Robert Mimms
[Not on DAR nor SAR rolls at this writing.]

Rodden Hall
[Is not on DAR or SAR rolls at this writing.]

John Johnson
[From VA d 1850 Pike County, KY]

Dennis Dailey
[1820 Pension transferred from OH to Kentucky Pension Rolls is on roll 1835 listed Preble Co.]

James Jackson

Abram Potter
[From NC d 1837 Pike County, KY]

James Atkinson

James Maynard
[1850 is listed as 107 years of age in Wayne Co., VA]

Christian Trout
[Ashland paper 1929 calls him Christopher. He died 1847 Pike County, KY]

Thomas Stewart

Meredith Collins
[From VA died before 1841 Pike County, KY]

Pleasant Childress
[From NC died 1839 Pike County, KY]

William Blankenship
[From VA died before 1835 Pike County, KY]