Amos Riley Jr. and Josiah Henson, the Real "Uncle Tom"

This is an article published in the Owensboro Messenger & Examiner in 1884. It was an interview of Amos Riley Jr., son of Amos Riley and nephew of Isaac Riley, the two owners of Josiah Henson, on whom Harriet Beecher Stowe based her novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin". It's a very interesting read, and certainly has a number of differing accounts of stories than relayed in Henson's auto-biography. Who was telling the truth, and who was embellishing? It's impossible to know. I recommend Henson's auto-biography as a fascinating read and you can decide for yourself.

I descend from Amos Riley Jr.'s sister, Elton Riley, a daughter of Amos Riley Sr. She married Howard Taylor and had several children, including the A. R. Taylor mentioned in the article.

                                Reverend Josiah Henson - Source: Wikipedia

This article was transcribed by me, Nathan Vaughan Marks, on November 26th, 2012.

Owensboro Messenger & Examiner

September 10, 1884

Page 1

UNCLE TOM

___________

SI HENSON, THE ORIGINAL OF MRS. STOWE’S GREAT NOVEL

__________

An Interesting Interview With Judge Amos Riley, to Whose Family Henson Belonged—The Real Character of Little Eva’s Friend

__________

[St. Louis Post-Dispatch.] “No sir; it isn’t every one [sic] who has enjoyed the distinction of being talked about in the most exalted circles of the English nobility—by royalty itself, for that matter. Yet that is what has happened in my time, and no fault of mine, either.”

The speaker was Judge Amos Riley, of New Madrid, Mo., who is sojourning in the city for a few days with his nephew, Mr. A. R. Taylor, the attorney. In response to a suggestion that he explain himself, the judge continued:

“It is some eight or ten years ago that I received by mail a copy of the London Times containing an elaborate story of a negro named Josiah Henson who was the ruling sensation in the metropolis, and had been received by Lord Palmerton, and even the Queen, as an object of the highest interest. The secret of his attractiveness lay in the fact that he was the original of Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s world-famous “Uncle Tom.” Henson was talking pretty fluently to every one [sic] and every one [sic] was listening with the greatest interest to what he said. The Times had a long interview with him made up largely of what purports to be the story of his early life. It told of his rearing in Maryland; of his removal to Kentucky, and of a trip down the river to New Orleans, which formed the nucleus of the famous journey with St. Clair and Little Eva in “Uncle Tom.” The story was told in full detail and made a rather spirited narrative, but you will guess the extent of my interest when I tell you that I at once recognized in Henson a negro who belonged to my uncle, and whom I, myself, had known intimately for years. There could be no possible doubt about it, for my uncle’s name and my own were given in the article; and a number of anecdotes with which I was familiar were told with the greatest particularity. In short, the identification was complete. I will tell you about it:

The Judge’s hearers drew up their chairs in anticipation of a good story.

“My uncle, Isaac Riley, and his fathers before him for generations, lived in Montgomery county, Maryland. His brother Amos, my father, came West in early life, and settled in Daviess county, Kentucky, near Owensboro, or, as it was then called,

YELLOW BANKS,

on the banks of the Ohio. He sent back to his family accounts of his new home so glowing that Isaac was fired with the idea of going West himself. Accordingly, in 1826 or ’27, he got together a lot of his slaves and sent them ahead by way of the river, intending to follow with his family after awhile [sic]. He put the negroes in nominal charge of a young friend named Middleton, but the party was really under the command of Josiah, or, as he was better known, ‘Si Hensen [sic], then a strapping fellow of 28 or 30, with a wife and two or three children. Si had been my uncle’s body-servant for years, and, being a shrewd, trusty fellow, enjoyed his master’s full confidence. The party arrived at Owensboro safely and ‘Si and his family went to work on my father’s farm. Si proved himself fully deserving of the character my uncle had given him and soon came to be trusted and indulged as a favorite servant. He was a large, well-built man, who would tip the beam at 175 or so, and was remarkably powerful, especially in the arms and shoulders. Many is the time I have worked with him in the wheat field. I was about 20 years old at the time and pretty stout myself, but when I tried to keep up with Si with a cradle, I invariably got left behind. By reason of his great strength he was able to use a cradle with a blade about a foot longer than mine. He would start out with this and by cutting an enormously wide swath, walk away from me in a way that I despised. ‘Come ‘long boss;” [sic] he used to shout back at me, ‘nevah do fo’ you to git lef’ behin’!’ After ‘Si had been with us a year or more (my uncle still postponing his removal to Kentucky) my father came to me one day and said: ‘If you and ‘Si want to take this cargo of hogs down to New Orleans, I’ll give you all you can get for them over $400.’ We both jumped at the proposition, and, loading the hogs into a flatboat, were under way as soon as possible. The trip was a long one and almost without incident. I remember we got off at Memphis, and ‘Si, in prowling around the town, got into a trouble with police, out of which he extricated himself by giving leg bail, escaping with no further loss than that of a big white beaver hat of which he was very proud.

“What did New Orleans look like in 1828? Oh, I couldn't begin to tell you. I remember one thing, though. All along the levee there was a row of frame shanties covered in front with a sort of canvas booths. This was the home of ‘the tiger’ in those days. Here the gamblers most did congregate to lay for the unwary ‘up river’ man. I was walking along there one day with the proceeds of the sale of the hogs in my pocket (which, by the way, didn't pan out so as to net my father anything to speak of), intending to deposit the money in bank. But it was after banking hours, and I had to take my money back in my pocket. As I was passing in front of one of these booths, a fellow rushed out of the door, grasped my hand and expressed himself as delighted to see me. I was pretty green, but when he asked me to walk in and hold stakes on a bet which he and a friend had made, I suspected that there was something wrong. I found the ‘friend’ seated at a little table manipulating an apparatus consisting chiefly of three cups and a little ball. I have since heard the game described as ‘thimble-rigging.’ My friend kept betting and losing a dollar at a time and all the while he was urging me to go in with him to the extent of $5 or $10. I kept clear of it, however, and finally bolted out of the door on an urgent call to meet an imaginary friend. Before I got away, though, I am free to say that one of the fellows got me to change a $10 bill for him, which afterwards proved to be counterfeit.

“SI AND I WENT BACK

home and resumed our duties on the farm. Before long, however, there came a message from Maryland from my uncle, who had finally concluded not to come to Kentucky. He wanted all his negroes sold except ‘Si and his family, from whom he was unwilling to part. So my father gave ‘Si the money necessary for the trip and packed him off to Maryland with his family, which by this time was swelled by the accession of two or three more wooly heads to five or six. Some months afterwards we got another letter from my uncle, asking why ‘Si didn’t come. This question remained unanswered for a long time. It came to our ears though, after many years, that when ‘Si got as far as Cincinnati and found himself on the upper side of the Ohio river, the idea struck him that Canada was a might pleasant place to live, and, having a sum of money in his hand, he concluded to make the trip. We made inquiry, but neither I nor any member of the family ever saw the fugitive again. Nor would we ever have heard from him, perhaps, except for the article in the London Times.”

“When did Mrs. Stowe meet him?” asked one of the audience.

“I can only conjecture as to that. As I have said, ‘Si was a keen, sharp fellow, and I don’t imagine he stayed in Canada very long. He had a considerable gift of speech, and was much given to exhorting among the negroes. There was very little, as you have seen, in his real history upon which to base Mrs. Stowe’s conception of Uncle Tom, but he was sharp enough to tell a story that would sound well, and I don’t believe he would scruple to do so. I know that the yarn he told the Times reporter was full of inaccuracies, to say the least. Thus, he said that his master, meaning my uncle, was a wild, passionate man, given to sprees, and that he (‘Si) often had to tide the old gentleman over the difficulties incident to a debauch. This was pure fiction. He said, also, that my uncle sold him away, which, of course, was not so, because, if for no other reason, ‘Si didn’t give him a chance to do so. I think it likely he met Mrs. Stowe somewhere in the States, probably in Ohio, while she was getting material for her book, and told her just about such a story as she needed for her leading character. He was equal to it.”

“What was he doing in England?”

“Well, as nearly as I can make out, he went over there to lecture and ‘star’ the country with the very laudable purpose of making a living. He knew, doubtless, of the popularity of Mrs. Stowe’s book in England, and that the nature of his association with its history would be enough to bring him into prominence.”

“Where is he now?” was asked.

“I don’t know positively,” the Judge answered, “but I have been told that he died in Ohio some years ago.”

HE WOULD BE VERY OLD

if he were alive now—nearly ninety, I should should [sic].”

The judge pushed back his chair at this point and insisted that his story was over.

Judge Riley, aside from his association with the historic Henson, is himself a character of no ordinary interest. He is a well preserved old man of 75, sharp-featured, gray-bearded and keen-eyed. He talks with fluency and has an unbounded fund of anecdote covering more than a half century of varied experience. He passed through St. Louis in 1837, and after roaming over the State for some years, took up his abode in New Madrid county, where he has lived ever since. The war swept away his slave property and the greater part of a large estate. He is still the owner of 1,500 good acres, the cultivation of which he superintends in person. He sat for one term as Judge of the New Madrid county court.

Of his family, which once numbered thirteen, six still live. Of them four sons are at home on the farm. One, H. C. Riley, was chairman of the Congressional convention in the Fourteenth district, which distinguished itself by balloting 479 times without a choice. Camden Riley, another son, was killed at Mt. Dallas in Northern Georgia, while serving as colonel of the First Missouri—the famous Bowen’s—regiment. 

                                                  Judge Amos Riley Jr.

Note: I got this picture off of Ancestry.com and am not 100% sure of its origin, but I am fairly confident it originated in Godspeed's History of Southeast Missouri by Godspeed Publishing Company (1888), where biographical sketches of Amos and two of his sons are written. They can be viewed here: http://www.new-madrid.mo.us/index.aspx?NID=120

John Lafayette Vaughan: A Biography of An Oklahoma Pioneer

Originally written 13 Aug 2012

Updated 12 Feb 2020 and 27 Mar 2020

For generations in my family, it was a rumor that my great great grandfather, John Lafayette Vaughan, had some personal connections to and/or was a friend/associate of the infamous outlaw Belle Starr and her family. This bit of family lore was shared with me at a young age, and after asking my great aunt and one of her first cousins, I ended up with solid proof of this friendship/association, and after that, came into even more information.

Years ago, I met a cousin who had heard similar stories about John Vaughan being associated with Belle Starr, stories which were relayed by his grandmother, John Vaughan's daughter Lou Ona Vaughan White. But he was under the impression that certain factions of his large extended family (Lou had many children, and subsequently many grandchildren) did not believe this family legend, and thought Lou was just making it up. So I thought I would begin sharing the information I have in hopes that anyone else descended from John Lafayette Vaughan wondering about his connection to Belle Starr could find this and enjoy it as much as I have. I have since updated this information as-needed.

Originally, I had three pieces of evidence concerning John Vaughan's ties to Belle Starr: typed testimony from his daughter Lou Vaughan White, mentions of him in Glenn Shirley's Belle Starr & Her Times: The Literature, The Facts, and the Legends (1990), and a photocopy of a newspaper article published in the McAlester News-Capital titled "Death of Belle Starr Recalled", a piece by Baird Martin which was a re-telling of an article written by Charles H. Cowles some 35 years prior to the revision. Cowles had actually interviewed John Lafayette Vaughan about Belle Starr and her death. Unfortunately, my photocopy was undated, though I was able to figure out it was published about 1967-68, and Martin did not cite the date of publication for Cowles' original article, so short of sifting through every page of the news paper for two years I had no way to find the original full interview.

Fortunately, in January, 2020, a librarian at the McAlester Public Library named Christopher Elliott took the time to dig through recently-digitized issues of the McAlester News-Capital to find the original article for me. The digital version of the paper is only accessible on-site at the library, so I could not go through it myself from my residence in Michigan. But after playing with several terms in Martin's rehashed article, he located and sent me the original. I have published a full transcription of the full interview here: https://thesaltofamerica.blogspot.com/2020/03/john-lafayette-vaughan-and-belle-starr.html

Finally, a few years ago, a grandson of the aforementioned Lou Vaughan White found a tintype photo he had been looking for: a picture of John Lafayette Vaughan with Sam Starr, husband of Belle Starr. This was the strongest evidence yet of a connection between John and the Starrs-literal photographic proof. But it was still difficult to put the entire figurative picture of John and the Starr family into context without that interview, and now with all these things together, the evidence of their relationship speaks for itself.

All of this information, along with everything else I have collected on John from records and testimony from his grandchildren and other relatives by blood and marriage, has culminated in the biography of John Lafayette Vaughan which I will present here. I feel the information within it is complementary to the testimony he gives in his above-linked interview, and together they paint an interesting picture of a fascinating individual.

Biography of John Lafayette Vaughan

by Nathan Vaughan Marks

John Lafayette Vaughan was born July 19th, 1866 in Pope County, Arkansas. He was the son of Stephen Clinton Vaughan and Amanda Smith Napier. His father contracted chronic diarrhea during the Civil War, and it ailed him so badly that he was hardly able to work, and thus his family lived at near poverty-level. His grandfather, Archibald Hubbard Napier, was a well-known doctor (likely holistic doctor, rather than an MD) in the area and cared for Stephen until his death, at which time Stephen was cared for by a slew of other doctors, most notably a Henry Jones.

Amanda Smith Napier, mother of John, wife of Stephen, and later wife of Henry Jones. 

Stephen Clinton Vaughan, Missouri 8th Cavalry (USA)

John was born at a time of great strife in Pope County, Arkansas. A year prior to his birth, his uncle Captain Archibald Dodson Napier was named sheriff of Pope County at the end of the Civil War, and was subsequently murdered as the first victim of what became known as the Pope County Militia War, which essentially was a local guerrilla war fought between local Union loyalists and Southern sympathizers. The violence in the area became so intense that many families felt compelled to leave the area, including the Vaughans, who settled in Conway County, where his father died of his ailment in 1880. The next year, John and his mother left for Indian Territory, where John was largely left to his own devices, and spent time with Indians and area outlaws. His mother Amanda later became involved with and eventually married one of his father's previous doctors, Henry Jones.

Archibald Dodson Napier and his wife Mary Elizabeth Vaughan. Dodson was the brother of  John's mother Amanda and Mary was the sister of John's father Stephen. 

The information on John's early life is confirmed both by his own testimony and a brief write-up on the Vaughan family history by his daughter, Lou Vaughan White. "John Lafayett Vaughan  rode a horse into Oklahoma when he was 14 years old, he weighed 85 lbs. He lived with and around the Indians for 9 years, then he rad around with some outlaws. He rode with Belle Starr, he was sweet on her daughter, Pearl."  It is worth noting that she spelled Lafayett without an 'e' at the end as it is typically found. The family record kept by John's mother spells his name without the 'e' which may be why Lou opted to spell it that way. In nearly all other circumstances in John's life, Lafayette was spelled with an 'e' at the end.

John himself reported in a 1934 interview with the McAlester News-Capital that he was "turned loose" in Indian Territory in 1881 at the age of 15. “I could be a good boy. I could steal. I could kill. I had no school; no education. Instead of trying to study mathematics and penmanship, I studied horsemanship and gunmanship. But I always managed to keep the good will of the good people. I was born in National park in the Ozark Mountains July 19, 1866. My father was a soldier four years in the Union army and my uncle, Capt. [Napier], also. After the Civil War, my uncle was killed from the brush by a mob while he was sheriff. My father was dead. I was brought here by my widowed mother and older brothers. I rode horseback quite a bit and I practiced shooting and got to be pretty good at it. I have killed many a deer, turkey, and squirrel with a six-shooter."

This is John in his early-to-mid teens. This was probably taken about the time he arrived in Oklahoma. Courtesy of his granddaughter, Colleen Vaughan Allen.

John's associations with famed outlaws Tom Starr and Belle Starr are well-documented. He was reportedly friends with Tom's son and Belle's husband, Sam Starr, and heard the shot that killed him, and was present in the aftermath of Belle's death. From his 1934 interview: “I lived on the place of Martin Crowder, an aged Indian, 40 miles northwest of McAlester on the Canadian river five miles from Tom Starr’s home, and this aged man became very friendly with me and told me what Tom Starr had imparted to him. ... I lived there on the Crowder place and I heard the shot that killed Sam Starr. I was within a mile of the spot where he met death."

As it is in many families that descend from colorful characters, rumors and legends about John have been told for generations. Some have been debunked while others have been seemingly confirmed. One legend about John that has not been proven or disproved is that prior to his first recorded marriage, he had taken an Indian bride and had a child by her.

This is similar to an additional legend that he may be the mystery father of Pearl Starr's daughter, Flossie. In 1887, Belle sent her daughter Pearl away to have an illegitimate child she had been impregnated with, a girl named Flossie who was born in April of 1887. John would have been about 21 years old and still unmarried at this time, and he admits that Pearl was his date to a number of dances when he was a young man, so its not something that can be entirely ruled out, but also can't be proven. Per his 1934 interview: "I went to [Belle's] place lots of times and carried her and her daughter, Pearl, to dance. I carried Pearl to a good many."

Sam Starr, husband of Belle and son of Tom, on left. John L. Vaughan on right. Courtesy of Jerry White. 

Likewise, no record of this supposed Native child has ever been established. But the legend contends that in the 1980s, John's daughter Lou received a phone call from a woman claiming to be a long-lost half-sister by John's relationship with her Indian mother. The caller's name is not known today. Stoking the fires of this legend is a newspaper clipping saved by descendants of the Lou White family that some believe could be a clue to this mystery child. On 11 Sep 1988, a letter to the editor of the McAlester News-Capital included the following tidbit:  "My mother is approaching 90 years and certainly qualifies of at least respectful attention. Having been borned of an Indian mother and a red-headed, blue eyed father, who, by virtue of having been raised by the Indians bears a Cherokee roll number. Her papers claim she was born north and east of Scipio." 

Now John Vaughan certainly does not have a roll number, but he was red-headed, blue-eyed, and lived northeast of Scipio in Ulan 90 years before this letter's publication. He also resided with Indians as a teenager and young man. How many people in that vicinity could meet all that criteria? Not very many, but the letter-writer and his mother's origins remain a mystery. It was signed "Wakana Hanunwau". It is apparently and Indian or even Hawaiian name, but records for a person with this name have not been located, nor has any substantive evidence of a long-lost child of John Vaughan. Some legends are destined to remain so.

John in his early-to-mid 20's. This is likely what he looked like at the time of Belle Starr's death. Courtesy of Colleen Vaughan Allen.

John married Sarah Ann "Eva" McCarty on July 9th, 1892 near Scipio; she bore him two children, Mattie Mae in 1892 and William Riley in  1895. (My research concerning her mysterious parentage can be found here: http://thesaltofamerica.blogspot.com/2017/08/using-dna-to-solve-family-mystery-sarah.html.) When Eva went into labor with their third child, John left to get help, and returned to find her and the newborn dead. By this time, most of his family had moved to Oklahoma as well; his brother Stephen died at Whitefield in 1885 and his mother Amanda near Thurman in 1891, and his brother Archibald settled nearby him in the Scipio area while his brother Thomas settled in McIntosh County.

Grave of Stephen Barnabas Vaughan, brother of John, at Whitefield Cemetery. Died 1885. 

It was while visiting his brother Thomas that he met his brother's sister-in-law, Leona Waller. "[John] and Leona met and fell in love over the breakfast table the first day Leona was in [Oklahoma]. Leona was engaged to a boy named Wells in Arkansas. [John] and Leona ran away to get married, they swam the Canadian River on horseback, they were married at Hullowe, near Scipio [Note: There was a town named Hullowe in Pittsburg County, but they were actually married in Indianola, however, the minister who married them was named Hugh Low, which is probably what led to the confusion]." (Source: Family History by Lou Vaughan White) They were married on February 23rd, 1898.

Further rumors about John revolved around his association with various outlaw gangs, supposedly including the Dalton gang. No one was sure exactly what the extent of his relationship with these groups might have been. Some have been adamant that he never participated in illegal activities, while others are certain that he did. There are several John Vaughans who were arrested and tried (and some sent to jail) in Fort Smith, Arkansas from 1880 to 1900 for various illegal activities in Indian Territory and northwestern Arkansas, but it has not been confirmed whether any of these John Vaughans were John Lafayette Vaughan or not. However, even beyond his own assertions of his connections to Belle Starr and her crowd, there is documentation of his presence in the aftermath of her death.

In 1990, Glenn Shirley and the University of Oklahoma Press published Belle Starr & Her Times: The Literature, The Facts, and the Legends. Much of the information concerning Belle Starr's death stemmed from witness accounts of various neighbors of Starr, and residents of the surrounding area where she was murdered. John, who went by "Fayette" or "Fate" as a shortening of his middle name Lafayette, was mentioned by name in the testimonies of three individuals.

p. 237: Alice (Mrs. Joseph) Tate, who lived a mile from the ambush scene and a half mile from Edgar Watson, heard two guns [shots] in the evening about half an hour by sun. "My husband & Billy England were standing out back of house talking when guns fired. Ben Statham came to our house about dark & told us, & me & my husband & Fayette Vaughn & Billy England went down from our house."

p. 237-238: Ray England, who lived two miles from the White place and a half a mile from Watson, was well acquainted with Belle but he had not seen her for a month until "I seen her dead at Alf White's. Fayette Vaughn on the 3rd day of February 1889 at after dark came to my house to let me know she had been killed and wanted the neighbors to go & take care of her.."

p. 239: Turner England also received news of the killing Monday morning: "Fayette Vaughn brought me word...I went over there...seen blood in road, seen tracks of man I thought done shooting..."

These short excerpts do not give a lot of information as to the extent of Vaughan's relationship to Starr, but they still help flesh out his involvement in the scenes after her death and corroborate the statements in his interview to an extent, though it should be noted that these neighbors claim the shooting occurred in the early evening, while Vaughan said it took place at 2:00 in the afternoon.

John divulged several interesting details about what led to Belle's death and his involvement in the aftermath of it in his 1934 interview. He reported that Belle's son got mixed up into some horse-stealing because of a neighbor by the man of Edgar Watson. Belle threatened to have Watson prosecuted for getting her son into trouble, and he vowed to kill her. Though historical authorities today contend that Belle Starr's killer is unknown and unproven, John insists that it was Watson. After her killing, he reports that he and some other associates investigated the scene of the crime themselves and he shared his conclusions.

"There was brush along the fence for quite a ways and there was an open place in the rail fence. Where the brush stopped there was a small walnut tree on the inside of the fence. That is where Watson hid. He let her pass him and then fired on her. I could see the place where she was shot as the horse stove his feet into the ground there. Three buckshot ranged from her shoulder to her heart. She stuck to the horse about 30 or 40 feet. Then there were the tracks. I could see where he had jumped the fence. She rode sideways all the time. I never saw her without a nice dress. She fell on her right shoulder and arm. There were the tracks where he ran up and shot her in the side of the face with a load of fine shot. She was not dead then, for she had raised her hand to protect her face. He shot the ring from her left ear and we never could find it.

We sat up with the body that night. In the morning, when it was good and light, I looked over the ground. There was shotgun paper all over the tracks of the horse where they stove in."

John also reported being directly involved in Belle's burial proceedings and present at her funeral: "Another man and I dug the grave, three feet, and then others came and helped finish it. She was buried in a nice wooden coffin and a walnut box to set it in. The lumber was taken from the house in which I lived. Edgar Watson had the nerve to attend the funeral and help throw dirt on the coffin. He went in the house and came out with a coat and I thought he had an ashen color to his face."

The Starrs were not the only people on society's fringes with whom John is purported to have been rubbing elbows. Several years ago John's granddaughter Dale Vaughan Sitter was working as a nurse in McAlester when she got to talking with a patient. When he found out she was a Vaughan from the Ulan area, he reported remembering her grandfather. He said that John acquired some of his land from an Indian outlaw named "Natchabull". Further research indicated the man was referring to Allen Narchubby, who was more of an extremist than an outlaw.

Allan Archibald AKA Allen Narchubby was a member of an extremist Choctaw faction called Snake Indians. Per Dr. Kenny Brown, "The Snake Indians were traditionalists who were against land allotments. Allen Archibald was a traditionalist Choctaw who had joined the much-noted Snake Indian movement, refused to take allotment, came under arrest for his activities, and died in jail after suffering the humiliation of having his hair shorn." The story from the aforementioned stranger to Dale Vaughan was that John was present when the authorities came to take him to jail and supposedly signed paperwork giving the rights to his allotment to him, but since Archibald refused to take allotment, the story did not make very much sense.

Documentation provided by Dr. Brown, however, proves that John rented land (most likely farmland) from Allen Archibald, and then from his son Smedlow after Allen's death even though he was just a young boy; Dr. Brown posits that since Allen's wife was Creek on Choctaw land, John could not rent from her. As a white man, John could not own land at this time and had to rent from a Native. A possible translation of the story from the stranger combined with the known facts could be that Allen told John he could buy his land from him, and perhaps John did buy the land once white men were able to purchase Indian land in the Indian Territory. Dr. Brown cites Choctaw Nation Records, Bound Volume #425, Tobucksy County Permits and Licenses, 1899-1905 for the four images of permits between John L. Vaughan and the Archibald men over a four year period.

Dr. Brown reports that once Archibald was arrested and later perished, he "left behind two Muskogee Creek widows who came from the nearby Creek Nation. They also soon died, leaving several parent-less children who were eventually rounded up and sent to an orphanage." Before Archibald's children were rounded up, the federal government sent an Indian Agent to the area where John was living to investigate reports of Archibald's children running wild without care or supervision: Josanna, age 15, Smedlow, age 10-11, twins Cain and Abel, age 8, and a girl called "Etta", "Adda", or "Belle", about age 4. All but the youngest girl were Archibald's children; "Etta" was born after Archibald's death in 1898, reportedly an illegitimate child of Archibald's widow and an unknown white man. The children were occasionally looked after by an older sister, Elsie, age 17, but she came and went and often left them alone for long periods.

Children of Allen Archibald. Cain, Abel, Etta, Smedlow. Taken at The Murrow Indian Orphan’s Home. Courtesy of The Baptist Home Mission Monthly, Volumes 30-31 via Google Books. 

Benjamin Mossman, Esq., came from Muskogee in May 1908 to Indianola. A Mr. Herstein had reported his concerns over the unsupervised children, and Herstein took Mossman to "J. D. Vayghan", whose name he later spells as Vaughan. There were no other Vaughans near Indianola at this time, and Dr. Brown believes Mossman was referring to J. L. Vaughan. Mossman reported that Vaughan "has lived in that part for fifteen years and speaks both Choctaw and Creek. He took us, by boat, two miles up a river or creek then two miles on foot along trails and through forest to a one roomed log hoval [sic] where what remains of the Allen Archibald family exist."

Mossman continued: "The roof is open with holes and the chinks between the logs are mostly gaping. The floor is of earth. There are no beds, but piles of some sort of rag-looking stuff and parts of blankets on the ground serve as such. ... There is no one to care for this little brood unless Elsie can be credited with that office. She is reported to have "gone wrong" and frequently absents herself for days or weeks." Archibald had married a woman unable to have children, so he married her sister as well who bore him his children. Both died in the years following his death and no one took responsibility for the children until Mr. Mossman intervened at this time.

Mossman posited that perhaps Judge George W. Choate, who lived nearby, might accept guardianship of the children. Further, he reported: "Mr. Vaughan stated to me that he would willingly adopt Etta if she were given him by the courts." But neither of these scenarios played out, and all the children were sent to an orphanage for Indian children.

John in his late-20's-to-early-30's. Courtesy of Colleen Vaughan Allen.

John and his second wife Leona went on to be parents of seven children, six of whom lived to adulthood. Their first, Early Coatner Vaughan, died in 1907 at the age of 8, and was buried next to John's first wife Eva, their newborn baby, and John's brother Archibald in Choate Prairie Cemetery near Ulan. The others were, in order: Sampson Lafayette, Lou Ona, John Dodson, Charles Teddy, Nicey Jewell, and Dewey Miles. After giving birth to Nicey in 1909, Leona became very ill; it took her years to recover. When she finally had, she became pregnant with Dewey. Giving birth to Dewey nearly killed her; she apparently actually died momentarily after his birth before being resuscitated.

Leona Waller Vaughan with Sampson on her lap and Early Coatner to her side. Only known photo of Coatner, who died at age 8. 

John and his family, circa 1909. John is in the middle next to his wife, Leona Aden Waller. In the back are his children from his first marriage, Mattie Mae and William Riley "Bill" Vaughan. To his right are his sons Sampson Lafayette and John Dodson Vaughan. To his left is his daughter Lou Ona Vaughan, and on Leona's lap is his son Charles Teddy Vaughan.

Leona was never the same after that. She was able to nurse Dewey, but was unable to hold him during, so Lou would. She was able to cook for the family, but unable to do any lifting or major housework. In 1919, she was diagnosed with Pellagra, a devastating disease most common in 3rd world countries, typically caused by a vitamin deficiency; it can lead to a plethora of serious side effects, including but not limited to skin lesions, insomnia, weakness, sensitivity to sunlight, mental confusion, and eventually dementia. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pellagra). The doctors decided to try and cure her by cleansing her system with vials of rattlesnake venom. Her screams of agony proving too much to bear, John left the house mid-treatment to go down to the Scipio Creek to pray. When he returned, he found she had died on the second-to-last vial of venom with Lou by her side.

Another hardship befell the Vaughan family not long before Leona's death. John's oldest son, Bill, had married and had John's first grandchild, a little girl named Essie. John was reportedly very taken with the little baby. But she died, at apparently less than a year in age, and was buried out at Choate Prairie where John's first wife, two children, and brother also lie. His granddaughter Sharon White recalls being told that after Essie's death, John vowed not to allow himself to get too attached or close with any other grandchildren because the loss had effected him so deeply he could not bear another one.

Always looked to by his family, John persevered and led them through these hardships. He re-married in 1920 to Florence Bell Lytle, and continued to work on the farm, which he purchased with pension money he received for his father's Civil War service. He drew that pension from the time he was 14 until he was 21, and used the money to purchase his home near Ulan, Oklahoma; a small portion of the oil rights that land garnered remains in the Vaughan family to this day. He spent much time with his grandchildren, who all viewed him with awe and admiration.

Around the same time or shortly after his marriage to Florence, John was named one of two judges in Scipio Township. He presided over the Union Prairie precinct within the township, which later became Ulan. He would have heard only minor local cases. He held court in the Union Prairie/Ulan schoolhouse. His court clerks were J. P. Grantham and W. T. Rye.

Ulan/Union Prairie School, 1926. 

In addition to his own children and grandchildren, John took on the responsibility of raising step-children and other children who did not belong to him. When they married in 1920, Florence brought to John's home a 17-year old son, Raymond, 14-year old daughter Vertie, 11-year old daughter Clara, and 35-year old Maude, who was disabled. He helped care for Maude until her passing in 1932, and also regularly took in Florence's children and grandchildren when the need arose. In addition, school census records show that John was the guardian of Zular Westmoreland in 1926-1927. Zular was a son of Fannie Waller, a deceased sister of John's deceased wife, Leona. So even though he shared no blood with Zular, he took him in and had him in school for at least two years.

John Lafayette Vaughan circa 1920 with a jar of moonshine.

John's inclination to take in both Zular Westmoreland, and before that little Etta Archibald, in addition to his children and step-children is a testament to his nature. There have been conflicting reports in the family about John Vaughan's personality and character. His granddaughter Glenda reported that she was told John was a hard, mean, cruel man. Other grandchildren, including those who met him as children, reported him to be kind, doting, and of a cheerful disposition. As with anyone, perceptions of him surely varied based on the eye of the beholder, but most parties describe John as a compassionate, family-oriented man. His willingness to take in children that do not belong to him seemingly supports that illustration of the man.

John Lafayette Vaughan circa 1930. Note his earrings and the pistol strapped to his side, for which he well-known among his grandchildren.

The aforementioned Kenny Brown was the son of Leona Dickens Brown, a neighbor of the Vaughans who grew up in their area. Late in life she wrote a memoir about her childhood home and the people she knew, and she wrote of John Vaughan:

"There was another family who lived on Scipio Creek, northwest of Ulan. Their name was Vaughan. Where Mr. Lafayette Vaughan came from I never heard, but he was a good friend of Grandpa Dickens and my father. He was red headed, had a handle bar mustache, wore gold rings in his ears, a red bandanna handkerchief around his neck, and a big black stand up crown black hat."

At one time he said he rode with Belle Starr and her gang. Anyway, he knew some of them. He always said that he heard the shot that killed Belle Starr. My father always said that Mr. Vaughan (they called him Fayette) was superstitious. He always believed in stories about black cats and whipperwills singing or calling close to the house.

Mr. Vaughan had a good house or home, and we never knew how he managed to have a good place, land, and buildings. I remember he had a big pond and kept ducks. He had a big garden spot and an orchard, also a big yard with big trees. He usually celebrated his birthday by having a big crowd around, drinking and playing marbles, then a dance at night.

He had been married three times; his first and second wives died. By his first wife he had two children, a son, Bill, and a daughter, Mattie. ... My parents knew the second Mrs. Vaughan, and they liked her a lot. She and Mr. Vaughan had several kids--Sampson, Lou, Charlie, Nicie, and Dewey. We called Dewey "Cutter." Then after the second Mrs. Vaughan died, he married a widow that he had known for a long time. She lived at Blocker, and she had several kids. Her name was Autrey. 

John L. Vaughan and his third wife, Florence, with their Model T Ford. 

... The third Mrs. Vaughan was a short and heavy woman. Mr. Vaughan had a Model T Ford. He and Cutter would ride in the front seat, and she would ride in the back. I think he had the first car in the country around Ulan. People traveling in wagons would have to get a way out to the side of the road whenever they met Mr. Vaughan, for the teams to the wagons would get frightened and run away."

Lou Vaughan, John L. Vaughan, and Ola Autrey. 

In 1937, his son John Dodson Vaughan came down with pneumonia, and died at his home, leaving behind a widow and three children. His death proved too much to bear for John. He was always the prototypical male role-model: strong and invincible, feared and admired; devout, stern, fair, and kind. He was not a man easily shaken. But after having buried two wives and two children on top of all the other losses he had suffered throughout his lifetime, the loss of his beloved son John Dodson Vaughan finally broke him. He had to be carried out of the funeral.

This is a picture of John Lafayette's son, John Dodson Vaughan. This picture is noteworthy because the 30/30 Winchester rifle John is holding belonged to his father, as did the 1897 Model Winchester Shotgun leaning up against the house to the left of the dog. When John Lafayette died in 1944, his pistol was passed down to his grandson J.L. White, the 30/30 to his son-in-law Tony White, and his shotgun to his son Sampson Vaughan. 

After his son died, John saw to it that his fatherless grandchildren were well-taken care of. They would often walk to his farm to hear him to tell his stories for hours, some of which were so scary that Dewey would have to walk them home afterword. John's daughter Colleen had vivid memories of him and his kindness, including one night when they stayed at his home during a thunderstorm, and John comforted her when she was afraid of the lightning. He was a soft-spoken man, but one whose presence filled any room he was in, and a man who was immeasurably cherished by his family. He died September 20th, 1944 and was buried next to Leona in Ulan Cemetery.

McAlester News-Capital - 21 Sep 1944 - Page 2

J. L. Vaughan, of Ulan, passed away last night after a short illness. He had resided in this vicinity for the past 50 years.

Mr. Vaughan was born July 19, 1866, in Arkansas.

He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Florence Vaughan, three daughters and four sons. These are Mrs. Mattie Smith of McAlester, Mrs. Lou White, Detroit, Mich., Mrs. Nicie [Ross], Bakersfield, Calif., Willie Vaughan, Wewoka, S. L. Vaughan, McAlester, Charlie Vaughan and Dewey Vaughan, both of Ulan. There are also several grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements, not yet complete, will be announced later by Humphreys who have charge. 

Left to right: Charles Teddy Vaughan, Nicey Jewell Vaughan, John Lafayette Vaughan, Dewey Miles Vaughan, Lou Ona Vaughan, and Sampson Lafayette Vaughan. Taken circa 1940.

John Lafayette Vaughan in the late-1930's-to-early-1940's.

This is the Colt .45 pistol that belonged to John Lafayette Vaughan. He kept it at his side always, though none knew why with certainty. Most believe he was worried someone might come for him one day either because of something he knew or something he'd done, and he would have had to take care of them.

John Vaughan family in front of their home near Ulan, year unknown. John to the right. 

Gathering of Vaughan and Kelton families, late 1920s/early 1930s. John left and to the middle with his famous hat and mustache. 

John second from the left with various children and in-laws, likely in the mid-to-late 1930s. 

John Vaughan family in front of their home, year unknown. John in middle with rifle. Courtesy of Jerry White. 

Genealogy Books/Look-ups

I was sorting through my genealogy book collection today, putting some away that I don't use very often, and decided I should make a list of the books I have so if anyone else is looking for these books and would like an a quick, easy look-up, I could provide that to them. I don't have an exceedingly large collection by any means, but I have some pretty solid reference books that have assisted me many times in my genealogy research and which may help others.

If someone comes across this post through searching online for a certain book and would like me to perform a look-up for them, please contact me.

These are in no particular order, just the order they are in on my shelf. Besides what is listed, I also have solid collections of books on Arkansas Civil War battles, Stand Watie and Cherokee Indians during the Civil War, the Dalton gang, and Kentucky feuds.

1. "The 9th Missouri Infantry C.S.A. & The 12th Missouri Infantry" by Jerr Ponder. 1996 - Ponder Books
2. "Pioneers of Eastern Kentucky, Their Feuds & Settlements" by Bernice Calmes Caudill. 1969 - Self-published
3. "Dr. Patrick Napier of Virginia and Related Families" by Vava Knepp. 1988 - Self-published
4. "Venne In America" by Udo Thorner. 2008 - Arbeitskreis Familienforschung Osnabruck e.V.
5. "Jacob Wolf - The Mansion & the Man" - by Bill D. Blevins. 1982 - Twin Lakes Printing and Publishing Co.
6. "Perry County, Kentucky - A History" Compiled by Eunice Tolbert Johnson. Written and Published by Hazard, kentucky Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution
7. "Early Osbornes & Alleys" by Rita K. Sutton. 1978 - Historical Society of Southwest Virginia
8. "Clay County Family Roots & Beyond - Vols. 5A and 5B (Jacob and Mary Eversole)" by James E. Welch Sr. Welch Books.
9. "History of the Thirty-first Arkansas Confederate Infantry" by Ronald R. Bass. 1996 - Arkansas Research
10. "History of the Twenty-seventh Arkansas Confederate Infantry" by Silas C. Turnbo, edited by Desmond Walls Allen. 1993 - Arkansas Research
11. "The Fourteenth Arkansas Confederate Infantry" by Desmond Walls Allen. 1988 - Arkansas Research
12. "Andrew Meade of Ireland & Virginia" by Patrick Hamilton Baskerville. 1921 - Old Dominion Press
13. "Early Charles County Maryland Settlers 1658-1745" by Marlene Strawser Bates and F. Edward Wright. 1995 - Family Line Publications
14. "The Centenary of Catholicity in Kentucky" by Hon. Ben J. Webb. 1884 - McDowell Publications
15. "Legends of Loudoun Valley" by Joseph V. Nichols. 1961 - Self-published
16. "History of Baxter County - Centennial Edition 1873-1973" by Mary Ann Messick. 1973 - Mountain Home Chamber of Commerce
17. "Grayson County: A History in Words and Pictures" Compiled and edited by Bettye-Lou Fields, 1976 - Grayson County Historical Society
18. "Gathering Leaves" by D.M. DeBacker. 2008 - Self-published
19. "Mills, Frazier, and Allied Families" by Margaret Mills Frazier. 1979 - Self-published
20. "In The Saddle With The Texans: Day-By-Day With Parson's Cavalry Brigade, 1862-1865" Edited by Anne J. Bailey. 2004 - McWhiney Foundation Press
21. "Between the Enemy and Texas: Parsons's Texas Cavalry in the Civil War" by Anne J. Bailey. 1989 - Texas Christian University Press
22. "Our Kin - The Jeter Family of Virginia" by Mary Denham Ackerly and Lula Eastman Jeter Parker.
23. "The Eversole Families In America - 1727-1937" Compiled by Reverend Charles E. Ebersol. 1937 - Franklin Dekleine Co.
24. "Williford and Allied Families" by William Bailey Williford. 1961 - Self-published
25. "The Joseph Hunter and Related Families" by Stephen, Ben, and Mary Amanda Medley Hunter. Edited by Felix Eugene Snider. 1959 - Ramfre Press
26. "The Wilford-Williford Family Treks Into America, Part 1" by Eurie Pearl Wilford Neel. 1959 - Self-published
27. "The Ancestors and Descendants of Samuel Jones and Celia Creech of Mouth of Wilson, Grayson County, Virginia" Compiled by Scott C. Jones. 1998 - Self-published
28. "John Templeton of Iredell Co., N.C. and Related Families of Handly, Marks, Folk, Pilcher, Colyar, Bate, and Beall" by Jay Norwalk. 1997 - Self-published
29. "The Shackelford Family - Its English and American Origins, And Some of Its Branches" 0 by Robert B. Shackelford. 1940 - Self-published
30. "Reverend John Marks 1716-1788 - His Descendants & Relating Families" Complied by Doris "Mickey" Hoover Colombatto. 1997 - Self-published
31. "The Ancestors and Descendants of Jacob Wilhoit, 1751 - 1821" Compiled by Jacob William Wilhoite, Sr. and Delle Faye Wilhoite. 1991 - Self-published
32. "The Ancestors and Descendants of Jacob Wilhoit, 1751 - 1831 - Volume II" Compiled by Jacob William Wilhoite, Sr. and Della Faye Wilhoute. 2001 - Self-published
33. "Tidewater Virginia Families" by Virginia Lee Hutcheson Davis. 1989 - Genealogical Publishing Company
34. "The Jeter Mosaic - Seven Centuries In the History of a Family" by Grata Jeter Clark. 1987 - Arcadia-Clark, Inc.
35. "The Descendants of Michael Holt" by Mrs. Arch Bruce Marshall (Maudie Marie Holt). 1967 - Self-published
36. "Bonham - 1631-1908" by Dr. Emmet L. Smith. Self-published.
37. "Origins of Clements-Spalding and Allied Families of Maryland and Kentucky" by J.W.S. Clements. 1928 - Self-published
38. "Genealogy and Some Descendants of Edward Fuller of the Mayflower" by William Hyslop Fuller. 1908 - Self-published
39. "Taylor, Hager, and Related Families" by Clara Sesler Genther. 1984 - Self-published
40. "Soaking the Yule Log - Biographical Sketches of the Brown, Cheshier, Sain, and Allied Families 1749 - 1995" by Katie Brown Bennett. 1995 - The Anundsen Publishing Company
41. "Richard Fancher (1700-1764) of Morris County, New Jersey - Richard Fancher's Descendants 1764-1992 - Fancher-Fansher-Fanchier-Fanshier" by Paul Buford Fancher. 1993 - Self-published
42. "The Powell Families of Virginia and the South" by Reverend Silas Emmett Lucas Jr. 1977 - Self-published
43. "The Colonial Riley Families of the Tidewater Frontier, Vols. I & II" by Robert Shean Riley. 1999 - Gregath Publishing Co.
44. "Imprints: 1608-1980 Hamilton, Allied Families" by Sister Mary Louise Donnelly. 1980 - Self-published

You'll find my e-mail address on the right of this page under my "About Me". Please try to make look-up requests as specific as possible.

The Radfords of North Carolina and Kentucky & The Parentage of Jesse Radford

Many people make the mistake of merging their trees with other Ancestry.com trees. Most do it without a second thought; some of the more experienced researchers at least look at their information, see if it fits and makes sense before merging. A good researcher doesn't merge at all, but uses someone else's information as a starting point, and then determining themselves through their own research if the information fits.

When I first joined Ancestry.com, I was certainly a part of that first group. Since that time, I've deleted hundreds and hundreds of people from my tree that I'm not related to all because I merged with others' trees without doing my own research. Gradually, I evolved into the second kind, where I would look at other peoples' information, make sure it made sense and that at least the circumstantial evidence was present. Finally in the last year or so I've evolved into the final kind of researcher. Since becoming the kind of researcher who does his own research and only uses others' work as a starting point, I've made some pretty cool discoveries. One of my best discoveries so far was one that I made last night.

One of my 4th great grandfathers was a man named Jesse Radford. I've written about him on my blog a couple of times previously already. He was born in Kentucky, fought in the Civil War, married first Grace Holland, married second Sally Eversole; he also had a mistress named Mary Bowling with whom he had several children, and eventually he died in Madison County, Arkansas in 1919 after becoming the father of at least 26 children that I have identified (http://thesaltofamerica.blogspot.com/2012/06/family-of-jesse-radford-of-kentucky-and.html). Up until last night, I thought I knew that Jesse's parents were John Radford and Stacy Hornsby, but after some in-depth research last night, I believe I have found his actual parents (well, his actual father anyway).

My discovery differs from all trees I've found online to this point. Specifically, I have found:

8 trees on Ancestry.com which list his parents as John Radford and Stacy Hornsby/Stacy Hornsby/Stacy Unknown
13 trees on Ancestry.com which list no parents for him at all
3 trees on Rootsweb which list his parents as John and Stacy
16 trees on Rootsweb which list no parents for him at all

There are also a number of message board posts and online trees found through Google which list his parents as John Radford and Stacy Hornsby.

I believe, however, I can provide enough information to convince anyone who reads this article that it is is much more likely that Jesse is the son of another Radford from the Clay County area. I'm going to start with reviewing the facts about John Radford and Stacy Hornsby:

John Radford was born about 1813 in Buncombe County, North Carolina. There is a faction of Radford's from this area of North Carolina (Buncombe County, Yancey County, and Madison County) who migrated there from Virginia. Several of these Radford's, as well as dozens of other families, migrated from North Carolina to eastern Kentucky in the 1830's, '40's, and '50's.

John Radford is found in the 1800 Census in Buncombe County, North Carolina with his wife and a family of 4 boys. He is found still residing in Buncombe County in the 1810 and 1820 Censuses. In 1810, it appears his sons Richard and Jesse are still living with him, which is why they don't appear in the census and he still has 2 boys 16-25 in his household; he and Joseph are on page 10, while John Jr. is on page 31. In 1820, he, Richard, and Jesse are all on page 16 of the Census, and John Jr. is 2 pages away on page 14. John Sr. is not found after 1820. However, a 70-79 year old woman, and an 80-89 year old woman can be found in the households of Jesse Radford in the 1830 and 1840 Censuses, respectively; the woman is almost certainly either Jesse's mother (John Sr.'s wife) or his mother-in-law. I believe his four identified sons are:

1. John Radford Jr. (born about 1781 in Virginia) - Found in the 1810, 1820, and 1830 Censuses in Buncombe County; Found in the 1840 and 1850 Censuses in Yancey County; Will filed in Madison County in 1852. In 1850 Census, his wife appears to be a Nancy, also from Virginia. Many have assumed she and John are the John Radford and Nancy Crawford who were married in Franklin County, VA in 1799, but since John appears to be in his father's household in 1800 and still single, I believe that is a different John and Nancy. Many online trees have also assumed that this John Radford is the father of the John Radford who married Stacy Hornsby. According to his will, John Jr. did have a son named John, but I believe his son John is the John Radford found in Buncombe County in the 1840 and 1850 Censuses, who was born about 1815 in North Carolina. Nothing in John Jr.'s or his wife Nancy's wills indicate that any of their children, including their son John, had moved to Kentucky. Also, the John of Buncombe County's family also moved to Madison County, NC, which is where John Jr. and and his wife Nancy had moved and where there wills are filed in 1852 and 1853, respectively.

2. Joseph Radford (born between 1780 and 1790 in Virginia) - He is found in 1810 Census in Buncombe County. He is listed as age 16-25 with 2 sons under 10 and a wife. He is 6 households away from John Sr. He is not found after this Census. Since no female Radford head of household is found in the area in 1820, it's likely either Joseph died and his wife remarried, or they moved out of the area.

3. Jesse Radford (born about 1790 in Virginia) - Jesse's Census records more or less follow the pattern of his brothers and father. He is in Buncombe County in 1820 and 1830, and in Yancey County in 1840 and 1850. I believe Jesse is the father of John Radford who moved to Clay County and married Stacy Hornsby. This is based on the family lore that Jesse had a son named John, and that John and Stacy named their first son Thomas after Stacy's father Thomas Hornsby, and named their second son Jesse, presumably after John's father. While that's not a lot to go by necessarily, since John Jr. is almost certainly not the father of the John Radford, husband of Stacy Hornsby, and depending on when Joseph died or moved away, he is most likely not the son of Joseph, that leaves Jesse and Richard as potential candidates. [For those wondering how we know if the John Radford of Clay County and later Hancock County is connected to the Owsley and Jackson County, KY Radford's, look no further than the fact that the Hornsby family which John married into also migrated from Buncombe County, NC.] While it is certainly possible that Richard is the father of John, especially since they both migrated from Buncombe/Yancey to Clay/Owsley, the fact that John's second son was named Jesse, and it does not appear he ever named a son Richard, leads me to lean toward Jesse as the likely father, while still leaving open the possibility that it is Richard. More research would be needed to reach any solid conclusion.

4. Richard Radford (born about 1792 in Virginia) - One of the first things I found while digging for Richard was a claim that he married Mary Ward in Wayne County, Kentucky on 21 Nov 1811. I thought this was preposterous because Richard is clearly in the 1820, 1830, and 1840 Censuses in North Carolina. Yes, in the 1850 Census he is married to a Mary, but that doesn't make her Mary Ward; I figured it could easily have been 2 different Richard Radford's. However, I then found Mary's death record in Owsley County, Kentucky, where she died on 2 Jul 1856, and wouldn't you know it? Her parents are listed as John and Canady Ward. (According to this tree, it should be John Ward and Nancy Cannaday: http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/m/c/n/Barbara-Mcnamer/GENE3-0008.html) Isn't that something? Now, why Richard went from living with his parents in the 1810 Census in North Carolina, to Wayne County, Kentucky by November of 1811, and back to North Carolina by the 1820 Census (living next door to his parents) is a complete and total mystery to me at this point, one that hopefully someday I'll figure out.

Richard can be found in the 1820 and 1830 Censuses in Buncombe County, 1840 in Yancey, 1850 in Owsley County, Kentucky, and 1860, 1870, and 1880 in Jackson County, Kentucky. Richard's son, Nathaniel, is living 3 households away in Owsley County in 1850 [There are 4 Radford households listed in a row, Richard's being the first, and Nathaniel's being the last.] Nathaniel will be discussed further in this article.

Now back to John Radford (b. 1813) who married Stacy Hornsby on 16 Jan 1834 in Clay County, Kentucky. As previously mentioned, he was probably the son of Jesse Radford (b. 1790), but could certainly be a son of Richard (b. 1792). He is found in the 1840 Census in Clay County, Kentucky [It should be noted he is next door to a Hensley, and 2 households from another Hensley. This is relevant because Grace Holland, the first wife of the main subject of this piece Jesse Radford, was a daughter of a Hensley. John's close proximity to these Hensley families is a mark in his favor as potentially being Jesse's father.] In 1850, John and Stacy can again be found in Clay County. There household includes children:

Thomas (b. 1836 in KY)
Martha (b. 1838 in KY)
Elizabeth (b. 1840 in KY) [Married Thomas Hornsby on 30 Oct 1856 in Clay County, Kentucky. He was either Stacy's brother or nephew. He appears in her father Thomas Hornsby's household in 1850, but it is unclear if Thomas is his father or grandfather considering his age.]
Jesse (b. 1842 in KY)
Joseph (b. 1844 in KY)
Jacob (b. 1849 in KY)

This Jesse is who many have assumed is "our" Jesse. What apparently has not been taken into account is that by 1860, John, Stacy, and their children, including their son Jesse, had moved to about 250 miles away from Clay County to Hancock County. This Census includes the previously listed children, Jesse, Joseph, and Jacob, plus children Daniel (b. 1852 in KY), Robert (b. 1854 in KY), and a female "C. Radford", b. 1858 in KY.

Strangely, I have never been able to locate any of the children of John and Stacy Hornsby Radford in Census records ever again after that 1860 Census. They could have gone off the grid; they could have died from a Civil War-related cause. It's really hard to say, but the fact that none of John and Stacy's children ever re-appear after 1860 seems to lead to the conclusion that something happened to the family. I don't think that if "our" Jesse were "this" Jesse that he would be the only one of his siblings to ever re-emerge after the 1860 Census, and all the way 250 miles back from Hancock County where he is in 1860 to where he was prior to that, in Clay County.

"Our" Jesse Radford enlisted in the 8th Kentucky Infantry on November 13th, 1861 in Manchester [Clay County], Kentucky. For the Hancock County Jesse to be this Jesse he would have had to have moved 250 miles away back to Clay County where he would have had little family other than some extended cousins. So who could this Jesse Radford, "our" Jesse Radford, be?

Now we come back to the aforementioned Nathaniel Radford, son of Richard Radford (b. 1792). Nathaniel first appears in the 1840 Census in Clay County, Kentucky; he is a few pages away on the Census from John Radford and Stacy Hornsby. He appears in 1850 as an apparent widower in Owsley County, Kentucky, with the following children:

Richard (b. 1836 in NC)
Fanney (b. 1837 in NC)
Elizabeth (b. 1839 in NC) [Married Thomas Hensley on 8 Oct 1856 in Clay County. He was most likely a son of Robert Hensley, who was most likely a son of James Hensley, which most likely makes him a cousin of Grace Holland, Jesse's first wife, because her mother Margaret is most likely a daughter of James. I use "most likely" in reference to the Hensley clan because they are a large, complex, confusing, complicated family, and few relationships can be definitively confirmed beyond circumstantial evidence. Jesse and Elizabeth being siblings who married a pair of 1st cousins makes this contributes to the argument that "our" Jesse was a son of Nathaniel. Elizabeth's death certificate lists her mother as "Sallie Radford", which is the only documentation located so far indicating Nathaniel's wife name was Sallie/Sally, and which is consistent with other online research I've come across.]
Jesse (b. 1842 in KY)
Mahala (b. 1846 in KY)
Phoeba (b. 1847 in KY)
Nancy (b. 1849 in KY)

Nathaniel appears to have died by 1859, when his 10 year old daughter Nancy died. Her death record says her parents were "Nathan Radford and wife" indicating it was most likely not her father providing the information. Nathaniel does not appear in the 1860 Census, but most of his kin by 1860 had moved from Owsley County to Jackson County, which is where Nancy died.

What makes tying Nathaniel's Jesse and "our" Jesse together is the fact that it does not appear that Nathaniel's Jesse is in the 1860 Census. Many researchers consider a person who is an absentee for a Census to be deceased, but this is not always true. It's actually not uncommon at all for someone to be missing for one census, sometimes even two censuses in their lifetime. Someone could be in the Census for 1850 and 1860, gone for 1870, and then are back for 1880, gone again in 1900, and then are back again in 1910. So Nathanial's Jesse not appearing in the 1860 Census is not a completely sound argument against "our" Jesse being Nathaniel's Jesse.

Clearly, researchers are going to reach their own conclusion about who the Jesse Radford who married Grace Holland's parents are. There were obviously two of them who were almost exactly the same age who appear in almost the same place at the same time in 1850, and who are clearly either 1st or 2nd cousins, so it's going to get confusing. And the fact that John's Jesse in the 1860 Census and Nathaniel's isn't is going to lead many to automatically conclude that Nathaniel's Jesse is dead and John's Jesse married Grace Holland. But would John's Jesse really travel 250 miles back to Clay County from Hancock County, away from his parents and siblings, just to en-list for the Civil War in late 1861? It seems a little far-fetched, but anything is possible. In the end, it will be up to each individual researcher to decide.

...

Oh, wait. Did I forget the most convincing piece of evidence that "our" Jesse was the son of Nathaniel and Sally Radford, not John and Stacy Radford?

Well, take a look at the names of Jesse's first daughter and first son in the 1870 Census, and let me know what you think.

1870 U.S. Federal Census
Precinct 4, Clay, Kentucky
Jesse Radford (b. about 1840 in KY)
Gracy Radford (b. about 1844 in KY)
Sally Radford (b. about 1864 in KY)
Malisseyan Radford (b. about 1866 in KY)
Nancy Radford (b. about 1868 in KY)
Nathaniel Radford (b. about 1870 in KY)

Albert Moose; COKER et al. v. MOOSE et al.

My great grandfather's brother, Albert was a World War I veteran who was killed while driving his brother Paul's motorcycle by a drunk driver. His widow and child sued the driver and his mother and won. The mother's appeals eventually reached the Oklahoma Supreme Court, which upheld the verdict that she was guilty of negligence.

COKER et al. v. MOOSE et al.

No. 25747.

SUPREME COURT OF OKLAHOMA

180 Okla. 234; 68 P.2d 504; 1937 Okla. LEXIS 631

February 2, 1937, Decided

CASE SUMMARY

PROCEDURAL POSTURE: In a wrongful death action brought by plaintiff survivors against defendants, a mother and a son, the mother appealed from the judgment of the Superior Court, Seminole County (Oklahoma) that awarded damages in favor of the survivors.

OVERVIEW: The survivors were the widow and another relative of the decedent who was killed after being struck by a car that was driven by the son. The evidence revealed that the son was a known alcoholic and that at the time of the accident empty beer bottles were found in his car. The complaint alleged that the mother knew that her son was a careless, reckless, and incompetent driver and that she knew of a number of serious accidents that he had had. However, the mother gave the son free access to an automobile and paid the repair bills after his accidents. A jury awarded damages in favor of the survivors, and the court affirmed. It held that an error in the jury instructions was harmless and could not have prejudiced defendants in view of the evidence in the case. The court further held that there was no evidence that the jury ever was aware that either defendant was protected by insurance. The court reduced the amount of the verdict, however, because it found that the award was excessive based upon the decedent's history of earnings.

OUTCOME: The court affirmed the judgment, but it reduced the amount of damages permitted.

Wolf men of the Ozark Region in the Civil War

Michael Wolf, the son of a German immigrant, came from Pennsylvania to the Ozark region in the early 1800's and became the progenitor of a large, storied family of the area. He was the father of the famous Major Jacob Wolf of the Wolf House, now the oldest standing structure in Arkansas. Many of his grandsons and great-grandsons served for the Confederacy in the Civil War. This is a "Master List" of sorts of Wolf men who have service records. It is completely possible, and very likely, that there were others than just these, but these are the ones I could find records of. A total of 18 descendants of Michael (with the last name Wolf) can have their service confirmed by records, with another 2 who possibly served but do not appear on official records, 1 who received a pension but has no service record, and 1 who was said to have served in the pension of his son but for whom no service record exists.

You'll notice several of these names are repeated throughout the family, so it was a bit of a chore to determine which records applied to whom, especially when it came to identifying the "J.M. Wolf" of the 1st Arkansas Mounted Rifles, differentiating between the two George W. Wolf's in the 14th, differentiating between the two Michael H. Wolf's, who were both officers, and differentiating Jacob and Jacob H., as well as John, John B., and John H.B. There was also another Charles who could have been (and actually, could be) the Charles of the 27th. This family would be much easier to research if they didn't all have to name their children the same names.

Major Jacob Wolf, son of Michael, had 5 sons and 7 grandsons who served.
1. Joseph Marion Wolf - 1st Arkansas Mounted Rifles & 14th Arkansas Infantry (Powers')***
2. John H.B. Wolf - 14th Arkansas Infantry (Powers')
3. Andrew Jackson Wolf - 14th Arkansas Infantry (Powers')
4. Jesse Wolf - Fristoe's Missouri Cavalry
5. Martin J. Wolf - Freeman's Missouri Cavalry (No service record or pension, but an affidavit in his son Edwin Wolf's pension by his daughter Jennie Wolf Strickland states he served with Edwin in Freeman's Missouri Cavalry. Edwin received a pension based solely on affidavits, so it is fair to assume the same affidavits can be applied to his father.)
6. James Madison Wolf (s/o William) - 14th Arkansas Infantry (Powers')
7. Jacob H. Wolf (s/o William) - 14th Arkansas Infantry (Powers') & 1st Consolidated Arkansas Infantry*
8. George W. Wolf (s/o William) - 14th Arkansas Infantry (Powers')
9. James M. Wolf (s/o James) - 21st Texas Infantry
10. Asa Wolf (s/o George) - 27th Arkansas Infantry**
11. Jacob M. Wolf (s/o George) - 1st Arkansas Mounted Rifles & 14th Arkansas Infantry (Powers')***
12. Edwin M. Wolf (s/o Martin - Freeman's Missouri Cavalry (No service record, but receives pension from Texas.)

Reverend John Wolf, son of Michael, served as a Chaplain for the 14th Arkansas Infantry (Powers'). He took ill while on duty and died in 1863. He had 1 son who served.
1. Michael H. Wolf - 14th Arkansas Infantry (Powers') & Fristoe's Missouri Cavalry

Michael Wolf, son of Michael, had 4 sons who served.
1. John B. Wolf - 14th Arkansas Infantry (Powers')
2. George W. Wolf - 14th Arkansas Infantry (Powers')
3. Charles S. Wolf - 27th Arkansas Infantry
4. Jacob Wolf - 27th Arkansas Infantry

Lorenzo Dow Wolf, son of Michael, had 2 sons who served.
1. Michael H. Wolf - 27th Arkansas Infantry
2. Azariah Wolf - 27th Arkansas Infantry

These 2 Wolf's likely served as well, according to family stories, but no service records have been found at this time.
1. Charles Wolf (s/o Lorenzo)
2. Robert L. Wolf (s/o Reverend John) - His son John Q. Wolf's auto-biography mentions his father's service.

Also, according to "Jacob Wolf - The Mansion & The Man" by Bill D. Blevins, John R. Wolf (s/o William, s/o Major Jacob) and George Wolf (s/o Major Jacob) also served in the Confederate Army, but he does not specify where they supposedly served and I did not find service records for them. George would have been fairly old to serve (but clearly not too old, since his uncle John served as a Chaplain), and no record of John R. has been found after the 1850 Census.

*He does not appear on the muster rolls for either of these regiments, but does apply for a Confederate pension as a member of these two units and his pension is approved.

**He does not appear in the muster rolls for the 14th, but he is mentioned in multiple letters of John M. Casey, husband of Major Jacob's daughter Mary, who was a member of the 14th, and Casey's references to him appear to imply he was a member of the unit. Many of the 14th's early muster rolls and records are lost. Casey's letters also reflect Richard "Dick" Hutcheson, son of Nancy I. Wolf who was a daughter of Michael Wolf, was a member of the unit, but he also does appear in the early muster rolls.

***These two men switched units. Apparently Joseph, as a member of the 1st Arkansas Mounted Rifles, was unsettled by the carnage of Wilson's Creek. He requested a transfer to the 14th and traded places with Jacob, who was a member of the 14th and then mustered into the 1st Arkansas Mounted Rifles. This "substitution" is noted in Jacob's and Joseph's service records with the Mounted Rifles, but is not noted in Joseph's records with the 14th, and Jacob does not appear in the 14th's records at all. This is because of the aforementioned problem of most of the regiment's early records and muster rolls having been lost.

Much of this research was previously put together by Dorothy Boynton, whose information I took, analyzed, added to, and adjusted.