In October, 2017, we moved back to Michigan from Oklahoma. I'm no longer in immediate proximity to the tri-state area my families have primarily lived in for the past century: Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas. So finding relevant destinations to for us to visit is harder than it used to be, but I am making it work. We are happy to be back in Michigan, where I lived from 2004-2013. Genealogically, it's just going to take some adjustments and travelling longer distances to visit relevant spots.
Fortunately, I have places in Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, and other states I can visit. Some are closer to us now; others are about the same as they were, just coming from a different direction. This year, we took two shorter trips to Indiana and Ohio. Next year, we plan to take a long trip to east and central Kentucky. In 2020, the goal is for a long Tennessee trip with possible stops in Alabama and/or Mississippi. Getting a little ahead of myself already, but that's my hope anyway!
So as I said, this year we took two short trips. I typically try to write about these excursions as quickly as I can once returning home, but I put off this year due to general busyness. But here it goes now, and hopefully I can remember everything of importance.
March 23
I had an appointment for 10:00 a.m. at the Jackson County History Center in Brownstown, so we decided we would leave the night before and stay near Brownstown. Unfortunately, the weather did not hold up well and by the time we got near Columbus, it was getting ugly with snow. Not ideal camping weather. So I pulled over at the rest area just north of Columbus and we stayed the night in the Acadia. Not terribly comfortable, but we managed.
March 24
We we up first thing Saturday, deciding to hit Freetown on the way to Brownstown instead of on the way back north. A thin blanket of snow covered most of the scenery, but it was still a very pleasant drive.
Freetown is a small village in Jackson County where my ancestress Roxie E. May was born, and where her father Andrew Lewis May lived for many years. He was a pioneer resident of the town according to its website (http://freetownin.com)
Andrew was born, grew up, and married in Jackson County, and moved to this vicinity after a short stint in Monroe County sometime between 1860-1863. Most of his children were born here. It is believed that he buried a wife and two children during his time there. Later, after he left for Kansas and eventually Oklahoma, a third child and two grandchildren would be interred there.
The Old and New Freetown cemeteries are right across the street from one another. On the main side of the road is the Freetown Church of Christ with the larger "New" Cemetery. Across the street is the old section call the "Old Freetown Cemetery" or "Freetown Old Cemetery".
I visited here once briefly in 2013. Parts of the old section were so overgrown, I was not able to find Andrew's wife headstone, my 3rd great grandmother Mary Elizabeth Knostman May. Later, a Find A Grave volunteer found the stone and because of that, I was able to locate her this time.
I know that at least one daughter and two granddaughters of Mary, and most likely two additional children, are buried here, but stones for them have never been cataloged, so their plots are either unmarked or the stones have been lost. I am confident that at least some--if not all--of them are buried in the vicinity of Mary's stone, as there are large gaps, especially to the left and right, between Mary's stone and the next-closest stones.
Next up we had an appointment at the Jackson County History Center in Brownstown with Bill Day. He graciously agreed to meet us outside of regular hours so that I could peruse their collections for additional documentation for my book on A. L. May and related families.
Records there included helpful information about other area cemeteries I planned to visit or would like to visit if not for the inclement weather, and other useful information.
Several members of our family are buried at the Russell Chapel Cemetery southeast of Brownstown in a locale called Tampico. Presumably, our family went to church at the old chapel out front at one point, and may have gone to the school which once sat on an adjacent plot that has now become part of the cemetery. The inside of the church was not accessible. In the winter conditions of the outside, the place looks even older than it probably normally does.
The cemetery is well-mowed and mostly well-cared for. I found my May family very easily, but noticed that several of the stones that I had seen pictures of on Find A Grave had either sunken into the ground, fallen over, or broken apart in the years since the previous photos had been taken. I hope to be a part of a solution to keeping these graves from being lost. When I publish my book on Andrew May and his family, I want to use the proceeds to purchase new markers for the damaged ones here and the ones that probably never existed in the Old Freetown Cemetery.
At Russell Chapel, we found Andrew's parents, several siblings, and numerous other relations.
Based on previous pictures of the chapel, there used to be a sign that said "Russell Chapel Church" above the door, but it apparently has fallen.
This is the stone for my uncle, Thomas May. He died in 1879, twice-widowed. He first married Margaret Downing, sister of Elisabeth Downing, the wife of his brother Reuben. She is buried at Pioneer Cemetery along with their son, her father, her brother, and other relatives. Unfortunately, due to recent rainfall and current snowy conditions, it was not possible for me to visit the Pioneer Cemetery.
This is the headstone of Thomas's mysterious second wife. She was born in Kentucky, but no marriage record has been found for her, so we know neither her maiden name nor a previous married name. Jackson County and surrounding counties have what would appear to be pretty complete marriage collections, so I wonder if he met and married her while traveling outside the area. I wish I knew more about her, but all we know comes from this stone and the 1850 Census. They married between Margaret's death in 1845 and that census.
This is the stone of my 4th great grandmother, Elisabeth Downing May. She was the daughter of Michael Downing and Mary Persinger. Interestingly, she is not listed in Michael Downing's probate records naming his other children, but Reuben names Michael as his first wife's father in his biographical sketch, and Michael is even living with the family in the 1850 Census just four years before he died. I'm not sure if she had already received her portion or his estate or what, but that has bothered me for years.
This is the stone of Elizabeth May Compton, and was a huge find for me. I had somehow overlooked it when piecing together the family, despite having a transcription of the Russell Chapel Cemetery for years. I always had her date of death as "before 1860", when her husband was a widower. If I had just paid closer attention to the info I had or looked harder on Find A Grave, I would have seen the information staring me in the face. Unfortunately, the grave is in very poor condition, as were a few May family stones. But luckily, previous surveys of the cemetery tell us her age and date of death. She died 27 Dec 1859 at age 32 years, 11 months, 27 days. This discovery means I have only one remaining child of Reuben May whose burial I need to find--the oldest, Henry, who most likely died between 1850-1860 in Clark County, Indiana.
Mary Jane May Compton was married to a brother of her sister Elizabeth's husband. (Elizabeth was married to Samuel Compton, and Mary to David Compton.) Her stone is a little ways from most of the Mays.
You can see Thomas's and Sarah's stones a few feet back behind Mary's.
Sarah Jane Wray May was the first wife of Michael May. She died 28 Aug 1860.
This nearly-gone stone is for John May, son of Michael May. He died 10 Nov 1862 in Louisville, Kentucky while serving in the 22nd Indiana Infantry. His father must have brought him home to be interred here with his people. Another of Michael's sons, Lafayette May, also died in service in 1862, but there is no indication that he was also brought home for burial. It is unknown where Lafayette is interred.
And here he is, one of the main reasons I wanted to come on this trip: Reuben May, my 4th great grandfather. I have done a lot of research on him over the years and gathered a decent amount, but not as much as his son Andrew, which is why my book focuses on him instead of Reuben. But he'll have his own section. I'm glad to see this stone still standing, and hope to be back to see it one day.
Sadly, this is a nearly-illegible stone for Elisabeth May, an infant daughter of Reuben and his 2nd wife, also named Elizabeth. (So yes, that's three different Elizabeths/Elisabeths in this family, two of whom are buried here.) She was buried next to Reuben's first wife. She died 15 May 1861 at just over two months old. I had a hard time even knowing which stone this was because of its condition, but because of the cemetery survey I copied, I knew this to be little Elisabeth.
A cleaner, more legible photo of the stone was taken by Find A Grave volunteer Darren Foster in 2013 which shows that it was in much better condition five years ago:
This photo shows the space between the graves of Elisabeth [Downing May] and Reuben. According to the Tampico Chapel survey, there are six people lying between them. The listing shows:
UNKNOWN Grave*
May, Elizabeth (Wife of Reuben)
May, Infant (Daughter of R. & E.)
May, Infant (Unmarked)
Compton, Elizabeth (Wife of S. L.)
May, Sarah Jane (Wife of Michael)
May, John T.
May, Elizabeth (Daughter of R. & E.)
May, Reuben
*I included this in case it could be another May/Downing relative as they lie next to Elizabeth.
As you can tell from the picture above where you can see disturbances in the snow, I was able to locate four of the graves listed as being between Reuben and Elizabeth. A fifth is a reportedly unmarked grave of a May infant; I don't know what the source for reporting an infant buried there, perhaps original cemetery records. There should also be a marked Infant May there. Unfortunately, I could not find it. Like some of the other fallen stones in this row, it has probably sunk into the ground, and the snow did not help matters. I am confident it is there, however, because once again, courtesy of Find A Grave volunteer Darren Foster, we have a photo of the stone from 2013:
Because Reuben married two Elizabeths, it would be difficult to ascertain which of his wives this child was born to. Although the child rests next to Elisabeth Downing, it appears the child was born to Elizabeth Ross. We know this because in 1886, five years before Reuben's death in 1891, a biographical sketch of Reuben was published in a book called "Biographical Record from history of Jackson County". There, Reuben lists among his children an infant born to him and his second wife, Elizabeth. He does not mention any infant children of his first wife dying (though that is quite likely) but because he mentions one infant, and this is the only marked infant grave we have found up to this point, I believe they are likely one in the same. The old cemetery transcription reports that the stone originally said "b. & d. Oct. 2, 18__", but even then they could not read the year, and as you can see now, that portion of the stone is completely gone.
The only immediate family member buried outside of this May-Compton plot is Reuben's daughter, Eleanor May Clark, who is buried towards the back of the cemetery.
After we finished at Russell Chapel, we completely switched gears from my mother's family to my father's family. Not far south of where we were was Austin, Indiana, where several of my Barnett relatives have settled.
From the mid-19th century to the early 20th century, feud violence in eastern Kentucky drove families from the area and tore them apart. Mine appears to have been one of them. My 3rd great grandfather, Jackson Barnett, was a documented participant of the Jett-Little feud in Breathitt County, a violent conflict that spanned from the early 1880s to the late 1890s and ended only when the primary participants had died. Jack was wounded in some capacity during an unspecified incident in 1888. Circa 1890, James Barnett, Jack's double-first cousin, died, and it is believed in the family that his death may have involved the feud violence. Around 1892, Jackson married (whether legally or not is unclear due to lack of documentation) James's widow, Mrs. Phoebe Napier Barnett.
The two then left the area, possibly due to the continual violence, or possibly for economic reasons, or a combination of both. A number of families from this region relocated to northern Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma during this time, and Phoebe and Jackson joined them. For reasons still not entirely clear, they left behind all of their children. Stories have since come to light that Phoebe had left her children in the care of her Napier kin with the intent to send money to have the children sent to her when they were settled in. Later, Phoebe reportedly did send money, but the Napiers kept the money and never sent the children. Rumors in the family persisted in some lines that Jack, Phoebe, and their two children together, Louvica and Andy, died of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. It is possible that story was concocted by the Napiers when Phoebe's children inquired why they were not sent to their mother, but that's purely speculation on my part.
It's also perfectly possible that that is what killed Jack and Phoebe, but we do not know that either. I know they both died in 1900 per Barnett family records, but the cause is not known. Louvica and Phoebe did not die though, and were taken in by their half-sister, Amanda, a daughter of Jack. Phoebe's children were shuffled from relative to relative. As adults, three of them ended up in and around Washington and Scott counties in Indiana. Amine (b. 1880) died in Scottsburg (Scott County) in 1966 and is buried at Little York in Washington County. Elvira (b. 1886) died in Austin (Scott County) in 1944 and was buried back in Jackson, Kentucky. Nathan (b. 1887) died in Austin and is buried in Scottsburg.
Jackson County is adjacent to Scott and Washington counties, so I wanted to do what research I could there while in that area. Unfortunately, the library at Austin was renovating and I could no access their genealogy collection. Their museum had closed before I got into town. But after weeks of reaching out to Barnett and Coomer (Elvira's married name) cousins in search of pictures and information, I made contact with Phyllis Barnett Evans, a sister of Judy Barnett, a cousin I had made contact with years ago. Phyllis is a granddaughter of Nathan Barnett. Nathan still had one living son at the time of my visit, Roscoe Barnett, but unfortunately his health had deteriorated so much by the time of my visit that he was not up for a meeting. He died shortly after our trip on May 22nd of this year.
Phyllis was kind enough to invite Elliott and I to her home to talk and look at pictures. She shared several with me. Some I had seen before with varying quality, and some were new to me.
Frank Barnett, 2nd oldest son of Nathan Barnett, with his wife Sara Johnson.
Phyllis Barnett in 1st grade. She is the daughter of Frank Barnett.
Nathan and Rettie Palmer Barnett. Nathan was the son of Phoebe Napier and James Barnett.
Fran Barnett, oldest son of Nathan, and his wife Anna May Johnson. Fran and Frank married sisters.
I was struck by how much Fran resembles my great great grandfather, Andy Barnett. Andy's portrait is on the right. They would be half-uncle/half-nephew, but look so similar they could almost be twin brothers.
This is a favorite photo I have acquired since reaching out to Barnett kin. This is John and Elvira Barnett Coomer. Elvira is the daughter of Phoebe Napier and James Barnett.
After a meal in Scottsburg, we headed home because of the deteriorating weather and bad roads. We saw the aftermath of a half-dozen different accidents on the way back and were fortunate not to be involved in any messes ourselves.
Phyllis and her sisters Judy and Dorothy have been such amazing resources for me in piecing together this family, as has their first cousin, Debra Barnett Gessner, daughter of Roscoe Barnett. They have helped me in finding at least one photo each of all of Phoebe's children except for Jessie, the oldest who died without children. Debra even had a second photo of Phoebe, which I had never hoped to find. It really has been amazing getting to connect with this branch of my family through the telephone, social media, letters, and in person. The Barnetts are an exceedingly kind and helpful people and they make me proud to be a Barnett myself.
I will share part two of our trip in a separate post as it was a separate trip and involves different families, although the second part does involve Phoebe Napier's family again.
Note: Please, if you take any of the photos from this post, wherever you end up sharing them, share the source where you found it. I have been posting fewer and fewer of the photos I have found over the years because I have gotten tired of them popping up on Ancestry and Find A Grave with no credit to me or the person I got them from. Thank you!
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