The reason that article needed to be written was because dozens of researchers, if not more, had combined the records of multiple men into several fictitious versions of them. They applied the wrong men to the wrong parents, and therefore the wrong sets of siblings, which, as any genealogist knows, completely wrecks the viability and credibility of your tree once you figure out your error. Casual armchair genealogists may not care that they're applying the wrong records to the wrong men and putting them in the wrong families--but serious researchers will. That leads us to two more sets of Napiers with the same names and geographic similarities that now need to be sorted out: six men named James Napier, and two named Mary or "Polly" Napier.
All these folks were closely related, and all eventually connect back to a single progenitor of the Napier family--Dr. Patrick Napier. Most Napiers in Kentucky actually connect sooner than Dr. Patrick, but the point is they were all kin to each other. They all came to Kentucky from Virginia and bred like rabbits. They spread themselves at this time over only a handful of counties (mostly Perry, Breathitt, Clay, and Harlan, but some in Owsley, Wolfe, and more). They also had a tendency to repeat names, so we end up with many same-named or similarly-named individuals, often without middle names or initials to distinguish them. People then make guesses about who their ancestor was and to which family they belonged, and it turns Ancestry.com and its public trees and "hint" system into clusters. On some of these James Napiers, I found records for FIVE different men as "hints" for ONE man because people had incorrectly applied records to the wrong Jameses over and over again. So now here we are, needing something in writing apparently to sort out all these Jameses and Pollys.
We'll start with the easier set--the two Polly Napiers. Besides sharing a name, what makes these two women difficult to sort is they are only 3-5 years apart in age and they married a pair of brothers. That's right, BOTH Pollys became Polly Napier Fugate. Fortunately, most researchers recognize they weren't sisters since they share the same name, but beyond that, a lot of guesswork has been done when it comes to determining their parentage.
Here are summaries of our two ladies and how I will differentiate them:
1. Mary "Polly" Napier, who for the sake of this article will be referred to only as MARY, was born about 1829 in Kentucky. She married Zachariah H. Fugate prior to 1850. [Note: Let me take a moment here to say that many apply the middle name Henley to Zachariah, and while that was his father's name, it was also his brother's name, and it is unlikely the parents would name one son Henley and another son Zachariah Henley. It is possible, but unlikely, and there is no proof in records of what the H stood for, so people shouldn't go around making up theoretical middle names for people without a good basis.]
Mary appears in the following Census record locations [brackets show the name she went by for that year and approximate year of birth]:
1850 - Breathitt County [Polly, 1829]
1860 - Perry County [Polly, 1828]
1870 - Perry County [Polly, 1830]
1880 - Perry County [Mary, 1829]
1900 - Perry County [Mary, Jun 1829]
She reportedly died about 1906 according to online family trees, but no proof is cited. She certainly appears to have died between 1900-1910 based on her being alive in 1900 and her husband being widowed in 1910. She was the mother of several children, who in the absence of a marriage record for Polly and Zachariah, provide us with proof of her maiden name. The birth records of Mahala Fugate (1855) and John Fugate (1852) prove her maiden name was Napier. These can be trusted as they were records created when Mary was still living. Some of her children's death records also show her name as Napier, though those were created after her death.
2. Polly Ann Napier, who for the sake of this article will be referred to only as POLLY, was born in roughly March, 1834 in Kentucky. Her exact age is unclear. The Noble Family Association have kindly placed headstones for numerous Eastern Kentucky kin of mine that did not have them previously, which was an incredible service to provide. Unfortunately, the information they put on some of these stones often cannot be trusted and sometimes are completely wrong and/or baseless.
Although in every record she's in Polly's name ends with a Y, for some bizarre reason her name on her stone (the one from the Noble Family Association placed decades after her death) ends in IE. They also assign her the date of birth of 15 Aug 1832, but there is no proof of that date. They even got her date of death wrong; they put 20 Aug 1917, when her death certificate clearly states 27 Aug. So this stone is to be taken with an extremely large grain of salt.
On 25 Mar 1852, Polly married Henley Fugate, brother of the aforementioned Zachariah Fugate. As his wife, she appears in the following Census record locations [brackets show the name she went by for that year and approximate year of birth]:
1860 - Perry County [Polly, 1835]
1870 - Perry County [Polly, 1835]
1880 - Perry County [Polly, 1835]
1900 - Perry County [Polly Ann, Mar 1834]
1910 - Perry County [Polly Ann, 1835]
So clearly, Oct 1832 is not correct. And "Pollie" is not the correct spelling. Polly's marriage record, and later vital records of her children prove her maiden name is Napier. Unfortunately, her death certificate does not give her parents' names.
BONUS: There is actually a THIRD woman who should be mentioned, but fortunately is not typically mixed up with these two. Another Polly Ann Napier was born 10 Jan 1837, the daughter of John Rene and Ruth Haskins Napier. She married Ezekiel Couch. Fortunately, I have not seen her records mixed up like I have the others. She is clearly the daughter of John based on the 1850 Census showing "Polly Ann" born 1837 as the daughter of John, so there hasn't been much confusion around here, but I thought her worth mentioning in the context of "Wow, these Napiers really did just repeat the same names over and over, didn't they?"
Now fortunately, other than some vital records mix-ups between the two Polly Napier Fugates when people didn't pay enough attention to the father's name, the records of Polly and Mary records aren't mixed up too terribly often. The issue is their placement in their parents' families.
We'll start with Polly, wife of Henley Fugate. Her parentage is not as questionable as Mary's, but there is still some confusion. Some leave her parentage blank because they can't decide where she belongs (which is a much more sensible thing to do then wildly guessing and often ending up with incorrect information--leaving them blank is more correct than putting the wrong parents, in my book).
I have seen her listed as the daughter of Samuel and Susan Napier, James and Elizabeth Howard Napier, John Rene Napier and Elizabeth Howard [which is peculiar because that was not his wife's name, but okay], and even one bizarre tree that gave her maiden name as Napier, but decided her parents were Eli Flint and Mary Noble Fugate. People are crazy, I'll tell you.
Placing her with Samuel makes sense to the extent that she is living in Samuel's household in 1850. But he would have been 15-16 at the time of her birth, which while that age is not terribly uncommon for mothers in this area, it would be extremely unusual for there to be a father that young at this time. The actual reason she lived with Samuel was that he was her BROTHER. They were the children of James Napier, whose wife is believed to have been Elizabeth Howard, but that is not definitive. The 1850 Census is enough for me to conclude that she is James's daughter, not Samuel's or John Rene's (who as I mentioned in the above "Bonus" section has his own daughter named Polly Ann who was younger than this one), and certainly not the daughter of Eli Flint Fugate.
Now to our other more complicated gal: Mary, wife of Zachariah, is typically attributed to the family of McCager/Micajah and Leanna Lewis Napier. THIS IS WRONG. THIS IS INCORRECT. She is even linked to them as their child on Find A Grave, all but ensuring she will be incorrectly placed in this family for generations to come. It aggravates me to no end to see her placed in this family, but I can't do much about it except for this essay.
You see, I descend directly from McCager and Leanne through their son Patrick. This is MY line, and I take their information being reported correctly rather seriously. If you have Mary as McCager's daughter, I am very sorry, but you are mistaken. In case you have doubts, I can PROVE it.
To be fair, it is easy to see why Mary was attached to his family. Mary was born about 1829. In 1830, McCager has ONE daughter under age 5 in his household. Interestingly, in 1840, he shows NO daughters age 10-14 in his household.
Another woman attached to this family is Eliza Jane Napier, wife of Samuel Grigsby, who was also born in 1829. They are both attached to McCager for the same two reasons: first, they each named a son McCager/Micajah, and a daughter Leanna. That's not typically a lot to go on, but in an area where vital records are often scarce due to feud-related and Civil War-related courthouse fires, you do what you can to piece families together.
The other reason they are attached to McCager is that in 1860, both their households are almost directly next to McCager. The Zachariah Fugate household is two away from McCager's one direction, and the Samuel Grigsby household is two away in the other direction. But the 1830 Census only allows for ONE daughter born between 1825-1830. So which is it?
Fortunately for us, we have written testimony regarding Mary's relationship to another Napier which definitely tells us her parentage--and spoiler alert: it's not McCager and Leannah.
Rev. George Washington Noble published an amazing memoir titled "Behold He Cometh In The Clouds" in 1912. It is chock-full of stories and anecdotes about his neighbors and kin in Eastern Kentucky. On page 222 he writes, regarding his daughter's in-laws:
"There was a Baptist preacher by the name of James Napier in my neighborhood. He was a fine man and a good-sensed man. He and I took up together and preached together. The Baptist church elected him Moderator at the Pilgrims Rest church. He and I would have a meeting once a year at the home of my son-in-law. Zachariah Fugate, 15 miles from my house. Old Zachariah Fugate and his wife (Polly Napier) lived with Zachy and Naomi, my daughter. Old Mrs. Fugate was a sister to Preacher Napier. The old man Fugate was a preacher. They both were so clever that they hardly knew what to do when we went. They would both talk at once. The old woman would boast of Naomi’s children.—how smart they were. And they were “smart.” When night came they would all get into the house and the children would sing us a song. “Grandpa” and I would sing for them. They were not used to much preaching in that country. and a fine crowd came. All would behave well. Zachy had plenty to eat and feed our horses. We went on a visit and to preach. We would stay until after dinner on Sundays and then ride 15 miles home."
So this tells us that Mary Napier Fugate had a brother named James Napier who was a preacher. Well, as you can tell from the title of this article, that's not that simple--there were many James Napiers. However, only ONE of them can be proven to be a preacher.
Later in his book, on pages 237-238, Rev. Noble shares a letter to the congregation of the aforementioned Pilgrims' Rest Church, which was located in Breathitt County. It was moderated by the aforementioned James Napier, and was dated 1903.
This tells us that James Napier, brother of Mary, was alive in 1900, and likely in Breathitt County. This also illustrates that this James Napier CANNOT be the James that is son of McCager and Leanna. That James never listed "Preacher" as his occupation on census records, spent his later years in Wolfe County, has never been a documented resident of Breathitt County, AND was dead before 1900. His date of death is given as 5 Mar 1889 in Wolfe County, but is not sourced.
Fortunately, there was a James Napier in the 1900 Census who lived in Breathitt County and listed his occupation as "Preacher". In fact, in most family trees, he's even call "Preacher Jim" Napier. Amazing, that no one put two and two together to conclude that THIS James is the one Rev. Noble referred to NOT James, son of McCager. But some people just aren't willing to do the necessary legwork to verify their information.
"Preacher Jim" was the son of Patrick Napier and Mahala Jackson. He can be found in their household in the 1850 Census in Perry County. Mary was already married by this time, so she is not in their household. But Patrick has a 10-14 daughter in his household in the 1840 Census who is not in his 1850 household. That fact combined with Rev. Noble leads us to the logical conclusion that Mary "Polly" Napier, wife of Zachariah Fugate, was the daughter of Patrick Napier and Mahala Jackson. She was NOT the daughter of McCager Napier and Leanna Lewis.
This differentiation of two Jameses for the purpose of identifying Mary's parentage is as good a segue-way as any to the heart of this article: sorting out and differentiating SIX different James Napiers from the same area of Kentucky and in somewhat the same age range.
What's sort of funny in kind of a sad way is that their ages really aren't that close. If their names were John and Bill we would not consider their ages close at all. But apparently for dozens of lazy researchers their ages were close enough together that these men's records and family trees have been twisted and tangled into something rather magnificently ridiculous. So now we are left to sort out the information in hopes of untangling the branches of researchers that care enough to look a little deeper.
While there are even more James Napiers that fit this area and age range, what sets them apart is that they have distinguishable middle initials or names. That helps to separate them from the pack of those that don't. Also, one of these six Jameses never even appears in a Census record in Kentucky, and yet his records STILL get tangled up with the others. He may have lived in or visited Kentucky for a time as a young man, but he has no discernible ties to the area beyond his wife's nativity. I would not have included him in this article if it weren't for my continuously finding his records as "hints" for these other Jameses, and even some of their records appearing as "hints" for him. It's almost like someone went and found every single James Napier they could find in any record anywhere and attached them all to one guy, assuming for some baffling reason they all belonged to him. I really can't begin to understand it; all I can do now is try to undo as much of the damage as I can.
Without middle initials, we will be left to call these men by numbers assigned chronologically. We have:
1. James Napier I, born about 1820. Husband of Rebecca Sizemore.
2. James Napier II, born about about 1822. Husband of Louisa Huff.
3. James Napier III, born about 1823. Husband of Mary Campbell.
4. James Napier IV, born about 1824. Husband of Louisa Miniard.
5. James Napier V, born about 1826. Husband of Clarissa Griffith.
6. James Napier VI, born 1831. Husband of Nancy Frazier and Martha Watts.
Each of these men had their own respective spouses and children. But they were all born within about 10-11 years of one another, and all lived in or were born in the following places: Lee County, Virginia, Perry County, Kentucky, and Clay County, Kentucky. They can all be tied to one of these places in one way or another, and some can also be linked to Breathitt, Wolfe, Leslie, and Harlan counties.
What needs to be done now is to tie each man to his parentage. With my article on the five McCagers, I also differentiated their places of burial and respective services in the Civil War. But most of these men were too old for Civil War service--or simply didn't serve--and too few of their burial places are known or assumed to devote a lot of time to working them out. My primary concern at this point is sorting out the respective parentage of each of them so that they will be placed with the right sets of parents and siblings in the family trees of those that care about actually getting it right. So I will list each man and how I have reached my conclusions regarding their parentage.
1. James Napier I lived in Clay and Leslie counties, and was probably born in Harlan County. His wife was Rebecca Sizemore according to the records of his children (birth record of his daughter Kizziah, and death record of his son Hamilton).
Some have James I as the son of John Rene Napier, but James I was almost certainly the son of Edmund Napier and his wife Sarah "Sally" who is believed to have been a Howard, though there is no proof of that name. Many of his father Edmund's records have been mis-transcribed as Edward, but if you look at each one closely enough, he is clearly Edmund.
Edmund is in Harlan County in 1820, 1830, and 1840, so James I was likely born there. His brother Hughes Napier married Rebecca Sizemore's sister, Keziah Sizemore. Hughes appears in the 1850 Census in Edmond's household. A few households from Edmund is his brother, John Rene Napier. Next door to Edmond is his son, John b. about 1820-1821, and next to John is James I. This is circumstantial, true, but this immediate proximity to Edmund strongly indicates that Edmund was his father. John Rene was not old enough to father James I, and as you can see in his household, has his OWN son James, born about 1826.
2. James Napier II is the one that it's kind of ridiculous we have to include here. He only ever appears in Census and vital records for Lee County, Virginia. But because James III was also born in Virginia a year apart and because James II's wife was from Harlan County, this James gets roped in with the others when it comes to records. On 18 Dec 1853 in Lee County, Virginia, James II married Louisa Huff, who gives her nativity as Harlan County, Kentucky.
This record gives us a straight-forward identification: James II gives his parents as Thomas and Nelly Napier. Thomas was another brother of the aforementioned Edmund Napier and John Rene Napier. We have no record of Thomas living in Kentucky, but we know at least one child (Malissa Napier Hartsack) eventually ended up in Eastern Kentucky. And clearly James II either lived in Harlan County for a time, or visited his relatives there. Otherwise, how else would he meet his wife of Harlan County nativity?
Again, it's silly that we even have to include this James with the others when he doesn't have a clear link to Eastern Kentucky besides his family being from there, but someone somewhere apparently decided this James was their James from Kentucky at some point, and that has led to rampant mis-application of his records to the wrong people.
3. James Napier III was already mentioned in this article. Vital records of his children Isaac, Granville, and Mary proved his wife's maiden name was Mary Campbell. He is believed to have been the son of McCager Napier and Leanna Lewis, as previously discussed. Firstly, here is an important note for you: HIS MIDDLE NAME WAS NOT PATRICK. There is not ONE single record from when he was living, or even among his children's vital records, that indicate a middle initial of any sort, much less the letter P, much less the name Patrick. Please do not put made-up pretend middle names for people on your tree--be better than that.
Unlike, with the aforementioned Eliza and Mary, there isn't much circumstantial evidence tying James to McCager. He lives in the same area as McCager, but isn't ever clustered with him on a Census Record. James III does have a son named McCager--but in this area, it's almost easier to count the families that DON'T have a son named McCager than the ones that do. But with his age, James III fits perfectly into McCager's households in 1830 and 1840 along with the other presumed sons of McCager. Can he be definitively linked to McCager? No. He is a suspected son largely due to the absence of probate or deed records mapping out the McCager Napier family. But I do believe he fits well in this family and have not seen him placed anywhere else more convincing.
4. James Napier IV is even tougher to place. His age is inconsistent across Census records:
1850 - Born 1824
1860 - Born 1823
1870 - Born 1826
1880 - Born 1830
1900 - Born Oct 1822
I decided 1824 is as solid a guess as we can get. At least it seems he most likely fits in the 1820-1825 age range. He married Louisa Miniard in Harlan County in 1844. Like so many of the other Napiers, no definitive record links him to his parents so we are left to educated guesswork. The most likely father of this James is...yet another James. The aforementioned James Napier who married Elizabeth, who was probably a Howard. That makes him a sibling of the aforementioned Polly Napier, wife of Henley Fugate.
The eldest James Napier, born about 1794, died between 1840 and 1850. His wife Elizabeth survived him, and is shown in the 1850 Census with their son McCager. Their son Samuel is on his own, and has his siblings John and Polly residing with him. Elizabeth is found next door to Patrick and Mahala Jackson Napier, who are two households from McCager and Leanna Lewis Napier. Samuel and his lot are 3 pages away on the Census record.
James's census records indicate he had at least nine sons. It is believed that seven of them are Edward, Adron, Patrick R., Samuel, James, John, and McCager. This family unit is pieced together largely because folks couldn't find anywhere else for the four oldest to fit other than James's households--and they do all fit. I have not identified the other two but hope to in the future.
Some have James III as a son of James b. 1794, but I believe this James fits better.
5. James Napier V married Clarissa Griffith on 7 Jun 1852 in Clay County, Kentucky. His Census records with his wife placed him being born about 1826. This matches perfectly with the James Napier, born 1826, in the household of John Rene Napier in the 1850 Census in Clay County, Kentucky. Some put James V as the son of James b. 1794, but this is by far the better fit.
6. James Napier VI, our last James, is the aforementioned "Preacher Jim". As discussed, he is the sister of Mary Napier Fugate. He was born about 1831, and fits perfectly as the 19-year old James Napier in the household of Patrick Napier and Mahala Jackson in the 1850 Census. He married first Nancy Frazier, and second Martha Watts, who also married two Fugate men--one before James VI, and one after. There really should be no debate on this one.
Fortunately for us, placing the Jameses in the Napier family tree is overall simpler than placing their McCager counterparts. I would not have bothered to write this article were it not for the rampant mis-application of their records with the wrong men. I felt it necessary to outline all this information for those who are serious about having correct and accurate Napier family trees.
Finally, because visualization helps many of us, I have created a family tree that shows where each of these Jameses belong and how they connect to one another.
I hope this will clear things up for folks. Feel free to contact me with any questions or additions.
James who married Lucy Huff is my second great grandfather. Ancestry is so messed up that many have James and Louisa M. As my second great grandparents. The latter are actually cousins to me.
ReplyDelete