The Indians in western North Carolina were frequently troublesome, the aged veterans remembered, and David Fanning was frequently called a celebrated Tory. I finally focused on celebrated enough to see that it meant notorious, but troublesome is still, well, troubling. A whole army of aged men were not indulging in understatement, I am sure, but I don't know yet how far south on the scale of Terrifying Threat I should go. It's hard to hear when the same words don't mean the same thing today.
"That truth should be silent I had almost forgot"--Enobarbus in ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA, back in Rome after having been too long in Egypt.--------- Melville's PIERRE, Book 4, chapter 5: "Something ever comes of all persistent inquiry; we are not so continually curious for nothing."
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Uncle Tom Bicknell, Mortally Wounded at King's Mountain
I'm working away from Solomon Sparks to Rachel:
From an Internet site:
The plaque on the 1909 Kings Mountain obelisk lists Private Thomas Bicknell killed.
Thomas Bicknell was born in Amherst County Virginia to William and Rosanna Cash Bicknall. Before 1770, he and his brother Samuel had moved to Swan Creek in Rowan (divided into Surry (1770), then Washington (1776) then Wilkes (1777)) County North Carolina. In 1774, Thomas married Rachel Sparks at “the meeting place” near the forks of the Yadkin. These scant imprecise details bespeak much of the history of the settlers of the frontier.
Amherst County records the William Bicknall 1781 will. Wilkes County archives hold the last will and testament signed Thomas Bicknell but written by Burke County’s Joseph Dobson as Bignall. In 1784 Col Benjamin Cleveland ordered 12 pounds per annum with which widow Rachel Bicknel could subsist with her large family and her own industry. In Pickens District South Carolina in 1845, the clerk wrote Rachel Biecknell to which she affixed X, her mark for a federal widow’s pension. Literacy was sparse and records were scattered. We are alphabetizing with the federal archive spelling among the dozen spelling variations.
In 1763 King George proclaimed that the settlers’ water must drain to the Atlantic. His Royal governors had already granted land whose water drained to the Mississippi. Settlers without royal favor or money to buy from those favored few, lived in fear of penalty or loss of their
homesteads. In 1778, Thomas and Samuel Bicknell were able to enter their land claims on Swan Creek near Yadkin River. Under colonial rule, their farms had been unrecorded.
The Anglican church kept the official records of births, marriages, and deaths in Virginia and the Carolinas. Baptists and Presbyterians were not allowed to have churches, so Thomas and Rachel (Sparks) were married at “the meeting place.” By royal decree they were unmarried and lived in the sin of adultery. Their children were officially bastards with no proof of birth. Far away in New Bern, the royal governor seemed to care about them only to the extent that they paid their taxes.
On the second day of the new Wilkes County court on 03Mar1778 Thomas Bicknell was appointed constable, a deputy sheriff. In 1779 he was appointed as a tax collector for Captain Herndon’s district. Much of the county’s taxes went to support its militia companies. After a year of tax duty, he resigned to concentrate of military duties. Land, religious liberty, dignity, and a voice in taxes were important enough to fight for. Despite the ongoing need to tend flocks and fields and now his three children, Thomas became a soldier. Colonel Cleveland tried to keep active duty to no more than three months at a time, primarily defending against Tory Loyalists who were disrupting the Patriot organization and even their existence. Rachel and Thomas had two more children by 1780.
Rachel stated that Thomas sometimes volunteered, sometimes was drafted. His first militia duty was under Captain Richard Allen. He was a lieutenant under Allen when called to Charleston in 1780 where they helped to prevent the Tories from burning the city. Bicknell was at times called out under William Lenoir, Joseph Herndon, and/or Benjamin Cleveland. In the Kings Mountain expedition, Captain Allen stayed with the foot soldiers at Cowpens while his friend Lt. Bicknell fell in with Col John Sevier’s troops in hot pursuit of Ferguson’s soldiers.
On 07Oct1780, a one ounce lead ball to the hip grounded Thomas Bicknell during one of Sevier’s charges up the ridge at Kings Mountain. The colonels assigned two soldiers to each of the wounded. They took Thomas on a horse drawn litter where by 13Oct1780 he was invited into the home of widow Grace (Grizzee) Greenlee Bowman a few miles up the Catawba River from the old Burke County Court House. Dr. Joseph Dobson made the rounds to patriot houses to care for sixteen of the wounded from Kings Mountain. By 16Oct1780, word had reached the Yadkin River and Rachel had left her five children to come to the side of her wounded husband.
By 20Oct1780, Dr. Dobson was so pessimistic of Thomas Bicknell’s chances that he asked his patient for his last will and testament. It was witnessed by
-Joseph Dobson,
-hostess Grace Bowman, (whose husband John Bowman was mortally wounded at the battle of Ramsour’s Mill 13Jun1780)
-Pilot Mountain’s William Terrell Lewis Sr, (who had three wounded sons at Mr. Mackey’s [some say at Margaret McDowell’s] home)
-William Ragland of Wilkes County
-Gabriel Loving of Wilkes County, (Rachel Loving Siske had lost her husband Daniel Siske in the battle of Kings Mountain)
-and Samuel Bicknell, the brother of Thomas.
On the last day of 1780, Thomas Bicknell died. Rachel went home to her children. On 07May1781, a broken hearted father, William Bicknell died in Amherst County Virginia. On 15May1781 Mary Bicknell, sixth and last child of Thomas and Rachel Bicknell was born on Swan Creek in Wilkes County NC.
03Dec1845 in Pickens District SC, eighty eight year old Rachel Bicknell testified that she was living with her daughter Mary and on the charity of Mary’s husband David Roper. Her pension application was initially rejected. Her file in the federal archived suggests that 21Dec1851 attorney Thomas Lumpkin representing several Pickens area folks in DC brought enough depositions from North and South Carolina to prove that Rachel was in fact the widow of a revolutionary was soldier and she was awarded a pension. http://revwarapps.org/r12399.pdf
The plaque on the 1909 Kings Mountain obelisk lists Private Thomas Bicknell killed. If I could make a plaque at Kings Mountain, it would contain Lt. Thomas Bicknell, here mortally wounded, died 31Dec1780 in the arms of his wife Rachel Sparks Bicknell at the home of widow Grace Greenlee Bowman on the Catawba in Burke County. The tears of two brave patriot ladies accompanied him to his grave.
From an Internet site:
The plaque on the 1909 Kings Mountain obelisk lists Private Thomas Bicknell killed.
Thomas Bicknell was born in Amherst County Virginia to William and Rosanna Cash Bicknall. Before 1770, he and his brother Samuel had moved to Swan Creek in Rowan (divided into Surry (1770), then Washington (1776) then Wilkes (1777)) County North Carolina. In 1774, Thomas married Rachel Sparks at “the meeting place” near the forks of the Yadkin. These scant imprecise details bespeak much of the history of the settlers of the frontier.
Amherst County records the William Bicknall 1781 will. Wilkes County archives hold the last will and testament signed Thomas Bicknell but written by Burke County’s Joseph Dobson as Bignall. In 1784 Col Benjamin Cleveland ordered 12 pounds per annum with which widow Rachel Bicknel could subsist with her large family and her own industry. In Pickens District South Carolina in 1845, the clerk wrote Rachel Biecknell to which she affixed X, her mark for a federal widow’s pension. Literacy was sparse and records were scattered. We are alphabetizing with the federal archive spelling among the dozen spelling variations.
In 1763 King George proclaimed that the settlers’ water must drain to the Atlantic. His Royal governors had already granted land whose water drained to the Mississippi. Settlers without royal favor or money to buy from those favored few, lived in fear of penalty or loss of their
homesteads. In 1778, Thomas and Samuel Bicknell were able to enter their land claims on Swan Creek near Yadkin River. Under colonial rule, their farms had been unrecorded.
The Anglican church kept the official records of births, marriages, and deaths in Virginia and the Carolinas. Baptists and Presbyterians were not allowed to have churches, so Thomas and Rachel (Sparks) were married at “the meeting place.” By royal decree they were unmarried and lived in the sin of adultery. Their children were officially bastards with no proof of birth. Far away in New Bern, the royal governor seemed to care about them only to the extent that they paid their taxes.
On the second day of the new Wilkes County court on 03Mar1778 Thomas Bicknell was appointed constable, a deputy sheriff. In 1779 he was appointed as a tax collector for Captain Herndon’s district. Much of the county’s taxes went to support its militia companies. After a year of tax duty, he resigned to concentrate of military duties. Land, religious liberty, dignity, and a voice in taxes were important enough to fight for. Despite the ongoing need to tend flocks and fields and now his three children, Thomas became a soldier. Colonel Cleveland tried to keep active duty to no more than three months at a time, primarily defending against Tory Loyalists who were disrupting the Patriot organization and even their existence. Rachel and Thomas had two more children by 1780.
Rachel stated that Thomas sometimes volunteered, sometimes was drafted. His first militia duty was under Captain Richard Allen. He was a lieutenant under Allen when called to Charleston in 1780 where they helped to prevent the Tories from burning the city. Bicknell was at times called out under William Lenoir, Joseph Herndon, and/or Benjamin Cleveland. In the Kings Mountain expedition, Captain Allen stayed with the foot soldiers at Cowpens while his friend Lt. Bicknell fell in with Col John Sevier’s troops in hot pursuit of Ferguson’s soldiers.
On 07Oct1780, a one ounce lead ball to the hip grounded Thomas Bicknell during one of Sevier’s charges up the ridge at Kings Mountain. The colonels assigned two soldiers to each of the wounded. They took Thomas on a horse drawn litter where by 13Oct1780 he was invited into the home of widow Grace (Grizzee) Greenlee Bowman a few miles up the Catawba River from the old Burke County Court House. Dr. Joseph Dobson made the rounds to patriot houses to care for sixteen of the wounded from Kings Mountain. By 16Oct1780, word had reached the Yadkin River and Rachel had left her five children to come to the side of her wounded husband.
By 20Oct1780, Dr. Dobson was so pessimistic of Thomas Bicknell’s chances that he asked his patient for his last will and testament. It was witnessed by
-Joseph Dobson,
-hostess Grace Bowman, (whose husband John Bowman was mortally wounded at the battle of Ramsour’s Mill 13Jun1780)
-Pilot Mountain’s William Terrell Lewis Sr, (who had three wounded sons at Mr. Mackey’s [some say at Margaret McDowell’s] home)
-William Ragland of Wilkes County
-Gabriel Loving of Wilkes County, (Rachel Loving Siske had lost her husband Daniel Siske in the battle of Kings Mountain)
-and Samuel Bicknell, the brother of Thomas.
On the last day of 1780, Thomas Bicknell died. Rachel went home to her children. On 07May1781, a broken hearted father, William Bicknell died in Amherst County Virginia. On 15May1781 Mary Bicknell, sixth and last child of Thomas and Rachel Bicknell was born on Swan Creek in Wilkes County NC.
03Dec1845 in Pickens District SC, eighty eight year old Rachel Bicknell testified that she was living with her daughter Mary and on the charity of Mary’s husband David Roper. Her pension application was initially rejected. Her file in the federal archived suggests that 21Dec1851 attorney Thomas Lumpkin representing several Pickens area folks in DC brought enough depositions from North and South Carolina to prove that Rachel was in fact the widow of a revolutionary was soldier and she was awarded a pension. http://revwarapps.org/r12399.pdf
The plaque on the 1909 Kings Mountain obelisk lists Private Thomas Bicknell killed. If I could make a plaque at Kings Mountain, it would contain Lt. Thomas Bicknell, here mortally wounded, died 31Dec1780 in the arms of his wife Rachel Sparks Bicknell at the home of widow Grace Greenlee Bowman on the Catawba in Burke County. The tears of two brave patriot ladies accompanied him to his grave.
Friday, November 28, 2014
Solomon Sparks "a celebrated Tory"--Just as David Fanning was "a celebrated Tory"
I assume George Parks is not one of my Parkses, but maybe.
Solomon Sparks, my GGGGGG Grandfather, was born around 1725 in Maryland and during the Revolution lived on land partly in Wilkes and partly in Surry Counties, North Carolina. The younger Sparks men were Whigs, but Grandpa was Ornery. Tricked by an appeal to his neighborliness, then assaulted, the old man (fifty-odd was old) fought back, kicking young George Parks--34 years younger than Grandpa--and even when bound hand and foot in the canoe he shout out, "Hurra for King George." What a man! I wish I had inherited just a smidgeon of his DNA.
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Skip Gates in 2014 on Racial Fluidity and the Dogmatic NEH in 1996
Watching Skip Gate's final (and maybe best) show of the season Tuesday made me remember 1996. I was invited to be on an NEH panel, but in order to participate I would have been required to assert that I was of one race. I could say all Cherokee or all Choctaw, maybe, but I could not say part Cherokee and Choctaw and mainly white. I wrote a tough letter denouncing the requirement as outright racist and never got invited to work for NEH again. Five years later, ten, popular musicians were casually describing themselves as bi-racial and a few years later it was hard to find anyone in the country who claimed to be all white. I wonder what NEH's policy is now.
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Friday, November 21, 2014
Toothbrush Inventory and Replacement--Came upon one from New Otani 1989
In the package a good little brush. Moment of hesitation before I discarded the little tube of toothpaste. Depression Okies are frugal.
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Friday, November 14, 2014
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Left the American Revolution and spent the day with Ancestry.com DNA
Question: When you care enough about your ancestry to take the DNA test why do you make the results private? Ancestry.com puts a padlock on the secret ones and puts a leaf up when one of them shares common ancestors with me. Now, how frustrating is it to have both a padlock and a leaf announcing that someone shares the same pair of ancestors but (listen to them), "Nahaay Nahaay you are an Okie cousin and aren't fit to see what we have and GGGGG Grandma liked us better!" Locked out again. Went to the back door and all but it was locked too. Hurts my feelings, it does.
It does defeat the purpose, doesn't it?
Now, interesting point. When one of my Pruitt cousins goes back 8 generations it says something about my research and his research as well as the fidelity of long dead folks. Sometimes when you knew, for instance, without hard documentary proof, that a Cochran ancestress was a Cockerham, it's good to see someone else's DNA going a generation or two earlier than her, safely into Cockerham land. It may solve some problems just incidentally. When there are shared ancestors but also another familiar name, Bandy, for example, I may someday find out if the Ann Rogers/Rodgers who had charge of a young Bandy boy and took him from Tennessee to Arkansas and raised him there was herself a Bandy, caring for a little brother. Least knowledge of all: about the Parkers.
It does defeat the purpose, doesn't it?
Now, interesting point. When one of my Pruitt cousins goes back 8 generations it says something about my research and his research as well as the fidelity of long dead folks. Sometimes when you knew, for instance, without hard documentary proof, that a Cochran ancestress was a Cockerham, it's good to see someone else's DNA going a generation or two earlier than her, safely into Cockerham land. It may solve some problems just incidentally. When there are shared ancestors but also another familiar name, Bandy, for example, I may someday find out if the Ann Rogers/Rodgers who had charge of a young Bandy boy and took him from Tennessee to Arkansas and raised him there was herself a Bandy, caring for a little brother. Least knowledge of all: about the Parkers.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Saturday, November 8, 2014
The closest any of my folks got to Mitt Romney
This is a follow-up to the connection game where I decided
that the closest I get to George Washington was
when William Washington used his sword to take out an eye of my Uncle John in
1781.
It occurred to me that the
closest I have been to Mitt Romney is when his ancestor’s death contributed
to the murder of several of my Coker cousins at Mountain Meadows in 1857.
I wonder if I can amuse
myself with this game for a while. I think the closest I got to Thomas
Jefferson was when he made his little note about sending soldiers to drive out
the Sims Intruders in what became Alabama.
Andrew Jackson is easy since
the closest I get to him is through my step-grandpa William Cocke, one of the
first 2 senators from Tennessee.
Mitt Romney is easy also.
Parley Pratt was killed in
Van Buren, Arkansas, in 1857 by the husband of a woman Pratt had taken as his
12th wife. To some extent, this assassination motivated the Mormons
who took part in the slaughter of the wagon train of people from Arkansas at
Mountain Meadows.
There were, if fact, Coker grandchildren slaughtered—not
with last name of Coker.
Sunday,
September 30, 2012
The Mormon Massacre of Arkansawers at Mountain Meadows in
September 1857--Make that Massacre of my Cousins
I started just to check if any of my Coker cousins
were among those massacred. I added items as I went down the Google list but
stopped after checking only three surnames of the victims. Coker Cousins of
mine murdered: were they Ornery People? I may continue this with other names
from the victims list.
The History of Boone County Arkansas (1998) contains an account of the Mountain Meadows Massacre a good deal more raw than you see on some Internet sites today:
On September 11, 1857 . . . about 120 pioneer emigrants, most of whom were from northwestern Arkansas, were brutally murdered in a mountain valley in southwestern Utah, in an affair called the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The event was one of the most horrible in American history. . . . . Many of those who were killed at Mountain Meadows had been pioneer settlers of what is now Boone County. The number included the Bakers, who had lived south of Harrison and whose family is still represented in Boone County today. . . .
I just put the name of the 27 year old "George W. Baker" on Google along with Coker, the family name of my pioneer north-central Arkansas ancestors, and got this:
Solomon and William’s first cousin, William “Prairie Bill” Coker married Alexander Fancher’s first cousin, Arminta Fancher, thus making them distantly related by marriage.
Here is a comment by Erin Green in 2009: "I have just learned about this event as I was digging for my family heritage. I am related directly to Charity Ann Porter through my father's grandmother Mamie Bertha Porter. I have also noticed that Charity, her husband Edward Coker, and their 2 children were not listed as victims (which I know for sure they were).
The History of Boone County Arkansas (1998) contains an account of the Mountain Meadows Massacre a good deal more raw than you see on some Internet sites today:
On September 11, 1857 . . . about 120 pioneer emigrants, most of whom were from northwestern Arkansas, were brutally murdered in a mountain valley in southwestern Utah, in an affair called the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The event was one of the most horrible in American history. . . . . Many of those who were killed at Mountain Meadows had been pioneer settlers of what is now Boone County. The number included the Bakers, who had lived south of Harrison and whose family is still represented in Boone County today. . . .
I just put the name of the 27 year old "George W. Baker" on Google along with Coker, the family name of my pioneer north-central Arkansas ancestors, and got this:
Solomon and William’s first cousin, William “Prairie Bill” Coker married Alexander Fancher’s first cousin, Arminta Fancher, thus making them distantly related by marriage.
Here is a comment by Erin Green in 2009: "I have just learned about this event as I was digging for my family heritage. I am related directly to Charity Ann Porter through my father's grandmother Mamie Bertha Porter. I have also noticed that Charity, her husband Edward Coker, and their 2 children were not listed as victims (which I know for sure they were).
Mtn-meadows-assoc
com - Mountain Meadows Association lists one Coker--
dat16.html#9|COKER|Nancy
Jane /Coker/|ABT. 1805||||
This
is an astonishing kinship chart of the victims at Mountain Meadows Massacre:
http://mtnmeamasdes.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/wagon-train-kinship2.pdf
I
got all this on one screen of Google after typing in one name from the list of
those massacred.
This
is after changing Baker to Francher:
Arminta
Francher Coker
Submitted by: Lynn-Marie Fancher (lfancher@smithfreed.com)
Caretaker Old Fancher Cemetery KNA
"Colonel James Fancher Homestead Cemetery"
Submitted by: Lynn-Marie Fancher (lfancher@smithfreed.com)
Caretaker Old Fancher Cemetery KNA
"Colonel James Fancher Homestead Cemetery"
With regard to
Arminta Fancher Coker . . .
She was the daughter of Col James Fancher and his wife, Elizabeth Carlock Fancher. His middle name was not Alexander. James Fancher he had a brother Alexander Fancher who died in the Capps area between 1844 and 1846. That Alexander Fancher lost two sons at Mountain Meadows
Col James Fancher had another brother, Isaac Fancher, who's son was the Captain Alexander Fancher that led the ill-fated wagon train into Mountain Meadows Utah. There is no Captain Charles (Charley) Fancher associated with the MMM. That is an error that came out of Utah that has been perpetuated from old accounts. Newer books have the names correct.
Ariminta Fancher Coker died in 1848, from complications of childbirth. She had four children, all of whom were raised by James Fancher and wife Elizabeth, Ariminta's parents. Ariminta Coker's husband,"Prairie Bill" Coker, ran off with two Indian women, which made the conservative Fancher's pretty unhappy. Ariminta Coker and her older sister Asenath Fancher Morris are buried in the "Old Fancher Cemetery" in Osage at the foot of Sarah Journegain (Jarnigan) Fancher's grave. They are in unmarked graves, but well known by family members to be there. Very recently, someone from the Alexander Fancher family put a marker up for Alexander over the graves of these two ladies. It is unclear at present how that will be resolved, but Alexander Fancher, the brother, is not buried in that cemetery at all. He is presumed to be in the Capps area with his wife and oldest son.
Interestingly, the baby that was born in 1848 was named George M. Dallas Coker. He was named this by Elizabeth Carlock Fancher who had lost her own last baby the year before (1847) named George M Dallas Fancher. He only lived to be 10 months old. So the name was recycled for Arminta's baby.
The children did grow up to know their father and in later years, enjoyed his company.
Now I typed in "Jones":
Rewriting History: the inscription on the monument--attacked by women from outer space? attacked but not slaughtered?:
IN MEMORIAM
In the valley below between September 7 and 11, 1857, a company of more than 120 Arkansas emigrants led by Capt. John T. Baker And Capt. Alexander Fancher was attacked while en route to California. This event is known in history as the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
She was the daughter of Col James Fancher and his wife, Elizabeth Carlock Fancher. His middle name was not Alexander. James Fancher he had a brother Alexander Fancher who died in the Capps area between 1844 and 1846. That Alexander Fancher lost two sons at Mountain Meadows
Col James Fancher had another brother, Isaac Fancher, who's son was the Captain Alexander Fancher that led the ill-fated wagon train into Mountain Meadows Utah. There is no Captain Charles (Charley) Fancher associated with the MMM. That is an error that came out of Utah that has been perpetuated from old accounts. Newer books have the names correct.
Ariminta Fancher Coker died in 1848, from complications of childbirth. She had four children, all of whom were raised by James Fancher and wife Elizabeth, Ariminta's parents. Ariminta Coker's husband,"Prairie Bill" Coker, ran off with two Indian women, which made the conservative Fancher's pretty unhappy. Ariminta Coker and her older sister Asenath Fancher Morris are buried in the "Old Fancher Cemetery" in Osage at the foot of Sarah Journegain (Jarnigan) Fancher's grave. They are in unmarked graves, but well known by family members to be there. Very recently, someone from the Alexander Fancher family put a marker up for Alexander over the graves of these two ladies. It is unclear at present how that will be resolved, but Alexander Fancher, the brother, is not buried in that cemetery at all. He is presumed to be in the Capps area with his wife and oldest son.
Interestingly, the baby that was born in 1848 was named George M. Dallas Coker. He was named this by Elizabeth Carlock Fancher who had lost her own last baby the year before (1847) named George M Dallas Fancher. He only lived to be 10 months old. So the name was recycled for Arminta's baby.
The children did grow up to know their father and in later years, enjoyed his company.
Now I typed in "Jones":
Rewriting History: the inscription on the monument--attacked by women from outer space? attacked but not slaughtered?:
IN MEMORIAM
In the valley below between September 7 and 11, 1857, a company of more than 120 Arkansas emigrants led by Capt. John T. Baker And Capt. Alexander Fancher was attacked while en route to California. This event is known in history as the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
What
else if I type in Solomon R. Wood?
Richard
Wilson
(1830?-1857) - From Marion County, Arkansas, Wilson was
believed to have been born between 1830 and 1834. He was married to Elizabeth
Coker Wilson and the two had one son named John William, who was less than a
year old when Wilson joined the California-bound
wagon train. Traveling alone, family history indicates that he was headed to
the California
goldmines, but instead, was killed at the massacre.
William
Edward Wood
(1831-1857) - Born in Arkansas to George
Washington Wood and Nancy Jane Coker, Wood was married to Manerva Jane Hudson
about 1850. The couple had one small child and Nancy Jane was pregnant with the
second when he joined the wagon train along with his brother Solomon and
brother-in-law, Charles Stallcup, who were thought to have been hired on to
help care for the large cattle herd that was accompanying the wagon train.
Their plans were to check out the prospects in California, and
perhaps later bring back their wives. Instead all three men were killed and
when William's wife heard about the massacre, she miscarried her second child.
Solomon
R. Wood
(1937-1857) - Born in Arkansas to George
Washington Wood and Nancy Jane Coker, Solomon was the brother of William Edward
Wood, and brother-in-law of Charles Stallcup. Records indicate that he
was not married. The three men were thought to have been hired on to help care
for the large cattle herd that was accompanying the wagon train. All three men
were killed in the massacre.
All that from typing in three names
from the Boone County history. This many of my good cousins slaughtered in
Utah. Stories no one told me.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Our Western My Lai--the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857--Coker cousins among the slain
When you dip your toe into
genealogy . . . .
It's very hard to get reliable information about the Mormon Massacre of a troop of Arkansawers at Mountain Meadows in 1857. History is being re-written. Will Bagley's book, THE BLOOD OF THE PROPHETS, has been scathingly attacked in order to protect the carefully re-written history. It seems clear that in a few minutes of slaughter some hundred emigrants from Arkansas were killed, including several under ten years of age and some two dozen between 10 and 20 years old. Why was the massacre ignored at the time? It was, of course, crowded out by news from Kansas and Nebraska as the nation moved toward civil war. And then details were purged and a smooth array of alternative explanations palliated the deliberate ferocity of the massacre.
My interest began when I received HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY, ARKANSAS, "with a narrative by Roger V. Logan, Jr." If the wagon train was composed of people from north central counties of Arkansas in 1857, then surely some of my Cokers family would have been among the massacred. And so I discovered by checking three names from the list of the murdered. I posted a string of horrors a little earlier, starting with no knowledge that Coker cousins had been killed, but making discoveries fast. This is a clean up sweep of obvious items found on Google.
It's very hard to get reliable information about the Mormon Massacre of a troop of Arkansawers at Mountain Meadows in 1857. History is being re-written. Will Bagley's book, THE BLOOD OF THE PROPHETS, has been scathingly attacked in order to protect the carefully re-written history. It seems clear that in a few minutes of slaughter some hundred emigrants from Arkansas were killed, including several under ten years of age and some two dozen between 10 and 20 years old. Why was the massacre ignored at the time? It was, of course, crowded out by news from Kansas and Nebraska as the nation moved toward civil war. And then details were purged and a smooth array of alternative explanations palliated the deliberate ferocity of the massacre.
My interest began when I received HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY, ARKANSAS, "with a narrative by Roger V. Logan, Jr." If the wagon train was composed of people from north central counties of Arkansas in 1857, then surely some of my Cokers family would have been among the massacred. And so I discovered by checking three names from the list of the murdered. I posted a string of horrors a little earlier, starting with no knowledge that Coker cousins had been killed, but making discoveries fast. This is a clean up sweep of obvious items found on Google.
Part I: Emigrants Known to Have Perished at Mountain Meadows ...
Coker, Edward, 27. He tried farming in Texas before joining
the emigration to California.16
Coker, Charity Porter, 37.
The Cokers were reported to have two children
traveling with them.
MARION COUNTY AR
MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE
SOME FAMILIES & THEIR BACKGROUND
by Margaret A. Butler (margaretbutler@yahoo.com)
MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE
SOME FAMILIES & THEIR BACKGROUND
by Margaret A. Butler (margaretbutler@yahoo.com)
Unfamiliar with
The Mountain Meadow Masscure? Go here
Margaret has put
together some information on some of the families involved in the Mt Meadow
Masscure. If you have any addition information please pass it along to me.
Thanks Linda
WOOD FAMILY:
WILLIAM WOOD, born
ca. 1831, probably in Marion Co., AR
SOLOMON WOOD, born ca. 1837, probably in Marion Co., AR
William and Solomon were brothers. I'm fairly sure Solomon was a single man but not sure about William. Both were sons of George W. and Nancy Jane (COKER) WOOD of George's Creek, Yellville, Marion Co., AR. (George's Creek was named after George W. Wood.)
George W. Wood was born ca. 1804-05 in SC, and was the son of Marion County Judge William Obadiah "Dancin Bill" Wood and his wife, Hannah (AUSTIN) Wood. The Judge was born ca. 1775 in NC, moved to AR ca. 1818, and settled at Yellville ca. 1828, residing near Crooked Creek.
Nancy Jane (Coker) Wood was born ca. 1809-13 in Knox Co., TN. She was the daughter of Arkansas pioneer, William Dempsey "Buck" COKER. Buck's wife's name was allegedly Nancy (LEE) COKER. Buck moved into the White River area around 1813, then eventually settled near Lead Hill (which was first situated in Marion County and then Boone County).
SOLOMON WOOD, born ca. 1837, probably in Marion Co., AR
William and Solomon were brothers. I'm fairly sure Solomon was a single man but not sure about William. Both were sons of George W. and Nancy Jane (COKER) WOOD of George's Creek, Yellville, Marion Co., AR. (George's Creek was named after George W. Wood.)
George W. Wood was born ca. 1804-05 in SC, and was the son of Marion County Judge William Obadiah "Dancin Bill" Wood and his wife, Hannah (AUSTIN) Wood. The Judge was born ca. 1775 in NC, moved to AR ca. 1818, and settled at Yellville ca. 1828, residing near Crooked Creek.
Nancy Jane (Coker) Wood was born ca. 1809-13 in Knox Co., TN. She was the daughter of Arkansas pioneer, William Dempsey "Buck" COKER. Buck's wife's name was allegedly Nancy (LEE) COKER. Buck moved into the White River area around 1813, then eventually settled near Lead Hill (which was first situated in Marion County and then Boone County).
Genealogy of Each Family
Mary Baker Ledbetter researched and constructed the genealogies for each of the families that traveled in the Baker/Fancher Wagon Train. Red ink signifies the individuals who died at Mountain Meadows. Blue ink represents the children who survived the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
Click on the Surname to view the corresponding genealogy:
Aden Fulfer
Baker Huff
Beach Jones
Beller McEntire
Brown Miller
Cameron Mitchell
Coker Prewitt
Deshazo Rush
Dunlap Tackett
Edwards Wharton
Fancher Wilburn
Wood
Be the first to like this.
Astonishing Coker genealogical chart!
http://mtnmeamasdes.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/coker.pdf
This chart puts my ancestor Leonard down lower than the
other children of Buck Coker. Seaborn is my ancestor, shot while crossing a
river in the War.
- COKER FAMILY - PART XI NANCY JANE COKERSubmitted by: Margaret Butler(margaretbutler@yahoo.com)
NOTE !! This is
a compilation of information only, and the reader must allow for errors.
Because of past courthouse burnings, a large majority of coker information
comes only from stories handed down through families and acquaintances. This
genealogy is meant to be used simply as a guide. For additional information
on the Cokers, look at the book on Marion County, AR families at the Marion
County library.
* * *
NANCY JANE
COKER, dau. of Buck Coker
born between
1810 and 1813, Knox Co., TN
married about
1832 to George W. WOOD,
son of William
& Hannah (Austin) Wood
Some believe
that Nancy, who married George W. Wood, was the daughter of Edward
"Ned" Coker, son of Buck (a Marion Co., AR history book states this
fact). However, Ned was born in 1801 and this Nancy was born no later than
1813. Ned would have been no older than 13 when this Nancy was born. She
couldn't have been his daughter; rather, she was his sister.
Taken from S.C.
Turnbo's "A Bear Resembles a Huge Snowball While Rolling Down a
Mountainside:"
George Wood, son
of "Dancin" Bill Wood married Nancy Coker, youngest daughter of
Buck Coker, and lived at the Big Spring on East Sugar Loaf Creek now called
the Blackwell Spring; here in 1854 Woods built a mill and settlers who lived
far and near patronized this mill. Some years before he erected his mill he
was hunting in the close vicinity of Short Mountain and the dogs chased two
panthers and the panthers soon took the advantage of a tree and sit on the
limbs and glared at the dogs. When Woods reached the tree he shot both
panthers which were a male and female. The former was 11 feet in length, the
latter was 9 feet. Woods cut off the forepaws of each animal and carried them
home and hunters who saw them pronounced those of the male panther unusually
large."
"Georges
Creek [near Yellville, Marion Co.] took its name from George Wood who built
the mill at the Big Spring on East Sugar Loaf Creek in 1854." Taken from
Turnbo's "A Few Items of Early Times."
Nancy is first
found on the 1850 Marion Co., AR federal census. She is listed as
"Jane" in household No. 161:
George Wood 45
Tenn
Jane 40 Tenn
Dice 22 Ark.
Winney 20 Ark.
William 19 Ark.
Hannah 18 Ark.
Elisabeth 16
Ark.
Jane 15 Ark.
Solmon R. 13
Ark.
Malinda 11 Ark.
George W. 9 Ark.
John Hardin 7
Ark.
Nancy C. 6 Ark.
Sarah Ann 4 Ark.
Martha 3 Ark.
Bellrada 1 Ark.
NANCY COKER'S
KNOWN CHILDREN:
1. DICEY
WOOD, born about 1828, probably Marion Co., AR. Allegedly married James
LAREMORE. Listed on the 1860 Sugar Loaf Twp., Marion Co., AR census. Children
in household: Belbrady, Martha Jane and William H.
2. WINNEY
WOOD, born about 1830, AR; married Charles/Charlie STALLCUP, son of Samuel
and Jane Stallcup. Charles, born abt 1832 in Indiana, was a member of a
doomed wagon train that was attacked in Utah on its way to the gold fields in
California. He died in September 1857 during the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
Some records say that Winney died also; however, she's listed on the 1860
Sugar Loaf Twp., Marion Co., AR census. Children of Winney & Charles:
Rachel Ann, George Samuel, and James M. Stallcup.
3. WILLIAM WOOD,
born about 1831, AR; married Minerva Jane HUDSON, dau. of Jesse and Matilda
(Everett) Hudson who lived on Georges Creek. William was also a member of the
doomed wagon train that was attacked in Utah. He died in September 1857
during the Mountain Meadows Massacre. (Some "Hudsons" were among
the doomed wagon train members. Whether they were related to Jesse &
Matilda is unknown.)
4. HANNAH
MELVIRA WOOD, born about 1832 in AR.
5. ELISABETH
WOOD, born about 1834 in AR.
6. JANE WOOD,
born about 1835 in AR. (Some say Jane, who married Dud Coker, was the
daughter of Ned Coker, but Turnbo refers to Dud as George Wood's son-in-law.)
Jane, wife of Strother/Strander Dudley "Dud" COKER, married him in
1856. Dud was murdered by bushwackers in 1864-65. Dud and Jane had two known
children: Charity J. (b. 1857), William C. Coker (b. 1859), and Rebecca (b.
1862). Directions to Dud's grave: "Cross Sugar Loaf Creek above the old
Geo Wood farm, pass on up a hollow on the west side of the creek to the
graveyard." [Was Dud a son of Leonard Coker?]
7. SOLOMON R.
WOOD, born about 1837 in AR. Solomon was also a member of the doomed wagon
train that was attacked in Utah. He died in September 1857 during the
Mountain Meadows Massacre.
8. SUSAN MALINDA
WOOD, born about 1839 in AR.
9. GEORGE
WASHINGTON WOOD, born about 1841 in AR.
10. JOHN HARDIN
WOOD, born about 1843 in AR.
11. NANCY C.
WOOD, born about 1844 in AR. Another source states her birthdate was January
26, 1844 in Marion Co., AR.
12. SARAH ANN
WOOD, born about 1846 in AR.
13. MARTHA
"PATSY" WOOD, born about 1847 in AR; never married.
14.
BELLRADA/BELBRADY WOOD, born about 1849 in AR.
OTHER
CHILDREN ALLEGEDLY BELONGING TO NANCY:
15. Eveline R.
Wood, born about 1850-51 in AR. [Questionable?]
16. Joseph C.
Wood, born about 1853 in AR. [Questionable?]
17. Matilda A.
Wood, born about 1855 in AR. [Questionable?]
18. Amanda M.
Wood, born about 1860 in AR. [Questionable?]
19. Edward Wood,
b. 1851 [Very questionable?]
20. Charity
Wood, b. 1853 [Questionable?]
21. John E.
Wood, b. 1856 [Questionable?]
Bagley’s book—published at a time when it is not safe to tell the
truth.
http://1857massacre.com/MMM/fancher-seitz_cemetery.htm
A Francher child who was not murdered with the rest.
The Dunlaps and Cokers connected:
http://1857massacre.com/MMM/fancher-seitz_cemetery.htm
FIVE CHILDREN WHO
WERE SAVED FROM THE
MOUNTAIN MEADOW MASSACRE
By S. C. Turnbo
MOUNTAIN MEADOW MASSACRE
By S. C. Turnbo
Carrollton Hollow a tributary branch of West Sugar Loaf
Creek in Boone County, Ark. was settled in the early fifties. This hollow was
once embraced in Carroll County but when Boone County was organized it was cut
off into the latter. The little valley has its source just east of Bear Creek.
dome two or three years before the Civil War began the settlers who lived in
the hollow built a small house of hewed logs and went into the forest and burned
a lime kiln of lime stone and "painted" the house with lime and used
the building for school and church purposes and was known far and near as the
Carrollton Hollow School House. The part of the hollow where this house stood
was a Broken Prairie Valley but since then it has all growed up in small trees
and bresh. The original house was destroyed by fire but another house of the
same size and of the same kind of material was built on the same foundation
where the first one stood. I am told that this last house has been removed and
replaced by a much better one. One of the early settlers in this hollow is Dave
Dunlap who came there with his parents James and Lucinda (McMurray) Dunlap in
1854 and was born in Newton County, Ark. December 29, 1837. His father died
some time ago and lies buried in the cemetery one mile north of the school
house. Dave Dunlap had several relatives murdered in the Mountain Meadow
Massacre in Utah September 18,1857. In speaking of his relatives who were slain
in this cold blooded slaughter and some of the children who were saved from
death, Mr. Dunlap said, "Two of my brothers Jesse and Loranzo Dunlap
including their wives fell victims in this horrible affair. When the news of
this massacre reached the people of Northwest Arkanaas and Southwest Missouri
it shocked them and an ill feeling against the Mormons sprang up among the
people stronger than their ill will against the Indians, for most every one
looked on Brigham Young and his leaders as being the principal instigators of
the cruel murder of these defenseless emigrants. Among the little children who
were spared a horrible death on that bloody spot were Angeline and George Ann
Dunlap two daughters of my brother Loranzo Dunlap and Louisa. Sarah and Rebecca
Dunlap daughters of my brother Jesse Dunlap. All of these children that I name
were married after they grew to womanhood. Angeline married Blairburne Copeing,
George Ann married George McWhister, Louisa married Jim Linton, Rebecca married
John Evans and Sarah married Capt. Lynch of the United States Army.
Re: MOUNTAIN MEADOW MASSACRE SURVIVORS
Posted: 8 Sep 2001 3:41AM GMT
|
|
Classification: Query
|
Edited: 18 Sep 2002 4:29PM GMT
|
I am looking for relative, Charity Porter born 19 Apr 1818
in Ill. She was married to Edward (Coquer, Conquer, or most likely Coker. Ther were
other Coker families in the area surrounding Carroll Co. Ark. They left with
the Fancher Train and both killed at the Mountain Meadow Massacre. I believe
they had two small children. I read where the children survived and were
returned to the Carroll Co. area. Any info would be appreciated. Charity was
the daughter of Gwinn Porter and Rachel Daughterty who lived in the area in the
1830s-and 40s.
·
Re: MOUNTAIN MEADOW MASSACRE SURVIVORS
Posted: 8 Sep 2001 1:50PM GMT
|
|
Classification: Query
|
Edited: 6 Feb 2006 4:30PM GMT
|
The book that I have really doesn't give a lot of
information. It mentions 17 children that were taken back to Carroll Co but none
of them were Cokers. Here is the list of names:
Rebecca 9,Louisa 7, Sarah 4, daughters of Jessie Dunlap
PevdenceAngline 7,Gorgina 4, daughters of L.D. Dunlap
William 4, son of G.W. Baker
Elizabeth 8,Sarah 6, C.G. 9, Tryphonia 5, children of Capt Alexander Fancher .
John 9,Mary 7, Joseph 4, of Joseph Miller
Milam and William, sons of Plesant Tackett
F.N. 4,Saphonia 7, of J.M. Jones of Marion Co.
The Mormons apparently kept them for two years before returning them to Carroll Co.
This book is not indexed so I do not know if there are any Cokers mentioned in it. I checked the cemetery listings in the book and didn't find anyone with those names.
Rebecca 9,Louisa 7, Sarah 4, daughters of Jessie Dunlap
PevdenceAngline 7,Gorgina 4, daughters of L.D. Dunlap
William 4, son of G.W. Baker
Elizabeth 8,Sarah 6, C.G. 9, Tryphonia 5, children of Capt Alexander Fancher .
John 9,Mary 7, Joseph 4, of Joseph Miller
Milam and William, sons of Plesant Tackett
F.N. 4,Saphonia 7, of J.M. Jones of Marion Co.
The Mormons apparently kept them for two years before returning them to Carroll Co.
This book is not indexed so I do not know if there are any Cokers mentioned in it. I checked the cemetery listings in the book and didn't find anyone with those names.
Monday, October 1, 2012
"Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith tangles with a quirk of Arkansas history"-- A Quirk? We are talking about a Massacre by Mormons
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mitt-romneys-mormon-faith-tangles-with-a-quirk-of-arkansas-history/2012/05/20/gIQAKHVFeU_story.html
The title's "a quirk" I assume is Washington DC contempt for
Arkansas. The Mountain Meadows Massacre by Mormons of a wagon train of Arkansas
women and children is not a "quirk" of Arkansas history. Cousins of
mine, I learned yesterday, were slaughtered, among them children.
The
start of the article:
Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith tangles with a quirk of Arkansas history
CARROLLTON, Ark. — On the
wildflower-studded slopes of the Ozarks, where memories run long and family
ties run thick, a little-known and long-ago chapter of history still simmers.
On Sept. 11, 1857, a wagon train from this part of Arkansas met with a gruesome fate in Utah, where most of the travelers were slaughtered by a Mormon militia in an episode known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Hundreds of the victims’ descendants still populate these hills and commemorate the killings, which they have come to call “the first 9/11.”
On Sept. 11, 1857, a wagon train from this part of Arkansas met with a gruesome fate in Utah, where most of the travelers were slaughtered by a Mormon militia in an episode known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Hundreds of the victims’ descendants still populate these hills and commemorate the killings, which they have come to call “the first 9/11.”
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In the JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION there is this very interesting piece by Wayne Lynch from last April, "Winner or Runner: Gates at Camden." I read it last night and decided it was history from the top down because it quoted Hamilton and Jefferson but not the pension applications of the men who had served (and often fled) at Camden, South Carolina. I am so enthralled with Will Graves's and C. Leon Harris's free, searchable SOUTHERN CAMPAIGNS site, transcriptions of pension applications of aged Revolutionary veterans, mainly under the 1832 law, that I knew Lynch had given me a stay-at-home assignment to be Thankful for. I became "enthralled" (I used that word deliberately, earlier) on first looking at applications by GGGGG and GGGG Grandfathers. How could you not love a man who applied for his pension at 90, and got it? How could you not love blinking at Major Puriegood in Grandpa's application (an officer recorded nowhere else) and after much SEARCHING in the incredibly searchable site realize that whatever Grandpa said and whatever the drunken boorish scrivener thought he said, the name was Farragut, as in George, father later on of David, as several other applicants' wild attempts at spelling the name showed, once searched. Searching with someone else having done the work of transcribing--none of that burrowing all by myself on Melville for decades! This is what I used to call looking for captive textual variants. Shooting fish in a barrel: Graves and Harris have caught the fish and filled a vat as big as the Monterey aquarium. So now I have to spend a few days on how the men remember Camden. What a fate.
What I posted on JAR last night:
By coincidence JAR is now considering my “John Butler’s ‘Want of Good Generalship’” in which I use aged veterans’ recollections in the SOUTHERN CAMPAIGNS pension applications to try to write a piece of history from the “bottom-up,” as JD Lewis says. I was going to start writing something else, actually have an opening paragraph, but now I have to spend some time seeing what the men say about Gates at Camden. I already know they won’t say “coward,” because I have searched that word on Graves’s and Harris’s great site. The point of the Butler piece is to encourage people to use the pension applications, so I don’t have any choice. I have to look. I will come up for air in a few days, and I may not have found anything worth talking about. But I have to look.