(Private)

Neil married Joanne Louise White on 10 Jun 1951 in Williamston, Ingham, Michigan. Joanne (daughter of Everett Luke White and Gwendolyn Lottie Gyles) was born on 29 Jan 1933 in Flint, Genesee, Michigan; died on 5 Oct 2014 in Brevard, Transylvania, North Carolina. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

LaVerne married Mary Durham on 31 Mar 1908 in Hastings, Barry, Michigan. Mary (daughter of Clark Durham and Helen Miller) was born on 7 Dec 1887 in Assyria, Barry, Michigan; died on 9 Jul 1939 in Climax, Kalamazoo, Michigan; was buried on 12 Jul 1939 in Bedford Cemetery, Battle Creek, Calhoun, Michigan. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Buried:

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 15 Mar 1905, Williamsburg, Whitley, Kentucky

Notes:

His name on his daughter Jeannette's birth certificate reads "Everett Lloyd White." He evidently disliked his middle name and frequently gave it as "Lloyd" instead.

Everett married Gwendolyn Lottie Gyles on 5 Aug 1930 in Court Street Methodist, Flint, Michigan. Gwendolyn (daughter of Richard Edwards Gyles and Lottie Couch) was born on 12 Nov 1910 in Toronto, Ontario; died on 17 Oct 1997 in Brevard, Transylvania, North Carolina; was buried on 24 Oct 1997 in Summit Cemetery, Williamston, Ingham, Michigan. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Born at 65-7 Bloor Street East, Toronto.

"WHITE, GWENDOLYN L. [...] Age 86, died October 17, 1997. Born November 12, 1910 in Toronto, Canada, Mrs. White was a former member of O.E.S. #29, Williamston and the Women's Club and Child Study Club. She moved to Williamston in 1945 and was the Future Homemakers State Mother of the Year in 1949. She was preceded in death by her husband, Everett in 1967; and her parents, Richard Gyles and Lottie (Couch). Surviving are 4 daughters, Joanne (Neil) Van Syckle of Brevard, NC, Jeannette (James) Hayden of Mt. Pleasant, NC, Jane (Francis) Van Gigch of Savannah, GA and Nancy (Robert) Jonckheere of Williamston; 1 son, Edward (Beverly) White of Charlevoix; 14 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren; 1 brother, Richard Gyles of Flint; 2 sisters, Beth (Robert) Smith of Flint and Jean (Paul) Cameron of Florida. Funeral services will be held Friday, October 24, 11 a.m. at St. Katherine's Episcopal Church, 4650 N. Meridian Road, Williamston, with the Rev. Jannel Glennie, Pastor, officiating. Interment will follow in Summit Cemetery, Williamston. Friends may call at the Chapel beginning Thursday 2 p.m., where the family will receive friends from 2-4 and 6-8 p.m." [Lansing State Journal, 22 Oct 1997, p. 2B]

Hiram married Martha A. Demund. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Clark married Helen Miller. Helen was born on 22 Nov 1860 in Coffee County, Kansas; died on 3 Apr 1938 in Battle Creek, Calhoun, Michigan; was buried on 6 Apr 1938 in Ellis Cemetery, Assyria, Barry, Michigan. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 22 Apr 1880, Williamsburg, Whitley, Kentucky

Notes:

Kentucky death records give his birthdate as 22 Apr; his tombstone says 14 Apr.

Records from Joan Van Syckle list his burial place as "Detheridge Cemetery", but note this, from Jeanette Hayden: "This informal hillside cemetery is listed as Detherage Cemetery, Knox County, near Kayjay, Kentucky. The road it is on is listed on Google as Deatheridge Cemetery Rd."

Alfred married Mary Jane Freeman on 4 Jan 1899 in Williamsburg, Whitley, Kentucky. Mary (daughter of John Freeman and Teresa "Tacy" Allen) was born on 27 Feb 1880 in Whitley County, Kentucky; died on 22 Oct 1932 in Kayjay, Knox, Kentucky; was buried on 23 Oct 1932 in Detherage Cemetery, Knox, Kentucky. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Some researchers say she was born in Elk Valley, Tennessee. The record of her marriage says she was born in Whitley County, Kentucky. She was a nurs, and died of the consequences of diabetes. Her son Everett was also diabetic, as are at least two of Everett's grandchildren.

Notes:

A family story has it that they eloped and married in Tennessee, where the age to marry without parental consent was (allegedly) lower. But the actual record of their marriage shows this to be untrue. They were married by the Rev. Henry Patrick in Williamsburg, Whitley County, Kentucky, on 4 Jan 1899. The record includes two laid-in notes handwritten on small pieces of ruled paper. One note reads "Jan the 4. 1899. We have no objection to Alfred White and Mary Freeman a mering [sic]. John Freeman, Stase Freeman". The other note is mostly illegible, but it's clearly signed "J. N. White".

Notes:

Emigrated to Canada 1 May 1908; arrived in Quebec City. [According to notes on his 1921 arrival form, Canada, Ocean Arrivals (Form 30A), 1919-1924, on ancestry.com.]

The birth certificate for his daughter Lottie lists his occupation as "moulder." The 1940 US census describes his occupation as "foundry man." His 1942 draft card shows his employer in Flint, Michigan, as the Buick Motor Company.

Richard married Lottie Couch on 15 Apr 1908 in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales. Lottie (daughter of Anthony Couch and Elizabeth Jane Penberthy) was born on 12 Jul 1886 in Penzance, Cornwall, England; was christened on 5 Dec 1888 in St. Ives Primitive Methodist Chapel, St. Ives, Cornwall, England; died on 29 Jun 1974 in Flint, Genesee, Michigan; was buried in Sunset Hills Cemetery, Flint, Genesee, Michigan. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Arrived in Canada at Quebec City, 17 Sep 1909, aboard the Canada out of Liverpool.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Jun 1848, Whitley County, Kentucky

Notes:

Libby Freeman Spieth, quoted by "Dolores1630" on ancestry.com says that sometime soon after 1870, "my gr-grandfather John [Freeman] went to Elk Valley TN. He managed a lumber business for my other gr-grandfather Jasper Newton White (Newt) and that is also how he met my gr-grandmother Teresa Allen. They returned to Whitley." Of interest since both John Freeman and Jasper Newton White are among PNH's direct ancestors as well (great-great grandfathers, in his case).

Relationships between Jasper Newton White and John Freeman:

GG-grandfather Jasper Newton White (1848-1909):
* employed GG-grandfather John Freeman (1850-1931) as manager of his lumber mill
* married, as his third wife, Mary Ann Freeman (1855-1928), sister of John Freeman
* Jasper Newton White's son by his second wife, G-grandfather Alfred Franklin White (1880-1952), married John Freeman's daughter, G-grandmother Mary Jane Freeman (1880-1932)

Jasper married Rutha Parker on 29 Jun 1880 in Scott County, Tennessee. Rutha (daughter of William Henderson Parker and Sarah "Sally" Patrick) was born on 19 Dec 1863 in Whitley County, Kentucky; died about 1895 in Whitley County, Kentucky. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Identical twin of Sarah Parker.

"Rutha died young, about 1895, or possibly earlier, whereupon her identical twin, Sarah, came to stay with the children for a while. Nancy Jonckheere says that the children were very distraught when Sarah left, because it was like losing their mother again." [Parker's Genealogy & History Establishment]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 18 May 1841
• Alternate death: 18 Jan 1928

Notes:

The birth and death dates of 18 May 1841 and 18 Jan 1931 are on his tombstone at Wofford, but this stone was erected well after his death; it was the opinion of both Joan Van Syckle and Nancy Jonckheere that both of these dates are wrong. Nonetheless, notwithstanding the sources that have him dying in 1928, he was recorded as alive and living with his family in the 1930 census, so we're going with the presumption that the death date on his tombstone is more correct than not.

(We also have a 1984 letter from Nancy Jonckheere to Jeannette Hayden claiming that John Freeman's actual birth year was 1857, but we think she revised her opinion since then.)

Libby Freeman Spieth, quoted by "Dolores1630" on ancestry.com, says that sometime soon after 1870, "my gr-grandfather John went to Elk Valley TN. He managed a lumber business for my other gr-grandfather Jasper Newton White (Newt) and that is also how he met my gr-grandmother Teresa Allen. They returned to Whitley." Of interest since both John Freeman and Jasper Newton White are among PNH's direct ancestors as well (great-great grandfathers, in his case).

Relationships between John Freeman and Jasper Newton White:

GG-grandfather John Freeman (1850-1931)
* managed a lumber mill for GG grandfather Jasper Newton White (1848-1909)
* Jasper Newton White married, as his third wife, Mary Ann Freeman (1855-1928), sister of John Freeman
* John Freeman's daughter, G-grandmother Mary Jane Freeman (1880-1932) married Jasper Newton White's son by his second wife, G-grandfather Alfred Franklin White (1880-1952)

It's also notable that John Freeman's brother William Freeman married Rachel Allen, sister of John Freeman's wife Teresa Allen. Libby Freeman Speith says that John Freeman met Teresa because he moved to Elk Valley to work for Jasper Newton White, which is entirely plausible since Teresa was born there, or in Campbell County at any rate. Possibly William Freeman also worked for Jasper Newton White, or just as possibly, he met his wife Rachel Allen through his brother's marriage to her sister Teresa Allen.

John married Teresa "Tacy" Allen in 1876 in Whitley County, Kentucky. Teresa (daughter of John Allen and Nancy Barnes) was born on 3 Jan 1857 in Campbell County, Tennessee; died on 15 Feb 1934 in Wofford, Whitley, Kentucky; was buried in Wofford Cemetery, Wofford, Whitley, Kentucky. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1858
• Alternate birth: Abt 1860, Tennessee
• Alternate birth: Abt 1862, Tennessee

Notes:

Widely said to have been born in Elk Valley, Campbell County, Tennessee. She was almost certainly born in Campbell County, as both the 1850 and 1860 Federal censuses show that as her parents' residence.

Her tombstone dates, transcribed by Joan Van Syckle, are 3 Jan 1857 and 15 Feb 1934. Her stone gives her name as "Tishia" Freeman. Some descendants report that she was also called "Tisha."

According to a family group record prepared by Joan Van Syckle, "Teresa's date of birth according to [the] 1900 census is Aug 1863." The same FGR gives Teresa's parents as "Joseph Allen (? 1/1/1838 - 5/24/1910)" and "Patricia Barnes". But Teresa Allen's sister Rachel's death certificate on ancestry.com shows her parents as John Allen and Nancy Barnes, both born in Tennessee.

Posted by user "Dolores1630" to ancestry.com:

Teresa was variously known as, Tasia, Tacia, and Tacey on census records. My father, Teresa's grandson, told me in the late 1970s that he remembered his grandmother being called "Tasia" or "Stasia" and wondered if this was a nickname for "Anastasia" which is my oldest daughter's name. From her death records and her tombstone it appears her given name was Teresa.

My father also remembered that Teresa was known for her herbal remedies and was always growing and preparing herbs. She would always quote from the Old Testament and loved to quote the verses about the revenge and punishment of God. "Hellfire and brimstone" verses he called them. He said he was none too pleased with this as a child as it frightened him a bit.

Notes:

Described on his marriage record as "bachelor" and "fisherman." Could sign his own name.

Many online records for Thomas Gyles give his parents as William Harry Gyles (1814-1877) and Ann "Nancy" Quick Curnow (1821-1909). But I think this is a different Thomas Gyles, not the one who married Mary Edwards. Most significantly, the record of Thomas Gyles's marriage to Mary Edwards, 1 Jun 1873, searchable at the Cornish Online Parish Clerks Database (https://www.cornwall-opc-database.org/home/), gives his father as George Gyles, master mariner. Supporting this, the 25 Jul 1850 record of Thomas Gyles's baptism at the St. Ives Primitive Methodist Chapel, which gives his birth date as 5 Jul 1850, gives his parents as George Gyles, sailor, and his wife Ann Curnow Gyles.

The 1851 census shows Thomas Gyles, age 9 months, living with his mother Ann Gyles, age 35, relationship to head of household "wife". The 1861 census shows Thomas Gyles, age 10, living with his mother Ann C. Gyles, head of household, age 45. It is easy to see how both of these records could be interpreted to refer to Ann "Nancy" Quick Curnow rather than Ann Curnow Gyles. But the 1871 census disambiguates this. The Thomas Gyles who is shown in St. Ives, age 20, living in the household of William H. and Nancy Gyles, is given as a "builder", not a trade our Thomas Gyles is ever recorded as having plied. (This Thomas Gyles's father, William Harry Gyles, was a "builder & architect.") Meanwhile, also in the 1871 census, our Thomas Gyles, age 20, called a "fisherman" (which we know was his trade), is living at The Wharf, St. Ives, with Daniel Veal, age 49, head of household (to whom Thomas Gyles is called "son-in-law"), and Ann Veal, age 56. And St. Ives parish records show that in 1862, following the 1854 death of Thomas's father George Gyles, Ann Curnow (Hodge) Gyles married Daniel Veal. (Her 1895 death record calls her Ann Curnow Veal.)

He and his wife Mary moved to Wales sometime between the 1891 census of England and the 1901 census of Wales. They appear to have lived the rest of their lives in Barry, Glamorganshire. His probate record of 14 Jan 1927 refers to him as "GYLES Thomas of 68 Castleland-street Barry".

Thomas married Mary Edwards on 1 Jun 1873 in St. Ives, Cornwall, England. Mary (daughter of Anthony Grenfell Edwards and Jane Andrew) was born on 4 May 1851 in Penzance, Cornwall, England; was christened on 14 May 1851 in St. Ives Primitive Methodist Chapel, St. Ives, Cornwall, England; died on 27 Jun 1937 in East Glamorgan, Glamorgan, Wales. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Described on her marriage record as "spinster." Could sign her own name.

Notes:

Witnesses: Anthony Grenfell Edwards, Jane Edwards.

Notes:

"COUCH--At the Royal Jubilee Hospital on December 29, 1937, Anthony Couch, of 568 Hillside Ave; aged 86 years; born in St. Ives, Cornwall, England, and a resident of this city since 1919. Survived by two sons, Anthony Couch, Victoria, and Alwyn Couch, Toronto; three daughters, Mrs. John Matthews, Toronto, Mrs. James Beckerley, Victoria, and Mrs. Richard Gyles, Flint, Mich.; also 34 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. The remains are resting in Hayward's B.C. Funeral Chapel, from where the funeral will take place Friday morning at 11 o'clock. Interment in Royal Oak Burial Park." [Victoria, British Columbia, Daily Times, 30 Dec 1937, p. 14]

Called a "fisherman" when his daughter Lottie was baptized in 1888. He and his wife, with their son Alwyn, emigrated on the Royal Edward, which departed from Avonmouth (near Bristol) and arrived at Montreal on 25 Oct 1911. On the passenger list, he's described as a "gardener."

(Built by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co., Glasgow, Scotland, the Royal Edward was placed in Avonmouth-Quebec-Montreal service in May 1910. Converted to a troopship in 1914, it was torpedoed and sunk near Kamadeliusa, Aegean Sea, August 1915, with the loss of 935 lives.)

He was baptized a Methodist, as was his daughter Lottie Couch. His mother was Elizabeth Uren, daughter of John Uren (1781-1862), son of Philip Uren, "tinner," who marred Anne Odgers, "sojourner," in 1777. A History of the Parishes of St. Ives, Lelant, Towednack and Zennor in the County of Cornwall (by John Hobson Matthews; London: Elliot Stock, 1892) notes that in St. Ives, "in Street-an-Garrow, are the ruined remains of an old house where Wesley stayed during his later visits to Saint Ives, when the house was the home of the Uren family." The Wesley in question being John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. This is confirmed in Wesley's own journals, published in seven volumes in the late 19th and early 20th century. On 27 Aug 1789 Wesley reports that he preached first at Truro (near St. Ives) and then at Port Isaac (a few miles further up the north coast). "I preached in the evening, in an open part of town, to almost all the inhabitants of it. How changed since the time when he that invited me durst not take me in, for fear his house should be pulled down!" A editor's footnote to this passage states that "During his later visits to St. Ives he was the guest of the Uren family in the house adjoining that of John Nance, his earliest host."

Wesley wasn't kidding about the threats of violence during his earlier visits. His entry for 4 April 1744, on the occasion of his first visit to St. Ives forty-five years earlier, notes that "I was a little surprised at entering John Nance's house, being received by many, who were waiting for me there, with a loud (though not bitter) cry. But they soon recovered; and we poured out our souls together in praises and thanksgiving. As soon as we went out we were saluted, as usual, with a huzza and a few stones and pieces of dirt." An editor's footnote notes that John Nance's house "stood at the top of the Street-an-Garrow (the rough street)", thus further confirming the accuracy of John Hobson Matthews's report. Street-an-Garrow exists today and can be viewed on Google Street View, which shows it to be one of those impossibly narrow English streets that would be terrifying to drive a car on. Its upper reach is capped by a U-shaped street now called Wesley Place.

In the next day's entry, 5 April 1744, Wesley writes "I took a view of the house which the mob had pulled down a little before, for joy that Admiral Matthews had beat the Spaniards. Such is the Cornish method of thanksgiving. I suppose, if Admiral Lestock had fought too, they would have knocked all the Methodists on the head." The house the mob had "pulled down" was that of a Methodist named James Roberts, who, like our ancestor Philip Uren, was a "tinner." In other words, Wesley's hosts and associates, both at the beginning of his long career as a travelling preacher, and at its end, were frequently working people just like the Urens, most of whom lived in what we would consider the rough part of town.

Anthony married Elizabeth Jane Penberthy on 30 Aug 1876 in St. Ives, Cornwall, England. Elizabeth (daughter of James Penberthy and Elizabeth Hocking) was born on 21 Feb 1852 in St. Ives, Cornwall, England; was christened on 22 Aug 1860 in St. Ives, Cornwall, England; died on 14 Oct 1933 in Saanich, British Columbia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The passenger list of the Royal Edward, on which she and her husband (and their son Alwyn) emigrated to Canada in 1911, calls her "Lily Couch."

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 6 May 1802, Knox County, Kentucky
• Alternate birth: 15 May 1802, Bertie County, North Carolina
• Alternate birth: 15 May 1802, Whitley County, Kentucky

Notes:

Served as juror. 8 Jul 1826. (Whitley Circuit Court Order Book A-B-C, p.308.)

Paid $24 for killing four wolves, 27 May 1844. (Whitley Circuit Court Order Book G-H, p. 139.)

There are birth and death dates given on his tombstone, but the stone is a relatively recent one.

Nicholas married Nancy Anne Sumner on 13 Oct 1825 in Whitley County, Kentucky. Nancy (daughter of James Sumner and Mourning Blanshard) was born in Jun 1804 in Grayson County, Virginia; died in Jul 1876 in Williamsburg, Whitley, Kentucky; was buried in Red Bird Cemetery, Williamsburg, Whitley, Kentucky. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Nancy Jonckheere says here that they were married 24 Oct 1825.

Notes:

Born on 8 Apr 1824 in Claiborne County, Tennessee, Henderson came with his family to Whitley County, Kentucky, as a boy. On 3 Oct 1844, when he was 20, Henderson first married Sarah S. Patrick, daughter of Bryant Patrick & Nancy Davis, in Whitley County, Kentucky. Sally was born 13 Jan 1831 in North Carolina. Henderson was disabled in the course of his Army service during the Civil War, and never really recovered. About two months before his discharge from the Army, their oldest daughter died in childbirth. Sally's health was so impaired during the Civil War that she finally died in Whitley County on 2 Mar 1867, at the age of 36, when her youngest children (twins) were only 4 years old. He then married Nancy White [...] After 1880, Henderson, Nancy, and their unmarried children moved from Whitley County, Kentucky, to Piney in Franklin County, Arkansas. Henderson, Nancy, and some of their children later moved to Wister, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, where Henderson died on 11 Mar 1898; he was 73. He is buried in City Cemetery, Wister, Oklahoma. [Parker's Genealogy & History Establishment]

*****

He was an identical twin to his sister Neworlena Jane Parker (1824-1901).

*****

Compiled Civil War Service Record of William Henderson Parker

At age 39, William Henderson Parker was drafted as a private for a period of one year into a detachment of substitutes for the Union Army. He was then mustered into Company F of the 18th Kentucky Infantry in London, Kentucky on 20 Sep 1864. He served for at least 10 months. He was discharged early on 23 Jun 1865 near Louisville, Kentucky, essentially because the War had ended with the surrender of General Lee's forces in April of 1865.

He received a pension for his Civil War service. He he applied for it on 2 Jan 1884. After his death, it went to his widow, Nancy White Parker.

Notes from his Compiled Service Record:

Muster and Descriptive Roll of a Detachment of Substitutes forwarded for the 18 Reg't Kentucky Inf.
Roll dated: Dft Board Louisville, Ky., Nov 22, 1864.
Age: 39 y'rs
Occupation: Farmer
Where born: Claiborne, Tenn.
Enlistment (drafted): 1 years.
Eyes Hazel; hair Black. Complexion Dark; height 5 ft. 7 in.
When mustered in: Sept 20, 1864.
Where mustered: London (KY)
Where credited: 8 Dist Ky.
Remarks: Drafted.
Company Muster Roll for Mar and April, 1865. "Present" (3)
Company Muster Roll for May and June, 1865. Remarks: Discharged June 23, 65 by reason of Telegram order dated War Dep. May 18, 65. (4)
Company Muster-out Roll dated: Near Louisville, Ky, Jul 18, 1865. Remarks: Discharged June 23, 65 by reason of Telegram order dated War Dep. May 18, 65 (5)
Detachment Muster-out Roll, Dated; Near Loiusville, Ky, June 23 1865. Remarks: P.O. Ad W.c.H.
Reported absent without leave. Restored to duty without forfeiture of time or pay. Mustered out in obediance to Telegram Order War Dept (6) May 18, 65, ordering the Muster out of all troops whose terms of service expire prior to Oct. 1, 65. (7)
N.B. This information is available at footnote.com.

Content Source: The National Archives
Publication Number: M397
Publication Title: Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Kentucky.
Content Source: NARA
National Archives Catalog ID: 300398
National Archives Catalog Title: Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Volunteer Organizations During the American Civil War, compiled 1890-1912, documenting the period 1861-1866.
Record Group: 94
State: Kentucky
Short Description: NARA M397. Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Kentucky.
Military Unit: Eighteenth Infantry, Mi-Pl
Surname Starts With: P
Given name: William H
Surname: Parker
Age: 39 Year: 1864

Note: According to worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=tvdavis&id=I18008, "William Henderson was a severe asthmatic and had to sleep sitting up at night because he could not lie down, which made his breathing difficult. A part, if not all, of his treatment was smoking some kind of pipe with a medication in it."

A Pension Office document dated 14 Jan 1886, a photocopy of which is held by P & T Nielsen Hayden, states that he was disabled by "paralysis caused by wading in water waist deep."

More detail about the dates of his Civil War service can be found here.

William married Sarah "Sally" Patrick on 3 Oct 1844 in Whitley County, Kentucky. Sarah (daughter of Bryant Patrick and Nancy Ann Davis) was born on 13 Jan 1830; died on 2 Mar 1867 in Whitley County, Kentucky; was buried in Red Bird Cemetery, Williamsburg, Whitley, Kentucky. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 13 Jan 1831, North Carolina

Notes:

A typed family FGR sheet (probably by Joan Van Syckle or Nancy Jonckheere) has their marriage date as 30 Oct 1844. So does Descendants of John Parker by Wynell Morrison.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 1813, North Carolina

Notes:

Correspondence from Libby Freeman Spieth, quoted by "Dolores1630" on ancestry.com:

I'm quite certain that when he (Joel) wasn't farming, he was a traveling salesman. My dad used to talk about him going with his wagon carrying pots, pans, bolts of fabric, nails, etc. and always something special for the ladies like a potato peeler and candy for the kids. He had a regular route when he didn't have crops to tend. In remote areas his visits were really looked forward to.

After the 1870 Census, Mary [Mary Tye, his second wife] and Joel just drop out of sight. Uncle Sam was the one who was left to raise them (the children). I think that is when my gr-grandfather John went to Elk Valley TN. He managed a lumber business for my other gr-grandfather Jasper Newton White (Newt) and that is also how he met my gr-grandmother Teresa Allen. They returned to Whitley.

[...]

Joel Freeman contested his father's will. He won one hundred acres in Meadow Creek, NC in 1847. In March of 1848 he sold the acreage to Issac Owens for 130.00. Alfred Franklin White contends that Joel and Mary TYE (2nd wife) were killed in a carriage accident traveling between KY and NC. They both suddenly disappeared. The children of JOEL FREEMAN and MARY TYE are not recognized by the rest of the FREEMAN clan.

Note [from "Dolores1630" on ancestry.com]: There is no record or verification of this accident or deaths of Joel and Mary. It's considered to be family legend until verified. Mary and Joel went to NC one day and for whatever reason, never returned. Oldest son, Samuel, from Joel's first marriage, raised the younger children, including my grandfather, John.

Deed of Conveyance, 1847:

Whitley CO., KY (Deed Book #3) 24 August 1848: "This deed of conveyance made this 24th day of August 1858. Witnesseth that at the August term of the interlocutory decree of said curcuit cout appointed a commissioner for and on behalf of the AARON FREEMAN, POLLY STEVENS and NANCY PERKINS and the unknown heirs of JAMES FREEMAN deceased to convey to JOEL FREEMAN by Decreased of quit claim a certain tract or parcel of land in complainents bill mentioned in a suit in chancery pending in said court in which said JOEL FREEMAN is complainant and said heirs of the said JAMES FREEMAN deceased are defendants. Now I, ADDISON WILLIAMS commissioner as aforesaid forand on befalf of the said AARON FREEMAN, POLLY STEVENS,NANCY PERKINS and the unknown heirs of the said JAMES FREEMAN deceased for and in consideration of the (premises) and for and in consideration fo the interlocutory decree aforesaid give grant bargain sell (endow) convey and confirm unto the said JOEL FREEMAN and his heirs or assigns a certain tract or parcel of land situate lyning and being in Whitley County on a branch of Meadow Creek containing one hundred acres and is the same land on which said JAMES FREEMAN resided at the time of his death and left by the said JAMES in the possession of the said JOEL FREEMAN as set forth and descibed in the complainant bill herein. The said JOEL FREEMAN to have and to hold to him and his heirs or assigns forever. And the said ADDISON WILLIAMS commissioner as aforesaid for and behalf of the said ARRON FREEMAN, POLLY STEVENS, and NANCY PERKINS and the unknown heirs of the aforesaid JAMES FREEMAN deceased hereby covenant and agree that he will forever warrant and defend a good and sufficient right and title to said land against the claim or claims of themselves and thie heirs and against the claim or claims of all and every other person, persons claim for claimants whatever claiming by through or under them or either of them but (agrees) no to her person or persons but it is distinctly understood that the said WILLIAMS makes this conveyance as a commissioner of the court only and is not to be responsible in any way for the title. In testimony whereof the said parties of thefirst part by ADDISON WILLIAMS commissioner as aforesaid hereunto subscribe above written. Dated 26 August 1847. Signed: AARON FREEMAN, NANCY PERKINS, POLLY STEVENS, The unknown heirs of JAMES FREEMAN, deceased by A. WILLIAMS, commissioner Whitley Conuty Court. 24 March 1848

JOEL FREEMAN sold one hundred acres on Meadow Creek to ISAAC OWENS for 130.00.

Application for post-Civil War Presidential pardon?

The ancestry.com database Confederate Applications for Presidential Pardons, 1865-1867 contains paperwork related to the application by a Joel T. Freeman of Bear Wallow, North Carolina for a pardon and the restoration of his full citizenship by President Andrew Johnson. In it he explains that before the rebellion he was a postmaster and that this was the only role in which he can be held to have supported the Confederacy. We cannot determine from the papers whether this pardon was granted, or whether this is that same individual as our Joel Terrill Freeman.

Joel married Mary Sego. Mary (daughter of James Seago and Sarah Ann "Sally" Holt) was born in 1811 in Kentucky; died in Apr 1855 in Whitley County, Kentucky. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1811, North Carolina
• Alternate death: 1855

Notes:

Her last name sometimes appears as "Seago."

Her given name sometimes appears as "Margaret Ann", but in other family records Margaret Ann Sego (1826-1896) is shown as a sister of Mary Sego. A William Shepard (b. c. 1814, d. 1895) is said to have married this Margaret Ann Sego.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1817, Tennessee
• Alternate birth: Abt 1818, Tennessee

Notes:

Said to have been born in Elk Valley, Campbell County, Tennessee. The 1880 census shows him and his wife living there.

John married Nancy Barnes on 13 Jan 1839 in Elk Valley, Campbell, Tennessee. Nancy was born in 1816 in Tennessee; died after 1879. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1818, Tennessee
• Alternate birth: Abt 1819, Tennessee

Notes:

She was alive at the time of the 1880 census.

Her last name in the record of her marriage to John Allen looks very much like "Barron", and there are records in which it looks like "Brown," but she is consistently "Nancy Barnes" in the death certificates of her children.

Notes:

Described on his marriage record as "bachelor" and "mariner." Could sign his own name.

Described on his son Thomas's 1873 marriage record as "master mariner."

On 19 Aug 1846 he was a witness to the marriage of Matthew Veal, son of Matthew Veal, fisherman, to Catherine Gyles, daughter of John Gyles, mariner. Notable since after his death, his widow also married a Veal.

It's notable that he was baptized in the C of E, but his son Thomas (and Thomas's wife Mary Edwards) were both baptized as Primitive Methodists.

*****

He is shown on some sites as a son of John Gyles and Johanna Harry, presumably the Joanna Harry recorded as baptised 14 Aug 1786 in St. Ives, daughter of John and Joanna.

And it's true that the John Gyles who married Johanna Harry in St. Ives on 23 Jul 1810 is identified as a "mariner," just as George Gyles is on his own marriage record, which makes it reasonable to suppose that this John and Johanna were the parents of George.

But our George Gyles was recorded as "of full age" when he married Ann Curnow Hodge in 1841. Therefore he has to have been born no later than 1820. The only two George Gyleses recorded baptised in St. Ives between 1800 and 1820, one on 20 Jan 1811 and one on 24 Nov 1815, are both given on their baptismal records as sons of a John and a Mary. (On the baptismal record of the latter George Gyles, the father John is identified as a cooper.)

And a search for marriages in St. Ives between 1790 and 1814 involving a groom named John Gyles or Giles yields two marriages, both in 1810. One is the marriage of a John Gyles to Johanna Harry mentioned above. The other, 6 Feb 1810, is John Gyles, "bachelor", married by banns to Mary Thomas, "spinster". Witnesses John Shugg Trevorrow, Edward Richards.

Moreover, the only John Gyles or Giles recorded as baptised in St. Ives between 1780 and 1795 is John Gyles, son of Richard and Elisabeth, baptised 19 Oct 1791. Aged 18 on 6 Feb 1810, he would have been eligible to marry by banns provided that neither his nor the bride's parents objected.

The only way the George Gyles who married Ann Curnow Hodge could have been a son of Johanna or Joanna Harry is if he was neither the George Gyles baptised in St. Ives on 24 Nov 1815, nor the individual of the same name baptised there on 20 Jan 1811. And while absence is not proof, there are, again, no other Georges Gyles recorded baptised in St. Ives between 1800 and 1820.

George married Ann Curnow Hodge on 29 Jul 1841 in St. Ives, Cornwall, England. Ann (daughter of Lewis Hodge and Jane Michell) was born before 31 May 1816; was christened on 31 May 1816 in St. Ives, Cornwall, England; died between Jul 1895 and Sep 1895 in Penzance, Cornwall, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Described on her marriage record as "spinster" and "of full age." Could sign her own name.

Notes:

Witnesses: Lewis Hodge, Thomas Williams.

Notes:

Described as "bachelor" and "fisherman" on his marriage record. Signed by mark.

Described as "master mariner" on his daughter Mary's 1873 marriage record.

His children Mary and Anthony were baptized at the Primitive Methodist chapel. His son Henry was baptized at the St. Ives C of E church.

John Slee has a Richard Edwards b. 1799 as the father of Anthony Grenfell Edwards, but I believe this is incorrect. The 1841 census has Anthony Edwards, aged 15, living with Richard Edwards, 60 (he was actually 63), Mary Edwards, 55, and Elizabeth Edwards, 20.

Anthony married Jane Andrew on 20 Jun 1846 in St. Ives, Cornwall, England. Jane (daughter of John Andrew and Nancy Binney) was born before 25 May 1827 in St. Ives, Cornwall, England; was christened on 25 May 1827 in St. Ives, Cornwall, England; died after 3 Apr 1881. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Called "Jane Andrews" and "spinster" on her marriage record. Signed by mark.

Notes:

Witnesses: Jacob R. Jacobs, Thomas Williams.

Notes:

Fisherman.

James married Elizabeth Uren on 13 Aug 1840 in St. Ives, Cornwall, England. Elizabeth (daughter of John Uren and Mary Fox) was born about 1817; died on 14 Apr 1887; was buried in Barnoon Cemetery, St. Ives, Cornwall, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Miner; fisherman.

James married Elizabeth Hocking on 5 Oct 1848 in St. Ives, Cornwall, England. Elizabeth (daughter of John Hocking and Margaret Casley) was born about 1821 in St. Just in Penwith, Cornwall, England; died on 10 Apr 1902 in St. Ives, Cornwall, England; was buried on 13 Apr 1902 in St. Ives, Cornwall, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The record of her 1848 marriage to James Penberthy gives the two witnesses as Thomas Williams and Benjamin Hocking, and her father as John Hocking, miner.

The record of Benjamin Hocking's marriage to Amelia Rowe, 28 Mar 1846, gives his father's name as John Hocking, miner, and Benjamin's age as 21. Witnesses: William Rowe and John Tregear.

A Benjamin Hocking is recorded as baptized 3 Nov 1825 at St. Just, son of John Hocking, miner, and his wife Margaret.

On 14 Jun 1814, John Hocken of St. Just married Margaret Casley, both of them described as "of this parish." Margaret Casley is described as "spin.", meaning she was an unmarried woman (a spinster), not a widow. Witnesses: William Williams and Thomas Tragear.

A Margaret Casley is recorded as baptized on 9 Oct 1789 at St. Just, daughter of "Richd" and "Margt." Allan Casley's "Descendents of Gabriell Casly" lists Margaret Casley, baptized 9 Oct 1789 at St. Just, as the eldest child of Richard Casley and Margaret Warren.

Elizabeth Hocking had a sister Phyllis who appears to have lived from roughly 1825 to roughly 1902. According to "Descendents of Gabriell Casly", Margaret Casley had a sister Phyllis who was baptized 17 May 1795 at St. Just.

Given the good fit of dates, the repeating use of people named Williams and Tragear as witnesses, and the appearance of the not-overwhelmingly-common given name Phyllis in two generations in a row, we're inclined to believe that Elizabeth Hocking's parents were indeed John Hocking and Margaret Casley.