Zacheus Copen

     I've come to believe that old Zacheus Copen wasn't a great human being. I'll get to many of the reasons in this article.

     Zacheus Copen, sometimes Copin was born about 1770 in Prince William County, Virginia to William Copin, Master Stonemason and Elizabeth Wharton. He was named after his maternal uncle, Zacheus Wharton, who had died in 1768. His date of birth is based on early census records and the birth of John Copen, who is the oldest child attributed to him, but he could have been born several years earlier.  

I'm still not completely comfortable with John as a son of Zacheus. The only evidence we have to support it is that John Copen moved to West Virginia with Zacheus and lived close to William Copen (who was a son of Zacheus). My theory is that John Copen was actually the son of William Copin (brother of Zacheus) who was indentured by his father to James Barbour, Tailor in Prince William County in 1799 but ran away in 1800 and seemingly disappeared. It is entirely possible that he ran away to Harrison County, (now) West Virginia to live with his uncle Zacheus. The only hiccup is the age difference. John Copen of Kanawha has a recorded birth of 1791 and John the son of William was supposedly born in 1785. Another possibility is that John Copen could have also been a son of George Copin (brother of Zacheus) because he had a son named John Joseph Copin who also disappeared from records. As of now, I will just leave him as a son of Zacheus because the records we have put him there.

     Zacheus Copen was very likely married by 1792 when he is taxed in his own household for the first time. He married Jane Lynn, daughter of Michael Lynn. Jane Copen is one of the legatees in the will of Michael Lynn, whose excerpts I included in a previous post. 

     In the year 1796, Zacheus Copen left Prince William County and moved to Monongalia County (now) West Virginia. It is possible that he left Prince William County with members of the Lynn family since he appears in the records of Harrison and Monongalia counties with Peyton Byrne, who was the husband of his aunt Barbara Lynn Byrne. He didn't remain in Monongalia very long and was in Harrison County (now) West Virginia by 1799, Zacheus lived in Harrison County until at least 1812, maybe as late as 1813. On Feb 2, 1812, William Copin of PWC named Zacheus Copen of Harrison County, his POA pertaining to any payment due to their deceased brother's (John and Samuel) for their service in the Revolutionary War. 

    Jane Lynn Copen was dead by 1813. We can be pretty sure of the year because back home in Prince William County a note in the church minutes of Chopawamsic Baptist Church just says "Jane Copen dismissed". The last record of her name is on a deed that was recorded in Harrison County on Oct 28, 1808, in which Zacheus sold to the heirs of John Peyton a 100A parcel of land in Monongalia County. The 1810 census of Harrison County has a female the right age for Jane in the household.  Zacheus Copen married Letitica Lewis on Oct 12, 1814, in Wood County (now) West Virginia. Letitia was the daughter of John and Deborah Lewis, who both signed their names to the marriage license application because she was under the age of majority at the time. Her death registration states that she was born in Fairfax County, Virginia. 

     The early records for Zacheus don't shed much light on his nature but he appears in many court proceedings and seems to find himself on both sides of the law. On the surface he seems like he's the responsible head of the family. I mean, you see records of him administering the estate of his father-in-law and petitioning the government for the pension and land for both of his deceased brothers. We know that while he lived in Kanawha County, he was shipping salt. As it turns out, Zacheus Copen had a dark side.

     I know it was a fairly common practice to apprentice children out to learn a trade but what if the child wasn't willing? On November 11, 1818, while living in Kanawha County, Zacheus Copen bound his son Samuel W. Copen to James Truslow to learn the trade of a tailor. He must have done this to his other children as well, but the contracts don't appear to have survived. The only reason we have a record of Samuel's is because this one made the local newspaper. On November 12, 1822, Samuel ran away from James Truslow and never became a tailor. As far as I can tell, he went to Scioto, Ohio where he married and started a family. He worked on steamboats. There is no evidence that he ever returned to WV. Likewise, George W. Copen (another presumed son of Zacheus, not to be confused with the younger George Washington by the second wife) became a Blacksmith and must have been indentured around the same time.

     In 1832, Zacheus Copen moved to Gallia County, Ohio. From a record standpoint that doesn't seem like a big deal, but what the tax records and deeds don't tell you was that he left his wife and children in Wood County. When I say 'left', I mean that it looks like he abandoned them. There is a rather lengthy court case in the 1850's where Letitia is trying to get her father's land that Zacheus sold in its entirety, including the dower portion (without her signature) in 1830. The lawsuit is filled with depositions from men (one being the man who purchased the land) painting Letitia as bad wife, who left her husband and saying that none of her children belonged to Zacheus. It is easy to demonize the wife because they really didn't have many legal protections and were almost always at the mercy of the patriarchy. It's hard to say whether she did or did not leave him, but she had her last son, George Washington Copen, in 1831 and Zacheus was in Gallia Ohio in 1832. The men who accused her certainly didn't name names if there was another man involved.  It was clearly in their interest to paint her as the absentee wife because it made it easier to take the little livelihood that would have been due her under normal circumstances. What I do know, from the records, is that the youngest children had to be "bound out" by the overseers of the poor because the family became a burden to the county. Malissa Ann and George Washington Copen are in the court order book as being "the poor children of Zacheus Copen" for the overseers to find a suitable placement for them.

     Addison M. Copen was bound to a man named David Walt and in 1834 he was removed from the situation because he was being abused.  Addison ran away from home not long after with a Kentucky horse trader. He was only 10 or 11 at the time. He joined the military and fought in the Mexican-American War in 1847. Addison lived a nomadic lifestyle; he is hard to find in records because he never owned property and remained virtually homeless for most of his life. He contracted a painful skin disease called Erysipelas during his service, and it apparently made it hard for him to maintain employment. He was in and out of "Old Soldiers Homes" but could never stay long because he could not tolerate their rules. The last place he was living before he died was in a gypsy encampment in Washington, DC where he had built himself a sort of "tiny home" out of an old Herdic Cab. He died in Washington, DC in 1895 and was probably buried in the potter's field. His life may have turned out differently if he hadn't been abandoned by his father, whose job it was to educate, shelter and provide for him.

     In the early days of my research, I found it hard to understand why some of the children Zacheus had with Letitia got married in Athens and Highland Ohio but now I realize that they probably lived with relatives or were bound to people in those counties.

     While his children were having to rely on others for food and shelter, Zacheus spent the mid to late 1830's in Gallia and Vinton counties. Also in Gallia during this time was George W. Copen, who is presumed to be his son with Jane Lynn. I've had a hard time coming to grips with George being one of his children because it's really strange to name two sons George, especially when they are both alive at the same time. There is always a possibility that George belonged to one of the brothers in Prince William County but the records we have place him in the orbit of Zacheus.

     Now we get to a very strange record. Zacheus Copen was a bigamist! He married a lady named Keziah Wasson on Dec 7, 1841, in Kenton County, Kentucky. The Wasson's actually lived in Cincinnati Ohio and Keziah Copen is a witness to a wedding there not long after her marriage.

     While Zacheus was living his best life in Ohio and committing bigamy and adultery, Letitia was living off the kindness of friends and was being passed around by her married daughter's. We have a few surviving letters between them discussing "helping with mother". Letitia lived with her daughter Eliza Caplinger at the time of her death in 1864. 

     Finally, where did Zacheus Copen die? The lawsuit from the 1850's claims that he had died in Kanawha, but I can't find anymore records for Zacheus after 1841/42.

     My final bone to pick is for poor Rebecca W. Cobb Copen, who has been wrongfully maligned by book authors and Wikipedia. In 1834, John Copen filed for a divorce from Rebecca. In his petition for divorce, he accused her of a long list of abuses, that include scalding him and trying to poison him by putting arsenic in his drink. These writers directly state that she was a convicted poisoner which is entirely untrue. The divorce petition was a chancery suit and not criminal, so even though the all-male jury "believed" John, she was not convicted in a court of law of trying to poison him. They didn't even grant him the divorce (which they likely would have done had she actually tried to poison him). There is a criminal record of John accusing her and her being arrested for it, but she was released because there was no evidence to support it.  The truth is, Rebecca had left John several times because he was abusive drunk. She had gone back to her father's house several times during the course of their marriage. John had been running an unlicensed bar and selling liquor to slaves. He was also living with a woman named Charlotte. It's telling that when Rebecca tried to get her portion of the land that should have been her dower after John's death, the men that were trying to keep her from getting the land never accused her of poisoning or abuse. They just accused her of abandonment and adultery. The all-male jury found in favor of the man that purchased the property and left her with nothing. Rebecca didn't get what was due to her in life and she continues to get abused by poor researchers in death.

     

     

 John Proctor 

Early Settler of Kanawha County

     I'm going to start with something controversial; John Proctor wasn't 105 years old when he died and he probably wasn't a Revolutionary War soldier.

     Truthfully, I'm a little sad to actually put those words to print because just like everyone else who descends from him, I'm a little in love with the story. I mean, how fascinating it is to have an ancestor that lived to be 105 years old and bravely faced the hardships of emigrating to the untamed parts of the west all the while refusing to apply for his pension out of pride.

     The records tell of different story.  

     John Proctor was actually born closer to 1764. This date is based on a court record in 1820 where he clearly stated in a deposition that he was 56 years old. Coincidentally, this deposition is part of the pension application of Thomas Hudnall, who he later claimed to have served with. In his deposition for Thomas Hudnall, he claims that he "saw" Thomas Hudnall in his uniform trying to recruit others to join. He makes no mention of having served alongside him in the war.  Conveniently, after Thomas Hudnall (and everyone else) had died he filed his application and claimed that he served in the same regiment as Thomas Hudnall.  Also, in his pension application, he refers to one Edward Riley as his stepfather, but they also say that Edward Riley was a fellow soldier (Edward Riley the soldier was younger than John Proctor, which would likely be a little too young to be his stepfather). I think it's important to note that even though we have accepted that John was a soldier in the American Revolution, he was not accepted as one at the time. His pension application was denied because he did not have enough evidence to support his claim. He had no discharge papers, no proof of his age and no firsthand accounts of his service. This certainly isn't proof that he didn't serve in the war because he could have joined up as a fifteen or a sixteen-year-old boy, that was also common, but why wouldn't he mention it in Thomas Hudnalls application? There is another contemporary source record to back up this theory. The 1830 census infers that his age is between 60 and 69, which clearly puts his birth between 1761 and 1770.

   

  If we move John's timeline a little, it may make finding his parents a little easier and maybe it will make his relationship with Edward Riley make more sense.   

The records below are some of the earliest I can find that almost definitely relate to our John Proctor.

      *Fauquier County Court records, May Term 1780

"Ordered that the churchwardens of Leeds Parish bind John Proctor to John Lathey (Athey?) to learn the trade of a shoemaker"

     *Fauquier County marriage records 

"John Proctor and Elizabeth Hudnall Dec 21, 1786, by George King"

(makes more sense that he was 22 instead of 35 at the time of his first marriage)

     *Fauquier County Court records March term 1790

"On the motion of John Athey to quash the execution sued out against him by John Proctor over-ruled"

*Fauquier County personal property tax record. He shows up in the digest in 1788 and is recorded until at least 1794 after which time he moved to Kanawha County.

There are a couple of different stories in John Proctor's pension application. 

In his own words: He was born in Stafford Va on Feb 10, 1751/52.

In his son's words: He was an orphan stowaway from England, and he was apprenticed to a shoemaker in 'Norwalk' who agreed to pay his passage.

We know from the records posted above that he was bound to a shoemaker in Fauquier County but if he was "of age" then he would have bound himself, it would be unusual to be bound by churchwardens and not be a minor. Also, if he came here by himself without parents, how did Edward Riley become his stepfather? It makes it really hard to trace his family when his pension is obviously filled with so many untruths.

We are unlikely to find his parents if we don't start looking at the actual records instead of the glorious story we have been handed.

" La Jaguarina"

Another take on the story of Ella M. Hattan

     Ella M. Hattan was born on Jan 8, 1859, in High Hill, Muskingum County, Ohio to William Hattan and Maria C. Hinman. 

     Contrary to some biographies, her mother was not Hispanic. That was just a fanciful story that Ella told to journalists to make her life appear more interesting. She gave several interviews over the years and most of the time the timeline of events was very much the same, but she occasionally embellished her story. I think her most honest interview was likely the one from "The Plain Dealer" on Sunday April 10, 1898, in Cleveland, Ohio at her brother's home. It would have been much harder to fib about her family with her brother nearby. 

     The Hattan's came to Ohio from Maryland and the Hinman's came to Ohio from Connecticut. Maria C. Hinman was probably born c1824 in either Washington, Gallia or Athens County Ohio. Her mother was named Betsy, and her father appears to have died before Jan 24, 1828, because that is the date Mrs. Betsy Hinman married William Hull in Athens County, Ohio. Years later, Emma and Effie Hattan used the stage name "The Hull Twin Sisiter's" and used Hull as a surname and Ella Hattan used Hull as her maiden name on her last marriage certificate. It does make a person wonder if the relationship between Mrs. Betsy Hinman and William Hull started earlier than the marriage.

     Betsy had two children: Isaac N. Hinman bc1820 and Maria C. Hinman bc1824. This seems to be verified by both the 1830 and 1840 census of Athens County where two children of the appropriate sex and birth are listed in the household. Isaac N. Hinman married Emily Martin in 1841, and I have no further information on him. Both Isaac and Maria married the same year. William Hull divorced Betsy in 1846 and he died in 1849. I haven't found further info on Betsy.

     I have a working theory that Maria C. Hinman was possibly a grandchild of Curtis Hinman and Cynthia Newton who married in Tolland Connecticut on Feb 15, 1797. Curtis Hinman filed for a divorce from Cynthia in 1813 on the grounds of adultery, but it was dismissed. Curtis Hinman died around 1819 in Washington County, Ohio and Cynthia probably moved in with her mother, Alice Stimson Newton in Gallia County, Ohio. There is a court record in 1822 giving guardianship of Cubbage Hinman age over 14 and John Hinman age 6 to John Newton. These are likely a couple of Curtis and Cynthia's children, but they must have had other children since they were married for at least 15 years before filing for divorce. 

     

     William Hattan married Maria C. Hinman on May 13, 1841, in Athens County, Ohio. William Hattan was born on May 23, 1818, in Maryland and died on Sept 7, 1863, in Cumberland, Maryland. He was in the process of being sent home from the war due to illness and died of heart failure at the depot. Maria C. Hinman was born c1824 and died on December 23, 1900, in Licking County, Ohio.

They had ten children that are known to us (according to one of the offsprings obituaries there were 11):

1. Isaac W. Hattan (May 4, 1842 - January 29, 1919) he married Mary Ann Ward on May 4, 1868 and remained in Muskingum Ohio. He worked as a Boilermaker

2. Curney G. Hattan (May 2, 1844 - April 20,1929) she married William A, Hill on July 23, 1867, in Muskingum Ohio. 

3. Aurilla S. Hattan (December 26, 1847 - January 4, 1921) she married Charles Miles on October 25, 1867, in Muskingum Ohio.

4. Annette Hattan (July 28, 1850 - July 25, 1934) she married Jacob Mentzer on August 27, 1868 and Charles Barker on March 27, 1908.

5. Ida E. Hattan (June 8, 1852 - December 16, 1872) worked in wool factory. She had applied for a marriage license and was going to marry Henry Mars in Washington County, Ohio but she died of heart disease before the marriage could take place.

6. Earl E. Hattan (March 20, 1854 - 1875) died unmarried and buried in the family plot

7. Perry E. Hattan (November 8, 1856 - December 22, 1921) he married Theresa Rose Snell on February 10,1892 in Cleveland, Ohio. 

8. Ella M. Hattan (January 8, 1859 - June 15, 1924) she married Joseph E. Nagle on December 1, 1880, and Wilbur Melville Bates on June 19, 1895, and Edward G. Beavan on October 19, 1920.

More on her below:

9. Effie W. Hattan (March 25,1863 - December 3, 1940) she married Thomas Cox Leary on July 15, 1883. He was a fellow performer whom she met because he was in the same troupe. She died in Yorkshire, England.

10. Emma W. Hattan (March 25, 1863 - May 12, 1929) she was married c1882 in Richmond, Virginia to Richard Maurettus who operated a Vaudeville Troupe called "The Maurettus Pantomime Troupe" in which she was a member. She was killed in a Greyhound bus accident in Detroit Michigan.

    (Effie and Emma were twins and performed as the "Hull Twin Sister's" and were a singing act)

      

     William Hattan died leaving his widow with nine children under the age of majority. What happened next? The family moved to Cleveland Ohio and all of the kids except the three youngest went to work in factories. The three youngest: Ella, Effie and Emma began performing in the local Vaudeville scene. 

     Ella M. Hattan  

     Ella Hattan may have started working as young as eight years old if you believe some of her later interviews, but records point to her starting closer to 1874 or 1875 so she would have been closer to sixteen. In the 1870 census, she and her sisters are merely listed as "student" without occupation. What is certain is that she and her sister's started working in the local Vaudeville scene to help support their widowed mother. She had a career in acting and fencing that spanned thirty years and she seems to have settled into a quiet life after 1907. Ella died on June 15, 1924, from a cerebral hemorrhage. If you look at her various records and interviews, she had consistently made herself younger as time went by. At the time of her death, she had shaved off nearly ten years from her age. Ella M. Beavan is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in New York.

*1870's Joined a local stock company run by "Uncle" John Ellsler 

*1875 Stand-in for Mrs. Frayne in the play "Si Slocum"

*1878 Joined a traveling troupe that was performing "Alvin Joslin". She met her first husband, who was also a member of the same Troupe. 

*1880 She joined Minnie Palmer's tour performing "Our Boarding School"

*1880 She married a fellow actor from her troupe named Joseph E. Nagle in Boston Massachusetts on December 1. 

*1880 Took up fencing for her health, an old actor gave her, her first lessons and then took lessons from Col. Thomas H. Monstery in Chicago. He had several schools around the country.

*1881 Joined Hawley's "Pins and Needles Company"

*1882 Joined Smith and Mestayer performing "Tourists"

*1883 Began professional career as Swordswoman

*1885 Performed in a show in St Louis, Missouri, that included Emma, Effie and their spouses.

*1885 Went on tour of the country meeting all greatest swordsman on foot and horseback

*1886 Moved to San Francisco, California

*1886 Her husband, Joseph E. Nagle, dropped dead on stage while she was touring San Francisco on November 19

*1886 Olympic Athletic Club of San Francisco opened its doors to women for the first time and invited her to compete where she beat Capt. E. J. Jennings on foot and on horseback and received a medal and letter of commendation. Defeated Capt. J. H. Marshall.

*1887 Defeated Serg. Owen Davis

*1888 Defeated Capt. Conrad Wiedermann

*1889 Defeated Lieut. Baron Von Fredlitzsch

*1889 Performed as "The Fairy Queen" in "Humpty Dumpty"

*1890 Started teaching ladies fencing and riding

*1891 Temporary move to Portland, Oregon

*1895 She married Wilbur Melville Bates on June 19th.

*1895 Defeated Lieut. Paul DeVille

*1896 Defeated Serg. Charles Walsh

*1897 Performed in exhibitions with Serg John S. Swift

*1901 Retired from fencing

*1905 Performed in the play "The Life that Kills"

*1906 Performed in the play "The Vanderbilt Cup"

*1906 divorced from Wilbur Melville Bates

    

 

*1907 Performed the play "Lottie the Poor Saleslady" at Blaney's Theatre in NY. It appears that she retired from acting after this play.

*1920 Married Edward G. Beavan on October 19.

*1924 Died in Bergen, New Jersey on June 15.

 My Mayflower Lineage

     My grandmother, Marguerite Geniveve Kelly, was born on May 15, 1916 on Utah Hollow in Sissonville WV. She spent her youth near Kelly's Creek Rd on the land settled by Aaron Kelly (who was her great-great grandfather). She attended the one-room schoolhouse on Martin's Branch until the 6th grade (which was all that was legally required in the county at that time). I have been told one story about my grandmother's childhood, and it was about her time at that school. Apparently, the teacher locked her in the outhouse for some reason or another. My grandmother had one sister, named Virginia, who came home that day and told their mother that she was still locked in the outhouse. Their mother, in a rage, stormed down to the schoolhouse to get her daughter and 'whip' the teacher. 

     Marguerite married John Hamilton (1913-1938) about 1932, but the actual marriage record has never been found. She was listed as his widow on his probate records. He died of pneumonia at the age of 25.

     Marguerite married Donald Brewer Proctor on April 4, 1943. Donald was born on September 29, 1918 on the 'other' Kelly's Creek Rd in Ward, West Virginia. Donald was a fraternal twin boy born to Tyler Proctor and Aice Elizabeth Stone. His older brother, Ronald Snewer Proctor, was always happy to remind him that he was older than Donald by several minutes. I've never heard stories about where he went to school. He frequently was kept out of school by his father and required to work. He only managed to finish the second grade. The family moved from Ward to Charleston in the 1920's. This was the beginning of what we now call The Great Depression. They lived in one of the ramshackle riverboats along the Elk River where the poor had made a small community. My grandfather had an older half-brother named Delawayne 'Dell' Proctor and he had been born out-of-wedlock to Alice Stone and John Wesley Hackworth, who was her brother-in-law. Tyler and Alice were married a few months later and Dell was raised as a Proctor. Dell's newborn son, Haskell Lee, was left too close to the fire on the houseboat, his bedding caught fire, and he was killed. My grandparent's lost two infants: Jeanett Sue Proctor died June 24, 1946, on her 1st birthday. My grandparents thought she had a fever from teething and tried to lower her temperature by giving her ice cream. My grandfather did not have a car at that time, and he got on the city bus with his sick daughter. Sadly, she died in his arms on that bus, but he carried her to the doctor's office anyway. Their daughter Charlotte Marie died at the age of four months of pneumonia (likely caused by whooping cough) on October 4, 1951. They raised four children and a fifth was taken from them by Donald's sister while my grandmother was in the hospital. I often asked why they didn't do more to get him back and my answer was always that they were poor and uneducated and didn't know how.

     Donald died on March 17, 1976, after suffering his second major stroke. He had spent years treating his high blood pressure with garlic because they were very poor and had no health insurance. His first stroke paralyzed one side of his body and affected his speech. I have no memories of my grandfather because he died when I was very young.  

     My grandmother smoked for most of her adult life, and she developed emphysema as a result. She died on March 10, 1986, from pneumonia, in part because her lungs were too weak to combat it. The things I remember about her: She has thick, wavy, almost white hair, that I would brush for hours. She drank a pot of really hot black coffee every day. She played solitaire by laying the cards out on the couch next to her and I remember she played all the time. She watched her tv "serials" (or soap operas as we call them) religiously. She cooked a large pot of pinto beans a couple of times per week. She loved chocolate stars from The Peanut Shop and banana pudding. We only had a shower in our house at the time, and she hated it, so she opted to take a "sponge bath" everyday instead. She also hated the vacuum cleaner, so she would sweep the carpet with a broom.

     Marguerite Geniveve Kelly was the daughter of James David Kelly and Effie Carrie Bailey. I don't know much about them outside of what anyone could find in records. James David Kelly was born October 23, 1875, on Kelly's Creek Rd in Sissonville WV. His parent's names were Phillp Pleasant Kelly and Lucinda Frances Bailey. He died on October 30, 1947, at the house of his daughter, Virginia Frances Williams, of heart failure caused by a combination of high blood pressure and kidney failure. James David Kelly married Effie Carrie Bailey on July 3, 1913. 

     Effie Carrie Bailey was born December 5, 1892, near Doc Bailey Rd in Cross Lanes WV. She was named after her mother, Euphemia (whose nickname was Effie). Effie's mother died of puerperal fever seven days after giving birth and she was raised by her aunt Mary Frances Thomas Gabbert. Effie died on July 12, 1941. The likely cause of her death was a heart attack since the cause listed on her death certificate was angina pectoris (which is not fatal by itself). The story passed down to us was that James was so devastated by her death that he swore he would never marry another, 

     Effie Carrie Bailey was the daughter of Robert Hudson Bailey and Euphemia Ann Elizabeth Thomas. Robert Hudson Bailey was born August 26, 1860, on Doc Bailey Rd in Cross Lanes. He married Euphemia Ann Elizabeth Thomas on March 17, 1886. Robert died March 28, 1943, at his home in Poca of Senility caused by chronic bronchitis which is probably code for cognitive impairment caused by loss of oxygen due to COPD. 

     Euphemia Ann Elizabeth Thomas was born January 26, 1863, on Martin's Branch in Sissonville WV and she died at her home on Doc Bailey Rd in Cross Lanes. She was the daughter of Elliott Roberts Thomas and Sarah Ann Goff. Elliott Roberts Thomas was born in 1836 and died September 1878 of diphtheria at the home of Leonard Goff, who was his father-in-law. Apparently, his tongue had swollen, turned black and threatened to suffocate him so they split it down the middle to open his airway. It sounds like a horrible way to die, and I hope he didn't suffer too long. Sarah Ann Goff was born June 10, 1839, near Rocky Fork, WV to Leonard Goff and Sarah Ann Rust. She died in 1913 near Tyler Heights, WV.

     Sarah Ann Goff was the daughter of Leonard Goff and Sarah Rust. Leonard Goff was born March 1815 in Bedford County, Virginia and died December 21, 1905 at his home near Institute, WV. He left Bedford County c1831 with his parents but his father, John McGhee Goff, became ill on the journey and attempted to stop and "take the waters" at the White Sulphur Springs of Greenbrier County. He died and was probably buried in the Calwell Family Cemetery. His family continued on to Kanawha County and his widow remarried to Jesse Kelly. Sarah Rust was born in Wood County (now WV) in 1812 and she died on Jun 21, 1888. Her parents were Peter Newton Rust and Mary Morse.

     Peter Newton Rust was born c1779 in Westmoreland County, Virginia and died May 1850 in Wirt County (now WV). He was the son of James Newton Rust and Mary Crump.  

The lineage is easy to follow from James Newton Rust because there is a National Son's and Daughter's of Pilgrims application for the descendants of James Newton Rust who is a descendant of both Isaac Allerton and William Brewster.

Samuel Wharton of King George

     I recently discovered that Samuel was one of my ancestors after stumbling on an obscure chancery record in Caroline County Va. As usual, I'm not sure the information I have found online is 100% accurate so I really wanted to share the information I found for my fellow family members. I would also hope that if anyone out there has a source that will support any of the other online trees, please reach out to me. I will update this page as I find sources to prove or disprove any additions.

     I'm not sure when Samuel Wharton was born. The researchers seem to differ on this fact. His oldest son John, had to have been born around 1704 because he was married by 1725. This really puts Samuel's birth in the early 1680's or before. There is always a chance that both men married as minors, but this was not very common for men during that time period.

      The wife listed in his will and later estate and deed records was named Ann. Various online trees alternatively give her maiden name as Griffin or Whiting with no records for evidence to back it up. According to a 1717 deed transfer from Samuel Wharton, his grandfather was named Ralph Whiting, so Ann was not a Whiting. It also appears that the name Griffin was just an assumption based on another land grant Samuel Wharton claimed but that grant was also connected to Ralph Whiting. I will just call her Ann.........for now.

     Samuel Wharton died sometime between the winter of 1733 and the spring of 1734. 

     The will seems to divide his children into two groups, older and younger. The first four sons were given separate tracts of land and his daughter Martha is given a ring which signifies that she was likely the oldest daughter. Zacheus and Joseph were given property that they were to inherit jointly but they had to wait until their mother died since it was the land where Samuel and Ann resided. At the end, he mentions children: Martha, Zacheus, Joseph, Ann, and Elizabeth to get the rest of his estate after THEIR mother died. He also states when the children come of age. This wording of this will proves that none of the daughters are married in 1733 and were likely all minors.  I think it is also a possibility Samuel may have had these children with two different women.

 I didn't transcribe this will. I copied the transcribed version from here: https://www.colonial-settlers-md-va.us/getperson.php?personID=I30177&tree=Tree1

 WILL OF SAMUEL WHARTON

In the Name of God Amen, I Samuel Wharton of the Parish of Hanover & County of King George being in good health at this time thanks to be to Almighty God for the same & knowing the uncertainty of Life I do make & ordain this my last will & Testament in manner & form as followeth

Imp I recommend my Soul to Almighty God that gave it & my body to the earth from whence it came to be decently buryed at the discretion of by Executors hereafter named as for my worldly goods that God hath bestowed upon and I give & bequeath it as followeth.

Item I give & bequeath to my oldest Son John Wharton one hundred acres of Land beginning upon the Crooked Road upon the line of Thos. Surnor & along the said line to the Ferry road & up the said road to a Hikory Tree standing in a point of sunkon ground by the road side & thence a Strait Course to the Creek & so down the said Creek to the first mentioned station to him & to his heirs for ever I give to John Wharton my Coat and one Shilling Sterling to be paid at demand after my decease & no more of my Estate.

Item I give & bequeath to my Son Samuel Wharton one hundred acres of Land beginning upon a red Oak Corner Tree to W. S. Surnor standing by the fferry road and thence running west to Mr. Turnors further corner that he bought of and thence the Course of the Pattent up to the main run side thence down the run to the spring belonging to plantation of Richard Tankersley thence a strait Course to the first mentioned station to him & his heirs forever I give to my Son Samuel a Negro wench named Judy & all her increase to him & his heirs for ever a pistole & holster & sword & one feather bed & furniture

Item I give & bequeath to my Son William Wharton the plantation that Andrew Beard live on & all the Land on the North side of the run joyning to Andrew Beards plantation to him & his heirs forever & and Stallion named Fortune & the rest of my wearing Cloths to be divided between
William & Charles Wharton & to Charles Wharton one Mare Colt to William one gun & Saddle

Item I give to my son Charles Wharton all the Land between my spring branch & John Wharton's bounds to him & his heirs for ever.

Item I give & bequeath to my son Joseph Wharton and Zacharias Wharton all the rest of my Land to be divided equally between them after the decease of their mother to them & their heirs for ever.

I give to my Daughter Martha one ring & as for the rest of my Estate both real and personal I leave it to my loving wife Anne Wharton & to the rest of the Children Martha Wharton & Anne Wharton & Elizabeth Wharton & Joseph Wharton and Zacharias Wharton equally to be divided after their mother has got her third when the Children are come to age and I do appoint my well beloved wife Anne Wharton & Thomas Surnor and my loving Son John Wharton & Samuel Wharton whole Excor to this my last Will & Testament In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand & Seal this 30th day of November 1732.

Samuel Wharton

Signed Sealed & Delivered to
my last Will & Testament
in Presence of us
Richard Tankersley
Edward Marshall
Richard Tankersley [sic]

At a Court held for King George County
the 6th day of April 1733

The last Will & Testament of Samuel Wharton was presented into Court by Anne Wharton his [illegible] Executrix who made Oath thereto & the same was proved by the Oath of Richard Tankersley Edward Marshall & Richard Tankersley & admitted to record

I'm going to assume that the children are listed in this will by birth order or very close to it.

1. John Wharton, who Samuel calls his oldest son, was probably born around 1704. Evidence suggests that he married Martha Long about 1725 because that was the year that her father, Henry Long, gifted them a slave. He was given 100a of land adj Thomas Turner on Gingoteague Creek. John Wharton died in 1736 and left this 100a to his wife Martha as long as she lived unmarried and then it was to go to their oldest son Samuel. Their children were: Samuel, Elizabeth, Valentine Long, and Mary, who were born between 1726-1736.

 2. Samuel Wharton, who was most likely the second oldest surviving son was born about 1707. He and his older brother John were made co-executors of their fathers will, so they had to be at least 16 when it was written. He died in 1738. He was a newlywed and had just married in 1737 to a young widow named Ann Johnson Williams who had one son named James Williams. Samuel Wharton left a will in Spotsylvania and named his wife and her son as legatees. He also named his sister's Ann and Martha, who were both referred to as "Wharton", so they were still unmarried when the will was written. He left legacies to his surviving brothers: William, Charles, Zacheus, and Joseph and he included his mother, Ann Furlong, in the will. He omitted his sister Elizabeth from the will, at least the one that was recorded. There could have been many reasons she was missed. Maybe the clerk failed to copy the original correctly, maybe they did not get along, maybe he already gave her something......

     This does prove that Martha Wharton could not have been married to John Schooler prior to 1738 so most of the genealogies attributed to her have errors since they have her married with children as early as 1725.

3. William Wharton was born c1710. He married Mrs Mary Baker Rawlings, the widow of John Rawings in 1741. He died in 1768 in King George County and the sheriff was asked to administer his estate. Mary Baker was born c1713 to John Baker and Elizabeth Butler. She died in 1778 and her son-in-law, Robert Massey, administered her estate. I have not discovered any children born to William and Mary but Mary did have two daughters by John Rawlings. Rebecca Rawlings married Rev Archibald Campbell. She was born in 1734 and died in 1754. Ann Rawlings was born c1736 and married Robert Massey.

4. Charles Wharton was born c1713. He died in 1767 and left a will naming his wife Sarah, and children: Samuel, Sarah, Ann, Delilah, Nannie, Reuben and Catherine. In the will of William Furlong, Ann Wharton was called his Goddaughter. Mrs Sarah Wharton may have been a Boon before her marriage.

5. Martha Wharton was born c1716. She married John Schooler not long after the 1738 will of her brother. They had at least three sons that appear in deed records: John Schooler, Wharton Schooler, and Samuel Schooler.

There is a rather common story online that a man named Benjamin Schooler, who was born in 1725, belonged to her. This clearly cannot be correct. She was not married in 1733 or 1738. The earliest record that mentions her name as a wife of John Schooler is a chancery record in King George from 1748. She had a two proven son's born in the 1740's named John (b1742) and Wharton (b1744). The bible everyone throws around in various chats and on family trees belonged to Benjamin Schooler 1758-1822. The math's aren't mathing on this one.

6. Ann Wharton was born c1719. Evidence suggests that she may have had one child out of wedlock named John Wharton who was born about 1743. He was bound out to Mourning Richards in 1759 for 5 years so since a person was generally bound until they were 21 then we can estimate his birth. The person giving consent was William Furlong, who he refers to as his father-in-law. This term did not have the same meaning that it does by todays standard. She likely married Peter Schooler and had at least one daughter named Ann.

7. Joseph Wharton was born c1722. He moved to Orange County Virginia. There is a chancery suit in Caroline Va in the 1770's against Edward Dixon, who was the executor of the will of William Furlong. The remaining children of Samuel Wharton were trying to get what was left of their father Samuel Wharton's estate that fell into the hands of William Furlong through his marriage to their mother Ann. Joseph sold the interest of his portion to his nephew Wharton Schooler. The deeds of Orange Va show that Joseph had a wife named Mary and at least three son's named George, Samuel and Zachariah. The last two sons fought in the Revolution. Samuel Wharton married Letitia Hutchinson and Zachariah Wharton married Sarah Young.

8. Elizabeth Wharton was born c1725. She married William Copein, also known as William Copin, Stonemason of Prince William County, Virginia. In a chancery suit in the 1770's filed in Caroline County Va. the heirs of Samuel Wharton had filed a complaint against Edward Dixon who was the executor of the estate of William Furlong. The last remaining heirs of Samuel Wharton were trying to regain the part of their father's estate that William Furlong got use of through his marriage to their mother Ann. The details of this suit are something that we will likely never know because most of the records of Caroline Va were destroyed in a fire. The heirs listed in the order book were: John Schooler and Martha (Wharton) his wife, William Copein and Elizabeth (Wharton) his wife, Joseph Wharton, and the infant children of Zacheus Wharton deceased. William Copein and Elizabeth Wharton had the following children: John Copin, Samuel Copin, William Copin, Sarah Copin, George Copin, and Zacheus Copin. 

9. Zacheus Wharton was born c1728. According to court records he still had a guardian in 1748 but by 1750 he sold his land in his own right. He died in 1768. The deeds and court records show that he had a wife named Elizabeth and three children named: John, Samuel and Margaret at the time of his death. These children are the ones listed on the chancery suit. His wife may have been a Johnson.

 Franklin Edward Hopson

     Where to start? In 1994 I interviewed Marie Lauharn White and Delphia Moore Hopson. These two ladies were the oldest living descendants of Franklin Edward Hopson. Marie was his granddaughter and Delphia was the widow of his son, Frank Allen Hopson. This is a compilation of the story they told me.

     Franklin Edward Hopson was born on November 16, 1872, in Covington, Kentucky. When he was just 21 months old his mother died of the measles, and he was raised by someone else, possibly someone named Mamie. Ed, which is what he preferred to go by was supposedly named after his father who had died prior to his moving to Charleston, WV. He claimed that his father was a doctor and that a lawyer named McCorkle had stolen his land. What both Marie and Delphia agreed on was that he had a sister named Eva Hopson who was a teacher. Delphia thought he had a half-brother named Walter.

     Franklin Edward Hopson came to Charleston WV by 1899 because on October 1, 1899, he married Lucy Massey Cantley. The story that made its way down the generations was that Ed had seen Lucy through a window of a store and decided then and there that she was the girl he was going to marry. She initially refused to marry him because he was a stranger, and she knew nothing of his background or family. He responded by having officials in Covington write a letter of recommendation for him and the rest, you can say, is history.

     Ed Hopson worked as a machinist for the railroad which may be how he initially made his way to Charleston. He and Lucy had three children: 

     1. Eva Beulah Hopson was born November 10, 1900, she married Marshall Copen on September 12, 1918 and she died of Uterine Cancer on October 11, 1962.

     2.  Mary Kathleen Hopson was born March 8, 1904, she married William Morgan Lauharn. He committed suicide by jumping off a bridge while in a military hospital in Perryville Maryland in 1928. He left his wife and four children. Kathleen died on July 30, 1980.

     3. Frank Allen Hopson was born March 10, 1909, he married Delphia Mae Moore on August 24, 1933. Frank died on April 19, 1969.

     Franklin Edward Hopson died of a cerebral hemorrhage on September 22, 1915, and he is buried in a little cemetery on Oakridge Drive. It's actually hidden behind houses and a privacy fence. 

     While interviewing Marie, she kindly showed me the family bible and the photo albums that belonged to her mother Mary Kathleen Hopson Lauharn.  In one of the photo albums was a note written by Lucy around the time of Ed's death. It said "Sir, can you tell me if you have an Eva Hopson or a ?Mrs Lena Stewart? in your directory? The note was directed to Richmond Va?  I wasn't sure about the Lena Stewart because the handwriting was hard to read.

     Armed with all this information, I felt that it would be a cakewalk to find Ed.......thirty years later he is still a mystery.

     This is an abstract of the information I have been able to find:

*The 1900 census, Ed was born in KY but his parents were listed as being born in NY. This is written in a heavier hand and may have been added later so it's probably an error.

*The 1910 census, Ed was born in KY, his dad was born in VA and his mother in KY

*There was a Plummer and Seldeon Hopson who worked for the railroad that briefly lived in Covington but I could not connect them. They came from Virginia.

These are the family groups I have looked through but have been unable to connect:

*Morris Hopson and Abigail Mead, came from NY to Cincinnati Ohio

*George Hobson, who came from Yorkshire, England before 1840 and settled in Cincinnati, Ohio

*Benjamin Franklin Hopson and Susan Richardson, who came from Halifax Va, through Trigg Ky, then Graves, KY

*Matthew Galliene Hopson and Maria Swindell, who came from Lancaster England and settled in Covington.

Almost all the Hopson/ Hobson families that really moved in and out of the greater Cincinnati area were all connected in some way to the families listed above.

     My most promising lead was a Josiah D. Hobson, who was born about 1841. He disappeared from records after the 1860 census but he left at least two children by a woman named Louisa M. Leech. She had a daughter named Eulah Lee Hobson, who married a Robert Franklin Sanders and another daughter named Margaret Jo Hobson who married James D. Smith. Both of these women were born in the 1860's. Louisa M. Leech is living with her parents in 1870 and 1880 but according to a biography of Marshall Hobson (who was a brother of Josiah), Josiah didn't die until 1893.  Robert Sanders and his wife, Eula moved to Covington and lived at 1521 Madison Avenue in 1930.  Louisa M. leech Hobson died in Covington in 1922.

     I have not been able to find Eva in any official records. She wrote letters to Ed, which a granddaughter of Maria Lauharn was kind enough to copy for me. In one of the letters, she tells Ed that Robert and ? send their love and are happy he's getting married. Is the name Eula? No way to tell because the letter is damaged on the edges but the address in 1522 Madison Ave Covington.  The letter of recommendation was almost definitely forged by someone. Maybe it was forged by Eva but why?

     I've looked through my Hopson DNA results without luck. I've tried asking the last remaining male descendants to submit their DNA, also without luck.

     Below are the only tangible records I have. The letters.

 BLAINE ISLAND

and the family that lived there

     I find myself frustrated with the online content about Blaine Island.  It's a pretty fanciful story that Fleming Cobbs came to Kanawha County in 1780, owned Blaine Island, planted a pear tree and traded it to a man named Charles Blaine for a Rifle.  I have no idea of the date of origin of this story.

     The truth is that Fleming Cobbs came here to Kanawha in 1790 with his uncle Thomas Upton. The folklore is that his father, Thomas Cobbs of Buckingham County, had remarried and Fleming did not get along with his stepmother, so he left for Kanawha with his uncle. Thomas Upton had been given grants for two tracts of land, the first one on July 11, 1787, containing 1400A on the Upper Falls of the Coal River and another on October 27, 1787, containing 3400A on the Kanawha River at Davis Creek opposite WILSON ISLAND. Thomas and Fleming began making improvements on the Davis Creek tract, but the valley was still dangerous because of the Shawnee and fresh attacks had made it too dangerous to live on the property. They moved into Fort Clendenin where Thomas Upton died in 1794 leaving a nuncupative will (he could not read or write). He left his estate to his siblings and their heirs because he himself was unmarried and childless. Fleming Cobbs inherited part of the Davis Creek tract that he had already made improvements on. To my knowledge, Blaine Island was not part of his tract. The Davis Creek tract began 1/2 mile below the mouth of Davis Creek and traveled down the Kanawha towards Upton Creek in present day Spring Hill. Linsdey Thomas purchased a 750A tract from a Thomas cousin. This tract became known as the 'Spring Hill' tract and he and his family are buried in a small family cemetery on Upton's Creek.

     Now that we have established the Upton and Cobbs land let's get back to Blaine Island. A man named Conrod Smith was the original patentee of Blaine Island, then known as Two-Mile Island. On July 6, 1796 he was granted 65A on the first large Island in the Kanawha about two miles from the mouth of the Elk River. The Island was located in the Kanawha River at the mouth of Two-Mile Creek (Two-Mile Creek flows through present day North Charleston). On May 12, 1807, Conrod and Ann Smith sold 65A tract known as Two-Mile Island in the Kanawha River to WILLIAM BLAINE.  

     First, there was no CHARLES BLAINE, his name was William. According to later records pertaining to his children, William Blaine came to Kanawha County from York County, Pennsylvania. There are two source records that establish this fact. First, a court record recorded during the administration of his estate says that he was lately from York County before coming to Kanawha. Second, he is a party to a deed in Kanawha whereas the other party is a resident of Pennsylvania. He was taxed for the first time in the personal property digest in 1802. He purchased two lots on Front Street in 1803 where he operated a Ferry (probably at Ferry's Branch). After he purchased Blaine Island in 1807, he built a tannery and planted an orchard on the island. On August 8, 1821 he petitioned to build a dam on one side of the island and build a mill.

     The family owned the Island for 120 Years. They sold it to Carbide on June 7, 1927. There was a small family cemetery located on the Island and in 1936 when Union Carbide decided to expand their operations the cemetery became a casualty. The newspaper article only lists ten tombstones. I have only found an official record of eleven being moved. Did they leave the rest? The rules back then were a little more flexible on covering graves. The burial list along with the few that were moved:

*William Blaine - Spring Hill Cemetery

*Sarah Henry Blaine - Spring Hill Cemetery

*Elizabeth Blaine - Spring Hill Cemetery

*Valeria Blaine - Spring Hill Cemetery

*William Charles Blaine - Spring Hill Cemetery

*Elizabeth Jane Champe Blaine Copton - Spring Hill Cemetery

*Robert Blaine - Spring Hill Cemetery

*Sallie Henry Blaine - Spring Hill Cemetery

*Samuel Blaine - Spring Hill Cemetery

*Elliott Roberts Thomas - Spring Hill Cemetery

*Ruth P. Blaine Thomas - Spring Hill Cemetery (listed as unknown in official records, buried beside Elliott and marked with a field stone)

*Elizabeth Roberts Thomas - Teays Hill Cemetery

*James Thomas - unknown if he was moved

*Lavinia Ann Thomas - unknown if she was moved

*Susan Watts Thomas - unsure if she was buried in Blaine or with her parents. No other info available.

     William Blaine was born in Pennsylvania in 1780. He married Sarah Henry, date and place unknown, daughter of Samuel Henry. Sarah Henry Blaine was born in 1783 and died in 1829. William Blaine died in 1824 leaving ten children:

1. Sarah Henry Blaine (1799-1835)

2. Mary Ann Blaine (Sept 15, 1800 -June 11, 1828) She died in Marion, Missouri. She married on Jan 2, 1825 in Kanawha to Waddy Cobbs (Feb 4, 1799-Aug 9, 1881) and had one child George Washington Cobbs (Feb 7, 1827-Apr 3, 1845)

3. Samuel Henry Blaine (1803-1831)

4. Robert Blaine (1808-1865)

5. Ruth P. Blaine (1810-1864) she was married on Sept 11, 1827 to Elliott Roberts Thomas (1804-1876) and had nine children. More on them at the bottom.

6. Elizabeth M. Blaine (1812-1851)

7. Rachel Mariah Blaine (1814-) she married James Gillespie (1812-) and had six children: William Charles Gillespie (1837-1861) Ann B Gillespie (1839-) Theopholis Gillespie (1841-1865) Valeria Jane Gillespie (1844-1917) she married Andrew J. Coon. Moses B. Gillespie (1846-1926) and Mary B. Gillespie (1849-)

8. Veturia Margaret Blaine (March 1819-Aug 13, 1902) She died in Jasper County, Missouri. She married on Oct 17, 1844 in Kanawha to Thomas Upton Cobbs (May 20, 1817-1898). They had six children: Sarah E. Cobbs (1846-) Robert Blaine Cobbs (1848-) Alice M N Cobbs (1850-) Annie Cobbs (1852-) Charles A. Cobbs (1858-) William P Cobbs (1860-). They divorced sometime in the 1870's and he moved back to Kanawha County. 

9. Valeria Jane Blaine (1822-1857)

10. William Charles Blaine (Mar 26, 1823-Feb 15, 1905) He married on Mar 8, 1866, in Kanawha County to Elizabeth Jane Champe (Apr 1, 1848- Sept 28. 1922). They had no biological children.

     Ruth Blaine, daughter of William Blaine and Sarah Henry, married Elliott Roberts Thomas on September 11, 1827, in Kanawha County. Elliott Roberts Thomas was the son of James Thomas and Elizabeth Roberts who came to Kanawha County from Buckingham County Virginia around 1796. Ruth P. Blaine inherited an interest in all the land holdings of her father after his death, which included Blaine Island. Since she was a married woman, her husband Elliott was the legal owner of the interest in right of his wife. They had nine known children:

1. Sarah Blaine Thomas (July 3, 1828-1886) married Bradford Hill (1819-1887) They had nine children: Lelia Jane Thomas (1854-1943) Sarah R. Thomas (1856-) Penola Alice Thomas (1856-1924) Lavinia Thomas (1858-) Elizabeth B. Thomas (1860-) James Elliott Thomas (1862-1937) William Charles Thomas (1865-1934) Robert Lee Thomas (1869-) Leonida Bradford Thomas (1871-1951) 

2. James Thomas (1831-1850's)

3. Elizabeth Roberts Thomas (1833-1859) married her cousin John Mosely Thomas (1833-1914) and had two children: John Charles Thomas (1856-1930) and Pleasant Elliott Thomas (1858-1937).

4. Mariah Thomas (1835-1869) married c1852 in Boone County to Abner Buchanan Whitten (1827-1885) and had six children: Virginia Whitten (1853-) James K. Whitten (1856-) Susan P. Whitten Barker (1858-1891) Joanna Whitten (1863-) Frank Leslie Whitten (1866-1933)

5. Lavinia Ann Thomas (1837-Apr 27,1869)

6. Henrietta H. Thomas (June 27, 1840-June 12, 1917)

7. Veturia Margaret Thomas (Dec 9, 1842-Apr 26, 1922) married on Nov 5, 1870, in Boone County to Leonidas Henry Oakes (1842-1894) They had seven children: Charles Blaine Oakes (1871-1945) Leonidas Henry Oakes (1873-1949) Ebenezer Elliott Oakes (1874-1930) John Williard Kenna Oakes (1877-1947) Thomas Ashby Oakes (1878-1955) Margaret Veturia Oakes (1882-1965) Ira Phillip Oakes (1885-1959)

8. William Joshua Thomas (April 14, 1845- June 27, 1927) He married in 1875 in Kanawha County to Mary Rebecca Hamilton (1855-1935) They had six children: Mary Lavinia Thomas (1876-1914) Augustus Howell Thomas (1879-1949) Louisa Virginia Thomas (1882-1961) Ira Hampton Thomas (1884-1961) William Joshua Thomas (1884-1968) Sidney Carlisle Thomas (1886-1959)

9. Nancy Jane Thomas (June 1847-Oct 7, 1922)

     Ruth P. Blaine Thomas died c1864 because on November 27, 1864 Elliott Roberts Thomas married for the second time to Susan Watts in Kanawha County. 

     Susan Watts was born c1824 in Pennsylvania and died July 1870 in Boone County WV. Her death record in the Boone County register has a number of errors. The record states E. R. Thomas, died July 1870, age 46, cause of death unknown, born Pennsylvania, farming, E. R. Thomas reporting. There are a number of reasons why this could have happened. It could be that this list was hand copied into this register from an original that no longer exists and transcribed incorrectly. After all, the entire list of names on this register page do not have exact dates of death just month and year. My best guess is that it was originally written as "Mrs E. R. Thomas" and it was copied incorrectly. 

     Elliott Roberts Thomas died in Boone County WV in the year 1876. In the land tax records for the year 1875 he was taxed for the full year for his land but in 1876 his land tax was reduced. In 1877 the land tax record states "E.R. Thomas heirs". 

     William Joshua Thomas was a confederate soldier. He was captured August 7th, 1864, and sent to Camp Chase in Ohio. His mother must have been dead already because he doesn't mention her in the letter he wrote home right after capture. He also refers to his uncle's Robert and William Blaine.

     On May 13, 1875, Elliott Roberts Thomas transferred all his interest in his in the Blaine land to his only surviving son William Joshua Thomas. He also transferred his personal property and livestock to his son as well. He died the following year, so he likely knew he was dying or at least too sick to take care of his own affairs.  (The land was two large tracts lying in Boone and Kanawha on the Coal River)

     On Sept 22, 1884, John Charles and Pleasant E. Thomas, children of Elizabeth Roberts Thomas (daughter of Elliott & Ruth) deceased sold their interest in the estate of Ruth Blaine Thomas to William Joshua Thomas.

     On March 6, 1889, the last remaining children of Elliott & Ruth who still owned shares had two of the remaining tracts of land partitioned. Those heirs were: William Joshua Thomas, Henrietta H. Thomas, Nancy Jane Thomas, Veturia Margaret Thomas Oakes, and the children of Marah Thomas Whitten deceased (James K Whitten, Frank Leslie Whitten, Susan Whitten Barker)