Samuel Humphreys and his second wife, Mariah Austin were my 4th great-grandparents on my Momma’s side of the family. Samuel was born in Virginia on 16 December 1818, but as of yet I still do not know where in Virginia or who his parents were. I do believe he had a brother named William Humphreys who was also born in Virginia in about 1808 and died before 1850 in Crittenden County, Kentucky. I have a picture of Samuel, but I have never seen a picture of any of his wives. This is a copy from an old tintype photo, but unfortunately, I failed to write down who I had received it from many years ago.
Samuel worked as a farmer his entire life from what I have
gleaned from census, land and court records, etc. I know he was growing tobacco in the 1840’s
from land deed records I have found.
Samuel married his first wife, Dorcas Price in Davidson
County, Tennessee on 16 April 1836. She
was probably born around 1820 and had died before 1841. They became the parents of twins, Mary Ann
Elizabeth and William Albert Humphreys who were born in Nashville, Davidson
County, Tennessee on 9 January 1837.
Mary married James Madison Bennett in Crittenden County, Kentucky on 14
January 1857. They had six known
children: William D., J. A., E. H., F. M., W. M. and J. K. Bennett. Mary died in Posey County, Indiana on 29 May
1902. William married Drucilla Champion
in Crittenden County, Kentucky on 27 November 1858. They became the parents of five sons, Jesse
Henderson, Charles Grant, Granville Davis, Samuel Carty and Albert Humphreys. William had apparently died sometime before
1870 as his wife and five sons are living with her parents on the 1870 census
in Hurricane, Crittenden County, Kentucky.
Samuel next married my grandmother, Mariah Austin in
Livingston County, Kentucky on 14 May 1841.
They were married by Joseph Hughes a Justice of the Peace, bondsman was
William Humphreys, groom was of age and bride proven of age by William
Humphreys. I believe this William
Humphreys was a brother to Samuel. Since
Mariah was almost 24 years old, I don’t know why her age had to be proven by someone,
unless she looked younger than she was. Mariah
was born in Tennessee on 1 September 1817 and died on her 62nd
birthday in Crittenden County, Kentucky on 1 September 1879 of heart disease. The 1880 mortality schedules also state her
father was born in England and her mother in Virginia and the doctor attending
her was Thomas Dean, when she died. I
have yet to find Mariah’s parents or any known siblings or where in Tennessee
she may have been born though.
Samuel and Mariah became the parents of seven known
children, namely: Sarah Jane Frances (my 3rd great-grandmother),
Lewtisha Mary Ann, Charles Edward, Henrietta Carlene Necitie Tennessee Virginia
Ann, Nancy Mariah, Samuel Jefferson Humphreys and Samuel Jefferson’s twin, a
baby girl who was not named and died at birth.
They sure did like to give the girls a ton of names, didn’t they? JJ
Sarah Jane Frances Humphreys, 1842-1911, was married twice,
first to my 3rd great-grandfather, Thomas Jefferson Yates,
1839-1864/65, in Crittenden County, Kentucky on 8 December 1858. They had three children, John Henry,
1859-1929, Mary Tom, 1862-1938 (my 2nd great-grandmother) and Anna
Maria Yates, 1864-1935. Thomas served in
the Union Army during the Civil War. I
have two different dates of death for him.
The first death date 9 November 1864, I was told he was killed in battle
on that date. The other death date 10
August 1865, also said he was killed in battle, but the war was over, so if he
died on this date then it may have been from wounds or diseases contracted
during the war. Either way he must have
died sometime before 25 December 1866, because that is the date that Sarah
married her second husband, Henry Bartlett Yates, 1833-1896, who happened to be
Thomas’ older brother. Sarah and Henry
had six children together, Martha Ellen, 1867-1911, Sarah Caldonia, 1870-1954,
Emma S., 1874-1876, Benjamin Lewis, 1877-1918, Cora M., 1880-1939 and Nora B.
Yates, 1882-1961. Sarah’s obituary from
The Crittenden Press, issue dated March 30, 1911 reads as follows: “Mrs. Yates,
mother of Rev. B. L. Yates, died at her home near Levias last week, she had
been ill several months. Her son who has
charge of the church at Lafayette, Kentucky was here to see her several times
this year.” I only have one known
picture of Sarah and she is with her oldest son, John Henry and his wife, Mary
Jennings. Sarah is in the black cape and
I don’t know who the taller man on the left is, possibly a son to John Henry.
Lewtisha Mary Humphreys was born in Crittenden County,
Kentucky on 31 August 1844, but had died sometime before the 1860 census was
taken.
Charles Edward Humphreys, 1848-1916, was married three
times, first to Mary Jane Harmon, 1852-1871, in Crittenden County, Kentucky on
22 December 1866. Second to Sarah
Catherine Elsie Bonham, 1853-1890, in Crittenden County, Kentucky on 5 December
1871 and last to Drue Nettie Barnett, 1866-1965, in Elizabethtown, Hardin
County, Illinois on 25 July 1893.
Charles his first two wives and some other family members are all buried
at the Deer Creek Cemetery in Sheridan, Crittenden County, Kentucky. Charles was the father of 19 known
children. Charles and Mary’s children
were: James Henry, Alzara Josephine and a baby boy that died a few days after
birth along with Mary and was never named.
Charles and Sarah’s children were: George Samuel, Lucy Ann, Chester
Cartwright, Charles G., Jesse McCoy, John Jefferson, Calvin Edward, Harvey Lee,
Essie Jane Dean, Clarence Lester, Emory Thomas, Herman Elza and a baby boy that
was not named apparently and died a couple of months after his birth along with
his mother, Sarah. Charles and his last
wife Drue had the following children: Peter Barnett, Josie Annie and Freeman
Austin Humphreys. Family stories say
that Drue was blind, but took care of her children and step-children and their
home without any problem. I don’t have a
picture of Charles or his wives, but I have a picture taken in 1924 of eight of
his 19 children, but I do not know the names of these children in the
picture. If anyone that reads this
happens to know any of their names, I would love to hear about it.
Henrietta Carlene Necitie Tennessee Virginia Ann Humphreys,
1850-1917, was married to John Alexander W. Bebout in Crittenden County,
Kentucky on 25 December 1866. The census
records state she was the mother of eight children but I only now the names of
four of her children. They were: H. E., Rufus A., Enoch Fatus and Thomas N.
Bebout the others must have died young or possibly married young and were just
missed in the census records.
Nancy Mariah Humphreys, 1852-1909, married James E. Hall in
Crittenden County, Kentucky on 6 September 1871. They were the parents of five known children,
namely: Mary M., John M., Thomas J., Alfred R. and William R. Hall.
Samuel Jefferson Humphreys, 1854-1918, he had a twin sister
who did not live but a few days. Samuel
married Nancy Jane Hoover, 1853-1916, in Crittenden County, Kentucky on 12
February 1874. They became the parents
of six children, namely: Rosa Bell, Panola Ester, William D., Luther Lee,
Leslie Sherman and Oliver Humphreys. I
have only one picture of Samuel, his wife, Nancy and their son, William D. with
his wife and two children. After Nancy
died Samuel remarried to Mrs. Nute Whitesides at Hurricane Church in Crittenden
County, Kentucky on 2 September 1917, he only lived a little over a year after
this marriage. I am not sure what
exactly Mrs. Nute’s first name was or her maiden name or anything about her at
all.
Samuel’s last wife was a widow woman named Mrs. Sarah A.
Martin. They were married in Crittenden
County, Kentucky on 3 March 1880 and they never had any children that I am
aware of. Sarah was born in Kentucky on
24 March 1840 and died in Crittenden County, Kentucky on 4 January 1892. She was almost 22 years younger than Samuel.
Samuel left a will written 24 Aug 1889 in Crittenden County
naming his last wife, Sarah, two sons, Charles and Samuel and four daughters
which he did not name. His son, William
had died before 1870, and his daughter, Lewtisha had died before 1860. That means the four girls were Mary, Sarah,
Henrietta & Nancy. The witnesses
were: A. J. Bebout, W. R. Lynn and T. J. Hamilton. The will was brought to
court and probated on 15 October 1889.
Samuel, his wives, Mariah and Sarah as well as his daughter,
Henrietta and son, Samuel and some of their families are all buried at the Love
Graveyard in Crittenden County, Kentucky.
I visited this cemetery again in June of 2022.
If anyone knows of any stories or more information about any of these people I would love to hear from you about them.
Written by Vickie Beard Thompson, the 4th great-granddaughter of Samuel and Mariah in July 2022
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