Charles Hurt

Here we go with my next installment, week #46 and another ancestor from my Daddy’s side of the family through his mother, Jessie Doss.  My 3^rd great-grandfather, Charles Hurt, was born September 15, 1778 in Bedford County, Virginia the son of Nathan Hurt, 1750-1812, and Frances Allen, 1755-after 1827, who were both from Bedford County, Virginia as well.

Charles was the second of the twelve known children born to this couple.  Charles’ siblings were the following: Nathan Hurt Jr., 1776-before 1840; William Hurt, 1780-????; Berry Jubal Hurt, 1782-????; Nancy Hurt, 1784-????; Frances Hurt, 1786-????; Allen Hurt, 1788-after 1850, married Martha Montgomery; Payton Leftridge Hurt, 1790-1874, married Jemima Winn; Sarah Hurt, 1792-????, married William Vaughan; Mildred Hurt, 1794-1837, married William Winn; Dicey Hurt, 1796-????, married Robert Callison and Ruth Hurt, 1798-1822, married Uriah Rogers.

Charles probably came with his parents from Virginia to Kentucky before 1800 and was apparently married for the first time, between 1799 and 1803 when his first child a daughter named Asentha ‘Seney’ Hurt was born in Adair County, Kentucky.  I have yet to find a marriage in Virginia or Kentucky for Charles to Asentha’s mother and so for that reason I do not know what her name was.  Asentha married Daniel Lewis and lived her entire life in Adair County, Kentucky and was still living in 1885, but I have not found her death date yet.

Asentha’s mother apparently had died before 1807, because Charles next married my 3^rd great-grandmother, Sarah ‘Sally’ Wheeler, 1786-1856, on March 17, 1807 in Adair County, Kentucky.  Sarah was the daughter of Benjamin and Hannah Wheeler who were from Buckingham County, Virginia and who came to Kentucky in about 1787, when Sarah was just a baby.  In 1810 Charles Hurt was serving as a constable in Adair County, Kentucky.

Charles and Sarah soon became the parents of possibly eleven children at least that is the way it looks from census records, however, I only know the names of nine of those children at this time.  These nine children were: Mildred Hurt, 1807-before 1880, married Joel Burgess Doss and they were my 2^nd great-grandparents; Nancy Hurt, 1809-1884, married James Doss brother of Joel Burgess Doss; Nathan Hurt, 1811-before August 1858, married Lucy A. Wright; Susan Jane Hurt, 1817-1841, married Joel Hurt who was probably a cousin; Rolinda Hurt, 1820-after 1850; Benjamin Franklin Hurt, 1823-after 1880, married Lucy W. ????; Mary Frances Hurt, 1825-????; Thomas Minor Hurt, 1827-1900, married Margaret Ann Lindsey; and Charles P. Hurt, 1830-1906, married Mary J. Lindsey.  

I wish I had pictures of these people, but thankfully the only one I do have a picture of, is of my 2^nd great-grandmother Mildred Hurt Doss.  I do have pictures of her sister, Nancy Hurt Doss and brother, Thomas Minor Hurt’s tombstones, but Mildred and Joel do not have tombstones or if they ever did they are no longer there.  Also a picture of her brother-in-law, Joel Hurt’s tombstone as well and they all follow.

Sometime after 1830 and before 1846 Charles and his family left Adair County and moved west over to Logan County, Kentucky.  Charles and Sarah’s sons, Nathan, Thomas and Charles, Jr. all moved to Illinois where all three were living after 1850 and son Benjamin moved to Tennessee, but all the girls apparently stayed in Kentucky.  I know that Charles and Sarah both died after 1840 but I have yet to find them on a census record anywhere in Kentucky.  It could be that they were just left off the census, missed or refuse to answer questions of the census taker that day, I am sure we will never know why.

Sometime after their move to Logan County, Kentucky Charles Hurt died.  I always knew it was probably before 1850, since Sarah is living with some of her children on the 1850 census and Charles is not listed.  When I start to write these stories I always do a little more digging in case there are new records out there that could tell me more about that particular ancestor, I did the same this time.  Low and behold when I checked on Charles a www.findagrave.com listing came up, along with a picture of his tombstone.  He is the only Charles Hurt I know of, that went and lived in Logan County, Kentucky in the time frame I know mine did and the birth year was spot on to what I had figured was his year of birth.  The dates on the tombstone are born September 15, 1778 and died December 25, 1846 and he is buried at the King-Hurt Cemetery in Corinth, Logan County, Kentucky.  I believe Mildred may have been buried there too, but possibly her stone did not survive the passage of time or maybe she never had one, but thankfully Charles Hurt’s stone did survive.   There are only about 8 or 9 stones with writing still standing in this cemetery and at least 15 to 20 field stones marking possibly graves.  It is a heavily wooded area though, so there could be stones that have fallen down over the years and now lay under the forest floor.

Mildred lived for a few more years after Charles’ death and different people say that she died May 9, 1856 but I can’t find any actual proof of that date and since I don’t have a tombstone for her I can’t say for certain that is the correct date, but I know she was still living in 1850 and I can’t find her in 1860, so it is a possibility. 

Thanks goes to those who wander old cemeteries and find these long forgotten monuments.  I never knew Charles Hurt’s full birth or death dates until I saw his tombstone picture on www.findagrave.com which follows.

Another ancestor from Kentucky that I am proud to say belongs to me and his family was there from a very early date.  I love my ancestors and I love Kentucky, it has been the land of most of my ancestors on my Daddy and my Momma’s sides of the family for over 220 years.  Kentucky will always be home no matter how long I have been away from it, I love Kentucky, what can I say, it is my home sweet home.  I saw the following collage done in the outline of the state of Kentucky at http://www.kygenweb.net/ and wanted to share this with all y’all, enjoy.

William Elder

Here comes my next ancestor for this week and he is my 5^th great-grandfather, William Elder, who was born about 1748 in Spartanburg County, South Carolina the son of George Elder and Elizabeth Mayes.   William’s father, George Elder, 1729-1786, was from Banff, Scotland and his mother, Elizabeth Mayes, 1731-1780, was from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  This ancestor is from my Dad’s side of the family through his father, Aubrey David Beard.

From what I have found to date, William was their oldest child of their ten known children, with nine sons and one daughter.   William’s siblings were the following: David Elder, 1750-1795, married Margaret ????; Thomas Elder, 1752-before 1790, married Charlotte Hartley; John Elder, 1754-1799, married Mary Ann Morrow; James Elder, 1756-1817, married Margaret Ann ????; Samuel Elder, 1758-1797, married Cynthia Anne MacKelvain; Robert Elder, 1760-1821, married Sarah Morrow; Suzannah Elder, 1762-1850, married George Storey; Alexander Elder, 1764-after 1798 and Andrew Elder, 1766-before 1790.

William and his family were farmers for the most part, but they would also have needed to know how to hunt, fish, and fix anything and everything, since they were never really living where things were easily obtained.  I have yet to find a marriage date for William, but he soon met and married Margaret Storey, in approximately 1771.  Margaret Storey, 1754-before 1840, was also from Spartanburg County, South Carolina and was the daughter of George Storey and Nancy Cantor, who were both from Pennsylvania.  Margaret’s brother, George Storey, Jr. married William’s only sister, Suzannah Elder in about 1779, they eventually moved on to Southern Illinois where they died.

The Revolutionary War broke out just a few years after William and Margaret were married and William soon joined up and was a Captain by the end of the war.  Family stories say that William had two brothers who died as P.O.W's of the British during the Revolutionary War, and both died of malnutrition, and that his father, George may have also fought and died during the Revolutionary War.   I know the one brother may have been Thomas Elder and I believe the other was Andrew Elder, however, I have never found any record of an Andrew Elder fighting during the war.  The following shows the known service that six of these nine brothers had during the war.

 My William Elder, served as a private from December 15, 1780 to September 8, 1781; in Carter’s Company from April 25, 1781 to June 1, 1782 as a Captain of horse from December 10, 1781 to February 10, 1782 and as a Captain on foot from July 14 to August 24, 1782 under Colonel, Benjamin Roebuck. 

 

 James Elder, served in the 1st Spartan Regiment of Militia, from Spartanburg County, under Colonel, John Thomas, as a Captain. 

 Thomas Elder, served as a horseman in the militia under his brother, Captain, James Elder and Colonel, Benjamin Roebuck from December 15, 1780 to September 8, 1781.  He was a prisoner of war and died of malnutrition while on board a prison ship in Charleston Harbor.   

 John Elder, served in the militia under his brother, Captain, William Elder and Colonel, Benjamin Roebuck during 1782, in addition, he was under a Colonel Taylor. 

 

 Samuel Elder, served in the militia under Colonel, Benjamin Roebuck after the fall of Charleston.  

 Robert Elder, served as a horseman from December 15, 1780 to September 8, 1781 and from December 10, 1781 to February 10, 1782 under his brother, Captain, William Elder and Colonel, Benjamin Roebuck and was at the Battle of Kings Mountain and Cowpens.

I found the following picture at: https://jaysteeleblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/rev-war-militia-soldier.jpg and I think this could be what my ancestor and his brothers may have looked like during the war, I doubt they would have had fancy uniforms.

This next pictures depicts a battle scene in dense forest, which is what most of the battles the Elder brothers would have participate in probably would have looked like.  I found this picture at this link: http://www.blindpigandtheacorn.com/.a/6a00e54ffe2ad38833013485320e52970c-400wi

William and Margaret had ten known children, all born in Spartanburg County, South Carolina before they moved west to Kentucky.  These ten children were the following: George Elder, 1772-1857, married Nancy Agnes Henry, 1785-1866, and they were my 4^th great-grandparents; Mary Elder, 1775-????; Hannah Elder, 1778-before 1832, married David Hill; James Elder, 1781-1837, married Margaret Hamilton; Thomas Elder, 1783-before November 1843, married Catherine Armstrong; Sarah Elder, 1784-1849, married Samuel Jackson; William E. Elder, 1786-1875, married Anna Armstrong; Samuel Chalon Elder, 1790-1868, married Frances Fairl Stephenson; Elizabeth Elder, 1792-1807, married William Stephenson, Jr.; and Margaret Elder, 1794-before October 1834, she married her first cousin Samuel Elder, son of John Elder and Mary Ann Morrow.

After the war, seven of the children of George and Margaret Elder, including my William, came to Kentucky through the Cumberland Gap in about 1795, and William’s brother, David Elder, died on the way, and was buried on the side of the road, somewhere near the Gap, according to family stories.  One son, Samuel Elder, stayed in Spartanburg County, South Carolina where he died.  Some of this information came from old family records and the bible of John C. Elder, which was in the possession of Valanie Elder Clayton of Salem, Livingston County, Kentucky in 1978 when my Daddy, Frank Beard first saw it.   Can you imagine taking ten children, the youngest just a babe in arms and traveling for about 600 miles to an unknown area, worrying about Indians, highway men and the like?   William’s siblings and their families would have had children with them as well, I don’t know the exact count that went with them, but they would have had a fairly large company, which would have helped in safety at least.  

The following is a picture of the Cumberland Gap that I found online and used in another story I wrote earlier this year.  I have been in this area before and it is beautiful and still pretty rugged to this day.  What they went through and made it through in 1795, is probably unimaginable to us as we drive through that area today.

The families traveled on from the Gap to western Kentucky and Christian County and to the area which in 1798, became Livingston County and this area where they settled would in 1842 become Crittenden County, Kentucky the county I was born in 163 years later.  220 years since they arrived in Western Kentucky and there are still members of the Elder family living in Crittenden County, Kentucky to this day.  I was just home in August of this year and drove down the uncrowded back roads of Western Kentucky.  Here are a just couple of pictures that I took while I was there in Western Kentucky this year.  The first two are in Crittenden County and the other one is looking over at Cave-in-Rock, Illinois from the Crittenden County side of the Ohio River.

William Elder didn’t live long after coming to Kentucky, sometime around 1808 he died, but how or from what I do not know.   His wife, Margaret, continued on for a number of years and she died sometime after 1830, but before 1840, but again I do not know when for certain.  I also do not know where they are buried, but their son George, my direct line ancestor and his wife, Nancy, and some of the family are buried in the Old Marion Cemetery in Marion, Crittenden County, Kentucky.  Maybe that is where William and Margaret are too, I know there are a number of unmarked graves there.

The Elder family left a lasting legacy in Western Kentucky, William’s descendants and his brother’s descendants have been doctors, lawyers, preachers, singing evangelists, teachers, miners and farmers. They fought and died for our FREEDOMS, so that we could enjoy the life we have today.  Without their sacrifices none of us would be here, they were just your everyday walk of life people, but they are my people and I am proud to be one of their many descendants.