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Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Cumberland City Was A Company Town


Cumberland City was the company town of the Poplar Mountain Coal Company. It was founded by northern businessmen who came to develop timber and coal resources in Poplar Mountain, much of which was owned by the Bruce Sloan heirs. The company acquired land, opened a mine and began cutting local timber there in the early 1860's. John H. Clark was the coal company's superintendent.

Cumberland City's population at its peak in 1870, including miners, was 225, larger than Albany at the time. The town was located near the coal mines at Short Maintain, a spur of Poplar Mountain owned by the Cyrus Guthrie heirs, with a school, tavern, saddlery, boot and shoe shop. There was even a large commisary. A company store was opened. Thomas Stephenson had a grocery and tanning yard. L.G. Campbell, was the postmaster and operated a store. He was later the pastor at Cumberland City United Methodist Church. Perry Smith and Osco Anderson also operated stores. The Albany Gazette reported in 1876 that L.B. McNabb and T.V. Stevenson had general stores, R.L. Carty was an oil dealer and W.F. Cartwright was the doctor. By 1895, the newspaper reported that H.H. Snow was postmaster and general storekeeper, and W.F. Buffet had a saw and flour mill.

According to an 1871 U.S. Government Report, the vein of coal at Cumberland City was 3.5 feet thick and about 900 feet above low water of the Cumberland River, 1,357 feet above tide. About 100 acres of good coal was found at the top of Short Mountain, where a bed of superior quality coal was reached, 3 feet 8 inches thick covering 2,000 acres.

Between 1879 and 1880, a coal railroad that extended from Cumberland City, nine miles to the mouth of Indian Creek, was built by Col. William Hoskins of Danville and Poplar Mountain Coal Company changed its name to Poplar Mountain Railway and Mining Company. The track was a substantial ballasted track laid with T-rail and having a grade of 240 to 260 feet for four miles. The train employed a 23-ton engine that could draw 1,200,000 bushels of coal per annum from the mines to the river. The route where the railroad passed to the site of the mine was known as "Railroad Hollow." It was on the left side, west of the dock to Seventy Six Falls.

The train carried the coal to Rowena Landing where it was loaded onto barges and towed by steamboat down river to Nashville. The method of shipping likely caused waste but the coal was hard and the loss was small. Still, the difficulties of navigation limited the quantity taken to market. The round trip to Nashville and back to Indian Creek took six days, when not delayed by fog. A rise of ten feet at the coal landing was necessary for a "tow," drawing six feet of water and carrying 35,000 to 42,000 bushels to pass down river safely. The dangers consisted in narrow and crooked channels and rocky obstructions. Two barges were lost in four years. The timber was transported to the river either by wagon or rail and loaded onto large rafts and sent down the river to Nashville.

For many decades, the mines near Rowena largely contributed to the river trade, but better roads, modern transportation and improved resources, along with less coal and timber, changed everything. By 1895 the population of Cumberland City was down to 115 and in the early 1900's, the Poplar Mountain Railway & Mining Company started selling its land. Another mining operation, Sloan Coal Company, continued mining in Short Mountain into the 1940s. Tourist cabins were built at the junction of Kentucky highways 829 and 558 and the community that developed there became known as "Cabin City."

Over the years, people have told about seeing parts of the railroad track as well as a furnace that was used in the mines. The railroad station house became the home of Wilma Guthrie. The church remains.

A Public Speaking Interrupted

Aug. 29, 1935, (AP) Albany, Ky. -- "The jerking of a microphone from in front of Circuit Judge Swope, Republican nominee for Governor of Kentucky, threw a large homecoming crowd into an uproar here and resulted in the arrest of Mose Hurt Littrell, 43, on a charge of interrupting a public speaking."

The 100th birthday anniversary of Clinton County in 1935 was a really big deal. The Disabled American Veterans of the World War, chapter 10, under the command of Littrell, organized the event, which lasted four days, August 26th through the 29th, complete with a Homecoming and Centennial Jubilee, an epic event with a who's who list of speakers. Senators Alben W. Barkley and Marvel Mills Logan of Kentucky and Huey Long of Louisiana, Congressmen John Robsion of Kentucky and Ridley Mitchell of Tennessee tentatively accepted invitations to attend, provided Congress had adjourned by celebration time. Louisville Times editor Tom Wallace also accepted an invitation to speak on the opening day. The final day of the celebration was designated as Governor's Day and Good Roads Day. Governor Ruby Laffoon and Ed Gatliff, state road commissioner, and several other members of the commission were expected to attend.

Other speakers who accepted invitations to attend were Ben Johnson of Bardstown, Dr. Baird, state commander of the D.A.V. and state adjutant of the American Legion. N.E. Whiting, head of the Veteran's Bureau in Louisville and past commander of the D.A.V., Sargeant Alvin C. York, WWII hero of Pall Mall, Kentucky State Treasurer Elam Huddleston, a former resident of Clinton County, and Judge Roscoe Tarter of Somerset.


1935 was an election year in Kentucky and on the ballot was the Kentucky governor's seat. The DAV's arrangement committee, who organized the centennial celebration, decided to invite the three leading candidates for the office. They were Lieutenant Governor A.B. "Happy" Chandler, Thomas Rhea and Judge King Swope.

Commander Littrell, who was chairman of the arrangement committee, would later write that he had advised all of the speakers not to mention anything political during their speeches. He cited Article 12 of the national Disabled American Veterans of the Work War, which provides that the corporation shall be non-political, non-sectional and as an organization shall not promote the candidacy of any person seeking public office.

Judge Swope, a former congressman and current judge in Fayette County, spoke to a crowded  courtroom inside the courthouse on Aug. 28th. Speakers were set up outside the courthouse so hundreds of others could listen. Littrell was in town but was not present when Swope began his speech. He later said the speech was 'purely political and in furtherance of his own candidacy.' A majority of the arrangement committee was present for the speech and decided Swope's was out of order. They wrote those words in a note and handed it to J.G. Smith, chairman of the Clinton County Republican party, who in turn handed it to Judge Swope, who immediately began what Mose Littrell later described as a "vitrolic assault on the senders of the note," referring to them as cowards and asserted that he would speak on any subject he might choose.


Littrell said he was outside but within range of the P.A. system and heard Judge Swope's "attack' on the committee members. In a letter to the Louisville Courier-Journal on September 3, 1935, he said he felt that it was up to him to advise the audience that the type of speech being given by Judge Swope was against the provisions of the DAV organization and to advise them that if Judge Swope continues with that type of speech, the DAV desired to disavow all connections with it and to withdraw as its sponsor. Littrell said he went into the courtroom, walked up to the microphone and took ahold of it, but before he could make his announcement, he was seized by a number of people who were sitting nearby. He was taken downstairs to the sheriff's office while Swope continued with his speech. The Republican party chairman took out a warrant for Littrell's arrest and he was taken to the Clinton County Jail, but then released on a $300 bond.

The Tennessean newspaper told a slightly different story. "Officers said Littrell seized the microphone and ran with it...members of the crowd "dragged" him to the sheriff's office downstairs.

Littrell told the Louisville Courier-Journal that he was a Republican who had the highest respect for Judge Swope, but felt that it was his duty as a member of the DAV to abide by the Article 12 of the organization's constitution. Swope said he accepted the invitation to speak with the understanding that he could make a political speech.

Littrell was charged and indicted. An Oct. 4th trial date was continued until Nov. 15th because it was believed Littrell would receive a fairer trial "after" the election. On the 15th, Littrell pleaded guilty to a charge of  Disturbing a Public Speaker and was fined $300 to be paid within three months.

King Swope lost the election to Happy Chandler in one of the most lopsided gubernatorial races in Kentucky history at that time. In the 1939 primary, he lost the Republican nomination for governor  to John Sherman Cooper.
Mose Hurt Littrell was born on Nov. 24, 1892 to Thomas Mark and Nannie Hurt Littrell. He died on Mar. 16, 1938. He was married to Mary McMillan. They had a daughter, Mary, the wife of Gayron Cross.



Saturday, May 27, 2017

A Great Light In The World


Felix Adler once said, "The hero is one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by."

There are other holiday's that honor all soldiers, but Memorial Day is special because of what it represents.

"Oh, tell me not that they are dead, that generous host, that airy army of invisible heroes. They hover as a cloud of witnesses above this nation. Are they dead that yet speak louder than we can speak, and a more universal language? Are they dead that yet act? Are they dead that yet move upon society, and inspire the people with nobler motives, and more heroic patriotism? Ye that mourn, let gladness mingle with your tears. It was your son, but now he is the nation's. He made your household bright: now his example inspires a thousand households. Dear to his brothers and sisters, he is now brother to every generous youth in the land. Before, he was narrowed, appropriated, shut up to you. Now he is augmented, set free, and given to all. Before, he was yours: he is ours. He has died from the family, that he might live to the nation. Not one name shall be forgotten: or neglected : and it shall by and by be confessed of our modern heroes, it is of an ancient hero, that he did more for his country by his death than by his whole life." (Henry Ward Beecher)

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

Thursday, May 18, 2017

A Kentucky Family On Both Sides


Just before he died on Feb. 5, 1941, my great, great-grandfather, George Boles, looked at my grandmother, Vada Frost Boles, and said, "I killed your uncle." What was he talking about? Who did he kill?

Because of Abraham Lincoln's stance against slavery, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas seceded from the Union between December 1860 and February 1861. After South Carolina’s April 1861 attack on Fort Sumter and President Lincoln’s Call to Arms to put down the rebellion, four more states - Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia - also seceded. The Civil War was on.


But, while Tennessee voted for succession, most of the counties in the Upper Cumberland area voted against it. The Fentress County vote was 128 for and 651 against, however, the vote in neighboring Overton County, which included the area that is now Pickett County, was 1,471 for and 364 against. While a succession vote never took place in Kentucky, 100,000 Kentuckians served in the Union Army and between 25,000 and 40,000 answered the call for the Confederacy.

Many communities and families were torn on the slavery issue. My grandmother Vada's Frost family is one example. It was literally brother against brother in her great-uncle Fletcher's family. Fletcher was the older brother of Vada's grandfather, Cord Frost. Fletcher and Cord married the Owens sisters, Cyrena and Almira.

RIDING WITH CHAMP FERGUSON


Three of Fletcher and Cyrena's sons fought in the war. Alexander served in the Union army, but two of his brothers joined the Confederacy.

The 11th KY Cavalry of Kentucky Volunteers, B.W. Duke's Brigade, was organized on Aug. 10, 1862 and mustered into Confederate service on Sept. 10th for three years. Fountain Frost was a member of this Company K from its beginning. He was elected 1st Lieutenant on Sept. 1, 1862 and commissioned 2nd Lieutenant on March 10, 1863. He also rode with notorious guerilla Champ Ferguson. At Ferguson's trial after the war, he was specifically mentioned as being with him in March and October of 1862. Alvin Piles testified he saw Ferguson in the fall of 1862 driving out cattle, horses and mules on the South Fork in Wayne County. Over twenty men were with him, including Fount Frost.

Two days before he was hung on Oct. 20, 1865, part of Champ Ferguson's confession to a Nashville Dispatch reporter included this..."I killed Joseph Stover after he had shot at me twice. He was taking a third aim when I shot him in the mouth, and Fount Frost shot him in the side at the same time." This happened in April of 1862.


GILREATH'S MILL, FENTRESS COUNTY

In September of 1863, a skirmish between Ferguson's company and Tinker Dave Beaty's Independent Scouts took place at Gilreath's Mill off present day Highway 325 in Fentress County. Fountain Frost was killed by Beaty's men. He was buried in an unmarked grave in what is now called Red Hill Methodist Cemetary next to mill.

GEORGE BOLES' CONFESSION

Did George Boles kill Fount Frost? It's not conclusive, but Fount is probably who George was talking about when on his death bed he told Vada Boles that he had killed one of her relatives. The actual account says Fount was killed by Beaty's men. George Boles was a member of Tinker Dave Beaty's Independent Scouts. His mother, Matilda, was Tinker Dave's sister. Fount Frost wasn't my grandmother's uncle, as he stated on his death bed. He was her second cousin, the son of her great uncle. Still, it makes sense that George was talking about Fount Frost.

GUERILLA WARFARE


Guerilla activities were hard on the citizens of Fentress and Clinton counties. My ancestors rode with both Champ Ferguson and Tinker Dave Beaty. Tinker Dave became Champ's greatest enemy during the Civil War. Beaty was as ruthless and vicious in his defense of the Union as Ferguson was of the Confederacy. The Nashville Dispatch noted that Beaty ‘fought Champ Ferguson from the beginning to the end of his career. "They have shot at each other innumerable times, and each has received ugly wounds. They were deadly enemies, and hunted each other down with savage ferocity," wrote the newspaper. Beaty testified against Ferguson at his trial, which began on July 11, 1865. After Beaty's testimony, a reporter asked Ferguson what he thought of Beaty. ‘Well, there are meaner men than Tinker Dave,’ Ferguson responded. ‘He fought me bravely and gave me some heavy licks, but I always gave him as good as he sent. I have nothing against Tinker Dave. We both tried to get each other during the War, but we always proved too cunning for each other.’ He noted that he was a skilled shooter who always hit his mark, except when the mark was Beaty.'


MORGAN'S RAID

Fount Frost's brother, Samuel, was with Co. H 7th KY Cavalry during the Civil War and saw his life come to a tragic end following his capture during Morgan's Raid, a highly publicized incursion that purposely coincided with the Vicksburg and Gettysburg campains, meant to draw tens of thousands of U.S. troops away from those events.


The raid headed north from Sparta, TN on June 11, 1863. Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan and 2,460 handpicked Rebels routed local militia at the Battle of Corydon in Indiana and headed east across southern Ohio. It was there that Union Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside ordered out all available troops and a battle at Buffington Island in Meigs County, Ohio on July 19, 1863 ended in the capture of over half of the 1,700-man Confederate force. General Morgan and some 700 men escaped, only to surrender a week later, on July 26th, at the Battle of Salineville at New Lisbon.

CAMP DOUGLAS PRISON CAMP


Samuel Frost was sent to Camp Douglas Prison in Chicago. He died there eight months later on March 26, 1864. The official cause of death was listed as 'general debility,' a broad term referring to a loss of strength in the body, which in his case was no doubt highly degenerative considering the conditions at the camp. The official death toll at Camp Douglas was 4,454, but it has been estimated that more than 6,000 Confederate prisoners died there during the Civil War, not from battle wounds, but from diseases like smallpox, dysentery and pneumonia, plus starvation and torture. 4,275 known Confederates, including Samuel Frost, are buried in the Confederate Mound at Oak Woods Cemetery in Chicago, one of the largest mass graves in North America. There could be as many as 1,500 more who were reported as unaccounted for.


Fount and Samuel's brother, Alexander, who served in the Union Army, didn't die in the Civil War. He married Lizzie Rains on Sept. 23, 1888 in Carroll County, Arkansas. Alexander died around 1899. Their uncle, Cord Frost, my great, great-grandfather, was a Private in Co. H, 13th Kentucky Calvary from Dec. 1, 1863 to June 10, 1865. He named my great-grandfather, Ulysses Simpson Frost. His nickname was "Grant."

Vada Frost Boles, her husband, Elmer Boles, George Boles' grandson, and my mother.


Wednesday, May 17, 2017

The Alexander Zatzepa Story: Open Thou Mine Eyes

"Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." (Psalm 119:18)

One evening in 1944, as Russian soldier Alexander Zatzepa lay in his foxhole awaiting the call to battle, he came to know the Lord. Knowing he might not return to his safe haven, he wrote the following words...
"Hear me, Oh God. Never in my whole lifetime have I spoken to you but just now I feel like sending you my greetings. You know from my childhood on they always told me that you are not. I, like a fool, believed them. I've never contemplated your creation and yet tonight gazing up out of my shell hole, I marvel at the shimmering stars above me and suddenly know the cruelty of the lie.

Will you, my God, reach your hand out to me? I wonder. But I will tell you and you will understand. Is it not strange that the light should come upon me and I see you amid this night of hell and there is nothing else that I have to say. This though, I am glad that I have learned to know you. At midnight we are scheduled to attack. But you are looking on and I am not afraid.

The signal... well, I guess I must be going. I have been happy with you. This more I would like to say. As you well know, the fighting will be cruel and, even tonight, I may come knocking at your door. Although I have not been a friend to you before, still will you let me enter even now and I do come?

Why am I crying, oh my God, my Lord? You see what happens to me?

Tonight my eyes were opened.

Farewell, my God. I'm going and I am not likely to come back. Strange is it not, but death I fear no longer."
Zatzepa died in the battle, but his words serve as an inspiration to all who read them. Alexander sought out and found the very same God I seek daily when I pray. He only met God for the first time in his foxhole, but now he is in Heaven, where he lives for eternity...knowing him.

I've seen a thousand wonders
By sea and mountain, been amazed
I've marveled at a sunset
By storm and thunder, I've been dazed

I've seen men at their finest
And by their greatness, been enthralled
I've seen them at their badest
By their degradatioin, been appalled

Through microscope and telescope
I've seen the great and small
But it is through the Holy Spirit
I've seen the greatest things of all

He showed me in the Bible
How Jesus bled and died
And how the debt of sin was paid
When He was crucified

Now, when the world oppresses
Above it, Let me rise
And to the greatness of thy power, Lord
Open thou mine eyes


Tuesday, May 16, 2017

There Will Come Soft Rains


There will come soft rains
And the smell of the ground
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound

And frogs in the pools, singing at night
And wild plum trees in tremulous white

Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire

And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done

Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly

And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn
Would scarcely know that we were gone

By Sara Teasdale, from her collection, "Flame and Shadow," published in 1920

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

My Frost Genealogy

James Frost was born about 1783 at Ann Arundel,  Maryland, probably to James Frost  and Sarah Simpson.  James Frost married Annis "Polly" Hall. He died about 1845 at Frost Hollow, Wayne County, Kentucky.

Annis "Polly" Hall was born about 1789 in North Carolina to John Hall (1758-1835) and Mary Donaldson (born about 1763). Annis shows up on the 1850 Federal Census as living in Wayne County, Kentucky with her son and daughter-in-law, Cordon and Almira (Owens) Frost and their baby son, Joseph. Annis Hall Frost apparently died abt 1851 at Wayne County, Kentucky. James and Annis likely had at least the following children:

1. John Green Frost, born about 1806 at Person, NC, died June 1829 at Wayne Co., KY; on July 1, 1826 married Jane Dabney (1805-1870) and had at least the  following children: 
a. Francis M. Frost, born April 18, 1827 KY; died Jan. 15, 1916 OR; married Martha Jane Horner (1832-1905)
b. John McDonald Frost born May 30, 1829 KY; died March 25, 1880 KS. He married Mary Elizabeth "Polly" Gilstrap (1829-1900) on Sept. 15, 1850.
c. Margaret Jane Frost, born about 1830. She married Hardin T. Jones on June 23, 1848. She married John Davidson on Oct. 30, 1864.

2. Mary Evaline "Polly" Frost, born about 1808 at Wayne Co., KY, died Nov. 5, 1853 at Gap Creek, Wayne Co., KY. She married William Francis Perdue (1812-1886) on Nov. 29, 1932. They had six children: 
a. James Francis Marion Purdue, born Dec. 11, 1833; died. July 2, 1897.
b. Francis Miller Perdue, born about 1834.
c. William Addison Perdue, born Nov. 18, 1835.
d.  Doctor Franklin Harris Perdue, born about 1838; died June 17, 1864.
e.  Margaret Perdue, born about 1839.
f.  George Washington Perdue, born Aug. 24, 1844; died Dec. 15, 1924.
g.  Mary Ann Perdue, born Oct. 2, 1844.
h.  Angeletta Jane Perdue , born Apr. 25, 1850; died June 2, 1936.
i.  Franklin Frost Perdue, born about 1851.

3. Martha Ann Frost, born about 1809 at Wayne Co., KY; died 1850 at Wayne County, KY. She may have married Martin Kennedy (1821-1864) and had the following child:
a. ?Emeline Kennedy, born about 1843.

4. Joseph Addison Frost, born between 1810 and 1815 at Wayne Co., KY, likely died after 1847.

5. Fletcher Donaldson Frost, born Jul 1813 at Wayne Co., KY, died Aug. 20, 1902 at Gap Creek, Wayne Co., KY. He married Serena Ann Owens (1822-1885. They had at least the following children:
a.  Shelby Coffey Frost, born Jan. 1840 KY; died May 12, 1911 in Lincoln Co, Idaho; married Maria J Wilson.
b.  Fountain T. Fox "Fount" Frost, born 1842. He was a Confederate officer who was killed in action in Sept. 1863. 
c.  Samuel Washington Frost, born about 1844. He was a Confederate solder who, according to David Streets'research, was taken prisoner and died at prisoner of war camp in Chicago" on March 26, 1864.
d.  Sarah M. Texas Frost, born Sept. 2, 1845; died Dec. 30, 1923 at Lynchburg, Ohio. She married Oscar Rowe (1841-1892) on Feb. 8, 1865.
e.  Alexander Campbell Frost, born in 1847; died about 1899. He served in the Union army. He married Lizzie Rains (b. 1869) on Sept. 23, 1888 at Carroll County, Arkansas.
f.  Virginia C. "Jennie" Frost, born Nov. 19, 1850; died Nov. 28, 1912 in Florida; She married Oliver Rowe (1839-1910) on Jan. 20, 1869 at Wayne Co., Ky.. 
g.  Tennessee Almira Frost, born May 10, 1852; died in the 1890's; She married Wesley M. Duncan (1848-1925) on Jan. 20, 1870 at Wayne Co., Ky. They divorced in 1876.

6. ? Henry Frost, born about 1815 at Wayne Co., KY, died about 1845.

7. Nancy Frost, born about 1819 at Wayne Co., KY; died Dec. 17, 1859 at Clinton Co., KY; She married James Kelsay (1816-1898) on Aug. 28,1843; children:
a. ?Nancy Kelsay (born about 1843)
b. ?George A. Kelsay (born about 1846)
c. ?John Kelsay (born about 1848)
d. ? Angeletta "Lettie" Kelsay (1850-1902)

8. James Wesley Frost, born about 1821 at Otter Creek, Wayne Co., KY, died at Powersburg, Wayne County, KY on Oct. 20, 1891.  He seems to have married three times:

about 1840, he married Ellen Kelsey (1822-1847)
a. Rainey Frost, born about 1842
b. Johab Frost, born about 1844
c. Benjamin Frost (1846-1852)

He married Martha Ann Denney (1830?-1880?) about 1849 at Wayne Co., KY, possibly the daughter of Henry and Mary Polly Brown Denney. They had at least the following children: 
d.  Henry Denney Frost (1851-1912)
e.  Rebecca Ann Frost (1852-1887)
f.  William Shelby Coffey Frost (1853-1935)
He married Myra Jane Alcorn (1861-1936) about 1878.
g.  Mary Caroline Frost (1856-1901. She married William F. Shearer)
h.  Millard Filmore Frost (1857-1944)
i.  Ephraim L. Van Winkle Frost (1858-1937)
j.  Simeon Cravens Frost (1858-1948)
k.  John Benjamin Frost , born about 1862)
l.  Abigail Frost, born about 1864
m.  Sarah Melissa Terle Frost (1866-1904)
n.  Fountain Fox Frost (1868-1954)

He appears to have married Elizabeth "Betty" Tuggle  (1850-1926) after Martha Ann's death and had a number of children with her.  Betty was the dauaghter of Henry Tuggle (1817-1870) and Julia Ann Hurt (1821-1870)
n.  Joseph Abner Frost (1874-1955)
o.  Bird Frost (b. abt 1875)
p.  George W. Frost (1878-1878)
q.  Matilda Jane Frost (1879-1940)
r.  Snow Frost (1879-1891)
s.  Corbin Dale Frost (1880-1965)
t.  Jennifer Ann Tempy Frost (1882-1913)
u.  Jesse Thomas Frost (1885-1952)
v.  Lucy Ann Frost (1886-1970)
w.  Kessie M. Frost, born about 1889)

9. Stuart Corydon "Cord" Frost, my great, great-grandfather, born May 30, 1823 at Wayne Co., KY, died Feb. 19, 1894. Married Almira Janette Owens, born June 1, 1827, died Feb. 21, 1918. Cord Frost was born at Mullintown, Wayne County. Cord and Almira are buried in the Gap Creek Cemetery. During the Civil War, he was a Private in Co. H, 13th Kentucky Calvary, serving from Dec. 1, 1863 to June 10, 1865. Almira was the daughter of Joseph Owens (1787-1875) and Sarah Coffey (1787-1861). Cordon and Almira had 10 children:
1. Joseph Abner  Frost, born Dec. 1, 1849, died May 9, 1887. Married Burnetta Ellen Ramsey.
2. Serena Fletcher "Sis" Frost, born Nov. 24, 1852; died about 1910. She married Joseph Bertram (1847-1919), son of Avail Bertram and Rowena Hurt, in June of 1878. They had at least the following children: 
1. Lucien Lamar Bertram, born May 1879, may have died Feb. 3, 1946 at Marin Co., CA
2.  Cora Lee Bertram, born Feb. 4, 1881; died Oct. 19, 1957. Married Bert Olen Shearer (1880-1937) in 1909. They had the following children:
a. Bernice Abigail Shearer (1916-1979)
b. Josephine Bertram,/i>, born Feb 1882
c.  Margaret "Maggie" Johnson Bertram, born Aug. 8, 1884; died June 10, 1929 in KY. Married Simco Dockery, born about 1882); children: Josephine Dockery (born about 1917); Mary Dockery (born about 1919)
d.  Millie J. Bertram, born April 1886
e.  Gordon Bertram, Jan. 1888
f.  Bennett Bertram, born June 4, 1890; died Apr. 9, 1952; married Jewell Williams (1886-1988)
g.  John Charles Bertram, born Sept. 28, 1895; died Aug. 11, 1930 at Houston, TX
3. Sarah Margaret Melissa "Maggie" Frost, born Jan. 10, 1855; died Apr. 9, 1899.  She may have married a Sharp.
4. James Wolford Frost, born July 30, 1857 in Wayne County, died July 1, 1895 in Oklahoma. He married Hannah V. Bannister (born about 1868) on Nov. 15, 1885
5. John G. Frost, born Aug. 1860; died Feb 1925 in Indianapolis, IN. He was living with his elderly mother, Almira J. Frost, in Wayne County, KY on the 1910 U.S. Federal Census.  He never married.  He was killed by a train in Indianapolis, IN, where he had been working.
6. Charles B. Wolford  Frost, born Oct. 25, 1862 in Wayne Co., KY; died Apr. 23, 1906 in Oklahoma.
7. Mary "Mollie" Sherman Frost, born May 30, 1865 at Gap Creek, Wayne Co., KY. She died April 1943 at Clinton Co., KY. She married Ballinger W. Wright, Jr.  (born 1860, died 1948). They had the following children: 
a. Alonzo Wright, born Oct. 6, 1881; died March 26, 1912. Married Kathryn Wright (born about 1885); children: Lola Wright (born about 1905), Harold Wright  (born about 1913), Robert Wright (born about 1918).
b. Roberta "Bertie" Wright, born Apr. 20, 1885 KY; died Apr. 21, 1964 IL
c. Cyrus Wright, born Sept. 22, 1886 KY; died Sept. 13, 1966 KY. Married Dora A. Wray (1893-1979); children:  Farris J. Wright (1913-2000); Marion Alonzo Wright (1915-1985); Reba Wright (born about 1918); Artema Wright (born about 1921); Wendell W. Wright (1922-2001); Hayward Wright (born about 1925); Paul Wright (born about 1927); Francis D. Wright (born about 1929)
d.  Maggie A. Wright, born July 19, 1896  KY; died Apr. 5, 1980?. She married John F. Rabon (1884-1958) on Sept. 27, 1914 in Pickett County TN. They had at least one child, Ruby Zena Rabon (1915-1999)
e.  Thelma M. Wright, born Sept 15, 1901 KY; died Oct 1983 OK.
f.  Joseph Cordon Wright, born Jan. 31, 1903 KY; died Nov. 13, 1964 MI. Married Lula Staton (1912-2000); chldren: Joe Staton Wright (1929-1950); Mollie Royce Wright (born and died 26 Jun 1930); Royce S. Wright (1932-2003); Duane Wright (1946-1962).
g.  Susie A. Wright, born March 17, 1903 KY; died July 1982 IL; 1st married Frank O. Bantz (1885-1950); 2nd married Austin Shuee (1896-1956)
h.  Hettie Fletcher Wright; born Feb. 28, 1906 KY; died Feb 19, 1920 KY
8. Ulysses Simspon "Grant" Frost my great-grandfather, born July 21, 1867 at Wayne Co., KY, died Feb. 7, 1955 at Clinton, KY. He married Juliann "Hettie" Huffaker (1870-1957) on Nov. 23, 1890. Hettie was the daughter of Henry Clay Huffaker and Margaret Ann Shearer. They had at least the following children:
a. Zula Pearl Frost, born Sept. 21, 1891 IL; died May 2, 1984 CA; She married John M. Perdue (1886-1971) on Sept. 24, 1911; their children: Ednie Perdue (born about 1913); Hettie Grace Perdue (born about 1915)  Georgia Perdue (born about 1917); Marion Thomas Perdue (born about 1919); William Perdue (born about 1922); Dorothy Perdue (born about 1925); Charles Perdue (born about 1929)
b. Mollie A. Frost, born Feb. 13, 1893 IL; died Dec. 31, 1982 KY. She married Osco Martin Hicks (1885-1977) on Jan. 21, 1910; children: Gladys Hicks (born about 1915); Donald O. Hicks (1918-1975)
c.  Charles Wolford Frost, born Jan. 17, 1895 KY died March 12, 1985 GA; 1st married Edna Belle Jones (1900-1962) and they had a daughter (poss still living); 2nd married Flora Doris Stephens (1908-1991).
d.  Columbus Newell Frost, born Apr. 25, 1898 at Wayne Co., KY; died March 5, 1988 in Indiana. Married Lula D. Alexander (1907-1987).
e.  Edna May Frost, born about 1901, died about 1980. She married Harry Peter Baumer (1890-1982) on March 17, 1930.
f.  Albert Clay Frost, born Apr. 12, 1903 KY; died Aug. 15, 1967 IN. He married Ella Oaten (1920-1967) on Oct. 1, 1943.
g.  Marvin C. Frost, born March 17, 1905 KY; died Nov. 19, 1990 KY. He married Cora E Hicks (1913-1996). They had one child, Dennis M. Frost (1934-2002)
h.  George Washington Frost born Feb. 22, 1907; died Dec. 5, 1984
i.  Roy Lee Frost , born July 15, 1910 KY; died about 1980 at New Castle, IN. He married Aderine "Rene" Bertram (1914-2003) in Jan. 1933.
j.  Elsie Almyra Frost, born Aug. 4, 1914 KY; died Sept. 6,2005 IN. She married Walter Dennis Bertram (1911-2010) on Nov. 30, 1933.
k.  Vada Fay Frost, born June 5, 1916 KY; died Dec. 26, 2003 KY. She married Elmer Bates Boles (1918-2002).
a. William Edgar "Ed" Frost, born Jul 1899; died Dec. 4, 1955.
b Hettie Josephine Frost, born Feb. 4, 1906; died 1964; married a Grayer.
c. John Jones Frost, born Aug. 22, 1911; died 1984.
10. Thomas Frost, born about 1827 at Wayne Co, KY. The Kentucky Marriage Records list a Thomas Frost (born about 1828 at Wayne County, KY) as marrying a Martha Colyer (born about 1836).
a.  Franklin Frost, born about 1854.
b.  Angeletta Frost, born about 1856.
11. Angeletta Jane Frost, born about 1829 at Wayne Co, KY. Married Nathaniel Kelsay (1826-1899); died in Ray, Missouri about 1854. They had the following children:
a.  John Kelsay, born about 1849 in Missouri
b.  William Kelsay, born about 1851.
12. Clinton Jasper Frost, born about 1830 at Wayne Co, KY;  d. 11 Nov 1856 at Wayne County, KY. He married Nancy Agnes Young (b. abt 1831) on March 4, 1849. Nancy may have been the daughter of Israel Young (1797-1847) and Esther Anderson (1803-1848). They had the following children:
a.  James Alvin Frost, born April 1850 KY; died 1931 Burnside KY.
b.  Francis Marion Frost, born about 1852; died about 1894.
c.  John Dee Frost, born April 1853 KY; died April 17, 1898 KY.
d.  Mary Jane Frost, born Oct 25, 1854 KY.
e.  Fletcher D. Frost, born about 1856 KY; died Jan. 17, 1937 WA.
10. Joseph Abner Frost was born Dec. 1, 1849 to Corydon Frost and Almira Jenette Owens. He married Burnetta "Ellen" Ramsey, born April 28, 1857, died Jan. 21, 1938, daughter of Richard Ramsey and Sarah "Sally" Rector, on Dec. 31, 1874 at Wayne County, KY. Joseph Frost may have been the first person buried at Gap Creek Cemetery. He died on May 9, 1887. Joseph and Ellen had 5 children:

1.  Isaac Newell Frost, born Nov. 21, 1875. He died Aprip 18, 1896, after being bitten by a rabid dog.
2.  William Thompson Frost, born and died Feb. 4, 1878.
3.  Virginia Emmeline "Emma" Frost, born May 13, 1882, died Sept. 1, 1963. Married Christopher Wayne Rector Feb. 22, 1901 in Wayne County, KY.
4.  Maggie "Nora" Frost, born Jan. 31, 1885; died Aug. 6, 1970. Married John Absolom Ramsey (1876-1963), son of George W. Ramsey, on Nov. 27, 1900 at Byrdstown, Pickett County, TN. They had 11 children: 
a.  Myra Ellen Ramsey, born Sept. 26, 1902; died Dec. 12, 1997. Married Harrison Matthews (1891-1966).
b.  Sarah Mollie Ramsey, died Feb. 6, 1998 IL?; Married Donald B. Garner (1905-1974) in 1927; They had at least three sons, Donal B. Garner (1929-2002); Claud R. Garner (1930-1970); Jimmy G. Garner (1938-1973).
c.  Bonnie Maebelle Ramsey, born Feb. 10, 1908, died April 9, 1989. Married Fred Jenkins Lykins (1904-1978)
d.  Newell Shy Ramsey, born Feb. 1, 1910; died Feb. 23, 1974; Married America Elizabeth Upchurch (1910-1996).
e.  Grace V. Ramsey, born Apr. 11, 1912 KY; died Juky 14,1991 TN. Married Jeff Franklin Russell (1915-1982). They had at least two children: Gary Riley Russell (1939-1955); Jeff Grant Russell (1944-2013).
f.  James C. "Jim" Ramsey, born April 20, 1914, died Nov. 28, 1937.
g.  Joseph Absalom Ramsey, b. 1916, d. 1916.
h.  John Riley Ramsey, born Aug. 8, 1917; died July 1935.
i.  Sibyl Julia Ramsey, born June 1, 1920; died Dec. 11, 1999.
j.  Reba H. Ramsey, born April 26, 1922; died Oct. 25, 2014. Married Clarence H. Bates (1920-2003)
k.  Raymond Ramsey, born April 7, 1924, died Oct. 6, 1943 (in WWII)
5.  Charlie A. Frost, born Jan. 26, 1887; died Jan. 20, 1888; buried at Gap Creek Cemetery.
After Joseph died. Ellen married Lewis Shearer.

Compiled by Colette Rector Walls

Monday, May 1, 2017

Philburd Wright Left a Proud Legacy

My 5th great-grandfather, Philburd Wright, was born in Maryland in 1750, the son of Richard and Nancy Wright. Philburd became an Associator for Fredrick Co, Maryland on Dec. 27, 1775 (a member of the Maryland Militia), and was one of 9,000 men who took the Oath of Allegiance and Fidelity to Maryland in 1778 during the American Revolution. The Oath of Fidelity, instituted by Laws of Maryland 1777, stated that every free male 18 years and older was required to subscribe to an oath renouncing the King of England and to pledge allegiance to the revolutionary government of Maryland.

According to "Indiana Magazine of History," by Emsley Wright Johnson, among the early settlers of the Territory of Indiana was a large family of Wrights, who emigrated from Randolph County, North Carolina, and settled in Union County in 1813. From Union County a portion of them went to Wayne and some to Washington County. Later, four of the sons went to Marion County. Philburd Wright took up his residence in Union County near Brownsville. He had served as Justice of the Peace for almost forty years in Randolph County, North Carolina.

Philburd Wright died in Indianapolis on Feb. 18, 1833 and is buried at Mars Hill Cemetery in Marion County. The inscription on his tombstone reads: "Husband to Elizabeth Reagan. Father of Caroline D., Filbert, Joshua, Mattie, Sarah, Mary, Noah, Eli, Levi, Joel, Jessie, Elizabeth, Aaron Wright. Left a proud legacy."

Philburd married Elizabeth (1754-1830) about 1824 in what is now Clinton County, Kentucky. Their granddaughter, Susan (Joshua's daughter), married Azel Means about 1824 in what is now Clinton County, KY. Azel's family had moved from Randolph County, N.C. to Overton County, TN in 1807 and then settled near Sulphur Creek in Clinton County about 1820.



Southern Campaign American Revolution Pension Statements & Rosters Pension Application of Dennis Hopkins

Southern Campaign American Revolution Pension Statements & Rosters Pension Application of Dennis Hopkins, my 5th great-grandfather.

State of Kentucky, Clinton County: County Court, January Term 1843.

"On this the 2nd day of January A.D. 1843 personally appeared in open court, Dennis Hopkins a resident citizen of the County aforesaid aged eighty-two years the 13th day of July last, having a record of the same being born on the 13th day of July 1760, being born in Orange County North Carolina, and raised in Randolph County said State, where he lived in time of the Revolutionary war, and after being duly sworn for that purpose on his oath makes the following Declaration in order to obtain the Benefit of the act of Congress passed 7th of June 1832. That he entered the service of the United States a drafted light horse soldier in Randolph County North Carolina in the fall of 1780, believed to be in October cannot give the day of the month with precise certainty, entered for three months under Captain William York, and Major Thomas Dogin [Thomas Dugan?] and served three months Ralph Low Lieutenant, has now forgotten the name of the Ensign, and served with John Aldred, Christian Morris, John Julin, Jacob Staley, Archibald Hopper & Ezekiel Craft and others, he was drafted at the house of Billy Coal [Billy Cole?] and marched down deep River ranging and ranged through the County of Randolph and Chatham, and stationed some considerable time at the barracks in Chatham County on the plantation of Colonel Littrell [John Luttrell], and a portion of the times stayed at Bell's Mills in Randolph, where was our head quarters, and marched Chatham and continued traversing the Counties of Guilford, Orange, Guilford and Chatham had a skirmish with the Tories in Randolph was fired on by them, and served out the full Term of three months and had a written discharge from Captain William York having served out the time, believed to and sometime in January 1781, as near as he can recollect was discharged at the Barracks in Chatham County North Carolina. Declarant again volunteered about the first of April as near as he now recollects, and in the ensuing spring for three months under said officers, the time word so difficult, that he felt more safe in service, that otherwise. Served as before a horseman being in 1781, marched down Sandy Creek continued down the River and stationed again at Bell's Mills, and again at the Barracks on Colonel Luttrell's plantation and continued to range through the Counties of Chatham, Randolph and Guilford, and caught many of the Tories, whipped, killed and hung many of the Tories, and helped to disperse and drive the Tories out of the Country and having served out the full term of three months marched to Randolph Courthouse and there again had a written discharge from said Captain William York, discharged as he believes in July sometime cannot state the precise time with further certainty than herein stated. Declarant moved in about four years after in Randolph County said State and lived there next after his marriage thirteen years, and moved to Clark County State of Georgia lived there ten years, thence to Wayne County Kentucky where he has lived about thirty-two years, is now stricken off into Clinton County Kentucky, Declarant has no written or documentary evidence of his service and knows of no person by whom he can prove his service, that has a positive knowledge of the same, but he has no doubt, but he can prove by many of his old acquaintance that he is and has been so reputed by them that has been acquainted with him for about 30 years last past he will name Reuben Owens, Esquire and Benjamin Hancock Esquire of the same church with him, he will mention others George Delaney, a revolutionary man of this County, he will mention Vachel Lessly and Robert A. Dabney of his acquaintance, and believes many others would depose that they have a full belief of his service from the tradition of the country founded on a long acquaintance. He hereby relinquishes every claim to a pension except the present. Declarant has delayed making an application for a Pension principally because he knew of no person by whom he could prove his service, and not needing the benefit of said law some years past as much as he does now. He states his name is not on the Pension Roll of the agency of any State. Declarant lost both discharges in Kentucky some years past. Sworn to & subscribed in open court January term 1843 S/ Rice Maxey, Clk S/ Dennis Hopkins. [Westley Owens, John Wade and Jacob Holsapple gave the standard supporting affidavit.]"

On February 7, 1845, at age 84, Dennis Hopkins filed another complete application in Clinton County Court, however both applications were denied for lack of proof of service.

Dennis Hopkins died in Clinton County on June 26, 1850, leaving his surviving children: Dennis, Thomas, Joshua, Nancy Newkirk, Martha Ledford, Sally Leslie and Epsy Long. His son, Dennis, was administrator of his estate.



My 78 RPM Disks (1905-1924)

1. Albert Campbell - Dreaming (3701). Steve Porter - Flanagan At The Vocal Teacher's (3705). Standard Talking Machine Company 1907. 2. ...