Elizabeth Huggins Perry, Widow's Pension

A Letter to Mr. James G. Stanly

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Kinston, N. C.

Jan. 4th, 1855

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Mr. James G. Stanly

Clerk of the Court

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Dear Sir:

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You will confer a singular favor on an old widow of a revolutionary soldier by examining your office for some old Military record of the names of old soldiers of the revolution, who marched from Craven and Jones Countires (Jones at that time was in Craven), about the year 1779 and 1780. There was a company of men that went from that part of Craven now Jones County as follows: HUGH STANLY, JR., HUGH STANLY, SENIOR, ROBERT STANLY, WEXEL PERRY and ADONIJAH PERRY, under the command of Brigadier General Richard Caswell and they were at the Battle of Camden, S.C., the whole under the command of General Gates. The name and services of Adonijah Perry is the one I wish to obtain, and the name of his Captain; he was a militiaman. If you should find his name and service please to send me your certificates with your office seal attached of said service and his Captain's name, and also the amount of your fee, and I will remit it to you immediately on receipt of same.
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I have been informed that there is some old Revolutionary records in your office and I hope you will take the trouble to ascertain if so or not. Adonijah Perry joined the army in 1779 or 1780 from an old letter now in the posseion of his widow, dated August 29th, 1780, he was then encamped at Ramsey's Mill on Deep River, N.C., this letter was rote after the Battle of Camden, which was fought on the 16th August, 1780, he says in this letter that after the defeat of the Americans he joined the Regt. commanded by Col. Sowel the 19th of August 1780. Your attention to this if you please as the old widow is entitled to a pension from the Government providing she can produce record evidence of his service. If you find any revolutionary records, you will please look for the name of Claret Wine, who was a soldier also, but from what I can learn he belonged to the regular army.
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Yours with high respect,
Thomas J. Blakely
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Source: FHL Book 975.6192 P2m vol. 1, Records of Craven County, North Carolina

Photo Credit: www.sonsofthesouth.net/revolutionary-war

Adonijah Perry, Revolutionary War Soldier from Jones County, North Carolina

Revolutionary War Hero

by Frank Earle Schoonver

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1780 letter of ADONIJAH PERRY, Revolutionary Ward soldier from Jones County, North Carolina

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Camp at Ramsey's Mill on Deep River

August ye 29th Day 1780

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Dr Father and Mother,

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by this I let you Know that I am well at present thanks be God for it--Hoping these few lines will find you in the Same state of health also I have to Inform you that we had a battle 16th Instant and was defeeted tho I had the happiness to make my Escape and John Blmmer [?] with me and as for Cosin Waxel I never herd from him since the defeat we joined Col. Sowels Regiment the 19th instant and we Expect to march tomorrow for Hillsborough we Crost the line the 30th day of July but we cannot tell when our time is out but we hope about the 14th of next month but am not shur of it so no more at present but my Kind love to & all Enquiring friends this from your most Dutiful son

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Adonijah Perry

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Letter addressed to:

Mr. John Perry in Jones County near the Court House

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Source:

Revolutionary War Pension File, FHL Film 971714

(This microfilm of the complete pension file can be ordered through any Family History Center.)

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Pension Abstract:

PERRY, ADONIJAH, Elizabeth

NC Line W10882, BLW#56858-160-55

sol. m ELIZABETH HUGGINS 9 Oct 1816 in Jones Co NC

& sol d there 28 Jan 1830,

wid appl 30 Jun 1857 Lenoir Co. NC aged 73

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Names identified with this pension file (and also in a related leter printed in "Records of Craven County, North Carolina FHL Book 975.6192 P2m vol. 1):

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Thomas J. Blakely, Hugh Stanly Jr., Hugh Stanly, Senior, Robert Stanly, Waxel (Wexel) Perry, Adonijah Perry, General (Col.) Richard Caswell, James G. Stanly, Lavender Simmons, Elizabeth Perry (Huggins), Wm McDaniel, Joseph Perry, Eliza Conner, Lemuel Busick, General Yates (Gates), Wm Stanly, Benjamin Askew, William F. Huggins.

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Notes: This battle was called Gates Defeat at Camden SC or Gum Swamp. This event was referred to somewhat in the movie, The Patriot. The Patriot was about the Battle of Cowpens. The British officer Tarleton was the most hated man in the British army by our men. -- Jerome Tew

Hannah Marie Olson Death Certificate 1948

Peter Sanford Olson Death Certificate 1939

THE WILL OF LUKE HUGGINS
JONES COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA

Written 8 March 1784
Proven December 1784

In the name of God Amen the eighth day of March 1784 I LUKE HUGGINS of Jones County in the State of North Carolina being in health of body and of perfect mind and memory thanks be given to God therefore calling to mind the mortality of my body and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die do make and ordain this my last will and Testament in manner and form as follows:

Imprimis I lend unto my beloved wife NELLY HUGGINS all my Lands with the plantation I now live on also all the rest of my estate of all kind whatsoever during her natural life or widowhood.

I give unto my Daughter PHEBE SHELFER one shilling sterling money

I give unto my Daughter SARAH STANDLEY one shilling sterling money

I give unto my Daughter NELLIE LITTLETON one shilling sterling money

I give unto my Son JAMES HUGGINS one shilling and heirs forever

I give unto my Son LUKE HUGGINS one shilling sterling to him and heirs

I give unto my Son ISAAC HUGGINS one shilling sterling to him and his heirs

I give unto my Son JACOB HUGGINS the plantation I now live on with all the rest of my Lands to him his heirs and assigns forever

I give all the rest of my estate of all kinds whatsoever to my five youngest Children ESTHER HUGGINS, HANNA HUGGINS, THOMAS HUGGINGS, CHARLES HUGGINS, and TEMPERANCE HUGGINS to be equally divided among them at my wife's Death or marriage

Likewise I constitute and ordain SIMON SPIGHT and JOHN PARRY Executors of this my last will and Testament I do hereby utterly revoke and disanull all other Wills or Testaments ratifying and confirming this and no other as my last Will and Testament in witness whereof I have [sworn] to set my hand and Seal this day and year above written

LUKE HUGGINS (seal)

Signed sealed published and declared as his last will and Testament in the presence of the Subscribers

NATHAN (X) BRYAN
WAXELL (X) PARRY
ADONIJAH PARRY

State of North Carolina Jones County Court Decr term 1784
Then was the written last WIll and Testament of LUKE HUGGINS deceased duly proved in Decr Court by the Oaths of NATHAN BRYAN and ADONIJAH Parry two of the subscribing witnesses agreeable to law and SIMON SPIGHT one of the named executors qualified as such agreeable to Ordered that Letters _____ accordingly

Test LEW. BRYAN CC [Clerk of the Court]

Jones County Will Book A, pp. 40-42

Zachariah Davis Wilson

1811 - 1894

Mormon Preacher and Member of the High Council in Far West, Missouri and Nauvoo, Illinois 1842

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Son of James Wilson and Ellender Shelfer, Zachariah Davis Wilson was born 12 Jun 1811 at Farmington, Bedford County, Tennessee. Brother to Nancy, Elijah, Levin, Elizabeth (Betsy), Ella Melissa, Thomas Green and Sarah. He married Lucinda Grant Beazley, daughter of Bozwell Beazley and Jane Spencer, 26 Apr 1836 in Lawrence County, Illinois.

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Note: Read a first person account of the missionary influence of Elder Wilson from an 1833 convert in Illinois. Biographical Sketch of James Holt 1804-1894

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http://www.lofthouse.com/USA/Utah/washington/history/jholt.html

[accessed 9/2008]

[Photo Credit: Leanna Pruitt]

Documenting the Marriage of John Molyneux Barnes and Eleanor Wilson

Clues often lead to good information; but don't stop there. Always search for the original records.

Challenge: Resolve conflicting and incomplete information recorded and replicated by many descendants regarding the exact date and place of marriage for John Molyneux/Mullanics Barnes and Eleanor Wilson.

My grandmother's Book of Remembrance records a marriage date of 1852 in Salt Lake City, Utah for her maternal grandparents. The information came to her from a distant cousin who was also an accredited researcher, so...it must be correct. Right? However, no written records created in the Utah Territory could document the marriage as having taken place there. Perhaps this information was just passed on verbally or simply lost to memory through subsequent generations. Maybe they were too busy trying to survive in the harsh desert valley to take the time to record this important event. Or maybe the original records were lost or destroyed.

Check compiled records--see what someone else has already done. Did they cite their sources? A good researcher always leaves a trail for others to follow.

Clue: A respected historian and descendant posts to the internet and cites the following:

"The Frontier Guardian [Newspaper], Pottawatamie County, Iowa 1849 - 1852, Marriage Notices, listing John Barnes and Elnr Wilson."

Family Tree Submissions, www.rootsweb.com, Entries: 7686, ID Number 1470, Eleanor Wilson. Contact: Jon Stewart Baxter jonbaxter@hotmail.com, updated 30 Jun 2001.

Indexes are great finding aids. They can save a lot of time. Be cautious of omissions or errors. Your ancestor might really be in the original record but missed in the index. Or you might see a variation in the spelling of their name.

Another Clue: An online index of brides and grooms lists John Barnes and Elnr Wilson.

Marriage Notices from the Frontier Guardian 1849 - 1852, http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~iapottaw/FGmarriages.htm.

Don't stop with the index. Locate the record referenced by the index.

Good Information: A title search of the Family History Library Catalog (FHLC) at http://www.familysearch.org/ reaps rewards. This book is in the FHL collection. Books by locality for the U.S. and Canada are located on the third floor of the Library. They are grouped regionally by state and then by county. Many records relating to Pottawatamie County, Iowa will begin with the same subject call number. They will be located on the same shelves.

"John Barnes and Miss Elner Wilson, both of Pottawatamie County, Iowa, 18 March 1852, at Little Pigeon Branch, by Thomas C. D. Howell. (The Frontier Guardian, 25 March 1852)."

Notes: "A compilation of death and marriage notices taken from the Frontier Guardian, surviving issues of the Western Bugle, and the Pottawattamie High Council Minute Book. With few exceptions, the individuals named were Mormons." Valuable information in preface and list of Mormon settlements in Pottawattamie County, Iowa.

Lyndon W. Cook, Death and Marriage Notices from the Frontier Guardian, 1849-1852 (Orem, Utah: Center for Research of Mormon Origins, 1990), Marriages: Kanesville, Iowa, 1849-1852, page 38, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, FHL US/CAN Book 977.771 V2c.

Message boards and online indexes simplify the search. But there is nothing like reading the names of your ancestors in the handwriting of the original record written in their presence on the day of their special event.

Use the Family History Library Catalog at www.familysearch.org to locate original records. They may be in the format of a book, microfilm, microfiche, or a digital image. If the FHL collection does not have the record you need, ask a consultant to help you find where the original records might be located.

Do a locality search for the county, then from the list of subjects select Vital Records to learn what records can be accessed. Earlier records may be kept at a town level, later records will be recorded by the state.

Original Records:

"State of Iowa, Pottawatamie Co. SS [Sworn Subscriber]. Marriage License issued March 15, 1852 to John C. Barnes, aged 22 years, & Ellen Wilson, aged 19 years on Recommend of her father Elijah Wilson. Signed T. Burdick, Co. Judge"

Pottawattamie County (Iowa). Clerk of the District Court, Marriage Records, 1848-1930, Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1960-1999, FHL Film 1476888, part 1, page 115, No. 34, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Read the catalog description to better understand the records. Make sure you don't miss anything. In this case, part 1 is the marriage license and part 2 is the marriage register, two records created three days apart.

More original records:

"1852 March 18. Married by Elder T. C. D. Howell, Mr. John Barnes to Miss Elenor Willson both of this County."

Pottawattamie County (Iowa). Clerk of the District Court, Marriage Records, 1848-1930, FHL Film 1476888 part 2, page 64.

Brick Wall Solution: Mystery solved! John [John C.] Barnes and Eleanor [Elnr, Ellen, Elenor] Wilson were married in Pottawattamie County, Iowa on the 18th of March 1852. Shortly thereafter they journeyed on to Zion as young newlyweds to establish their home and family, building the foundation for an extensive posterity.

Don't stop now! Record and then share what you have learned. Use this new information as a springboard to understanding your ancestors in the historical context of their times. Learn more about the pioneer settlements of Winter Quarters, Council Bluffs and Kanesville. When did they leave Iowa to make the journey west? What company and with whom did they travel? Did they or their traveling companions keep journals? When did they arrive in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake? Keep asking those questions and seeking the answers....

...Lest we forget

The Clothes Line

Do you have memories of your mother

Hanging wash upon the line,

When clothes dried in the gentle breeze

Warmed by sunshine from on high.

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Now we do things differently

In an effort to save time,

Still there is much to be said

For bringing back the old clothesline.

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Put your worries in a basket

Take your troubles all outside,

Hang each one with a clothespin

Before you come inside.

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Life wasn't meant to burden you

With sorrow and regret,

Take your problems to the clothesline

And soon you will forget.

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Now when the morning's over

And you head back out again,

This time bring your blessings

And twice as many pins!

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The clothesline is a metaphor

For God's most loving care.

He is watching over you,

He is always there.

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-- Laurie West Hillier

Lest We Forget…

The Clothes Line

Helen Mary Elizabeth Allingham, R. W. S.

English Artist, 1848 - 1926

www.1st-art-gallery.com

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"I may only pass this way but once. Any good that I may do, let me do it now, for I may never pass this way again."

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