Chiggerville - Part 1

The Chiggerville Archeological Site is part of the Green River Shell Middens Archeological District and is located on the north side of the Green River about 3 miles west of Rochester [Note: this location is taken from a map in the article below - the above map was a screen-shot from a current Google map].  This site was discovered in the late 1800’s or early 1900’s and has been extensively studied and excavated by various archeologists.  Basically, the site is composed of shell mounds left by ancient Indian tribes that lived near the river.  The shell mounds are enormous heaps of mussel-shells which often are ten to fifteen feet high.  Within the mounds are graves and artifacts.  

This site is on private property and I assume it has been damaged by flooding. For all I know it is no longer there. Maybe one of you can report as to the current condition.  I think, but I'm not sure, that there was once a small town or village named Chiggerville and it might have been on the south side of the Green River - but the archeological site is on the north side of the river (according to the map below).

The following is a report from 1939 describing what was found at that time:

 

Patents - 1829 - Joseph Wallace

Joseph Wallace from Hartford, Kentucky filed applications for two patents in 1829.  Both patent applications had to do with water wheels used by mills.  Both were filed 11 September 1829.

I found a Charles Wallace (1777-1838) from Ohio County that built the first watermill in Ohio County (on Rough Creek); his first son was named Joseph, born 1799, so his son, Joseph, is probably the person that applied for the Patent. See Findagrave ID 108467295

1897 - Filson Club - members from Ohio County

Source:

Bartemus Acton and daughter, Susannah Caroline Acton

As a followup to last week's post, my good friend Janice Brown from Tyler, Texas sent me her "Notes" about Mr. Acton (Bartemus Acton is in her Family Tree) and about his oldest daughter, Susannah Caroline:

According to family tradition, Bartemus Acton, of English descent, did not move from Charles County, Maryland to Ohio County, Kentucky until 1831, when he was about 32 years old, six years after he had married Sarah Ann Robey.   Three children were born in Charles County, and six were born after they moved to Kentucky.   One Ohio County deed to him is dated February 26, 1831.  After Sarah died when she was just 40 years old, Bartemus, at age 52, married two years later, Eliza (Statler) Taylor on October 30, 1851.  Of course he needed a mother for his children, who ranged in age at that time from twenty-five to five years old.  Three of his oldest children had already married before he married Eliza in 1851.

The first known deed of Bartemus Acton in Ohio County, Kentucky is dated February 26, 1831, in which Bartemus Acton purchased an unspecified amount of land on Hall Creek, a branch of Rough Creek, for $280.  According to this deed, Bartemus and Sarah left Charles County Maryland sometime between Nov. 8, 1830 and February 26, 1831, at which time they purchased their first property, using Sarah's inheritance from her Grandfather Robey.   This couple had three small children when arrived in Ohio County, Susannah, Mary Jane and Thomas Washington.

Bartemus Acton was a large land owner in Ohio County, Kentucky until his death, March 31, 1868.

In the 1850 U S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules, Bartemus Action owned 8 slaves, - 5 females and 3 males.   Henry Acton owned 2 slaves - male and female.

Some of the information on Bartemus Acton was shared with my aunt, Gladys Altman, who went to Ohio County in 1973 to do research for me by various persons she visited, one being Mrs. Alpha Smith, Narrows, Kentucky.  Another was my grandfather's niece, Loretta (Cox) Westerfield.  Loretta, a retired teacher in Ohio County, and I worked on Ohio County ancestors together for about ten years until her death on New Year's Day, 1985 in Ohio County, Kentucky.

Susannah Caroline (Acton) Mitchell

April 8, 1826 – September 8, 1878

of Charles County, MD and Ohio County, KY

Wife of Joseph Martin “Mart” Mitchell

Susannah Caroline Acton was born in the spring time, April 8, 1826, at Port Tobacco, the first county seat of Charles County, Maryland.  She was the first and oldest of nine children born to her parents, Bartemus Acton and Sarah Ann “Sallie” (Robey).  Susannah’s brother and sister, Mary Jane and Thomas Washington, were also born in Maryland. 

Sometime after the 1830 census was taken in Port Tobacco, when Susannah was about four, her parents migrated from Maryland with their three small children and moved to Ohio County, Kentucky, a distance of about 700 miles.  Upon arrival, they settled on a farm near Hall’s Creek, a branch of Rough Creek, where a deed shows that Bartemus purchased an unspecified number of acres of land on February 26, 1831 from Absalom Albin and his wife, Piety, for $280.00.

On August 24, 1843, when she was seventeen, Susannah married Joseph Martin Mitchell, son of Robert Mitchell and Judith Benson who moved to Ohio County in 1825, formerly of Shelby County, Kentucky.  Joseph Martin Mitchell, called “Mart,” was born March 19, 1822 in Shelby County. 

Over the next twenty years – 1844 to 1864 – Susannah had nine children of which seven grew to maturity.  The Mitchells were hardworking people and expected their children to do likewise.  For Susannah, chores centered on raising her children and keeping them healthy, cooking for her household, sewing and mending, working in the family garden, and tending the farm yard.

It is reported that Mart Mitchell was a farmer and a stone mason, a person who cuts and shapes native stone into various shapes for building chimneys, flues, doorsteps, walkways and fences.  Mart and his son, Joseph shaped the rocks and built one of the abutments to the bridge at Barrett's Ferry on Rough River in 1892.  That bridge was eventually replaced by a concrete bridge, but the stones of the old bridge abutments still remain in place to this day.

Joseph and Susannah lived on Cane Run between Olaton and New Baymus Church of Christ near Barrett's Ferry, about two miles from Dundee (formerly called Hines Mill) and Sulphur Springs.   In the 1860 census the couple was living in the Briggs Mill area of the Caney District of Ohio County, Kentucky. 

Susannah was 52 when she died Sep 8, 1878.  Joseph Martin Mitchell was said to have married twice after her death, first to Mary Hushon Bishop on May 21, 1881, and second to Mattie Wickliffe, Oct 18, 1892, both of whom he outlived.  He died Nov 27, 1904 at age 82.  Joseph and Susannah are said to be buried at McCord Cemetery on Hall’s Creek Road, not far from Rosine.   They had nine children, all born Ohio County.

1)            Mary Elizabeth Mitchell (my ancestor) – Born June 1, 1844; married  1st James William Cox on Aug 4, 1860 and they had 14 children – all born in Ohio County; she died Feb 7, 1903, in Obion County, TN.  He died Sep 30, 1931, Ohio County.

2)            Ellen Boatman Mitchell – Born Dec 15, 1845; married 1st George W. Ezell on Oct 17, 1860; she died May 29, 1890, Ohio County.

3)            Anthony T. Mitchell – Born Mar 11, 1847; died July 19, 1847, Ohio County.

4)            Sarah Ann “Sallie” Mitchell - Born Apr 15, 1849; married 1st William Neighbors on Jan 15, 1867; died Nov 2, 1939, Ohio County.

5)            Corella Evelyn Mitchell – Born Oct 5, 1850; married Robert H. Daniel on Nov 5, 1870; died Oct 26, 1939, Ohio County.

6)            Martha Benson Mitchell – Born Aug 15, 1852; married Calvin W. Daniel on Mar 14, 1870; died Jan 4, 1897, Ohio County.

7)            Robert B. Mitchell – Born Aug 10, 1855; died Aug 21, 1855, Ohio County.

8)            Joseph Gabriel Mitchell – Born Sep 25, 1858; married 1st Henrietta A. Hurt on Sep 3, 1878; died Apr 29, 1912, Ohio County.

9)            Allison Pierce Mitchell – Born Dec 11, 1864; married 1st Viola V. Mills Jun 21, 1887, Ohio Co.; died May 12, 1950, Ellis County, Texas.

Sulphur Springs – Editor:

       The Hartford Herald, September 12, 1878

Mrs. Mart Mitchell dropped from her chair on the 8th instant,

and expired before her husband who was in the same room,

could reach her.

       The Hartford Herald, September 18, 1878

Mrs. J. Martin Mitchell, living near Barrett’s Ferry, this county, died

very suddenly last Sunday evening week.  She had been in declining

health for several months, but was not thought to be in any danger

at the time of her death.

Mrs. Mitchell was an exemplary lady, an excellent neighbor, a devoted

wife and a loving affectionate mother.    The deceased was a daughter

of Bartemus Acton,  deceased, and  sister to Mrs. G. J. Bean, of this place.

Sources:

•             Ohio Co., Kentucky Marriage and Death Certificates

•             Ohio Co. KY Census Records (various years) and Deed Records

•             The Hartford Herald, Ohio County, KY

•             Family records of Hoyt Wilson; Sue (Acton) Gregory; Terry Acton; Glenda Potts      Thacker; and David Arthur Myers

•             Family records researched in 1973 by Gladys Altman for Janice Brown, shared by Mrs. Alpha Smith, Narrows, KY; Bessie K. Rowe, Louisville; and Loretta (Crowder) Westerfield, Rosine.

   

See Find A Grave Memorial #111745763

Contributed by Janice Cox Brown, Coppell, TX

Bartemus Acton

Bartemus Acton was one of the early settlers of Ohio County.  For more information about him and his family see my post dated 27 May 2013.

Webb Family Bible Record

Source:  West-Central Kentucky Family Research Association 1978-79

John W. Grant and Noah Grant

Joseph A. Foreman

Joseph A. Foreman was born 4 Jul 1880 in Hartford, KY.  Joseph’s wife was Elizabeth Brown, who was born 22 Nov 1884 in San Francisco; her mother’s family was originally from Louisville.  They had two daughters,  Josephine Elizabeth Foreman and Phyllis Catherine Foreman, both born in San Francisco, CA.

Near the end of the Spanish-American War Joseph traveled to the Philippines to work and stayed there a few years. He returned to San Francisco about 1905 and stayed there the rest of his life. He married in 1908. Joseph died in San Francisco 24 Feb 1955 and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Colma, CA.  His WWII Draft Registration says he was 5’11” and weighed 162 pounds:

I have not been able to identify Joseph’s father. Joseph’s grandmother, who raised him and lived to be age 104, is shown in the 1900 census living in Hartford and is listed as Amy Nall, age 70 (born Jun 1829, died 1934).   

Most of this information was found in an oral history book concerning Joseph’s daughter, Josephine E. (Foreman) Cole, who was quite famous.  A library was named for her in San Francisco. The oral history book is dated 8 my 1978 and is about 85 pages long; I have copied the first 9 pages that are primary references to Josephine’s father (since he was born in Hartford) but there is a reference on page 48 of the book to the Sandefur family, which were referred to as white neighbors of the Foreman family (in the book their name is spelled Sannifers).

See the entire book here: https://archive.org/details/josephineecoleor1979cole

Josephine Elizabeth (Foreman) Cole

Mildred Ann Taylor

Mildred Ann Taylor was born 17 Oct 1828 in Ohio County, KY to John Allen Taylor and Sallie Milton Taylor; Mildred died 31 June 1908 in Catlin, Vermilion County, IL.  She married David Shaver 14 Nov 1844 in Ohio County, KY.  Apparently they moved to Catlin, IL about 1864. It is 228 road miles from Hartford to Catlin.

Mildred Ann was one of six children and one of her brothers was John Harrison Taylor.

Source:  History of Vermilion County, IL. Published 1879.