DAVIS FAMILY & THE LEACH FAMILY CEMETERY

      DAVIS: About fifteen years ago I was searching cemeteries in Ohio County for distant relatives, including people named Davis because of a Leach-Davis connection I had found.  In March 2006 I took photos of five Davis grave markers that turned out to be unrelated to the Leach family and today I decided to post these photos as they might help someone.  I don’t know much about these people so I can add little to the photos and, sadly, I don’t recall where I took these 5 photos, except that it was in Ohio County.

1.  John T. Davis  14 March 1838 – 27 Dec 1908; wife Catheryne M. Shultz  5 May 1850 – 1915:

2. Mary E. Davis  17 Feb 1887 – 18 Apr 1907:

3. James Clinton Davis  29 Mar 1834 – 16 Sep 1902 (see bio posted 22 Aug 2015):

4. Thomas H. Davis  7 June 1864 – 17 Dec 1884 – son of James Clinton Davis:

5. Joseph Davis, son of G & M. A. Davis, 26 Apr 1868 – 27 Apr 1868:

     LEACH FAMILY CEMETERY: My Leach-Davis connection is with John Wesley Davis, born 2 May 1841, Butler County, and died 7 Jun 1904, Ohio County.  John Wesley served in the Civil War and his grave marker signifies his service.  John Wesley is buried in a small family cemetery located on property belonging to my great-grandfather, Samuel William Leach. John Wesley is probably buried in this cemetery because one of John Wesley’s daughters, Amanda, married Jacob Herman Leach, a nephew of my great-grandfather.  This small cemetery is located slightly east of the William H. Natcher Parkway; south of the Western Kentucky Parkway; north of Bald Knob Road; and west of Sandefur Crossing Road.  I found it by entering the property from Bald Knob Road but it was a difficult walk; it’s closer from Sandefur Crossing but there is a small creek (Threelick Fork) that you have to cross.  Here is a map with an approximate location of the cemetery marked in red:

          John Wesley Davis married Mary Jane Shroader (1847-1918) and they had ten children – one of which, Amanda, married Jacob Herman Leach, who was one of my many first cousins (after Amanda died Jacob married her sister, Olivia).

          Before taking this photo I first sprayed shaving cream on the stone and then used a soft squeegee to highlight the letters.  I was told that the shaving cream would not damage the stone as it washes off easily and does not contain any harsh chemicals.  I know that scraping or wire-brushing any grave marker will damage the stone and lead to ruin.

     In addition to John Wesley Davis, other markers found in this small cemetery are as follows:

- Samuel William Leach, 9 July 1857 – 13 Dec 1918 (my great-grandfather):

- Sarah Altha Leach, 15 Jan 1858 – 30 July 1883 (first wife of Henry Scott Leach, brother of Samuel William Leach):

- Jobe Leach, 11 Feb 1889 – 7 Oct 1889 (infant son of Sarah Altha & Henry Scott Leach):

-  Henry Scott Leach, 18 Oct 1852 - 24 Sept 1900 and Elmedia/Almeda J. Sandefur Leach, 21 Oct 1862 – 6 Dec 1889 (second wife of Henry Scott Leach):

- Plus several other sunken graves without markers.

Nancy Ellen (Leach) Montague

     Nancy Ellen Leach, daughter of Joseph Brooks Leach (1796-1864) and Altha S. Miller (1795-1865) was born 7 December 1832 in Cromwell, Ohio County.  She was the youngest of seven children.  In 1858 she married Archibald P. Montague (1831- 1881), a merchant in Cromwell, and they had six children: Charles C. Montague; Aralta (Montague) Sutton; Joseph Samuel Montague; Archibald A. Montague; Edwin Asbury Montague and Willie Cartwright Montague. Nancy Ellen died 15 February 1896 in Ohio County and she is buried alongside her husband in East providence Cemetery, Ohio County.

Marvin Lester Leach

      Marvin Lester Leach was born 11 Apr 1912 in Ohio County and died 1 oct 1968 in Madisonville, Hopkins County, KY.  He is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Central City, Muhlenberg County. Marvin was the son of Frank Talbert Leach (1871-1912) and Ada Parritt Ball (1882-1959).

      Marvin married Jessie E. Cope on 4 Apr 1955 in Robertson County, TN.  Jessie was born 8 Dec 1917 and died 1 Jun 1987.

      Marvin died while working in a mine near Madisonville, KY. There was a rock slide in the mine and that caused his death.  

Col. John Hardin McHenry, Jr.

     Col. John Hardin McHenry, Jr. was born in Ohio County 21 Feb 1832 and died in Owensboro 7 Jul 1893; he is buried in Rosehill Cemetery in Owensboro.  Col. McHenry married Josephine (Josie) Phillips and they had five children: Sue D., Martine, Jennie, Starling, and Junius Hardin.  Col. McHenry was an attorney and he also served as Postmaster of Owensboro from 1891 till his death.  His father was John Hardin McHenry, Sr. and his mother was Hannah Davis.

T. J. Hunt and the Stagecoach Robbery - Part Two

Two page letter from H. C. Gorin to Governor of Kentucky (Mr. Gorin was an attorney in Glasgow, KY and might have been appointed to represent Mr. Hunt):

                    Second page of Gorin letter:

                    absolute want and are dependent on him for their living.  There are two                                    indictments against him, one for robbing the stage going towards the cave and                        the other for  robbing the stage coming from the cave.  Both robberies were                              committed by the same parties, James & Ryan, and at the same time.

                   I send you certified copies of the indictments and the verdict of the jury                                      convicting him upon one of them.

                   Leaving the matter to your Excellency's sense of justice.

                   I am very respectfully yours,

                   H. C. Gorin

The following are official court records from Barren County, KY:

This completes the T. J. Hunt documents.  Thanks again to Robert and Noreen Friedel.

T. J. Hunt and the Stagecoach Robbery - Part One

       On 16 Feb 2019 I posted an article about a stagecoach robbery (that post was updated 14 Sep 2019) concerning T. J. Hunt, who was reportedly from Ohio County.

In November 1880 there was a stagecoach robbery near Cave City, Barren County, KY.  A man was arrested in Ohio County and charged with this crime.  He was taken to Glasgow, the county seat for Barren County, tried and convicted.  The newspaper reports said his name was T. J. Hunt and that he had worked at the McHenry Coal Mines for about five years, that he was married and had at least one child, and was a resident of Ohio County.  The foregoing information was taken from an article in the Hartford Herald dated 24 Nov 1880 and is attributed to the Glasgow Times. That article also said that Mr. Hunt had been previously been a teacher in Barren County ("this county").

In an article in the Hartford Herald dated 19 April 1882 he is called James Hunt. In an article from the Filson Quarterly (October 1995) he is identified as Thomas J. Hunt. There is an article about this event in the Courier Journal dated 16 May 1937 and he is identified as “William Hunt of Ohio County.”

       Later I received information from Laura Hunt Angel that explained Mr. Hunt's full name was Thomas Crutchfield Hunt and that his information was in Ancestry.com; this information confirmed my original post.  That was the Sep 2019 update.

      This week I received more information from Robert and Noreen Friedel about the T. J. Hunt episode. Robert and Noreen are from Beaufort, MO and are Frank and Jesse James  historians - Robert wrote a book titled "Frank & Jesse James In Plain Sight."  Robert & Noreen sent me 24 documents including a letter from T. J. Hunt to the Governor of Kentucky asking for a pardon, plus petitions from citizens and copies of Court Clerk documents from Barren County (where Hunt was tried and convicted).  I will post these documents but due to the number of documents it will take several posts to include them all - I estimate three posts.  They are self-explanatory and I will start with the citizen Petition to the Governor.

 Next is a two page letter from the Commonwealth Attorney (District Attorney) to the Governor:

Next is Mr. Hunt's three page letter to the Governor (due to paper size I had to clip it together):

Brooks, Lum, Jim & Cora Leach

Brooks, Cora, Lum & Jim Leach

Brooks and Lum Leach

Brooks, Lum, Jim, and Cora are siblingss and are four of the eight children of Francis (Frank) Talbert Leach 1873-1912 and Ada E. Parritt/Parrot 1882-1959.

Brooks' full name is Isaac Brooks Leach and he was born 27 July 1910, Ohio County, and died 20 April 1971, Evansville, Indiana.  He was named after his grandfather, William Brooks Leach.  Brooks married Betty Mae Wilcox  1906-1981 and they had six children.  The obituary for Brooks was in the Messenger-Inquirer newspaper, Owensboro, on 22 April 1971:

Lum's full name is Lum H. Leach and he was born 6 Nov 1904, Ohio County, and died 27 January 1999, Sangamon County, IL.  Lum married Florence Mary Sapp (1912-1993) and they had three children.  No obituary  found.

Jim's full name is James Edward Leach and he was born 9 February 1903, Ohio County, and died 14 August 1985, Daviess County.  James first married Uva B. Ashby Hodby (1905-1993) in 1922 and they had 4 children; in 1961 Jim married Thelma Mae Wallace Newcom (1919-1990).   The obituary for Jim was in the McLean County News, 22 August 1985:

Cora Serilda Leach was born 11 September 1908, Ohio County, and died 15 June 1993, Grayson County. Cora married Esthus Daniel Ramsey 6 February 1926.  They had two children. Mr. Ramsey died in 1965.  I did not find an obituary for Cora .

Walton's Creek Cemetery - 4 of 4