Rutherford Porter Cawthon Receives Mail

     ©  Kathy Duncan, 2024

In July 1850, Rutherford Porter Cawthon had a letter waiting for him at the post office in Jefferson, Texas.

This list of letters does not look like much, but it tells me a few things. First, he knew one or two people who were writing letters to him. Where was that person? Back in Tennessee where he was from? Had something happened, and they were trying to reach him? Second, sometimes his surname was spelled Cauthon. Third, the entry for Parter Cauthon tells me that he also went by his middle name - Porter. Fourth, he may have been living near Jefferson at the time of the 1850 census, which is a year in which I cannot find him on the census. 

Lodowick and Nathaniel Thompson - Greensville Co., Virginia

    ©  Kathy Duncan, 2024

I took a little brain break while chasing the Nevill and Patterson families, which was in itself a brain break from compiling James Piper's documents. Oops.

What I found indicates that documents continue to be added to the full text search feature on Family Search because the information that I found for Lodowick Thompson was not there the last time I searched, which was not that long ago.

On 24 May 1793, Lodowick was in court in Greensville County, Virginia, seeking payment from Nathaniel Thompson for three trips that Lodowick made for Nathaniel to represent him in court in his suit against Betty Atherton:

No relationship between Lodowick and Nathaniel is stated, but this seems like the sort of thing that would happen between family members. One person promises to pay a relative to perform a service for him. Then promises to pay him later - and later gets postponed and postponed until they finally end up in court. What is important here, is that Nathaniel Thompson is the first Thompson who I can link to Lodowick for any reason - after searching for decades.

A cursory look at Nathaniel Thompson reveals that he was administering the estates of his father James Thompson and his brother James Thompson Jr. at the same time. Enter Solomon Thompson, who also took Nathaniel to court for payment of services rendered. At one point Nathaniel and Solomon were joint defendants in a lawsuit. No relationship between Nathaniel and Solomon has bubbled to the surface. Sterling Thompson also factors into the Greensville County records. In adjacent records, there are members of the Rives family mentioned. These families seem to have been in the area since it was Brunswick County. Since Lodowick Thompson named two of his sons Solomon and Sterling/Starling, this all seems promising.

Lodowick Thompson married Delilah Womack in Greensville County, Virginia on 18 March 1793. His appearance in court two months later, on 24 May 1793, to collect payment from Nathaniel suggests a  young man in need of funds to support his new and growing family. 

Lodowick and Delilah Thompson had a son named Harris within the first year of their marriage. Delilah's father Thomas Womack left a legacy to Harris Thompson in his will which was written in early 1794 and which suggests that Delilah may have died in childbirth. 

A widower with a tiny infant would have been highly motivated to remarry. With so many members of the Rives family in the area it is possible that Priscilla Rives was a near neighbor. Priscilla is a name that is repeated frequently in the Rives family. It's also possible that there was another wife between Delilah and Priscilla. 

I'll be brainbreaking with the Thompsons off and on for a while. 

 

Nancy (Morgan) Patterson's Inheritance

   ©  Kathy Duncan, 2024

Once I realized that Solomon Nevill Sr. had been divorced from his first wife Susannah Walton and that he had married Mrs. Nancy Patterson in Carroll County, Tennessee in 1840, it was time to find out more about Nancy Patterson. To pinpoint who she was, I used the shared family tree in Family Search and focused on the most distinct name in Patterson family - Walter A. Patterson. I searched for a Walter A. Patterson with a sister Mary S. Patterson and a mother named Nancy and a connection to Carroll County, Tennessee. That's when Nancy Morgan and husband Chesley Page Patterson bubbled to the surface. Their marriage in Orange County, North Carolina - the same county where Solomon C. Nevill had married Susannah Walton - led me to think that I had identified the correct Nancy. Further examination of the family tree for Chesley and Nancy Patterson revealed that they had a son-in-law named Christopher Barbee. I recalled that Barbees were intermarried with Nevills. Sure enough, Solomon Nevill Sr's sister Elizabeth Nevill was married to Francis Barbee, and Christopher Barbee was their son, so Solomon Nevill's nephew married Nancy (Morgan) Patterson's daughter. Solomon Nevill Sr. and wife Susannah had surely known Chesley P. and Nancy Patterson while they were all living in Orange County, North Carolina.

Both couples married in Orange County, North Carolina in 1795. The Nevills had removed to Montgomery County, Tennessee by 1816. The widow Nancy Patterson did not remove to Carroll County, Tennessee until the mid to late 1830s. The Nevills and extended family members who were left behind in Orange County would have known where Solomon and his family settled in Tennessee. It's not hard to imagine that the Pattersons stopped by to visit the Nevills on their way to Carroll County. Nancy Patterson was probably always aware of where the Nevills lived in Tennessee. It would be interesting to know at what point Solomon and Nancy's relationship grew to more than a friendship. Before the Nevill divorce? After the Nevill divorce?

Records in Orange County, North Carolina solidify the notion that the Nancy Patterson who married Solomon Nevill Sr. in Carroll County, Tennessee is the same Nancy Morgan who married Chesley P. Patterson in Orange County, North Carolina. 

In 1797, just two years after Nancy Morgan married Chesley P. Patterson, her father Hardy Morgan died in Orange County, North Carolina. Thirty years later, in 1827, Nancy Patterson joined with her siblings to request a partition of the slaves in Hardy Morgan's estate. This signals that Hardy Morgan's wife had died while still widow and the children were able to make a final settlement of the estate. 

The division was made in 1828. Nancy Patterson's portion included Hulda, Margaret, Hudson, George, Rubin, and Denny.

Old Hulday, Margaret, Hudson, and George were all included in the deed of gift that Solomon Nevill Sr. made to his wife Nancy's children: Walter A. Patterson and Mary S. Patterson in 1840.

In 1833, Nancy Patterson of Orange County, North Carolina entered into a bond with William Trice for $1,000 to ensure that when Walter A. Patterson and Mary S. Patterson came of age they would warranty their interest in their father Chesley P. Patterson's estate [Deed Bk 25, p. 506]. As part of the bond agreement, Nancy sold slaves to her son, Chesley M. Patterson, and son-in-law, Christopher Barbee. Those slaves were Huldy, Hannah, Margaret, Hudson, Emily, Isham, and Huldy, a child. If Walter and Mary followed through with the warranty, then the bond was null and void. Walter and Mary Patterson evidently fulfilled their part of the agreement because these are the same slaves that Solomon Nevill Sr. named in the 1840 deed of gift that he drew up for them.

On 10 November 1846 in Madison County, Tennessee, Solomon Nevill Sr. sold his life interest in the slaves, who were gifted to Mary S. Patterson, to her husband Henry W. Mooring for $300. Those slaves were Margaret and her two children - Haywood and Alfred - and old Huldy. This indicates that by 10 November 1846, Solomon was the sole survivor and Nancy (Morgan) Patterson Nevill was deceased. Since they were living in Madison County, Tennessee, I would guess that she died in Madison County, Tennessee and was buried there. 

Susannah (Walton) Nevill Surprises Her Descendants

Solomon Nevill Sr's Last Years

Solomon Nevill Sr's Last Years

  ©  Kathy Duncan, 2024

Several years ago, I came across a record for Susannah (Walton) Nevill that indicated she had a deed of separate maintenance from Solomon Nevill Sr. dated 20 April 1838. At the time, I was unable to determine if they were separated or divorced. Last night I came across additional documents that indicate they were divorced. 

These "new" documents were found by using the Family Search full text search experiment. Let me just say, they were startling and tipped my genealogy world on its axis. I am always telling myself that there is so much more to be found and know, but then when a new revelation emerges, I am always surprised. In this case, it is because the Nevills have been researched ad nauseum by generations of researchers. How could something that new emerge at this late date? And yet it has!

What I found was a series of lawsuits between two sons of Solomon and Susannah Nevill that were filed in Madison County, Tennessee in the late 1840s. For one thing, there was never a previous indication that the Nevills had any ties to Madison County, so there was no reason to randomly search there. 

In these lawsuits, Solomon C. Nevill, of Hickman County, Kentucky, was suing brother Edwin W. Nevill, of Gibson County, Tennessee. These suits are several pages long and will take a while to digest. The takeaway is that the brothers had bailed their father Solomon Nevill out of debt to the tune of $1,000. A considerable amount of money in the early 1840s. Their suits state the following relationships - in reference to each other: "my brother"; in reference to Solomon Nevill: "my father"; in reference to Nancy Nevill: "his wife [Solomon Nevill Sr's]." Nancy Nevill?! Where'd she come from? And who on earth was she?? The only thing the lawsuits reveal was that she was deceased prior to Solomon Nevill Sr.

The story that the lawsuits reveal is that in the early 1840s, Solomon Nevill Sr. was in embarrassed circumstances, so the two brothers loaned him $1,000. A couple of years later, it happened again. Solomon C. Nevill stated that he has already wasted $500 on the old man, and he "washed his hands of him." Brother Edwin W. Nevill, however, stepped in to rescue the old man. Then after the death of "his wife Nancy Nevill," Solomon Nevill Sr. was taken in by Edwin and lived with him in Gibson County, Tennessee. At first, Edwin entered into a support agreement for the old man, allowing him a horse and bridle and a $10 a year allowance. Clearly, he was not going to trust the old man with a larger sum of money. In Solomon Nevill Sr's last couple of years or months, two or three "stout servants" were required to care for him. 

But wait, there is also a reference to Solomon Nevill Sr.'s last will. Where is that? Gibson County?

More digging revealed that Solomon Nevill Sr. married Nancy Patterson on 12 October 1840 in Carroll, Tennessee. Since Susannah (Walton) Nevill did not die until 1841, this can only mean that there was divorce. 

Solomon Nevill Sr. was in Montgomery County, Tennessee on the 1840 census so this represents some travel on his part. In December of 1840, he had this deed of gift to Nancy's two children Walter A. Patterson and Mary S. Patterson recorded in Carroll County, Tennessee:

Transcript:

"State of Tennessee Carroll County

Know all men by these presents that whereas I have lately married Mrs Nancy Patterson now Nancy Nevill who  was possessed of the following Slaves to Wit, Hudson old Hulday, George, Hannah, Belfield, Emily, Margarett, & young Hulday and being desirous of executing in good faith my intentions before my marriage with the said Nancy, now in consideration of the love and affection I bear to her two children Walter A Patterson & Mary S. Patterson and for the further consideration of one dollar each paid to me by the said Walter & Mary I hereby give to them the following named Negroes under the following of considerations that is to say to Walter A. Patterson I give George and Hannah and their increase to take effect and to go into his possession on the death of me and my wife Nancy or on the death of the survivors only and Mary S. Patterson I give the following Negroes Margaret and old Hulday and their increase to take effect and go into her possession on or me and my wife Nancy or on the death of the survivor only it is hereby distinctly understood and expressed that Negroes above named and their increase in both cases are in no event whatever to go out of my possession or of my wife Nancy during out lives or during the life of the survivor of us and in case either the said Walter A. or Mary S. Patterson should die before they have an heir it is the distinct design of this deed of Gift that the Negroes and their increase given to the said Walter A. and Mary S. Patterson shall go to and be the property of the survivor of them and in case both of the Children of Walter A & Mary S. Patterson should die before either of them has an heir in that event the Negroes & their increase conditionally given to the said Walter A. and Mary S. Patterson shall be equally divided the surviving children of my wife Nancy Nevill for now and in consideration aforesaid I hereby make and declare this deed of Gift to the said Walter A. and Mary S. Patterson with all of the conditions aforesaid and as above annexed and specified binding on me and my heirs and irrevocable by me Given under my hand and seal this 25th day of December 1840.

S. Nevill seal

State of Tennessee Carroll County) Personally appeared before me Yancy [?] W. Allen Clerk of the County Court of the said County Solomon Nevill Sr. with whom I am personally acquainted & who acknowleged that he signed the within deed of Gift for the purpose herein set forth & on the day bears date Given under my hand at office this 3d day of June A.D. 1841 Y.W. Allen, Clerk"

Tentative Conclusions:

There is so much to unpack here and so many new directions to research in.

1. Solomon and Susannah (Walton) Nevill obviously divorced in 1838. Where is that record? I think it should be at the state level in Tennessee, but might have been at a county level.

2. Solomon Nevill Sr. married the widow Mrs. Nancy Patterson in Carroll County, Tennessee in 1840. Preliminary research indicates that she was Nancy Morgan, the widow of Chesley Page Patterson who died in Orange County, North Carolina in 1820. She had married Page Patterson in Orange County in 1795, just a couple of months after Solomon Nevill married Susannah Walton there. It's reasonable to think that they knew each other in their youth. How did he become aware that she was in Carroll County, Tennessee? When did they reconnect? When did Nancy (Morgan) Patterson come to Tennessee? 

3. Mrs. Nancy Patterson had two known children: Walter A. Patterson and Mary S. Patterson. From the deed of gift it is clear that she had additional children.

4. I think I have already pinpointed Mary S. Patterson, wife of Henry Mooring. She is buried just 25 minutes from where I live. A little road trip is in order. 

5. Solomon Nevill Sr. left a will. Where is it? Is there a probate there, too? Gibson County and Obion County, Tennessee are where I will concentrate my search.  

6. This deed of gift raises a few questions for me. Were these slaves that Nancy Patterson acquired from her husband or her father? Aside from the fact that slavery itself is cruel, it seem heartless that her two children had to wait until Solomon Nevill Sr. was deceased to claim their inheritance. Plus, they paid $1 for a gift? 

7. It seems like the disagreement over their father's support probably led to a permanent rift between the brothers Solomon C. Nevill and Edwin W. Nevill.

8. Grandison D. Nevill is not mentioned in any of these documents. In the early to mid-1840s when Solomon C. and Edwin W. Nevill were bailing their father out of his financial problems, Grandison D. Nevill was living with his first wife Minerva (Peterson) Nevill and probably just eking out an existence in Montgomery County, Tennessee. 

Susannah (Walton) Nevill Surprises Her Descendants

Nancy (Morgan) Patterson's Inheritance

Lt. Col. James S. Piper, 1858

 ©  Kathy Duncan, 2024

1n 1857 and 1858, the major U.S. military action was in Utah and involved Mormon settlers. It was known variously as the Utah War, Utah Expedition, Mormon War, Mormon Rebellion, and Buchanan's Blunder. 

Like other former Mexican War officers, James S. Piper busied himself with recruiting men for his own regiment.

In case there is any doubt that this was the same James S. Piper, who I've been researching, this clipping from the Alexandria Gazette makes clear that he was the same James S. Piper who was the captain of Co. B in the Baltimore battalion. In this action, he would have begun as a Lt. Colonel rather than a Captain.

To date, I have found no evidence that James S. Piper and his company ever actually participated in the Utah War.

Col. James Piper, 1856

        ©  Kathy Duncan, 2024

One newspaper clipping from the 1908 Mena Weekly of Mena, Arkansas, recounts the contents of a defunct newspaper from Bethesda Springs, Arkansas, in which James S. Piper is mentioned. The information that he served in the Mexican War, was married to a woman named Mary Ann, and lived near Mena, leaves no doubt that this is the same James S. Piper who I am researching. However, the notation that he was "formerly a governor of a Central American state" was a headscratcher. He was? Really? 

Then I began finding references to a James S. Piper serving in Nicaragua in the 1850s. Was that what I was looking for? I asked the AP US History teacher for clarification. My question: Why was the U.S. military in Nicaragua in the 1850s? He promptly answered: They weren't. That's the Walker Expedition. Filibusters. With that, I "hit the books" Google style. It turns out, that there is more than one definition for a filibuster, which in this case is an irregular military adventurer, specifically an American engaged in fomenting insurrections in Latin America in the 19th century. Basically, Walker raised a private army, which he marched into Mexico and Central America with the intention of taking them and creating territories that would ultimately be slaveholding areas. He seized control of Nicaragua in 1856 and set himself up as president. 

Enter Capt. James S. Piper.

James S. Piper's presence in Nicaragua spanned only a few months. In fact his time there was so brief, that the newspapers had trouble keeping their information current. Because this was not a U.S. military action, there are no service records to consult. At this point, I don't know when James S. Piper arrived in Nicaragua. He does not seem to have raised a volunteer unit to take with him. 

Notice the Capt. J.C. O'Neal mentioned above James S. Piper's promotion to Lieutenant-Colonel. O'Neal factors in later.

By late April Lt. Col Piper was the acting Governor of the city of Granada. This is, no doubt, what was referred to in the 1908 newspaper clipping. It is also worth noting that this paragraph mentions the ill-fated ship the Cortez which was expected in San Juan del Sur, but was to be rerouted to Panama because of the conflict happening at San Juan del Sur. The actions of Col. E. J. Sanders in that incident were called into question by a writer to a California newspaper. Eventually, the passengers of the Cortez were rerouted to Panama where they disembarked to board a different ship. The Cortez was loaded with volunteers, supplies, and money bound for Walker. While in Panama, the passengers were waiting on shore when a fracas occurred that resulted in them losing their valuables and luggage and the lives of thirty members of their party.  

By April 30, James S. Piper had been promoted to Colonel.

In June 1856, another U.S. paper also reported Lt. Col. Piper's promotion to Colonel. This announcement arrived in the States very late since Piper had probably resigned his commission a few weeks prior to this. Note that Lt. Col. E. J. Sanders was also promoted to Colonel at about the same time. He had been in Nicaragua since at least the beginning of 1856, so Piper may have risen the ranks faster. 

This dated letter from Virgin Bay, written on 30 April 1856, exactly pinpoints Col. James S. Piper's activities. Note that the first paragraph also places Col. E. J. Sanders at Virgin Bay at the same time.

What the newspaper clipping does not report is that something happened between Piper and Sanders that Piper found so egregious that he challenged Col. E. J. Sanders to a duel. Both men had large personalities and were unlikely to back down in a disagreement. Remember, just two years before, James S. Piper was willing to go a few rounds over house numbers.

This appears in Kurt A. Sanftleben's 2021 catalog:

"J. C. O’Neal was also involved in a duel while in Nicaragua. There is a letter in the archive in which he, while acting as a second for Col E. J. Sanders, his regimental commander, replied to the second for another colonel as follows: "Sir, On behalf of my friend Col E.J Sanders in answer to a note received by him from Col J.S. Piper.  I beg to have to state that Col Sanders is perfectly willing to, under any satisfaction necessary without further remarks.  I will name the time - ten o'clock tomorrow morning - distance - thirty paces - weapons - Mississippi Rifles - conditions of the fight - to be placed back to back - and fire at the word one, two, three - In expectation of an early answer - yours respectfully, J.C. O'Neal.".   

In his Reminiscences of an Officer of the American Phalanx, James Carson Jameson provided a little more information about the duel: “Colonel Piper and Colonel Sanders threw down the glove at La Virgen, Colonel Piper, I believe, sending the challenge, which permitted Sanders to name the distance and the weapons. He chose rifles, and fixed the distance at five paces [actually 30 paces per O’Neal’s letter], a grim and deadly ultimatum.  'When the proposal was laid before Colonel Piper he declined to accept it, and immediately resigned his commission in the army, and left on the first steamer for the United States.”  

Unfortunately, these accounts don't reveal why Piper was prompted to challenge. At some point, I may add research on Col. E.J. Sanders. I do know that he was a heavy drinker and card player. When he left to join the Confederate army his wife divorced him. He was about to lose his commission because of his drinking when he was captured. 

The New York Herald reported Col. Piper headed for the States on 3 June 1856.

His arrival was reported on 7 June 1856.

The one thing that Col. James S. Piper kept from his experience in Nicaragua was the title of Colonel. He would never be Capt. James S. Piper again.

The next post will cover 1858.

Capt. James S. Piper, 1850 - 1855

       ©  Kathy Duncan, 2024

Whenever I am researching someone, I watch for patterns of behavior. So far, what I know about James S. Piper is that he was well educated, wrote long informative letters and kept up a correspondence with family, was not shy about talking to newspaper editors, placed advertisements in newspapers, soldiered as a volunteer, and sought leadership positions. The next few years revealed his occupation as a contractor during peacetime and his political leanings. 

I have yet to find James S. Piper on the 1850 census. However, he had at least one letter waiting for him at the Washington DC post office in the summer of 1850. 

Also, in early 1850, Maryland passed a resolution thanking Capt. James S. Piper and others for their service in the Mexican War. 

In August of 1851, James S. Piper obtained a contract to supply foundation stone for the Capitol expansion in Washington DC. In most announcements, he is referred to as a quarryman of Baltimore, Maryland.

This blueprint of the expansion features the new foundation. 

In late December 1851, Capt J. S. Piper had two letters waiting for him at the Washington DC post office.

In April of 1852, newspaper articles were still noting that James S. Piper of Baltimore had contracted to provide building stone for the Capitol expansion. 

James S. Piper was not just engaged in the Capitol expansion during this period. In 1854 he also contracted to number houses in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington DC. This particular clipping from the Daily Evening Star of 11 August 1854 specifically refers to him as "Capt. Piper, (who did good duty in the Mexican war,)," which leaves no doubt that the Capt. James S. Piper from Baltimore who served in the Mexican War was the same Capt. Piper who resided in Washington DC during this period. 

Numbering the houses continued over several months. 

The 1855 City Directory for Washington DC listed those contracted in the Capitol expansion. Among them was Captain James S. Piper, who provided stone for the foundations. I suspected for many years that James S. Piper was involved in the Capitol expansion, so it is exciting to have confirmation.

In 1855, James S. Piper was participating in the American Party. 

The American Party was known by several names - The Native American Party and the Know Nothing Party. They were nativists, opposed to immigrants, especially Irish Catholics, who might be allowed to vote in future elections. Note that Capt. James S. Piper is the group secretary, which would have put him in frequent contact with the local newspapers because he was one of the members responsible for publishing meeting notifications. 

The next post will cover 1856.