F.N.W. Burton Pay Voucher

© Kathy Duncan, 2017

Isn't this shiny and pretty? It's a War of 1812 pay voucher made out to F. N. W. Burton, aka Frank Nash Williams Burton, on 18 July 1814 for $69.30. Additionally, it shows that he served as Aid to Governor Hawkins.

When Frank Burton's wife, Lavinia (Murfree) Burton, applied for a widow's pension based on Frank's service, she stated that he was an aid to Governor Hawkins. However, she had no documentation. Since F.N.W. Burton could not be found among the North Carolina service records, Lavinia was denied the pension that she needed. Here's her documentation--over 100 years too late.

Halloween 2017

Happy trick or treating and ancestor hunting....

Iley N. Selph in Allison, Colorado

© Kathy Duncan, 2017

On 3 June 1920, Iley Nunn Selph, resigned from his position as agent with the New Mexico Central Railroad [N.M. C.] in Estancia, New Mexico. He had only held the position for a few months. The local newspaper reported that he would be returning to his former job with the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad [D. & R. G.]. I speculated in an earlier post that he may have also returned to his former residence in La Madra Village.

It turns out that just a few days before the announcement of Iley’s resignation, the Ignacio Chieftain excitedly reported that Allison, Colorado had been slated for a depot that would have a station agent:

I don’t know how long it took to build the depot at Allison. I don’t know where Iley Nunn Selph went after he left Estancia, but by December 1922, he was the station agent with his old employer, the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, at Allison, Colorado:

By the New Year, he was enjoying Allison society:

Within another month, he was building a house at Allison. That surprises me since, his railroad positions seemed to keep him moving.

Since the railroads were the major employers in small towns west of the Mississippi, the promotions and transfers of their officials was routinely reported in local newspapers. As more newspapers are digitalized, I hope to find more references to Iley N. Selph’s movements.

The Two Azariah Holcombs

© Kathy Duncan, 2017

The two Azariah Holcombs were very likely first cousins, born only a couple of years apart. The only similarity between them is their name. However, many descendants in my line insist on confusing them, merging them, and muddling them up in a variety of ways.

Normally, confusion of this sort results when two men of the same name live in the same place in the same time period. Sorting them out requires the usual tools of genealogy research: documents, math-- sometimes a calculator comes in handy, maps--or just a basic sense of U.S. geography, and logic—an ability to connect the dots. Presently, DNA test results are used, but more of that later. The one tool that you won’t find on my list or in my toolbox is a sledge hammer. I know a lot of researchers resort to a sledge hammer when the dots don’t connect; they just pound that square peg into a round hole until wedges into place. Why? Probably because it seems to eliminate uncertainty. Maybe because it nets them a “desirable” lineage. Ultimately, the sledge hammer method is, at its worst, unethical and, at its best, sloppy and lazy.

Now, to the two Azariah Holcombs. I am going to refer to them here as “the other Azariah Holcomb” or “the New York Azariah Holcomb” because he was born in New York as opposed to “my Azariah Holcomb” or “the Missouri Azariah Holcomb” because he was born in Missouri.

First up, the other Azariah Holcomb, who was born in Sand Lake, New York and died in Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania. His tombstone, which can be viewed on his Findagrave memorial states that his birth date was May 8, 1802, and his death date was May 9, 1889. He shares his tombstone with his wife Mary Ann, who was born Feb. 1, 1812 and died Sept. 12, 1903. They are buried in the Wesleyan Cemetery in Sugar Grove, Warren County, Pennsylvania.

This Azariah Holcomb’s birth date exactly matches the birthdate of the son of Azariah Holcomb Sr. and his wife Christina Shephard as provided in Azariah Holcomb Sr’s Revolutionary War pension file.

Notice the long list of siblings for Azariah Holcomb Jr. that are provided here. They include Melita Holcomb, Junia or Junius Holcomb, Michal Holcomb (a daughter), Lunia Holcomb, Azariah Holcomb, Marianne Holcomb, Aretus Lyman Holcomb, Christina Holcomb, Gilson Holcomb, John S. Holcomb, and Lamira Holcomb. 

Note there is also a Mary Ann P. Cole or Cale born whose birth date is only a few days different from the birthdate of Azariah Jr.’s wife Mary Ann, who shares a tombstone with him. Evidently, Azariah and Christina Holcomb’s bible also contains the birth records of some of their children’s spouses.

Azariah Holcomb Sr.’s Revolutionary War Pension file is also important because it contains his statement of where he resided after the war:

Note that Azariah Holcomb Sr. states he was born in Simsbury, Connecticut, and after the war he moved to Vermont, where he lived for three years. Unfortunately, he does not state how soon after the war he moved to Vermont. Then he moved to Sand Lake, New York where he lived continuously for the next forty years or so. Since his deposition was given in 1832, we can count backward from 1832.  That would mean he was in Sand Lake, New York from roughly 1792 to 1832, possibly earlier. That means that he was not living in Missouri during those years. Therefore, the children listed in his bible were born in New York. Also, since he married Christina Shephard in 1789 and she survived him, Christina is the mother of all of his children.

My conclusion:  Azariah and Christina (Shephard) Holcomb of Sand Lake, New York had a son named Azariah Holcomb Jr., born on May 8, 1802. Azariah Holcomb Jr. married Mary Ann P. Cole or Cale and moved to Sugar Grove, Warren County, Pennsylvania.  Based on census records, Azariah and Mary Ann lived in Warren County from at least 1850 until his death in 1889.

Warren Co., PA, 31 July 1850:

Azariah Holcomb  50 NY

Marian ----- 38 NY

Sylvester ------ 18 PA

Philander ------ 16 PA

Sherman ------ 14 PA

Almira ------ 10 F PA

Russelburgh, Warren Co., PA, 20 July 1860:

Ezeriah Holcomb  64 NY

Mary ----- 54 NY

Sherman ----- 25 PA

Norman ------ 3 PA

Warren Co., PA 25 July 1870:

Holcomb, Azariah  68 NY

-----, Mary 58 NY

-----, Norman 14 PA

Warren Co., PA 16&17 June 1880:

Holcomb, Azariah 78 NY fb. CT mb. NY

-----Mary A. 68 NY fb. NY mb. NY

Note that the other Azariah gives his father’s birth place as Connecticut and his mother’s as New York.

Next up, my Missouri Azariah Holcomb, who was a very different person from the other Azariah Holcomb of Warren County, Pennsylvania. While he is a very different person, it takes much more effort to connect his dots.

My Azariah Holcomb, according to his bible record, was born in 1800:

According to the 1850 and 1860 census records, he was born in Missouri.

14 Nov 1850 McDonald Co., MO, 53rd Dist, p. 116:

341-351:

Azariah Holcomb 50 MO

Susan   54 KY

Minerva  18 MO

Azariah Oliver 15 MO

Hulda   11 MO

1 June 1860 McDonald Co., MO, Rutledge Twp:

3-3

Azariah Holcomb 59 M Farmer $200-$20 b. MO

Susan Holcomb 63 F b. MO

A.O. Holcomb 25 M Miner b. Seneca Nation

Elizabeth Nelson 4 F b. MO

[Elizabeth Nelson was the daughter of Azariah and Susan Holcomb's daughter Minerva (Holcomb) Crook Nelson]

Azariah's birthplace is also consistently reported as being Missouri by his children who survived to 1880. However, there was no Missouri in 1800. Instead, there was a Louisiana Territory. My guess is that he was identifying his birth place as being in the area that later became Missouri.

In 1833, Azariah Holcomb is living and working at the Seneca Sub-Agency in what is now Delaware County, Oklahoma. He was hired because he was James Pool's brother-in-law. James Pool married Azariah’s sister Phoebe Holcomb in the home of Benajah Brown of Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri in 1824.

Phoebe Holcomb had a half-brother named James Brown. It is likely that Benajah Brown was Phoebe’s step-father and James Brown’s father. That would mean that her mother had married Brown after the death of her Holcomb father. Therefore, her father was deceased by 1824.

Phoebe Pool and Azariah Holcomb are named as the siblings of Enoch Holcomb in his probate. 

Specifically, the siblings of Enoch Holcomb are listed as being:

-Isaac Holcomb brother of decd who resides in St. Louis County

-Nathaniel Holcomb brother of decd who resides in California

-Azariah Holcomb

-Hannah wife of James Scagg

-The children of Esther Jameson who was a sister of dec who reside in the Southwestern part of the state of Missouri

-The children of Phoebe Pool whose residence is unknown

The birth order of these Holcomb siblings is roughly this:

Esther Holcomb b.c. 1796 in Tennessee

Enoch Holcomb b.c. 1799 in Missouri

Azariah Holcomb b.c. 1800 in Missouri

Isaac Holcomb b.c. 1803 in Missouri

Nathaniel Holcomb b.c. 1805 in Missouri

Phoebe Holcomb's exact birth year cannot be determined because she died prior to the 1850 census. On the 1840 census she is 30 - 39 years old, which places her birth between 1801 and 1809. Since Phoebe married James Pool in 1824, her birth date would be closer to 1801, making her anywhere from 23 to 14 at the time of her marriage. Since there is no consent given for her, she was likely of age.

Hannah Holcomb b.c. 1812 in Missouri

James Brown  b.c. 1818 in Missouri

Since Enoch’s probate does not name a brother James Brown, that suggests that Enoch Holcomb and James Brown do not share the same mother. Given the range of these children’s births, 1796 to 1818, it is possible that their father had two wives. However, the fact that the Browns only seem to have had one child suggests a woman at the end of her child bearing years, so all of these children may have had the same mother, and James Brown’s omission from Enoch Holcomb’s estate settlement may be an oversight.  

More importantly, note that none of these children was born in New York. Their father is deceased by 1817, and their mother has remarried a Brown. Their mother cannot be Christina (Shephard) Holcomb, whose husband Azariah is still living in New York in 1818 when James Brown was born in Missouri.

So who is my Azariah Holcomb’s father? My favorite candidate is a Nathaniel Holcomb who was living in Ste. Genevieve, Louisiana Territory [now Missouri] in 1805 and 1806 when he was sued by William Cochran's estate for a debt of about $50.

Signature from William Cochran dec'd lawsuit

In 1806, he signed a petition in Ste Genevieve in the Louisiana Territory.

He was deceased by 1818 when Titus Strickland, acting as guardian to his heirs, was trying to clear up the title for land in Missouri. Strickland's efforts continued through 1820. To date, the names of the heirs of Nathaniel Holcomb are unknown.

My final conclusion is that only one of the two Azariah Holcomb’s can be the son of Azariah and Christina (Shephard) Holcomb, and that their son was the other Azariah Holcomb—the one who married Mary Ann and died in Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania.

If my Azariah Holcomb's father is Nathaniel Holcomb, then who was Nathaniel connected to and how could the two Azariah’s be cousins?? Nathaniel Holcomb was likely the missing Nathaniel Holcomb VI, son of Nathaniel Holcomb V and Hannah Holcomb, and a brother to the Azariah Holcomb who married Christina Shephard. Obviously, a lot more research needs to be done to establish who Azariah Holcomb's father was and what his connection was to the Holcombs of Connecticut. 

Peter Self's Wife

© Kathy Duncan, 2017

Regarding Peter Self (1787 – after 1860) of Chatham Co., NC and Benton Co., TN, there has long been disagreement over who his wife was, either Martha Moss or Elizabeth Vick. Some on Ancestry have gone so far as to merge these two into one in an effort to reconcile the differences, dubbing her Elizabeth Martha Moss. Recently, a researcher assured me that “popular opinion” holds that she is Martha Moss. Frankly, my preference is documentation or at the very least a preponderance of the evidence. Oral history is of value because it usually contains a grain of truth. Secondary sources are usually fraught with errors, but can often be of value. Popular opinion is just that, opinion.

All that being said let’s turn to the issue of who Peter Self’s wife was.

On the 1850 census of Benton County, Tennessee her name is simply Elizabeth Self.

Click to Enlarge Image

On the 1860, when she is living in Benton County, Tennessee with her daughter, Elizabeth (Self) Park, her name is still Elizabeth Self. No hint of Martha. Plus, now we see some disagreement over whether she was born in Virginia or North Carolina.

Click to Enlarge Image

 A lawsuit in Benton County filed in Chancery Court establishes who the children of Peter Self were:

“No 52 Rule

15 Trial

Elizabeth Self et al

VS     A Bill

Peter Self Jr

Filed 14th Sept 1859

D.P. Hudson Clerk & Court Master

To the Hon Stephen C Pavatt presiding in chancery at Camden.

The bill of complaint of Elizabeth Self the widow of Peter Self deceased, Wiley Ellis and his wife Nancy, Joseph Park and his wife Elizabeth, Duncan H Self, Iley N Self all citizens of Benton County TN except Iley N and Duncan the latter of whom is a citizen of Rutherford County TN & the former of Decatur County.  Humbly complaining your orators & oratrixes would most respectfully show unto your Hon, that your oratrix Elizabeth Self is the widow of the late Peter Self, and that your oratrix Nancy is a daughter of the said Peter Self, and that she has intermarried with your orator Wiley Ellis.  That your oratrix Elizabeth Park is a daughter of the said Peter and that she has intermarried with the said Josiah Park and that your orators Duncan H. Self & ILey N Self are the sons of the said Peter Self.”

It is important at this point to put Peter Self’s children, based on the Chancery Court lawsuit, in birth order. They are as follows:

1       Nancy (Self) Ellis b. 1818

2      Peter Selph b. 1820

3      Duncan Hyder Selph b. 1825

4      Elizabeth (Self) Park b. 1827

          Iley Nunn Selph b. 1830

The question then becomes are they all the children of Elizabeth? Reading further into the lawsuit the following information sheds some light on that:

“They charge that the claim set up to said land by the said Peter Jr is a fraud upon the rights of your oratrix Elizabeth Self and upon the balance of your orators.  They charge that the said deft refuses to premit his said Mother to enjoy any portion of his father's estate unless she will reside with him, And that his treatment to her is such as to make his house a very unpleasant abode for her.  That his language towards her is disrespectful and insulting.  That on one occasion when a friend was endeavoring to induce him to premit a portion of the property to be used for the support of his mother, he after enumerating a few articles of little value said if she would not accept that, she might go to Hell & pump thunder.”

Now we know in quite colorful language that Elizabeth was the mother of Peter Self Jr., and, therefore, of the children born after Peter: Duncan Hyder, Elizabeth, and Iley Nunn. We only need to figure out if she is also the mother of Nancy.

Since Elizabeth Self had a granddaughter and great-granddaughters through Duncan Hyder Selph named Elizabeth Vick Selph and others named Betty Vick Selph, it seems more profitable first to research the possibility that she is Elizabeth Vick and see if that yields an answer.

In the probate settlement of Giles Vick of Chatham, North Carolina which begins in 1797, but continues well into the early 1800s, there is a document in which Peter Self, Presley Moore, and Penny Vick, on behalf of William and Richard Vick, appoint John Stroud as their attorney to represent their interests in Giles Vick’s estate. That document is signed 25 January 1816. Peter Self is evidently signing in right of his wife, as is Presley Moore. This record also indicates that Nancy Self, born 1818, was a daughter of Peter Self and a daughter of Elizabeth Vick since the document predates her birth by two years.

Click to Enlarge Image

Now the question is, did Giles Vick have a daughter named Elizabeth? Usgenweb.org contains this record transcript:

”File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:

Donnie Pickard dmallie@aol.com March 5, 2014, 6:03 pm

Source:   Personal

Photo can be seen at:

http://www.usgwarchives.net/tn/henderson/photos/documents/gilesdel1093gph.jpg

Image file size: 82.7 Kb

Nancy Vick married Presley Moore August 1810 Chatham Co., North Carolina.  According to Presley Moore's 1812 pension no record is available for their marriage.

Married by Wright Kirby.  Nancy Moore's post office address was lone Elm, Henderson Co., TN.  Nancy had no record of her marriage and no bible.  Witnesses to her widow's pension for the War of 1812 were T.H. Davis, Elisha Hendrix, William Stone and G.G. Moore.  The marriage was August 1810 Chatham Co., NC.

Chatham Co., N.C. Guardian Records -page 94 (reel 38)

Wright Kirby return as Guardian for the Heirs of G.Vick, nothing comes to hand in the fund ___ great (? the sum not at this time known..........Wright Kirby Guardian

Nancy (Vick) Moore was one of the orphans listed in the Guardianship record. She was the daughter of Giles Vick and Delilah (Flowers) Vick.

Nancy (Vick) Moore was married to Presley Moore (my ancestors)

These are the other heirs as listed in the bible records below:

Elizabeth Vick was bornd 16 day of Oct 1789

Nancy Vick was bornd the 18 day of September 1791

Jenny Vick was bornd the 23 Day of November 1793

Richard Vick and William Vick was bornd the 12 of Nov 1795

Richard Vick his hand and pen 1810 [or 1818?]

Drawned of from the old record by Duncan I. Ellis January the 27 1875 for ant

Nancy Moore

Additional Comments:

(Image letter/note came from Henderson Co., TN.  It listed the heirs of Giles and

Deliah (Flowers) Vick)

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/tn/henderson/photos/documents/gilesdel1093gph.txt”

Click to Enlarge Image

Of note is that Duncan I Ellis, grandson of Peter Self transcribed this record specifically for his Aunt Nancy Moore. Nancy (Vick) Moore died in 1879 in Henderson County, Tennessee, and in 1875 she must have needed documentation for her claim to Presley Moore’s pension. This would seem to indicate that her brother Richard Vick had transcribed the Giles Vick bible and gave it to Elizabeth (Vick) Self or Peter Self of Benton County, Tennessee, and that transcription was in the possession of the Ellis family, descendants of Peter Self. In fact, Richard Vick may have copied the Giles Vick family into a bible that he presented to his sister Elizabeth Vick and Peter Self on the occasion of their marriage.

The combination of all this information indicates that Peter Self of Benton County, Tennessee was married to Elizabeth Vick, daughter of Giles Vick of Chatham County, North Carolina. It also reinforces the idea that Peter Self was from Chatham County, North Carolina.

There is no indication that Peter Self of Benton County, Tennessee was ever married to a woman named Martha Moss, who is linked to the Peter Smith Self of Southampton County, Virginia. That naturally raises the question: Was Peter Self of Benton County, Tennessee the same person as Peter Smith Self of Southampton County, Virginia? 

Stay tuned!

Peter Self vs. Peter Smith Self

 

Eliza Mariah (Jameson) McMullin

© Kathy Duncan, 2017

On May 12, 1867, Jasper N. Jameson sat himself down to write a letter to his nephew R. W. McMullin. When he did, he created documentation that he had an additional sister, Eliza Mariah (Jameson) McMullin, who has been unaccounted for by Holcomb/Jameson researchers until now. He also inadvertently created documentation that his father was Robert Jameson, a “pioneer” of Jefferson County, Missouri. Evidently, Esther (Holcomb) and Robert Jameson lived in Jefferson County, Missouri prior to their move to Jasper County, Missouri.

The letter auctioned on ebay. By the time I found it, it had been archived on a website called WorthPoint. The image for the letter was no longer available, but fortunately the seller had transcribed the letter and included some speculation about it.

The seller’s notations:

“Up for auction today is a 2 ½ page handwritten letter that was written by a Jasper N. Jameson who was living in Salt Spring Valley California at the time he wrote this letter back in 1867. I had a difficult time finding this particular place and I believe it's in Calaveras County / but I also found a Salt Spring Valley in Glenn County, California. Either way, I don't think it ever was or is a very large town; might quite possibly be a ghost town right now. I would love to know any more information if any one has any. I did find a great web site that talked about a Salt Spring Valley California , some of the families and the mining operations going on back in the 1860's. You can view that site at;

/copper_history/chapter6.htm

As far as the letter goes, it's written to "Watson W. McMullin". W Watson lives, I'm not sure because the letter didn't come with its original envelope. I also want to note that Jasper seems to be staying with Watson's uncle, Volney Brooks.”

The seller’s partial transcription of the letter, which offers a tantalizing glimpse into the life of the Jamesons in California:

"Salt Spring Valley Cal

May 12 th , 1867

Dear Watson,

I recived your kind letter of the 7 th April yesterday which gave us much pleasure to hear from you and to learn that you were all well. We are all well except your aunt Amanda. She is very unwell. She has been sick for along time. She is just able to walk acros the house and has ben so for some time. I don't kno whether she is mending or not some times I think she is and then I think she is not. It is hard to tell tho she is under the treatment of a good doctor. He thinks he can cuer her. The rest of your Aunts, Uncles, cousins are all well.......Times are dul Money scace, provisions tolerable high. The people generly live prety well. Nearly all kinds of bisness is dull. People think they are doing well if they make but little more than a living. I have been so bissy that I have had no time to work my quortz to prove it but it is still thare and I still think it will give me a lift as soon as I can get to work it and if so as soon as I mak it I will get maried, that is if I can. I don't know how that will be for I am so insultingly ugly that my face insults nearly every young lady that I get acquainted with but if I should make a rase I ma look better for money goes a long ways with them in this country.......Thare is erbs groing in that country that dos not gro One of them is the butten snakeroot which I wish if you pleas and can by any means send me 2 or 3 ounceses of the root. You can dry the root and pulverize it and seal it up in a bottle or a paper and send it by the male or express and if you haf to pay for the carige of it thare, I will return you the money as soon as I learn the amount and send me some of the seed of the butten snakeroot.........At this time but remain yours until death, write soon so good by. Jasper N. Jameson to R. W. McMullin."

A search of the census in Missouri eventually turned up this promising household:

16 Oct. 1850, District No. 42, Jefferson County, Missiouri:

891-891

John T McMullin 37 M W Farmer $500 b. MO

Eliza M  30 F W b. MO

Jane C 13 F W b. MO

Joseph C. 10 M W b. MO

Richard W. 8 M W b. MO

Mary C. 1 F W b. MO

The same household in 1860:

13 Oct. 1860, Plattin Twp., Jefferson County, Missouri:

72-72

John McMullin 48 M Farmer $?500-$1,200 b. MO

Eliza 40 F b. MO

Joseph 18 M Farmer b. MO

Ritchard 18 M Farmer b. MO

Mary 11 F b. MO

Thomas McMullin 8 M b. MO

IdA A. 4 F b. MO

James 2 M b. MO

A search for Richard W. McMullin turned up the following Goodspeed biography:

R. W. McMullin is the present treasurer of Jefferson County, and is the editor of the "Jefferson Democrat".  In the family of his parents, John T. and Eliza M. (Jamison) McMullin, were ten children, four of whom are living.  R. W. the third child, and the eldest now living, was born in Jefferson County, June 2, 1842.  John T. McMullin is a son of Samuel McMullin who was a native of Ireland, and settled in Jefferson County, near Valle Mines, in the latter part of the eighteenth century.  Eliza M. McMullin was a daughter of Robert Jamison, who was also one of the pioneers of Jefferson County.  The parents were married about 1837, and settled on a farm on Plattin Creek; the father was born in 1812, and was three times elected assessor of Jefferson County, performing the duties of that office to the satisfaction of all.  R. W. was educated in the common schools, and in the winters of 1860 and 1863 taught a district school.  In August, 1862, he enlisted for three years in the Thirty-first Regiment Missouri Volunteers, but was discharged at the expiration of three months on account of throat and lung diseases contracted in the service.  February 1, 1863, he was appointed deputy county clerk under Samuel A. Reppy, in which capacity he served until May, 1865, being then appointed county clerk by Gov. Fletcher, retaining the latter office until November, 1866, when he was elected to the same position on the Radical ticket, and performed the duties of the office to the satisfaction of all and to his own credit.  In June, 1871 Mr. McMullin purchased the "Jefferson Democrat," a paper in which he had been interested for some time previously.  He still owns and conducts the paper, which is the most newsy and firmly established paper in Jefferson County.  Mr. McMullin was elected county treasurer of the county in 1884, being elected to the same position in 1886.  In March, 1864, occurred his marriage to Miss Mary E., daughter of B. S. Reppy, who died in 1865.  The following year he married Miss Mary E., daughter of E. F. Honey, and to their union have been born four sons and four daughters.  Mr. McMullin is an elder in the Presbyterian Church, and belongs to Joachim Lodge, No. 164, A. F. & A. M., and also to Cape Stone R. A. C., No. 33.  He has taken great interest in Masonic matters and has served as D. D. G. M. of his Masonic district.

[Source: History of Franklin, Jefferson, Washington, Crawford and Gasconade Counties, Biographical Appendix, Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1888.]

Jefferson County, Missouri marriage records reveal that Richard Watson McMullin married Mary E. Honey on 24 November 1866.

Additionally, there is this biography of Richard Watson McMullin from Missouri History Encyclopedia:

McMullin, Richard Watson, was born in Jefferson County, Missouri, June 2, 1842, son of John Thompson and Eliza M. McMullin. Both his parents were native Missourians, his father having been born in Jefferson County in 1812, and his mother in the same county in 1817. His father died at the age of seventy-six and his mother at the age of forty years. His paternal grandfather and grandmother came from the north of Ireland in 1808 and his maternal grandparents, Robert Jameson and wife, from Scotland in 1806. Richard W. McMullin was reared on a farm, receiving a common school education, and in 1862 espoused the Union cause and enlisted in the Thirty-first Missouri Infantry Volunteers, but after serving several months was discharged, disabled after a severe attack of illness. Several years later he had the misfortune to have both his arms badly crippled. Nevertheless an active and enterprising spirit compensated in a large measure for his physical disadvantages, and he has been a diligent and useful man of affairs in his county. In 1865, he assisted to establish the "Jefferson Democrat," and on the 1st of January, 1900, he purchased and took entire charge of the paper, which he has made on e of the most valuable and useful local journals in the State. He has served in various public capacities, county clerk, county treasurer, probate judge and deputy collector. He has been a zealous and influential Freemason, joining the lodge in 1866, and holding all the offices of honor and trust, and having an equally honorable official connection with other recognized secret orders. His political affiliations are with the Democratic party and he enjoys the full confidence of his copartisans, as is proved by the fact that he has served as a member of the Jefferson County Democratic committee, and of the State Democratic central committee, and was president of the convention in 1878 which gave to Honorable M.L. Clardy his first nomination for Congress. Mr. McMullin was married November 25, 1868, to Miss Mary E. Honey, daughter of E.F. Honey, clerk of the circuit court, and a member of one of the oldest and best families of Jefferson county. He is an exemplary member of the Presbyterian Church and has held the position of superintendent of the Sunday school for twenty-five years.

[Source: Missouri History Encyclopedia, 1901; Vol. 4; Section M; p. 279]

Thus, Richard Watson McMullin of Jefferson County, Missouri was the nephew, R.W. “Watson” McMullin, who Jasper N. Jameson was writing a letter to in 1867.

Additionally, Jefferson County, Missouri records revealed the date of John T. McMullin and Eliza Mariah Jameson’s marriage:

John F. McMullin and Eliza Mariah Jamison married on 21 April 1835 by Wm. G. Walker at Jefferson Co., Mo. the hand written index has John T. McMullin and Eliza Mariah Jameson

[Source:   Jefferson Commissions and Marriages 1826 – 1838, p. 102]

John Thompson McMullin’s obituary appeared on 1 August 1888 in the Jefferson Democrat:

“DIED – At De Soto, July 29, 1888, John Thompson McMullin, in his 77th year. While in the discharge of his duties as Deputy Assessor, on the 16th, he was caught in a rain storm, which produced chills and fever; the fever assumed typhoid form and there was also inflammation of the bowels. During his last 21 hours he could neither see, hear, speak nor swallow, but con-tinued to breathe, almost once for every second of time.

He was buried on Monday, at his home on the Plattin. Mr. McMullin was of Irish parentage, and was born in Washington County, Missouri February 14, 1818, and was brought to this county before he was two years of age and resided here ever since. Of the early history of this county, he knew more than any one now living. His was an active and efficient particular in the pioneer struggles for the advancement of civilization, education, morality and religion.

As a county official, school teacher or minister of the Gospel, his influence always was for progress in what was right and good. In the neighborhood he was an ever-ready counsellor and guide; to those in sickness and distress, a minister of peace and consolation – while his hospitality, generosity and charity were only bounded by his means. His life was a struggle with poverty, but cheerfully borne. Twice comfortable homes were sacrificed by his having stood security for the contracts of others; but he never gave up the battle and would at once strike out to prepare another home for his family.

His first wife was Eliza M. Jameson, daughter of Robert Jameson, mother of the pioneer settlers of this county. To them were given nine children. Some of them died at an early age – two after having arrived at maturity. There are now but four living. He was married four times, his second wife living but a year or two, and his third but a month or two. His fourth, now left a widow for the second time, is a daughter of the late James Gowan of De Soto.”

Eliza Mariah (Jameson) McMullin died on 11 March 1861 and is buried in the McMullin Cemetery in Plattin, Jefferson County, Missouri

John Thompson McMullin died 29 July 1888 and is also buried in the McMullin Cemetery in Plattin, Jefferson County, Missouri.

Grandison "Granville" Dandridge Nevill Family Tree

Grandison "Granville" Dandridge Nevill's family tree:

Fred Duncan's Family Tree

Family tree of Fred Duncan: