Porch Swings, Fireflies, and Jelly Jars: Nelson Kavanaugh Loses His Papers

Friday, October 18, 2019

Nelson Kavanaugh Loses His Papers

© Kathy Duncan, 2019

The last location that I can document for Nelson Kavanaugh is Madison County, Kentucky in 1839. On 25 April 1838, he was in Houston in the Republic of Texas petitioning to be allowed to remain in the Republic. That petition was denied. Next, he appears back in the records of Madison County, Kentucky on 27 May 1839 when he requested a copy of his emancipation papers which were lost due to "casualty."

Presumably, he left the Republic of Texas when his petition was denied. Houston is 1,001 miles from Richmond, Texas. Today that is a drive of 15 hours and 5 minutes. We might guess that in 1839 Nelson was likely to be traveling afoot. He would have had rivers to cross. Inclement weather to contend with. Plus, he would have had to forage and hunt for food. A man traveling 20 miles a day on horseback could make the trip in 50 days. I would think a free black man, who had lost his emancipation papers somewhere along the way, would be keeping out of sight as much as possible.

I have not found Nelson Kavanaugh on the 1840 census. There were no free blacks living at Charles Kavanaugh's in Madison County, Kentucky in 1840. Nelson may have still been in Madison County, but living on someone else's farm.

It would be nice if I could say that I found this record through a methodical search, but I literally stumbled across while looking for records on Charles Kavanaugh.

Madison County, Kentucky; Order Bk. G p. 409

Transcript:

On the motion of Nelson Kavanaugh a person of color, who has been by an order of this Court Emancipated. It is ordered that the Clerk of this Court issue to said Nelson an other certificate of Emancipation. It appearing to the said Court that his certificate heretofore obtained has been lost by casualty.

Nelson, A Slave in the Family

Nelson Kavanaugh Gets His Freedom and His Land

Nelson Kavanaugh's Emancipation

Nelson Kavanaugh in the Republic of Texas

Nelson Kavanaugh Owes Land Tax

No comments:

Post a Comment

I will always try to respond to your comments. If you are anonymous and cannot be reached by email and if you do not choose to follow responses to your comments, then please check back here for a response.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

About Me:

My favorite memories from childhood include visits to my grandparents in East Texas. At dusk we'd run around my grandparent's yard, catching fireflies and putting them in jelly jars. When darkness descended, we'd return to the porch. It was a special treat to sit in the porch swing. Inevitably, the adults would launch into family stories of Pink Kelley's brush with Sherman's troops, of Great Uncle Hood Brown's tragic death, and of the Kelley family's wagon trip to Texas, among many others. The stars on those nights were magical.

I began my genealogy research in the summer of 1975, less than a month after my high school graduation. When I married in 1983, I started researching my husband's family as well. I was fortunate to start this hobby as a youngster because it gave me an opportunity to correspond with researchers who are long gone; to ask questions of family members -although not enough, never enough; and travel a bit. The result is a lot of information. I've come to the realization that I will probably never be able to afford to publish, so this is my publication.

This blog contains a mixture of information on my husband's family and mine. I've expanded into a second blog called Flimsies and Frippery with the intention of focusing on quilts and dolls, but I have several historical research entries there with more planned, which is why I don't get more quilting done.

Ultimately, genealogy is my passion. This is where I plan to record family stories, research adventures and misadventures, and those serendipitous moments that happen out of the blue. You should be warned that I have a bad habit of going back and adding information and links to individual entries, so it is beneficial to check back often if there is a family of particular interest to you. If you wander in and discover that you are a cousin, please contact me.

Since many younger family members who are new to genealogy are starting to contact me about their ancestors, I've started adding family trees to help them see how everyone is connected. The trees are divided between my family and my husband's. You will find them below under the label's Family Trees - My Husband's Side and Family Trees - My Family's Side.

For better or worse, this blog reflects the research, thinking, and writing of a human.