Chenoweth History - New Placement

James Frances of Botetourt Co., VA

(based on database cutoff date: September 22, 2003)

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JAMES(4) OF VIRGINIA b: 1774, MD - d: aft 1820

The Story of James: On page 87 of her book, Cora Hiatt described a family of a James Chenoweth from Virginia, listing children: Thomas, Henry, John, Sarah, Margaret and James. Indeed my own ancestor was one of these, Dr. Henry S. Chenoweth who married on August 26, 1829 in Chillicothe, Ross Co., OH. It is almost certain that descendants of either Henry or John or both sent in this family description to her. She decided that this James was the son of John(3) of Hampshire Co., VA who went to Perry Co., OH with two of his brothers, Absolom and Elias. This James died in Delaware Co., IN in 1846. During the third year of my research, Peter Chenoweth sent me a copy of the will of this James, found in Grant Co., IN, which abuts Delaware Co. Neither Cora Hiatt nor Shirley Harris ever examined this will. To my chagrin, the children therein described where not those cited by Cora, in fact, the children listed were clearly those she described belonging to Absolom, the son of Arthur. It is probably fitting that in correcting most of the structural mistakes of Cora and upsetting everyone else's ancestors, I orphaned my own ancestor, Dr Henry, from the family. After some seven years, the correct placement has now been proven . The story of this research follows in part:

This Absolom is wrong. A lengthy discussion of the proofs of this are found on the background page corrections. It may be that the information was sent in confused; James did have a brother Absolom who went to Perry Co. Or it may be that because Cora had already placed the wrong family under James, she got confused and inserted them in a very strange place. The will of James helps correct this mistake, but it also creates a new mystery. Who was this James who fathered the listed family that contains both Henry S. and John W., brother doctors, who eventually settled for a time in Springfield, MO?

A curious aspect about the family that Cora described is that there appear to be matching records of various Chenoweths born in Virginia in this general time frame who are captured in records that have not been identified. There is of course Dr. Henry who marries in Ross Co., OH in 1828. There is his brother Dr. John W. who married in Madison Co., IL. Both would unite in Springfield, MO. There is a Sarah who married Jesse Tuttle in Champagne Co., OH on February 26, 1834. There is also a Margaret who marries in the same county on January 10, 1822 to Benjamin N Tharp. And there is a Thomas that married to Rachel Ann Swane on February 18, 1822 in Ross Co. These are real people, all born in Virginia between 1800 and 1810. Research would evenntually show them to be same individuals described by Cora's statement.

After I had broken this news and presented my uncle, Harry Holt Chenoweth, with this puzzle, Harry, after months of examining the Harris book, came up with a solution that fits with the known facts of the family. It is this fit and the arguments surrounding it that I am presenting here with connecting links. James was James Francis, the son of Thomas3, son of John. This Thomas died in Botetourt Co., VA and his known family, including James, married there.

Harry and I both thought it logical that we accepted James as the right name for the father of Dr. Henry S. and John W. My uncle and I were convinced that Henry and John were indeed brothers as Cora described. Both lived in the 1850s in Springfield, MO. They were named in the same lawsuit during this period. A newspaper article describes a son of Henry's (Dr William H. Chenoweth), being administered to by his uncle, Dr. J.W. Chenoweth after falling from a horse. An article titled "Personal Reminiscences and Fragments of the Early History of Springfield, Missouri" sent to me by Richard L. Bench describes a 1909 dinner in which the "brothers John and Henry Chenowith" are mentioned. Moreover, some children and many of the grandchildren old enough to have knowledge of their roots were alive in 1925 when Cora published her book. To my knowledge all accepted that Henry S. and John W. were brothers and that their father was a James.

There are only 6 James Chenoweths born before 1800. They are:

• James4, John3, John2: He is in Perry Co., OH and his will does not match the children described.
• James S.4, Richard3, John2: He was raised and married in Jefferson Co., KY. he married in Jefferson Co., KY. His children are well known as is he.
• James4, Abaolom3 John2: He is in Berkeley Co., VA in 1810 and his children appear to be correctly described.
• James5, Jonathan4, William3 John2: No trace has ever been found of him (he is just a name, see my newsletter article). His father was in Muhlenberg Co., KY in 1810
• James Francis, the son of Nicholas Ruxton: he died in the battle of new Orleans leaving a wife and one son (James Francis, Jr.)
• That leaves the James Francis, the son of Thomas, as the only possible James that would fit. An examination of this James Francis finds facts that seem to fit. In the first place he married twice both time in Botetourt Co. He is found there in the Census of 1810 with 5 children. The names of these children are not known, but all were born in Virginia:

LOCATIONS: Virginia
BOOKS: Harris page 182 (misplaced), Hiatt page 67 (misplaced)
OTHER SOURCES: Cora Hiatt, The History of the Chenoweth Family

Children of JAMES CHENOWETH are:

1. Margaret b: 09 Jan 1802 in Botetourt Co., VA d: 15 Sep 1853 in Tazewell Co., IL buried: Lakeside cemetery, Tazewell Co., IL FAG: 38858328 m: Benjamin Northcote Tharp on 10 Jan 1822 in Champaign Co., OH. He was b: 1801 in Kentucky d: 1871.
2. Henry S. b. December 13, 1804, Virginia; d. April 19, 1869, Nesosho, Newton Co., MO; m. LEVINA FRANCES WHITE, August 26, 1829, Chillicothe, Ross Co., OH; b. 1811, Ohio; d. May 29, 1889, Newton, Co., MO.
3. Sarah b: c 1806 in Botetourt Co., VA d: bef 1900 in Missouri m: Jesse Tuttle on 26 Feb 1834 in Champaign Co., OH. He was b: c 1801 in Ohio and died before 1880, probably in Missouri.
4. John W. b. December 25, 1807, Virginia; d. October 05, 1874, Grayson Co., TX; m. FRANCES JACKSON RANDLE, September 01, 1831, Madison Co., IL; b. November 20, 1811, Illinois; d. April 24, 1894, Texas.
5. Thomas Thomas Chenoweth b: Aft. 1799 d: Unknown m: Rachel Ann Swane on 18 Feb 1822 in Ross Co., OH.
6. James b. Aft. 1799; d. Unknown.

Sons:

• Dr. Henry S. 1804-1869 m: LEVINA FRANCES WHITE
  Henry was born December 13, 1804 in Virginia. He is misplaced under James(4) of Perry Co., OH by Cora Hiatt in her book in 1925. As proved by land records he was in fact the son of James Francis of Botetourt Co., VA. Henry first shows up in Chillicothe, Ross Co., OH, where he marries Levina Frances White on August 26, 1829. He would have been 25 at the time. Levina had been born in Ohio, but her family was from Pennsylvania and her father, Robert, is found living with the couple in the 1850 Census. From their marriage, Henry and Levina successively show up in each Census until Henry's death in 1869: In 1830, in Ross Co., OH, 1840 and 1850 in Pickaway Co., OH and in 1860 in Greene Co., MO.

  He was a doctor. Starting as a farmer, Henry picked up the trade of dentistry, and advertised his practice in Pickaway Co.

  From the History of Pickaway County: Dentists p. 311 "H. S. Chenoweth, surgeon-dentist, visited Circleville at frequent intervals, in 1837, for a few weeks at a time. He was a resident dentist here in 1840; one of the standard advertisements of that year announced the fact that Dr. Chenoweth had just received from Philadelphia a fine lot of incorruptible teeth.

  Henry then went on to medicine, eventually attending the medical school in Cincinnati. During his stay in Pickaway Co., Henry served as mayor of Circleville. He and Levina had 13 children, all born in Ohio, but Henry had to bury eight of them that died young. His younger brother, John W., was also a doctor. But John practiced in Illinois and then, in the 1850s, both he and Henry move to Greene Co., MO. Here in 1855 Henry served as the first mayor of the newly incorporated Springfield. Henry and John W. are both named as defendants in a lawsuit in Springfield in 1858. In 1858 Henry moved to Neosho, in Newton Co., MO. He is found here in the 1860 Census and died here in April of 1869, thrown from his horse. Both Henry and John were surgeons in the Civil War, though on opposite sides. Henry served the Union at the general hospital in Springfield, MO. He died at the age of 65, thrown from a horse. Levina lived on here for another eleven years with her daughters until 1880. Henry and Levina are buried in the IOOF cemetery in Neosho, MO.

  CENSUS: 1830 OH: Ross Co: Chillicothe: page 177, 1840 OH: Pickaway Co: Circleville, 1850 OH: Pickaway Co: Circleville: page 197, 1860 MO: Greene Co
  LOCATIONS: Virginia, Ross and Pickaway Cos., OH, Greene and Newton Cos., MO.
  BOOKS: Harris page 182 (misplaced), Hiatt page 67 (misplaced)
  OTHER SOURCES: Richard Harris: The Chenoweth Family in America, Peter Chenoweth of Georgia, Family study of Albert Wilson 'Wilson' Chenoweth, Jr., Pineville cemetery records, Jon Egge, Shaunn Harris, John Bryan Price, Jr., Polly Leidy, John E. Irwin, Robert James Mackin, Jr., Corey G. Chenoweth, Faithe Bremner, Kim Ann Reitz, Bradley William Chenoweth, Harry Holt Chenoweth, Patrica Sue 'Patty' Chenoweth, John Curtis Hargrove, Debra Bunchm Helen Jane Fielden, Polly Leidy, Carl Price Irwin, James Chenoweth Robinson, Jr., Chenoweth Robertson, John Bryan Price, Jr., Debra Bunch, Katherine Brown Leidy, Dean B. Mahin, Wally Poor, Carole Walker, Curt Chenoweth, Donna Lou Goodman, Gloria Chenoweth, Mona Dell Swanson, Zella Jo Kalb & special credit to Cinda Justice for details of Dr. Henry in Pickaway Co.

  Children of HENRY CHENOWETH and LEVINA WHITE are:

  1. James b. 1831, Ross Co., OH; d. Bef. 1834, Ohio.
  2. William H. b. 1833, Ross Co., OH; d. Unknown.
  3. Albert White b. October 15, 1835, Chillicothe, Ross Co., OH; d. September 12, 1883, Pineville, McDonald Co., MO; m. (1) THURSEY L. HARMON, January 17, 1861, McDonald Co., MO; b. December 09, 1841, Greene Co., TN; d. February 09, 1880, McDonald Co., MO; m. (2) LAURA VICTORIA YONCE, January 09, 1881, McDonald Co., MO; b. April 02, 1857, Chicasaw Co., IA; d. October 13, 1939, Rocky Comfort, McDonald Co., MO.
  4. Mary R. b. 1837, Ohio; d. Bef. 1840, Ohio.
  5. Alice M. b. 1839, Ohio; d. Bef. 1842, Ohio.
  6. Lucy b. 1840, Ohio; d. Unknown, Ohio.
  7. Ann S. b. 1841, Pickaway Co., OH; d. Unknown, Pickaway Co., OH.
  8. Emma F. b. 1843, Pickaway Co., OH; d. Aft. 1860.
  9. Harriett b. April 22, 1845, Pickaway Co., OH; d. June 24, 1874, Missouri; m. PATRICK R. SMITH, 1862, Newton Co., MO; b. October 23, 1831, Dinwiddle Co., VA; d. Bef. 1882.
  10. Clarissa May b. October 13, 1846, Pickaway Co., OH; d. July 30, 1930, Neosho, Newton Co., MO; m. JOSEPH JASPER BROWN, January 22, 1873, Pineville, McDonald Co., MO; b. Abt. 1842, Pineville, McDonald Co., MO; d. Abt. 1887.
  11. Josiah W. b. 1848, Pickaway Co., OH; d. Bef. 1860, Savoy, TX.
  12. Elizabeth E. b. 1849, Pickaway Co., OH; d. August 15, 1851, Greene Co., MO.
  13. George S. b. 1852, Missouri; d. Unknown; m. JENNIE JACKSON, July 01, 1876, Newton Co., MO; b. October 07, 1855, Missouri; d. April 23, 1881.
  14. James (1740 - Unknown)
  
  
  
• Dr. John W. 1807-1874 m: FRANCES J. RANDLE
  HARRIS: John was born December 25, 1807 in Hampshire Co., VA. Came with his parents to Ohio. He married Frances J. Randle Sep.1, 1831 in Madison County, Illinois. She was born in Illinois in 1811. John W. is known to have been still living in Madison County in 1832. John was a doctor, and eye specialist. He and his family first lived in Madison County, Illinois, then in 1847 they were in Dade County, Missouri. They were next recorded in the 1850 Census of Springfield in Greene County, Missouri. He is known to have practiced medicine there at that time. His brother, Henry S., was a doctor and prominent citizen of Springfield then also. John moved from Springfield sometime before 1860 when he and family were enumerated in the Census of that year in Linn Twp. of Cedar County, Missouri.

  Before the Civil War began, many people in the southern parts of Missouri were strongly sympathetic to the cause of the Confederacy. Other residents were just as strong in their support for the Union. After the conflict began, the division became a hostile one, families and friends truly at war with each other. In the early days of the war, companies and regiments were raised there for both sides, Confederate, as well as Union. John served in the Confederate Army in the Civil War as a surgeon in Company G, 1lth Regiment, M.M.Parson's Brigade of Missouri Infantry, Trans-Mississippi Dept., Gen.Sterling Price's Army. He was also in Companies F and S, 4th Cavalry Regiment, Missouri State Guard, as a surgeon. His son, Thomas James served some time in one of the same units, under John.

  During the conflict, Yankee sentiment in Missouri became so strong against southerners, and depredations of the northern soldiers against them so outrageous, that Frances and the three youngest daughters, the oldest of whom was married at the time, joined a group of other oppressed Confederate neighbor women and children, and made a hazardous two month trek by ox carts and wagons to the friendly settlement of Kentuckyton in Grayson County, Texas, arriving there in October of 1863. After the war, John and his son, Thomas James, joined their families there to live in an area that later became the town of Whitewright. There is little evidence of John's later activities or whereabouts after the War, but it is possible that he may have been in Grayson County, Texas at the time of his death in 1874. No places of burial for him or for Frances are known.

  ADDED Detail. The early descriptions here are probably wrong, taken from John W.'s traditional link to James(4). of Hampshire Co., VA and later Perry Co., OH. But the will of James in 1846, precludes John W. from being his son. What is known is that John W. was born in Virginia (the Hampshire County location probably comes from his traditional tie to James) and that he shows up first in Madison Co., IL where he marries Frances Jackson Randle. It is likely that he and Henry S. are brothers, assuming the source information sent to Hiatt included this connection, sons of a James from Virginia. However if Cora picked the James, she picked the wrong one. For a brief time, both Henry and John were doctors at the same time in Springfield, MO. John W. died October 05, 1874 in Grayson Co., TX. His wife, Frances, lived another 20 years, dying on April 24, 1894 in Texas.

  CENSUS: 1850 MO: Green Co: Springfield: page 268, 1860 MO: Ceder Co: Linn twp, 1870 TX TX: Grayson Co: 4th precinct: Kentucky PO: page 137, (wife, Frances) 1880 TX: Fannin Co: Savoy: page 373C
  LOCATIONS: Virginia, Madison Co., IL, Greene & Cedar Cos., MO, Grayson Co., AR
  BOOKS: Harris page 187 (misplaced), Hiatt page 67 (misplaced)
  OTHER SOURCES: Cora Hiatt: History of the Chenoweth Family, Richard Harris: The Chenoweth Family in America, Peter Chenoweth of Georgia, Jan Cloud, Jennie Hodge Poe, Tracy L. Smith, Jacklan Hodge Winton, Tom Melugin, Jerry Clift, Annette Catron, WFT Vol 13 # 2599, WFT Vol104 # 1211

  Children of JOHN CHENOWETH and FRANCES RANDLE are:

  1. Maria Rebecca b. June 20, 1832, Madison Co., IL; d. August 18, 1847, Greenfield, Dade Co., MO.
  2. Lucinda Frances b. October 09, 1837, Arkansas; d. September 15, 1906, Whitewright, Grayson Co., TX; m. WILLIAM A. GIBSON, July 24, 1855, Greene Co., MO; b. September 02, 1831, Tennessee; d. January 13, 1879, Missouri.
  3. Thomas James b. May 02, 1839, Arkansas; d. March 07, 1920, Whitewright, Grayson Co., TX; m. ELIZABETH M. 'BETTIE' PAXTON, September 22, 1870, Fannin Co., TX; b. April 27, 1849, Adair Co., KY; d. May 21, 1930, Fannin Co., TX.
  4. James F. b. 1840, Illinois; d. Unknown.
  5. Levina G. b. 1841, Illinois; d. Bef. 1925; m. JAMES S. LINDSEY, 1860; b. Bet. 1826 - 1843; d. Bef. 1925.
  6. Elizabeth A. b. 1843, Missouri; d. March 02, 1861, Cedar Co., MO; m. ROBERT W. WRENN, August 25, 1859, Cedar Co., MO; b. February 22, 1831, Tennessee; d. September 21, 1905.
  7. Harriett Elvira 'Hattie' b. January 24, 1846, Dade Co., MO; d. July 14, 1885, Fisher Co., TX; m. JAMES PAXTON, August 27, 1868, Grayson Co., TX; b. November 18, 1835, Adair Co., KY; d. Unknown.
  8. Martha J. 'Mattie' b. October 10, 1849, Greene Co., MO; d. June 10, 1910, Grayson Co., TX; m. JAMES WHITSITT BLAKEY, JR., November 09, 1865, Grayson Co., TX; b. January 31, 1838, Logan Co., KY; d. January 26, 1912, Grayson Co., TX.

Descendant Outline

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Last Revision 10/15/03: rev Monday, January 03, 2005