Elliott County’s Union Civil War Veterans in 1890
By John A. Stegall   <  johnstegall@hotmail.com

	One installment in a series of articles Mr. John A. Stegall prepares and publishes in The 
Elliott County News, this article is a continuation  and was first published Aug. 2, 1996.  
Transcribed with permission from the author by Samone Ratcliff on July 24, 2000.

	So far, I have given you names and information on more than forty of our Civil War 
veterans (or their widows) who were still living in 1890; and the list goes on.

	Joseph W. Fulton: QM, 53rd Ohio Inf.  He stated that he entered the Union army in Sept of 
1861, but gave no discharge date.  His address is 1890 was  Fielden, a post office in the Little 
Fork area.
	Records seem to reveal that a Dr. Joseph W. Fulton, of Portsmouth, OH, moved to Elliott 
Co in 1883 to develop a five thousand acre tract of land on Little Fork.  This tract of land was 
rich in timber and came with the mineral rights, which were supposedly very valuable.  (Keep in 
mind that this lay near the so-called “diamond field” of Elliott Co.)
	Perhaps the leading factor that encouraged Dr. Fulton to become interested in this area 
was the proposed railroad that would extend from Willard by way of Little Fork to West Liberty.  
Of  course, we know today, that the proposed railroad line never became a reality.
	Oddly enough, when the 1890 Elliott Co tax assessment rolls were completed, Joseph w. 
Fulton was not named as a land-owner.  He was named only as the nearest resident of a Lewis 
Fulton, who owned 320 acres of land in the Little Fork Precinct.  Other Fultons named were 
Robert, W. & A. M., and D. D. Fulton, according to the assessments roll, owned 3,790 acres of 
land.  Also, listed on the 1890 tax roll was the First National Bank of Portsmouth, OH, but no 
acreage was listed.  If indeed Dr. Fulton was attempting to develop an area along Little Fork, I 
suspect it might have been through the Portsmouth bank.
	Since Joseph Fulton does not appear in the census records for Elliott Co after 1890, it 
seems apparent that he may have returned to Portsmouth, OH.  Robert Fulton, however, is named I  
both the 1900 and 1910 census reports for Elliott Co.  In both reports, he stated he was born in 
OH.  His wife, Margaretta, was born in Pennsylvania.  Robert Fulton’s widowed mother, Agusta, was 
living in his home in 1900 and 1910.  It is my guess that Joseph and Robert Fulton were brothers.

	Harrison Gearhart: Pvt., Co., A, 54th Ky., Mtd., Inf.  He indicated in 1890 that his 
service with the Union Army began Sept 5, 1864 and ended Sept 1, 1865.  His address in 1890 was 
Limestone, an indication that he lived near the Carter County line.
	When Harrison Gearhart’s son, George was born, Harrison stated that he was born in Floyd 
Co, KY.  His wife was Harriet Rice Gearhart, and was born in Greenup Co, KY.  (George was born 
Feb 5, 1875 in Elliott Co.)
	In the 1870 Elliott Co census, Harrison Gearhart is listed as Henderson.  At that time, 
he said he was 29 years of age.  His wife, Harriet, was 22.  They had one child; William, age 1 
year.
	When the census was taken in 1880, Harrison indicated that he was 40 years of age, and a 
widower.  His children named in the 1880 census were: Sarah A, age 12 (not named in the 1870 
census); William, 11; Benjamin F., 9; Doctor V., 7; and Marion G., 2.  Also living in his home 
was a widowed sister, Agnis Hill, age 53 years.
	Elliott Co tax records show that Harrison Gearhart was a resident of the Moccasin 
Precinct, but not a landowner.  He was named as the nearest resident to Peter  Carpenter.
	I do not find Harrison Gearhart named in the 1900 and 1910 census reports for Elliott Co; 
however, his sons are named in both reports.  This leads me to believe that Harrison was deceased 
as of 1900, or possibly had moved from Elliott Co.

	Martin Gibson: Pvt., Co., A, 5th Ky., Inf.  It is indicated in “The History of Elliott 
County, Vol. II”, that he was a soldier in the Confederate Army.  I do not have him listed in the 
other list that is available to me.
	I have found very limited information relative to Martin Gibson.  He is not named on the 
1890 Elliott Co tax assessments, and the first record I find for a Martin Gibson is in the 1900 
Elliott Co census.  I am not sure that this is the same Martin Gibson who served in the Civil 
War, but in 1900, he stated that he was 53 years of age, having been born in 1846 in VA.  If he 
entered the war around 1863, this would certainly indicate that he was of sufficient age to 
serve.
	Martin (Martain in the census report) Gibson’s wife was named Nancy, but I have no idea 
what her maiden name was.  she was born in KY in 1846, making her 54 years of age in 1900.  She 
and Martin had been married 33 years and had seven living children and three deceased.  Only one 
child, Joseph, age 20, was still at home; however, a daughter, Rebecca Lemasters, age 27,was in 
Martin’s home, along with her five children.  She could have been a permanent resident in the 
home, but on the other hand, she and the children could have just been visiting the day the 
censustaker came by.
	I find no further record regarding Martin Gibson.

	James Goodman:  The censustaker recorded “Sol. Conf.” and indicated that Goodman was a 
Pvt.  The company he served in was not given, neither was the unit number mentioned; however he 
did state that he was in the Ky. Inf., and his address in 1900 was Leadingham.
	The family of Calvin and Elizabeth Goodman is enumerated in the 1850 Morgan Co, KY 
census, and at that time, their oldest child was James, age 10 years.  Consequently, he is again 
named as the oldest child in the 1860 Morgan census, and ten years older.  In the 1850 report, 
Calvin Goodman stated that he was born in “VA“, but the 1860 report indicates “TN“.  (I have 
always heard that he came from TN to what is now Elliott Co, by way of  Floyd Co.)
	The 1870 census of Elliott co shows sharp discrepancies in the ages of Calvin Goodman’s 
children.  James, the oldest child named in 1850 and 1860 should have been 30 years of age in 
1870, but not so, according to the 1870 report.  At that time he was 18, and ages for some of his 
siblings were in sharp variance with previous ages given.  I believe James should have been 
around 28 to 30 years of age in the 1870 census, but since the Calvin Goodman family was the only 
family by that name in Elliott Co in 1870, James was obviously still in the home of his parents.
	In 1880 Elliott Co census shows James Goodman as married and living in his own home. He 
gave his age as 39 years, which is more in compliance with ages given in 1850 and 1860.  His 
wife, Rachel, was 39 years of age, and born in VA.  (If information given in the Elliott County 
Vital Statistics is correct, Rachel was a Bryant.)  Children of James and Rachel Goodman named in 
the 1880 census were: Ida, 12; John, 10; William, 8; Henry, 6; Maranda, 4; Edmund, 3; and 
Lucindy, 10 months.
	Obviously, James Goodman was named in the 1890 Elliott Co census, but he was also listed 
in the 1890 tax assessments for the year.  That record indicated that James owned 240 acres of 
land in the Moccasin Precinct.  Total value of his property was $1,426, and his nearest neighbor 
was John Jenkins.
	The James  Goodman family is enumerated in the 1900 Elliott Co census report.  At that 
time he was 59 years of age, which was consistent with the age given in 1880.  Rachel was also 
59.  James indicated that he was born in Dec 1840 in KY; Rachel said she was born in Sept 1840 in 
VA.  They had been married for 33 years, and had seven children living and two deceased.  
Children still at home in 1900 were: Miranda, age 24 (married Ed Jones); Lucinda, 20; James M., 
19; and Lewis C., 15.
	It appears that James and Rachel Goodman may have been living outside Elliott Co when the 
1910 census was taken.  But they were still living as indicated by their dates of death: James 
died on July 25, 1917; Rachel died on Nov 23, 1917.  
	If James and Rachel Goodman have descendants still living in Elliott  co, the number 
would be small, and it is likely that there are none.

finished

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