Date: Tue, 11 Mar 1997 02:00:50 GMT To: ky-footsteps@sirius.dsenter.com Subject: ky-footsteps V1 #20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Nancy Trice Date: Sun, 9 Mar 1997 20:21:13 -0500 Subject: KY-F: Memoirs of Marvene Cunningham Russell [1899-1987] In 1985 Suzanne asked her mother to write down what she could remember about her early life, parents, grandparents etc. Her mother wrote a 200 pg memoir instead. This is only the first few pages dealing with Ky. Memoirs of Marvene Cunningham Russell [1899-1987] I am sitting here, the thing I do best, with pen and paper in hand. I am apprehensive, for I am not sure I can pull this off. At eighty-six, one is not always able to express their thoughts and feelings. At the present time I am comfortably situated with my daughter, Suzanne. We reside in Chattanooga. I was born on January 14, 1899, in Madisonville, Hopkins County, Kentucky. Parents, Mildred Jones Cunningham and Edwin Soper Cunningham. Both families, the Joneses and Cunninghams, resided in Madisonville, and since I being the first child in either family, I came in for a great deal of attention. My father was a baritone singer, and member of a local quartet. He being unemployed, we lived with my Jones grandparents. The Joneses were parents of five daughters, my mother, Mildred Ella Jones, being the third oldest, and one son. The youngest were twins, a girl and the one son. My grandfather, Thomas Burton Jones, fought in the Civil War as a Captain. Later he and my Uncle Blount were in business together. They owned a wagon and buggy manufacturing company. My grandfather had a great friend in Walter P. Chrepeler. He approached my grandfather with a proposition to turn the factory into building automobiles, at that time called horseless carriages. The offer was refused. I will endeavor to put down facts as I can remember them, about the Jones family. Ola Jones Prichet was the oldest daughter. They had no children. Georgie Jones Compton was a widow, after a marriage of one year. She had no children. James R. Rash was calling on her, and I became very fond of him. They were married shortly and lived in Earlington, Kentucky where he was President of St. Bernard Coal Company. Nan Jones Franceway was just a few years younger than my mother and her husband, James, was a friend of my father and a member of the same quartet. Blount Jones was unmaried when I went with him to call on Katherine Tate and to play with her afflicted sister, Ermie. They were married later. Blanch Jones Simpson was married to William Simpson and they had one child, a daughter. My grandfather was born a Quaker, and his family were farmers, but not slave owners. My grandmother was a Ramsey and they owned a large plantation and had many slaves. She was a devout Baptist, as was my mother. Suzanne's notes: 1)Actually, Blount Jones and Katherine had one child, a daughter, Virginia Jones who was born in 1899 and died just a few years ago in a nursing home in Bowling Green. She never married. 2)Blanch Jones and William Simpson had three children, Margaret Ramsey Simpson, John Burton Simpson, and Betsey Simpson. Margaret married James Gideon Dollar and they had three daughters. 3)Thomas Burton Jones was a son of Solomon Walker Jones, a Methodist minister and farmer who moved his family to Hopkins County from Granville County, North Carolina about 1841. I have not been able to reconcile my mother's statement that Thomas Burton Jones was "born a Quaker" with this information. 4) Georgia Jones Rash and James R. Rash had one child who died as an infant, possibly at birth. I happened upon his grave at Grapevine several years ago. I will write down what I can remember and what I have been told about the Cunningham family. Sometime in the 1700s the property and holdings of three Cunningham brothers, of the aristocracy in Ireland, were confiscated by the Crown, and the men were exiled to America. One of them settled in Kentucky. I am directly descended from this Lord Cunningham, the one who settled in Kentucky. My grandfather (Fountain Cunningham, Jr.) died before I was born. He had been a wealthy man, owning and operating the only livery stable in Madisonville. Through his business, he made friends with racing people, and eventually went on the road with a string of race horses. He was a drinking man. He lost all his money and died with 'delirium tremens'. He left his wife and three half grown children penniless. My grandmother (Kate Champion Harris) was descended from an English General, who fought on America's side in the War of 1812. His name was William Wingate. His daughter was Rebecca Wingate Campbell, and she was the mother of my great grandmother, Sophronia Campbell Harris. My grandmother was Kate Harris. Her children were my father, Edwin, another son, Percival, and a daughter Campbell who was called Cammy. When my grandfather lost everything, that included the livery stable and their beautiful home. My great grandmother, Sophronia, had a home and property on the corner of Main Street and Broadway. She built a home on her lot, facing on Broadway, for her daughter and children. Cammy eventually married a man named Steven (Stephens) and they lived in Paducah. They had no children. Percival was unmarried until in his forties. My father was the only one with children. Suzanne's Notes: 1) I have only been able to trace the Cunninghams back to Fountain, Sr. who was born in 1804. Since he and his brother,William, are well documented as adults in Henderson, KY, I assumed that they were born there. However, another researcher thinks they may have been born in Hopkins County. I cannot confirm this, nor can I find their parents. 2) William Wingate and his wife, Sarah Chase, and their family are well documented in Boone County, KY where they moved after the War of 1812. I have not been able to confirm his part in the War, not even his supposed rank. 3)The home place mentioned actually belonged to Sophronia's brother, James E. Campbell. He was a bachelor who was cared for by his sister and her daughter. He left the houses and property to them when he died in 1909. During the time we lived with the Joneses, my sister Georgia was born. My father took a job with the L & N Railroad as a brakeman and we moved to Nashville, Tennessee. Dates and times skip me, so I do not know how long we lived in Nashville. Only a short time I am sure, for my father was transferred by the railroad to Earlington, Kentucky as the conductor on a short run train called the "Dinky". We lived in Earlington for a few years. My brother Edwin was born there and then, on my ninth birthday, my sister Nan was born. My father was at great pains to stay put for very long at a time, so we moved back to Madisonville. We had a home next door to my Aunt Ola and Uncle Jim Pritchet. My father went into the laundry business with my Uncle Perce. My best girl friend was Martha Lou Lafoon. Her father had at one time been the Governor of Kentucky. He was also, as a young man, a candidate for my mother's hand in marriage. In fact, she was courted by several wealthy young men, but chose the poor one of the bunch. During the time I lived in Madisonville, a monument honoring the men of Hopkins County who fought in the Civil War was erected in Court Square. Since I was the granddaughter of a prominent citizen in Hopkins County, I was chosen to unveil the monument during the presentation ceremony. While we were living in Earlington, my mother's favorite sister, my Aunt Nan, died at childbirth, leaving her first and only child, James Francway. Suzanne's Notes: 1) The Memoirs continue, but will not be continued here for my mother's 2) family soon moved to Arkansas after selling the laundry business. 2)If anyone reading this memoir can help with any missing pieces, please let me know. I would love to find the parents of Fountain Cunningham Sr., and his wife, Sarah Faulkner. I would also love to confirm, or disprove, the family legend of "General William Wingate". Another 'lost' ancestor is the husband of Rebecca Wingate Campbell. He was Thomas Waller Campbell of Boone County. I think, but have been unable to confirm, that his parents were William Campbell and Amelia Green. ------------------------------ From: cpalmer@ix.netcom.com (Carole Palmer) Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 19:08:01 GMT Subject: KY-F: Wheatcroft obit Providence Journal-Enterprise, Thursday, October 23, 1952. Irving H. Wheatcroft Dies in Canada Information has been received regarding the death of Irving H. WHEATCROFT, founder of the town of Wheatcroft, on September 27 at his home in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Death was caused by a heart attack. Mr. Wheatcroft built the first railroad through Webster county 1901-1905, from Blackford to Dixon and from Wheatcroft to Providence. He founded the town of Wheatcroft which was named for him and owned and operated mines there which later were sold to West Kentucky Coal Company. =20 After he left Wheatcroft he moved to Oklahoma City where he operated banks and was extensively engaged in oil and refining in the state of Oklahoma. In recent years he had lived in Toronto and had been operating a string of tank cars in the United States hauling crude oil and gasoline. =20 He is survived by his second wife, her daughter, Sylvia, and a son, Irving H. Wheatcroft, jr., by his first marriage.=20 Information concerning the death was sent by E.C. RUFF who formerly lived in Dixon and Wheatcroft and worked for Mr. Wheatcroft for nineteen years. He now lives in Shelbyville. A stop on the railroad just out of Providence, known as Ruff was named for Mr. Ruff. Another station on the railroad, Jolly, between Providence and Dixon where Highway 41 crosses the old railroad bed was named for a dog owned by Mr. Wheatcroft which bore that name. The big dog, older residents of Wheatcroft recall, was a favorite of the children of the town and was often seen hitched to a small wagon carrying groceries or on other errands. Additional from Carole: According to Robert M. Rennick's book "Kentucky Place Names", Irving Horace Wheatcroft, an Englishman, was the probable founder of the town of Wheatcroft. In 1899 he laid out and founded the town on land acquired from Elijah CULLEN, opened one or more area coal mines, and built the Kentucky Western Railway from nearby Blackford to Dixon. =20 ------------------------------ From: WRFC71A@prodigy.com (MRS BEULAH A FRANKS) Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 20:03:37, -0500 Subject: KY-F: Obit-TALBERT-KY/MO The Carlisle Mercury, March 18, 1920. Carlisle, Nicholas County, Kentucky. TALBERT Mrs. Sarah Jane Talbert, aged 83 years, died at her home near this city Tuesday morning at 2 o'clock with the infirmities incident to advanced age. Mrs. Talbert had been in declining health for several years, and had been complaining only a day or two prior to her death. No grave fears were entertained by the family. She died very peacefully, experiencing no deep suffering. The death of this venerable woman is a blow to the entire community. She was universally loved by all who knew her. Quite a remarkable coincidence is noted in the death of Mrs. Talbert in that she died in the house in which she was born, after having livid there during her entire life. She was born June 12, 1837, the daughter John and Nancy Parker, who died many years ago. Early in life she joined the Christian Church, and was a consistent Christian woman until her death. When quite young she was united in marriage to Mr. W. W. Talbert, who preceded her to the grave 24 years ago. Of this union there are five surviving children, one daughter, Mr. E. J. Burris of near Paris, and four sons, Jessie H. Talbert, of New Florence, Mo., and Charles, Leslie and Parker Talbert, of this county. The funeral services will be held from the late residence this afternoon at 2:30 o'clock, conducted by Rev. W. P. Crouch, pastor of the Carlisle Christian Church in which church she held her membership. The interment will take place in the Carlisle cemetery. ------------------------------ From: WRFC71A@prodigy.com (MRS BEULAH A FRANKS) Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 20:03:09, -0500 Subject: KY-F: Obit-TRAUGOTT-KY Newspaper Unknown, January 1946. Woodford Woman Dies At 94: Rites Tuesday Versailles [Woodford County] Ky., Jan. 7---Mrs. Sarah Jane Sellers Traugott, 94, widow of Charles W. Traugott, of Woodford county, died at 11:30 o'clock Sunday night after an illness of a week, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Luther Cornish, Route 3, Versailles, with whom she had resided for the past 20 years. A native of Bracken county, she was a member of the Baptist church at Keene, Ky. Besides Mrs. Cornish, Mrs. Traugott is survived by another daughter, Mrs. Carrie Guynn, Fayette county; and one son, Louis Traugott, Ashland, and eight grandchildren. The body today was taken to the residence of Mr. Traugott at Ashland, where funeral services will be held Tuesday, with burial in the Ashland Cemetery. ------------------------------ End of ky-footsteps V1 #20 **************************