52 Ancestors 2020: Week 6: Same Name

The name that might possibly repeat more than any in my family... Joel Gibson. When I type that in, I get five hits right off the bat. So let's jump right into this post and talk about the original Joel Gibson. The patriarch of (almost) every Gibson in Henderson County, Kentucky. 

Joel Gibson was born in 1750 in Caswell County, North Carolina -- at least, that's where he starts appearing in the 1770's and 1780's in the censuses and census substitutes on Ancestry. We know Joel served in the Revolutionary War as well -- his tombstone, land application, and pension file conclude that. A summary of that information is: Joel Gibson enlisted in Caswell County, North Carolina, in 1775. Re-enlisted and served under Capt. Henry Dixon commanded by Col. James Moore. Fought at Moore's Creek, Kings Mountain., Guilford Courthouse, and at the siege of 96 District of South Carolina. Discharged in 1783 in Wilmington. Rev war pension applied 4/15/1825, cert issued 5/19/1825 in Henderson Ky.

We know Joel Gibson married in about 1769 to Miss Eleanor Davis. It's a rough guess on year because their first child, that we know of, was born in 1770. 

Vicey Gibson, born 1770, married Josiah Stone in approx. 1788. (I believe they married in North Carolina.)

Burgess Gibson, born 1775.

Elizabeth Gibson, born 1782.

Bailey Gibson, born 1784 and died 1856. Married in 1813 to Catherine Sights. (Married in Henderson.)

Greenberry Gibson, born 1785. He married Charlotte Davis. (Moved to Missouri I believe)

Berryman Gibson (my ancestor), born 1785 and died 1870. It's possible Greenberry & Berryman were twins.. their names are very similar but I assure they were different individuals. Berryman married Susan Duncan. (They married in Henderson.)

Robert Gibson, born 1786.

Tillman Gibson, born 1790 and died 1859. He married Sarah Crowley. (Moved to Alabama)

Margaret "Peggy" Gibson, born 1795. Married Abraham Shelton in 1808. (Married in Virginia)

Nancy Gibson, born 1795. Married Josiah Shelton. (Probably married in Virginia, too)

All of these children eventually made their way to Henderson County, KY, I do believe. A few of the girls might have stayed behind in Caswell or died young as I don't have marriage information for them. 

We know by 1808, the family is in the Pittsylvania County, Virginia area, as that's where Peggy marries Abraham Shelton. 

By the 1810 census, Joel Gibson and his brood are listed in the Christian County, Kentucky. 

By 1813, Joel and his children have made it to the Corydon area of Henderson County, Kentucky. In roughly 1818, Eleanor passes away. It is unclear if she perhaps was the first burial in what is now the Gibson Family Cemetery in Corydon (high up on a hill) as there has been no tombstone found for her. There are people that will say "Eleanor died on the journey to Kentucky," but... she's clearly alive with Joel in the 1810 census (if you go by ages.) So I believe she died after coming to Henderson County. 

The patriarch, Joel Gibson, eventually passed away on December 23rd, 1830, according to his military provided tombstone(s). There are some who will say Joel died in Caswell County and is buried there. There is absolutely no proof of that. He has TWO tombstones in the Gibson Family Cemetery. He was absolutely living in Henderson at the time of his death. Trust me, in 1830, they weren't going to ship his body from Henderson back to Caswell, especially when all of his children, at that point, lived here. 

The second Joel Gibson was the son of my ancestors, Berryman Gibson & Susan Duncan. He was born in 1813. He married Margaret Martin on August 25th, 1842. They had at least four children: Susan, Stephen, Evans, and Sarah. Joel died at about 39/40 years old, in February of 1853. 

The third Joel Gibson was the son of Bailey Gibson & Catherine Sights. He was born in about 1816. On September 1st, 1836, he married Francis "Froney" Watson. She passed away in 1862 and he re-married Evaline Overfield. He and Froney had at least the following children: Mary, James, Sarah, Charles, Malisa, John, and Nancy. He and Evaline didn't have children that I'm aware of. This Joel Gibson passed away at about 49 years old on July 17th, 1865. 

The fourth Joel Gibson that pops up in my tree is Joel Elender Gibson, son of Tillman Gibson & Sarah Crowley. So right now we're batting at three of Joel Gibson's sons have named a son after him. This Joel was born October 20th, 1828, and married Amanda Woolbright. He died February 14th, 1881. Now, this Joel lived his whole life, I believe, in Alabama. Tillman & Sarah, after they married, moved to Alabama. Census says Sarah was born in Georgia, but I think she might be part of the Webster County Crowley's.. it would make sense anyway. Maybe a distant cousin of them anyway. I know at some point, Tillman was in Henderson County prior to going to Alabama. 

The fifth Joel Gibson in my tree is the son of Isaac Gibson & Rachel Stone. Isaac & Rachel were cousins. Isaac was the son of Burgess, who was the son of the original Joel. Rachel was the daughter of John Squire Stone, son of Vicey Gibson, daughter of the original Joe Gibson. This Joel Gibson was born in 1858 and died in 1899. He married Rebecca Jane Wilson on December 26th, 1880, in Webster Co, KY. 

There are probably more Joel Gibson's that I just haven't added to my family tree as of yet... but these are the five that I have so far. Are you descended from a Joel Gibson in Henderson, Union, or Webster County, KY? Then your Joel Gibson might be a descendant of THE Joel Gibson... my 6x Grandfather and the patriarch of (almost) all the Gibson's in the area. 

52 Ancestors 2020: Week 5: So Far Away

 I don't know what it was about Chicago, Illinois, that allured four Henderson, Kentucky men to move there in the late 1920's, 30's, and 40's... but they sure enough did drop everything here in Henderson and move up there and started up lives of their own. 

Thomas Stron Thompson, Henry Nally Thompson, William Von Thompson, and Vernon Posey Thompson, all four sons of John Rowan Thompson and his wife, Mary Janella (Nally) Thompson, eventually migrated from Henderson to Chicago and either worked and started a family, worked and sewed some seeds, or just worked. 

The first born, Stron, I found record of him in 1927 crossing the border into Saskatchewan, Canada for work. By the 1930 census, though, he's in Chicago living with his two younger brothers: Henry, and  Von. Uncle Stron, according to the 1930 census, was a machine operator in a packing factory. His brother, Henry, was an electrician at a telegraphy company.. and the youngest of the three, Von, was a carpenter at the steel plant. 

By 1940, Stron was living in the household of his brother, Von, who was now married to Mary Louise Stevenson, and had a young daughter named Betty Lou. Stron's occupation, now, was a furniture finisher. Von was now a foreman at a factory. 

In 1940, the other brother, Henry, was married to Ella Florence Ewald, and his occupation was listed as electrician. 

By 1942, the youngest of the Thompson boys, Vernon Posey Thompson, filled out his WW2 Draft Card while residing in Chicago and his employer was the Stevens Hotel. 

Uncle Stron, the eldest boy, eventually came back to Henderson and lived with his parents. After the death of their father, John Rowan Thompson in 1959... he solely took care of his mother and lived with her until she was placed in a nursing home. She passed in 1972. Stron continued to live in the family home until eventually family placed him into a nursing home and he passed away in 1989. As far as we know, Stron never married, and never had any children. According to family story -- he got his heartbroken, possibly while living in Chicago...and he was so heartbroken, he never ever tried to find love again.

Uncle Henry, the second eldest boy, before his marriage to Ella... he had a short-lived marriage to a woman named Beulah. This was around 1927 -- and it resulted in a son. The family knew about this son... but never knew what happened to him. I had no idea who he was or what his name was until I ran my DNA with Ancestry and uploaded to MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA, and GEDMatch. I matched with some Smutz's and sure enough, that's how we ended up related.

Uncle Henry's son was Robert Henry "Bob" Smutz, 1927-2012. Uncle Henry's other son, Mark, who's mother was the wife, Ella, wasn't born until 1950. We've known Mark his whole life. I'm actually decent friends with his son, Jon, and Jon's wife. Jon tested over on Ancestry and that's what connected us to each other. Henry finished out his life living in Chicago and passed away in 1993. 

Uncle Von eventually divorced his wife, Mary, and re-married a woman Bernice Niemaszek, and had another daughter, Linda in 1954. He, too, finished his life out in Chicago and passed away in 1988. 

The youngest son, Vernon Posey Thompson, or as we called him "Uncle Jake," always had a "mafia" vibe about him. A "man of mystery" if you will. Until doing my DNA with 23andme in 2020; we thought we had Uncle Jake's life all figured out. We knew he'd had a couple boys with a woman named Billie Grissom, who we're pretty sure was the first woman he actually married, and that they were eventually adopted by the woman's next husband, so they had the last name Borders. They were born in 1953 and 1956...died in 1992 and 2014 respectively. 

Then we knew Uncle Jake married a woman twenty years his junior - Norma - and had four more children, all daughters: Vicki, Cyndy, Wyndee, and Missy. 59, 61, 64, and 69. Sometime in the 1970's, Uncle Jake moved his family from Chicago, IL, all the way to the Las Vegas, NV area. Henderson, NV to be more precise, I believe. 

I thought his life was pretty cut and dry besides that... but doing my DNA at 23andme unlocked a family secret. Uncle Jake had actually met a woman, Virginia Peters, in Chicago, before going off to WW2. After coming home and being stationed in Georgia -- they gave birth to a daughter, Laura, in 1945. Uncle Jake didn't settle down and become a father, though. Uncle Jake apparently sewed another seed in '53 in Chicago and gave birth to a daughter named Karen, who I also had no idea about until recently. This was the same year he had his first son by Billie Grissom. 

Uncle Jake eventually settled and lived the rest of his life in Henderson, NV, and passed away just a few days after my Nana (his sister) in October of 2001. Neither one ever knew the other one passed away.

Moral of the story... these Thompson boys got around. From Henderson, KY, to Chicago, IL, to Saskatchewan, Canada, to Las Vegas, NV... they got around, saw a lot of life, saw a lot of women, had some kids that were both known about and unknown about... and thanks to DNA, some family secrets have been uncovered and for me, it hasn't been a bad thing. I've enjoyed getting to know my new cousins and honestly, I look forward to connecting with more of them as time goes by. 

I wish I had a photograph, to share, of all the Thompson children with their parents, or at least all the Thompson boys together.. 

Here is, at least, a photograph of Uncle Jake (Vernon Posey Thompson) with my Great-Grandmother (his sister) Anna Elizabeth (Thompson) Sandefur... and standing making a face at the camera is my Mom, Tammy. This photo was from the 1970's. 

52 Ancestors 2020: Week 4: Close to Home

 

This photograph, I colored with MyHeritage, was taken prior to 1951 -- so I believe sometime in the 1940's. This is my Great-Great-Grandparents, Eugene Henry Sandefur and Ollie Lee (Moss) Sandefur. 

Eugene and Ollie married  on May 18th, 1898, in Henderson County, Kentucky. In the 1900 census, they're listed as living at 1418 Clay St. In 1906/1907, they built the Audubon School where 1418 Clay St. had been, forcing Eugene & Ollie to move across the street to 1421 Clay St. 

In the 1910 census and onward -- that's where they reside. They had six children, one of whom died young after being kicked in the head by a mule. The official death certificate says "concussion of brain and inflammation of the same." 

1421 Clay St. stayed in the Sandefur family until sometime in the late 50's, I believe, when Ollie made the move to New Mexico to stay with her Granddaughter, the late Marie Luna. Eugene had passed away in 1951 -- Ollie passing in 1963. 

The reason I'm sharing this story as "close to home," is because I live less than a mile away... about a three minute car drive or a fifteen minute walk. Plus, because they lived there for so long, I feel like, they stayed "close to home" for decades. 

One of their sons, Russell Louden Sandefur, became the Fire Chief at the Audubon (City of Henderson) Fire Department and lived over by Letcher St. His address, in the 1940 census, was 118 Cottage Avenue, which is a little street that runs parallel to Letcher.

Their other son, my ancestor, Henry Lloyd Sandefur, also lived over on Letcher St. and that's where my Grandmother, Glynda, was born at home, on June 13th, 1941. However, in the 1940 census, Poppy and Nana were listed as living at 122 Burdette Street. 

Interesting enough, also listed at 122 Burdette St, was another of their sons -- Walter and his wife and daughter. The other children spread out a little bit more. Daughter Ruby lived in Harlan Co, KY by 1940 and daughter Hollie lived out towards the Smith Mills area of the county. 

Not far from my house, coincidentally enough, is Sandefur Dr. I'm not quite sure which Sandefur in my family that the street is named after. My Grandparents, Jady & Glynda (Sandefur) Blanford lived right across the street from Sandefur Dr.

So for this particular line of my family, we've stayed pretty close to 1421 Clay St. Even a generation before Eugene -- his parents, Philo and Susan, lived at 420 S. Green St, which is very near Clay St. By 1900, Philo & Susan lived at 1419 Clay St, and by 1910, Philo lived at 1449 Clay. 

As for Ollie, her Mother, re-married by 1900, lived at 1425 Helm Street, which is just the next street over from Clay. Ollie's Father, however, remained out in the county -- towards Hebbardsville. 

Clay St. and "East End" Henderson will forever be in my blood. The area has been called a lot of things over the years, but that area of Clay St. is most notably called "Audubon Heights." Now most people just call it "East End." It's a rather impoverished area of Henderson, sadly.. and rather drug laden. They've been trying their hardest to clean it up for decades... but it hasn't helped much. 

Still, at one point, the area thrived with its own grocery store, barber shop, and more. The staple employment of the East End used to be the Hosiery Mill on Washington Street.. that's long gone now. Where it stood is now (roughly) home to the Salvation Army and the Washington Station Apartments.