Line of my ancestor, Joshua Chilcutt, born about 1790
by JFA
Joshua was born 17 March 1790 in Guilford County, North Carolina, as recorded in a Chilcutt bible, according to Donna Moody. Since she did not say whether she had seen the bible herself or had only seen a record made by someone else who saw the bible, the birth date remains only probable, not certain.
Joshua was married to Elizabeth, almost certainly in Guilford County, North Carolina, since the oldest children usually reported that state as their birthplace. Some people have reported Elizabeth's name as Elizabeth Maude, but I have seen no evidence for the second name, and I'm unsure if it is supposed to be only an additional name or an unusual surname. I have often wondered if the surname was Moody, meaning that she would likely have been related to me through the Guilford County Moodys.
Joshua and Elizabeth, along with his brother George's family and perhaps his sister Rebecca's family, migrated from North Carolina to Tennessee, probably following the oft-used route through Kentucky.Note 1 It appears that they settled in Stewart County, Tennessee, although it may have been the part of Stewart County west of the Tennessee River, an area that became Henry County a short time later. They reached there by 1820 as shown on that year's federal census, where Joshua was enumerated as Joshua Shilcott.
As the 1820 census shows, Joshua's and Elizabeth's family included two boys and two girls at that time, all under five. This implies that their marriage occurred before 1815 but very likely not much before. On the 1830 census, which found them in Henry County, perhaps without even making a move, the four children from 1820 were present, and the family included four more girls and two more boys to make ten children in all. In 1840, one girl, then under five, had entered the family, and this daughter was almost certainly Martha Jane. The 1840 census suggests eleven children instead of ten, but, if there were eleven, one died before 1857, apparently leaving no heirs to share in division of Joshua's property.Note 2
Although the dating of their births comes chiefly from census data, which are often not exactly correct, and from marriage records, which often have no ages, we can determine the approximate ages of most of Joshua's and Elizabeth's children. Since we have only a range of possible birth dates, the order may not be exactly as I have listed it.
- Rebecca appears to be the oldest child, born not long after 1815.
- I have not discovered the identity of one of the sons born before 1820.
- George W.'s birth probably occurred in 1818 or 1819.
- Mary Ann also appears to be born before 1820
- We can guess Elizabeth's birth as occurring between 1820 and 1825.
- James Bruce's birth was probably around 1825.
- Sarah was likely born around 1827.
- Celia was born before 1830.
- Next youngest was probably William F., born about 1832.
- Martha Jane was the youngest born between 1836 and 1838.
I realize that several of these birth years would make Joshua's and Elizabeth's children older than the oldest ages they ever reported for themselves, but only the earlier birth dates can account for their presence on the 1820, 1830, and 1840 censuses. Since twins appear to have been rather common in the Chilcutt family, there may have been one or more sets of twins. The death before 1857 was probably one of the sons born before 1820.
Rebecca
Rebecca remained single well into her thirties, but she married Elijah W. Moody 4 November 1857 after the death of his first wife, Nancy Wynn.Note 3 Rebecca and Elijah had no children, but she helped in the raising of several of the young children left motherless by Nancy's death. Rebecca died before 1894, when the property she and Elijah had owned was listed as taxed to her heirs.Note 4
George W.
George W. married Marina Wynn 8 July 1847 when he was he was twenty-eight or twenty-nine and she was aged fifteen to seventeen, which suggests that he was then a widower although I have found no previous marriage for him. George always reported himself on censuses as too young to have been born before 1820, but it is easy to deduce that he was in the family in 1820 and that there was no male in the age range he always reported.
After moving from Tennessee to Williamson County, Illinois, they lived there for several years, but they ended up in Missouri. Their move there was probably around 1875 since a daughter married in Illinois in that year while a son married in Missouri late that year. They were living there in 1880, and George and Marina probably died there.
Although there may have been more children, my limited search for data on them found only ten.
- Children of George W. Chilcutt and Marina Wynn
- Elizabeth, about whom I have no additional information
- Martha, who married Thomas Shannon
- Nancy, who married William Cash
- Julia, who married a man surnamed Castile as shown by 1880 census in Dunklin County, Missouri
- William, who was probably the one of that name who married Eliza Ann Beal
- George, who married Martha MNU as shown by the 1880 census in Dunklin County, Missouri (I know nothing more.),
- John, about whom I have no more information
- Ida, who married Fields Wilburn with her father signing for her to marry at age fifteen
- Ellen, about whom I have no credible additional information
- Angeline, about whom I have no credible additional informationOff-site link
Mary Ann
Mary Ann married Jesse Bradshaw, and she and he were my great-great grandparents. They lived out their lives in Henry County and had six children including two sets of twins. Mary Ann died fairly young, almost certainly 1860 since Jesse and his brother Richard posted bond for Jesse to become guardian to his minor children in late October of that year.Security by Richard Jesse, who never remarried, lived on until the 1890s. My mother had records only of the birth date of Joshua and his twin, Richard, and the birth years of the other children of Mary Ann and Jessee are very uncertain since they reported the dates as different in different censuses, and three sisters were inconsistent in reporting which pair among them were twins.
Martha Tennessee married George Rufus Angel, and they were the parents of at least five children. They were Rosie Frances (full name from KY Death Certificate #60-21740, Graves Co., 1960), Annie (name from KY Death Certificate #1885, Hickman Co., 1918) , William Rufus (full name from KY Death Certificate #29994, Hickman Co., 1939), George W., Martha Tennessee, and Sarah Ann. I will not address the Angel line further since the children and grandchildren have no Chilcutt parents.
Josh married Nancy A. Powell, daughter of Allenson Powell Jr. and Margaret Culpepper, and Josh and Nancy "Nannie" were my great grandparents. Nannie was born 1 April 1856 and died 27 March 1937. She had married twice before her marriage to Josh with both husbands dying early in the marriage. Although there were no children from the second marriage to Alexander Dortch, Nancy had a daughter Mary Bell (sometimes one word), born 1 December 1873, from the first marriage to Alonzo Marberry or Marbury. When Nannie died, my mother was unable to attend her funeral since she was about four months pregnant with me and was having frequent spells of sickness.
Richard married Mary "Molly" Ross, his cousin. Richard and Molly were parents of several children, but only Jesse Franklin, born 17 July 1883, survived to adulthood. Jessie Franklin married his cousin Elsie Chilcutt, daughter of Devereaux Chilcutt and Martha Randle. Jessis F. and Elsie had no children.
Elizabeth married Henry Franklin Ross, and they remained in Henry County and had a large family. Henry Franklin, who appears to have been known to family and friends as Frank, was several years younger than Elizabeth and probably born about 1834, although he gave varying age information on censuses. Although the listing of Frank Ross in the record of 1891 Henry County voters could have been for son Benjamin Franklin, he seems to have been known as Benjamin or Ben, meaning Henry Franklin was still alive. He died before 1900. Elizabeth died 1903 as attested by her gravestone, shared with daughter Mentie Hastings.
Molly married her cousin, Richard Bradshaw, the son of Mary Ann Chilcutt and Jesse Bradshaw.
Joshua married Nora I. Williams, and, after her death, married Olive Wimberley.
Elizabeth Daretta married John H. Green.
Menty married William Green Hastings. According to cousin Frank Lee, aka Frankie Moody, Green Hastings was known as Bunk. Mentie and Green had several children, and Frankie was interested in daughter Myrtle Armentia, who married Charlie Green, the son of his and my relative, Adeline Morton and her husband, Robert Green.Note 6 We were acquainted some of the children of Armentia and Charlie.
Benjamin married Katie/Kattie/Kiddie Brown (Kiddie on daughter Mabel's delayed certificate of birth, Tennessee D-illegible, 14 August 1944). They had two daughters, one of whom died before adulthood.
Sarah Sophronia married William F. Williams.
James Wesley married Zelema (Zalima on marriage record) C. Owens. Zelema is said to have been the daughter of Theodocia Caroline Chilcutt and Andrew Jackson Owens.
James Bruce gave his birth date as May 1827 as information for the 1900 census. The month is probably correct, and, if the year is not correct, it is nearly so. He died after 18 June 1900, the census date, and before 8 April 1901 when his widow married again.
James Bruce was married first to a woman who married as Jane Ross, but she died before 1867 when he remarried. Although she married as Jane, James Bruce's wife was listed as Margaret J. on the 1860 census. She seems to have belonged to the same Ross family as Henry Franklin Ross, who married James Bruces's sister Elizabeth, George C. Ross, who married his sister Celia, and John R. Ross, who was the first husband of his second wife, Nancy Evaline Tucker.
The family of James Bruce and wife Nancy E. on the 1870 census included his and her children, his and Jane's children, and Henry H. Ross, Nancy's son from her marriage to her first husband. After Nancy's death, James Bruce was married to Elizabeth Buchanan, who was widow of Dave Buchanan and whose maiden name was Wilson (TN Death Certificate #9866).
James M. was married to Emma Stewart, with a slight possibility that her name was Emma Stevens. The Williamson County, IL, marriage record lists her name as Emma Stewart, and this surname receives support from the presence of Ethel Stewart, 12, in the family of James and Emma Chilcutt on the 1900 census in Clay County, AR. The support for Stevens as Emma's maiden name comes only from the Texas death certificate of her son Robert Bruce Chilcutt.
Devereaux, often Devro or Debro, married Martha "Mattie" Randle, daughter of Colby Randle and Lizzie Ellender. Mattie, born 1 July 1861, died 22 April 1931, several years before Devereaux.
Robert Bruce was married to Mamie Leona "Leo" Buchanan, and they had two daughters, Ina Nora, born 12 October 1900, and Olie E.
Ester, sometimes referred to as Queen Esther, married her cousin Andrew Jackson "Jobe" Chilcutt. Jobe's mother was Ruth Jane Chilcutt, daughter of John M. and Sarah Chilcutt, and, although he used the name Chilcutt, he was the son of Asberry Oliver, who later married Ruth Jane.
Kirk Patrick "Pat" married Estella Rowlett, born April 1883 and already widowed at the age of 17 by the death of her husband, M. A. Perry. Stella was the daughter of Joseph Rowlett and Sara Moody. Kirk Patrick and Stella had only one child who survived, a daughter Hermes. After Kirk Patrick's death, Stella married again to C. G. Shackelford and lived until 29 March 1957.
Ida Chilcutt married D. A. Henderson in Henry County in November 1901, but I cannot state with certainty that the bride was James Bruce's daughter Ida even though she would have been of marriageable age then. I am almost certain that D. A. Henderson was Don Alexander Henderson, who married Ella Walker in April 1911, which would mean Ida was deceased by then. I knew Don and his third wife Ora Walker, and, although he had children with both Walker sisters, he had no surviving children who could have been from the marriage to Ida Chilcutt. Since this is Chilcutt history, I have not cited sources for Don Henderson and Ella and Ora Walker, but they are easily found in Henry County records if anyone is interested in their history.
The Social Security Death Index lists Jennie's birth date as May 1888, but the 1900 census shows this to be incorrect since the difference between a twelve-year-old and an eighteen-year-old should be obvious. Jennie married John Headley Ferguson, and they raised a family in Henry County (and sometimes Calloway County, Kentucky).
I found records for Flora Chilcutts's marriage to L. B. Byrd and Dora Chilcutt's marriage to L. J. Byrd, but I found nothing further about either the Chilcutt women or the Byrd men.
I am not certain of much about Sarah. Although she appeared, age 21, on the 1850 census in Henry County with mother Elizabeth, there was also an unaccounted-for Sarah Schicot, aged 20, who seems to have been the same woman, in the home of John and Ann Plant in Stewart County, TN, in 1850. The Henry County census for Elizabeth was conducted 25 August, and the Stewart County census for the Plants was conducted 28 September. Sarah could have easily left home between the two dates, and, according to the death certificates of several children, Sarah was born in Henry County.
Sarah "Sallie" married S. M. Parker, sometimes dalled Cy, in Stewart County either 1852 or 1853 (I was unable to be sure which was written.) Their children included Amanda, Rebecca Jane, Mollie, Liza, Mattie, Emma, William Henry, and Nicolas. Sarah. The family moved about a bit as shown by their being in Trigg County, KY, for the 1860 census, which listed Rebecca as born in Illinois but all other family members as born in Tennessee. They were back in Stewart County in 1870.
Sarah and Cy Parker apparently divorced since he and Nicolas appeared on a state census in the state of Washington, along with William H., who may have been visiting, in the early 1890s. Cy died there, but William lived mostly in Tennessee and died there. Sarah died 31 January 1910. Although several, perhaps all, of the Parker children married and had families, I have not traced them further.
Celia married George Ross in 1858. George was almost certainly the George C. found along with Henry F., Elizabeth Chilcutt's husband, and Jane, to Henry Franklin Ross, who had married Celia's sister Elizabeth earlier. The 1860 census shows George's and Celia's ages as 23 and 22, but Celia is about ten years older while George was a few years older.
The 1860 census shows Celia and George with two children, Sarah, 2, and Richard, 1. I have not been able to find records of Celia and George or of their children after 1860.
The first record of marriage I have found for William F. Chilcutt was to Frances Roberts in 1856, but t unablehe minister or justice of the peace performing the marriage ceremony never returned the record to the court. This was not extremely uncommon, but I can be sure they married only because another researcher found a daughter Celia Ann listed on a Calloway County, KY, birth record. The parents of the daughter born 30 October 1856 were Wm. F. Chilcutt and Frances Roberts. The death of the daughter at three weeks is also chronicled in Calloway County records. Frances died before 1865 when William remarried.
William married Sarah Jane Robbins 11 March 1865, and the 1870 census shows them with no children. The 1880 census shows William and Jane, listed as S. J., with a son, W. J., age 10. One census recorded Jane as somewhat younger than William and another listed her as a bit older, meaning she was probably born between 1830 and 1835. She died between the time of the 1880 census and April 1886. W. J., undoubtedly William J., may have died before reaching adulthood. He was not the William J. Chilcutt who married Nancy Scarbrough in Henry County in 1882. He would have been too young, and Nancy Scarbrough's marriage was to the son of George P. Chilcutt, a member of the family of George Chilcutt, Joshua's brother.
William married Mattie Allen in 1886, implying that Jane had died by then. Mattie, who was nearly thirty, had a son, David "Dee" Allen, before marriage to William, and I can be sure of her and William's marriage only because David reported James Chilcutt of Henry County as his half-brother.
James Franklin "Jim" married Mary Elizabeth "Lizzie" Malcolm in 1914. She had two children, Will Weatherford and Williard Rowlette, before marrying James Franklin, and Will and Williard had children also, but I have not followed them here.
William F. married Mrs Elizabeth Smith in 1891. Elizabeth, whose maiden name was Sneed, was the widow of John Henry Smith, and she had at least three Smith children, Leona, who may have died young, Franklin, who had children, and Mary, who also had children. Elizabeth and William had no children, but he and she raised his son James Franklin, her daughter Mary, and probably his step-son David Allen, who would have still been young when they married.
Martha Jane married Richard Bradshaw in 1853, and they had one son Thomas J. Bradshaw. I have never been sure whether she married Jesse's brother Richard or Joseph Bradshaw's son Richard, Jesse's first cousin.
Children of Mary Ann Chilcutt and Jesse Bradshaw Note 5
The 1851 date cannot be correct since she was 4 months old for the 1850 census; thus, the birth date was almost certainly in January 1850.
Elizabeth
Children of Elizabeth Chilcutt and Henry Franklin Ross
James Bruce
Children of James Bruce Chilcutt and Jane Ross
Children of James M. and Emma
Children of Devereaux and Martha
Children of James Bruce Chilcutt and Nancy Evaline Tucker
Children of James Bruce Chilcutt and Elizabeth Wilson
Sarah, born between 1829 and 1831
Celia, born about 1829
William F., born about 1833
Martha Jane