Harlan County Kentucky Archives - PHILIP ALAN FARMER

February 19, 2019December 17, 2020

Part 1: Hiram Fee

In this multi-part blog series, we examine “Hiram Fee” to educate genealogical research and deduction methods.

Several weeks ago, I was on the telephone with a gentleman who had questions regarding the westward expansion from Grayson County, Virginia into Kentucky. Amidst the explanations of King George’s Royal Proclamation of 1763, Richard Henderson’s Transylvania Company, and Daniel Boone’s development of the Wilderness Trail through the Cumberland Gap, he made an inquisitive statement.

“How do people know that the person they’ve added into their tree is really the person that should be in their tree?”

Good question.

Assume I introduce myself as Phil when you and I meet on a busy street. You would most likely accept my introduction. But how do you really know my name is Phil? You could ask for my drivers license. But how do you know the license is mine? How do you know the information on the license is correct? You could ask for my birth certificate and verify my age. You could even ask for my utility bill and verify my address.

Quite simply, given the circumstances in how the information is presented, you’ll accept a level of data on faith. We live in a time where identification cards are issued with additional checks and balances. We accept a drivers license has the correct and necessary information, even if we lied a little on our height and weight, which does not require proof. And faith only goes so far. If you were a store clerk and I was to write you a check, you’d need some additional documents to believe that the check was from my bank account. If you were a coroner in the absence of verbal statements or written documents, you might verify my dental records or DNA.

What you have then is a system of people defending their faith or belief with the available information. I believe you are who you say you are because you told me. Or because you have some form of identification. Or because the science proves it. And yes, even with increasing levels of data, some people will continue to question its validity, or refuse to accept data contrary to their belief.

The same is true for genealogy. It is a system where you assess historical documents, examine DNA markers, take a leap of faith, and occasionally challenge assumptions. And regrettably, get involved in an argument as to who is “more correct.”

So there have been a few blogs regarding cautionary advice on “user submitted data” and today’s “click and save” software which makes it easy to build your family tree, or makes it just as easy to screw it up. One blog cautioned that even with “leafy hints” you may still have to do some hard work to find the family connections. The blog on Enos “Bear” Hensley was an example of how you might have to really sort out the information at hand. There is a lot of online advice against copying another person’s tree.

One common issue you may face is what to do when confronted with multiple people with the same name living in the same vicinity at the same time. For example, there are about six Gary Farmer’s living in Battle Creek, Michigan. One is my father; we have no idea who the other five are and have never met them, yet we are constantly asked if we are related. For those researching the Osborne, Skidmore, or any family surname where each of the branches names their children after the patriarch, you know the struggle. For anyone researching a John Smith, we definitely feel your pain.

*Deepest sympathies for those constructing the family tree of John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt.*

This is probably more evident when reading forums or looking at family trees in which aspects of multiple people are presented as one. For example, assume there is a John Doe (1811-1879) married to Susan, and a John Doe (1816-1867) married to Rachel. Just with two different birth dates, two different death dates, and two different spouses, if you confused the two, then there are now eight different combinations of John Doe’s with a John Doe (1811-1867) married to Rachel, a John Doe (1816-1879) married to Susan, and so on.

One such name is “Hiram Fee” and using him as an example, this blog is part one in a series that continues the education on genealogical research and deduction methods.

I first came across a “Hiram Fee” when researching Stephen Farmer’s daughter, Malinda Farmer (1817-1900). Malinda married Enoch Osborne (1811-1860) on 04 November 1834 and together they had a daughter, Sarah J. Osborne (1845-1916). Sarah married Henderson Fee (1839-1918), the son of John Fee and Jane Lee.

The 1870 United States Federal Census shows Henderson and his wife Sarah. Ten years later, the 1880 United States Federal Census shows Henderson with his wife Sarah and a son Hiram, age four. The 1900 United States Federal Census shows Henderson, Sarah, and mother-in-law “Belinda Thompson,” presumably Malinda (Farmer) Osborne who appears to have remarried after her husband Enoch died in 1860.

*1880 United States Federal Census, Harlan County, of Henderson, Sarah, and Hiram Fee.*

After adding Hiram as Henderson and Sarah’s son, no leafy hint appeared. So I started a records search. Yet after searching, I had no other document that added a name to what I knew. For example, no death certificate could be found that had Hiram, Henderson, and Sarah’s names, or a marriage document with their names and Hiram’s wife. A Kentucky County Marriage Record has a Hiram Fee marrying a Sallie Farmer on 08 March 1907. But which Hiram Fee? Which Sallie Farmer?

*A Hiram Fee marries Sallie Farmer on 08 March 1907 in Harlan County.*

It appeared there may be several Hiram Fee’s in Harlan County at about the same time.

So what do you now?

STEP #1: STOP WITH WHAT YOU KNOW.

If you start attaching a lot of documents and you don’t document how you came to your conclusions, you’d be painstakingly deconstructing your tree if your assumption was incorrect and learning the importance to document, document, document, then verify, verify, verify.

STEP #2: EXPAND THE FAMILY BRANCHES.

When dealing with multiple names in a family surname, you may need to go beyond a direct ancestor or descendent. I will admit that when I first started, I didn’t add much information on the spouses’ branches. This is partly because the amount of work would become overwhelming on family members that were not direct descendants, and partially because I didn’t need the constant reminder or spam that I had 1,834,273 hints on those ancestors. If you also adopted that approach, note that from time-to-time, you may need to research the spouse family branches, especially when two or more intermarry into the same family (e.g. Mr. X marries Ms. Y whose brother Mr. Y marries Mr. X’s sister.)

Thus began a process of elimination in branching all of the second, third, and fourth cousins to determine if more than one Hiram Fee was living in the same vicinity at the same time.

*Click to enlarge.* *Multiple Hiram Fee’s living in Harlan at the same time.*

To be continued in Part 2…

[Note: This blog edited from an earlier version. The family tree had the spouse of Jane Lee as John Gregg Fee in error.]

Philip Farmer is the author and publisher of “Edward Farmar and the Sons of Whitemarsh,” a 500-page, 155-year biographical history of the Farmer family’s immigration from Ireland into Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Harlan County, Kentucky. Complete with bibliography and footnotes that supports the research. Check out LuLu’s current discounts which may save you money than purchasing through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, or other retailers.

“Very well written and researched…” Ms. L. King

“I love your work… Very interesting!” Ms. B. H. Baker

“Amazing research!” Ms. J. Shipley

“Wonderfully researched, well written… recommend it even if you’re not related to the Farmar’s…” Mr. D. Roark

“Excellent book! We highly recommend!” Ms. E. Wolf

“Very informative and interesting. I could not put it down.” Ms. E. Farley

December 28, 2018December 17, 2020

David Vahanger Farmer

An earlier blog talked of relatives living nearby. This story is closer to home.

[Note: Excerpted from the upcoming sequel to the book Edward Farmar and the Sons of Whitemarsh.]

An interesting anecdote about my uncle, David Lenn Farmer. Many, many years ago, my uncle felt that he would not live past the age of forty. This belief was further reinforced by a premonition – not too far from the burial site of his father and my grandfather, Jules Lewis Farmer, is a headstone for David Farmer. And the marker dates of 1901-1940 indicate he had died at the age of forty.

Unaware of any relatives living in Battle Creek, Michigan with the same name, Uncle Dave checked with the cemetery office only to hear that most of the records were destroyed in a fire. Fast forward several decades and we discovered last week that the grave of David Farmer was indeed a relative.

Family tree for David Vahanger Farmer. Click to enlarge.

David Vahanger Farmer was born 14 February 1901 in Lower Martins Fork, Harlan, Kentucky to Oliver G. Farmer (1851-1902) and Margaret Skidmore (1854-1911). After the death of his father in 1901, David is living in Youngstown, Ohio where a 17 September 1918 World War I Draft Registration Card lists his occupation as electrician for Yo(ungstown) Sheet and Tube Company in East Youngstown, Ohio. By 1920, he is residing with his brother John S. Farmer (1872-1920) and Sarah (Ledford) Farmer (1875-1959) on Cranks Creek Road, Cranks Creek, Harlan, Kentucky where he is working on the farm. In 1924 and 1926, David is residing at 111 Inn Road, Battle Creek, Michigan, where he is employed as a machine operator at Rich Steel Products Company.

111 Inn Road, Battle Creek, Michigan, ca.1940.

On 24 November 1928, 27-year-old David married in Steuben County, Indiana, to 19-year-old Ruby Hazel Campbell, born 30 June 1909 to Ora Daniel Campbell (1884-1971), a train dispatcher for Grand Trunk Western Railroad, and Gertrude Elizabeth Thomas (1885-1980). The Campbell’s were formerly of Pearl Street, Lansing, Michigan, before moving to Battle Creek in 1923. The marriage license notes David’s residence at 22 Union Street, Albion, Michigan, where he is employed as a mechanic. Ruby’s residence is 117 North Wayne Street, Angola, Indiana, where she is employed as an auditor. It is the first marriage for both David and Ruby.

Marriage License for David Vahanger Farmer and Ruby Hazel Campbell.

In 1929, David and Ruby are residing at 96 Grenville Street, Battle Creek, where he is employed as a barber for John Clyde Sunderland, who is living at 235 Vale Street, Battle Creek. Inn, Grenville, and Vale roads are located within the “Post Addition.”

96 Grenville Street, Battle Creek, ca.1940.

In 1892 C. W. Post of Post Cereal opened up an area between Michigan Avenue and Cliff Street for development, to finance the rehabilitation of the Beardsley farmhouse into his LaVita Inn, where he would operate his health spa. The lots in “The Cliffs” sold rapidly to the laborers in the Nichols and Shepard farm implement factory, located nearby. Ten years later in 1902 after his cereal and Postum drink factories were in full operation, Post platted the Post Addition, eighty acres located between Main Street and Inn Road, which was named for LaVita Inn. It was also bounded by Lathrop Street, named after Post’s mother’s maiden name, and Kingman Avenue, named after an early landowner of the farming land. Other streets were named for the former owners of the land, Grenville and Nelson, and his daughter Marjorie, who would inherit Post’s business and fortune after C.W. Post committed suicide. A second Post Addition was added in 1903.

Post sponsored this real estate development because he believed that a happy worker who proudly owned his own home would be a more productive and stable worker in his factory and not be lured into union membership.

Workmen in the Postum and neighboring factories could purchase inexpensive lots and homes on a sliding scale tied to their earning power. Post employed an architect at his factory, who provided approximately half a dozen standard plans for inexpensive homes distributed throughout the additions. There was a variety in the housing types in each block, with the most popular plans being the Gambrel roof Dutch Colonial and the L-shaped cottage.

The five- to seven-room homes that were built could be purchased by workers between $1,000 to $3,000. Workers made monthly payments of 1% of the total, or about $6 a month, until the balance was paid off. Workers could also purchase empty lots ranging from $175 to $800 and build homes of their own design. The generous financial terms, as well as the attractive location on the “cliffs” overlooking the city, made the Post Additions a favorite residential area in the city for working men and their families. The majority of the homes were built by the early 1920s, with only a few empty lots remaining as late as World War II.[1]

Battle Creek directories and newspaper articles.

David and Ruby do not stay on Grenville as they are noted as residing on East Michigan Avenue, Battle Creek, enjoying Thanksgiving dinner on 28 November 1929 at Ruby’s parents who are residing at 48 Iroquois Avenue. At the time, Iroquois Avenue was in the Lakeview District and just outside the Battle Creek city limits. As noted on the 1930 United States Federal Census, David moves in with his in-laws with his pregnant wife before a daughter, Sally Joan Farmer, is born on 21 June 1930. In 1931, David and Ruby are still residing with the Campbell’s on Iroquois Avenue where he is still employed as a barber.

On 05 October 1935, Ruby filed for divorce on grounds of “non support” and requested custody of Sally Joan. On 18 March 1935, the petition was filed and the non-contested divorce was granted on 24 May 1935 by Judge Blaine W. Hatch in Battle Creek Circuit Court

David died at 2:05 pm on 24 September 1941 at Calhoun County Public Hospital of bilateral chronic fibro-ulcerative pulmonary tuberculosis. According to his Michigan Death Certificate, David was still residing at 48 Iroquois Avenue per information provided by Mrs. Doris Mellin of 70 West Territorial Road, Battle Creek. That means David was still residing with his former in-laws six years after his divorce. While his death certificate indicates he was to be buried at Memorial Park Cemetery, about a mile west of his residence, David was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery on 27 September 1941.

Michigan Death Certificate for David Vahanger Farmer.

Battle Creek Enquirer (25 September 1941), p.2. Note that David’s daughter is incorrectly stated as “Sally Ann.”

Ruby remarried on 23 October 1937 in Steuben County, Indiana, to Edward Lee Willey (1909-1949), clerk, born in Battle Creek to James Stephens Willey (1874-1951) of Chester, Pennsylvania, and Sarah Ann Cash (1876-1960) of Mammoth Spring, Arkansas. It was the second marriage for both. In 1939, Ruby and Edward is residing at 42 Lathrop Avenue, Battle Creek, where he is employed as a floor contractor.

42 Lathrop Avenue, Battle Creek, picture taken ca.1940.

Ruby, Edward, and Sally Joan will soon move to Corpus Christi, Texas, before 1940, and then to California, where Edward dies on 16 December 1949 – also at the age of forty. Ruby remarried to James R. Aughton in Los Angeles, California, on 07 June 1952. It is believed James was born 09 April 1899 in England, immigrated to Detroit on 24 November 1922, and died 04 November 1989. Ruby died on 28 October 1982 in Long Beach, California.

Sally Joan Farmer was raised in California as Sally Joan Willey. She married Leroy Edmond DeMarsh, Jr., the son of the Reverend Leroy Edmond DeMarsh (1898-1937) and Mary E. Haines (1901-1980) of Portland, Maine. Sally and Leroy had three children: Mark Demarsh, Linda Demarsh Korlaske, and Karen S. Demarsh (spouse of Ricky Ray Richuber). Sally died 07 August 2007 in Katy, Texas.

Almost thirty years later after David Vahanger Farmer’s death, I was born at Lakeview Hospital on 03 January 1972. At the time, my parents were residing on Winter Street, Battle Creek. After the military moved us to Oklahoma, Hawaii, and Texas, we returned to Michigan and lived in Jackson for about a year. We later returned to Battle Creek in the spring of 1980 moving into a house at 104 Grand Blvd, living there about a year, and then moving again in the summer of 1981 to 23 Caine Street. Both Winter Street and Grand Blvd are within a mile of David and Ruby’s residence on Iroquois; in their backyard is Territorial Elementary where I attended second grade. Our house on Caine Street was in the Post Addition and walking distance from David’s home on Inn and Grenville.

23 Caine Street, Battle Creek, picture taken ca.1940.

“Very well written and researched…” Ms. L. King

“I love your work… Very interesting!” Ms. B. H. Baker

“Amazing research!” Ms. J. Shipley

“Wonderfully researched, well written… recommend it even if you’re not related to the Farmar’s…” Mr. D. Roark

“Excellent book! We highly recommend!” Ms. E. Wolf

[1] Butler, Mary G. “Post Addition.” Heritage Battle Creek. 2009. Retrieved 27 December 2018:
http://www.heritagebattlecreek.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=77&Itemid=73
Bowman, Jennifer. “The Post Addition Once Thrived in Battle Creek. Will It Survive?” Battle Creek Enquirer. 08 June 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2018:
https://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/story/news/local/2017/06/08/post-addition-once-thrived-battle-creek-survive/375817001/

July 1, 2018December 17, 2020

Hezekiah Clem: First Man Hanged in Harlan County? [Part 2]

Oral history and numerous retellings of the same story report that Hezekiah Clem was the first person hanged in Harlan County in 1860. What if Hezekiah wasn’t hanged?

In Part 1, we recount who Hezekiah Clem is, his family ties, and his notoriety.

In July 1859, Hezekiah and his brother John were arrested and indicted for the murder of Ben Irvin. At the request of the defense, the trials of Hezekiah and John were conducted separately as it was believed that John had done the stabbing.

The Harlan Circuit Court Minute Book for the September 1859 trial references the proceedings in the case of the Commonwealth of Kentucky versus Hezekiah Clem on a charge of murder.

Witnesses for the prosecution were:

John Lewis, Sr.
Noble Smith
George W. Ball
Hezekiah, Alabama, and Elizabeth Jennings (the jailer, to whose home Ben Irvin was stabbed, his wife and daughter)
Hugh, Frank, and William Irvin (sons of Ben Irvin, the victim)
Frank Unthank
Adrian Nolen
Pierce Daniels, Sr.
Jennings Hensley
Woodard Fouch, Jr.
Luke Jones
John B.A.T. Mills
Andrew Osborne, Jr.
A.J. Mills
George W. Crider
George Turner
William Farley
William Ball
Jonathan Kelly
George B. Howard
Mike Howard, who testified that Hezekiah Clem had drawn a knife on him earlier in the day and that he believed it was the same knife in evidence.
William Turner who testified that Mike Howard had been “drinking pretty smart” and had wanted to fight Clem.

Witnesses for the defense included the following:

Luke Jones and Frank Unthank (who were also listed as witness for the prosecution)
David Shoop
Carr Brittain
William Osborne
William Clem, Sr. (Hezekiah’s father)

A warrant had been issued to Laurel County for the arrest of Hezekiah’s niece Drucilla Green to provide her testimony, although it is uncertain how she was involved, or if she would testify for the prosecution or defense.[1]

Details from the trial describe how on Wednesday, 07 July 1859, Jim Middleton and John Clem got into a fight. A 60-year-old man named Ben Irvin rooted loudly for Middleton which angered John. It is said that John kicked Irvin and threatened worse if he did not hush.

Irvin had started drinking early in the day and soon went to sleep at Dr. John B.A.T. Mills’ house, either on the porch or in the yard near the porch. Hezekiah saw him there and took a large stone and dropped it on or near his head, probably in spite over Irvin’s earlier support of Middleton. At this point or shortly thereafter, Irvin got up and began to walk up to the house of Hezekiah Jennings, the county jailer. Hezekiah followed him and as Irvin went to put his leg over Jennings’ gate, Hezekiah hit him in the side. Thinking he had only been hit with a rock, Irvin went on up to the porch and called out to Jennings.

It was later discovered that Irvin had been stabbed. Irvin accused Hezekiah of doing it although Hezekiah denied it. As Irvin’s condition appeared serious, Dr. Mills was summoned. Mills believed the wound was serious, but not necessarily fatal.

Clem and Jennings left the house to see why a calf was bawling. Clem kicked a dog off William Turner’s calf with Jennings returning to the house earlier than Clem. While they were out, Jennings’ wife Elizabeth and his daughter Alabama found a bloody pocket knife on the floor. According to the testimony in the case, this was not the only bloody pocket knife found that night. Frank Unthank testified he had found a similar knife at the corner of the courthouse, which was also bloody.

That evening, Hezekiah left the Jennings’ home and visited with his father-in-law Lewis Farmer at his stone house. After lying down to sleep for a few minutes, he went out again, speaking a while with his brother-in-law Leonard Farmer (Lewis’ son, Joicy’s brother). He was arrested that evening based on the testimony of those in the house hearing someone say to Clem “You are my prisoner.”

By Thursday morning, Irvin seemed worse and his sons were summoned. Hugh Irvin testified that he came to town to bring his father home.

“He rode my horse. He said on the road that he must die. He got down once. He then stated that he could not live and did not believe he could get home. At the ford of the creek he said Clem had stabbed him, that he was getting over the gate at Jennings’ when the wound was inflicted, that Clem followed him up to Jennings’, that Mills was sent for and he stayed at Jennings’ that night.”[2]

Irvin made it home and languished from his wounds until Saturday. The Irvin’s called on Dr. Pearson Daniels to attend to their father. Daniels testified that he bled him (a common medical practice of the time) and gave him medicine, but he doubted Irvin would live. He also testified that Irvin got up and went out in the yard, nearly falling if it hadn’t been for his son to catch him. A short time after coming back into the house, Ben Irvin died from internal bleeding.

If you put your jury hat on for one moment, think about the facts that were just presented to you. A drunk, 60-year-old man gets into an argument and goes to sleep it off in Dr. Mills’ yard. Hezekiah comes back to the scene of the argument, and after awakening Irvin, follows him to another house. While approaching the Jennings’ house, Hezekiah allegedly stabs Irvin.

If Hezekiah was such a ruthless murderer, there was ample time and opportunity to kill Irvin before he could stumble to the Jennings’s gate in his tired and inebriated state. Hezekiah had every opportunity to stab Irvin and leave. If Hezekiah was out to kill Irvin, why stay around the Jennings’ home… the man is the jailer and probably knows a thing or two about handling criminals. Hezekiah not only goes past the Jennings’ gate, across the yard, up onto the porch, and probably into the house, but he leaves the house, walks out across the porch, across the yard, into the livestock area to kick a dog, back across the yard, up onto the porch, and returns into the house. It’s difficult to determine, but Hezekiah may have been the one to summon Dr. Mills.

Was he loitering to finish Irvin? If so, why leave when Dr. Mills claimed the wound wasn’t fatal? Why not offer to help Irvin home and concoct a story that he died falling off a horse or that they were ambushed? The jurors undoubtedly had other questions about the other circumstances of the trial to consider such as where did the bloody pocket knife come from? And if Hezekiah didn’t stab Irvin, who did?

To be continued in Part 3…

[1] Drucilla was born about 1844, the daughter of William Hogan Green and Elizabeth Farmer (Hezekiah’s sister-in-law, Joicy’s sister). Elizabeth later remarried to Joseph Nolan Jr. in Harlan on 23 March 1853.

[2] Timm, Holly. “Details of Incident Leading to Hanging Recalled.” Harlan Daily Enterprise Penny Pincher (09 December 1987).

Philip Farmer assists families with breaking down their genealogical brick walls. He is currently assisting three families find information on their ancestors. Philip is also the author and publisher of “Edward Farmar and the Sons of Whitemarsh,” a biographical history of Major Jasper Farmar’s family immigration from Ireland to Pennsylvania. Their story continues with their immigration out of Whitemarsh Township into North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee, concluding with a biographical sketch of Stephen Farmer who settled in Harlan County, Kentucky. The continuation of Stephen’s story is currently in work.