Friday, October 1, 2010

Children of William Haden (ca 1741-1819) Part II - Milly, Benjamin, and William

This is the second post about the children of William Haden, son of John, grandson of Anthony of Goochland and Hanover Counties. As stated in the first post - there are eleven children, I will not cite sources in these posts listing the children and grandchildren, but feel free to email me if you want additional information, or visit my website linked on the right-hand side of the Blog. My purpose is not to provide here everything I have found, but to alert the unsuspecting to many of the errors that have been perpetuated regarding the family.

4.  Milly Haden was the second daughter, fourth child of William Haden.  Milly was a nickname and I have found her name sometimes as Emily, and in one instance as Mildred, in court documents after her death.  Mildred is a given name used previously in the Haden family - Milly had an aunt Mildred Haden, sister to her father.  The name Emily doesn't appear previously in either the Haden or Johnson families.   I have questioned if perhaps a court clerk wrote "Emily" as an assumption, since Milly can be used for either given name.   Again, an unsupported exact birth date survives, but it is reasonable with other known facts.  She was born 14 Apr 1781, or surely close to that date, and Milly died before 1820, and perhaps as early as 1806, as proved by documents of her father's estate settlement.  Milly's marriage was the first of the marriages of the Haden children to take place in Logan County - she married William Whitsitt, 20 Mar 1799.  He was the fourth man in successive generations named William Whitsitt [The name was likely Whiteside in the beginning, a later common spelling in Whitsett - in records the last t's are often left uncrossed and the records may be found as Whitsell].  William Whitsitt's father also lived in Logan Co KY, having moved there from Davidson Co, TN.   The couple had three daughters who received legacies from both grandfathers.  The estate settlement of grandfather William Haden makes plain that his daughter Milly had already died leaving three small daughters.  They were:

....Eleanor C. Whitsitt, born about 1800, married William Comfort, 17 Sep 1818, Logan Co.  They moved to Madison County, MS.  By 1840 Eleanor was a widow with seven children.  The census has an older man in the household, probably Eleanor's father.

...Ann Haden "Nancy" Whitsitt was born 7 Sep 1803.  Some say she was born in Davidson Co, TN, but if that is true, the family must have been visiting William's brother James Whitsitt who had remained there.  Ann married Dr. Thomas S. Blakey, son of George Blakey and Margaret "Peggy" Whittsitt, 28 Jan 1823 in Logan Co - they were first cousins on the Whitsitt side of family, second cousins once removed on the Haden side.  They eventually inherited the Haden homestead of her grandfather in Logan Co, and Ann willed it in turn to her two surviving children.  Ann died 1857 in Russellville, Logan Co, Thomas Blakey having died the previous year.

...Sarah P. "Sally" Whitsitt was born about 1805.  She married George Stalcup, 30 Sep 1831 in Logan Co, and by 1860 they were living in Fannin County, TX.  Only one son is known.  Fannin County would be the eventual destination of other Haden related families, including the family of my husband's great great grandfather.

There exists a strange situation considering the Whitsitts.  Many people have assumed that Milly and William had a son, William C. [perhaps for Crawford] Whitsett [as he most often spelled the name] who was born 1812 in Kentucky, probably Barren County, and died in 1882, Bonham, Fannin Co, TX.  William C. Whitsett married Elizabeth Lee Edmunds in Barren Co, 15 Dec 1836, and they had at least seven children.  The next to the youngest son, was born 18 Sep 1847, and named Joseph Haden Whitsett; the youngest son was born about 1855 and named Charles Churchill Whitsett - Churchill being a name often found in the Blakey family.  There are records of William C. Whitsett in Logan Co KY, that seem to suggest his name was originally William C. Crawford.  One of these documents in 1820 says he was a son of a Jane Crawford - Stokely Knox was appointed the child's guardian and Knox's wife was also a Crawford.  Other records suggest a relationship with William Whitsitt and the young man seems to adopt the Whitsitt surname.   He cannot be a child of Milly's since her father died intestate and their were only three females heirs of Milly in 1820 - legally an intestate settlement cannot omit heirs.  And Milly could have died as early as about 1806 since no children were born to her after that date.  The possibility exists that William C. Crawford/Whitsett was a child of William Whitsitt by an alliance that took place after the death of his wife Milly.   No record exists to indicate William Whitsitt married again and it is believed he spent the last years of his life in Madison County, MS at the home of his daughter Eleanor - there is an older man in her household in 1840.

5.   Benjamin Haden was likely the next child of William and Nancy Haden, born circa 1783.  He died prior to his father decease in late 1819, and his only son, also named Benjamin, is named in the estate settlement records.  Since his wife remarried in 1810, Benjamin had in fact died about ten years previous to his father's death.  Benjamin had married Catherine "Kitty" Stockton, 10 Feb 1807, in Barren Co KY.  She was the daughter of Rev. Robert Stockton and Catherine Blakey.  Benjamin and Kitty were second cousins, both great grandchildren of Anthony of Goochland/Hanover.  Their only child, Benjamin, born before 1810, died before October of 1829 when his will was probated in Barren Co Court.  His will mentions both his grandfathers, William Haden, and Robert Stockton.  He had received slaves which he gave to Amanda Hall, probably his first cousin, a daughter of Kitty's sister Prudence - Amanda may actually have grown up in Kitty's household.  The Catherines in the Stockton family have been royally confused by many.  Soon ater the death of Benjamin Haden, Kitty remarried to Lowry Bishop, 10 Feb 1810.  This marriage was apparently a disaster and Kitty filed for divorce in 1836.  Some of the facts that came out in the divorce suit were that Kitty never had any other children, but had raised some of her sister Prudence's children.   Also that Lowry Bishop had kept at least two of his mulatto children in their home.  He was often drunk and profane and spent much time with the children's mother.  There are other marriages and children that have been "attached" to Kitty, but they belonged to another Catherine B. Stockton who married John Coffee Hall - she was a niece to Kitty and the daughter of Robert Stockton JR and his wife Nancy Blakey.  The niece Catherine was deceased prior to Kitty's divorce suit; traditionally she died in childbirth.

6.  The next child of William and Nancy Haden was given his father's name - William - and born about 1785.  I believe that William had a brief first marriage to Mary C. "Polly" Barnett, daughter of Thomas Barnett of Warren Co KY.  They married 4 Jun 1805 in Logan County and had a single daughter, Nancy, prior to Polly's death.  I believe Nancy is the Nancy Haden who married James Whitsitt Blakey, her second cousin once removed and son of George Blakey & Margaret "Peggy" Whitsitt, on 2 Dec 1824. After her death about 1838 or 1839, he married Nancy Soyars and moved to Missouri. 

After the death of Polly Barnett, William Haden married Pamela Blakey, daughter of George Blakey & Margaret "Peggy" Whitsitt, and his second cousin, 10 Dec 1808.  William became the administrator of his father's estate in 1824 - it was transferred to his brother-in-law Churchill Blakey and then in 1827 after the death of Churchill Blakey, back to William.  In 1838, William formerly separated from his wife, apparently by mutual agreement,  giving land and slaves to Pamela and their daughter Margaret, to be held in trust for their support.  However, in the 1840 and 1850 censuses, his household still seemed to include Pamela.  Perhaps they reconsidered.  In 1844, both William and Pamela testified for her mother Margaret's widow's pension for her husband George Blakey's Revolutionary service and Margaret was at that time living with them.  In 1860, they were living apart - Pamela was living with her daughter in Logan Co and William was living in neighboring Simpson Co, KY near his brother Samuel.  I believe William died in Simpson Co and is buried there.  From Simpson Co comes the following cemetery record: "Phillips Cemetery: Hayden, William, 21 Jan 1786 - 13 Nov 1865.  The last time this cemetery was recorded (1982) this stone was not found."  Pamela Blakey Haden died 6 Jul 1870 and is buried Maple Grove Cemetery in Logan Co - William is not with her there.  The children of William are:

....Nancy I. or J. Haden [I and J are indistinguishable in most of the Logan Co records - most of the time it is a J.] born about 1807 to Polly Barnett and William Haden.  For many years there has been a question about where Nancy belonged in the family. 
The following record from Warren Co, indicates William Haden's first marriage and that he did indeed have a daughter named Nancy.  There is no other marriage or family that could account for Nancy and there is a female child of her age in the Logan Co censuses of 1810 and 1820 in William Haden's household.
Warren Co KY DB D, p.90;  7 Mar 1808. 
"Know all men it may Concern that for & Consideration of the good will & affection which I bear unto Nancy Haiden a Daughter of my Daughter Mary C. Haiden, dec'd. I do give & bequath a certain Negrow Girl named Agg about fifteen years of age".  Signed:  Thomas Barnett. 
Then Thomas Barnett's will was filed in Logan Co and again mentions his deceased daughter Mary Haden:
Logan Co WB B, p.236. 27 Nov 1818. Will of Thomas Barnet. One slave each to son John, son James C. [Curry?] & daughter Elizabeth Shannon. Granddaughter Letha, daughter of deceased son William, a slave & bed & furniture. Negro man Tom to be freed. Negro woman Sucky to live with one of the children as long as may live; she to make her choice. To heirs of Lucy Sanders, dec'd daughter, in addition to what I have already given, $1. To heirs of Mary Haden, dec'd daughter, in addition to what I have already given, $1. To Adams S. Barnet & Thomas Fields Barnet, grandsons, in addition, each $1. Remainder of estate to be divided among my three children, John, James C. & Elizabeth Shannon. Executors: John & James C. Barnet. Wit: Thomas Bowles, William Barnett. Signed: Thomas Barnet. Probate granted 16 Aug 1819.
 
...Margaret George Haden was born to William Haden and Pamela Blakey, 8 Oct 1811.  She was their only child.  Margaret married John N. Hopkins, 18 Sep 1831 in Logan Co and they had two sons, George Samuel, born 1832, and William Haden Hopkins, b. 1834.  Neither son ever married.   John N. Hopkins was a son of Samuel Hopkins and Anny Haden and a second cousin to Margaret; he may have died before 1850 as he isn't with Margaret and her sons in the census.  Margaret died 30 Jun 1867 in Logan Co and is buried Maple Grove Cemetery; her sons also buried there.

There remains a remote possibility that a son was also born to William Haden during the first marriage, although I believe there was not really time for more than one child before Polly died.  Later, after William moved over to Simpson Co, the records distinguish between a William Haden, Sr. and William Haden, Jr.  This was, of course, many years after the death of his father.  However, William's younger brother Samuel, had a son named William, by then an adult, who was likely present there in Simpson County.  It is likely that the senior and junior simply designated an older and younger man of the same name, quite possibly an uncle and nephew.