Happy Anniversary

 James Murphy Looney and Mary Susan Francis were married 29 October 1874 in Franklin, Tennessee.

Source: Tennessee State Library and Archives; Nashville, TN, USA;
Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002

Alexander Kelly - A Man Who Made America

           Alexander Kelly led a truely fascinating life. He had a part in the foundation of America in many ways. Born in Ireland, his family immigrated to the colony of Virginia when he was very young. He fought in the war for independence as a private in Capt. Thomas Parramorre's company, 9th VA Regiment, commanded by Col. Thomas Flemings and later by Col. George Matthews. He married Nancy Robinson in what is now West Virgina and together they had at least six children. At some point he moved to Tennessse in the Chattanooga area and opened a ferry on the Tennessee River. You can still drive down Kelly Ferry Road and visit the Kelly Ferry Cemetery. He was a farmer and a miller. He was the first senator of Blount county. He fought Indians. He was a charter trustee of Blount College which would later become the University of Tennessee. This is just a brief, parred-down description of his interesting life. If you a would like to know more, I have included a story about him that ran in The Chattanoogan. I just didn't think that I could do a better job than this author did a telling the story of Alexander Kelly.

Alexander Kelly is my 6th great grandfather.
Alexander Kelly - John Kelly - Nancy Kelly - Adeline Hoge - James Murphy Looney - Susan Irene Looney

      DAR To Honor Revolutionary War Captain Alexander Kelly

   Thursday, May 5, 2016

Descendants of one of Marion County’s earliest pioneers and members of the Daughters of the American Revolution from across the state of Tennessee will gather at Pine Grove Cemetery in Jasper on Saturday afternoon, May 21, for a grave marking ceremony to honor Alexander Kelly, a captain in the Virginia Militia during the American Revolution. 

Mr. Kelly, whose family became residents of the Sequatchie Valley in the earliest days of its settlement as part of the state of Tennessee, was one of the commissioners who acquired property from Betsy Pack that became the town of Jasper, and determined that it would be the county seat town of the newly formed Marion County. Prior to his arrival in the newly opened settlement area of present-day Marion County, Mr. Kelly had been an active participant in the establishment of settlements in several areas of east Tennessee.  

Born about 1755 in County Armagh, Ireland, Mr. Kelly was brought to the American colonies as a young child. By the time of the Declaration of Independence, he was living in the Greenbrier area of Virginia, which is now a part of West Virginia, in the Allegheny Mountains, a scenic area of the United States whose natural setting might be called to mind when one views the Sequatchie Valley. Mr. Kelly enlisted in the Revolutionary forces on July 9, 1776, only five days after the Declaration of Independence. 

 An article in the University of Tennessee’s UT Alumnus (Winter, 1975), entitled Alexander Kelly: Frontier Lawmaker, Indian Fighter, recounts that Mr. Kelly’s son, John Kelly was born in Greenbrier County, Va. on June 2, 1779, but that some time between 1779 and 1783, Mr. Kelly “took his family southward into Tennessee country. Old records reveal that Mr. Kelly was appointed as assessor in Greene County, N.C. (Tennessee) in April, 1783; and two years later he was named a major of Greene County militia in the short-lived State of Franklin.”  

Mr. Kelly was married to Nancy Robinson, by whom he had at least six children, all of whom became pioneer settlers of the Sequatchie Valley. John Kelly, the eldest son, married Nancy Mayo, and became the first clerk of Marion County when the new county was formed in 1817. He also later owned and operated Kelly’s Ferry on the Tennessee River near the county line between Hamilton and Marion Counties. Captain Kelly’s son, Alexander Kelly, Jr., married Sally Prigmore on Feb. 17, 1817, in Roane County, Tenn., and they were also early Marion County settlers and farmers. William Kelly married Ruth Prigmore (daughter of Joseph and Kizziah Prigmore) in Nov., 1809, in Roane County, Tenn., and they also became early residents of Marion County, with many of their descendants also settling in Bledsoe County and Sequatchie County. Viny Kelly married Adam Lamb in 1815, and they became residents of the part of Bledsoe County which intersects with present-day Sequatchie County. Margaret Kelly, known as Peggy, married Ephraim Prigmore (son of Joseph and Kizziah Moore Prigmore) on Nov. 9, 1809, in Roane County, Tenn., and they became pioneer residents of the part of Marion County near the present-day Prentice Cooper State Forest, where they farmed and began a grist mill operation later owned by their Ketner descendants and still known today as Ketner’s Mill. Annie Kelly married Richard Stone, and they lived in Marion County. 

The following accounts are taken from the article about Alexander Kelly in the UT Alumnus:  “By 1792, Kelly had moved his family to Knox County, where he became a farmer and miller. He was appointed a colonel of Knox County militia, and in 1793, he took part in the expedition against the Indians who had attacked outlying stations and threatened the territorial capitol of Knoxville.  

“Under John Sevier, the military pursued the Indians into Georgia and defeated them at the forks of the Coosa and Hightower Rivers, near the present site of Rome, Georgia. 

 “In that battle, Colonel Kelly led a maneuver that settled the issue in the militia’s favor. Finding the river ford obstructed by Indians entrenched on the opposite shore, Sevier sent Kelly’s party downstream to make a crossing. Kelly and some of his men swam the river, thus getting the attention of the Indians who ‘left their entrenchments and ran down the river to oppose their passage.’ The main force of militia quickly forded the river and routed the Indians.  

“When the territorial legislators were elected in 1793, Alexander Kelly was chosen a representative from Knox County. 

 “In 1795 Knox County was divided and Blount County was formed. Kelly was one of seven Commissioners named to find a site for the county seat and to erect county buildings. The site of Maryville was chosen, and the town was named in honor of Governor William Blount’s wife, Mary Grainger Blount. 

 “Kelly moved his residence to Blount County about that time, settling in the vicinity of present-day Louisville and building a mill on Lackey’s Creek. 

 “Appointed commandant of the county militia, Kelly lost no time in fulfilling his responsibility to protect the settlers of Blount County. 

 “Early in 1795 Indians came out of their mountain towns and raided isolated homes in the new county. Kelly raised about fifty men and marched across Chilhowee Mountain to Tallassee Old Town. Upon reaching the river and seeing smoke rising from the opposite shore, he sent a detachment across the stream to attack from the rear – a maneuver employed so effectively at Hightower. The surprised Indians were routed from the river bluffs, with eight being killed. Kelly’s company suffered no injuries. 

 “The swift action brought peace to the new county.”  

When the first Legislature of Tennessee met on March 28, 1796, 11 counties were represented. Mr. Kelly was the senator from Blount County, serving in that role in the first and second General Assemblies. He was one of the two members appointed to “wait on his Excellency John Sevier” at his inauguration as governor of Tennessee. According to the Congressional ordinance, for the United States South of the Ohio River the Territorial Legislature was to consist of the governor, Legislative Council, and the House of Representatives.  

The General Assembly met at Knoxville Aug. 25, 1794. William Blount was the governor. The Legislative Council was composed of Griffith Rutherford, John Sevier, James Winchester, Stokley Donelson, and Parmenas Taylor. The Honorable Griffith Rutherford was unanimously elected president; George Roulstone, clerk; and Christopher Shoat, doorkeeper. The House of Representatives was composed of David Wilson, James White, James Ford, William Cocke, Joseph Harden, George Doherty, Samuel Wear, John Baird, and Alexander Kelly.  

According to the UT Alumnus article:  “Sometimes a ‘conflict of interest’ arose, and Alexander Kelly had to choose between sitting in the legislative chamber and riding against marauding Indians. In those rare instances, military duty took precedence. “For example, while the territorial legislature of which he was a member was meeting at Knoxville on Aug. 28, 1794, ‘on motion of Mr. Kelly, seconded by Mr. Hardin, ordered that Mr. Kelly and Mr. Beard have leave of absence to go on a scout against the Indians.’ 

 “A threatened incursion of hostile Cherokees made it necessary for the two militia officers to put aside their legislative duties for days of hard riding through the neighboring hills and valleys.“A week later, ‘Mr. Kelly returned and took his seat’ in the legislative hall – just in time to vote on the resolution to create Blount College.” 

 Mr. Kelly was a charter trustee of Blount College, which was the forerunner to the University of Tennessee, thus making Mr. Kelly, in the words of the UT Alumnus article, “a champion of education in the infant State of Tennessee.”  

Mr. Kelly’s experience in the settlement of counties in east Tennessee made him well-suited to assist other pioneer settlers in the establishment of Marion County when it was formed. After his participation in locating and naming Jasper as the county seat town, and determining where the courthouse would be located, he was apparently satisfied to have his son, John Kelly, and other descendants take on the duties of civic office. Others of his children and grandchildren became prominent farmers, mill operators, merchants, landowners, and political figures in the parts of the Sequatchie Valley where they lived. Most of them also became active participants and leaders in their churches, particularly the Cumberland Presbyterian churches in the Sequatchie Valley. Although Mr. Kelly’s descendants have spread throughout the United States and other parts of the world, many of them still live in the Sequatchie Valley.  

Some time after settling in Marion County, Mr. Kelly drowned in the Sequatchie River, and his remains were apparently lost. Although Mr. Kelly's descendants are buried in family burial grounds and other cemeteries throughout the Sequatchie Valley, Mr. Kelly, Revolutionary War captain and leader of early Tennessee, has had no monument to mark his life until the present day. 

 Recently, one of Mr. Kelly descendant, Edwin Zachariah Kelly, Jr., a retired attorney and lifelong resident of Jasper, instituted a project for Kelly descendants to place a monument at Pine Grove Cemetery, where many Kelly descendants are buried, to honor the life of Mr. Kelly. The monument will be inscribed with information about Mr. Kelly’s life in the history of Tennessee. The National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, have authorized the Judge David Campbell Chapter of that organization to place a DAR marker at Pine Grove to honor Mr. Kelly’s service as a captain in America’s Revolutionary War.  

The ceremony to dedicate the markers and to honor the life of Mr. Kelly will take place on Saturday, May 21, at 3 p.m., Central time, at Pine Grove Cemetery in Jasper, at the intersection of Valley View Highway and Mel Dixon Lane. The Sequatchie River, where Mr. Kelly died, runs through Marion County near that place. All interested people are cordially invited to attend.

Sources and More:

• DAR To Honor Revolutionary War Captain Alexander Kelly, The Chattanoogan, Chattanooga, TN, May 5, 2016
• Kelly Kaleidoscope, http://akellydesc.com/alexander-kelly.html
• Kelly's Ferry Cemetery Wikipedia page
• From Armagh to America, Kelly Ancestry, kellyancestry.com

Like Something From Dickens

    The story I am about to attempt to tell is one I have wanted to share for a while. I think it is a fascinating story, like something from the Masterpiece Theater. There are so many historical details that are important that I will never be able to cover it all in this short story format but I will do my best to hit the highlights. I have learned so much about history through my genealogy research but the politics of Western Europe during the 15th -17th centuries is over my head.

     The Home/Hume family is one of the oldest families in Scotland. They are descended from the Saxon

Clan Home Tartan

kings of England who ruled from about 800-1100 A.D. The Homes had a very turbulent time, falling in and out of favor with rulers of their time. George Home, 1st Earl of Dunbar (1556-1611) was the most prominent and most influential Scotsman in England. He was the chief Scottish advisor to King James.

     In 1715 there was an attempt to regain the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland for the House of Stuart later to be called the Jacobite Rising of 1715. James Hume, son of Charles, 6th Earl of Hume, was "true to his religion" and took part in the rebellion and consequently was forced to forfeit his estate.

     Forced to flea religious persecution, James, his wife, Marjorie, and their daughter, Barbara, set sail on the ship Caledonia for New York City. They had plans to stay with Marjorie's aunt and uncle. Disease broke out on the ship and James and Marjorie died leaving Barbara in the care of a family friend, William Hoge. William left young Barbara with her relatives in New York City and went to make his home in New Jersey.

    William eventually married Barbara and they went on to have 9 children who were leaders in the Shenandoah frontier.

    Maybe I am romanticizing it. The wealthy family that loses everything for fighting for what they believe; the parents dying on the ship and never reaching American and their second chance; the young girl, left in the care of a young man who eventually becomes her husband. It just sounds like something Charles Dickens would have written.

     James Hume is my 9th great-grandfather. I suppose that also means that I am descended from the Saxon kings.


Sources:

• Taylor, James. The Great Historic Families of Scotland. Vol. 1, J.S. Virtue & Co, London, 1887, http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~hume/histfaml.htm
• Johnston, David E. A History of Middle New River Settlements and Contiguous Territory. Standard PTC. & PUB. Co., Huntington, West Virgina. 1906. p 412-414
• Kendall, Hazel May Middleton. The descendants of William Gregg, the Friend immigrant to Delaware, 1682: from which nucleus disseminated nests of Greggs to Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina. Anderson, Indiana: H.M. Kendall, 1944, pp. 26-28. Note: This is a link to download the whole book in PDF format.
• SR James Hume (1639-1682) - Find A Grave Memorial.” Find A Grave, www.findagrave.com/memorial/171262969/james-hume.
• Clan Home. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_Home

The First Looneys in America

The best anyone can tell, Robert Looney was born about 1694 in Ballagilley on the Isle of Man. He came to America from the Isle of Man, Great Britain, with his wife, Elizabeth (Llewellyn) and at least two sons, settling first in Philadelphia, and later in colonial Maryland. Soon after they moved west to the new frontier and settled in Augusta County, Virginia on the James River. There on Looney Creek, Robert and his wife, raised their family and established the first ferry crossing on the James River. They built a grist mill, grew crops and raised livestock. Robert and Elizabeth had 12 children.

In 1754-55 Indian attacks were increasing and eventually developed into what we call the French and Indian War. Robert Looney built a wall around his home, creating Looney's Fort. The fort was at the junction of Looney Creek and the James River.  Fort Looney was visited in 1756 by none other than  Colonel George Washington.

Robert's sixth son, Absalom, was born about 1729. He is known for discovering a beautiful valley near the Bluestone River while on a hunting trip. It is called Abb's Valley.  

     "Abb's Valley. The valley in Tazewell County that has been written of and talked about most is Abb's Valley. . . . [It] received its name from Absalom LOONEY who discovered it while on a hunting and [ginseng]- digging expedition west of New River." 

 From George W. L. Bickley, History of the Settlement and Indian Wars of Tazewell County, Virginia, (Cincinnati: Morgan & County, 1852; Parsons, WV: McClain Printing, 1974), p.514

Absalom married Margaret Eleanor Moore in about 1750 and they, along with two other families, settled in Abb's Valley. After the Indian attacks began, one of the settlers, Robert Poage, left the valley. Absalom's father, Robert, sent for him and his family and they went to help build the fort. The third family, the Moore's (probably Margaret's relatives) were captured by the Indians and most of them were eventually killed. (For more information on this, you can read a book based on first hand accounts called The Captives of  Abb's Valley: A Legend of Frontier Life written by Mary Moore's Son, James.)

Absalom served in the Revolutionary War and his service has been proven by the Daughters of the American Revolution (Ancestor #A071512). 

Absalom and his wife had eleven children including my 5th great grandfather, Michael. 

Michael Looney Home.

 In 1783, Absalom Looney went to survey lands in the Cumberland District, "Wilderness", of Tennessee which were to be set aside for soldiers of the Continental Line.  The first court in Sullivan County, Tennessee was established in the home of his son, Moses Looney in 1780. Absalom Looney was appointed Justice of the Peace for Hawkins County, Tennessee in 1790. 

Absalom Looney's wife must have died before September 28, 1791 when Absalom Looney of Botetourt County marked his will with an "A", leaving 5 shillings to each of 4 sons and 7 daughters, and all else to his son Benjamin without any mention of his own wife. John Smyth and Stephen Holstine were named executors and he witnesses were Dan'l Givens, John Summerfield, Rich's Summerfield, and Will Givens. Absalom died in 1796. 

Absalom's "A"

Sources:

• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Looney-152
• https://www.geni.com/people/Absalom-Looney-Sr/6000000010451949545
• http://www.robertlooneybook.com
• Daughter's of the American Revolution
• http://www.mindspring.com/~mozark/LnyGen.html

Famous Relative - Winston Churchill

Ancestry has an app called We're Related that I use. It uses your Ancestry family tree and finds famous people that you are related to. It is purely for fun and not always accurate. It often makes the assumption that if many people have an individual being the parent of your ancestor then it must be true. I do get a good kick out of it even if most of the people I am related to are pop stars that I have no interest in share genes with. A few interesting ones have popped up like Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, and Walt Disney. I am still working on proving these, however. I will keep you updated. Today I had one pop up that was easy to verify- Sir Winston Churchill. He is my 9th cousin 1x removed. This means my dad and Mr. Churchill are 9th cousins.

                                          M.A. Watson             (9th cousins)              Winston Churchill

                                          W.T. Watson              (8th cousins)               Jeanette Jerome

                                        Irene Looney                (7th cousins)              Leonard Walter Jerome

                               Mary Susan Francis              (6th cousins)              Isaac Jerome

                         William Ragland Francis            (5th cousins)                Aaron Jerome

                                        Sally Ragland              (4th cousins)               Samuel Jerome

                        John Ragland (1761-1842)          (3rd cousins)               Abigail Rich

                        John Ragland (1710-1791)          (2nd cousins)              Abigail Green     

                                    Hannah Walker                (1st cousins)                 Mary Warren

                                Elizabeth Warren                    (siblings)                   Abraham Warren
                                                         
                                                             John Warren (1585-1667)

• By BiblioArchives / LibraryArchives - https://www.flickr.com/photos/28853433@N02/19086236948/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41991931

Family Group Friday - The Looney Family

Seated Left to Right: Sally Francis, Nola Owene, Hugh James, James Murphy, Sr, Susan Irene, Mary Susan Francis Looney,

Standing Left to Right: Robert Lee, Mazie Edens Looney, John William, Molly Williams  Looney, Nathanial Bacon, Mattie Wilkinson Looney, James Murphy, Jr, Jennie Miller Looney, Frank Pearson, Edna Brice Looney