Transcribed By Pamela Vick

 

January 28, 1954

 

* CAL’S COLUMN *

 

ADDITIONAL HARGIS DATA

                                                                                  

                                                                                  

                                                                                   Kirksville, Mo.

                                                                                   January 20, 1954

 

Mr. Calvin Gregory

Lafayette, Tenn.

Dear Sir:

 

    I received and read with great interest the paper you sent me, which contained the genealogy of the Hargis family.  It was very thoughtful of you to do me this favor.  I enjoy doing research on my family lines, although I am unable to spend as much time on it as I would like.  If the “ancestor hunting” bug ever bites you, it is just too bad, because from then on it is impossible to see your family name in print without wondering just where they fir in the picture.  The name Gregory intrigues me.  Did your family by any chance, come from Virginia?  If so, do you know whether a Gregory boy married a Noland girl about the year 1810?  I also have a warm spot in my heart for Tennessee, since another of my families, the Morgans, came from Rutherford County, Tennessee.

 

     In establishing my Hargis line, I received a great amount of valuable material from Maud Roberts Martin, (Mrs. H. L.), of Ozark, Ala.  She has done extensive work on this line and expressed the desire to some time be able to have it published.  At the time I corresponded with her, she was in frail health and unable to read anything except the very largest black type.  I hope someone has the material that appreciates the value of it. She descends from the original Thomas Lea Hargis, as of the persons in your community, about whom you have written in your paper.  I descend from his brother, William Asa Hargis.  I will copy on separate papers, these two lines, as I have them.  Since I obtained this from Mrs. Martin and she knows each line by heart, I feel they are accurate.  The line of William Asa Hargis has also been accepted by D.A.R. genealogists; and as you know, they are very strict as to the data they accept. 

 

    I will be most happy to hear from you anytime you find new material and do hope your Gregory married my Noland and that you have the record.  Thanking you again for your kindness, I am,

 

                                                                                   Respectively,

                                                                                   Nellie Wood Hull,

                                                                                   (Mrs. E. G. Hull)

 

                                                     MRS. HULL’S DATA

 

     Of the old and influential families of the Southland, who have been actively identified with the history of America and the public affairs of their respective localities, none takes precedence over the Hargis family.  The family record in the country is traced back to a period antedating the Revolution.  The name Hargis has been intimately connected with the early history of four states-Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky.  (From “The History of Kentucky” S. J. Clark Pub. Co., Chicago-Louisville, P. 822).

 

     The Hargis family was originally from Denmark, said to be a very fine family there.  One left and went to Normandy, France.  Around 1606 we find Louis and Louise Harges left France and went to England.  We find the name spelled Hargis, Harges and Harguesse.

 

     The first Hargis in America seems to have been one George Hargis who was transported to Virginia in 1642 by Thomas Benton.  It is thought that his wife was Susannah Lea.

 

     In 1668, two brothers, Thomas Lea Hargis and William Asa Hargis, possibly sons of the above George, patented a tract of land in Charles County, Maryland, near Zachiah Swamp.  This is on file in the Hall of Records at Annapolis, Md.  Their home was called “Hargis Hope.”  William Asa was the older of the two brothers.  Both the men died in this country.  Photostat copies of their wills may be obtained from the Hall of Records.

 

THE LINE OF WILLIAM ASA HARGIS

     

     William Asa Hargis was born in England.  As it appears that it was necessary for a man to have been over twenty-one to have bought and sold land, it seems certain that he was past twenty-one in 1668.  He married Elizabeth Draper, the daughter of John Draper.  He died in Charles County, Maryland, in 1686.  His will mentions his wife and three minor sons, John Draper Hargis, William Hargis and Roger Hargis.  The records show Elizabeth Hargis, the widow of William, sold her land and later Virginia records indicate that she went with her parents to that State.

 

     John Draper Hargis lived for a while in Accomac County, Virginia; and, while living in this place, married a Miss Fountain, of King William County, Va., on the James River.  Their family home was called “Fountain Bleu.”  John Draper Hargis died in 1730 at Oldham, Westmoreland County, Va., and his will was recorded Nov. 25, 1730.  The will shows his three children to be, John, Mary and Minerett.

 

     John Hargis, the only son of John Draper Hargis, married Grace Boswell.  This John died early in life and left one child, a son, John.

 

     John Hargis married Ann Elizabeth Whiteside.  In 1768 John and Ann Elizabeth Hargis left Virginia, after the death of her mother, and went to Christian County, Kentucky.  John and Ann Elizabeth had four sons, William, John, Whiteside and Samuel.  When John and Ann left Virginia, William, John and Whiteside did not go with them.

 

      In 1773, several members of the family, including William, his brothers, John and Whiteside, and their families were with Boone on his second expedition into Kentucky.  When on Powell’s River in Wise County, Va., they were attacked by Indians, in which fight Whiteside Hargis was killed and his wife, daughter and two brothers were taken prisoners.  William Hargis escaped and returned to Westmoreland County, Va., where he married Miss  Dopson, a daughter of William and Martha Dopson.  John became separated from the rest of the family and moved to Russell County, Va., setting near Lebanon.  He married Elizabeth Freelove.  I have no record of Samuel.  William served in the Revolution as a Sergeant under Capt. George Clark.  John also served in the Revolution.

 

     William Hargis went with his parents-in-law, the William Dopson family, to Hampshire county, Va. (now W. Va.).  The will of William Dopson was proved her Oct. 15, 1798.  It mentions his wife, Martha; a single daughter, Margaret; a daughter, who was the wife of William Hargis; and a grandson, William Hargis; and grandsons, Nathaniel, Thomas and William Parker.  Early in the 1790’s the family moved to Hardin County, Kentucky.  William Hargis, who married Miss Dopson, then moved to Christian County, Kentucky, where his father had moved earlier.  He died there in 1819.  William and his wife had five sons; Thomas, Abraham, John, William C., and Isaac Dopson Hargis.

 

     About 1816 or18 several Hargis brothers migrated Westward from Christian County, Kentucky.  Isaac Dopson Harsis and his older brother, William C., came to Missouri.  Abraham moved to Southern Illinois, near Cairo.  John moved to White County, Illinois, about 1828 and settled near Graysville.  In 1840 he moved again to Christian County, Illinois, near Sharpsburg, where he died September 11, 1857.

 

     William C. Hargis married Elizabeth Reed in Hardin County, Kentucky, Jan. 21, 1799. His brother, Isaac Dopson Hargis married Malinda Reed on April 4, 1812.  We find them in Howard County, Missouri, in the 1830 census.  William C. owned considerable property in and near Fayette in 1824.  The children of these brothers, as nearly as I know, were:

 

        William C. Hargis’ children:

 

Caleb, m. Eliz. Cleeton; Joshua, m. Samantha Partin; Cynthis, m. Thos. Allred; Hardin, m. Lucinda Bozarth; Josiah, no information; Lucy Ann, m. Lorenzo D. Morgan; Melinda, no information; Andrew J., m. Emily Alfred.

 

        John Hargis’ children:

 

William, Manassa, Thomas, Ransom.

 

        Isaac Dopson Hargis’ children:

 

Josiah Newton, John Dopson, Andrew Jackson, Mariah, m. Moses Cleeton, Messina, m. A LaRue.  Thos. and Abraham nothing known.

 

     William C . and Elizabeth moved to Sullivan County, Missouri, where they were in the 1850 census.  Their daughter, Lucy Ann, was my great-grandmother.

 

 

THE LINE OF THOMAS LEA HARGIS

    

     Thomas Lea Hargis was born in England.  It appears he, too, was over twenty-one in 1668.  Thomas  married first Miss Smith, a daughter of Nathan Smith.  They had two sons, Thomas and William.  I have no record of Thomas or William, unless this is the William who married Jennie Jacobs.  Thomas Lea married second, Mary Lee.  They had two sons Francis and Abraham.  Thomas Lea Hargis died in Charles County, Maryland, in 1716.

 

     Francis Hargis left an inventory of his estate in Maryland.

 

     Abraham was born about 1710.  He lived in Prince George County, Maryland; then in Charles County; moved to Fairfax County, Virginia, about 1740.  He married Elizabeth Nalley in Charles County, Md., in 1739.  Their children were:

 

     Shadrach, b. Charles County, Md., Jan 7, 1740; Thoams, b. Fairfax County, Va., 1752.  William, B. Fairfax County, Va., July 16, 1760, m. Elizabeth Joy in 1782, Richard, b. Fairfax County, Va., m. Mary Jones; Abraham, b. Fairfax County, Va.

 

     Richard Hargis had a daughter, Nancy, who was the great-great-grandmother of Maud Roberts Martin.  Nancy married Arthur Roberts.  All the sons served in the Revolution except possibly Richard.

 

     I have not followed this line as far as my own, but I think, with a little effort, it could be established.

 

 

     1.  William Asa Hargis: b. England; d. Charles County, Md.; m. Elizabeth Draper; ch. John Draper Hargis, m. Miss Fountain; William; Roger.

 

     2.  John Draper Hargis: b. Charled County, Md., about 1638; d. Westmoreland County, Va., 1730; m. Miss Fountain; ch. John, m. Grace Boswell; Mary, m. John Seldon; Minerett.

 

     3.  John Hargis: b. Oldham, Westmoreland County, Va., d. Westmoreland County, Va., early in life m. GraceBoswell; ch. one son, John, m. Ann Elizabeth Whiteside.

 

     4.  John Hargis: b. Westmoreland County, Va., d. Christian County, Ky., m. Ann Elizabeth Whiteside; ch. William, m. Miss Dopson; John, m. Elizabeth Freelove; Whiteside, Samuel.

 

     5.  William Hargis: b. Westmoreland County, Va., d.

Christian County, Ky., in 1819; m. Miss Dopson in Hampshire County, Va., about 1766, ch. Thomas, m. 1st, Mary Dews; 2nd, Polly Reed; Abraham, m. Mary Lumford in 1806; John, m. Sarah Beardon in 1819; William C., m. Elizabeth Reed in 1799; Isaac Dopson, m. Malinda Reed in 1812.

 

     6.  William C. Hargis: b. Hampshire County, Va., in 1773; d. Sullivan County, Mo., after 1850; m. Elizabeth Reed in Hardin County, Ky., 1799; ch. Caleb, m. Elizabeth Cleeton; Joshua, m. Samantha Partin; Cynthia, m. Thos. Allred; Hardin, m. Lucinda Bozarth; Josiah, Lucy Ann, m. Lorenzo Dow Morgan; Melinda, Andrew J., m. Emily Allred.

 

      7.  Lucy Ann Hargis: b. Howard County, Mo., 1822; d. Sullivan Co., Mo., 1874;m. Lorenzo Dow Morgan, 1842; ch. Cynthia Jane, m. Victor Obrey; James K., John H., Amanda, Nancy Ann, m. John J. Morgan; Arymylda, m. William Hainer; William, Jackson, Newton, Elizabeth.

 

     8.  Nancy Ann Morgan: b. Sullivan County, Mo., 1857; d. Adair County, Mo., 1936; m. John J. Morgan, 1877; ch. Clara, m. Carl Novinger; Susan Jane, m. Samuel Gregory Wood.

 

     9.  Susan Jane Morgan: b. Kirksville, Mo., 1877; d. Kirksville, Mo., 1928; m. Samuel Gergory Wood, 1901; ch. Nellie Mae, m. Ernest Grey Hull; John Jay.

 

KENTUCKY LETTER

 

                                                                                   Princeton, Ky.

                                                                                   Nov. 15, 1953

 

Dear Elder Gregory:

 

     I have been enjoying Macon County Times very much.  After I read them, I send them to my brother and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Norris Adams, in Nashville.  She was, prior to her marriage, Miss Olena Brooks, formerly of Carthage, Tenn.  They say they enjoy your paper even more than they do the Nashville papers.  So it is very likely that they will send you a subscription at an early date.

 

     As I have told you before, I have been working on my Adams genealogy for the past few years, but am at a standstill.  I have your record of the New Harmony Adam’s and am anxious to learn of the Gibb’s Cross Roads and the Salathiel Adam lines.  Do you think you will e able to work these into your Column soon?

 

     My oldest Adam that I know of, was named Drury Adams, spelled back in Virginia, Drewery Adams.  I notice that you have members of the Drury family about Lafayette.  I wonder if they could have any connection with my Drury Adams ancestor, since it is an unusual given name.  However, I have found only one Adams of that name in the Virginia records.

 

     I know you are a busy man and it is hard to grant every person’s request who may call on you for help.  I wonder if you know of someone who would copy those records for me if you do not have the time nor space for them in your paper at an early date.

 

     Since Craighead ancestors settled in Smith County and some of them later came to WEstern Kentucky, I have a feeling that our Adams ancestors might have come from there too.

 

                                                                                   Sincerely,

                                                                                   Mrs. Gladys Linton,

                                                                                   106 Good Street,

                                                                                   Princeton, Ky.

 

REPLY

 

     We hope to find time soon to do some more research work on the Adams line and to publish some in the Times.  We are sorry that we do not know of anyone who has the time or the willingness to do the work that Mrs. Linton wants done in copying the old records.  There is much more to the work than merely copying it that is nearly impossible to find anyone with the ability who will undertake the task.  However, if we find such a person available, if we find such a person available, we shall be glad to use him or her.

 

     As Craigheads, I find the following:  Craighead’s Corner was located in Knoxville as early as 1791.  This is found on page 560, Ramsay’s Annals of Tennessee; but we have no idea as to who Craighead was.  One of the leading Presbyterian ministers in the early history of Nashville was Thomas B. Craig head.  Sophia Eliza Park married Robert Craighead September 29, 1841.  This is from the James Park Bible records.

 

     Park was born in Ireland April 14, 1770.  T. B. Craighead was a witness to a codicil of the will of John Hope, of Davidson County in the year 1804.  Thomas Craighead married Polly Gillespie on Dec. 23, 1803, in Knox County, Tennessee.  In the same county on May 30, 1810 John Cullen married Rachel Craighead.

 

     Anthony Craighead, born Oct. 27, 1854 and died Aug 21, 1856, is buried in the old City Cemetery in Nashville.  In 1775 Rev. Thomas Craighead, above referred to, was called to preach in the Spring Hill meeting house near Nashville.  The next year he was called to “hold school” in the old church  house.  The same man gave ten acres of his land from his old home place, now known as the Walton Place, to be used for a cemetery, which is now called the Spring Hill Cemetery, located a few miles out of Nashville.  Some time after the Civil War, the Woman’s Craighead Association was formed to care for the graves of members of the family.  We do not know if the organization is still in existence.  One of the boundaries of the present cemetery is know as Craighead’s Branch or Love’s Branch.

 

     On the monument to the memory of Rev. Thomas B. Craighead are the following words:  Rev. Thomas B. Craighead born in Mecklenburg County, N. C., A. D. 1750, first pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Nashville, Tenn., founder of Davidson Academy and successor of Davidson College, form which sprang the University of Nashville; man of fine talents and capable of close thought.  He did the cause of Religion much service.  Died, A. D. 1825.

 

     Mrs. Elizabeth B. Craighead, wife of Rev. Thomas B. Craighead, is supposed to lie in a double vault (box) beside her husband in Spring Hill Cemetery.  Near the burial places of the father and mother is that of a daughter, with the following inscription:  Sacred to the memory of Jane Craighead, only daughter of Rev. Thoams B. Craighead and Elizabeth B. Craighead.

 

     Hugh L. Craighead was one of the four descendants of Hugh Lawson and Elizabeth Carrick White, his mother having been Sophia, daughter of C. A. C. White, son of Judge White.

 

     Peter Craighead lived in Smith County, Tenn., as early as 1820.  In the census of that year he is listed with the following family:  Three males under 10 and one from 26 to 45 years of age, himself no doubt; and one female between 16 to 26 years of age, his wife I presume.

 

     Shelton Craighead had the following family in the same year:  Two males under 10, two from 10 to 16, one from 16 to 18, one from 18 to 26, one from 26 to 45, supposedly Shelton himself.  Females in the family:  Two under 10, one from 10 to 16, one from 16 to 26, and one from 26 to 45, Mrs. Shelton Craighead, we suppose.  These were the only Craighead families in Smith County in 1820.

 

     By the year 1850 we find the following Craighead families in Smith County:  Peter Craighead, born in Virginia in 1790; wife, Jincy Craighead, born in South Carolina, in 1800; and a 14-year-old daughter, Charity.  Their neighbors’ names indicate that they lived on lower Defeated Creek in Smith County, some 25 miles southeast of Lafayette.

 

     Obadiah Craighead was another Smith County head of family in the year 1850.  Here is the record of is family:  Obadiah, 30 years old and born in Tenn., German T. Craighead, three; and Mary E. Craighead, aged one year.  They were also apparently residents of the Defeated Creek section.

 

     Cyrus Craighead had the following in 1850:  Himself, 34 years old and born in Tenn., his wife, Marina, same age and also born in Tenn., Arminella, 16; Louisiana, 15; Pariler, 12; Pinckney, 10; Matilda, eight; and Alfred, six, all of the children having been born in Tennessee.  This family, judging from their neighbors, were almost certainly residents of Defeated Creek.

 

     William Craighead is the last head of a family of this name listed in Smith County in 1850.  He was born in Tennessee in 1825.  His wife, Susan Craighead, was born in 1823 in Tenn., Sarah Craighead, 17, was supposedly a sister to William, James, supposed to have been William’s twin brother, was 25.  Mary, 6; Martha, four; and Thomas, one year old, are supposed to have been children of William Craighead, who also appears to have lived in the vicinity of Lower Defeated Creek.

 

     We hope that this information may be of some help to Mrs. Linton in her search for her ancestors.

 

     We shall be glad to have any additional information she may be able to give.  In the meantime, we are going to try to learn more of the Adams line and publish same.