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“The Stolen Boy” is a fascinating story that has been handed down through my family. The main character’s name is never revealed, but there are several details in the story that prove it describes the life of my 3X great-grandfather, Ambrose Bowen Epperson. I am almost certain that Ambrose is also the author of the story, although the evidence for that conclusion is a bit more circumstantial. I will be devoting a series of blog posts to a historical and genealogical analysis of the story. The text of the story will be shared exactly as I received it, including all misspellings and grammatical errors. On the 28th of March 1855, he started again with his family on a long journey for Kansas. Altho it was very cold and the ground covered with snow, the little family faltered not for they were bound for Kansas Territory. Crossing the surging Missouri River at a little two horse town called Kansas City, he drove on out to Indian Creek, went into camp twelve miles southwest of Westport. While in camp he had the pleasure for the first time since 1831 of seeing his oldest sister. In a few days, they struck camp and were on the road again. Being already out of the United States, yet their intention was to make a home in a distant land. In due time they landed at the old Jack [sic] and Fox Agency, Franklin County, Kansas Territory. “A Little Two Horse Town” After spending the winter with relatives in Iowa, Ambrose and family resumed their journey to Kansas Territory in the spring of 1855. He doesn’t give any details of their route until they crossed the Missouri River at Kansas City. I was struck by Ambrose’s description of Kansas City as “a little two horse town”, since the Kansas City I am familiar with is a major urban center that sprawls further outward every year. I wanted to learn more about the town that Ambrose would have encountered. Technically the town’s name in 1855 was “City of Kansas” and it was finally beginning to rival the importance of nearby Westport, a long-time supply post for westward migrants. The location had been chosen in 1838 because of the presence of a natural rock ledge that provided an excellent landing site for river vessels. Growth was slow, however. When the town was officially incorporated in 1853, it covered an area (shown in green outline on map) only 10 blocks long and 5 blocks wide! Those limits were essentially dictated by the river on the north and tall bluffs to the south. A single road led south to Westport. It would be several years before additional roads were cut through the bluffs, allowing expansion of the city to the south.  A Google Earth map of the current Kansas City area. The area originally incorporated as the City of Kansas in 1853 is outlined in green. The locations of Westport and the Indian Creek Campground are marked with red pins. I’m sure that Ambrose’s description of Kansas City was meant to be humorous, even then. By the time Ambrose wrote his story in 1881, the population of the City of Kansas had already grown to over 50,000. In 1889 it was renamed Kansas City and in 1899 it annexed its former neighbor Westport. Today the Kansas City metropolitan area has over two million people. I wonder what Ambrose would think if he could see that “little two horse town” now!  Kansas City in 1855 and 1887. The central panel shows an artist's image of Kansas City in 1855, while the surrounding panels show Kansas City buildings as they appeared in 1887. By Daderot (Self-photographed) [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Sources: https://www.nps.gov/safe/learn/historyculture/upload/Westport-Landing-exhibits-final-aug11_2011-2.pdf http://kcdv.tv/big-muddy-speakers-series/2013/08_august/richard-gentile/ Indian Creek Campground Ambrose mentions camping at Indian Creek, southwest of Westport (see map above). Indian Creek (sometimes called Flat Rock Creek) was a popular rendezvous site for travellers on the Santa Fe, Oregon and California trails. Migrants would often camp there for several days while making final preparations for their trip. Edwin Bryant described his experiences at the Indian Creek campground in his book What I Saw in California (1848). “Our camp this evening presents a most cheerful appearance. The prairie, miles around us, is enlivened with groups of cattle, numbering six or seven hundred, feeding upon the fresh green grass. The numerous white tents and wagon-covers before which the camp-fires are blazing brightly, represent a rustic village; and men, women, and children are talking, playing, and singing around them with all the glee of light and careless hearts. While I am writing, a party at the lower end of the camp is engaged in singing hymns and sacred songs.” Perhaps Ambrose and his family experienced a similar scene. Sources: http://www.legendsofamerica.com/ks-santafetrailjoco2.html http://www.jocogov.org/sites/default/files/musOnline/overlandTrails/trail_6.htm While camped at Indian Creek, Ambrose was reunited with his oldest sister, Permelia Langley (Epperson) Laws, for the first time since 1831. 1831 was the year he was “stolen”, so he probably had not seen this sister since visiting her at Christianburg when he first arrived in Kentucky. Permelia came to Missouri quite early and married Alfred Laws in Jackson County on 20 Dec 1838. They lived in Jackson County, in the Westport area, for some time and then moved to the Sac and Fox Agency in what is now Franklin County, Kansas. Alfred was employed by the government as a blacksmith for the Agency from 1848-1857. The entire family was enumerated there in the 1855 census of Kansas Territory. The Agency was approximately 50 miles southwest of Indian Creek, so how did Ambrose happen to meet his sister there. The story says that Ambrose’s family eventually “landed” at that Sac and Fox Agency, so perhaps his sister came to Indian Creek to meet them and guide them on the rest of their journey. Sources: Ancestry.com. Kansas State Census Collection, 1855-1925 [database on-line] http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/7003/ Franklin County, Kansas Territory The Sac and Fox Agency was located in section 16 of township 17, range 18 in Franklin County (yellow pin on map). But, what exactly was this Agency? Throughout the 19th century, Indian Agents were appointed by the government to act as liaisons between Native American tribes and the federal government. Some of an agent’s responsibilities were distributing annuities paid by the government to the tribe and overseeing trade between whites and Native Americans. A few other government employees who provided various services usually joined the Agent, and the resulting settlement was known as the Indian Agency.  A Google Earth image of the area of Franklin County, Kansas where the Sac and Fox Agency was located (yellow pin). The land patented by Ambrose Epperson is outlined in yellow and is shown in an enlarged view below. The Sac (or Sauk) and Fox tribes were originally from the Great Lakes region. As white settlers moved west, the tribes had been induced to relocate several times. In 1846, they moved to what is now Kansas. Their reservation included most of present-day Osage County and parts of Lyon and Franklin counties. The tribes lived there until the late 1860s when they moved to a new reservation in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).  I have not found any indication that Ambrose was ever employed at the Sac and Fox Agency. Early histories of Franklin County, Kansas report that “a Mr. Epperson settled on Middle Creek in Ohio Township in 1855.” Consistent with this, I found that Ambrose B. Epperson claimed 160 acres of land (see yellow square on map) comprising the north half of the southeast quarter and the south half of the northeast quarter of section 18 in Township 18S, Range 19E, a location just east of the Sac and Fox reservation and about 7 miles southeast of the Sac and Fox Agency. Middle Creek flows through the property. Ambrose obtained this land as the assignee of a military land warrant originally granted to Edward Cross. Veterans who received bounty land as a reward for their service had the right to sell their interest and could simply endorse the back of the warrant to transfer it to another party. The assignee then had to follow the normal patenting process to receive their land. One puzzling detail of this transaction is that the patent to Ambrose is dated 15 Jun 1860, five years after he apparently settled on the land. Moreover, as we will see in the next section, Ambrose “sold out” and left Franklin County in 1857. Did it take that long for the government to issue the patent? Did Ambrose sell the land to someone else before receiving the patent? If so, wouldn’t the patent have been assigned to someone else? Deed records for Franklin County beginning in 1857 have been microfilmed and are available through the Kansas State Historical Society, so perhaps I can find some answers there. A road trip to Franklin County might also be on the agenda!
Sources: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/nations/sacfox/index.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_agent Ferris, Ida M. “Sauks and Foxes in Franklin and Osage Counties” Collections of the Kansas State Historical Society (1910) Cutler, William G. History of the State of Kansas (1883) (kancoll.org) http://www.franklincokshistory.org/places-2/township2/ohio-township/
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“The Stolen Boy” is a fascinating story that has been handed down through my family. The main character’s name is never revealed, but there are several details in the story that prove it describes the life of my 3X great-grandfather, Ambrose Bowen Epperson. I am almost certain that Ambrose is also the author of the story, although the evidence for that conclusion is a bit more circumstantial. I will be devoting a series of blog posts to a historical and genealogical analysis of the story. The text of the story will be shared exactly as I received it, including all misspellings and grammatical errors. On the 11th of March, 1841, Nay married and settled down. Times being pretty hard, in 1844, he moved to a mill on a little stream called Jourdon and worked on the farm and in the mill as long as he could stand the work, but finding the mill too hard for him, he settled up affairs and started to Illinois in the spring of 1850 and all he had in this world was a small two horse team, a wagon, which was tolerably well loaded for the muddy roads, a wife and three children, and about twenty dollars in money. But he was bound for the far west so he landed in McDonough County, Illinois about the 20th of May, 1850. He remained there till the fall of 1854, he then started farther west intending to settle in Kansas Territory. He stopped in Woppoloo County, Iowa with some relatives and the cold weather overtook him and he remained there all winter. Settling Down This section contains one of the most convincing pieces of evidence that “Nay” was actually Ambrose Epperson – his marriage date. The date given in the story (11 Mar 1841) exactly matches the marriage date for Ambrose Epperson and his wife Nancy Burchfield in Edna Epperson Brinkman’s book about the Epperson family -- information which seems to have been provided by the descendants of Ambrose’s brother James Harvey Epperson. I also found Ambrose B. Epperson and Nancy Burchfield listed among the recent marriages in abstracted material from an 18 Mar 1841 Greencastle, Indiana newspaper. If the name Burchfield rings a bell, it’s because Ambrose’s sister Emily also married a Burchfield. Her husband John was a brother to Ambrose’s wife Nancy. The Burchfields were early settlers of Clay County, Indiana and several members of the family patented land in the vicinity of Bowling Green. In 1844, Nay (Ambrose) moved to a mill on a stream called “Jourdon”, farming and running the mill. With only that information to go on, I was not very hopeful that I could identify the mill or its location. However, it turned out to be exactly the kind of historical puzzle I enjoy most, where details from various sources converge to reveal the probable answer. I began by searching for a stream named Jourdon (or more likely Jordan) in the vicinity of Greencastle, where Ambrose was last known to live – and where his oldest son was reportedly born on 16 Nov 1844. I didn’t find one there, but I did find a Jordan Creek in Clay County near Bowling Green, where both Ambrose and Nancy had family ties. A 1909 history of Clay County, named four mills that were built in early times “for the production of breadstuff and feed” on Jordan Creek. As I read the names of the owners of these mills, one of them – William Nees – sounded familiar. Checking my genealogy database, I found that William Nees was married to Martha Burchfield, a sister to Ambrose’s wife Nancy. BINGO! Ambrose was most likely working at his brother-in-law’s mill! The possible discrepancy with the birthplace of Ambrose’s son could have several explanations. Perhaps Nancy stayed in Greencastle until her child was born while Ambrose worked at the mill. Alternatively, the date in the story could be slightly off. Getting back to the location of the mill -- William Nees patented several plots of land in the eastern part of Clay County in 1838 and 1839. However, Jordan Creek ran through only one of these, the east half of the southeast quarter of Section 10 in Washington Township. This 80 acre plot is a little less than four miles northeast of Bowling Green and abuts the Clay/Owen county line. This location fits with other available information about the mill. According to the 1909 county history, William Nees’s mill was located between the Phegley mill on the Edward Thompson place and the mill built by Oliver Cromwell, Sr. A biographical sketch of Edward Thompson, found in the same county history, mentions that he had a farm in section 16 of Washington Township. Section 16 is just southwest of section 10 and includes downstream portions of Jordan Creek. Another county history from 1884, tells that Oliver Cromwell built a small corn mill on Jordan Creek in the southwest corner of Jackson Township in Owen County. This would have been just east of section 10, across the county line. A location in section 10 is also consistent with the details of a legislative act concerning the construction of a state road. In 1843, Nathan Burchfield (a brother of Ambrose’s wife) was appointed as a commissioner to mark out a road running east out of Bowling Green. The road was to pass near the point where sections 14, 15, 10 and 11 met and then south of William Nees’s mill. An 1876 map of Clay County shows a road just south of Jordan Creek that appears to follow this route.
Heading West
In the spring of 1850, Ambrose, his wife and three children moved to McDonough County in western Illinois. John and Emily (Epperson) Burchfield had moved to Fulton County, Illinois – the next county east of McDonough County, so Ambrose and Nancy probably decided to settle near them. They loaded all their worldly possessions into a wagon pulled by a two-horse team. Ambrose mentions that he had only about twenty dollars in cash. I again used the inflation calculator to determine that today’s equivalent would be $574.98. That wouldn’t provide much of a cushion for a family starting over in a new place! The family arrived in McDonough County about 20 May 1850. That means that they should have been included in the 1850 census there, which was enumerated beginning in mid-August and was supposed to reflect an individual’s residence on June 1 of that year. However, I have not been able to locate them. One piece of evidence does attest to the family’s residence in Illinois. A son, George M. Epperson, was born about 1854 and his birthplace is listed as Illinois on census records. In the fall of 1854, Ambrose and his family moved again. This time their intended destination was the newly established Kansas Territory, but after visiting relatives in Wapello County, Iowa they decided to spend the winter there. Both Ambrose and Nancy had family members in Wapello County. Robert Burchfield, Nancy’s older brother had lived there since at least 1852, while Ambrose’s cousin, John Epperson Ballard, moved there as early as 1850. No doubt they all enjoyed this temporary family reunion. I wonder if Ambrose and Nancy were tempted to settle in Iowa permanently. In the end, the lure of land in a new territory must have been too strong. Sources: Edna Epperson Brinkman, The story of David Epperson & his family of Albemarle County, Virginia : with supplementary notes on the Epperson family in America. (1933); online images, (www.ancestry.com). http://www.sweetowen.net/gv1841.txt http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/search/ Ancestry.com. A history of Clay County, Indiana : closing of the first century's history of the county, and showing the growth of its people (1909) [database on-line] Counties of Clay and Owen, Indiana: Historical and Biographical (1884) [Google Books] Local Laws of the State of Indiana (1843) [Google Books] http://www.westegg.com/inflation/ “The Stolen Boy” is a fascinating story that has been handed down through my family. The main character’s name is never revealed, but there are several details in the story that prove it describes the life of my 3X great-grandfather, Ambrose Bowen Epperson. I am almost certain that Ambrose is also the author of the story, although the evidence for that conclusion is a bit more circumstantial. I will be devoting a series of blog posts to a historical and genealogical analysis of the story. The text of the story will be shared exactly as I received it, including all misspellings and grammatical errors. In a few years the brother J moved to the town of B, a distance of twenty two miles from Green Castle. In a little while the two brothers met and talked the whole matter over and were as friendly as two brothers should be and in the course of time this brother, who attended to the brother S’s business while he went to steal Nay had married and moved to the town of B. Also one of the sisters married. Time rolled on and in the winter of 1837-8 the brother S exposed himself and took cold which brought on the consumption and in the spring of 1839 he died leaving a wife and three little girls and just two weeks to the day the brother J died leaving a wife and six children. Nay was with both brothers during their sickness. Now comes another trouble on Nay. His brother S’s family went back to their friends in Kentucky. There Nay was as he supposed without home or friends and both brothers gone the way of the world. Although a little over twenty one years of age he knew not what to do, he would sometimes get into bad company. Once in a while he could get a little work to do, but times were hard and the people did not hire much done. So Nay would glide along, just about makeout to pay his board during the summer months. He went to Kentucky and spent part of the winter. In the spring of 1840, a friend of his got him into a job of work on a public building in Green Castle which kept him busy for one hundred and four days and four nights. Then the building was finished. Western Indiana For the sake of simplicity and clarity, I have been referring to the characters in the story by what I have deduced to be their real names. This section contains some of the biographical information about Ambrose Epperson’s siblings that helped verify their identities. In the last section, we learned that Brother S married in Kentucky in 1832 and returned to Indiana in 1833. He eventually settled in Greencastle, Putnam County, Indiana. Brother S is Squire Boone Epperson, who married Malinda Hurtt in 1832 in Mercer County Kentucky. On 10 Sep 1838, he received patents on two 40-acre tracts of land in Putnam County, Indiana near Greencastle.  Marriage bond for Squire B Epperson's marriage to Malindy Hert (sic). Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954, FamilySearch.org A few years later (than S came to Indiana), brother J settled in “B”. As discussed in previous posts, J was John Barnett Epperson. Based on the distance (22 miles) from Greencastle specified in the story, I believe “B” is Bowling Green in Clay County, Indiana. The only evidence I have that John Barnett Epperson may have lived in Clay County is that his children lived in the area after his death. A biography of his son James Riley Epperson says that he was born in 1829 in Bartholomew County, Indiana, but lived mostly in Clay County, Indiana until 1852. In the 1850 census, several of John’s children were living together in Bowling Green. However, if John himself lived in Bowling Green, he must have moved there not long before his death in 1839 (see below.) On 16 March 1837, John Barnet Epperson of Jennings County, Indiana received a patent on 40 acres of land in Bartholomew County, Indiana. On 2 Aug 1838, he received a patent on another 40 acres there. At that time his residence was given as Bartholomew County.
The last brother mentioned was the one who tended business for S while he was away “stealing” Nay. The story says that this brother married and also moved to “B”. By a process of elimination, we know that this brother was James Harvey Epperson. James H. Epperson married Martha J. Osborn on 30 Sep 1833 in Putnam County, Indiana. On 18 Mar 1837, he received patents on two 40-acre tracts of land in Putnam County. On these patents his residence is given as Tippecanoe County, which is two counties north of Putnam County. James’s oldest son, John Lowery Epperson, was born in Lafayette, Tippecanoe, Indiana on 6 Nov 1834, while his second son was born at Greencastle on 10 Oct 1837. The land James Harvey Epperson purchased was not near Bowling Green where he supposedly lived. However, by 1840 James was living in Clay County, Indiana, where Bowling Green is located. It seems that the brothers were more mobile than Ambrose’s story suggests. The sister who is mentioned in this section would be Emily Epperson. She married John Burchfield of Clay County, Indiana. I have not been able to locate their marriage record, probably because Clay County records created prior to 1851 were lost in a courthouse fire. Sources: Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954 FamilySearch.org http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/search/ James Riley Epperson memorial page, findagrave.com Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007 FamilySearch.org U.S. Federal Census Collection, Ancestry.com A Double Blow For a brief time, five of the Epperson siblings were living in the same vicinity in Putnam and Clay counties. Unfortunately, their reunion did not last long. Brother S died of consumption (an old-fashioned term for tuberculosis) in the spring of 1839. Just two weeks later brother J died too! In the Cemetery Records database of the Putnam County Library, I found an S. R. Epperson buried in the Hanna Street Cemetery in Greencastle, who died 4 Mar 1839 at the age of 29 years. Everything except the middle initial fits perfectly with this being brother S, who we know to be Squire Boone Epperson. I imagine that a B could easily be mistaken for an R on an old, worn tombstone. After Squire’s death, his widow Malinda and their three daughters moved back to Kentucky. When Malinda died a couple of years later, John Harvey Epperson went to Kentucky and brought the girls back to live with his family. I have not found any record of John Barnett Epperson’s death. By 1850, his children had likely lost their mother as well, since three of them are living with their older sister’s family. After his brothers’ deaths, Nay felt alone in the world and “would sometimes get into bad company.” This is exactly the time period (1839) when Ambrose Epperson was arrested for fighting and disturbing the peace (see earlier blog post). It’s not hard to imagine that the deaths of both brothers who had raised him, especially in such quick succession, would have been very upsetting to Ambrose and left him floundering for a while. Sources: Putnam County Library Cemetery Database Edna Epperson Brinkman, The story of David Epperson & his family of Albemarle County, Virginia : with supplementary notes on the Epperson family in America. (1933); online images, (www.ancestry.com). Hard Times The story mentions that Nay (Ambrose) had a difficult time finding work after his brothers died. The late 1830s through the early 1840s were a time of economic depression throughout most of the United States. This recession began with the Panic of 1837 when many banks failed and real estate prices plummeted. For a few months in 1840, Ambrose found work constructing a public building in Greencastle. I found it interesting that he knew exactly how many days he worked on the job. Most likely, he was paid by the day making it important to keep track of the total. I also wonder why he spent four nights working on the building. Did they work by lantern light to meet a deadline? Or perhaps they laid brick by the light of a full moon to escape the heat of the day. By consulting county histories, I learned that a new, brick jail was built in Greencastle during 1840. Perhaps that was the building that Ambrose helped construct. I would love to see a picture of the building, but so far have not been able to locate one. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1837 Weik's History of Putnam County, Indiana Putnam County Jail History
“The Stolen Boy” is a fascinating story that has been handed down through my family. The main character’s name is never revealed, but there are several details in the story that prove it describes the life of my 3X great-grandfather, Ambrose Bowen Epperson. I am almost certain that Ambrose is also the author of the story, although the evidence for that conclusion is a bit more circumstantial. I will be devoting a series of blog posts to a historical and genealogical analysis of the story. The text of the story will be shared exactly as I received it, including all misspellings and grammatical errors.
Now let us go back to the town of H in Kentucky. Their other brother went back to his boss for his time was not out yet and Nay was busy with his brother S who was doing a lively business. Nay attended Sunday School and churches and had the pleasure of shaking hands with Andrew Jackson, which made him feel almost as big as the ex-president himself. In the spring of 1832, his brother married and in the fall of 1833, concluded to wind up his business and move to Indiana, was on the road in camp about five miles from Danville Indiana the night the meteor fell. He stopped at Danville, left his family there and started out to find a location which he found in Green Castle Indiana and in due time moved to the town.
A Presidential Handshake
One of the memorable experiences that Ambrose recounted from his time in Kentucky was shaking hands with President Andrew Jackson. I wanted to determine if this was at all possible, so I began researching whether Jackson ever visited Kentucky during the time Ambrose lived there (1831-1833). In fact, he did! In 1832, as he was finishing up his first term as President, Andrew Jackson spent a little over a month at the Hermitage, his home near Nashville, Tennessee. On Aug. 23, John Breathitt, the newly elected Governor of Kentucky, wrote to Jackson expressing his hope that the President would travel through Kentucky on his way back to Washington, D. C. He advised him that the road was better than the one Jackson had come on and said, “I will meet you at Harrodsburg and go on to Lexington…” Jackson did indeed return to Washington via Kentucky, making several documented public appearances. But did he visit Harrodsburg (the town of H), where Ambrose would have been most likely to encounter him? Newspaper accounts document that Jackson attended a “grand barbecue” in Lexington on September 29, 1832. Harrodsburg is about 30 miles southwest of Lexington. On a previous trip to Washington, in 1824, Jackson’s travelling party had a carriage accident near Harrodsburg shortly before arriving in Lexington, suggesting that Harrodsburg was in fact on the route from Nashville to Lexington. This, together with Breathitt’s letter, suggests that Jackson probably did travel through Harrodsburg in late September 1832. Thus, it is very plausible that Ambrose really shook hands with the President of the United States! I’m not sure why Ambrose refers to Jackson as the “ex-president” since he was re-elected to a second term later that fall. Perhaps it simply reflects the fact that Jackson was indeed an “ex-president” (and a long deceased one) by the time Ambrose wrote this story in 1881. Sources: https://memory.loc.gov/service/mss/maj.old/maj/01081/01081_0333_0339.pdf History of Lexington, Kentucky: Its Early Annals and Recent Progress…. American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5163258//
The 1833 Leonid shower was also important from a scientific perspective. Although meteors had been observed for thousands of years, astronomers did not yet understand their origin. The 1833 shower led to the observation that the meteors appeared to originate from a particular point in space in the constellation Leo and that they recurred yearly in November, although usually not in such large numbers. In the late 1860s, scientists linked the Leonid meteor shower to debris from the orbit of Comet Tempel-Tuttle. Leonid showers are most intense when the earth passes through the part of the comet’s orbit closest to the sun (where the comet leaves the most debris). Tempel-Tuttle orbits the sun every 32.5 years, so the strongest showers tend to occur in 33-year intervals. However, no Leonid showers in modern times have approached the intensity of the 1833 display. The next peak of Leonid activity will be in 2032. Sources: http://www.historylecture.org/starsfell.html http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2014/08/30/1833-meteor-storm-started-citizen-science/ http://genealogytrails.com/ill/stars.htm http://meteorshowersonline.com/leonids.html “The Stolen Boy” is a fascinating story that has been handed down through my family. The main character’s name is never revealed, but there are several details in the story that prove it describes the life of my 3X great-grandfather, Ambrose Bowen Epperson. I am almost certain that Ambrose is also the author of the story, although the evidence for that conclusion is a bit more circumstantial. I will be devoting a series of blog posts to a historical and genealogical analysis of the story. The text of the story will be shared exactly as I received it, including all misspellings and grammatical errors. So the friend Bill did all the planning again as follows: Bill was to take his horse and Nay was to ride behind him because his horse was the stoutest and that would save S’s pony. They were to take a by-road through the Mutton Creek Swamp to Dunn’s Tavern and stay there all night, then Nay and his brother S could go on supposing that the brother J would not get any more than to Bill’s Father’s that night – which was the case. About half way between sundown and dark, the three started for the Mutton Creek Swamps, a distance of about eight miles through mud and water. The state road ran a round the swamps, which made the distance ten or twelve miles to Dunn’s tavern. On reaching the tavern about twelve o’clock, Bill inquired if any one had stopped there since dark. The answer was, “No.” “Now says Bill, “I have accomplished my purpose.” The next morning was clear and beautiful. It was agreed that Bill was to return home and the brother S and Nay were to start on their long journey both on one pony. They bid each other a long and hearty farewell. The first town on the road was Vernon on the Mascatatack where the brother bought a suit of summer clothes. The little fellow hardly knew himself and being used [sic] to towns he was somewhat embarrassed. The two brothers were soon on their journey again, sometimes both riding, sometimes both walking and sometimes they would one ride, for by doing so they saved the pony. Thus they traveled on, crossing the Ohio River at Madison, made their way to Christiansburgh, Shelby County, Kentucky where their two oldest sisters lived or in that neighborhood. They rested there about two days and started on their journey again, made their way to the town of H where the brother S lived and where Nay saw the other brother who was conducting the business fro the brother S while he was gone. After a few weeks they heard from the brother J through their friend Bill. Now let us go back to their brother J. As soon as the three got out of sight of this neighbor, Smyth, sent one of his boys up to tell the brother J that Nay was gone. The brother J got on their track and followed to where they got in the canoe. He was satisfied that they were not very far ahead of him so he pushed on down the river to opposite the old boat yard, swimming several slews on the way. When he got there everybody was gone and the nearest house was where the man lived that had the nickname who heard the brother J hollow and went down and set him over. The brother J got to this friend Bill’s Father’s about dark learning that his brother S and Nay were gone piloted by their friend Bill. He gave up the chase and stayed there until the next day when Bill returned. When they met they had few hard words but Bill’s Father being a good man and a friend to everybody soon got them on friendly terms again. Then the brother J said, “Bill, what was your motive in assisting in stealing Nay?” “Well,” says Bill, “It was not that I had anything against you but I well knew that you have had bad luck and a great deal of sickness and were not able to take care of your own family as you wish to and under the existing circumstances you would not be willing to give the boy up of you could help yourself and ;your brother S had just started in life got a good trade too, single ;young, stout, and hearty and I thought he ought to take care of him. “Well, says the brother J, “I reckon it is all for the best.” So that evening he returned home with a sad heart and when the children learned that Nay was gone clear off to Kentucky, they had a hearty cry. On the Road When the group realized that John was following them, Bill came up with a new plan. They would head for Dunn’s Tavern on a “by-way through the Mutton Creek Swamp”. The story gets a bit confusing at this point, but if I am interpreting it correctly, it was about eight miles from Bill’s father’s house to Dunn’s Tavern by the swamp route (tentatively marked in red on my annotated map). I don’t know the location of Bill’s father’s house, but it was previously described as being three miles from the old boathouse.  Old newspaper accounts indicate that Mutton Creek was subject to frequent flooding. If the White River was “bank full and rising” as is mentioned earlier in the story, the Mutton Creek area was probably very wet and swamp-like. The current wetlands associated with Mutton Creek (the Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge) are a few miles south of the group’s presumed route. The size of the “swamp” may have been reduced when numerous drainage ditches were dug in the area in the early 20th century. Apparently, the route through the swamp was chosen because it was a significantly shorter than taking the main roads. The story says “the state road ran round the swamps, which made the distance ten or twelve miles to Dunn’s tavern.” I think this is meant to be a comparison to the eight-mile distance via the swamp. A map from this time period shows a road (drawn in purple on my annotated map) running between Brownstown and Brookville. This road would have passed near the area where the group was traveling and had been a “state road” before the capital was moved to Indianapolis in 1825, although it no longer held that official status. A few miles to the northeast, this road intersected with the Madison State Road, an actual “state road” connecting Madison and Indianapolis. The intersection of these two roads was located several miles northwest of Vernon. If Dunn’s tavern was located along the Madison State Road, closer to Vernon, then travelling cross-country would have provided a shorter, albeit muddier route. I imagine the three travellers were in desperate need of a bath when they arrived at their destination!  I was hoping to learn more about Dunn’s Tavern, but I have not found any references to an establishment by that name. Taverns in those days were primarily a stopping point for travelers, serving as both inns and restaurants. Most taverns also served alcohol. The accommodations at Dunn’s Tavern were probably quite basic, but our travellers were likely not accustomed to luxury.
After Bill returned home, Squire and Ambrose continued on their journey. Their route, by modern roads, is shown on the map below to give some idea of the extent of their travels. The first town they passed through was Vernon, then and now the county seat of Jennings County, Indiana. (Although North Vernon is now a much larger town than Vernon, it did not exist until the 1850s.) The next town mentioned in the story is Madison, Indiana, suggesting that the brothers remained on the Madison State Road. At Madison, they crossed the Ohio River into Kentucky, probably by ferry boat. The first destination mentioned in Kentucky is Christianburg, where they visited their two oldest sisters, Permelia Langley Epperson and Emily Epperson, who were then about 17 and 15, respectively. The Eppersons had lived near Christianburg before they moved to Indiana, so the sisters probably lived with relatives there. The brothers’ final destination was “the town of H”, where Squire lived. There Ambrose got to see his brother James Harvey Epperson, who had been managing Squire’s business during his absence. “H” was probably Harrodsburg, the county seat of Mercer County, which is located about 35 miles south of Frankfort. The following year, Squire obtained a marriage license in Mercer County and online family trees indicate that his oldest daughter was born at Harrodsburg. Ambrose had travelled about 125 miles to his new home, but he had entered a different world. At the start of the journey, even being in a town was a novel experience for him. Now he would live in in a town, with a brother he barely knew. He must have had very mixed feelings of sadness, fear and excitement about leaving the life he knew behind and starting a new adventure. Soures: https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/imh/article/view/7301/8315 http://www.davidrumsey.com/maps2071.html https://www.newspapers.com/title_4270/the_tribune/ Inns And Taverns In The Midwest:Typical Functions, Forms And Layouts Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954 FamilySearch.org Ancestry.com Pubic Member Trees |
Teresa ShippyTeresa is the the owner of KinSeeker Genealogy Services. She has a Ph.D. in Biology and a lifelong fascination with genealogy. She been researching her own family history for over 20 years and loves helping others "find their stories." Archives
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