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John Welty |
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Elizabeth McMahan |
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No parents conclusively identified |
John
Welty was born about 1793 in Kentucky UN10, UN11, but a solid connection to his parents
and verification of his whereabouts during his formative years has proved to be
elusive. The 1800 US Census for Kentucky was destroyed, but a reconstruction of
this data was created by compiling tax lists from 1800, which revealed four
individuals of note: Jacob Welte of Montgomery County, David Welty of Warren
County, Mary Welty of Bourbon County, and Peter Welty of Clark County CL10. This information presents three
potential fathers for John, but with no additional data to work with, is in actuality quite limiting.
A search of the 1810
census for all states uncovered several people with
the surname Welty or its variations, who lived in Pennsylvania, New York, and
Maryland, but none who lived in Kentucky or in Missouri, which is where John
lived in 1830. A person named John W---y was enumerated in the 1810 census for
Eddyville, Caldwell County, Kentucky, but a black splotch of ink has concealed
the middle letters of his surname; at any rate, his name may have been “Wiley” UN6. Returning to the three men of the 1800
Kentucky tax list, Peter Welty was registered on the 1820 census: he was over
forty-five years old and lived in Petersburg, Simpson County, Kentucky with one
young man aged sixteen through eighteen, two young women of sixteen but younger
than twenty-six, and one woman older than forty-five UN7. He was probably related to Abraham
Welty, who was also enumerated in Petersburg, Simpson County; Abraham was
between twenty-six and forty-four UN7.
The other two men of the tax list, Jacob Welte and David Welty, were not
discovered in any other record that linked them in any fashion to Kentucky.
Peter Welty may have been the father of John Welty; see “Appendix A” for Peter and
information about his wife and parents.
A “John Welly” US13 served as a private
under Captain Hugh Tinnen in the Mounted Missouri Militia during the War of
1812 US13, GE4; this may have been the John Welty of this biography,
for in 1852, when John was known to have been in Jackson County, Illinois, a
man named John Welty was awarded bounty land in that county for his services in
the War of 1812 GE4. John “Welly” and Peter “Stotler” were in the same
Company US13. If this John Welly was
the subject of this biographical sketch, his great-grandson, Basil Franklin
Welty, would later marry the great-great granddaughter of Peter Statler, Maggie
Cook. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration had neither a
Pension Document Packet or a Bounty Land Warrant Application on file for John
Welty or John Welly.
A
man named John Welty married Francis Fritz on February 6, 1821 KE9 (this was also
recorded as John Wetty and Frances Frite on February 1, 1821 DO3) in Muhlenberg
County, Kentucky KE9, DO3. It was probably this same John who was on
the tax lists of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky in 1823 and 1824 GI10. This particular John Welty who married Frances Fritz was most
likely not the John Welty of this biography, because, while it is possible that
John and Frances married, and Frances later died, and then John remarried to
Elizabeth McMahan, there is a good record of a John and Frances Welty/Welte who
resided in Warrick County, Indiana. The 1840 and the 1860 census recorded them
in Hart Township, Warrick County, Indiana, but they were each born in Pennsylvania,
rather than Kentucky. Their gravestones have been
photographed by Find a Grave
contributor Karen Nance. According to the inscription on these
headstones, Frances Welty died in December 1868 at the age of seventy, and John
Welty died in December 1872 at the age of seventy-three; they were both buried
in Lynnville, Warrick County, Indiana. It is probable that this John and
Frances were the same whose marriage occurred in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky.
John Welty purchased
eighty acres in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri on December 20, 1826 GE4. Two men named John Welty were enumerated
in the 1830 census in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, and their ages were “of
thirty but under forty” and “of twenty but under thirty” UN8, but this second man named John Welty of
Cape Girardeau can be ignored, because he was too young to have been the
subject of this biography. Forty acres were purchased by John
Welty in the same county on November 14, 1837 GE4.
That John was
previously married before he wedded Elizabeth McMahan was inferred by the
children and the woman who was between thirty and thirty-nine who resided in
John’s household at the time of the 1830 census UN8. The first wife of John Welty must have
died sometime after 1830 but before 1839, because Bennet A. Reeves officiated
as the Justice of the Peace in the marriage of John Welty and Elizabeth McMahan
on June 13, 1839 in Apple Creek Township, Cape Girardeau County, Missouri OR9, MI17. While John and Elizabeth did not remain in
Apple Creek Township, the 1840 census indicated that a man named Abraham Welty
resided in that township in that year UN9.
John purchased forty acres of land in Section 11, Township 34 North, Range 12 East, in Perry
County, Missouri, on April 10, 1843, and purchased an adjacent plot of forty
acres in Perry County on March 1, 1848 GE4.
Paul
Gifford stated that John and Elizabeth sold three parcels of land, totaling 120
acres, to Jacob Shance of Perry County on October 14, 1848, for which Jacob
paid four hundred dollars GI10. He bought the northwest quarter of the southwest
quarter of Section 11, Township 34 North, Range 12 East on October 15, 1840, as
well as the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of the same section on
July 23, 1840, and the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of the same
section on June 17, 1845 GI10. These transactions were not mentioned in
Bill Eddleman’s Abstracts of Perry
County, Missouri. Deeds: 1821-1844.
The
O’Daniel and Welty families lived in very close
proximity in 1850; they were listed on the same page of the 1850 census.
Another John and Elizabeth Welty were found in the 1850 census, and they lived
in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri: John Welty, who was thirty-one and born in
Missouri, lived with both Elizabeth, who was thirty-eight and born in Kentucky,
and another John Welty, who was eighteen and born in Kentucky. This particular John, at age thirty-one, could not have been the
second John’s father. He was undoubtedly the son of Abraham, who was the
probable brother of John Welty (the subject of this biography) GI10. The John Welty who
was thirty-one in 1850 had married an older Elizabeth J. Vastine in Cape
Girardeau County, earlier that year GI10.
On February 1, 1850 John purchased forty acres in Section 33, Township 9 South,
Range 1 West in Jackson County, Illinois GE4. “John Welty Private
in Captain Tinnins Company Missouri Volunteers War of 1812” was granted bounty
land of forty acres in Section 21, Township 7 South, Range 4 West in Jackson
County, Illinois on August 4, 1852 GE4.
At
the time of the 1855 Illinois State Census, a man named John Welty lived in Township
10, Jackson County with one boy and three girls under the age of ten, and he
(John, the head of the household) was between twenty and thirty IL10. This indicates a birth year range from 1825 to 1835 IL10, which is too young for the John Welty who was the father of
Francis M. Welty. John Welty of Jackson County purchased “the
North West Quarter of the North East quarter of section Sixteen Township No
Nine south of Range No One East Containing forty acres by survey” in Williamson
County, Illinois, from Thomas R. Davis of Jackson County and Cinderella Davis,
his wife, on January 30, 1856 for 210 dollars WI11, but
then he sold that land to Henry Ward for two hundred dollars on October 27,
1863 WI11, GI10.
On
March 16, 1864, John purchased the “South East quar.
of the South West quar of Section No Eight Township No Eight S. Range
Three (3) East” from Joseph and Mary J. Robinson of Effingham County, Illinois,
for the sum of 475 dollars WI11. Later that same year, on December 14, he
sold that parcel of land to T.W. Ray of Williamson County for the sum of four
hundred dollars WI11. During the 1865 Illinois State Census, a man named John Welty
was older than sixty but younger than seventy, and he lived in Township 8 of
Williamson County with one boy and one girl under the age of ten, one boy and
one girl between ten and nineteen, and one man and one woman between twenty and
twenty-nine IL10. This indicates that this John Welty
was born between 1796 to 1805 IL10. John may have been unmarried at the time
of the 1860 census, and he died sometime after 1860 and perhaps after 1865. No
death certificate
will be located for John, as deaths in Illinois were not recorded until 1916.
·
1830 US Census: lived in Cape
Girardeau County, Missouri with one boy and two girls under the age of five,
one boy and one girl of five but
under ten, one girl of ten but under fifteen, and one woman of thirty but under
forty.
·
1840 US Census: lived in Perry County, Missouri with
two girls under age five, one boy and one girl of the age of ten but younger
than fifteen, and one woman age twenty to twenty-nine
(probably Elizabeth).
·
1850 US Census: lived in Southern District, Jackson
County, Illinois.
·
1860 US Census: lived in Township 8, Range 3E (known
as Lake Creek Township) of Williamson County, Illinois.
Elizabeth McMahan was born circa 1813 in Kentucky and as
“Elisabeth”, she was the mother of six known children, according to the 1850
census. The entire page of this census is extremely faded, but some names can be determined without any magnification,
while certain names are discernible with maximum magnification, and other names
are completely invisible. She was the mother of Sarah J., William, Francis M., Martha, P.L., and Nancy. Paul Gifford, citing
Harry Alexander Davis (this confirmed through personal correspondence) stated
that “Sarah J.” was “Sarah Jane”, and “P.L.” was “Peter L.”, who was born in
September 1851 GI11. Sarah
J. Welty was born circa
1839 or 1840 in Missouri UN10, UN11.
William Welty was born about 1842 or 1843 in Missouri UN10, UN11. William Welty may have been the William N. Welty who was born
circa 1843 and who enlisted as a private in the 60th Illinois Infantry, Company E IL8. This William stated he was born in
Perry County, Missouri but lived in Anna, Union County, Illinois when he
enlisted on January 15, 1862 in Williamson County, Illinois for a term of three
years IL8. He was mustered in on February 17,
1862 in Jonesboro, Union County, Illinois IL8.
He re-enlisted as a veteran on February 18, 1864 in Rossville, Georgia for an
additional three-year term, and was mustered out on July 31, 1865 in
Louisville, Kentucky IL8.
He was likely the William Welty who married Rebecca A. Forkum on April 7, 1870
in Williamson County, Illinois WI34. This William and Rebecca resided in Makanda, Jackson County,
Illinois next to Francis and Mary Welty at the time of the 1870 US Census, in
which William stated that he was twenty-eight and was born in Missouri UN12. Francis M. Welty was born in 1845 or
1846 in Missouri UN10,
UN11, UN12. Martha Welty was born about 1848 but
she may have died before the 1860 census UN10.
A son
whose initials were “P.L.” was born
about 1850 in Illinois UN11. He
may have been Peter L. Welty, who married Martha A. Greathouse on October 6,
1872 in Stoddard County, Missouri MI17. He
may have been the Peter L. Welty who lived in Chandler, Lincoln County,
Oklahoma during the 1900 US Census, in which he stated that he was born in
September 1851 in Illinois to parents who were also born in Illinois; this
Peter was married to Laura A. Welty and his children were Chris L. and Steven
A.D. Welty, and he had a step-son, Victor Anderson UN14. In 1900, Peter and Laura Welty had been married for one year UN14. In
1920, Peter Larkin Welty, a widower who was seventy years old, lived in the
household of his son and his wife, Steven A. “Weldy” and Clara Ellen “Weldy”,
in Precinct 4, El Paso County, Colorado UN16. In
this census, Peter’s recorded birthplace was Missouri, and his father was said
to have been born in Ohio, while his mother’s birthplace was Indiana UN16. A gravestone engraved with “Peter L. Welty 1849-1924” with the
Freemason symbol of a compass and a square is located in
Evergreen Cemetery, Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Colorado (a photo of the
gravestone can be located on the Find a
Grave website).
Nancy Welty was
born circa 1853 in Illinois UN11. She
may have been the Nancy Welty who lived in Carbondale, Jackson County, Illinois
in the household of Peter Fliger and his family as a domestic servant during
the 1870 US Census; Nancy stated that she was seventeen and was born in
Illinois UN12. The Fliger family and Nancy Welty were enumerated on June 6,
1870. Twenty days later on June 26, 1870, it is
possible that this same Nancy Welty married James Robinson in Jackson County,
Illinois in a ceremony officiated by James M. Pickett, Justice of the Peace JA6.
The 1850 census also
listed a young woman in the Welty household who was sixteen, whose name may
have been “Ann M.”, but unless Ann’s age was recorded incorrectly, Elizabeth
was probably not her mother, because Ann was born about 1834 in Illinois UN10, which was before the marriage of John
and Elizabeth. Elizabeth died between 1850 and the first part of 1860 (before
the census occurred), and her death could be limited to the years 1853 to 1860,
assuming she was the mother of Nancy.
Harry Alexander Davis, author of The Davis Family (Davies and David) in Wales
and America, stated that Elizabeth (Davis) Welty was the daughter of
William and Elizabeth (Carter) Davis, and was born in 1818 in Kentucky, perhaps
in Madison County, and as proof that Elizabeth Davis was the daughter of
William Davis, he mentioned a Williamson County, Illinois deed from James T.
Powell to the children of William Davis, which was dated October 8, 1861 and
recorded May 13, 1865 DA10. While Elizabeth Davis was the daughter of
William and Elizabeth (Carter) Davis DA10, US12, it is uncertain if
Elizabeth Davis became Elizabeth (McMahan) Welty. As a girl or a young woman,
Elizabeth Davis moved with her family from Madison County, Kentucky to Obion County, Tennessee in 1830, and then to
Missouri in about 1836 or 1837 DA10. If Elizabeth Davis
did marry someone with the surname of McMahan before she married John Welty,
the evidence for that marriage has not been located, and Obion County,
Tennessee marriage records are missing for the years 1828 through 1837. Because
Elizabeth was a “McMahan”
when she married John Welty in Apple Creek, Cape Girardeau County, Missouri in 1839 OR9, MI17, it might seem
reasonable that there should have been at least some
remnant of a McMahan family in the area, but nobody with the McMahan surname
resided in Apple Creek, Missouri at the time of the 1840 census. In fact, the
McMahan surname was not discovered in the 1830 or 1840 census records for all
of Cape Girardeau County. The deed mentioned by Harry Alexander Davis was
provided by the County Clerk and Recorder of Williamson County, Illinois, but
it did not state the married surname of Elizabeth Davis WI10. The applicable
portions of this deed have been reproduced below WI10:
May 13th 1865
This Indenture made
and entered into this the eighth day of October in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and sixty one between James T Powell & Elizabeth
Powell his wife of the County of Williamson & State of Illinois of the
first part & the lawful heirs of William Davis towit Lewis Davis Milly
Davis Charles C Davis Jackson Davis Harrison Davis Josiah Davis Thomas Davis
Elizabeth Davis Fanny Davis Cena Davis George W Davis Larken Davis William H
Davis Thomas R Davis Franklin Davis Sarah Davis Marion Davis Nancy Davis
Columbus Davis Witnesseth that the said James T Powell & Elizabeth Powell
his wife for & in consideration of the sum of Seven hundred dollars to them
in hand paid the receipt wherof is hereby acknowledged do hereby grant bargan
sell… unto the said partys of the second part… the following described Lands
towit The North East qr. of the South West qr. of Section Seven Township Eight
South of Range Three East of the County & State above named…
Harry Alexander
Davis further stated that sometime before 1838, Elizabeth Davis married John
Welty, who was born in Kentucky in 1803 DA10.
He noted that they lived in Perry County, Indiana in 1840, moved to Illinois
before 1850, and that her death occurred between 1853 and 1859 DA10. He provided a list of the names of their
children: an unnamed daughter who was born in 1838, Sarah Jane, born in 1840 in
Missouri, William N., born in 1842, Francis M., born in 1845, Peter L., born in
1850, and Nancy, who was born in 1853 DA10.
Some of the information presented by Harry Alexander
Davis is correct, some of it is not, and some has not yet been confirmed.
Unless both the 1850 and 1860 census records listed erroneous information, John
Welty was not born in 1803. The birth year of Elizabeth may have been 1818, but
the sole documentation which recorded her age was the 1850 census, which
indicated that she was thirty-seven years old. John and Elizabeth married in
1839, not in or before 1838. The names of the children match the census
records, although “Peter L. Welty” is an interesting puzzle.
A man named Peter L.
Welty lived with his wife, Laura, and sons, Chris L.
and Stephen A., in Chandler, Lincoln County, Oklahoma, according to the 1900
census. This Peter L. Welty stated that he was born in September 1851 in
Illinois, to parents whom he said who were also born in Illinois. The
enumerator noted that his son, Stephen A., was born in April 1888. The 1920
census recorded a widower named Peter Larkin Welty who lived with the family of
his son, Stephen A. Welty, age thirty-two, in El Paso County, Colorado. In this
census, Peter stated that he was seventy years old and was born in Missouri,
and his father and mother were born in Ohio and Indiana, respectively. The
death certificate for Peter Larkin Welty, issued in Colorado Springs, El Paso
County, Colorado, stated that he was born on September 30, 1849 in Illinois,
and died on February 7, 1924, but indicated that his father’s name was William
Welty, and did not state his mother’s name. Whether this last bit of information
is or is not correct is immaterial; the death certificate stated that his
father’s name was William Welty, and that is that. What is noteworthy is his
middle name, Larkin, which appears in both the Davis and Carter families, from
which Elizabeth (McMahan) Welty was supposedly a descendant, if she was,
indeed, Elizabeth Davis. Elizabeth’s younger brother and her uncle were each named
Larkin, a rather distinctive name.
Aside
from the name Larkin, John Welty did conduct a business transaction on January
30, 1856 with another younger brother of Elizabeth Davis: Thomas R. Davis, who
stated that his wife’s name was Cinderella WI11 (also spelled
Sinderella US12). T.R. Davis and S.A. Davis, with their
three children, W.A., M.E., and J.A. Davis, were enumerated in Lake Creek,
Williamson County, Illinois, directly after the household of John Welty, in
1860. These initials match the names of their children, William Asbury, Mary
Elizabeth, and John Ambrose DA10. Thus, it appears that John Welty and Thomas
Rush Davis and Sinderella Davis were neighbors in that year.
The
father of Elizabeth Davis, William Davis, was born in Mecklenburg County, North
Carolina in 1780, and he married Elizabeth Carter in about 1808 in Kentucky US12, DA10. Elizabeth Carter
was born in Amherst County, Virginia in 1793 or 1794, and she died about 1840
in Missouri US12. William and Elizabeth had fourteen
children, beginning in 1809 in Lincoln County, Kentucky, then in Madison County, Kentucky, where most of their children were born, and finally, her
fourteenth child, Thomas Rush, was born in 1832 in Obion County, Tennessee US12, DA10. Lewis was born first in 1809, followed
by Mary
(called Milley) Charles, James Josiah, two sons who were possibly named
Thornton and Harrison, Elizabeth, who was born in 1818, probably in Madison
County, Kentucky, William, Frances or Francena, George, Jackson, Larkin, Fanny or Francena, and lastly Thomas Rush Davis US12, DA10. Thomas Rush Davis
married “Sinderella (Cinderilla)
Young” US12. After Elizabeth died, William remarried
to Martha, with whom he was the father of Henry Columbus, James, Franklin,
Francis M., Sarah, and Nancy DA10. The
October 8, 1861 indenture between James and Elizabeth Powell and the children
of William Davis listed his children in a different order: Lewis, Milly,
Charles C., Jackson, Harrison, Josiah, Thomas (not Thornton), Elizabeth, Fanny,
Cena (she may have been given the birth name of Francena), George W., Larken,
William H., Thomas R., Franklin, Sarah, Marion (this may have been Francis M.),
Nancy, and Columbus WI10.
William Davis died on March 14, 1860 in Williamson County, Illinois US12, DA10.
The father of
William Davis, James, was born in Craven County, South Carolina in 1743, and he
married Jane as his second wife in North Carolina DA10, US12, sometime before 1779 US12. James Davis served as a private in
Bowman’s Company of the First Regiment of the North Carolina Continental Line DA10, US12, was discharged on May 28, 1778 US12, and he died in Lincoln County, Kentucky
in 1808 or 1809 DA10,
US12. His wife, Jane or Jean, was born in North Carolina US12 in about the year 1762 DA10, US12, and she probably died in Yazoo County,
Missouri sometime after 1840 DA10, US12.
James and Jane Davis were the parents of Richard, William, an unnamed daughter
and an unnamed son, and James David, Jr. DA10, US12.
The father of James
Davis, David, was born in Marion Township, Pennsylvania in November 1717,
married Jane Miles in December 1738, and died in Cheraw District (now
Chesterfield County), South Carolina in approximately 1793 US12, DA10. David Davis served in the South Carolina
Militia between the years of 1775 and 1780 US12, DA10. Jane Miles, who was born in New Castle County, Delaware and was
baptized in 1720 DA10,
US12, died before the
year 1772 DA10 or 1773 US12.
Elizabeth Carter,
the wife of William Davis (1780-1860), was the daughter of Peter and Elizabeth
(Hamilton) Carter US12, DA10.
Peter Carter was born in 1766 or 1767 in Amherst County, Virginia US12, DA10, and first married Delphia Sandridge,
with whom he was the father of Larkin, and second Anne Martin, with whom he was
the father of Peter, Charles, John, and Job DA10, MI11. He married Elizabeth Hamilton as his third wife US12, DA10 in approximately 1793 in Amherst County,
and he died in Lincoln County, Kentucky US12,
perhaps sometime after the year 1837 DA10, MI11. With Elizabeth, Peter was the father of Elizabeth (Carter)
Davis, Elisha, John, Jesse, and Lewis DA10.
Elizabeth Hamilton was born in Virginia, and she died in Lincoln County,
Kentucky, as well US12.
The father of Peter
Carter was also named Peter, and he was born on March 9, 1743 in Amherst County
US12, DA10 or King George County, Virginia MI11, married Mary Anne Ellis in Amherst
County in 1763 or 1764, and died in January 1791 in Amherst County US12, DA10, MI11. Peter Carter reportedly served as a
private in the Virginia Artillery during the American Revolution US12, DA10, MI11, GW1. Mary Anne Ellis, the daughter of Charles
and Susannah (Harding) Ellis, was born on December 25, 1747 DA10, MI11 in Amherst County MI11 or Henrico County, Virginia, and she died
in Lincoln County, Kentucky sometime after 1796 US12, DA10. Peter and Mary Anne Carter were the
parents of Charles, Jesse, Peter, Susannah, James, Edward, Solomon, Mildred,
Elizabeth, and John DA10, MI11.
·
1850 US Census: lived in Southern District, Jackson
County, Illinois.