Daniel Welch's Ancestors |
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| Note: Before 1752 the year began on March 25th. Dates between January 1st and March 24th were at the end of the year, not the beginning. |
William Welch was born on February 19, 1784, probably in Butler County, Ohio. He was the first of seven children born to John Welch and Sarah Sutton. William’s father John served in the Revolutionary War, which ended for all practical purposes at the end of 1782, and this was the first generation born to the newly independent country. His father received land for his military service in the early 1800’s, so the family moved to Lemon Township, Butler County, Ohio, south of the Miami River. Ohio had just become a state and was a sparsely populated wilderness. On April 10, 1806, William, about 22 years old married Rebecca Kester, 19, in Hamilton, Butler County, Ohio. They had ten children, the first four born in Ohio – Patience on April 2, 1807; Samuel on June 24, 1810; Sarah on October 20, 1812; and Daniel on January 22, 1815. On the Butler County, Ohio Census of 1807, which only lists White Male Inhabitants of over age 21, William Welch is listed as living in Ross Township. Being that there are only two Welch’s on the list, John and William, it is almost certain that this is our William. Some time after ancestor Daniel was born, they moved to Vigo County, Indiana, just about the time it became a state in 1816. The children born there were John on June 19, 1817; Jessie on January 16, 1820; Mary on January 30, 1822; Landen on March 8, 1823, (who drowned in the Eel River in Clay County, Indiana about 1848); Harvey on February 24, 1827; and Ruhama on June 19, 1830. Interestingly, John and Sarah were named after William’s parents and Ruhama after Rebecca’s mother, but none after her father, Paul. The 1820 and 1830 censuses do not list the township in Vigo County they are living in. In several history books that deal with Pierson Township, Vigo County, it states that “The first settlement was made in 1820 by Moses Evans and William Welch, who came from Ohio.” On July 6, 1821, the Union Baptist Church was formed in Pierson Township and William is named as one of the organizers and first members of the church. In March of 1827, he was elected as one of three church trustees that were given the task of building a brick meeting house within 1 mile of the current log church that was built on ancestor John Hodges’ land. The 30 by 50 brick building was completed in 1829, southeast of the log church.
The records of the Union Baptist Church support the above statements and document in detail William’s involvement from the time it was constituted in June of 1822, until his dismissal in October of 1841. His name is listed second on the Members that went in the Constitution of Union Church in 1822 listing. He signed his name as Clerk on September 28, 1822. He was extremely involved in the church but on April 17, 1830, it states “Brother William Welch Excluded for intoxication and refusing to fill his Seat.” This happened a few weeks after his father died. Ten years later on September 24, 1840, he was reinstated, “Brother William Welch was Cordially Restored to his seat in the church again.” When William’s father died in 1830, William inherited 1/7th of the estate in Butler County, Ohio, a bit more than 25 acres of land along the Road to Dayton, which today is Tytus Avenue. In 1831, all the children gave up acreage, so the land could be redistributed to give their mother 40 acres of her own (mouse over image right for more info). The 1840 census has them living in Pierson Township with their three youngest sons and daughter Ruhama. All of their other children were married, some living close to them in Pierson. |
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Rebecca Kester was born on July 3, 1786, in Nelson County, Kentucky, which was still part of Virginia. The United States was a new country and the Constitution had not yet been ratified. She was the first of nine children born to Paul Kester and Ruhama Bonham, both of whom came from New Jersey by way of Maryland. Her family arrived in Nelson County just prior to her birth. Shortly after July 23, 1804, they moved to Preble County, Ohio, where her mother's family was from.
The Reverend James Lee married Rebecca to William Welch on April 10, 1806, in Hamilton, Butler County, Ohio. (Mouse over certificate on left for source information.) Note her name was spelt Castor. See William Welch above for marriage, children and census information. Like her husband, Rebecca was a member of the Union Baptist Church in Terre Haute, Vigo County, Indiana. All of their children are mentioned, at one time or another, in the records of the church. But she is only mentioned once. On October 19, 1839, it states: “Granted letters of Dismission to Sister Rebecca Welch, Polly Welch and Landen Welch.” It is assumed she and her unmarried children, transferred to the Friendly Grove Baptist Church in Lewis township, Clay County, Indiana.
Three years later, Rebecca Kester Welch died at age 62 on December 8, 1849, in Pierson Township in Vigo County, Indiana. She was buried with her husband, William, at the Friendly Grove Baptist Church Cemetery (pictured right), in Clay County, Indiana. Four of her ten children are also buried here, Samuel, Sarah, Jesse, and Ruhama.
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John Welch was born between 1750 and 1758 in Wales. According to the Pound/Kester family history, he came to the US as a stowaway on a Welsh ship when very young. A Bullock family story is that an ancestor, later named Welch, was found floating on a piece of a Welsh ship. In either case it appears that his original name was probably not Welch, so further research is hampered. The book goes on to say that he settled in Maryland, then in Virginia, and later settled in Butler County, Ohio. John served in the Revolutionary War under the immediate command of George Washington and in the early 1800‘s received 200 acres of land in Ohio, in the Miami River Valley. Before 1783, he married Sarah Sutton probably in Virginia. They had seven children - ancestor William, born February 19, 1784; John A., born October 3, 1788; Samuel in 1790; Nancy in 1804; James in 1806; Mary in 1811; and Rebecca in 1812. It is interesting to note that their son John A, married Mary Polly Kester, the sister to his brother ancestor William’s wife Rebecca. John and Polly had a daughter named Ruhama Welch who married Hugh Lawson Siner, who was the brother of ancestor Allie Siner. John’s name appears on the Butler County Tax Lists for the years 1806, 07, 09 and 1810. Unfortunately, townships are not listed on these records. On the Butler County, Ohio Census of 1807, which only lists White Male Inhabitants of over age 21, John Welch is listed as living in Lemon Township. Being that there are only two Welch’s on the list, John and William, it is almost certain that this is our John. There are several 1820 census for the name of John Welch, but only one that fits their location in Lemon Township. In the Butler County Deed Book N, on April 14, 1827, there is a transfer of land from John and Sarah Welsh to John Loring, who was the husband of their daughter Mary. It is believed that John Welch died in March of 1830 in Butler County, Ohio. The Ohio Wills and Estates to 1850 Index lists three John Welches but only one in Butler County. This record is for an 1830 Estate, intestate estate and is in the archives testamentary books on two different pages, 337 and 354. Unfortunately, these pages are not accessible online. However, there is a Deed of Partition between the Heirs of John Welch that has been transcribed by the Ohio USGenWeb Archives. This transcript is dated October 13, 1831 and states that “John Welch died intestate leaving heirs to wit William Welch, John Welch, James Welch, John Loren, and Mary his wife late Mary Welch, John White and Nancy his wife, late Nancy Welch and Rebeca Welch . . .” (Late did not mean dead in those days-it meant former.) It seems to indicate that the heirs redistributed part of their inherited portions of the land, a bit more than 5 acres per child, giving 40 acres to their mother, Sarah, for her natural life. What is interesting to note is that on a corner of Samuel’s lot there was a graveyard, probably where John was buried Sarah Sutton was born about 1767 in Ohio. When she was about 16 or 17 she married John Welch, a Revolutionary War veteran. They had seven children (See John Welch above for details). John died in March of 1830 in Ohio and Sarah is listed as living alone in Lemon Township, Butler County, Ohio on the 1830 US census. Her son James is listed on the line after her, which suggests he lived very close by, if not with her. On October 13, 1831, a Deed of Partition between the Heirs of John Welch was filed by her children. Sometime after the 1830 census was taken, Sarah moved to Indiana, probably to be near her children – at least two lived there. By 1836, all the Lemon Township, Butler County land owned by the Welch’s was sold to Abner Enoch, a leading citizen of that area. In 1840, she was probably living with her son John in Prairie Creek, Vigo, Indiana, as his census for that year has a female between the ages of 70 and 79 living with them. Sarah Sutton Welch died August 19, 1844 in Vigo County, Indiana. She is buried in the Second Prairie Creek Baptist Church Cemetery (gravestone pictured). The inscription reads: “In memory of Sarah Welch who departed this life August 19th in the 77th year of her age.” There is a Vigo County probate record which was settled and filed on January 11, 1847, for a Sarah Welch, that was signed by a John Welch. It states that she didn’t have any assets because “. . . she distributed all of her effects among her children in her lifetime and the administrator now believes that he committed an error in taking out letters of administration. John Welch” Unfortunately, nothing else is in the probate file, so it is uncertain that this is our Sarah Sutton Welch. ~< Back to Chart >~ |
Paul served in the War of 1812 in Lanier’s independent battalion of Ohio militia from March 11, 1813 to April 10, 1814, from Preble County Ohio. It is said that Paul Kester died in the Spring of 1814 on the way home from the War. The records of Preble County, Ohio show that letters of administration were granted there on his estate in 1814. The Ohio Probate Wills 1808-1854 Volume 1 records the inventory of his estate was taken June 1, 1814. So he died sometime between April 10th and June 1st (mouse over and click on image right to enlarge). He was about 54 years old when he died. |
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Ruhama Bonham was born about 1765 in Preble, Ohio. She was the first of seven children born to Jacob Bonham and his unnamed wife. Ruhama’s given name is written as Amey in some documents. The family moved to Hendersonville, Kentucky, (probably now in Tennessee) in 1773 and then to Bourbon, Kentucky in 1777. When Ruhama was 20, she married Paul Kester. They had at least nine children – ancestor Rebecca, born July 3, 1786; Sarah on October 5,1788; John on March 24, 1791; Mary A. on November 1, 1792; Jesse in May of 1800; Ruth on August 14, 1802; twins Jacob and Bonham in 1807; and William on April 6, 1811. Rebecca, Sarah and John were born in Virginia prior to the area becoming Kentucky. Mary, Jesse and Ruth were born in the new state of Kentucky. Jacob, Bonham and William were born in Ohio. When Paul died in 1814, she was 49 and probably had at least five children at home, the youngest being 3 years old. She likely moved to Indiana to be near family. Her daughter Rebecca was married in Vigo County, Indiana, before June of 1817. On November 6, 1817, Rhenhama Kester, who lived in Vigo County, Indiana, purchased 80 acres of land in Section 7, Township 10N and Range 09W, from the Vincennes land office. The 1820 Vigo County census records her as Rheuame Kester living with three young males, most likely William age 9 and twins Jacob and Bonham age 13. Nothing more is known of Ruhama Bonham Kester until she died on October 20, 1846 in Pimento, Vigo County, Indiana, at about age 81. She is buried in the Second Prairie Creek Cemetery there. Her original gravestone is pictured on the left. The inscription reads: “Wife of Paul Kester..... Oct 20, 1846 in her 82nd year.” This stone has since been replaced by the gravestone pictured on the right. Mouse over each photo for more information. |
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William Kester was born about 1733 in the vicinity of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the third child of six born to Paul Kester and Ruth Kitchen. The name William probably came from Ruth’s family as it was a common name among the Kitchens. His mother died in 1744 and a few years later in 1746 his father died when William was about 13 years old. Quakers (AKA Friends), probably from the Sadsbury Monthly Meeting in Chester County, Pennsylvania, took him in. The records of the Kingwood Monthly Meeting of Friends in Burlington County, New Jersey show that he came there on March 11, 1756 by a letter of recommendation from the Sadsbury Monthly Meeting of Friends in Pennsylvania. It is believed that his uncle Hermanus Kester, took in Williams brother John and sister Rebecca after their father, ancestor Paul died and they were all members of the Kingwood Monthly Meeting. It is assumed that William lived with his uncle’s family, and there, fell in love with his first cousin Elizabeth. Seven months later when William was about 23, he married Elizabeth Kester, who had just turned 21 years-old, on October 14, 1756, in Kingwood, New Jersey. No further mention is made of them in the Quakers’ record, probably because they were dropped from membership being that it is against their rules for first cousins to marry. They had one child, ancestor Paul Kester, born about 1760. A few years later, Elizabeth died. Shortly thereafter, William married widow Elizabeth Lacock-Ferguson in New Jersey. They had four children – Elizabeth in about 1763; William about 1765; Sarah on June 24, 1767; and John on March 23, 1770. The descendants of these children all married into our ancestral families of Siner, Hodges and Welch. The birthplaces of these children are unknown as during in this time period they moved to Virginia and then to Cumberland, Maryland, around 1781. In April of 1786 they moved to Kentucky traveling with other families, first overland to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and then by flatboat on the Ohio River to the landing where Louisville today is located. During the river journey, when some of the party went ashore to procure game in spite of numerous Indian signs, Indians attacked them and two of the party were killed - William Chenoeth and a man identified as “a Negro called Gabe.” This occurred between Limestone Creek and Cincinnati, which then consisted of a fort and a few log huts. They arrived in Nelson County Kentucky and lived there until 1795. (Shelby, Spencer and Nelson Counties are all southeast of Louisville, but at the time of their arrival here, this area was in Virginia, as Kentucky did not become a state until 1792.) William purchased 500-600 acres of land for “one hundred dollars and a horse” on Elk Creek in Shelby, now Spencer County Kentucky. Here William’s second wife Elizabeth became ill and was bed ridden for seven years and died prior to 1810. William then married widow Sarah Martin-Pound-Stiglar in Shelby County on March 24, 1810. She was the mother of three Pound children who married three of William’s children by his second wife. William and Sarah didn't have children – he was 80 and she was 75. They lived with William’s son John and his wife, Sarah Martin-Pound-Stiglar-Kester’s daughter, Sarah Pound-Kester. John E. Hunt in his book The Pound and Kester Families, tells us that William Kester died in 1820 at Elk Creek, Spencer County, Kentucky at the age of 87. His third wife Sarah Martin-Pound-Stiglar-Kester died five years later, also at the age of 87. They are both buried in Elk Creek. |
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Elizabeth Kester’s birth is recorded as the 25th day of the 6th month in 1735, in the Kingwood Monthly Meeting Minutes. Today we say she was born on August 25, 1735 in the Quakertown area of Hunterdon County, New Jersey. She was the second of ten children born to 31 year-old Hermanus Kester and his 23 year-old wife Anne Large. When Elizabeth was 21, she married her cousin William Kester. (William's father and Elizabeth's father were brothers.) See William Kester above for details. They had one child Paul in about 1760, probably in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. 26 year-old Elizabeth Kester died a young woman in about 1762, probably in New Jersey, leaving her husband with a young child to raise. |
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Jacob Bonham was born about 1750, probably in Virginia or New Jersey. He was the only child born to Amariah Bonham and Mary Drake. When he was born, he had three sisters and two brothers from his father’s first marriage ranging from eight to thirteen years old. Sometime before 1765, when their first child was born, a very young Jacob married a woman who some researchers say was named Mary (maiden name unknown). They had at least seven children. See Mary below for names. Jacob amassed many acres of land. In Howard E. Bonham’s and Jean Allin’s book Bonham and Related Family Lines, they state, “April 20, 1780: Jacob Bonham produced certificate from the Commissioners for adjusting and settling claims to lands in the Counties of Yohagania, Monongaha and Ohio for four hundred acres land in this county on the waters of Cross Creek to include his settlement made in the year 1774, which entry I have verified.” He also owned land in Virginia. The American Revolution began soon after, in April of 1775. Seven years later, Jacob enlisted on May 18, 1782 as a sergeant and on the 25th, marched under the command of Colonel William Crawford in the Sandusky Expedition into what is now Ohio to defeat the Indians who had been aiding the British. Jacob died while fighting the British and Indians on June 9, 1782 at what is now called the Sandusky Massacre in Crawford County, Ohio. Colonel Crawford was captured and burned at the stake. Today there is a monument in his memory, northwest of Upper Sandusky in Crawford County. Jacob died without a will so his land was left to his eldest son Landon, who died about 1790 without a will or children. Thus the land was split up between Jacob’s other surviving children, the youngest being about 4 years-old. |
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Mary, wife of Jacob Bonham (her given name is not documented and her maiden name is unknown) was born about 1745-50, probably in Preble, Ohio. She married Jacob Bonham, at a young age and they had at least seven children. Their first child was ancestor Ruhama. Their next four children were probably born in Preble, Ohio – Mary about 1767, married John Mathews; Sarah about 1769; Landon about 1771, who died before he was 21 years-old, unmarried; and John about 1772, who married a woman named Rebecca. The next two were born in the Kentucky territory – Amariah on April 21, 1773, married Rebecca Wiley there in Bourbon; and Patience about 1777, who married Robert G. Cummins in Bardstown, Nelson County, Kentucky. Some researchers say there was another son named Daniel. In the book Bonham and Related Family Lines it states, “There are reports of another son, Daniel, who is mentioned in the Virginia State Land Grants, 1802, Dec 24, Loudoun Co. i.e.: Amariah, Daniel, John, Sarah and Patience Bonum [Bonham], heirs and representatives of Jacob Bonham deceased, et. a l , 400 acres in Ohio Co. in right of settlement, by Gov. John Page.” No other documents exist to support this additional child. The book continues with “Commonwealth of Virginia - Summons, Martin Huffman and his assignee, James Reves to answer Caveat of Amariah Bonham, John Bonham, Amey Kester wife of Paul Kester, late Amey Bonham, Mary Mathews wife of John Mathews, late Mary Bonham, Sarah Bonham and Patience Bonham, heirs and legal representatives of Landon Bonham, deceased, who was the heir at law of Jacob Bonham, deceased, died intestate - for three hundred and fifty-seven acres. Amariah, etc. claim same by right of prior entry for 400 acres.” (The word late - in the above quote means former, not deceased as used today.) Thus it seems there were only the seven children. Some researchers say Mary Bonham died prior to April 13, 1779, the date that her husband sold land without his wife’s signature. This date is possible, as after their father’s death in 1782, the land he left was divided among his surviving children, with no mention of a surviving wife. The years that followed, found the children, selling or transferring their land between themselves. In 1785 when their daughter Mary married John Mathews, her marriage bond was signed by her intended and a Robert Daniels, both of Jefferson County, Kentucky. In those days, both fathers usually signed the marriage bond, giving permission to marry, especially to an under-aged female. Mary, who should have been about 18 years-old, was called a Spinster on the bond. Why she was called that and who this Robert Daniels was is unknown, but he may have been the brother of Jacob’s wife Mary. |
A year later, in October of 1841, the church Granted a Letter to Brother William Welch. It is assumed this was a letter of dismissal, which would allow him to transfer his membership to another church, probably the Friendly Grove Baptist Church in Lewis township, Clay County, Indiana.
The Friendly Grove Church's website states that the first church building, which no longer stands, was built in the early 1840's and “. . . was a log one of most peculiar design and construction, unlike any other in the county or elsewhere. . . . The carpenter work on the first frame was done by Rice M. Stark and Samuel Welsh.” This Samuel Welsh could very well be Rebecca and William's son. Unfortunately, on a recent trip to the area, it was discovered that the church was sold to private parties who have fenced in the land and do not allow anyone to visit the cemetery. The Friendly Grove Church website no longer exists. (Mouse over image left for souce info.)
(what is now the corner of Enoch and Tytus Ave-mouse over photo left for more info.) According to the February, 5, 1931 issue of the Middletown News-Signal, “workmen unearthed eight skeletons on Enoch Drive to lay a water main . . The skeletons unearthed have been taken to the city garage and the city commission will be asked tonight just what disposition is to be made of them.” Then on August 29, 1983 from an article in the Middletown Diary by George Crout appeared in the Middletown Journal. It stated the “An estimated 100 graves were in the old cemetery, but there may have been more. The last burial was recorded in 1864.” It went on to say that relatives were permitted to remove bodies from the old cemetery before its conversion into commercial property. “A few were removed to Middletown Cemetery but most remained where they were.” Then during the construction, “12 more bodies were unearthed, undoubtedly residents of the old cemetery.” During this construction, the graveyard was paved over and many “still rest quietly under the blacktop.” 
This deed, which can be found in the Butler County, Ohio, Deed Book T, divided up their inherited land to give her 40 acres of her own during her natural life.
All of her other children were married by then. On that same census page there is listed the families of Moses Evans, her daughter Sarah’s husband; John Welch, her daughter Mary’s husband; William Welch, her daughter Rebecca’s husband; her son John Kester; and other Welches & Kesters. Three years later, on November 23, 1823, she deeded the east half of the northeast quarter of Section 7, Township 10, Range 9, to Moses Carr. In the records of the Union Baptist Church, located in Pierson Township in Vigo County, there is an entry dated October 18, 1828, which states that Ruanne Kester was received into their church by letter.