The Wilkerson Family

 

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Introduction

Like my other families, the Wilkerson Family also holds many mysteries. Not unlike many of my other ancestors, the Wilkersons were also in the United States before the Revolutionary War.  James H. Wilkerson is a documented Revolutionary War soldier, but the big question is who of his ancestors was the first Wilkerson to come to this country?

Much of the information, misinformation and confusion that surrounds the early Wilkersons in this country comes from a history of the Wilkerson family done by Thaddeus Wilkerson in 1942.  Thaddeus was a great grandson of James H. Wilkerson through his oldest son William.

I will quote considerably from Thaddeus' paper.  To read the paper in its entirety go to the Wilkerson Document page.  I believe Thaddeus' paper is rich in history and family stories.  Although, it may not always be accurate is is very valuable. I have stated family stories are always interesting.  There is some truth and some fiction.  There is a co-mingling of stories.  Actions get attributed to the wrong persons.  The fun and challenge of family stories is looking at the bits and pieces of the stories and the overall thread of many stories.  It is finding that grain of truth in each story.  Making them fit.  Figuring out the fact and the fiction.  It is great fun. It is what makes genealogy exciting.

In the paper Thaddeus starts out "This record of the Wilkerson Family was compiled in most part from memory and scanty Family Bible records that were available, and the Grave-Stones in the Family Burying Ground, facing the setting sun on the westward slope of Spring Hill, in Warren County, Ohio. With only such records as these available, it is difficult to go back along the trail for a century and three-quarters to early Pioneer Days and produce a record that is free from mistakes -- so please do not expect such a miracle in this one. This lack of reliable records is also responsible for the incompleteness of this effort."

He goes on to state "The James H. Wilkerson family Bible, with its records, could not be located.  Consequently, many dates which should be included in this brochure are so completely contingent upon memory or guess-work, we have omitted all but proven dates, and will record the descendants of our Ancestor in the order of their birth and whom they married as far as possible.

Dr. Marion Wilkerson, late of Bloomington, Ohio was pretty generally considered an authority on Wilkerson lore. A great deal of our knowledge of the family came thru Dr. Wilkerson, Father, and Uncles Thomas and Edward Wilkerson. Dr. Wilkerson always maintained that the main difference between the Wilkerson’s and the Wilkinson’s was a matter of spelling.  Both families are of English origin; however, the Wilkerson’s as a rule are fair and have blue eyes, while the Wilkinson’s as a rule are not of the blonde type and are dark-eyed.

Moses Wilkerson

The original Wilkerson of which we have any record was Moses Wilkerson -- a native of either Loudon or Orange County, Virginia.  Moses Wilkerson was known to have been the father of six sons, but we have no further knowledge as to the remainder, if any, of his family. James H. Wilkerson was one of the six sons; therefore, Moses Wilkerson must be the corner-stone on which our structure will rest, for the very simple reason that is where our information ceases. There seems to be but little knows about the early Wilkerson’s due most likely to long distances, difficult communications, and the well-known Wilkerson reluctance for letter writing."

Later in the paper he writes "About this time [1787] there were three prominent, and for the period wealthy families living in the heart of Kentucky’s famous Blue Grass section -- the Neal’s, the Wheelers and the Wilkerson’s. During the “Gay Nineties” when the writer was a resident of Kentucky was privileged to meet and visit the homes of the descendants of these pioneer families. At that time they were prominent leaders in their respective communities such as Postmaster at Mt. Sterling, Sheriff of Fayette County (Lexington) and Colonel “Jack” Wilkerson, who was a real colonel, and it was said of his by his admirers that he was the greatest fighter in the Confederate Army. In 1895 one of the largest wholesale drug houses in the south was the Wilkerson Wholesale Drug Company of Memphis, Tennessee. It was significant that all these branches of the Wilkerson family whose the writer contacted, and they were many, traced their lineage to one common head – MOSES WILKERSON."

I believe that this is where the idea originated that Moses Wilkerson was the Father of James H. Wilkerson and his brothers.  It has permeated most documents on the Wilkerson family.  And although I have relied on others for the information on the Wilkerson family prior to James H. Wilkerson, personally I do not believe that Moses Wilkerson was the Father and "corner-stone on which our structure will rest."  Thaddeus himself states that this is based on family recollections and stories, not fact. 

The Wilkersons were a family that firmly believed in the naming convention of the time.  Sons were named after Grandfathers and Fathers.  I have 332 Wilkersons in my database of which about 180 are male.  Of those 180 Wilkersons I have 23 William Wilkersons, 15 John Wilkersons, 13 James Wilkersons, and only 2 Moses Wilkersons.  James H. Wilkerson named his oldest son William, his second oldest son John, and his third oldest son James H. after himself.  Even Moses Wilkerson named his two oldest sons William and John.  I have to believe if Moses Wilkerson was the Father of six sons one of them (except for Pressley the youngest son) would have named one of their sons after their Father.

While I realize this is not a quantitative fact, it lead me, however, to believe the school of thought that the earliest documented Wilkerson (so far) in this country was John Wilkerson born in Stafford, Prince William County, Virginia around 1715 and who married Sarah Ross November 13, 1730 at Saint Paul's Parrish, Stafford, Virginia. 

We also earn very important information about John H.'s parents from a biography of Jonathan Vandervoort, a grandson, done for the History of Warren County Ohio in 1882 "The maternal grandparents were James and Sarah (Moore) Wilkerson, natives of Virginia; he was a son of William and Sarah Wilkerson, and was born Nov. 29, 1758; was married in Virginia April 30, 1782; his wife Sarah was a daughter of James and Margaret Moore, born Nov. 4, 1763; they emigrated to Kentucky; thence, in 1805, came to Warren Co., where he died Dec. 4,1834; Mrs. Moore died July 17, 1841. They had nine children-William, Peggy, John, Frances, Nancy, Mary, James, Sarah and Elizabeth. [To me this is a very important clue in verifying the identity of James H. Wilkerson's parents.  Jonathan was a grandson and knew James H. Wilkerson.  This biography was written in 1882 only 50 years after James H.'s death, so I put more credence in it than Thaddeus Wilkerson's research that was done in the 1940's a hundred plus years after his death. - ld.]

William and Sarah Halley Wilkerson's two documented sons were William born Oct 14, 1731 and John born Feb 20, 1733.  Whereas nothing is known about John and his family William had at least six sons:

    John Madison born March 12, 1757 and married Margaret Moon July 39, 1789 and Catherine Fletcher February 12, 1804.  John died in Clay County, Missouri on June 15, 1834.

    James H. Wilkerson (my 3rd great grandfather) born November 29, 1758 in Fairfax, Louden County, Virginia.  James H. married Sarah Moore April 30 1782 and died in Warren County, Ohio on December 4, 1834.

    William Wilkerson born March 3, 1761 and married Betsy Striplin December 21, 1797 in Clark County, Kentucky. He died June 27, 1846 in Monroe County, Missouri.

    Moses Wilkerson born April 12, 1763 and married Aletha Anderson (her family was also at Fort Boonesborough).  Moses died Jun 1806 in Montgomery County, Kentucky.

    Pressley Wilkerson born May 26, 1767 and married Lydia Calk September 1, 1789 and died March 1819 in Pendleton County, Kentucky.

How did James H. Wilkerson get from Louden County, Virginia to Warren County, Ohio?  Let's start with Thaddeus' paper.

"Some time in 1787 James H. Wilkerson with his five brothers and their collective families, emigrated westward. James H. and one of the brothers located near Lexington, Kentucky, where they had relatives. Two of the brothers continued on to western Tennessee and northern Louisiana. The remaining two brothers went on to Missouri and the northwest. St: Louis was only a frontier trading post and the Louisiana Purchase just a nebulous dream."

The six brothers

No one has been able to document the sixth brother Thaddeus talks about.  Was there a sixth brother or did the family stories get confused and there were only five of which one was James H?  We know the Wilkersons were at Boonesborough.  Boonesborough is very close to Lexington.  Also it is doubtful the brothers immediately moved on from Kentucky.  Again the family stories may have gotten the time lines confused. They didn't have the internet to easily look up all these facts.  They only had family stories. In the late 1700's and early 1800's Ohio was known as the Northwest Territory.  The Northwest Territory consisted of the land north of the Ohio River, west of Pennsylvania, and east of the Mississippi River. It included all of modern-day Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and parts of Michigan and Wisconsin. It became part of America when England ceded this territory to its former colonists in the Treaty of Paris of 1783, the treaty ending the American Revolution. The Americans named it the Northwest Territory because, at this time, it consisted of the northwestern portion of the newly independent America. Is this the northwest territory the family stories talked about with James H. Wilkerson being the brother who immigrated to Ohio.  Living near Seattle  today this is considered the Northwest, and, I feel confident than none of the brothers moved out here in 1787. In 1801 the western boundary of the United States was the Mississippi River and at that time two-thirds of the citizens lived within 50 miles of Atlantic Ocean.  The Lewis and Clark expedition wasn't even started until 1803. Ohio officially became the seventeenth state of the United States of America February 19, 1803 and Missouri didn't become a state until 1821.

Analyzing what I know about the brothers:

John Madison born March 12, 1757 and married Margaret Moon July 39, 1789 and Catherine Fletcher February 12, 1804.  John died in Clay County, Missouri on June 15, 1834.  His youngest daughter Lemima Jane by Catherine Fletcher was born in Kentucky about 1819 so he would have moved to Missouri sometime after 1820.  Which makes sense because that is about the time settlers really started moving to Missouri.

James H. Wilkerson (my 4th great grandfather) born November 29, 1758 in Fairfax, Louden County, Virginia.  James H. married Sarah Moore April 30 1782 and died in Warren County, Ohio on December 4, 1834.  Was this the brother who moved to the Northwest Territory?

William was born March 3, 1761 and married Betsy Striplin December 21, 1797 in Clark County, Kentucky. He died June 27, 1846 in Monroe County, Missouri. His youngest son Mason was born in 1814 in Kentucky so William didn't move to Missouri until around 1815.  Did John Madison follow William to Missouri?  Were these the two brothers who moved to Missouri. 

As far as I know none of the brothers went on to the Northwest.  In fact the only Wilkerson I know of that came to the Northwest was my Grandmother Kate Wilkerson Pemberton in 1935.

Moses Wilkerson born April 12, 1763 and married Aletha Anderson (her family was also at Fort Boonesborough).  Moses died Jun 1806 in Montgomery County, Kentucky.  Was Moses the brother who stayed in Kentucky with James H. Wilkerson and settled around Lexington.  Moses' youngest daughter Sarah was born in Kentucky around 1804.

Pressley Wilkerson born May 26, 1767 and married Lydia Calk September 1, 1789 and died March 1819 in Pendleton County, Kentucky.  According to the records I have Pressley also stayed in Kentucky although some of his descendants moved to Alabama and the south. Did the family stories get this confused?  Is this the line that went to Louisiana?  Was there a sixth brother who went on to Tennessee?

Was it two brothers went to Missouri - John and William, two brothers stayed in Kentucky - Pressley and Moses and one brother moved to the Northwest Territory (Ohio) - James H.

Fort Boonesborough

We know some of the Wilkerson Family was at Fort Boonesborough, Madison County, Kentucky.  When I was in Kentucky this summer I visited Fort Boonesborough and listed on the monument of documented pioneers that stayed at the Fort are Althea Anderson Wilkerson (wife of Moses Wilkerson),  Moses Wilkerson, John Wilkerson, Mrs. John Wilkerson, William Wilkerson and Wyatt Wilkerson.  Where are James H. and Sarah Wilkerson?  Were they there and not documented or were they not there at all?  Which is entirely possible. Did they live outside the Fort which by the late 1780's was not uncommon.  Where is their son John who supposedly was born there?  Was he born there during an Indian or was he delivered by Mrs. Daniel Boone on a flat boat in the Ohio River?  Who is Wyatt Wilkerson?  Is he the family the brothers had in Kentucky that Thaddeus talks about?  Is the John Wilkerson listed James' brother or uncle?  Were any of James' other brothers in the Revolutionary War?  There are many questions surrounding the Wilkerson Family during this period.

Starting with the history of Fort Boonesborough it is located in Madison County where Madison County meets Clark and Fayette Counties today. It is only about a half an hour from Lexington.   Originally Madison County was formed in 1785, shortly before the Wilkerson brothers arrived, from Lincoln County, Virginia. The original Madison County included some or all of the following Counties as they exist at the present time: Madison, Garrard, Rockcastle, Jackson, Clay, Leslie, Perry, Owsley, Lee and Estill. In 1797 part of the County was taken to create Garrard County, in 1800 part of the County was lost to Garrard and additional land was obtained from Montgomery, in 1805 land was lost to Knox, in 1807 land was lost to the creation of Clay County and land was also lost to Floyd and Knox Counties, in 1808 land was lost to Estill County, in 1810 land was lost to the creation of Rockcastle County, in 1812 land was gained from Clay County, in 1821 land was lost to Rockcastle County, in 1858 land was lost to the creation of Jackson County.

Fort Boonesborough was established in 1775 by Richard Henderson and Daniel Boone of the Transylvania Company. Boone, in the advance party, first constructed several log huts in a sycamore hollow which led to the Kentucky River. The settlement was later moved by Henderson to a nearby rise on the river bank. A hollow squared stockade enclosing about an acre of ground with blockhouses and cabins was eventually completed in September 1778 - just in time to withstand a nine-day attack by Indians and Frenchmen, later known as "The Great Siege."

There are two family stories about Fort Boonesborough and the birth of John Wilkerson - James H. Wilkerson's second oldest son.  The first is from Thaddeus Wilkerson.  "As the party was floating down the Ohio River on a flat-boat, John Wilkerson, second son to James H. was born. Daniel Boone’s wife was the attending mid-wife. A few years since, the writer met a great-great-,grandson of Daniel Boones here in New York. Without divulging our identity, we said, “Mr. Boone, you and I have some­thing in common. “What is it?” he inquired. Whereupon we explained to him that his great-great-grandmother, in her capacity as mid-wife, had brought our great-uncle into the world aboard an Ohio River flatboat. He instantly said, "Your name is Wilkerson. It is a legend in the Boone family about the time my great-great-grandmother brought that little Wilkerson kid into the world on the Ohio River. He completely verified what we had always thought was one of Dr. Marion Wilkerson’s “tall stories.”

Next is from Alberta Wilkerson Graham in an article that was written for an article in Polk Township, DeKalb County, Missouri Historical Book.  Alberta was John Wilkerson's great granddaughter.  "A John Wilkerson was born in Boone's Fort, Kentucky, during Indian raids. He married Elizabeth Faires, a native of Virginia and they had a son, John, Jr., who married Ann Conner, a native of Delaware, in 1840. They resided in Warren and Clinton Counties, Ohio, near Spring Hill."

The last Indian raid at Fort Boonesborough was August 1778, long before John Wilkerson was born.  Family stories have a way of being embellished.  As to John Wilkerson being born on the Ohio River with Mrs. Daniel Boone as the midwife - I suspect it was one of Marion Wilkerson's tall tales.

Daniel Boone 

Below are the highlights of Daniel Boone's life:

In 1789 when John Wilkerson was born Daniel Boone was living on the Ohio River.  However, the Wilkersons moved to Kentucky in 1787 two years before John was born.  However, let's say that they could have been going from Virginia to Boonesborough Kentucky when John Wilkerson was born.  You don't go down the Ohio River to get there,  Fairfax, Virginia is due east of Cincinnati, Ohio - which is about 100 north of Boonesborough.  At most they would have been crossing the Ohio River, but again the timeline doesn't fit.

Although I have considerable information about the descendants of the brothers in my genealogy reports on the Wilkerson family I will concentrate this narrative on the James H. Wilkerson family.

There are several other family accounts that refer to the Wilkerson families early years.

This is an excerpt from Western Star, a county paper published November 4,1948, at Lebanon, Warren County, (near Cincinnati) Ohio.

"The Wilkerson family held a sesquicentennial celebration at Spring Hill, in Warren County when they dedicated a marker commemorating the settling of the area by forebears in 1798.  Land, 2000 acres of it, was acquired by James Wilkerson, Sr., first of the family to move to pioneer Ohio, for services performed under Gen. George Washington in the Revolutionary War. He was the founder of the settlement of Spring Hill.  Since then many generations have descended from the family which came to the virgin Northwest Territory 150 years ago. Among them was his son, James, Jr., who named the Christy steamboat and compiled a for­tune in St. Louis. Another son, William, was a soldier in the French and Indian War.  Later, George Wilkerson was a captain in the Union army in the Civil War. John Wilkerson, as the West opened, discovered and named the Wilkerson Pass in the Continental Divide near Colorado Springs, on Highway 24.  A John Wilkerson was born in Boone's Fort, Kentucky, during Indian raids. He married Elizabeth Faires, a native of Virginia and they had a son, John, Jr., who married Ann Conner, a native of Delaware, in 1840. They resided in Warren and Clinton Counties, Ohio, near Spring Hill." Written by Alberta Wilkerson Graham who was John H. Wilkerson's granddaughter.

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