John Dabney Maupin's Application for Civil War Pension Part 3

 

Neighbors Affidavit

I'm not sure how it information about being with Connecticut Volunteers---obviously a mistake.  So skipping down 4 lines:

"Christopher Spies aged 57 years, a resident of Linn Co. Late Co. C, 12th ConVols (???)) whose post office address is St. Catherine in Linn Co. Mo. who being duly sworn, declare in relation to aforesaid case as follows:that he has lived a neighbor and has known John D. Maupin  for 20 years last past and that he was afflicted with chronic diarrhea up to the present time and from which disability and its consequences he is at present a helpless invalid requiring constant care and watching by his wife.  He further states his health and condition is such that he is liable to succumb almost ANY day.

That this claim outht to have immediate attention.  I know these facts from personal knowledge and have seen him as much as once a week for ten years. . . . .

24th May 1897. St. Catherine in the county of Linn state of MO."

This document is untitled but is testimony of Jane Gross Maupin and John W. Finney, Justice of Peace:

"On this 24th day of May 1897, personal appearance before me Mrs. Jane G. Maupin age 56, a resident of St. Catherine, MO, wife of John D. Maupin late Co. D 9 Reg Mo Cavalry war 61 (?), and that at present and for many years prior to this date, he has been a total physical weak .  So that she has to wait on him the same as a CHILD both day and night and that she knows that he was suffering from effects of chronic diarrhea and its result is when he came home that she could respectfully ask that his case be made SPECIAL his present Pen??? under new law is 618.059

Jane G. Maupin

State of Mo

Linn Co.  Subscribed and seen before me by Jane G. Maupin who I well know and that she is a credible witness and the aforesaid affidavit  read to her and understood by her in signing the same and that I am not interested in the prosecution of this claim for pension.  In Sistime any where I have set my had a Justice of Peace for Linn Co. Mo.  

John W. Finney, Justice of the Peace

I hereby certify that John W. Finney who has signed his name to the foregoing affidavit was at the time of doing it a Justice of the Peace in and for said county and state duly commissioned and from that all his official acts as such are entitled to full faith and ended it this signature there is genuine.

Geo. W. Adams, Clerk Court Linn Co. Mo"

Department of the Interior, Bureau of Pensions, Washington DC January 15 1898

Certificate no. 618.059

John D. Maupin

Sir:  In forwarding to the pension agent the executed voucher for your next quarterly payment please favor me by returnint this circular to him with replies to the questions enumerated below.  

Very respectfully, ???? Evans, commissioner

First.  Are you married?  If so state your wife's full name and her maiden name: Jane G. Maupin---Jane G. Dickinson

Second. When, where and by whom were you married?:  June 6th 1858 Williamsburg, Mo by Stephen Ham, Minister

Third. What record of marriage exists:  Recorded at Fulton Callaway Co Mo.

Fourth. Were you previously marriedd?  If so please state the name of your former wife and the date and place of her death or divorce:  Narcissa Maupin died at Wellsville Mo Aug 28th 1857.

Fifth.  Have you any children Living?  If so please state their names and dates of their birth:  T.C. Maupin April 8th 1838, Wm. A. June 29th 1842, Nannie M. Feb. 5th 1845, Mattie A July 14th 1859, Henry W. May 7th 1861, John D. Jan. 16th 1869, Ira R Jan. 6th 1872, Oliver T Nov. 29th 1873.

John D. Maupin (his mark)

April 30th, 1898

Witness:  E. Anderson, Mattie A. Maupin

Pensioner Dropped

U. S. Pension Agency

Topeka Kans, Oct. 31 1900

Certificate 618.059

John D. Maupin

Blacksmith D 9 Mo S M Cav

Sir:  I have the honor to report that the above named pensioner who was last paid at $12 to 4Aug. 1899 has been dropped because of death.

Jane Gross Dickenson Maupin died June 28, 1897 one month after she gave testimony on how near death he was.  John Dabney Maupin died August 16, 1899.  I don't have any documents stating he was entitled to a pension, just this last one stating he was last paid $12.

Joseph Sollis

 

My family tree was a mess.  I had brothers and sisters marrying and having children.  While that's not unheard of especially among Egyptian monarchs, that didn't happen much in 19th century America.  So, I contacted several genealogist cousins to help me out.

Rae and Jason suspected the pair in question (Sena Sollis and Adam Sollis) were cousins:  Sena was the daughter of Martha Taylor and Luke Sollis; Adam was possibly the son of Joseph Sollis and Elizabeth Allen.  . . . .Joseph Sollis? The one that was hanged for murder?. .. . .I guess that's better than incest. . .. .

It had been so long since I'd heard about Joseph that I needed a refresher thanks to Jason and the internet.  The Sollis family lived in Duplin, North Carolina as did the Kornegay family.  They were definitely neighbors and might have inter-married.  We don't know much about the Sollis family during the colonial period but the Kornegays are well documented being plantation owners.  There are several indications that they were not only wealthy but  also used their influence in court cases involving intoxication  with assault and battery.

I haven't found the cause of the disagreement between Abraham Kornegay and Joseph Sollis but the end result was Joseph killed Abraham Kornegay.  There was a reward for Joseph's live capture:

Aug,2,  1826  North Carolina Journal August 2, 1826
-- JOSEPH SOLLIS, for whose apprehension a reward of $300 was offered, as the
murderer of ABRAHAM KORNEGAY of Duplin County, was arrested in Cumberland
County on Friday last, and committed to the jail in Fayetteville for safe-keeping. Since the death of KORNEGAY, SOLLIS has been lurking about his former residence in Duplin, until lately, he made the attempt to get off, with his wife and child, to the Western Country, but in this attempt was discovered and taken. SOLLIS had called at a house near the road to get water, and was recognized by the occupant, who gave information to an officer, and the neighbors, by whom he was taken.

He was captured and put on trial. Although I haven't found documentation, Jason said Kornegay's brothers were on the jury that sentenced Joseph Sollis to death by hanging.  

Wed. May 9, 1827   North Carolina Journal April 27, 1827

   EXECUTION -- JOSEPH SOLLIS, who was convicted at the last term of the

Superior Court for Duplin Court, of the murder of ABRAHAM KORNEGAY, underwent

the sentence of the law on Friday,m the 27th ultimo.

The newspaper article describing his execution is also interesting.

But the story doesn't end with Joseph Sollis's hanging.  Two of the Kornegay brothers tried to re- collect the reward for finding Joseph Sollis when it is clear in the earlier article that the occupant of a house turned him in.

This information is contributed by Carolyn Shank
Petition for Reward for Murder of Abram KORNEGAY-1828
Duplin County
The Committee of Claims to whom was referred a Resolution instructing them to enquire into the expediency of allowing Bryan KORNEGAY and Henry KORNEGAY of Duplin County, three hundred dollars, for the apprehension of Joseph SOLLIS, who stood indicted in said County, for the murder of Abram KORNEGAY - have had the same under Consideration, and respectfully report -That the fact is as stated in the Resolution; but the Committee are of opinion, that in law, the parties in whose behalf this application is made are unquestionably not entitled to the remuneration, which they claim, nor do they believe that it is either expedient or politic to allow it. The Claimants had no right to look for it to the Legislative - the offer was voluntary on their part, and altho' their feelings, as Relations of the Murdered individual might have been more excited, yet they had no more authority to offer a reward in this case, than any other individual - It is made the duty of the Governor, when a criminal escapes, and flies beyond the pursuit of justice, to offer a reward for his apprehension - But this was not the case in this instance. From the relation in which the Citizen stands to Society, without any additional inducement it is his Duty to aid and assist in bringing to Justice the perpetrators of crimes - Allow, however, this application and the inevitable effect will be that but few men will move in an affair of this kind, until a sufficient inducement, by way of reward, is held out to them - Criminals, of course, will frequently escape, and there will be no end to applications to the Legislature similar to this. For these reasons, the Committee recommends the adoption of the following resolution - Resolved that it is inexpedient to grant the prayer of the Petitioners.
Respectfully submitted.
Thos. LOVE, Chm.

In the Senate Decem'r 29, 1828. Read and agreed to.
By Order.
J W CLARKE AG

Mr. MILLER

Report of the Com'e of Claims on the Resolution in favour of Bryan & Henry KORNEGAY.

In Senate Decem'r 3, 1828. Read and on motion of Mr. WELLBORN ordered to be

postponed indefinitely.

By Order.

J W CLARK AG

Mr. LOVE Chair'n

With so much detail, Jason  and I are left with a lot of questions.  What were they quarreling over?  Were they intoxicated?  Was it a dispute among neighbors? Were they cousins?  Jason and I both have DNA matches to Kornegays and we have two ancestors that we think may have been Joseph's children.  With a pattern of mental illness in both of our families, we also wonder if this dispute involved one or both of them being mentally ill.  

William Graham's signatures

Cousin Dwight has been communicating with one of our McCarrell relatives who had a document with William Graham's signature as well as our ancestor James McCarrell (William's father-in-law).  "The document settles a lawsuit. On "our side" was James McCarrell, William Graham and B(arclay) McGee. On the other side was William McClellan. Our side won, and McClellan paid 250$ in settlement to end the dispute. If I remember correctly from Margaret McCarrell talking with me that this was a dispute over land.... Barclay McGee from what I had seen always signed his name B. McGee..."

Although it is very hard to read what this is about, it was Jan. 7, 1805 in Blount Co TN which pre-dates William Graham and Margaret McCarrell marriage but establishes a relationship of the Graham and McCarrell families. Those witnessing this document are James McCarrell, William Graham, B. McGhee and Enoch Parsons.

We know this is the same William Graham because we have his signature on a Jefferson County Missouri document (along with other relatives).  His is on the upper right side with Mothershead, Bakers and Browns.  Notice how similar the signature below is to the one above.  Samuel Graham (not sure how he is related) is shown as a comparison.


http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mojchs/Courts/PetitionList_1826.htm

William McClellan also sold property in Pennsylvania to a John Graham (whom we believe to be a relative).  It is also possible that a McClellan in St. Charles Co. married a Graham.  Not sure if all of these are of the same McClellan family.

Another name was B. McGhee which we believe to be Barclay McGhee who was an Indian agent.  Which is interesting since we believe the John Graham family was associated with Ft. Bellefontaine near the confluence of Missouri and Mississippi Rivers
http://wardepartmentpapers.org/searchresults.php?searchClass=fulltextSearch&fulltextQuery=Barclay+McGhee

Finally Enoch Parsons was one of the first lawyers in Tennessee and ran for governor in 1819.  So, although I can't read all of the details of the document, there is a lot of history in just the names.

Grimes Court Interrogation

I'll try to transcribe the questions (above) and answers (below), but the answers are very hard to read. I'm putting them together rather than as separate documents. [Double click the documents to enlarge and zoom in---if you interpret any of this differently from me, please let me know---I welcome corrections]

John Graham's Probate II

Filed 18 April 1814 John Graham Estate Inventory

Although it pains me to say this, Dwight is probably right. This is not the estate of William Graham's father but of his brother. There is a cemetery record for "Old Cathedral" that says "Jean 22 Dec. 1813 s/Jean & Marie McGauley" Translated into English that should read "John. . .son of John and Mary McGauley"

Buried nearby was "Margurite Graham 1 June 1818 18 yr wife of N. 23 Oct. 1807" I'm not sure what a lot of that means, but I do know that John Graham, Sr. had a daughter Margaret that eloped. The marriage only lasted a few years, because her husband Michael Connel re-married in 1819. So, that might have been her grave.

John Graham's Spanish Land Grant

So, if John Graham was in Missouri in 1805 to witness a burial, I wondered how early he could have been there. In Historical Records of St. Ferdinand (p.109) it stated that April 1803 John Graham attended the sale of Hezekiah Land (deceased) property along with Vincent and Denis Carrico. On 13 Sep. 1808 he gave testimony (p. 36):

"John Graham sworn says that Ezekial Land made an improvement on the place claimed in 1797 and began to build a grist mill and saw mill in 1798, cleared a field, raised corn, and finished his mills; that said land has been inhabited and cultivated ever since."

That land in dispute was at Coldwater Creek and Bellefontaine near Fort Bellefontaine.

John Graham's Probate I

We were pretty excited when David M. found this at the Carondelet Historical Society. I included a lot of the page so others can see the names listed on this same page: Chouteau, DeMun, Labaddie, St. Cyr, Soulard,Valle, Howdershell---all names of places, streets in the St. Louis area.
I was little nervous that this wasn't really our William Graham, but the document below convinced me---who else would be living around Big River in Jefferson County?

Defendants to Graham Lawsuit

Several Graham descendants and spouses are in this photo. The woman in a dark dress with no hat and white hair is Mary Wilson Trimble (granddaughter of Mary "Polly" Graham). The woman in the white dress with big white hat is Bertha Graham Wilson (granddaughter of William Kane Graham).

There are over 200 defendants for the lawsuit fighting Adeline Graham Wilson's will---I'm going to try to identify as many of them as possible by which of Adeline's siblings they descend from. Since many of them weren't named in the will, I don't really understand why they were defendants, but I'm listing these purely for genealogical reasons. For those named in the will, click here. For information on the lawsuit and the plaintiffs, click here. PLEASE, contact me if you have any corrections.

Adeline's Will and Lawsuit

1913, (standing r-l) Bertha Graham Wilson(white), Abner Medley (white suspenders), Rev. George Steel(white beard), Rev Brown (kneeling in front of them), Gladys Wilson Long is seated on the ground with a black band around a white hat. Bertha Graham Wilson (named in the will below) and George Steel defendants.

Section 7 of the Will basically says "no part of my real estate shall be sold to pay any portion of the legacies bequeathed by this will."

Section 8--If a surplus shall remain after all the costs of the settlement of my Estate, and all the money's directed paid out of my Estate . . . .the surplus shall be paid by my Executor share and share alike to the following persons to wit: Samuel Lee, son of my deceased nephew, James Lee, to nephew Martin V. Graham, to my nieces Margaret V. Blake, Catherine Eaves, and Bertha Wilson, and Ruth Frost and Maggie Maupin, daughter of my deceased niece Arah J. Williams.

Adeline Graham Wilson's Will, Section 6

Adeline Graham Wilson mentioned 3 heirs in the previous post: Thomas J. Miller, Frederick A. Harbison (her brother Madison Martin Graham's grandson) and Ann Liza Wilson (her former-slave). Between this will and the subsequent lawsuit, we know almost all of her nieces, nephews for two generations. But, first, I probably need to list the children of William Graham and Margaret Graham (Adeline's brothers and sisters whom she outlived):

Thomas Jefferson Graham (1809)
Thompson Graham (1810-1843)
Mary "Polly" Graham (1811-1858)
Madison Martin Graham (1814-1882)

Susan Graham (1815-1880)

Lucinda Graham (1816)

Arah Graham (1818-1847)
Theodore Graham (1820-1882)
Adeline Graham (1822-1900)
Margaret Julia Graham (1824-1889)
William Kane Graham (1825-1880)

James Stephen Graham

Section 6: To Margaret V. Leeper---my niece four hundred dollars.
To Margaret Carrow, widow of John J. Carrow one hundred and fifty dollars.
To my niece Sarah I. Carnell one hundred and fifty dollars.
To my niece Sophronia Winer one hundred dollars.
To my niece Lydia Oles one hundred dollars.

Adaline Graham Wilson's Will and "Lize"

Ann Eliza Wilson, 1913

Adaline Graham (1822-1900) was one of William and Margaret Graham's youngest daughters. She and her husband John M. Wilson had no children who lived beyond infancy. But, they "took in" many children to raise. They were fairly affluent and well-respected in the community. Adaline's will and subsequent lawsuit, is like having your genealogy handed to you on a plate. For these two documents, I will highlight the names of the individuals so genealogists can find their ancestor easily. But, my favorite part of the will concerns "Lize" her former slave.

Last Will of ADALINE WILSON deceased

I, Adaline Wilson of Jefferson County and State of Missouri do make and publish the following which is my last will and testament.

William Graham's Will

William and Margaret Graham are perhaps my most interesting ancestors (4 greats). They are Catherine Caroline Brown Long's (Milton's wife) grandparents. Their daughter (Catherine's mother)was Mary (Polly) Graham Brown who was born in Missouri around 1811.

Originally they were just names, but I gradually began to realize that almost everyone with Jefferson County pioneer blood is related to them (some, like cousin Rick, is related to them three or four ways). Although we aren't sure where they came from, they were definitely early settlers since Missouri wasn't a state until 1821.

At first, we thought William had died before 1830 because Margaret is the head of the household in the census (above). But, then we found William's will dated 1835: