Another Sad Chapter of Reuben Ward, Murdered Minister: A Case of an Insolvent Estate

Earlier this year, I wrote about my grandmother's grandfather, Reuben H. Ward. According to my grandmother's story, he was a Methodist circuit rider who had been murdered while going down the river. His body was then thrown overboard. I uncovered more details of the story through newspaper articles.

Index from Ancestry's Insolvent Estates, Perry County, Tennessee
Ward, R. H., page 62; Notice there is one more Ward and 2 more
Whitwells who are also likely my relatives. I haven't looked at these yet.

This week, while looking at Ancestry's new "probate and wills" databases, I discovered more information about Reuben H. Ward. I found that his estate was insolvent.

What is an insolvent estate? It's when an estate is in bankruptcy. So, the estate has more debt than equity. In other words, the person owed more money than they could pay back.

Reuben H. Ward
Image from Elizabeth Ramey, used with permission

In this case, the two administrators of Reuben's estate, Geo. D. Whitwell (Reuben's first cousin) and J. A. Denton, were ordered by the Clerk of the county, J. R. Godwin, to "give notice in the Linden Mail [a newspaper] and also at the Court-house door, in the Town of Linden, Tennessee, for all persons holding claims against the Estate of said deceased, to come forward and file them with me, as Clerk aforesaid, for a pro rata distribution on or before the 7 day of July 1907." [Unfortunately, according to Chronicling America, only three issues of the Linden Mail still exist, so I won't be able to find a copy of this notice.]

The order was apparently signed on January 7th, 1907. The first creditor appeared on January 21st. This was the Stewart Drug Co. saying Reuben (or his estate) owed them $3.95.

Over the next two years, a year and a half beyond the distribution date, a total of 30 creditors would be listed with amounts owed between $1.30 (to John T. Stanford) and $261.11, but with a $19.00 credit (to J. M. Lancaster). Among the many individuals listed, I also noticed the following:

• Murray & Essary, Attor'y's
• Paducah Furniture Company
• Lexington Hardward & Furniture Company
• L. V. Frazier (who I know from research is the local doctor)
• J. T. Mossite Co. Judgement & [???]
• J. P. Dickson (who I know to be his widow's sister)
• Citizen's Bank, Lexington, Tenn

In all, the amount Reuben's estate owed was $1,559.81. Unfortunately, "G. D. Whitwell Admr. has $125.00 to pay these claims less expenses of Admrs fee and clerk fee." So, these claimants probably only received about 10 cents per dollar of what they were owed.

Of course, I can't help but think of Reuben's widow, Sallie, who was only 45 at the time of Reuben's death. She had 8 of her 9 children still living, though the oldest three were already married. But, still living at home were the youngest five children: Lillie, age 18; Mittie, age 15; Mary, age 13; William, age 10; and Grady, age 7. 

Not only did Sallie have to worry about her missing husband for weeks, find out about his possible murder, and struggle through the murder trial, but now she also had to suffer the probable embarrassment of her husband's insolvent estate. And, how would she survive and provide for her children without his estate?

Sallie Ward, 1910 Census, Perry County, Tennesse

In April of 1910, about 3 years after the date set to pay off all claimants, Sallie was enumerated in District 1 of Perry County, Tennessee. On the same page as her two married sons, she is listed as a 49 year old widow with 5 children at home, now aged between 21 and 11 years old. Under occupation and industry, it has listed "farmer, farming." It says she works on her "own account" rather than as an employer or employee, and that she hasn't been out of work during the past year. Under education, it lists that she can both read and write. And, under "ownership of home," it lists that she owns, via a mortgage, her farm. It appears she's doing quite well for herself and her family!

Ten years later, in the 1920 census, two of Sallie's sons have taken over the farm and she's living with them.

So, Sallie survived. But, it must have been tough! Sallie raised my grandmother, Evelyn, so I feel a special connection with her. My grandmother's own mother died when she was just a baby, so Sallie was the only mom my grandmother ever knew.

Do we share common ancestors? I'd love to talk! Please leave a comment or email me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net.

3 Reasons You Might Have Trouble Finding Your Ancestors on Ancestry's "Wills and Probate Records"

Over the past couple of days, I've spent some time looking for ancestors and other relatives on Ancestry's new "Wills and Probate Records" series. I was having trouble finding any of my numerous Perry County, Tennessee relatives, so I decided to skip the index and look at the actual records.

Here are the steps I used to get started:

• Went to Ancestry.com
• Clicked on "Search" then "Card Catalog"
• For Title, typed in "Probate" and the state's name (in my case, "Tennessee")
• Clicked on "Tennessee, Wills and Probate Records, 1779-2008"
• On the right hand side, chose the county (in my case, "Perry")

This gave me three choices:

• Minutes of Insolvent Estates, 1883-1936
• Settlements, Guardians, 1865-1913
• Wills, 1863-1959

REASON #1: The years you're looking for aren't really included. Though the original title said it included "wills and probates" from 1779-2008, for Perry County the records years are much smaller: 1863-1959. (Perry County formed in 1819.)

.

Next, I opened up the "Wills, 1863-1959" section. At the bottom, there's the filmstrip which you can flip through to see the various subsections. In this "Wills" section, there were three subsections: 

• Wills, Dec 1863-March 1900
• Wills, Jan 1892-Nov. 1959
• Settlements, Guardians', and Admin., June 1877-May 1893

REASON #2: The type of record you're looking for isn't located where you'd expect it to be. In this case, the "Settlements, Guardians', and Admin., June 1877-May 1893" is under the "Wills, 1863-1959" section, and not the "Settlements, Guardians, 1865-1913" section. 

Since each of these subsections is indexed, I looked for my Whitwell surname in each index. Though I didn't find any Whitwells in the two "Wills" sections, I did find three Whitwells in the 3rd section containing settlements, guardians', and administrators.

Index page for Perry County, Tennessee, "Settlements, Guardians', and Admin 1877-May 1893

Though I don't recognize J. R. Whitwell and W. C. Whitwell, I have several possibile matches for Thomas (or Thos.) Whitwell. His records are found on the following pages: 113, 193, 231, 247, 331, 447, [Gdn] 488, 517.

Transcription: A Settlement this day made with Thos. Whitwell
Admr. of P. Whitwell decd.      As follows:

I looked at each page and found the following records:

page 113 - Thos. Whitwell, Administrator of the estate of P. Whitwell, deceased

page 193 - Thos. Whitwell, Administrator of the estate of P. Whitwell, deceased

page 231 - Thos. Whitwell, Administrator of the estate of Geo. G. Sheffield, deceased

page 247 - Thos. Whitwell, Administrator of the estate of G. G. Sheffield, deceased

page 331 - Thos. Whitwell, Administrator of the estate of P. Whitwell, deceased

page 447 - Thos. Whitwell, Guardian of Sallie Sheffield, minor heir of Geo. G. Sheffield, deceased

page 488 - Thos. Whitwell, Guardian of Sallie Sheffield

page 517 - Thomas Whitwell, Guardian of Sallie Sheffield

As you can see, the index is listing the name of the administrator or guardian and NOT the name of the deceased! So, you won't find your deceased relative through this index! (Wow!)

REASON #3: The names indexed are for the administrators or guardians... NOT the deceased! This really surprised me. To find these records, you'd either have to know the name of the administrator or guardian, or actually look at each page.  

As far as these records, who are P. Whitwell and his estate's administrator, Thomas Whitwell? 

P. Whitwell is my 4th great grandfather, Pleasant Whitwell, who died December 20th, 1875 in Perry County. His estate continued to be "settled" for more than 9 years. The last record, on page 447, is from February 1886.

Thomas Whitwell (1826-1901) was Pleasant's son. His daughter, Mary Elizabeth Whitwell (1848-1887) was married to the George G. Sheffield (1848-1881) listed above. The last item, page 517, is from the year 1892. Sallie would've been about 19 years old and the last living minor child of George G. Sheffield and Mary Elizabeth Whitwell.

Do we share common ancestors? If so, I'd love to talk! Please leave a comment or email me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net.

Thomas Whitwell: A Legal Orphan (#3 of 52 Ancestors)

(Thanks to Amy Johnson Crow at "No Story Too Small" for creating "52 Ancestors" where we can share our ancestors stories, one week at a time.)

Thomas B Whitwell, my 5th great grandfather, wasn't even a year old when he was legally declared an orphan. I say "legally" because we are uncertain as to whether his mother was still living or not. But, the law stated that he was an orphan if his father died. So, Thomas and his older brother, Robert, were orphans.

What happened to orphans in the 1770's in Virginia? They'd be legally "bound out" to a master or mistress who were to provide them with "diet, clothes, lodgings and accommodations and teach him to read and write and at the expiration of his apprenticeship to give him the same allowance appointed for servants of indenture." [Quote from What Genealogists Should Know about 18th Century Virginia Law by Mr. John P. Alcock]

Thomas was bound out to a man named William Brumfield and his brother, Robert, was bound out to a William Overton. Some researchers believe William Brumfield was their grandfather, but I'm still looking for evidence.

Fourteen years later, in 1790, Thomas' older brother was discharged from service to his master. This would usually happen at the age of 21, but I believe Thomas was only 18 or 19. On that same day, Thomas was bound to a different man, a Benjamin Morton. A few months later, that order was rescinded and he was bound to Samuel Johnson. And, a few months later, Samuel Johnson died so Thomas was bound to his brother, William Johnson. As a young teen, this must have been a difficult year for Thomas!

John Anderson giving permission for his daughter, Polly Anderson, to marry Thomas Whitwell
Witnesses are Elkanah Anderson, Polly's brother, and Robert Whitwell, Thomas' brother
Image from "Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954" on Family Search

I haven't found a record of when Thomas was released from his bond, but by 1796 he had crossed the Cumberland Gap and joined his brother in Mercer County, Kentucky. (What an adventure that must have been!) In 1798, he married Mary "Polly" Anderson and they had their first of eleven children in 1799.

Shortly after the birth of that first son, the young family packed up and moved again, this time to Barren County, Kentucky. Over the next decade, Thomas and Polly had six more children before they moved to Dickson County, Tennessee.

In December 1814, Thomas traveled with his wife's brother, Elkanah Anderson (who is also a 5th great grandfather of mine), to fight the British in New Orleans. He left behind his wife, Polly, with their eight children, including the youngest who was only 15 months old.

Thomas and Elkanah joined the 2nd Regiment of the West Tennessee Militia. Their regiment was "part of a flotilla that went down to New Orleans via the Cumberland, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers." Once there, they fought in the famous Battle of New Orleans under Andrew Jackson. During the bloody, one-sided battle which lasted only about 30 minutes on January 8th, the British suffered over 2,000 casualties while the Americans only had about 100.

The Tennessee Archives site says there weren't any battle casualties in Thomas' and Elkanah's regiment, but there were "many deaths due to sickness" in February and March. Elkanah Anderson, Thomas' brother-in-law, died on January 14th just 6 days after the biggest battle. Was he one of the first to die of disease? Or did he die of a battle injury? And was he buried in New Orleans as family stories tell us?

Thomas returned home and had to break the news to his wife that her brother had died. Elkanah's wife, Sally, also had to be told. I'm not sure how many children Sally and Elkanah had, but their daughter, Margaret, was my 4th great grandmother.

After returning home, Thomas' wife had one more child before they packed up again and moved to Hickman County, Tennessee with extended family members. According to Spence's "History of Hickman County, Tennessee," they settled on Cane Creek "immediately after the withdrawal of the Indians" as early as 1815. Six heads of family are listed, and the Whitwell's and at least two other families are related to me. Another sentence states this was "yet in the Indian country" and I can only imagine the rough existence they had. They had their 11th child, their last, in Hickman County in 1820.

Thomas B Whitwell's headstone in Beech Grove Cemetery, Pleasantville, Hickman County, Tennessee
Headstone erected c 1992 by Mark Hubbs & Harvey Whitwell

Photo by Eunice posted at Find-A-Grave

Thomas' wife, Polly, died in 1838 and he passed away in 1846. Though family story says they were both buried in "box tombs" on land they owned in Hickman County, they now both have markers in Beech Grove Cemetery in Pleasantville, Hickman County. Pleasantville is possibly named after their son, Pleasant, who was my 4th great grandfather.

Do we share common ancestors? I'd love to talk! Please write me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net