William A. Eckles: The Youngest Son Went West

 William Adams Eckles of Kentucky, born 1807

by Jean M. Hoffman, CG

William Eckles was born 28 June 1807 to Robert and Nancy (Adams) Eckles probably in Fayette County, Kentucky.¹ That is around the time his father likely died. William's full name was William Adams Eckles, the middle name his mother's maiden name. Three-year-old William undoubtedly was one of two males under age ten in the U.S. census of 6 August 1810 in the Nancy “Ackels” household in Fayette County.²

 The Eckles family soon moved to Georgetown in neighboring Scott County, Kentucky.³ There his oldest brother, Charles, became the head of household. William was 13 when the U.S. census of 7 August 1820 was taken so he is surely the male ten but under 16 in the Georgetown household of Charles Eckles.⁴ William’s three older brothers would be the ones engaged in manufacture. Since Charles was a wagon maker, the family probably all worked in the business. Their mother would be the oldest female, over 45. Will Brown headed the family before theirs on the census sheet. Mr. Brown was probably a brother-in-law of Charles Eckles married to Jane (Boyd) Brown, a sister of Charles’s wife and a future member of the Georgetown Presbyterian Church.

 As William Eckles matured, his own name appeared in records. Before they turned 18 and were eligible for militia, a group of 25 Georgetown boys had a company of their own. Their captain was John A. Gano in whose papers the militia list is located.⁵ It begins with this:

 “We are now forming a company to the Rules of which all the

undersigned must agree. ---- Rule 1st Each man ^boy

belonging to the company shall[,] if an officer[,] have a black

plume and blue uniform and sword[,] if not[,] a white plume

and blue uniform with a gun ---- 2nd Each man ^boy^ shall

obey his officer[.] 3rd Each person belonging to the com

=pany shall be liable to a fine for non attendance

as the company shall direct --------"

Oliver Brown, next on the list after William Eckles, was their lieutenant. Oliver was born in 1806, a son of previously mentioned William and Jane (Boyd) Brown.⁶ John A. Gano was born in 1805. For this to be when he was under 18, the group was probably established before 1822.

 Though only 16 at the time, William might be the “W. Eckle” who was a charter member of Royal Arch Mason Chapter #13 when it was established on 1 December 1823 in Georgetown, Scott County, Kentucky.⁷ The other charter members were W. D. Hubbel, Levi Lusk, W. Johnson, Stephen G. Marshall, Thomas Hord Bradford, George Douglas, Robert J. Webb, Hugh Offutt, Henry Johnson, and Jas. Long. No Eckles was in the list of 1845 members.

 Having turned 21 in 1828, William Eckles appeared in the Scott County tax rolls in 1829 along with Charles and Nancy.⁸ William still lived with Charles and their mother who was in her sixties at the 1830 U.S. census.⁹ The other brothers were deceased (Alexander) or moved away (Robert C.). The family of William Brown Sr. was now listed six houses away. Charles, William A., and Nancy Eckles all paid taxes to Scott County in 1830.¹⁰

 William's sister-in-law, Nancy (Boyd) Eckles, probably died before 1820 and certainly before 1830.¹¹ His brother, Charles, married again 1 October 1834 to Ann Brooks.¹² Another family change came when their mother died. Her funeral invitation was a large one for services at Charles’s home on 27 April 1839.¹³ Then the younger daughter of Charles Eckles, Nancy Boyd Eckles, married Charles Nichols 12 March 1840, the couple apparently living with Charles initially.¹⁴ These changes may have prompted William to move out as he is the sole member of his household in the U.S. census of 1 June 1840. He was in his thirties and engaged in manufacture and trade, possibly still in the wagon making business.¹⁵ There is no evidence William ever married and Georgetown did not hold him long after these changes.

 William in Missouri

Older brother, Robert C. Eckles, moved to Missouri with his wife's Oldham family in the 1830s.¹⁶ William was with him in Missouri by 28 November 1844 when he purchased several items including a saddle, from the estate sale of Moses Oldham, his brother's late father-in-law. Robert also made a number of purchases at the sale in Fort Osage Township in Jackson County, Missouri.¹⁷ From Jackson County, probably at the courthouse in Independence, on 11 October 1845 William gave power of attorney to Charles Eckles back in Georgetown to sell his share of the land they inherited from their brother Alexander.¹⁸ The estate papers for Moses Oldham include a note from Robert C. Eckles related to a partnership with William dated 9 July 1846.¹⁹

 No definite record of William has been located after 1846, but he might be the “Wm. Echols” on the census of 27 October 1850 in Sacramento, Sacramento County, California, a forty-three-year-old laborer born in Kentucky.²⁰ No other men in the 1850 census are as close despite the variant spelling of the surname. Many men ventured to California drawn by the gold rush. Two neighbors of Robert C. Eckles, later his brothers-in-law William I. and James H. Douglass, recounted trips to California in 1849 or 1850 where they stayed a few years.²¹ It is certainly possible that William A. Eckles ventured further west as well.

 

 ENDNOTES:

 

1. “Stansifer, Cleveland, and Nichols family Bibles, 1785–1988,” for Nichols family, Bible pages plus typed pages of family history information and a newspaper clipping, accession no. SC1209, Kentucky Historical Society, Frankfort, Ky.; digital images (http://www.kyhistory.com/cdm/search/searchterm/sc1209/), Eckles Bible Records typescript, image SC_2_05.

2. 1810 U.S. census, Fayette County, Kentucky, Nancy Ackels household, p. 805, line 12; Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7613); National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) M252, roll 6.

3. Scott County Deed Book A: 318, Charles Eckles from Branham, 1811, County Clerk, Georgetown, Ky.

4. 1820 U.S. census, Scott County, Ky., population schedule, Georgetown, p. 94 (penned), line 14, Charles Eckles; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7734/); NARA M33, roll 27.

5. John Allen Gano, unidentified list of company members, C65, microfilm roll 2, flash 1 (microfilm apparently purchased from the University of Kentucky), State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia, Mo.

6. Georgetown Cemetery (Scott County, Ky., 710 South Broadway Street), Brown family marker, names on three sides (Oliver Brown, 1806–1887), photographed by author, 27 June 2014.

7. B. O. Gaines, The B. O. Gaines History of Scott County, Kentucky, vol. 2 (1904; reprint Georgetown, Ky.: Frye Print. Co., 1981), p. 40 (original p. 277).

8. Scott Co., Ky., Tax Assessor, Tax Books, 1819‒1823, 1825‒1831, 1833, 1835; FHL film 8222, DGS 7834507, image 756 (1829)

9. 1830 U.S. census, Scott County, Kentucky, Georgetown, p. 129 (stamped), p. 257 (penned), line 3, Charles Eckles household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8058/); NARA M19, roll 41.

10. Scott Co., Ky., Tax Assessor, Tax Books, 1819‒1823, 1825‒1831, 1833, 1835; FHL film 8222, DGS 7834507, image 848 (1830).

11. Charles Eckles guardian report in Will Book E, part 2: 161 (records reentered after the 1837 courthouse fire), Scott County Clerk, Georgetown, Ky.

12. Eckles Bible Records, image SC_2_05.

13. Marie Dickore, compiler, Copies of Names on Invitations to Funerals and Burials in Scott County and Fayette County, Kentucky, 1821–1898 (Cincinnati, Ohio: n.pub., 1942), p. 8.

14. “Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954,” Scott County Marriage Register, 1837-1863, no. 218, Nichols and Eckles, 1840. Also, 1840 U.S. census, Scott Co., Ky., Georgetown, p. 93, line 12, Charles Eckles; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8057/); NARA M704, roll 123.

15. 1840 U.S. census, Scott Co., Ky., Georgetown, p. 93, line 6, William Eckles.

16. 1840 U.S. census, Jackson Co., Missouri, p. 56, line 28, Moses Oldham; NARA M704, roll 224.

17. “Missouri, Wills and Probate Records, 1766-1988,” Ancestry (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=9071) > Jackson > Case Files, Series 1, Box 21, Files 1-17, Obrien-Owens > image 195, Jackson County Probate Case Files, Moses Oldham, Sale List, 1844.

18. Scott County, Ky., Deeds, T:279, William Eckles of Jackson County, Missouri, to Charles Eckles, power of attorney, 11 October 1845; County Clerk, Georgetown, Ky.

19. “Missouri, Wills and Probate Records, 1766-1988,” image 269, Jackson County Probate Case Files, Moses Oldham estate receipt from Robert C. Eckles, 1846.

20. 1850 U.S. census, Sacramento County, California, pop. Sch., Sacramento City, p. 341 (penned), p. 171 (stamped), dwelling 717, family 753, Wm. Echols entry; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8054/); NARA M432, roll 35.

21. The History of Jackson County, Missouri . . . (Kansas City, Mo.: Birdsall, Williams & Company, 1881), 901 (William I. Douglass: “went to California in 1849 and spent about four years”), 902 (James H. Douglass: “in 1850 went to California and spent three years.”).

Early Kentucky Settler Alexander Adams

Alexander Adams in Fayette County, Kentucky, 1787‒1805

Jean M. Hoffman, CG

Alexander Adams was “one of the first settlers” in the Lexington area living there by 1787.¹ He didn't apparently own land in the early years but he did have political opinions. He signed a counter-petition to the Virginia legislature—while Kentucky was still part of Virginia—on 24 October 1788 against a petition to divide Fayette County. Levi Todd, the county clerk, was the third to sign the counter-petition. The man signing after Alexander was his son-in-law, Robert Eckles.² Most years from 1789 through 1795 they appeared on the same book and page in the roughly alphabetic county tax rolls as Robert was listed as “Ackles.” Neither was taxed on land, just one white male over 21 and livestock.³

Where He Lived

Alexander Adams lived “at M’Connel’s mill near Lexington” in 1795. He placed an ad in the newspaper with a reward for return of two horses strayed or stolen from there on 17 February 1795.⁴ McConnell's mill may have been in the vicinity of McConnell Springs Park in the current city of Lexington but outside the original town site.⁵ Robert Eckles also lived near McConnell's mill in 1791 when Lexington was surveyed in a rough circle two miles across. Beginning on Main Street southeast of the courthouse and continuing clockwise, the description eventually included these bounds: “northeast of the old Leestown road, crossing the head of McConnell's mill pond at 45 poles; thence north 56¼, east 125 poles to post, passing and leaving out Eckle’s and Brown’s plantations.” The drawing illustrates two dwellings outside the perimeter northwest of Lexington and north of the Town Branch.⁶ With no other records of the surname Eckles in Lexington at this time, this is undoubtedly the location of the home of Robert Eckles near McConnell’s mill.

Alexander Adams purchased Lot No. 17 in the town of Lexington from John and Penelope Harrison for 20 pounds current money in October 1796.⁷ He first appears in the tax rolls for the town of Lexington in 1796 when he was described as a “very old man” with tax on three town lots and four cattle.⁸ Alexander and his wife Ann sold a portion of Lot No. 17 to Benjamin Love on 14 November 1800.⁹ Lot 17 was described in 1796 as bounded by Upper and Second Streets measuring four poles (66 feet) on Upper Street and ten poles (165 feet) on Second Street. The portion they sold in 1800 was twenty feet in front and sixty-six feet back. The neighbors were Vanpelt on the southwest, John Keizer on the northeast, the cross street, and Alexander Adams on the northwest.

Death in 1805
Alexander Adams died in January 1805 at age 85 according to the newspaper death notice.¹⁰ If his age was correct, he was born around 1719. Invitations to attend his funeral were printed and delivered, the funeral held at his house in Lexington at 10:00 am on Saturday, 12 January 1805.¹¹ He had written his last will and testament on 23 December 1799. It was presented for probate in May 1805 and Isaac McIsaac, one of the witnesses, testified to its authenticity. An executor named in the will, John Maxwell, went to court and refused to take on the execution of the will.¹² An inventory of the estate was ordered to be taken in the July 1805 term of court. His estate was appraised at 603 pounds, 12 shillings, 9 pence by Thomas Wallace, George Trotter Sr, George Trotter Jr, and James McCoun on 20 January 1807, the inventory recorded at the May 1807 session of court.¹³

Miscellaneous household goods, many described as old, two pots as damaged, and some bedding as much worn, made up a small value of the inventory. Furniture was given a greater value, but all together the personal property came to very little. A cow and calf listed at 2 pounds, 14 shillings, were the only livestock. A set of six blue-edged dessert plates might imply a once higher level of goods. Other interesting items include a gold scale with a part of the weights, one sheep shears, an old spinning wheel, and a reel. Since the inventory was two years after Alexander’s death, part of his personal property may have been distributed or claimed by his widow. No clothing was listed. Real estate was where the money was. The house and lot in Lexington came in at 225 pounds. Outlying lots were a surprise given the lack of tax records on land outside of town. There were two adjoining Mrs. Megowan’s meadow valued at 270 pounds and one adjoining Mrs. McNair’s locust lot at 90 pounds.

Alexander’s estate was for his widow’s use during her life and after her death to be divided equally among his daughters Mary Milligan, Jane Eason, Eleanor Steele, and his grandson Alexander Eckles, son of his daughter, Agnes (Nancy) Eckles.¹⁴ Ann Adams was granted her petition for administration of the estate of her late husband Alexander Adams. She entered into bond with Andrew McCalla and William Millegan as her securities in the penalty of 1,000 pounds on 08 July 1805 in Fayette County.¹⁵ Benjamin Stout, Samuel Ayres, Matthew Elder and James Morrison, or any three, were appointed on 10 April 1808 to examine and settle the accounts of Ann Adams, executrix of Alexander Adams, deceased, and make a report.¹⁶

Though Alexander Adams was considered quite elderly when he died in 1805, his widow Ann outlived him by many years. She was head of a household of three in 1810¹⁷ and lived alone in 1820.¹⁸ She probably didn't die until about 1827 when she was last in the tax rolls.¹⁹ Alexander would have been 107 then if 85 as reported when he died, so Ann was likely considerably younger. She could still have been the mother of his daughters, but might have been a later wife.

Endnotes:
All online images reviewed 8 January 2023.

1. Fayette County, Kentucky, Tax Assessor, Tax Books, 1787‒1797 and 1799‒1804; Family History Library (FHL) film 2110987, DGS 7833953 (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/007833953), image 14 (1787), image 96 (1788).
2. Inhabitants of Fayette County: Counter-Petition, Kentucky Counties, 24 October 1788, Legislative Petitions Digital Collection, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va. (https://lva-virginia.libguides.com/petitions); citing Legislative Petitions of the General Assembly, 1776‒1865, Accession Number 36121, Box 287, Folder 79, microfilm reel 229.
3. Fayette Co., Tax Books, 1787‒1797 and 1799‒1804; FHL film 2110987, DGS 7833953, image 135 (1789), 225 (1790), 262 (1791), 272 (1792, Ackles), 286 (1792, Adams), 322 (1793, Ackles), 336 (1793, Adams), 370 (1794), 431 (1795), names in alphabetic grouping by surname initial.
4. “Five Dollars reward,” Kentucky Gazette, Lexington, Ky., 7 March 1795, p. 2, col. 4; (https://kentuckynewspapers.org/view.php?id=xt737p8tbg2q).
5. National Park Service, “Lexington, Kentucky: The Athens of the West,” A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary (https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/lexington/mcc.htm), McConnell Springs.
6. George W. Ranck, The History of Lexington, Kentucky, Its Early Annals and Recent Progress . . . (Cincinnati, Ohio: Robert Clarke & Co., 1872), 166‒67, citing Trustees’ Book for 1791 survey and drawing.
7. Fayette County, Ky., Deed Book A:466‒67, Harrison to Adams, 1796, recorded 1797, County Clerk, Lexington, Ky.; FHL film 8679, DGS 8141011 (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/008141011), images 262‒63.
8. Fayette County, Tax Books, 1787‒1797 and 1799‒1804; FHL film 2110987, DGS 7833953, image 525 (1796).
9. Fayette County, Ky., Deed Book C:365‒66, Adams to Love, 1800, County Clerk, Lexington, Ky.; FHL film 8685, DGS 8336982 (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/008336982), images 213‒14.
10. “Died (Alexander Adams),” Kentucky Gazette, Lexington, Ky., 15 January 1805, p. 3, col. 1; (https://kentuckynewspapers.org/view.php?id=xt7wwp9t2d5t).
11. James D. Birchfield, editor, A Collection of Lexington, Kentucky, Funeral Invitations, 1802‒1846 (Lexington, Ky.: Special Collections & Archives, University of Kentucky Libraries, 1999), p. 17, item 5.
12. Fayette County, Ky., Order Book 1:274, will of Alexander Adams, May 1805, County Clerk, Lexington, Ky.; FHL film 232704, DGS 7646993 (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/007646993), image 167.
13. Fayette County, Ky., Will Book A:408‒09, Inventory of Alexander Adams estate, 1807, County Clerk, Lexington, Ky.; FHL film 2111465, DGS 7553686 (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/007553686), image 239.
14. Fayette County, Ky., Deed Book 5:112, Agnes Eckles to Fulton Thompson, 1829, County Clerk, Lexington, Ky.; FHL film 8697, DGS 8141012 (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/008141012), image 304. Deed explains terms of missing will of Alexander Adams.
15. Fayette County, Ky., Order Book 1:291, petition of Ann Adams, July 1805, County Clerk, Lexington, Ky.; FHL film 232704, DGS 7646993 (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/007646993), image 176.
16. Fayette County, Ky., Order Book 1:535, settle Adams estate, April 1808, County Clerk, Lexington, Ky.; FHL film 232704, DGS 7646993 (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/007646993), image 299.
17. 1810 U.S. census, Fayette County, Kentucky, Town of Lexington, p. 757 (penned), line 13, Ann Adams; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7613); from NARA M252, roll 6.
18. 1820 U.S. census, Fayette County, Kentucky, population schedule, p. 63 (penned), line 9, Ann Adams; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7734); from NARA M33, roll 17.
19. Fayette County, Tax Books, 1805‒1816; FHL film 2110988, DGS 8201647, image 42 (1805, Adams widow), image 240 (1807, Ann Adams), image 293 (1808, Ann Adams, wd), image 401 (1809, Ann Adams, widow), image 531 (1811, Ann Adams), image 652 (1812), image 847 (1814), image 1041 (1815), image 1073 (1816). And, Fayette County, Tax Books, 1817‒1827; FHL film 2110989, DGS 8339272, image 7 (1817), image 117 (1818), image 370 (1820), image 491 (1821), image 563 (1822), image 647 (1823), image 726 (1824), image 1050 (1827). Then, Fayette County, Tax Books, 1828‒1839; FHL film 2110990, DGS 8309527, image 7 (1828, heirs of Alexr. Adams). Ann Adams taxed 1805 to 1824 and in 1827 then apparently heirs of Alexr. Adams in 1828. Plus, Deed Deed Book 5:112, Agnes Eckles to Fulton Thompson, 1829.

A Place in the Family: New Windsor, NY

Years ago I wrote how naming patterns led me to find the New York origin of a Kentucky ancestor because he named his first son for his father: Moses Nichols > Charles Nichols > Moses Eckles Nichols. See the article: https://bluegrassandbuckeyeroots.blogspot.com/2013/05/moses-eckles-nichols-naming-patterns-to.html

July 19-24 I took a wonderful (virtual) class at GRIP (Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh) on Land and Property Records. During the class I found at the Library of Congress website an 1851 land owner map of Orange County, New York. It led me to a discovery that I need to update here. Meanwhile I've combined a photo of my great grandfather, Moses Eckles Nichols (1841-1908), with the map. Highlighted is the Town of New Windsor where his father, Charles Nichols was born in 1817.

This scrapbook page was done for a challenge at Oscraps.com.
Designer credits:
map of Orange County, NY, 1851, from Library of Congress: link
-frame & mask: 52 Inspirations No. 33, Framed Clipping Masks 01 by Snickerdoodle Designs
-postcard: 52 Inspirations No. 32, Decorated postcards by After Midnight Design
-brushes: 52 Inspirations No. 31, Summer No. 1 by Anna Aspnes
-transfers: 52 Inspirations No. 29, French market transfers by Vicki Robinson
-dots: 52 Inspirations No. 25, Gesso'd Marks by Viva Artistry
-transfer, brushes: ArtPlay Palette Milieu by Anna Aspnes
-snap, word strip: ArtPlay Palette Archive by Anna Aspnes
-word art: Milieu WordART Mix No. 1 by Anna Aspnes

font on the postcard: Amapola

Signatures of Grandfathers

I feel a special thrill seeing signatures of my ancestors. Yesterday I saw a document that has signatures of two ancestors of different generations of my Kentucky family.

My great grandfather, Moses Eckles Nichols, was just twenty-one when his father, Charles Nichols, died in 1862. He was the oldest child in the family and thus the only one of adult age. That must be why he was appointed administrator of his father's estate. His father died aged forty-five leaving no will. Moses was required to post an administrator bond. That document from the Scott County court contains his signature along with that of his sole surety, his maternal grandfather Charles Eckles, my 3rd great grandfather.¹

Charles was then seventy-four and the signature looks a bit wobbly, but quite legible. He spelled his surname Eckels as it appears in two signatures I have found of his father, Robert Eckles. Moses Eckles Nichols had it as his middle name, but spelled it the way I am used to it: Eckles. In that spelling it was passed down to his grandson as a middle name. That was my father so the name was always familiar.

1. ”Kentucky Probate Records, 1727-1990,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GP9G-Y8W?i=83&cc=1875188&cat=137670 : viewed 25 June 2018), digital film 004816099, image 84, Scott County Administrator Bonds, 1856-1874 (unpaginated), estate of Charles Nichols, 1862.

Invited to the Funeral

Priceless Family History in Kentucky Funeral Invitations

By Jean M. Hoffman, CG^SM

For some families no early Kentucky death records exist in the usual sources of probate, family Bibles, church records, and cemetery inscriptions. A quite different source was a surprise. My Eckles family is well represented in a book I found of transcribed funeral invitations. Some of the information is present nowhere else. Family members also appear in three other published collections of funeral invitations primarily from Lexington and Georgetown in north central Kentucky.

Funeral invitations, some quite elaborate, were in use by the 17th-century in England, some reportedly collected by Samuel Pepys. Kentucky invitations began with simple designs, the earliest in the collections from 1802.[1] They informed friends and neighbors of a death and served as invitations to the funerals. Often held a day after death, funerals could not be announced in the newspapers, as many were weeklies. Modern death notices and funeral cards are widely saved and so were the funeral invitations. Some can be seen as ephemera in online sales, at Pinterest, and in manuscript archives.[2]

Example: Funeral invitation, Broadsides and Ephemera Collection, Duke University Libraries Digital Collections

Marie Dickoré transcribed and annotated a collection but did not reveal the location of the originals. Her book includes funeral invitations for members of the family of Charles Eckles, wagonmaker of Georgetown, Scott County, Kentucky.[3] Three are attributed to his first three wives. An elaborate invitation to the funeral of Mrs. Nancy Eckles on 27 April 1839 is noted as being for his first wife, who was Nancy (Boyd) Eckles, but she died before 27 January 1830.[4] Both the first wife and the mother of Charles Eckles were called Nancy and it is undoubtedly his mother who died in 1839. The funeral invitation of Mrs. Ann Eckles for 16 December 1843 revealed a name previously unknown. She is annotated as the second wife of Charles. A newspaper notice of a death that must be hers referred to her as Nancy as well.[5] My cousin has originals of a few of the notices in this collection, the earliest for Charles Eckles in 1867.[6]

Huckster Cyrus Parker Jones collected funeral notices in Lexington for many years. He bequeathed them to James M. Duff, a library trustee who presented the collection to the Lexington Public Library in 1900.[7] Among these funeral invitations is one from 1829 for Eleanora, a daughter of Susan (Eckles) Coffman, though only the father, Philip, was named.[8] One for a Mrs. Jane Huston in 1818 might be for the Jane Eckles who married James Huston in 1807 but that awaits further research. Susan and Jane are sisters of Charles Eckles.

An important find was an index entry for an Alexander Eckles in Kentucky Ancestors.[9] His 15 December1823 funeral was held at the home of his mother.[10] The city is not mentioned but many invitations in this indexed collection are from Georgetown. Tax records help confirm this as the Alexander Eckles of Georgetown. He paid Scott County tax from 1816 through 1823; the 1824 books are missing; and in 1825 Nancy Eckles, his mother, began to pay tax on town lots.[11] Alexander is a brother of Charles Eckles.

John M’Calla kept a scrapbook of Lexington funeral invitations until he moved away. Some duplicate the other Lexington collection but many are for additional people. Alexander Adams is one of the new names with an invitation to his 1805 funeral in Lexington.[12] The father of Nancy (Adams) Eckles, he also had a death notice in the Kentucky Gazette.[13]

The information from these slips of paper helped reassemble the Eckles family of Fayette County and Georgetown. Their few probate records are sketchy, a cemetery not located, no family Bible found, and their Georgetown Presbyterian Church was not formed until 1828.[14] I’m even told the first record book of the church is missing.[15] The funeral invitations in these four Kentucky collections have proven extremely valuable in family research.

Note: the images are taken from larger sheets. Reproduction of images from the library website are not allowed.

CG is a Service Mark of the Board for Certification of Genealogists. used under license by board certificants after periodic evaluations by the Board.

---

    1.    James D. Birchfield, editor, A Collection of Lexington, Kentucky, Funeral Invitations (1802-1846); collected by John Moore M’Calla (Lexington, Ky.: Special Collections & Archives, University of Kentucky Libraries, 1999). [Includes transcriptions, in chronological order, of 430 funeral invitation cards and facsimiles of 24.]

    2.    For a sale see: 1898 Port Providence Pennsylvania Funeral Invitation, David w Fronefield; eBay  (http://www.ebay.com/itm/1898-Port-Providence-Pennsylvania-Funeral-Invitation-David-W-Fronefield-/271294859642 : accessed 30 July 2014). For Pinterest see: Vintage Funerals; Pinterest  (http://www.pinterest.com/lamcraft/vintage-funerals/ : accessed 30 July 2014). For achives see: funeral invitation, Mrs. Ann E. Robinson, 1837, ID bdsv023193; Broadsides and Ephemera Collection, Duke University Libraries Digital Collections (http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/broadsides_bdsva023193/ : accessed 30 July 2014).

    3.    Marie Dickoré, compiler, Copies of Names on Invitations to Funerals and Burials In Scott County and Fayette County, Kentucky, 1821 - 1898: Including Names of Deceased, Family Connections, Ministers, Church, Cemetery, Pallbearers, as They Occur on the “Invitations” (Cincinnati, Ohio: Marie Dickoré, 1942).

    4.    Guardian report from Charles Eckles in Will Book, E, part 2: 161 (this volume contains records reentered after the 1837 courthouse fire, done as best as they could be), Scott County Clerk, Georgetown, KY. Distribution of John Boyd estate to his granddaughters when his will named his then-unmarried daughter indicates the daughter is deceased.

     5.    DIED (Mrs. Nancy Eccles), The Protestant and Herald, Kentucky, 22 February 1844; TheOldenTimes.com - Historic Newspapers Online, digital images (http://theoldentimes.com/nancyeccles44ky.html : accessed 28 March 2011.)

     6.    Collection of J.T.N. inherited from his grandmother, photographed by the author.

         7.    Linda Ramsey Ashley and Elizabeth Tapp Wills, Funeral Notices: Lexington, Ky., 1806-1887 (Rochester, Mich.: L. Ashley, 1982). Digitized and available online through the Lexington Public Library , Funeral Notices Collection: http://www.lexpublib.org/funeral-notices-collection.

    8.    James M. Duff, compiler, Duffs Funeral Notices Scrap Book, 1806-1887 (Lexington, KY: Lexington Public Library, 2002), Eleanora, daughter of Philip Coffman card; digital images Kentuckiana Digital Library (http://name.kdl.kyvl.org/929-3 : accessed 27 March 2011).

    9.    Jonathon Jeffrey, “Final Summons: Funeral Cards in the Kentucky Library of Western Kentucky University,” Kentucky Ancestors 37:74 (2001).

   10.    Alexander Eckles funeral invitation, 1823; Funeral Ephemera F526, Kentucky Library & Museum, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY; photocopy in files of the author.

   11.    Scott County, Kentucky; Manuscript Tax Lists, Kentucky State Historical Society, Frankfort; FHL microfilm 8,221; Alexander Eckles entries: 1816 Tax List, p. 20; 1817, p.11, Capt. Tilford; no 1818 Tax List; FHL microfilm 8,222; Alexander Eckles entries: 1819, p. 22; 1820; 1821, p. 24; 1822; 1823; no 1824 Tax List; Nancy Eckles entry, 1825.

   12.    Birchfield, A Collection of Lexington, Kentucky, Funeral Invitations (1802-1846), 17.

   13.    Died (Alexander Adams), Kentucky Gazette and General Advertiser, Lexington, Ky., 15 January 1805, p. 3, col. 1; Kentuckiana Digital Library, digital images (http://athena.uky.edu/newspapers.html: accessed 2 September 2011).

   14.    Ann Bolton Bevins and J. Robert Snyder, editors, Scott County Church Histories: A Collection (Georgetown, Ky.: Scott County Bicentennial Committee, 1979), 57.

   15.    Pers. comm. from former church Sessions R.R.S., 1 September 2011.

Moses Eckles Nichols: Naming Patterns To the Rescue

Jean M. Hoffman, CG^SM

Charles Nichols, born in 1817, arrived in Georgetown, Scott County, Kentucky, as a young adult and soon married a daughter of the local wagon maker, Charles Eckles.¹ Charles Nichols and Nancy Boyd Eckles were married by H. J. Perry on 12 March 1840.² They probably were young adults in the 1840 household of her father.³

By 1850 Charles Nichols ran a blacksmith shop and was a Ruling Elder of the Georgetown Presbyterian Church with his father-in-law.⁴ The only information on his origins was a birthplace of New York in the 1850 and 1860 U.S. censuses.⁵ Nichols is a common surname and many lived in New York in 1820 when Charles was about three. Finding his birth family seemed a daunting task.

He and Nancy had eight children, six surviving when Charles died 2 November 1862.⁶ All the children had first and middle names that appear to honor family members. An exception was the youngest child, Daniel Y. Nichols. He was named for their minister, Daniel Young. The oldest son was Moses Eckles Nichols. As his mother’s father was Charles Eckles, his father’s father might be a Moses Nichols. When this finally occurred to me it changed the scope of the problem of the origins of Charles Nichols. Only two New York households in 1820 were headed by men named Moses Nichols. Both lived in New Windsor in Orange County. One had four males under age ten and could include Charles.⁷

I had not pursued this lead until a fellow club member mentioned an active Yahoo! Group run by the Orange County (New York) Genealogical Society. He also told me of a member who would look up probate records there. I joined the group and contacted Marty Irons, a kind and helpful researcher in New York.

Probate records include the estate of Moses Nichols, the will of his second wife Mary, and guardianship papers for their four orphaned sons, Aaron W., Robert J., Charles, and Moses Higby Nichols. Charles of Kentucky was indeed one of those sons. His guardian was his uncle Samuel Nichols.⁸ A genealogy focused on Humphrey Nichols of Newark, New Jersey, was published in 1917.⁹ Humphrey was the grandfather of Moses and Samuel of New Windsor. Charles isn’t named, but his ancestors in the Nichols line are covered. I later found a biography of the second son, Charles Boyd Nichols, in a Kentucky publication.¹⁰ He identified his father’s birthplace as Newburgh, a town near New Windsor in Orange County.

There is one problem still: Charles’s mother Mary. There is an unsourced online family tree that claims her maiden name is Mary Ann Wright, born 29 January 1780 in Orange County, New York.¹¹ Her oldest son’s middle initial is W., lending some support to the claim. I’m still working on this puzzle. It is amazing that my friend and I, here in Ohio, each have a brickwall involving members of one church in Little Britain, a portion of the Town of New Windsor, New York.

Endnotes

1. Georgetown Cemetery (Georgetown, Scott County, Kentucky), Nichols marker, photograph by author, 27 August 2008 (years of birth and death, name of wife and a daughter).

2. Marriage Register 1837–1863: item 218 (unpaginated), Scott County Clerk's Office, Georgetown, KY.

3. 1840 U.S. census, Scott County, Kentucky, George Town, p. 93 (stamped), line 12, Charles Eckles household; NARA microfilm M704, roll 123.

4. 1850 U.S. Census, Scott County, Kentucky, population schedule, District No. 2, p. 448, dwelling/family 33, Charles Nichols household; NARA microfilm M432, roll 218. Also William Henry Perrin, History of Bourbon, Scott, Harrison and Nicholas Counties, Kentucky (1882; reprint Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1979), 197.

5. 1860 U.S. Census, Scott County, Kentucky, pop. sch., District No. 2, Georgetown, post office Georgetown, page 788, dwelling 48, family 49, Chas. Nichols household; NARA microfilm M653, roll 394.

6. Nichols/Eckles family members’ marriages, births, and deaths; typescript apparently of records in a family Bible but without annotation. It was in the possession of, undoubtedly transcribed by, Elizabeth (McClintock) Nickell. Since her death owned by her grandson (address available).

7. 1820 U.S. census, Orange County, New York, pop. sch., Town of New Windsor, p. 479 (handwritten), p. 194 (stamped), line 18, Moses Nichols; digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com: accessed 17 August 2009); citing NARA microfilm M33, roll 64.

8. Orange County, New York, Letters of Administration, E: 212, Moses Nichols entry, (1822), and Wills, H: 302-04, Mary Nichols will, (1827), and Letters of Guardianship, B: 197, Charles Nichols entry, (1831), Surrogate Court Clerk's Office, Goshen.

9. Frederic C. Torrey The Ancestors and Descendants of Humphrey Nichols of Newark, New Jersey, and of his Brothers and Sisters (Lakehurst, NJ: author, 1917), Google Books digital images (http://www.google.com : accessed 18 August 2009).

10. E. Polk Johnson A History of Kentucky and Kentuckians: The Leaders and Representative Men in Commerce, Industry and Modern Activities, Vol. 3 (Chicago - New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1912), Google Books digital images (http://www.google.com : accessed 16 August 2009), 1593.

11. “Soher Iversen Gammon Beal Carson Spalding Bevan,” online family tree, RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project (http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com : accessed 25 August 2009.)

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originally published as a supplement to the December 2012 Bits & Bytes, newsletter of CAGG-CA, Volume 19.04-2.

More Problems with Nancy

I've written about Nancy (Boyd) Eckles who was named in the will of her father as Egnis (Agnes) but was otherwise known as Nancy, a potential nickname for Agnes. She was the first wife of Charles Eckles (ca. 1788-1867), the wagon maker of Georgetown, Scott County, Kentucky.

Evidence of his second wife is a funeral invitation transcribed as “Mrs. Ann Eckles; Dec. 16, 1843; Georgetown, Ky. From the residence of husband on Main-Cross street” and annotated that she was the second wife of Charles Eckles.[i] As his first wife appears to have died by January of 1830, it is likely he remarried prior to 1838. The Scott County marriage records prior to that time were destroyed in a courthouse fire.

Confusing is a death notice in the Kentucky Presbyterian newspaper The Protestant and Herald of 22 February 1844. It reads: “DIED, In Georgetown, on the – ult., Mrs. Nancy Eccles, wife of Mr. Charles Eccles…”[ii] With only one Charles Eckles/Eccles resident in Georgetown, this must refer to the wife whose funeral was two months earlier. That time lag in such a regional paper is understandable. The confusion is her given name. Can it have been a confusion with the name of his first wife (or even his mother)? Or could this be another case of nicknames? Nancy and Ann are well-recognized variants on the same name, so it is entirely possible.

With so many women potentially named Nancy Eckles in Charles’s life, it will be interesting to see what more research reveals.

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[i] Marie Dickore, compiler, Copies of Names on Invitations to Funerals and Burials In Scott County and Fayette County, Kentucky, 1821 - 1898 (Cincinnati, Ohio: n.pub., 1942), 8.

[ii] DIED (Mrs. Nancy Eccles), The Protestant and Herald, Kentucky, 22 February 1844; TheOldenTimes.com - Historic Newspapers Online, digital images (http://theoldentimes.com/nancyeccles44ky.html : accessed 28 March 2011)

Name Game: Eckles

I am still obsessed with research on my Eckles family. While thinking about explaining bits of it to another I remembered that I've come up with a Chinese restaurant menu for spelling variations. Check it out!

A name might begin with the more common E, but a first letter of A is often written. The next segment in my family is ck but cc is very common too. A lone k or even c might appear. When it is spelled with a ch it may be of German origin rather than Scots-Irish. Segment three is usually either le or el, but could be ol. Last the name usually ends in an s but is sometimes omitted. So I see this as a case of pick one from each column to arrive at a possible spelling. With the exception of ending in s, or not, the variations would be covered by Soundex if you do both A and E initial letters. The codes would be E242 or A242 with a final s or E240 and A240 without. This certainly would be a good case for Soundex.

Eason Heirs of Alexander Adams (ca. 1719 – 1805)

Alexander Adams, an early settler in Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky, died there on 12 January 1805 at the age of 85.[1] His will, written 23 December 1799, was proven in the Fayette County Court in the May 1805 session and ordered to be recorded.[2] Later the will could not be found, but its terms are summarized in an 1829 deed from his daughter, Agnes Eckles.

Alexander’s widow Ann Adams was left a life interest in the estate which was to be equally divided after her death among three daughters, Mary Milligan, Jane Eason, and Eleanor Steele and his grandson, Alexander Eckles, son of his daughter Agnes Eckles.[3]

Alexander Eckles sold his future share of the estate to Fulton Thompson on 18 June 1812.[4] When the will could not later be found, Agnes Eckles executed another deed to Thompson on 5 March 1829 relinquishing any claim to the estate that would have been hers without the will.

In 1831 the shares of Mary Milligan and the heirs of Jane Eason were sold to Charlton Hunt and Richard A. Curd. One deed sold the share of Alexander “Eson” and his wife Jane of Owen County, Indiana, on 13 August 1831. It specified that he was one of the children and heirs of Jane “Eson,” deceased and her husband Robert “Eson,” also deceased. The deed was recorded in Fayette County, Kentucky, on 30 December 1831.[5]

A single deed, dated 10 June 1831, sold the shares of John Milligan and Mary his wife, daughter of Alexander Adams and additional heirs of Jane “Eson,” daughter of Alexander Adams, all of the State of Pennsylvania. Their names and locations were:

• John Milligan, Esquire, and wife Mary of Westmoreland County
• John Eason and wife Elizabeth of Indiana County
• John Patton and wife Jane of Centre County
• Nancy Eason of Centre County
• Henry Hughes and wife Margaret of Lycoming County
• Samuel Shaffer and wife Elizabeth of Lycoming County

This sale was also to Hunt and Curd of Lexington, Kentucky.[6]

The share of Eleanor Steele was not accounted for in these deeds. Robert Eason and his wife Jane (nee Adams) were both deceased by 1831 when the deeds were executed. All of their surviving children may be included in these two deeds. All of them lived in Pennsylvania except Alexander Eason who lived in Owen County, Indiana.

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[1] Died (Alexander Adams), Kentucky Gazette, Lexington, Kentucky, 15 January 1805, p. 3.

[2] Order Book 1: 274, probate of will of Alexander Adams, Fayette County Clerk, Lexington, KY.

[3] Deed Book 5: 112, Agnes Eckles to Fulton Thompson, Fayette County Clerk, Lexington, KY.

[4] Deed Book G: 62, Alexander Eckles to Fulton Thompson, 1812, Fayette County Clerk, Lexington, KY.

[5] Deed Book 7: 435-36, Alexander & Jane Eason, heirs of Alexander Adams to Hunt & Curd, Fayette County Clerk, Lexington, KY.

[6] Deed Book 7: 436-48, Eason & Milligan heirs of Alexander Adams to Hunt & Curd, Fayette County Clerk, Lexington, KY.

Tombstone Tuesday: Nichols in Georgetown

I've written about my Eckles and Nichols family in Kentucky. I have yet to learn of the location in which the family in Georgetown (Scott County, Kentucky) were buried into the 1860s. The earliest family recorded on a tombstone in the Georgetown Cemetery is undoubtedly of later origin. One side commemorates Charles Nichols (1817-1862), his wife Nancy Boyd (Eckles) Nichols (1819-1888) and their daughter Mary Ann Nichols (1843 - 1864). The reverse of the stone is for their son Charles Boyd Nichols, a prominent Kentuckian. He lived from 1848 to 1920. Also on the stone are his wife Ella Tarlton Nichols (1848 - 1930, also my relative) and their infant daughter Mary Ann (22 Jan 1872 - Feb 1872). I believe it is likely that son Charles Boyd Nichols had the stone carved for his parents as well as his own family. Its style is more in keeping with the 1920s than 1888 let alone the 1860s.

photographed in Georgetown Cemetery 1 September 2011

Close by are the stones for the eldest in this Nichols family and his wife. Moses Eckles Nichols (1841 - 1908) has a stone inscribed "Father" beside one inscribed "Mother" for his wife Martha "Mattie" Coleman (Lightburne) Nichols (1845 - 1911.)

Georgetown Cemetery records are posted online and may be searched HERE.

Thriller Thursday: William Ackles Murdered 1789

This is as much mystery as thriller as I do NOT know who William Ackles was. Using abstracts to the Kentucky Gazette and the online index to it at the Kentuckiana Digital Library I have searched for everything on the surname Eckles and its spelling variations. I find no news article on this murder, but it made the paper when the court issued an alert that the perpetrator had fled with a directive to apprehend him. The Kentucky frontier of 1789 was an outpost of Virginia and could be quite dangerous in many ways. Without details of William Ackles being stabbed to death by Thomas McMillin we are left to imagine the location and circumstances.

Kentucky Gazette, 2 January 1790, Lexington, Kentucky, p.2

My ancestor, Robert Eckles first has records appearing in Fayette County, Kentucky, in 1788. The surname often is spelled with an "A" or Ackles and many other variation with either initial. While others of the surname were in neighboring counties, all records in Fayette and its seat of Lexington, seem to be of Robert's family. Except for the stabbing death of William. It is an event I need to research, if possible, to see if William is also related. The County Clerk had records in his home when it burned in 1803, but I have to learn whether that included criminal proceedings.

Robert's youngest son, born 1800 or later, was named William. As William is a common name, it is too early to believe this naming supports a connection to the murdered man.

Mystery Monday: Everyone Knew Her As Nancy – but her name was AGNES!

While I think I've solved part of this mystery, some is unresolved and now there are new mysteries. Last year I created a scrapbook page about three generations in my family all named Nancy. It makes for some interesting problems in identification.

An example of the identity problem begins with a book transcribing funeral invitations including one for a Mrs. Nancy Eckles in 1839. The transcriber attributed it to the first wife of Charles Eckles of Georgetown, Scott County, Kentucky. (Marie Dickore, compiler, Copies of Names on Invitations to Funerals and Burials In Scott County and Fayette County, Kentucky, 1821 - 1898 (Cincinnati, Ohio: n.pub., 1942), 8.) Based on other evidence I came to believe his wife had died earlier and that the 1839 death was really his mother. On a recent trip to Kentucky I found an item seeming to confirm that Charles' wife died earlier (see below.)

A big surprise about her name awaited in the County Clerk's office in Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky. A series of wills appears to show that Nancy (Boyd) Eckles was named Agnes but mostly called Nancy. Look at the names of daughters and sons in the wills of John Boyd (who seemed NOT to be her father with no child Nancy), John's widow Martha and their unmarried daughter Mary. John's will was written before Nancy Boyd married Charles Eckles in 1816 in Fayette County with bondsman James McIsaac. James McIsaac was married to John Boyd's daughter Martha and thus was Nancy's brother-in-law.

John and Martha both signed with their mark. John Boyd had been the most likely candidate for her father, so it is especially rewarding to find that he apparently was the one. Information on nicknames (History and Genealogy Unit, “A Listing Of Some 18th and 19th Century American Nicknames,” Connecticut State Library (http://www.cslib.org/nickname.htm: accessed 31 August 2011).) claims that Nancy could be a nickname for Agnes. The consistent list of names over the three wills seems to agree with that. The mother's will uses a number of nicknames for her other children as well. Another document tying Nancy to John Boyd is a guardian report by Charles Eckles in Scott County, KY. (Charles Eckles guardian report (recorded 17 January 1831), Scott County Will Book E, Part 2: 161, Scott County Clerk's Office, Georgetown, KY.) He received payment from the estate of John Boyd on 27 January 1830 as guardian of Mary and Nancy Eckles. They were his daughters. This seems to imply that their mother, the named heir of John Boyd, was probably deceased by this time and her daughters were receiving her inheritance.

Next question: was her mother-in-law really Agnes too?

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Help Through I Ching?

Randy Seaver's SNGF (at Genea-Musings) is really off the wall this week looking for genealogy research help by throwing the I Ching. His directions read:

1)  The writer of the Nuts from the Family Tree blog wrote about her question for the I Ching ( Book of Changes) guru in Cluless No More.  I thoguht that this might be a fun thing to do on Saturday night. 

2)  Go to http://IChingOnline.net and ask a question relating to your genealogy research.  You can "throw the coins virtually" or "throw the coins by hand."  You have to click the "throw" button six times, then click on "Read." 

3)  Report the question you asked and the answer you received, in the form of the Cast Hexagram (which explains the situation you are now in, or what has gone before), to your readers.    

4)  Does the answer make any sense to you?  How do you interpret the answer? 

5)  Write your own blog post about this, or post a comment on Facebook or Google Plus, or write a comment on this blog post.

I followed the directions and it was very interesting, maybe even hopeful.


My Question: Will I unravel the Eckles family in Fayette County, Kentucky? (see post here)

My Cast Hexagram:

The Cast Hexagram reading is for  45 - Gathering.

The first part of it reads:

The Lake rises by welcoming and receiving Earth's waters:
The King approaches his temple.
It is wise to seek audience with him there.

Success follows this course.
Making an offering will seal your good fortune.
A goal will be realized now.

That is followed by this Situational Analysis:

This is an important Convergence, and you must be part of it.
Look for the Center of this convergence.
Like waters running to the sea, like an astronomical convergence of planets revolving around the sun, you should let the gravity of this Center draw you near.
Others are also drawn to this Center, and among them you will find shared bonds and kindred spirits.
This tribal convergence will give you a clarity of purpose.
You will no longer be alone.

This sounds very encouraging to me, especially as I plan to go to Kentucky the end of the month and especially do research in Fayette and Scott counties. I've made contact with and hope to see relatives there I've not seen in about forty years, so the gathering might be very literal.

I tried the Custom Search at the Trigram Symbol tab, but of three "hits" and another using "Eccles" nothing was remotely connected. My question is very meaningful to me, but not an easy Internet search.

Thanks to Randy for a really different adventure on Saturday Night.

Military Monday: Charles Eckles & War of 1812

I'm still not clear on the role of Charles Eckles (Eccles) in the War of 1812. He has a Compiled Military Service Record (CMSR) for the war, but it only indicates that he had a substitute named Daniel Nape. There is just one card, a muster roll on 8 Feb. 1815, in the file for Charles. He was listed as a private in the 17th Regiment (Francesco's) of Kentucky Militia. The file also identifies the unit as "Capt. Stephen Ritchey's Co. of Infantry, 17th Regiment Kentucky Drafted Militia." Here is the complete file sent from the National Archives:

Daniel Nape and not Charles Eckles appears in the list of soldiers in the book of Kentucky units. (Kentucky Adjutant General's Office. Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Kentucky: Soldiers of the War of 1812. Frankfort, KY: E. Polk Johnson, 1891.) This seems to mean that Charles never served, but then why does he have a CMSR?

Sunday's Obituary: Charles Eckles, 1867

Rather than searching Kentucky newspapers at GenealogyBank.com, one day a search for surname Eckles with a keyword of Kentucky provided a surpising item in a newspaper in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the exact date of death for Charles Eckles.

The DAR Library in Washington, DC, has a book* of transcribed funeral invitations from Scott and Fayette counties in Kentucky, where Charles lived. It includes one for him, ones for his two daughters and ones attributed to his four wives. The one for Charles indicates that he was buried on 02 Aug 1867 following services conducted by Rev. Wm. R. Brown at the Presbyterian Church in Georgetown, Scott County, Kentucky. The newspaper notice gives his date of death as the previous day. A man aged seventy-nine seems young to be the oldest person in that community, but certainly he was elderly. That he rated notice in Ohio might reflect his widow's Ohio origins.

The invitation to the funeral of Nancy Eckles who died in 1839 is said to be for his first wife. I think it more likely to have been his mother whose name may also have been Nancy. His first wife may have died much earlier after the births of two daughters about 1817 and in 1819. This will be the subject of another post.
________________________
* Dickore, Marie. Copies of Names on Invitations to Funerals and Burials In Scott County and Fayette County, Kentucky, 1821 - 1898. Cincinnati, Ohio: n.pub., 1942.

Surname Saturday: ECKLES. Who was Charles Eckles, wagonmaker of Georgetown, Kentucky?

My father's middle name was Eckles, the maiden name of his great grandmother. Working back from him leads to the seemingly enigmatic Charles:

James Eckles McClintock
Annie Tarlton Nichols
Moses Eckles Nichols
Nancy Boyd Eckles
Charles Eckles, ca. 1788 - 1867

Many genealogists researching Eckles lines have encountered Charles Eckles, a wagonmaker in Georgetown, Scott County, Kentucky. None seem to have identified his origins or other connections. He had four wives and two daughters. He does not seem to have any other children. His mother lived with him in Georgetown into an old age. They were very involved in the Presbyterian Church there. He was interviewed by John Dabney Shane, a Presbyterian minister from Cincinnati. The interview is now in the Draper Manuscripts (Charles Eccles, CC Kentucky Papers, Vol. 17, Shane Papers, Vol. 14, p. 5).

Charles first married in neighboring Fayette County and there are a number of tantalizing records there for him and others of this surname (and spelling variations.) It seems likely that they are his relatives.


Scrapbook page by scrap-genie