Thompson

Chapter 145

Children Of Samuel Jacob Van Meter and Jonathan Chenoweth


ALL THE PIKE COUNTY Chenoweths, in fact all the Chenoweths in America, descend in direct line from John Chenoweth (Chinoweth) and Mary Calvert, she a daughter of Charles Calvert, third of the Lords Baltimore. John and Mary were married in England about the year 1705, when religious strife was at fever heat. John was a Protestant, Mary a Catholic. Leaving the warring religionists behind them they sought home and happiness in America.

Chenoweths are found also intermarried with the ancient houses of Cromwell and Morgan Williams. John Chenoweth, Jr., and his brother Samuel married sisters, Hannah and Patience Cromwell, daughters of William Cromwell of Ann Arundel county, Maryland. About 1793 these two brothers established homesteads in Berkeley county, Virginia (now West Virginia), the early seat of numerous of the Pike county Chenoweth ancestors. The house built there by John, known as Rockhall, at Darksville, is still standing. Its materials were brought from England.

These Maryland Cromwells whose daughters became brides of Chenoweths were direct descendants of Morgan Williams, an ancient and honored family dating back a thousand years in English history. Morgan Williams married Elizabeth Cromwell, sister of Lord Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex. This Thomas Cromwell was beheaded in the Tower of London July 28, 1540.

Morgan Williams and his wife Elizabeth had a son who was called Sir Richard Cromwell, the name he used, the oldest member of the family thereafter being named William to perpetuate the old family name of Williams.

Sir Oliver Cromwell of Hinchen Brook, a grandson of Sir Henry Cromwell, was the ancestor of the Maryland Cromwells. Sir Oliver was the uncle of the noted Oliver Cromwell, who was Lord Protector of England and grandfather of William Cromwell of Maryland, father of Hannah and Patience Cromwell, who married Chenoweths.

Among the children of the first (in America) John Chenoweth and Mary Calvert was William Chenoweth (Chennerworth) who also married a Calvert (Ruth) from the House of the Lords Baltimore of Maryland. Among the children of this William Chenoweth and Ruth Calvert was Jonathan Chenoweth, one of the earliest settlers near Perry in Pike county, Illinois. Samuel Chenoweth, also a son of this William Chenoweth by his second wife, Jane (Family name unknown), was also an early settler in the Perry-Griggsville region, prior to 1829. Still another son of William Chenoweth and Ruth Calvert was Major William Chenoweth of Revolutionary War fame, who married Mary Henson, widow of David Henton and daughter of old Jacob Van Meter of early Kentucky history, and who was the father of Abraham, James H. and Jacob Van Meter Chenoweth of pioneer Perry.

Jonathan Chenoweth, one of the earliest settlers at Perry, was born in 1757 in Frederick county, Virginia. His war record at Washington, D. C., reads as follows: "Jonathan Chenoweth served as a private in Captain Cabel Gibbs company, Commander-in-Chief Guards, Continental Troops, Revolutionary War. His name is borne on the rolls of that organization, date June 1777 and August 1777 without remark."

Jonathan Chenoweth went from Virginia to Kentucky about 1805 and was in Muhlenburg county, Kentucky, in 1810. He married Polly Russ. He brought his family to the vicinity of Perry in Pike county about 1827. His children were:

Patsy, who married James Thompson; Peggy, who married William Fletcher; Rachel, born in Kentucky in 1813, who married John F. Davis in Pike county, January 15, 1834, with the Reverend Lewis Allen, early-day Baptist and grandson of Daniel Boone's brother Jonathan, officiating; Elizabeth , born in Kentucky, who married Sylvester Bell in Pike county June 25, 1836; Mary, who married Matthias Gregory march 23, 1843; Chloe, who never married; Sarah (Sally), who married Seaborn Mayfield in Pike county, September 21, 1838, with her uncle, Justice Jacob Van Meter Chenoweth, officiating; Wesley T., who married Rhoda Green in Pike county, June 26, 1841 (she later, October 13, 1853, married James A. Clark); Columbus, who died in infancy; and Amos, who never married.

Rachel Chenoweth, who married John F. Davis, had two children, Chloe and Jonathan C. Davis. Mary, who married Matthias Gregory, had five children, all sons. Those of record are John M., born January 30, 1846; James B., born October 27, 1851; Alexander D., born January, 1857.

Matthias Gregory was descended on his mother's side from the same family as the Pike county Dorseys. He was born in Coffee county, Tennessee, February 12, 1822, a son of Robert and Nancy (Broiles) Gregory, both natives of South Carolina and of English descent. He was brought to Pike county in 1829 when Pike county was still a wild land. There was not yet a house where Perry and Griggsville now stand. He attended a pioneer Pike county log school. In 1862 he embarked at Florence with the famous 99th Pike county regiment, Company B, and served through the war under Captain Asa Matthews.

Samuel Chenoweth came to Pike county from Kentucky with his half brother Jonathan and located in the region north of present Griggsville, near present Perry. The George W. Hinman family found him there when they arrived in 1829. Samuel, born in 1780, came from Virginia to Kentucky with his half brother in 1805, coming thence to Pike county, Illinois. Samuel, in Virginia, married Nancy Orr. He was a saddler and harness maker by trade and to this business he applied himself in the early Pike county settlement. His children were:

Jonathan, born in Hardin county, Kentucky, in 1807, was unmarried when he came with his father to the Pike county wilds. Here, on September 3, 1832, he married Fanny Tucker. She died and he then married Mary Sego, who was born in Heart county, Kentucky, in 1829. Their children were: Elizabeth, born 1849, married James B. Howard; James , born 1850, never married; Cynthia R., born 1853, married Robert W. Childer; Jonathan B., born 1857, never married; Pamelia J., born 1867, unmarried.

Gideon Chenoweth, son of Samuel, born in 1814 in Hardin county, Kentucky, married Sally Simmons in Pike county, June 10, 1834. Their children: Hardin Chenoweth, born 1835 in Pike county, died in Douglas county, Oregon; Samuel, born 1837; Elizabeth, born 1853, married a Hayden, lived in DeKalb county, Missouri; Louisiana, born 1856; Susanna, born 1839, married a Thornton; Mary, born 1843, married E. Benton Ogle, located in Andrew county, Missouri; William, born in 1841, Andrew county, Missouri, killed in battle of Lexington; John W., born 1846, Andrew county, Missouri; Andrew J., born 1848, Andrew county, Missouri; Nancy, born 1851, DeKalb county, Missouri, died 1856; Charlotte, born 1858, married a Morgan, DeKalb county, Missouri, moved to Douglas county, Oregon; Louisa, born 1861, DeKalb county, married a Gill.

Samuel Chenoweth, Jr., son of the Pike county pioneer, was killed when young by a tree that fell on him. Another of pioneer Samuel's sons, William, was frozen to death in Iowa. His children were James, William, Susie, Mercy, Nancy, Sarah, Liddy, Samuel and Gideon. Daniel, fifth son of Samuel, born in 1818, married Elizabeth Butler and their children were John, born 1847, Hardin, born 1849, and James and Martha, twins, born 1851. Daniel Chenoweth died in Iowa.

John Chenoweth, son of Pike county Samuel, born January 3, 1827, married Melinda Dixon Adamson, born 1829, and their children were James, Nancy Elizabeth, Samuel, Rebecca Ann, William Salem, Gideon Milton, Stonewall Jackson and Creed Lee Chenoweth. John died in 1879, his wife in 1890. Several of the children located in Oregon.

Nancy Chenoweth, daughter of Samuel, married William Triplett in Pike county November 12, 1846. Their children were Albert, Lewis, William and Ida Triplett, the latter of whom married a Benbrook.

Elizabeth Chenoweth, Nancy's sister, born 1821 in Hardin county, Kentucky, married Mathias Wing in Pike county, December 24, 1837. Their children were Commodore Perry Wing, born in Pike county in 1840, married, first, Lucinda Bennett, second, Sarah Taylor; Samuel Joseph, born 1842; John William, born 1845, married Martha Geats; Norman Allen, born 1848.

Samuel Chenoweth, the Pike county pioneer of 1827, father of the foregoing children, died in Pike county in April, 1836.

Major William Chenoweth, Revolutionary ancestor of many of Chenoweth descent in Pike county, was born in Virginia, June 10, 1760. Following his war service, he went to Kentucky and there entered land grants for his war services, signed by Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia. This was in 1779. The grants were located in what is now Nelson county, Kentucky.

On March 5, 1781, in Jefferson county, Kentucky, he was appointed administrator of the estate of David Henton, who had drowned in the Ohio river while coming with the Van Meter families from Virginia to Kentucky in 1779. His wife, Mary, was a Van Meter, a daughter of old Jacob. They had two children, Hester and John C. Henton, aged three years and one year.

William Chenoweth later married the Widow Henton and by her had nine children, namely, William, Jr., Jacob Van Meter, Abraham, Isaac Calvert, Miles Hart, Hardin T., Letitia Van Meter, Ruth and James Hackley. Of these Jacob Van Meter, Abraham and James Hackley came in an early day and settled at or near Perry.

Jacob Van Meter Chenoweth, early Pike county justice of the peace, born in Kentucky March 4, 1784, married Mary Haycraft, daughter of Samuel Haycraft, Sr., who established Haycraft's Fort near the site of present Elizabethtown in early Indian days in Hardin county, Kentucky. Their children: William H. Chenoweth, born in 1809, married Harriet Bentley in Pike county, May 15, 1834. Their children were Mahlon, born in Pike county in 1835, died 1842; Joseph, born 1838, married a Roberts, went to Nebraska; Sarah J., born 1840, married a Bolten, resided at Perry; John B., born 1842, located at Allen, Kansas.

William H. Chenoweth's second wife was Elizabeth Freed, whom he married in Pike county January 11, 1848. Children of this marriage were Israel F., Josephine, Miles S., Hulda A., Mary A., William S., Emma L. The family located at Manketo, Minnesota.

Samuel Chenoweth, son of Jacob V., born in 1812, married Rachel Bowers and their children were Sarah F., Walter B., Nancy A., James W., Mary E., Melissa J., Dr. Albert, Jacob Van Meter and Charles.

Lucinda Chenoweth, daughter of Jacob V., born in 1814, married Joseph Vertrees. Their family history has been related in a preceding chapter.

Presley H. Chenoweth, son of Jacob V., born 1816, married Lucy Winslow in Brown county, Illinois, October 12, 1840, with the Reverend Calvin Greenleaf officiating. John Chenoweth, born 1817, married Emarine English, located at Occidental, California. Mary Chenoweth, born 1820, married William H. Jaques in Pike county, May 15, 1838, with the Reverend Jesse Elledge, grandson of the Boones, officiating. Nancy Chenoweth, born 1822, married Samuel H. Williams in Pike county, October 1, 1840. They moved to LaGrange, Missouri. James Chenoweth, born 1824, married Melissa Triplett in Pike county, November 12, 1846. Margaret H. Chenoweth, born 1826, married James B. Miller in Pike county April 27, 1849. They located at LaGrange, Missouri. Miles Chenoweth, born in 1830, unmarried, settled in Denmark, Oregon. Hester Chenoweth, born 1833, married James Tuey in Pike county February 26, 1852. These were all children of Jacob Van Meter Chenoweth and Mary Haycraft. Mary Haycraft Chenoweth was a sister of Nancy Haycraft Vertrees, wife of pioneer John Vertrees. Their mother, Margaret Van Meter Haycraft, was a sister of Mary Van Meter Henton Chenoweth, wife of Major William Chenoweth and mother of Jacob Van Meter Chenoweth.

Jacob Van Meter Chenoweth died at Perry July 29, 1851. He and his wife are both buried in Old Baptist.

Abraham Chenoweth, 1836 settled near perry, was born in Nelson county, Kentucky, December 27, 1782. He passed his childhood and youth at the old home in Nelson county. He was a skilled mechanic and tanner. He married his third cousin, Rachel Chenoweth, daughter of Arthur and Elspa Chenoweth. She was born in Nelson county, Kentucky, January 31, 1789. After the birth of five children, they removed to Indiana in 1820, stopping in Johnson county two years and going then to Columbus, Indiana, where he established a tannery. In the fall of 1832 the family moved to Clinton, Indiana, and in 1836 came to Illinois, settling in Perry township, Pike county. Their choldren were William, John, Arthur, James Hackley, Mildred Anne, Miles B., Mary M. and Valinda Jane.