There is strong evidence of relationship between the Feemsters and the Leeches. There was at least one intermarriage in York Co. SC. My great grandfather James McGrady Leech had a brother named Minos B, obviously after Rev. Minos B. Feemster, who lived very close to the Leech family in York Co. SC and later in Franklin Co., Tenn. Although Rev. Minos B. Feemster had the closest documented relationship with the Leech family over a period of years, a daughter of David Leech in the 18th century appears to have married a cousin of Minos B. Feemster, named James Feemster--in York Co. of course. Evidence of other marriages between the two families has not been found.
The Feemsters were among the earliest families in sw York Co. From the beginning they were associated with Bullock Creek Church and its pastor Joseph Alexander. John and Joseph were among the original elders, and Mary Feemster, wife of John Feemster, was buried there in 1776 in the oldest existing known gravesite.
Mary Feemster had two sons: Samuel (1738-1816 Bullock Cr.) and John Silas (1771-1817, buried Bullock Cr. Samuel md Margaret Robinson (1733-1816 Bullock Cr.) (others say Margaret Jamieson)
1771 Feemster John Silas SC Chester born
1794 Feemster John Silas SC York
md Margaret
Alexander (1775-1827) (Although the Feemster family
was active in the
Bullock Creek Presbyterian Church in York Co.,
pastored by Rev. Joseph
Alexander, the origin of Margaret Alexander is
unclear.)
Abstract of the will of John Silas Feemster:
(roll 18 no 30 of York Co. wills)
John Silas Feemster's widow Margaret started on
the westard trek with bro-in-law William Feemster, who soon
started an abolitionist colony near Columbus, Miss. Margaret
stayed with her family in Franklin Co., Tenn (Cf Roy Feemster p
19)
In 1804 Feemster Minos Barzillai was born in York Co. SC.,
the son of John Silas Feemster and Margaret Alexander
Feemster. This family belonged to the congregation of Rev.
William Cummins Davis, an abolitionist who had left Bullocks
Creek Church to form the Independent Presbyterian Church. Davis
moved to Tennessee, and in 1819, two years after the death of
his father, M. B. Feemster moved with his mother and siblings
and his uncle William Feemster to Franklin Co. TN.
Minos and his cousin Silas Jamieson Feemster studied briefly
with Wm C. Davis, but Davis soon returned to SC and the two boys
went to the 'log college', which became Washington College in
Greenville TN. There they won degrees and soon after were
ordained.
Uncle William went on to Columbus, MS and "started an
abolitionist colony there".
1822 Feemster M B Tenn A.B. degree
(presumably at 'log
college'.)
1825 Feemster M B married Matilda King (1803-1887)
of York Co., SC.
She was the daughter of Samuel and Anne Whitfield
King. Later in Lafayette Co. MS it appears that
four grandchildren of Samuel King married four
grandchildren of John In 1828 M.B.Feemster was ordained.
The 1830 census shows Minos B Feemster in Franklin Co.
Tenn, living next door to David Leech, who named one of his
children Minos B. (This David Leech was the writer's gg
grandfather.)
1837 M B and two brothers John O and Sam W went to
Marshall Co. Ala. Brother Eli may have already gone. He was
shot that year.
Soon Minos went on to old Carrolville, now
Baldwyn, Miss. (Uncle William had gone to northern Mississippi
ca 15 years before.
1847-58 M B Feemster served Harmony Presby just nw
of Shannon, Miss. In 1860 M B Feemster went to Fayetteville,
Ark. and served as pastor of Central (Cumberland) Presbyterian
Church until it was burned and was scattered by Federals in 1862.
From 1862 until 1884 M.B. Feemster was preaching
in North Mississippi.
In 1884 Minos B Feemster of Pontotoc Co MS died. For many
years his daughter, Jeannie had helped him with sermons Her
mother died in 1887 and Jeannie married that year in
Prescott,Miss. Her husband was Dr. George Washington Terry.
(Some say that Mrs. M B Feemster was buried in Little Rock.)
(The writer has voluminous research files on the
Feemster family.
Write to [email protected])
if interested.)
In 1840 David Leech was back in Lawrence Co, Ala
and adjacent to
James Robinson. (The Robinson family has been illusive
to this
researcher. They were neighbors in York and later in
Lawrence, but
the connections remain unclear.)
Samuel and Ann King of York County had among
their children
three of particular interest to us:
The primary evidence for these conclusions
is two-fold:
Beside being near neighbors of the Leeches in York
County for a number of years, Kings also lived fairly close
to Leeches in Fanklin Co, Tenn and in Lawrence Co, Ala.
(The writer has voluminous research files on the
King family. Write
to [email protected])
if interested.
In 1787 Rev. Joseph Alexander, patriot pastor
who had inspired the
battle of Kings Mountain (according to local
historians), conveyed
136a on the Broad to John Feemster. Hart tells us
that John Silas
Feemster was the son of Samuel (1734-1816) and
Margaret Robinson (Roy
said Jamison) Feemster and the husband of Margaret
Alexander. (Hart
does not account for a Revolutionary Capt. John
Feemster; he gives
the birth date of John Silas Feemster as 1771.)(This
datum suggests
that Margaret Alexander may have been Rev. Joseph's
daughter; however
lists of his children have been found which do not
lead to such a
conclusion.)
According to Hart Samuel and Margaret Robinson
Feemster were the
parents of John Silas Feemster (1771-1817), who
married Margaret
Alexander. Samuel's other son, Capt. Joseph Feemster,
was married to
Elizabeth Berry. They were the parents of James,
whose daughter or
granddaughter Jane married a Leech. (So Minos B and
James were first
cousins according to Hart, grandchildren of Samuel by
John and Joseph
respectively.)
K 244 Saml F etal to Minus B Feemster
1823/25 P/A
I, Margaret Feemster in my own right and guardian of
Minus B, Hester
M, Samuel W, and Marg M Feemster, minors and orphans
of John Feemster,
under 21, children and heirs of said John Feemster,
put in my place
Minus B. Feemster of Franklin Co., Tenn. to be my
attorney for me and
them to act re estate. state of Tenn Franklin Co Aug
term 1823
M 409 MB Feemster etal to Wm Erwin 1838
I Minus B Feemster in my right and as agent for
Elijah N Stoval and Adaline C Stovall his wife York
Eli R Feemster
John O Feemster
Peter L and Margaret M Tidwell
(the 1790 Chester Co. census shows 3 Tidwell families
close to Samuel
Feemster in the nw corner of the county.)
Saml W Feemster
John and Eliz L Johnston (James Johnston also in nw
Chester in 1790)
Rice G and Hester M Collins
for $130.14 3/4 pd by Wm B Irwin sell 64 3/4a on
Turkey Creek
adj James B Davison, Wm G. Irwin, Elijah
Landefer, James Lindsey re 1827
plat
wit Robert M Lindsey and James Erwin 1838 before Jas
Kuykendal Esq.
The 1850 census for Pontotoc Co. MS shows John A.
Leech residing in
the home of Rev. and Mrs. M.B. Feemster. John A. was
obviously
studying for the ministry because three years later he
and Robert
Alpheus King, a nephew of Mrs. Feemster, were both
licensed as
Presbyterian ministers. John A.'s younger brother was
named Minos B.
Leech, and it may be recalled that in 1830
M.B.Feemster and David
Leech, father of John A., were living adjacent to one
another in
Franklin Co. TN. Feemsters, Leech's and Kings all
moved to Arkansas
before the Civil War, although M.B.Feemster returned
to north
Mississippi after his church in Arkansas was burned by
Federals.
One may suppose that M.B. Feemster was an
orthodox Presbyterian.
However the two younger men became Cumberland
Presbyterians. John A.
Leech's brother, James McGrady Leech (the writer's
great grandfather)
was very likely named after the James McGrady who
served as a
spiritual father of the Cumberland movement.
� 2000 Larry Clayton
extrx Margaret Feemster
I desire that no part of inventory be sold except
such things as are not
necessary for the use of the farm and clockmaker shop.
Negroes, stock, etc all to remain as they are
until my son Samuel
Waren arrives at the age of 21 for the purpose of
raising and
educating my children:
Ely, Adaline, Minos, Milissa, John, Milinda,
Samuel, and
?Eliza.
NThe balance of my legacy out of my father's
estate which I have
not yet received be collected and appropriated to the
purchasing of
books and such things as are necessary for my sons
going through their
eduction and at the time above mention. viz. when
Samuel Waren reaches
21.
I will that my whole estate be equally divided
amongst my
children exept the plantation on which I now live and
any two negroes
my dear wife Margret may choose with a sufficient
portion of stock and
furniture during her life if she remains a widow and
at her death or
marriage an equal division to be made amonst my
children.
I further will that if my son Ely learn the
clockmaking business
so as to be a master workman, I allow him to have the
tools over and
above his divide otherwise the tools are to be divided
in common with
the rest of the estate.
I apoint Margret Feemster wife and my son
Minos B. Feemster to execute this.... 29 March 1817
wit Wm Coker
Danl Kerr
Silas Feemster
signed Jno Feemster, probated may 8, 1817.
Martha (or Matilda), born 1803, the wife
of Rev. Minos B. Feemster, living in Pontotoc Co., Miss in 1850,
Benj F., born 1801, living in Lafayette Co., Miss in
1850,
and N.W., born 1805, also living in Lafayette Co,
adjacent to Benj F. (Actually a younger man, S.W.King, lived
between them, in all likelihood the son of one of them.)
1. In 1850 Ann King, 80, was living in the home of
Minus and Martha Feemster,
2. Benj F. of Lafayette Co named his first child
Martha and his second Minos. Could it be that the F in his name
stood for Feemster?)
endorsed by Edmund Rudolph cc of Franklin Tenn
and by Judge James Sharp presiding in Franklin
recorded 1825 (presumably in York Co. Court)
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