Person:Gaither West (2)

1920 Christian Co., KY Census: Greenville Road.

West, Warner Head Rents MW33

          Viola       Wife            FW 21
          Glennis  Son              MW 1(?/12)

1930 Christian Co., KY Census? 1940 Vanderburgh Co., IN Census 1950 Vanderburgh Co., IN Census 1960 Warrick Co., IN Census 1970 Vanderburgh Co., IN Census

My father, Gaither Glennis West, always believed that he had an ancestor that was involved with the Revolutionary War. He tried to research as best as he knew how during times (the 1960's and very early 1970's) when genealogical material was not readily available. He studied all that he could find in the Evansville libraries. He even bought a little book by mail from the American Genealogical Research Institute, "The West Family" copyright of 1972.

Dad never went to Christian County, KY where he and all of his family were born for several generations to check the records in the courthouse, since he knew that the building was burned down by Morgan Raiders during the Civil War. The county did not even have a copy of his birth in 1918 due to a fire in later years.

I had become very interested in my family history, especially on my mother's lines starting when I was in the fifth grade at Selvin (Indiana) school. I had gotten what I could from Dad, my grandmother West and Dad's great uncle Melvin West about the West family. The information was limited and disappointing. I backed up what I had learned from the cemeteries in Christian County where most were buried.

After Dad had died, his great aunt Eva died in 1978 without a will and no husband or children. So, the estate was to be divided with the living heirs of her brothers & sisters, which included me. A member of the family wanted all of us to give him power of attorney to settle the estate. This did not seem to be in the heirs' best interest. I checked with a local attorney in Evansville, IN concerning "power of attorney" and he suggested that I visit an attorney that went to college with him that had a legal practice in Hopkinsville, KY - the county seat of Christian County. This Kentucky attorney strongly advised against giving power of attorney to the family member. As I was leaving his office, across the street was the courthouse. I decided to read the huge bronze plaque in the courtyard. I mentioned that Morgan Raiders burned down the courthouse during the Civil War, **BUT** since the citizens had gotten word that Morgan was coming their way, they removed all the records, thus saving them and that all the records back to 1797 when the county was formed were still safe!

I decided to see what I could find. My great grandfather, William Ellis West, was the oldest ancestor I knew at the time and I knew several of his brothers and sisters. I checked the index of the Will Books for William Ellis West. He was listed as an heir of the estate of Thomas West, his great grandfather, along with all of William's siblings. The probate record was in regard to property owned by Thomas West that went to his deceased son Charles H. West and then to Charles' son, Jesse, also deceased that then was to be divided by Jesse's children that included my great grandfather, William Ellis West. This only took about 15 minutes to find and being my first courthouse research effort, I assumed that it just could not be that easy to find three new generations in one document! I was telling the county clerk of my find, when a lady researching asked me what family I was talking about. When I told her, she told me about Shirley West Cain, who was a local authority on the West family. I called Shirley that day from a pay phone. Shirley asked how I descended from William. I told her that John William West was his son and that Warner West was his grandson. She said, "then you must be Gaither's son - which one, Glen, John or Don? I said John! She said you have the right family and that Thomas West gave material aide during the Revolutionary War that qualified me for the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR).

Later, I proved all of this with proper documentation and became a member of SAR. I have always felt regret that Dad never knew that he definitely had an ancestor that was associated with the Revolutionary War. Dad had been born within one mile of where Thomas West, Jr. had settled in about 1803 from Chatham County, NC.

Since finding that single document with three new generations back in 1978, and at the time of this writing in 2001 - we have only gone back one more generation with Thomas West, Sr. Researching this family has been very interesting to me all these years. -JGW 08 OCT 2001

1. ↑ .

   Birth Certificate: KY Dept. for Human Resources: Record # 21072

2. ↑ .

   Death Certificate: Book 38, Page 256