Person:Moses Atherton (2)

Notes for Moses Atherton

• Moses Atherton Sr., Jr., Land mentioned in the contents of the will of John 'Blackhawk' Skaggs recorded 25 Jul 1861

From Green Co. KY Will Records, Book 3, 1840-1875, by Barbara Wright

p. 66: Page 254-255, not dated; will of John Skaggs:my daughter, Malinda, gets $300, placed in the hands of my brother, William Skaggs for the benefit of Malinda, to be laid out in public lands. The land is to be divided betwee Ottaway and Willis, my sons. Ottawa is to have the upper portion, to be divided as follows: A straight line from the sugar tree to the big road, Moses Atherton's survey ..... up the road to the lane ..... doen the lane to the fort of the creek ..... to Edmund Dezarn's ..... to Wm. Salsman ..... to the Atherton line. Willlis is to have the part from M. Atherton's to Skaggs corner near the branch ..... to Moses Atherton, strait with the Skaggs survey .... to the ford in the creek at Matt Skaggs ..... to the beginning. The land on the lower side of the road is to be equally divided between Willis and Ottawa. Signed: John Skaggs; test: D. Terrill and Friend Carter; Produced 5/7/1861 by Dr. J. Terrill; proven by David Ferrill and Friend Carter, who stated that the original will was left in the hands of David Terrill for safekeeping, but was lost. They stated this was the contents of the Will. Recorded 7/25/1861.

• Large groups of families came down the Ohio river from the Nelson county area to the Cairo, Illinois landing around 1818. Some of the families were Atherton, Lee, Biggerstaff, and Howard. Some of the Athertons in the area stayed behind and could have crossed in Ohio and maybe on into Indiana.

The presence of John, Moses, Aaron, and Charles Atherton. They were all involved in county government and held various positions over the years.

At some point about 1826, Moses is no longer mentioned in Illinois. However, directly accross the river is Wickliffe, Kentucky and just a few miles east is Cunningham, Mayfield Creek, Bardwell, etc, the area that we know from my own oral history.

Moses Atherton Sr. In 1810 married second: Mary or Nancy Biggerstaff in Nelson Co. KY

Children of Moses and Mary

Canada b. 1810 (I have seen his grave marker along with his children and a number of Biggerstaffs and Burroughs near Cunningham, KY in Palestine Cemetary)

Howard b.1811 ( His grave is in Mayfield Creek Cemetary within a few miles of Palestine Cemetary)

Moses Etherton Sr., and Jr.

• Rev. Moses Etherton Sr. was apparently born in Kentucky before it became a state. He was born about 1770 and would have possibly been born in one of the early stations on Kentucky soil. He married Rachel Skaggs on May 19, 1789 in Nelson County. Pioneer minister Benjamin Lynn performed the service. Therefore, the couple was probably living in the northern portion of what would become Green County. Rachel was the daughter of Rev. James Skaggs. Rev. Skaggs and Rev. Lynn helped establish the South Fork Church among others. The Moses and Rachel had at least ten childen.
• The Children of Rev. Moses Etherton and Rachel are

Mary, who married Bennett Stennet;

Moses Jr., who married 1st – Hannah Atherton, 2nd Delilah Burrows, 3rd Sarah Salsman;

Ruth, who married Andrew Warren;

Elijah, who married Mary Pierce;

Nancy, who married Pinkney Elmore;

Sarah, who married Warren Elmore;

William, who married Mary Elkin;

Louisa, who married Phillip Brown;

Jane, who married Ezekial Davis; and finally

Stephen

• Rev. Moses Sr. was bonded to solemize marriages in Green County on Jan. 22, 1817. He died in Green County on Oct. 3, 1852 at age 82 as a result of a fall from a horse.

1850 U.S. Census Green County, KY

• 1850 Green County, Kentucky Census

Household No. 370

Moses Etherton 80 M KY, Farmer KY,

Rachel 70 F KY,

Moses Etherton Jr 53 M Laborer KY

Resided at Goodin's Fort

In 1780 Samuel Goodwin 'Goodin'settled into what is now Nelson County at the Rolling Fork River near Athertonville (between Boston and New Haven) and built Goodin's Fort, an outpost for Bardstown, KY. Likely, Samuel was a militiaman and he and his family traveled in the company of other members of the militia. They arrived at the Falls of the Ohio and made their way to the Salt River and thence inland through what is now Hardin and Nelson counties. Several descendants of Samuel and Isaac removed west to Illinois, Indiana and the Missouri territory in later years. To this day there remains a large number of families in the Hardin-Nelson-Marion county area who are very distantly related to this first settler of the Goodin name.

Samuel Goodwin, Goodins' Fort, Nelson Co., KY

• Adams, Evelyn Crady. Goodin's Fort (1780) In Nelson County, Kentucky. The Filson. (Louisville, Kentucky: Filson Historical Society), Vol. 27, No. 1, January 1953.

When Samuel abandoned the Fort Goodin, he moved across the Rolling Fork to one of his plantations in present LaRue County, KY. He apparently retained more than half of his original land entries which approximated two thousand acres. He died on his plantation in the Edlintown area in 1807. He left no will.There seems to be some confusion about the names, "Goodin, Goodwines, and Goodwins" . There seemed to be a lot of them in early Kentucky, especially in Nelson and Hardin Counties.. And, they seemed to share the same given names as well. Several writers have attempted to sort this out.

"The ancestry of Samuel Goodin (1733?-1807), founder of Goodin's Fort, in unknown. He may have been the grandson of Thomas Gooding (1650?-1730?), Quaker minister from Cardiganshire, Wales, who was received into a Quaker Church in Chester County, Pennsylvlania, December 28, 1708. The children of Thomas Gooding and his wife Elizabeth Gooding (1652-1739) were John, Thomas, Elizabeth, Mary, and Sarah, all of whom were likewise Quaker ministers. Thomas Gooding Jr. (1694 - 4/16/1775), the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Gooding, married on March 13, 1729, Ann, the daughter of Richard Jones, in Goshen, Pennsylvania, and their seven children as listed as -

John who married in 1759;

Thomas who married Mary Hall and whose will probated in Fayette County names a son Samuel;

Richard (1735- )who married in 1757;

Jane who died in 1813; Isaac (1741 - 1827);

Elizabeth who died young; and

Sarah.

Samuel Goodin of Kentucky does not appear in this list but the approximate year of his birth in 1733, his marriage in 1757 and his death in 1807 would place him among the early children. The frequent use of the name Thomas in Samuel's line could be significiant; the piety, austerity, and forthrightness of the pioneer Kentucky Goodins and their apparent opposition to slavery could reflect a Quaker background; and finally, Samuel's spelling of his name as Goodin and not as Goodwin could be accounted for."

The name of Samuel's first wife is not known. She died before the family came to KY in 1779, probably in PA. He and his children came to the Falls of The Ohio (Louisville) in April 1779 from a very severe winter spent in Fayette County, PA. See "Kentucky Court Reports" by James Hughes, pages 183-186. They went south to Pottenger's Creek in 1780 at a site on the north bank of Rolling Fork, a few miles from the point where Beech Fork empties into the larger stream. He built Goodin's Fort in 1781.

• These were among the people at Goodin's Fort (According to Edgar Porter Harned)

Samuel Goodin, Sr. , John Houston, Capt. Samuel Pottenger, Isaac Goodin, Samuel's son, Atkinson Hill, Samuel's son-in-law; Samuel Goodin, Jr., Samuel's son; Peter Kennedy (Indian scout); Thomas Goodin, Samuel's son; Elizabeth Goodin, Samuel's daughter; Catherine Van Meter, Elizabeth Goodin's daughter; Letitia Van Meter, Elizabeth Goodin's daughter; Sarah Van Meter, Elizabeth Goodin's daughter; Elizabeth Van Meter, Elizabeth Goodin's dau; Abraham Goodin, son of Samuel and Elizabeth; General Braddock (only slave mentioned at fort, freed in 1797); Abraham Van Meter, died about 1782; Beck Swank, married General Braddock; Abnego Carter; Unknown Hamilton; Aaron Atherton Sr.; Peter Atherton, son of Aaron; John S. Atherton, son of Peter; John M. Atherton, son of Peter; Peter Lee Atherton, son of John M. Atherton.

The fort was the logical refuge for the following adjacent families: David Crady; Richard Edlin; Christopher Bush; Samuel Miller; Anthony Chambers; Daniel Vittitow; Samuel Vittitow; Stephen Vittitow; Zachariah Maraman; Leonard Johnson's son Clemmy, fiddler from Maryland.

• A newsletter published by The Society of Descendents of Goodin's Fort in 1980

"Samuel Goodin, Sr. was a brave white man, likely a Quaker, that led a party of hearty settlers by flatboard, arriving at the Falls of the Ohio (Louisville) in the year 1779. During the first year the settlers and the Indians were at peace. Samuel Goodin, Sr. took advantage of this peace and built Goodin's Fort and planted his crops unmolested. This wise man had picked the site of his fort on the humble Rolling Fork River, bordered by rich, fertile land. There was plenty of fish and several months of the year they were able to use their flatboards. During the dry months of summer and autumn they could ford the river. Everywhere virgin timber was available for cabins. There was buffalo, turkey, deer, squirrels, rabbits, and bear. There were groves of sugar maple trees that gave them ample sweetning. They used the sassafras bushes for making tea. For added treats they had pecans, walnuts, hickory nuts and chestnuts. There was an abundance of salt and even depositions of iron ore. The fort was finished by the Spring of 1780. New neighbors were everywhere. Samuel Goodin, a widower of about 50 years had brought with him sons Isaac, Thomas, and Samuel Jr. and also his daughters Elizabeth, her husband Atkinson Hill, and Rebecca. The largest known group to be protected inside the fort was 25 Catholic families that were imigrating from Maryland. The women and children stayed at the fort while the men went on to Pottingers Creek to establish a settlement.

Rev. Moses H. Huber 'The Elder'

• Rev. Moses H. Huber was born in Mercer County, Kentucky on 24 Jan. 1795. The Huber family came to Green County in the early 1800's. Moses married Lydia Skaggs, the daughter of Rev. James Skaggs Jr., Hardin County, on 23 Feb. 1819. Rev. Skaggs helped to constitute the Rolling Fork Baptist Church in 1801. Moses Huber lived for a short time in Henry County, Tennessee near Sparta. However, Moses moved back to Green County with his family in the mid 1820's.
• Moses and his wife both joined the Liberty Baptist Church on Brush Creek in northern Green County. Moses joined by "recommendation" in May of 1829 and had close ties to this particular church till about 1850. There were many men from the Liberty Baptist Church that were bound to have influenced Moses. Men such as -

Rev. James Skaggs

Rev. David Elkin,

Rev. Joseph Pepper,

Rev. Moses Etherton,

Rev. William Downs,

Rev. John D. Oaks,

Rev. Johnson Graham,

Rev. Hiram Johnson, and

Rev. Elijah Etherton.

• Rev. Moses Huber was of the Baptist faith most of his life. He began to perform marriage's in about 1840 in both Green and LaRue County. thus, he was likely ordained as a mininster at Liberty Baptist in the early 1840's.
• He was connected with the Mt. Zion Separate Baptist Church near Zero in Hart County during the 1850's. He was pastor of Mt. Moriah Baptist Church from May of 1859 to Feb. 1864.
• On January 22, 1863, Moses Huber, 66, married Malinda Atherton, Etherton, 52. Both were born in Kentucky and both had been married once before.
• On April 29, 1868, Moses married America Kestler. This marriage record states that Moses was born in Mercer County, Kentucky and that he was 70 years of age.
• In April of 1868 he returned to Mt. Moriah as a member of that body. His first wife, Lydia had died in November of 1862. His second wife Malinda Atherton, Etherton is not with him. Moses married a third wife America Kessler in April of 1868. She was the widow of D. W. Kessler. In June of 1872, Moses and America joined the Mt. Zion Separate Baptist Church where they were members till Moses died 'cause Measles'.
• Moses Huber deeded much of his property to his three living children, James H. Hoover, Mary Hoover, and Mrs. Louisia Jane Johnson before he died. Moses spent some of his last days in the watch care of Sydney L. Johnson, his son-in-law, who was the first merchant and postmaster of Mt. Sherman. Moses H. Huber or Hoover as it was sometimes spelled died on 17 Nov. 1874 and is buried at Mt. Sherman by his wife Lydia.

1.   Filson Historical Society (Louisville, Kentucky). The Filson Club history quarterly. (Louisville, Kentucky: The Club, 1930-2000)
   Vol. 27, No. 1, January 1953.

   Goodin's Fort (1780) In Nelson County, Kentucky
   
   Page 5 - Atherton's Ford
   Page 7 - Aaron Atherton Sr. and family
   Page 18 - Milton Atherton
   Page 19 - B.F. Atherton, Finetta Atherton
   Page 26 - 16 Dec 1823, Suit of Purcell vs Atherton, in Hardin County Court
   Page 27 - Atherton Family. W.H. Perrin, op.cit., 1887, p. 781.

2.   Patrick Hogue (Samples). The Samples / Semples Family.

   see Nicholas de Atherton husband of Jane (Joan) Bickerstath.
   see Rev. Moses Atherton, Sr. husband of Nancy Biggerstaff

   
3.   Patrick Hogue (Samples). Transcribed Atherton Text.
   
4. ↑ Norton, Margaret Cross. Illinois census returns, 1820. (Springfield, Illinois: Trustees of the Illinois State Historical Library, c1934)
   Pages 1, 2, 4, 6.

   Page 1 - Alexander County, IL - 1820 Census
   No. Heads of Families
   23 John Biggerstaff 3 1 2 1
   
   Page 2 - Alexander County (Continued)
   No. Heads of Families
   55 Martin Atherton 0 1 0 1
   
   Page 4 - Alexander County, (Continued)
   No. Heads of Families
   120 John Athernton 3 1 1 1
   121 Aron Atherton 2 1 0 3
   122 John Atherton 0 1 0 1
   124 William Biggerstaff 2 1 1 1
   125 Thomas Howard 1 1 1 1
   126 Moses Atherton 5 2 1 2
   127 Samuel Atherton 2 1 2 1
   
   Page 6 - Alexander County, (Continued)
   121 Atherton, Aron
   1818. Etherton, Aron
   F1820. Atherton, Aron
   
   122 Atherton, John
   1818. Etherton, John
   F1820. Atherton, John
   
   124 Biggerstaff, William
   1818. Bigerstaff, William
   F1820. Biggerstaff, William
   
   126 Atherton, Moses
   1818. Etherton, Moses
   F1820. Atherton, Moses