I had considered the September 12 for ’26 having a focus on the earlier Woodruff generations in North and South Carolina. However, with the exception of one will I’ve shared, I’ve come to the conclusion that with murky years of birth and no vital records to be found, it is quite impossible, for the most part, to sort out the men living there from 1785-1820.
Instead, this month will be devoted to expanding the family sketches of the children of Lawrence Brasher and Elizabeth Black, who also left South Carolina for Kentucky and who have the Woodruff clan in their own FAN club.
Lawrence Brasher and Elizabeth Black were the parents of ten children, all of whom lived to adulthood. My husband’s 3X great grandfather was Hampton Brasher, the tenth born of their children.
However, the stories of the other nine children need to also be told so today’s family sketch will cover John Thompson Brasher, the eldest of Lawrence’s and Elizabeth’s children.
John Thompson Brasher was born on 8 October 1793, per his gravestone, in South Carolina, but didn’t live to see the 1850 census, passing away on 3 February 1848 in Christian County, Kentucky. He must have been seriously ill for a while as his estate paid Dr. Gish’s $30.00 medical bill.
John married Elizabeth Williams on 17 May 1825 in Christian County, Kentucky. The Williams family had also moved westward from South Carolina to western Kentucky about the same time that Woodruffs and Brashers did.
John was a farmer and one of his main crops was tobacco as his estate inventory mentions that it was sold for $66.55. There is nothing in his inventory that suggests he followed any specialized trade.
The sale of his estate goods is recorded right after the inventory and it shows that John’s widow and Brasher relatives made many purchases.
Total value of John’s estate after the sale was $154.57, which is worth over $6000 today so he and his family lived comfortably.
Elizabeth (Williams) Brasher never remarried and she died in Christian County, Kentucky on 18 October 1871.
John and Elizabeth were the parents of five children. All events were in Christian County, Kentucky unless noted otherwise.
Children:
- Matilda, born 27 March 1826; died 13 February 1868; married Larkin Campbell, 25 February 1856. They were the parents of five children.
- Anson Weems, born 29 September 1827; died 14 November 1908, Madison County, Illinois; married Elizabeth J. Lindley, 17 March 1870, St. Clair County, Illinois. They were the parents of three children, two living in 1900.
- Wesley William, born 7 September 1833; died 3 August 1887; married Malinda C. Campbell, 12 April 1869. They had no children.
- Henry Clay, born 10 August 1836; died 26 September 1920; married Victoria Josephine Woodruff, 17 March 1866, Hopkins County, Kentucky. They were the parents of five children, three living in 1900.
- Franklin C., born 6 August 1839; died 5 September 1885; married Virginia Long, 21 November 1877. They were the parents of three children.
John and Elizabeth have descendants today as only Wesley William had no children.
Great article! Many of my Putman cousins were in Christian Co KY. They sometimes went back and forth between there and Bedford and Williamson Counties of Tennessee. It is so important to study the siblings of our direct lines and the social history. Sometimes it is the very thing that leads us to more information about our family.