John Stephen McFadin Family of North Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana and Kansas

by
Maude A. McFadin M.A.

[Died in Wichita, Kansas on July 25, 1982, a retired teacher. It sure would be nice if someone could send me a good picture of Maude to include. The book cover did not scan well at all. If you are Maude's family please contact Jim.]

Mennonite Press Inc.
North Newton, Kansas 67117

In Loving Memory of My Parents,
George and Bertha McFadin,
of My Sister Frances, and My Brother Jack
Who Gave Me Encouragement, Help, and Hope
That Through This Study, The
Early McFadins Might Be
Remembered

Page
Introduction 7

Part One. John Stephen McFadin Family 1760's-1855 in North Carolina, Kentucky and Indiana

Chapter

1. John Stephen McFadin of Maryland and North Carolina 11
2. William, Eldest Son of John Stephen McFadin 16
3. James McFadin, Second Son of John Stephen McFadin 21
4. John McFadin, Jr., Third Son of John Stephen McFadin 23
5. Samuel McFadin, Fourth Son of John Stephen McFadin 26
6. Elias McFadin, Fifth Son of John Stephen McFadin 28
7. Andrew McFadin, Sr., Sixth Son of John Stephen McFadin 31
8. Stephen, Alexander and Margaret—Younger Children of John Stephen McFadin 42
9. Andrew McFadin, Jr., (Slim Andy), Son of Andrew Sr., and Grandson of John Stephen McFadin 45
10. Younger Children of Andrew McFadin, Sr. 53

Part Two. Andrew Hogan McFadin Reaches Kansas 1855

11. Andrew Hogan McFadin, son of Slim Andy, Grandson of Andrew, Sr., and Great-Grandson of John Stephen McFadin 57
12. Kansas in Early Times—Written in 1930 by George Edwin McFadin 1849-1933 63
1 3. George Edwin McFadin, Son of Andrew Hogan McFadin; Great-Great-Grandson of John Stephen McFadin 87
14. Children of George and Bertha McFadin; Great-Great-Great-Grandchildren of John Stephen McFadin 89
15. Younger Children of Andrew Hogan McFadin 98
16. Future Research of the McFadin Family 104

Chart of Land Owned in Kentucky by the McFadin Family 107

Bibliography 110

Among the Clans of Scotland the McFadins are listed as a Sept of the Clan Maclain of Loc Buie. Their native place is in the Western Highlands and the Isles.

In the sixth century and later groups from old Scotia (Ireland) crossed the narrow waters to Pictland (Scotland) and gave their name to their new home. During the following centuries these Scots moved back and forth. There were seemingly continuous wars among the clans and some clans were weakened almost to extinction. To survive, these weakened clans joined under the leadership of some powerful friendly clan leader; thus, the ancient McFadin Clan became a Sept of the Clan Maclain of Loch Buie.

It is believed that John McFadin of North Carolina belongs to this Sept. He was a Scot, born in North Ireland of Scot parents, and came to America with his parents.

The name of McFadin has been spelled as variously as the name of Shakespeare. The early McFadins in America spelled the name either with an "in" or "en" ending. However the spelling has changed through the years. The writer has spelled the name as the owner spelled it.

This study of the McFadins is far from complete research must be carried back to include the parents of John and his brothers and sisters. That work must be left to future historians. Many years have gone into this research. and as a result, a great deal of information has accumulated, so much, in fact, that it is now necessary to put it into permanent form. Time is running out for the writer.

To the many people who have encouraged and contributed to the research, we extend our thanks. These people have been especially helpful: Ann McFadin Miller of Corpus Christi; Dr. Francis Woody Werking, Evansville, Indiana, Burlison historian; Mr. B. T. Pisely and Mr. Guy Cleveland, Clerks of the Posey County Indiana Court, who thoroughly searched the records there for McFadin data; Mrs. N. L. Hampton (a descendant of John McFadin). Mrs. Hampton's family still own the land where old Fort McFadin stood, just west of Rutherfordton, North Carolina. Mrs. Ward C. Sumpter of Bowling Green, Ky. After Mrs. B. O. Hanby's death her notes on the early Mount Vernon McFadins were sent to the writer.

Information has lately come concerning perhaps an earlier generation of John McFadin's family. Thanks go to the historians who have worked on this early Andrew McFadin Family of Maine. These historians are Mrs. Grace Lewsthop of Seattle, Washington; Mrs. Arthur Gilmore, Manchester, New Hampshire; Mrs. George McFadden of Winchester, Massachusetts; and Mrs. Bradbury Clark of Portland, Maine.

Chapter XVI will contain a brief resumé of the Maine McFadins. This chapter has been left to the last since the writer feels it will be more meaningful to the reader to read first about the North Carolina McFadins.

Signatures of the McFadins

John Stephen McFadin
c1700 1777

Andrew McFadin, Sr.
c 1750 1816

Andrew McFadin, Jr.
1794 1847

Andrew Hogan McFadin
1817 1875

George Edwin McFadin
1849 1933

Jack L. McFadden
1896 1971

John or Stephen McFadin, as he was named by his son William in settling John's estate, was born about 1700 in Ireland. He came to America when he was a young man and was for a time in Massachusetts. Later he was in Maryland.

Actual records begin when he brought his family down into old Tryon County, North Carolina, some time in the 1760's. His earliest land grant was dated 16th December, 1769. This grant gave him title to three hundred acres on McFadin Creek on the Second Broad River. Included in this title were "all his improvements. Department of State, Raleigh, North Carolina: Land Grant No. 323, Book 20, page 538, File 227.) This document was signed by William Tryon, Governor of the colony of North Carolina.

In 1770, George Dickey sold to John McFadin three hundred acres of land. In 1774, John McFadin, Jr., sold to John McFadin, Sr., two hundred acres, both parcels of land were on Mountain Creek. (Register of Deeds, Lincoln County, Lincolnton, North Carolina , First sale Book I, p. 74; second sale, Book II, p. 227.)

The exact year of the move from Maryland, is not known. Tradition indicates that the family came from New England and their place of residence in Maryland was near Hagerstown, but these points are not proved. John's youngest son, Alexander, in 1832, in h is request for a Revolutionary War Pension, stated that he, Alexander, had been born in Maryland in 1760. The statement in John's land grant "and all his improvements" suggests that he may have been on his land and improved it before the land was legally granted to him.

Other land records show that his sons had settled near the father whose land had on it an Old fort. This was known during the Revolution as Old Fort McFadin. In dividing his property at the time of his death John left to Stephen his seventh son, land on the west side of Mountain Creek, and to Alexander the east side of the creek. (Lincoln County Superior Court, Lincolnton, North Carolina, Will of John McFadin, 1777.)

Old Fort McFadin was one of three forts established before the Revolution for protection of the settlers from raiding Indians; but, as the tension grew and the war broke out, the Loyalists, who were strong in that part of the country, became a greater menace than the Indians. The fort was possibly only a stockade and a reinforced log building. In 1777 the Loyalists attacked the fort and destroyed it.

Samuel Espy in his disposition October 31, 1832, for a Revolutionary War pension stated that from July to August 1776, he was stationed at Fort McFadin under command of Colonel William Graham who had been ordered to reinforce the troops there. It was during that summer that the North Carolina Militia were gathering there for the Cherokee Expedition. (Draper, MSS., State Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin, 2DD 136, 137.)

A descendant of Alexander, John's youngest son, now owns the old McFadin land. She is Mrs. N. L. Hampton, Rutherfordton, North Carolina. This property lies about three miles west of the town of Rutherfordton and is near the old Miller-Twitty graveyard that was in use two hundred years ago.

Mrs. Hampton said that the old McFadin graveyard is on their place; members of the family were buried in the forepart of the plot and their slaves were buried farther back. The graves are marked, head and foot, with plain stones; but she could find no inscriptions on any of the stones. She further stated that her father knew who were buried there.

During the growing dangers of war on the 25th day of March, 1776 John or Stephen McFadin wrote his will which was witnessed by his two friends and neighbors, David Dickey and Thomas Walker. John named his wife, Hannah, and a daughter, Margaret. He named his eight sons beginning with the eldest, "William my beloved and oldest son." Others in order of their births were: James; John; Samuel; Elias; Andrew; Stephen; and Alexander.

Hannah was to have the use of the home plantation during her life. He had already provided for the older sons. To Stephen and Alexander he left the home place to be divided equally after their mother's death. His will was probated on July 17, 1777.

By 1782-83 Hannah must have died because the estate was being divided between Stephen and Alexander. By that date William, Andrew, John, and James had left Rutherford County and were in eastern Tennessee. Their acknowledgements to Alexander, who was administrating the estate, are documented.

There is a conviction as one studies this family that Hannah may have been the second wife, and that there was an earlier marriage of John Stephen's in Massachusetts.

The writer has been unable to find a record of the births of any of these sons except Alexander's statement of his own birth. A member of this family, possibly their cousin, was another John McFadin, born in Maryland, and a soldier in the Revolution, who mentioned a McFadin Bible. On August, 28, 1832, this Maryland John McFadin, then living in Augusta County, Virginia, stated that he was born nine miles from Hagerstown, Maryland, on September 15, 1760, that the record of his birth was in the McFadin family Bible, but it had been taken into Kentucky by members of the family. (Lyman Chalkley, Record of Abstracts of Augusta County, Virginia, Vol. II, p. 469.)

This statement was true about the Bible. After John Stephen McFadin's death, the Bible had passed into possession of the sixth son, Andrew McFadin who had gone out to Kentucky right after the Revolution. After Andrew's death at McFadin's Bluffs, Indiana, in 1816, the Bible went to Andrew's second son Raleigh (Rolly); later to Raleigh's son David, still in Mt. Vernon. About 1900 David, then an old man, took his possessions and went to Missouri to live with his daughter. The house burned and all was lost. This story was told to the writer in 1930 by Mrs. B. O. Hanby, a historian in Mt. Vernon who had spent her mature years talking with the old settlers. She regretted that she did not know the daughter's name nor her place of residence. However, Mrs. Hanby had seen the Bible many times and said the dates in the Bible went back about two hundred years. She remembered that the Bible had been published in Scotland. This item is added to show the reader the many disappointments that come to a family historian.

Descendants of different sons of John Stephen McFadin agree that he was Scotch-Irish, born in North Ireland of Scotch ancestry, and came to America as a youth with his parents. The family were Covenanters, strict Presbyterians, later in America. They were educated men, patriotic citizens and many held public office.

Not far from old Fort McFadin was the Scotch church of Little Brittain, established by the Scots in 1768. It was disappointing to learn that the Historical Foundation of the Presbyterian and Reformed churches, at Montreat, North Carolina, which have the records of Little Brittain, write that their records of that church begin as late as 1859. The writer has been unable to find any records of Little Brittain prior to 1859.

One wonders why John Stephen in his late sixties left the settled parts of Maryland for the unsettled parts of North Carolina. There were various reasons. The sons needed more land. All these sons were trained as surveyors and the opening West needed them. The Scotch-Irish were leaving Pennsylvania and Maryland and moving down the valleys into Virginia and the Carolinas.

It is not known whether the family left Maryland at the same time, or whether the older sons went first. In 1772 William was settled in Anson County, North Carolina, where he was a juror.

It is interesting to read (Robert W. Ramsey's Carolina Cradle, Settlement of the Northwest Carolina Frontier, 1747-1762; University of North Carolina Press, 1964).

One finds in Ramsey's list of early settlers on Davidson's Creek the names of friends of the McFadins; Andrew Logan; Jonathan and Adam Hampton; Robert Taylor, Sr.; Anthony Dickey; David Dickey; Joshua Taylor; and Thomas Walker. In 1776 David Dickey and Thomas Walker with others named here were in Rutherford County and these last two signed John Stephen's will as witnesses on March 25, 1776.

During the Revolution all of John Stephen's sons served in various ways. After the war only Stephen and Alexander remained in North Carolina. Elias was dead, but the other sons had gone into Tennessee and Kentucky.

What has been learned of the lives of these eight brothers will be given in the following chapters.

In his beautiful handwriting John Stephen wrote, "To William, my Beloved and oldest son . . ."

The place and date of William's birth are both unknown. He died before 1812 at McFadin's Bluff, later renamed Mount Vernon, Indiana Both William and wife Rachael (Hendricks) McFadin are buried in a private graveyard on the Templeton farm near Mount Vernon. William may have been in his seventies at the time of his death. Markers are gone.

Shortly after 1783 William joined his brothers Andrew, John, and James in eastern Tennessee, where James and Andrew surveyed several roads. Some time later William returned to North Carolina and later brought out his family, settling after 1785 farther up on Big Barren River, at least ten miles above Andrew McFadin's Station which was some four miles from the present Bowling Green, Kentucky, in Warren County. Name, date of birth, and death date of William's first wife are unknown.

On October 18, 1789 William married Rachel Hendricks who was then living with her mother Elizabeth and her brother Thomas at McFadin Station settlement Rachel's sister, also named Elizabeth had married Edward Hogan of Sumner County, Tennessee, in 1783. Both of these marriage records are on file in the Sumner County Courthouse at Gallatin, Tennessee.

Indian troubles plagued the settlers in Kentucky, in the late 1780's through the 1790's. In 1786 and again in 1793 the men went out to drive back the Indians. A story is told about William's young daughter Martha having shot an Indian as the warrior was trying to steal the horses out of the corral at the Station. Several versions of the story have been handed down, but all agree the young girl was guarding a porthole when the incident occurred. Whether this happened in Kentucky in 1786 or 1793, no one now knows. Lyman Draper referred to. the attack on McFadin's Station as occurring in April of 1786. (Lyman - Draper MS. 9CC7, April 1786. McFadin's Station, Wisconsin State Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin.)

In retelling the story a hundred years later, W. P. Leonard in his History and Directory of Posey County, Indiana, page 21, assumed. that the event took place in Indiana before or during the War of 1812. The story, however, did not happen to Mary, Martha's sister, as Leonard states. It was Mary's descendants who treasured the story about their Aunt Martha.

On October 2, 1790 William and Andrew with some two hundred other settlers south of the Green River in Kentucky signed a "Petition of the Early Inhabitants of Kentucky to the General Assembly of Virginia, 1769-1792." This petition was a request for Virginia to establish a court nearer the settlers who found the trip to distant courts dangerous because of the Indians. (James Robertson, Kentucky Legislative Petition, Historical Archives of Virginia, Richmond: Document No. 79. Pages 141, 142.)

Consult the land chart for Kentucky land owned by William.

William had a large family of children. In a suit filed in Warren County, Kentucky, after William's death, is the first statement that William had died. His death date was previous to the date of the land suit May 27, 1812. He had died in Indiana. (Equity No. 73, Warren County, Kentucky, Circuit Court, Bowling Green, Kentucky.)

In this land case, William's wife Rachael is named. The children's names follow: Mary; John; William, Jr.; Noah; Catherine; Squire; Andrew; Elizabeth; Rebecca; and James. These children are not named m the order of their births. Omitted were: Martha; Gouvenour; and Lucinda.

After Rachael's death in Mount Vernon, Indiana, John born in 1792, was appointed guardian of his minor sisters and brothers. These children were: James; born March 26, 1800, over sixteen. Noah, born June 10, 1802. Gouvenour, born April 10, 1804. Rebecca, born February 5, 1806. Lucinda, "Out of the State," possibly the youngest. (Posey County, Indiana, Circuit Court Probate Book A., June 10, 1817.)

Mrs. B. O. Hanby of Mount Vernon, Indiana, a local historian gave to the writer a partial list of these children and a little information about their later years.

William, Jr., died in Posey County and was buried at Templeton's graveyard.

John moved to Owensville, Indiana, and later to Missouri where he settled in Lexington.

James died in the East.

Lucinda married M. W. G. Sproule and moved to St. Louis, Missouri.

Polly or Mary, the first white woman in Posey County married Sam Bradley of Mount Vernon. Patsy or Martha who shot the Indian, married three times, first to her cousin Peter Hendricks, son of Thomas Hendricks who was a brother of Patsy's mother Rachel. Second, she married _____ Givens; and her third marriage was to another cousin _____ James. Noah lived and died in Posey County, Indiana, and left many descendants there.

The writer was able to find the descendants of John McFadin, born in 1792 at McFadin Station, Kentucky. About 1813 John married Lucinda Davis, a cousin of Jefferson Davis later President of the Southern Confederacy. Tradition says there were six children of this marriage, but the writer found records of only Jane and John, Jr. Lucinda died in 1824. John moved to Owensville, Indiana in 1825. (Montgomery, D. B., History of Southern Indiana and History of the Montgomery Family.)

In 1830 John McFadin, son of William, married a second wife, (Betsy) Elizabeth Montgomery. In 1844 the family moved to Lexington, Missouri, where John bought land near the town and built a large house.

When the gold rush came in 1849, John and his son John, Jr., made the trip to California. It was a long trip and they did not get rich. By 1854 both men were back in Lexington.

At heart John Sr., son of William, was a Southern sympathizer, and as tension between the sections of the country became more violent, John spoke out openly in favor of slavery and secession. The Missourians were more or less divided as to their loyalties, and Northern groups and Southern groups often clashed. Especially was this true after the Civil War began.

When John McFadin, Sr., flew the Stars and Bars from his front porch that October 4, 1862, Northern sympathizers took John, Sr., out into his own cornfield that night and shot him. They left the murdered man lying there for his family to find. These facts were told to the writer by John's descendant Mrs. Fanny McFadin Moreland, a great-granddaughter of John, Sr. Her home, the house that John, Sr., built, is called "Reidmore" near Lexington, Missouri.

Another son of William was James, born in 1800 in Kentucky. On September 28, 1821 he married Jane Fenner in Posey County, Indiana. This marriage record is at the Posey County Courthouse, Mount Vernon, Indiana.

William's daughter Catherine, born in Kentucky, married Thomas Duckworth at Mount Vernon, Indiana, on October 21, 1815. (Marriage record at the Posey County Court House in Mount Vernon, Indiana.)

Gouvenour, another son of William, is said to have gone to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

William McFadin, Jr., lived and died in Posey County. His will is on file at the courthouse there. He named his children: Joseph, Anne E., Volley, Martha, John B., and Fieldin.

William's military record is rather sketchy. John Gwathmey in his Historical Register, Virginians in the Revolution, lists John, James, Alexander, and Sam, but not William McFadin in the Revolution. King's Mountain Men, by Katherine Keogh White, spells his name Wm. McSpedden with the statement that "It is claimed he was with Evan Shelby in the Chicamauga Expedition." See page 206. His land warrants are in the Virginia State Library. The writer has not checked these military statements. They are added for further study.

James was born before the family left New England for Maryland, but the date of his birth is not known. He died in Kentucky previous to July 28, 1830, when his son John exchanged Warrant No. 6746 for bounty land script, issued under the Act of May 30, 1830. The script was surrendered in January 27, 1831, to the Receiver of the United States Land Office in Indianapolis, Indiana, in payment for land.

This Bounty Warrant to James McFadin was for 4,000 acres of land. It was unclaimed during James' life. After James' death the Warrant No. 6746 was given to son John on July 28, 1830. It reads: "This shall be your Warrant to survey and lay off in one or m ore surveys for John McFadin (McFadon) his heir or assigns, 4000 acres of land to the said McFadin, heir-at law to James McFadin, deceased; in consideration of his services as Captain of Artillery, Virginia Continental Line during the Revolutionary War."

(Land Office Military Warrant No. 6746 issued to John McFadon, heir of James McFadon, dec'd. National Archives Record Services, Washington, D.C.)

James' War Record: Second Lieutenant, First Continental Artillery, January 1, 1777; First Lieutenant, March 22, 1777; Captain, November 1, 1779; served to the end of the War. (John H. Gwathmey, Historical Register of Virginians in the Revolution.) He further states that James McPhaddin was in the Illinois Regiment, but the date is not given.

When the War began James was stationed at his home, Old Fort McFadin, and served under Colonel William Graham; also he went on the Cherokee Expedition in the late summer of 1776. Captain Moore wrote of this expedition:

"Captain McFadin and myself took a small party of men . . . to make further discoveries, and left the main body of the Army behind."

After the expedition left the Cherokee towns, Captain Moore continued, "Captain McFadin is going to see your honor at Congress." (The Colonial Records of North Carolina, Vol. X, p. 897. Pub. by order of the North Carolina General Assembly.)

On March 20, 1788, James McFadin married Martha Graham, daughter of John Graham. The Grahams were settlers in Mercer County, Kentucky, as early as 1783. (Lincoln County, Kentucky Court Records, Stanford, Kentucky.) also, (Mrs. Harry Kennett McAdams. Kentucky Pioneer and Court Records, p. 115, Genealogical Pub. Co. Baltimore: 1967).

The writer knows of only two children of James and Martha McFadin. They are John, born about 1790, and Synthia McFadin Williams, born in 1792, in Garrard County, Kentucky, who died December 23, 1853, aged 61 years. Parents were James and Martha McFadin. (Kentucky State Historical Society Register. 1914. Vol. 43, p. 164.)

So far James' will has not been located.

John, Jr., was born in Massachusetts according to tradition in one branch of his family. The exact date of his birth is unknown. Research in The New England Historical and Genealogical Record, Vol. 24, p. 43, "Melton Massachusetts Church Records 1678-1754 " has the following entry:

"Baptism at Melton Church, March 18,1753. John, son of John McFadin, by virtue of his wife owning the Covenant at Dorchester."

The date is a few years late for the birth date of the child, but baptisms in those times were often administered when the individual was several years older. John was possibly born in the late 1740's. He died in Warren County, Kentucky. His estate paper s No. 1324 Equity are at the Warren County Circuit Court at Bowling Green. They were proved on November 26, 1839. George Sumpter was administrator of the estate.

The date of John's marriage is not known and neither is the name of his wife nor the date of her death.

In his will he named the following children and grandchildren: Samuel; Thomas; John H.; Elias B.; Wade; Missouri (wife of Stearman Jenkins); Sally (wife of John Jenkins); and Cynthia (wife of Elisha White). Both Cynthia and Elisha White were deceased in 1839 when the will was written; that is why John named the White children to inherit Cynthia's share of the estate. The White heirs were: Mary E.; John C.; William; Sarah; and Thomas.

Elisha White was born on September 9, 1807 and died in 1839, in Warren County, Kentucky. His mother was Jennie Walker and his father was Carter White, born October 28, 1769; died August i8, 1839. Elisha's family came from Virginia. These names and dates came from the Carter Family Record and have not been checked by the writer.

Mrs. Charles G. Nunn of Bonham, Texas, a descendant of John Jr.'s fourth son Elias B. McFadin owns Elias' Bible. It has explanatory notes by John Wesley, "Late Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford. Third American Edition. Published by Daniel Hitt and Thomas Ware for the Methodist Connection in the United States. John C. Totten, Printer, New York; 1812."

This Bible was found in an old adobe house on the 3 Brazos River in South Texas. Fortunately the Bible found its way back into the hands of the Texas McFadins. This a Bible gives Elias B. McFadin's birth date as November 10, 1771, in North Carolina. Since Elias B. was the fourth child, the three older children were also born either in Maryland or North Carolina in the late 1760's.

By 1779-80 John had moved his family to Painted Stone Station in Kentucky. John was with Squire Boone there at Painted Stone during the year 1779-80. (Lewis Collins. History of Kentucky. Vol. 2, p. 710.)

In 1784-85, John was with his brothers James and Andrew on Silver Creek, a branch of the Red River in Kentucky. This part is told in the chapter about the sixth brother, Andrew.

Mrs. Nunn has sent the writer a list of Elias B. McFadin's family. His wife was Nancy Stringfellow, born September 17, 1776; died on September 13, 1832; married April 8, 1802, in Warren County, Kentucky. This marriage record is on file at Warren County Courthouse, Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The children of Elias B. and Nancy McFadin are as follows:

James G. McFadin, born Jan. 13, 1803.

Cynthia, born October 8, 1804.

Joseph Ray, born January 24, 1807; died January 18, 1820.

Elizabeth, born February 8, 1809; married Thomas Denton, moved to Kerr County, Texas.

Elias Asbury, born November 25, 1810, lived in Kerr County, Texas.

Alford F., born December 22, 1813; killed by Mexicans at Brownsville, Texas.

Sally Ann born September 4, 1816; married Andrew Powell Gass, Jr., on August 10, 1842 These two are the ancestors of Mrs. Charles G. Nunn of Bonham, Texas.

John served in the Kentucky Militia during the Revolutionary War. His military pension number is 74.

For a record of land that he owned in Kentucky, see the McFadin Land chart.

The date and place of Samuel's birth are unknown. He came to North Carolina from Maryland with other members of the family. One of his descendants, the late Euna Moss McFadin of Salmons, Kentucky, who owned Samuel's Bible stated that Samuel married Lucy _____ in North Carolina, and that he fought in the Revolution.

Euna Moss McFadin gave the following information about Samuel's children: Andrew was born in North Carolina. Jonathan died in Warren County, Kentucky, in 1807. He had married Sally Patrick on July 22, 1801. He and Sally had three children: Wyatt, John, and Catherine. Samuel's third child was Elias; then came Susannah, who married Daniel Stone in 1801 in Warren County, Kentucky. John married Margaret Eider in 1804. Wade, born in 1785 in North Carolina married Betsy Hampton in Warren County. (Warren County Court Records, Bowling Green, Kentucky.)

Sally McFadin, widow of Jonathan, married Jacob Bozeman on June 22, 1808, and the family moved out to White County, Illinois, about 1814. Wyatt, born about 1802, was then twelve years old. Many McFadin relatives and acquaintances lived in White County. On February 12, 1823, Wyatt married Volley Williams. At the time of the Civil War, 1861, Wyatt and Volley took their family out to a new home near Waco, Texas, where Wyatt died in 1874, leaving three sons. Only David was named. Above marriages are at Bowling Green, Kentucky, Warren County Courthouse. Mrs. B. B. Hulsey of Forney, Texas, furnished the information about Wyatt from their family files. (See also J. B. Boddie. Historical Southern Families. Vol. I, p. 50.)

Samuel McFadin (McFation) served in the First Virginia Regiment, Continental Line, and received a Bounty Land Warrant. (John H. Gwathmey. Historical Register of Virginians in the Revolution.)

On May 16,1796, Samuel was living In Logan County, Kentucky, where he witnessed the will of George Mitchell. On January 26, 1807, he was in Christian County where he witnessed the will of Samuel Coke. (J. Estelle Stewart King. Early Kentucky Wills and Inventories. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, pp. 36, 38, 157.) See McFadin Kentucky Land Chart for Samuel's land.

As mentioned in the Chapter on Andrew McFadin, Sr., Samuel, in the summer of 1798, during the Indian troubles, was commissioned by Governor James Garrard as Lieutenant of the 24th Regiment of State Militia.

Samuel seems to have spent his later life in Christian County. He did not go with William and Andrew to the Indiana country. The date of his death is not known. Many of his descendants are buried at Pilot Knob in the present Simpson County. He may be buried there with them. He has many descendants in that part of Kentucky.

Elias' date and place of birth are unknown. He came with his parents to North Carolina and owned land near them. Before 1775 he married Mary Heeslip in Rutherford County. His son Andrew was born, about 1775 or 1776 in North Carolina. (U. S. Census 1850, Posey County, Mount Vernon, Indiana.) In 1850 the son Andrew was living with Andrew's daughter, Margaret Hackett.

In May of 1780 Elias and Mary were with a group of settlers going out to eastern Tennessee to take possession of their land. The Indians attacked the party on May 2, 1780, at Stony River, Tennessee. This was called the Stony River Massacre. Elias was killed, but Mary escaped and with others returned to her home in Rutherford County, North Carolina. Mr. Clarence Griffin mentions this Massacre in his book. (History of Old Tryon and Rutherford Counties, North Carolina, 1730-1936.)

It is not known whether or not the child Andrew was with his parents at Stony River. He may have been left with the family in Rutherford County.

On October 30, 1782, Mary Heeslip McFadin married David Dickey of Rutherford County. This is the same David Dickey who witnessed John Stephen McFadin's will in 1776. David Dickey was then legal guardian of his small stepson Andrew. If Elias had other children, there was no reference to them in the court records.

In 1801, Andrew, then in his mid-twenties, received title to the land that his father owned in eastern Tennessee. The following record is at the Rutherford County Courthouse at Rutherfordton, North Carolina, (Deed Book 25, p. 264).

"1801 between Andrew McFadin of Rutherford County, State of North Carolina, of the first part, and David Dickey of the second part, consideration four hundred dollars, lying on the north side of the Main Broad River, one hundred acres, the same being granted to Archibald McDowell by patent, bearing date of 30th of October 1765, and conveyed by him to Elias McFadin by deed of conveyance, dated 27th day of April 1778, and as the said land fell to him, Andrew McFadin, by heirship on the death of his father, Elias McFadin."

It is possible that the young Andrew had already been rn Kentucky with the other McFadins before he received his inheritance. He returned to Kentucky after 1801 and went into Indiana with his uncles William and Andrew and their large families.

Andrew was a noted hunter, a friend of the Indians; he knew the Boone family and later John James Audibon with whom he hunted turkeys. Andrew was a happy young man, always singing a song that ended "Tiddle-de-dum, Tiddle-de-dee." This song was popular on the frontier. The writer was fortunate to find a copy of the lyric.

"For a shilling an acre,
We'll take up our stand,
Oh, ree-dum-dum-diddle dee-dee.

"We've beaten the Lobster.
The world now is ours,
Oh, ree-dum-dum-diddle dee-dee."
(Noel B. Gerson. The Cumberland Rifles. p. 150.)

Relatives of Andrew said that it was Andrew's continuous use of this song that pinned on him the nickname of Tiddle-de-dum Andrew; that, and also the need to distinguish this cousin from all the others named Andrew. The McFadins used the same names again and again in each generation; consequently there were: Slim Jim; Old Jim, Big Jim, etc. (W. P. Leonard, History and Directory of Posey County, p. 22).

Mrs. B. O. Hanby, an historian of Mount Vernon, sent the writer a story about Tiddle-de-dum Andrew.

During the winter of 1827, he rode out hunting deer, found a buck, and shot it, wounding the animal which got away. Andrew tied his horse to a tree and followed the blood trail in the snow. Soon he saw that the wounded deer was circling back. Then his horse started making a great racket. Andrew reached the horse and saw that the crazed deer had attacked the horse and gored it so seriously that the horse had to be shot.

Tiddle-de-dum Andrew married Nancy ______. He lived on his farm at Farmersville in Posey County. His children were as follows: Thomas; Milly; Margaret who married Ira Hackett of Mount Vernon, and with whom Andrew lived in 1850 and until his death. Another daughter Polly married a Peel, and a son Elias lived near Mount Vernon.

This Andrew is the one who has confused so many of the early historians of Posey County. This Tiddle-de-dum Andrew is a generation younger than Andrew Senior, brother of Elias. Tiddle-de-dum is older than the son of Andrew Senior—the one called Slim Andy.

The writer has tried to show that Tiddle-de-dum was a pleasant man, yet he did not help in the making of the settlement either in Kentucky or in Indiana. The elder Andrew died in 1816; Slim Andy died in 1847 at Mount Vernon; Tiddle-de-dum Andrew, so the story goes, lived to be near one hundred years old. This last Andrew did little or nothing, and yet, in the confusion, he got all the credit.

Andrew was born about 1750 or later and died before February 26, 1816. He was at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811, and also fought in the War of 1812, as a mounted rifleman. He was seemingly well and active at that time, only four or five years before hi s death. His second wife Volley was also born about 1750 or later, died in 1840. These dates give only an idea of his age. It is not known whether Andrew was born in Massachusetts or Maryland. Date and place are left for further research.

Like all his brothers, Andrew took some part in the Revolutionary War (Department of Archives and History, Raleigh, North Carolina, Revolutionary War Army Accounts, Vol. XI, p. 18, Folio 1). This is a military list, dated November 1777, showing that the United States of America had paid to the State of North Carolina 56 pounds to Andrew McFadin and to Adam Hampton "for services." Also listed "for services" were Captain William Green and Company. The exact date, place, and unit of Andrew's services are not known. Research is continuing for the years of the Revolution for Andrew's record.

After the Revolution Andrew was with his brothers, Captain James McFadin in eastern Tennessee and later they joined John. Listed in the Lincoln County Court (Kentucky Order Book for 1781 - 1791, September Court 1783) is the following:

"Andrew McFagin, gentleman of good character, having Intentions to travel southwardly down the Mississippi on merchantile business, we desire that all persons let him pass and repass about his lawful business and pay a due respect to him which is justly due to his character and, also that his assistants may be unmolested."

It was about this time that Andrew began his trading trips to New Orleans. (See also "The Kentucky Genealogist," a quarterly, Pub. Washington D.C., Editor Martha Porter Miller. July-Sept. 1969 issue, p. 107.)

In 1784 James, John, and Andrew were on Sulphur Creek. Andrew had settled first on Cumberland River. He also had land on Silver Creek, a branch of Red River in Logan County in what is now Kentucky. By 1785 he was establishing his Station on Big Barren River in Warren County. He also had a ferry across Big Barren River near his Station. This is about four miles above the present Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The Station was on high ground on the north bank of the river and a good spring was nearby. Settlers coming into the country turned south on the Cumberland Trace for Nashville at this point. Andrew's buildings were strong enough for protection from Indian raids. Here the travelers could rest, get fresh supplies, mend their wagons, and get news and advice for their journey down to Nashville (Lewis Collins, History of Kentucky, Vol. I, p. 20). (For land grants in Kentucky see the McFadin Chart of Land Grants in Kentucky.)

André Michaux, a Frenchman traveling in Kentucky, wrote in his Journal that he had stopped at McFadin's Station on June 24, 1795.

"I passed by Big Barren River. The man who has the Station there, is well supplied with provisions." In a footnote Thwartes stated that the man was Andrew McFadin who was well known in that part of Kentucky. (Reuben Gold Thwaites, Early Western Travels 1748-1846, Vol. 3, pp. 63, 64.)

On file at the Barren County Courthouse, Glasgow, Kentucky, is a deposition by Edmund Rogers that between 1785-1790, he, Edmund Rogers, Abraham Chapline, and Andrew McFadin had surveyed and entered almost all the land between Skaggs Creek and Big Barren River on military warrants belonging to the Virginia State Line.

Thomas Crittenden Cherry in his book (Kentucky, the Pioneer State of the West, p. 160), quotes a letter written by Daphne Tiller to her mother. The letter dated 2nd March, 1794, Gasper River in Warren County tells of a Mr. McFadin, hunting for his stray horses, found the Tillers alone. He begged them to move up to where he lived because it was not safe for them on Gasper River.

Lewis Collins in his History of Kentucky, Vol. 2, p. 710, tells an amusing story of a young Virginian, new to the frontier, who bragged that he could outrun anyone in old Kentucky. Andrew McFadin loved a good joke and felt that the braggart needed a lesson, so he asked the Virginian if he would run barefoot or shod.

"Barefoot !"

Andrew agreed to find a runner, fix the time and place, and give a jug of whiskey for the prize. The Virginian agreed to the terms.

Andrew chose the day and selected the racetrack and the settlers came to see the race. The track that Andrew had chosen was the flintiest piece of ground in all the country.

The Virginian's opponent was a hunter, named Raymer, who had gone barefoot for so long that the soles of his feet were like horn. The race began and Raymer shot off down the track; but the Virginian dropped out early, to the delight of the settlers. After that, Collins says, the place was called Raymer's Race Track.

Andrew's first marriage was before 1793, but the name of his first wife is unknown. She died in 1798, probably in Tennessee where she had gone for the birth of their third child, Raleigh (Rolly). There were three children of this marriage: Andrew Jr., born in Kentucky about 1794; Hannah, born in Kentucky in 1797; and Raleigh (Rolly) born in Tennessee in 1798, shortly before his mother's death. The birth dates for Hannah and Rolly were furnished to the writer by Dr. Francis Woody Werking who took the data from the gravestones.

Andrew's second marriage was to Volley Burleyson (Burlison) widow of Aaron Burlison III. The marriage bond, dated March 15, 1799 and the marriage record, dated June 1, 1799, are in the Warren County Courthouse at Bowling Green, Kentucky. The old records had been recopied about 900 and the Burleyson name had been misspelled. In 1962 while the records there were being microfilmed, the marriage bond was found and the correct spelling copied on the marriage record.

Volly Burlison was widowed in 1784 when her husband Aaron III was murdered by Indians in eastern Tennessee. He owned land on Lick Creek, Penson Creek and the Nolichucky River in Washington County.

Mrs. B. O. Hanby, historian at Mount Vernon, gave this version of the murder which was told to her by the Burlison descendants.

Aaron had had a dream that he would be killed by Indians. A few days after this dream he was returning home with a small son riding behind him on the horse. They were passing beside a tall, thick canebrake when Aaron saw Indians lurking in the woods. Aaron was sure the little boy had not been seen. He whispered to the boy to hide in the canebrake; that Indians were nearby, and slid the child to the ground beside the canebrake. The Indians shot and killed Aaron, but they were afraid to come near the body. Aaron had a trick of playing dead; then, when the Indian came near enough to scalp him, he would spring up and slay the Indian. Aaron was not scalped and the child escaped. This may have been the eldest son Moses, about nine years old.

After Aaron's death Volley and her mother-in-law Rachel Burlison were two widows with many children who went back to North Carolina. Rachel's husband Aaron II had been killed by Indians only a few years earlier. Some time in the 1790's Volley was in Sumner County, Tennessee, where the Edward Hogans lived. Just what relationship she was to this family is not clear. Was she a sister of Edward's wife Elizabeth Hendricks, or was she Edward's sister?

Children of Volley and Aaron Burlison III were:

1. Moses, born in 1775, in Warren County, Tennessee; married 9th March 1805, in Warren County, Kentucky, to Delilah Hogan, daughter of Edward Hogan of Sumner County, Tennessee. Moses died in 1828.

2. Aaron Burlison IV, born in Tennessee; married Elizabeth Hampton in Warren County, Kentucky. Lived near his mother in Mount Vernon, Indiana.

3. John Burlison, born 1780, in Tennessee; married Milly Hendricks on September 4, 1805, in Warren County, Kentucky; buried at West Franklin, Posey County.

4. Rachel Burlison, born in 1784, in Greene County, Tennessee; married Samuel Gill 9th of June 1804, in Warren County, Kentucky; died in Posey County, Indiana, on February 18, 1848.

5. Adam Burlison—went out to Texas.

The above marriage dates are at the Warren County Courthouse at Bowling Green, Kentucky. The names and other information were furnished by the Burlison historian, Dr. Francis Woody Werking of Evansville, Indiana.

Adam and one other son went to Texas, but historians do not agree on which other one went.

These Burlison children were Andrew's stepchildren and he was guardian for the three younger ones. In 1799 and 1800 Andrew was appointed attorney for young John Burlison to sell three pieces of land on Big Lick Creek on the west side of the Nolichucky River in East Tennessee. John had inherited the land from his father, Aaron.

At the time of her marriage to Andrew in 1799, Volley had reared her own five Burlison children. Then she became stepmother to Andrew's little ones. Andrew Jr., born about 1794; Hannah born in 1797; both of these born in Kentucky; and Raleigh (Rolly) born in 1798 in Tennessee shortly before his mother's death. Then Volley had three McFadin sons: James; Samuel; and Alexander, all three born before the family left Kentucky in 1806.

Indian troubles had steadily grown worse as settlers continued to come into these western lands. In 1798, Governor James Garrard called out the Kentucky Militia. On 8 February, 1798 he appointed Andrew McFadin Major of the 25th Warren County Regiment. (G. Glenn Cliff, The Cornstalk Militia of Kentucky, 1792-1811.)

Lewis Collins in his History of Kentucky states that there is no doubt that Daniel Boone passed through Allen County, following down the river as far as McFadin's Station. Tradition states that after the McFadins moved across the Ohio River, Daniel Boone visited them there; also that Andrew made a trip out to Missouri to see his old friend. A "very old" document was found in the Warren County Courthouse at Bowling Green, Kentucky. It is a list of names of men living in that community who were to work on the road from Henry Cammel's to Andrew McFadin's. The date is not given, but it would be before or about 1800. These men were Andrew's neighbors.

Levy Compton Henry Cammel
1 Negro Peter Burkals
Robert Strader Wm. Steward
1 Negro John Nelser (?)

John Strader Peter Boucher
Samuel Strader Obed Boucher
Joshua Jourdan Joseph Leet
Thomas Coleman Abraham Devol Howard
Stephen Richey John Howard

Henry Howard John Burleson
Samuel Hays Andrew Hampton
Wm. Hays Richard Glover
Henry Thomas Dorrett White
Wm. Long Peter Boucher
Andrew McFadin Lewis (?) Compton

Elias McFadin

Sometime in the late 1790's Andrew, Sr., and his older brother William, on hunting trips across the Ohio River, found the high bluff on the north bank of the river and planned to move their families north to this new land as soon as it was safe to do so. However, at that time all the territory north of the Ohio was Indian Country. But in 1803 the United States opened this Northwest Territory to settlement. People could then buy the land, get it surveyed, and legally own it. (W. P. Leonard, History and Directory of Posey County, 1882, pp. 54, 55.)

During the winter of 1805-'06 Andrew and William lived on the Bluff, and with the help of others who were there at intervals they built stout cabins in preparation for bringing their families from Kentucky to the new territory in the spring of 1806 (Goodspeed Publishing Co., History of Posey County, Indiana, pp. 357-358, 361-367; and John C. Liffel, editor, History of Posey County, Indiana, pp. 87-90).

Late in the spring of 1806, the families came in wagons, bringing their belongings and livestock. The Ohio River was low and the boats crossed at Diamond Island. General William Henry Harrison and some officers, camped on the north shore of the Ohio, surprised the McFadins by welcoming them ashore. Mrs. B. O. Hanby said that General Harrison, as he handed Mary, William's daughter, ashore, told her she was the first white woman to land in that part of Indiana.

From the earliest days of the settlement at McFadin's Bluff the Indian danger was growing. Murders in outlying farms were becoming more frequent. Yet, in spite of this knowledge, progress was being made in the community.

By 1813 young Squire McFadin, William's son, was operating the first ferryboat to make regular crossing of the Ohio at Diamond Island. It was a small vessel propelled by hand. (W. P. Leonard, p. 56.)

Lumber mills were in great demand. The first ones were operated by water or horse power.

As the year 1811 approached, two Indian brothers, Tecumseh, and the Prophet in despair at the influx of the white people, decided to make a stand and fight. General William Henry Harrison was placed in command of the combined Indiana Militia, the Kentucky Militia, and the United States Troops. On November 7, 1811, this combined force waited, encamped on the Tippecanoe.

The battle began at four o'clock in the morning of November 8, and the Indians were repulsed. The story of the first shot at the Battle of Tippecanoe will be told later, in the chapter on Slim Andy, son of the elder Andrew. Both father and son were present at this battle on November 8, 1811 (General Services Administration, Washington, D.C., War of 1811-1812 records). Andrew, Sr., and son Slim Andy were in Warwick's Company of Infantry, called into the service of the United States, 16th September, 1811 to 19th November, 1811. They were in the Fourth Regiment, Indiana Territory Militia.

In 1812 both Andrew, Sr., and son Slim Andy enlisted from September 11th to November 19th, 1812 as mounted riflemen. They served with Captain Samuel Kennedy's Company, Fourth Regiment of Indiana Militia. (Goodspeed's History of Posey County, Indiana, pp. 98-100.)

After the War of 1812 ended, settlers continued to come into southern Indiana; some came by land but many came by the Ohio River. Crafts on the river were increasing, canoes, river rafts, and flatboats were common. Supplies were brought down the river from the settled parts of the upper Ohio Valley. There was a growing need to sell the produce from the new Territory. Flatboats were taking corn and salt pork down to New Orleans, but only light river craft could come back up the river. In the East steamboats had been tried out; but few, if any people in Posey County, had heard of this new invention of steam power.

Early in 1811, Mr. Roosevelt had had a steamboat, the "New Orleans," built at Pittsburgh. As he took this new steam propelled craft down river he was held up at the falls of the Ohio until the spring floods rose above the falls so that the "New Orleans" could pass over the falls.

Late one night that spring of 1811 near McFadin's Bluff settlers were awakened by a throbbing noise on the river. When they left their houses to see what caused the noise, they were frightened to see a black hulk on the river. Sparks and flames were belching from its smokestack; and the craft was coming down river at an incredible rate of speed. Some of the settlers, fearing bodily harm, fled to the woods. Braver ones watched in astonishment as the spark-shooting craft approached the Bluff, passed by, down river, into the night. (W. P. Leonard, pp. 105, 106.)

This was the first steamboat to go down the Ohio-Mississippi rivers. At New Madrid where the earthquakes had shifted the bed of the Mississippi so that for a time the great river flowed northward, the "New Orleans" ran into trouble. But in time this steam-boiler-powered craft reached its destination in the city of New Orleans.

In 1811, the first flatboat on record, loaded with Posey County produce, made a successful trip to New Orleans. The flatboat was built at McFadin's Bluff and was taken south by William McAdoo that winter during the earthquakes. It carried a cargo of salt pork and corn. (W. P. Leonard, p. 106.)

One wonders if Andrew McFadin, Sr., remembered his merchantile trip to New Orleans in 1783. His seventeen year-old son, Slim Andy, might try shipping when he was a little older.

Andrew, Sr., owned land along the river front as well as up in the small town. This land was where the Nelson House was built later. A cemetery was also on Andrew's land. It was in this cemetery that Andrew McFadin, Sr., was buried shortly before February 26, 1816. Four other people had been buried there (Posey County Court Records, Estate of Andrew McFadin).

Mrs. B. O. Hanby said that Dave McFadin, son of Raleigh (Rolly) and grandson of Andrew, Sr., had told her this. He said that John Gill had taken him (Dave) and shown him Andrew's grave on the north side of the Nelson house. The land had been bought by Nelson after Andrew's death and the hotel built later.

One must bear in mind that after 1816, the name of McFadin's Bluff was changed to Mount Vernon.

In 1934 citizens of Mount Vernon placed a monument near this site. The inscription reads:

"In memory of the McFaddens and Other Pioneer Families, who in 1805 settled McFadden's Bluff, Later Mount Vernon.

"Site of McFadden's Store and Dwelling. Burial Ground a few feet north.

"Posey County Historical Society 1934."

Note by Maude. This is the way McFadden is now spelled in Mount Vernon.)

Mrs. B. O. Hanby who turned over to the writer notes she had made as she conversed with older citizens, had a deep love for the old times and places. Some of those people that she quoted were old when Mrs. Hanby was young. Here is a description of the McFadins. This paper was written almost one hundred years ago:

The McFadin men were fairly tall and sparely built. They had fair skin, blue or gray eyes, and dark brown hair. They were men who could be trusted and all were well-liked in their community. Some of the McFadins were consumptive and Mrs. Hanby thought that was why many of the second generation at Mount Vernon, left the Ohio Valley for a dryer climate.

Looking back over Andrew's long life and considering the uncertainties ahead, one wonders why in his old age he left the settled community at Bowling Green to begin all over again. He helped to establish the Kentucky settlement and also the Indiana one. In his sturdy, hopeful way he helped to carry our nation onward.

After her husband's death in 1816, Volley again was provider and guide to a young family. She had her Burlison children near—at least two of them; also her McFadin stepchildren to help her.

Her last years were spent in Mount Vernon. A grandson, Aaron Burlison, in his late years spoke lovingly of her as gentle and courageous. He said that she was very independent, milking her cow until she reached her ninetieth year. Both the Burlison and McFadin children loved and honored her; in several of their families one will find a Volley a generation or two later.

The writer did not find her name listed in the U.S. Census 1840 for Mount Vernon, Indiana. If she was ninety when she died, her birth year might be near 1750. It is not known where she is buried. One story states at Franklin near one of her sons.

There were three private graveyards where the McFadins were buried. William and Rachel McFadin were buried at Templetons. Slim Andy McFadin and wife Rebecca were buried at Bradley's graveyard.

Other McFadins were buried at the Gill private graveyard. All of these are near Mount Vernon.

Andrew McFadin, Sr., as already stated, is buried in the center of Mount Vernon, near the memorial monument.

Chapter 8

Stephen, Alexander and Margaret,
Younger Children of
John Stephen McFadin

Alexander stated in his application for a Revolutionary War pension on September 10, 1832, that he was born in Maryland, in 1760 (Pension No. S 8-887, Certificate No. 23231, issued December 9, 1833. North Carolina Pension Agency, Bureau of Pensions, Washington, D. C.).

At the beginning of the Revolutionary War he was in his mid-teens, living with his parents at old Fort McFadin in Rutherford County, North Carolina. From June to August 1776, he served under his brother Captain James McFadin, while Colonel William Graham was in command of the troops at Fort McFadin. In August of that year the troops left the Fort to go on the Cherokee expedition under General Rutherford. Alexander remained at the Fort with the reserve troops left to guard against the Torries who were strong in that part of North Carolina.

Alexander stated that he became a minuteman when he was sixteen years old. (Draper Papers, Calendar, "Tennessee and King's Mountain Papers," 2DD136—139; 2DD Vol. 2, p. 70.) Later Colonel Ferguson led a band of Torries and attacked Fort McFadin and destroyed it. Alexander served to 1781 at various times.

On February 22, 1785 he married Mary Twitty, a neighbor girl. One of the Twitty sisters was a heroine when the Torries burned the Fort. In 1790 Federal Census of the United States, Alexander is listed in Morgan District, First Company, Rutherford County; one adult male, one male under sixteen years, three women or girls, and four slaves.

Alexander had several children, but only John was listed as living in Rutherford County in May 1852. This son, John, married Synthia Taylor of Rutherford County on October 14, 1824. (Marriages of Alexander and son John are on record at the Rutherford County Courthouse.)

Alexander owned considerable land. On December 16, 1799, he bought one hundred acres on both sides of Mountain Creek. On December 30, 1806, he bought ten acres on a branch of Maple Creek. At the time of his father's death in 1777, he inherited half of the land, the half on which the Fort stood. After his father's death, when his brothers went west, he bought some of their holdings.

Descendants of Alexander still live on some of his land, the site of the old Fort.

Chapter 9

Andrew McFadin, Jr., (Slim Andy) Son of
Andrew, Sr., and Grandson of
John Stephen McFadin

Andrew, Jr., was given the nickname of "Slim" Andy to distinguish him from his father and also from his cousins named Andrew. If Slim Andy was only seventeen when he accompanied his father and cousin Squire, son of William, to the Battle of Tippecanoe in November 1811, then his birth year was about 1794 and in Kentucky. The United States Census for Posey County, of 1820, and also that of 1830 list him as twenty-six years and thirty-six years respectively.

About the story of Slim Andy's firing the first shot at the Battle of Tippecanoe, that was the first story told to the writer in 1930, when she was in Mount Vernon gathering data about the early McFadins. The story was told again and again. (John C. Leffel, editor of History of Posey County, Indiana, Standard Publishing Co., Chicago, 1913, p. 46.) Leonard also mentions Slim Andy as the one who fired the first shot. (W. P. Leonard in his History and Directory of Posey County, p. 22.) He states: "Slim Andy McFadin made himself famous by firing the first gun at the Battle of Tippecanoe, fought on 8th November 1811."

On the night of the 7th November both armies were encamped near each other on the Tippecanoe. It was Slim Andy's lot to be put on guard duty at the darkest time before morning. This was the most dangerous time for an attack. Suddenly he saw a movement in the dark; he fired his gun, yelled "Indians," and ran into camp. The Battle of Tippecanoe began in confusion but was a victory for the settlers and their army.

Old settlers said that Slim Andy's gun came from England and that he treasured it all his life. His wife, Rebecca, made a linen cover for it where it rested above the fireplace. The couple's nephew, Dave McFadin, said that he saw it last, to remember it, in 1842, but he did not know what became of it after Slim Andy's death in 1847.

Years later, when several Kentuckians claimed the honor of firing that first shot at Tippecanoe, no one iii Posey County would even listen to them because Posey County had both the hero and his gun.

It seems strange that so much was remembered about this episode as being more important than Slim Andy's contribution to the community in helping to develop his grist and lumber mills, and his early shipping of produce to New Orleans.

On December 28, 1816, Slim Andy and his wife Rebecca sold a parcel of land in Posey County to James Moore. Poles were used in the survey of this quarter section of land. Slim Andy and Rebecca Hogan were married sometime late in 1816. There was only one minister at Mount Vernon then, Reverend Samuel Jones, but so far those early records are missing so the exact date and other information are yet to be found. It is possible also that Andrew and Rebecca were married in Tennessee since Rebecca went to Tennessee for the birth of her first son, Andrew Hogan McFadin.

Andy's wife was Rebecca Hogan, but her parentage is not known. She was related to the Edward Hogans of Sumner County, Tennessee. The United States Census of Posey County, Mount Vernon, Indiana, for 1850 and again for 1860, show her age as fifty and sixty years respectively. Her birth year then was 1800. At the time of her marriage in 1816, she was not more than sixteen years old, and Slim Andy was about twenty-two.

Slim Andy and Rebecca had two sons. The eider son was Andrew Hogan McFadin, born in September 1817 in Tennessee; and Squire McFadin who was listed as an infant in the United States 1820 Census for Posey County. Indiana.

After Andrew, Sr.'s, death in 1816, Slim Andy bought and sold some land in the town and the county. He inherited the land on the north Bluff of the Ohio River where his father had a wharf and a store for supplies for boats on the Ohio River.

By 1820 Andrew bad added a woodyard to his store and wharf. On the Ohio Bluff side his store had three storeys. The lower storey was the store itself that opened onto the wharf with the woodyard near. The two upper storeys were the family's living quarters facing the town.

Through the 1820's and 1830's Andrew bad several partners. The store was known at different times as: Dunn and McFadin; North, Dunn, and McFadin; McFadin and Burlison; and McFadin and Nettleton. (Goodspeed, History of Posey County, Indiana, pp. 361-365.)

About 1819 Slim Andrew built a horse mii in Mount Vernon, and ground four and meal. Dunn and McFadin packed and shipped salt pork, processing as many as six hundred bogs a year.

Barrels and hoop-poles were also manufactured in Mount Vernon. These were necessary for packing produce that was shipped down to New Orleans.

Now and then river pirates that infested the Ohio River would stop at Mount Vernon. This always meant trouble. Once in 1833, a load of these rascals tied up at Slim Andy's wharf and started a fight with the citizens up in the town. The local people opened the building where the hoop-poles were being made, and using these lithe weapons beat the pirates back to their flatboat. The pirates were badly in 1816, she was not more than sixteen years old, and Slim Andy was about twenty-two.

Slim Andy and Rebecca had two sons. The eider son was Andrew Hogan McFadin, born in September 1817 in Tennessee; and Squire McFadin who was listed as an infant in the United States 1820 Census for Posey County. Indiana.

After Andrew, Sr.'s, death in 1816, Slim Andy bought and sold some land in the town and the county. He inherited the land on the north Bluff of the Ohio River where his father bad a wharf and a store for supplies for boats on the Ohio River.

By 1820 Andrew bad added a woodyard to his store and wharf. On the Ohio Bluff side his store bad three storeys. The lower storey was the store itself that opened onto the wharf with the woodyard near. The two upper storeys were the family's living quarters facing the town.

Through the 1820's and 1830's Andrew bad several partners. The store was known at different times as: Dunn and McFadin; North, Dunn, and McFadin; McFadin and Burlison; and McFadin and Nettleton. (Goodspeed, History of Posey County, Indiana, pp. 361-365.)

About 1819 Slim Andrew built a horse mill in Mount Vernon, and ground flour and meal. Dunn and McFadin packed and shipped salt pork, processing as many as six hundred bogs a year.

Barrels and hoop-poles were also manufactured in Mount Vernon. These were necessary for packing produce that was shipped down to New Orleans.

Now and then river pirates that infested the Ohio River would stop at Mount Vernon. This always meant trouble. Once in 1833, a load of these rascals tied up at Slim Andy's wharf and started a fight with the citizens up in the town. The local people opened the building where the hoop-poles were being made, and using these little weapons beat the pirates back to their flatboat. The pirates were badly beaten up. The story of how Posey County men had driven the pirates away, spread up and down the Ohio River until many people really believed that there was a "Hoop-pole Township," Posey County, Indiana. (W. P. Leonard pp. 53, 54.)

In the 1830's Slim Andy McFadin with Darius North and Virgil Soaper built the first steam sawmill in the County. This four-storey milI bad three kinds of burrs and by changing the burrs the mill could saw wood, grind grist, and the third burr was used in making whiskey. The building burned down and was rebuilt three times, but Slim Andy was not a partner after the first fire. W. P. Leonard stated that when the mill was working at full capacity, it could produce thirteen hundred gallons of whiskey per day. (W. P. Leonard, p. III.)

As business increased in Mount Vernon, Slim Andy left the boating to others. As many as fifteen flatboats were tied up at his wharf while some steamboats were waiting out on the river. These boats would be unloading or loading produce. In addition to this, the steamboats would be taking on wood to fire their engines.

In 1846 Andrew began building the big three-storey brick store up in the town; however, he continued the store at the wharf. The new store was not quite finished at the time of Andrew's death in July of 1847. His heirs were: Rebecca, his wife; Andrew Hogan McFadin, his elder son; and Squire, the second son who was in the process of moving to White County, Illinois.

Slim Andy was buried at the Bradley Private Cemetery near Mount Vernon. Hannah McFadin Bradley was his sister; both were children of Andrew Sr.'s, first marriage.

That summer of 1847, Squire sold his part of the inheritance to Slim Andy, and Squire and his wife Parthenia (Kearns) moved out to White County, Illinois. Squire and Parthenia bad been married at Mount Vernon, on September 11, 1839. They lived in White County for several years; but so far, no later record bas been found of this family.

Andrew Hogan finished the building of the new store, then be began building the large brick house at the corner of Store Street and Second Street.

After the house was finished something went wrong. Tradition in the family tells it this way. Andrew Hogan signed a note for a "friend." This note was sold to The Channel Bank and Trust Company of New Orleans. No record of the transaction has been found. The only debt was less than fifteen hundred dollars. This note was given in 1850 on lots in Mount Vernon. On January 16, 1854 the lots sold for $2,350.00 to satisfy the debt (File Box 127; Deed Vol. "T", p. 306; Posey County Courthouse). On August 16, 1847, Andrew Hogan McFadin was appointed administrator of Slim Andy's estate (Pro. O. B. "F", p. 458, Posey County Courthouse).

Before Andrew Hogan left Mount Vernon to come to Kansas, he turned over to his mother Rebecca all his property in and around Mount Vernon. A trusted friend and his son, Aaron Williams and Asa Williams, bankers in Mount Vernon, were chosen to look after Rebecca McFadin's property. Rebecca was living in the new brick house and she bad the income from the store building; also she owned other property in and around Mount Vernon.

Between the years 1855 when her son left Mount Vernon and Rebecca's death on February 3, 1873, she bad lost ail her property except the little house she lived in when she died. Researchers have been unable to find any transfer of property. With no records all one can do is ask the question: What became of the records for they were taken long ago?, also why and to whom did Rebecca lose all her property?

Slim Andy and his wife Rebecca were affectionately known at Mount Vernon as Uncle Andy and Aunt Becky. They had many nieces and nephews in the town and the surrounding country; it seems everyone referred to them by the familiar titles.

After Andrew's death and the building of the new house, Rebecca still lived in her old house on the Bluff until Andrew Hogan McFadin left for Kansas. Then she occupied the new brick house until she was "put out." This was before the Civil War began, because she was again at the Bluff house when General Morgan made his raid into Indiana. When the banks of the River began crumbling she was persuaded to sell and buy a small house up in the town.

On February 3, 1873, she was found dead in her bed with her Bible on her breast.

The writer is indebted again to Mrs. B. O. Hanby who was a young girl in 1899 and wrote down the description given to her of Aunt Becky by Mrs. Ella Ware Chamberlaine. Mrs. Chamberlaine, an elderly woman in 1899, in her youth had known Aunt Becky. Mrs. Chamberlaine's description is as follows:

Becky was small, plump, fine skinned, with dark eyes, a good nose, and gray hair. She wore fine lace caps. She wore white dresses in the summer to the day of her death; and in the winter silk or fine wool. As she grew older ail her dresses were made over the same pattern, the bodice tight fitted in the back, but full in the front with bands of ribbon across to hold in the fullness. She wore white neckerchiefs, trimmed like her cap with thread lace. She was a happy person and always reading her Bible when alone. She was delicate in speech and actions, reared well, a Kentucky girl not trained to work. She knew so little about business that after her son left Mount Vernon, she was cheated into signing papers that caused her to lose her property. Julia Bean, a forty-second cousin on the Hogan side, inherited her few belongings. She had once owned a full set of table silver and two grandfather docks. Once she tried to dry something inside the house on a snowy day. She tied a rope from the top of one dock to the top of the other. The weight of the wet wash pulled both docks over. Aunt Becky never seemed old. She grew a little careless toward the end, often putting her dress on wrong side out and never realizing it.

Aunt Becky was buried by the side of Uncle Andy at the Bradley Private Cemetery.

The story of her son Andrew Hogan McFadin will be continued in Part II, "The McFadins in Kansas"

Younger Children of
Andrew McFadin, Sr.

Hannah McFadin Bradley, Granddaughter of
John Stephen McFadin

Samuel McFadin, Son of Andrew McFadin, Sr., and
Grandson of John Stephen McFadin

Alexander McFadin, Youngest Son of
Andrew McFadin Sr., and Grandson
of John Stephen McFadin

Very little is known of Alexander. He was Volley's youngest child, born in 1804, in Kentucky. He died in Posey County, Indiana, on January 5, 1852. There is no record that he ever married; or if he did marry, his wife died and there were no children. His life was spent in Mount Vernon. He had some wealth as his will showed. He thoughtfully named his brothers and sisters and children of each one. His will is on file at the Posey County Courthouse at Mount Vernon, Indiana.

Andrew Hogan McFadin, Son of
Sum Andy, Grandson of Andrew, Sr.,
and Great Grandson of
John Stephen McFadin

Andrew Hogan McFadin was born in September of 1817, in Tennessee. His parents were in Mount Vernon shortly before his birth and the next summer after his birth so it is possible that they went to Tennessee for the birth of this first child. (U. S. Census of Mount Vernon, Posey County, Indiana, for the years 1850 and 1860; also U. S. Census for Lykins [Miami] County, Wea Twp. in Kansas for 1860.)

Andrew Hogan married Elizabeth Alice Stott in Anderson County, Kentucky, on September 14, 1848. (License and marriage records at the Anderson County Courthouse, Lawrenceburg, Kentucky.) They were married at her own home. Elizabeth had been educated at an academy and became the first woman teacher in Anderson County, Kentucky.

Elizabeth's mother was Mary (Polly) Sampson, daughter of Isaac Sampson, Revolutionary War soldier. Mary was born on December 17, 1790, probably in Kentucky, for after the Revolution Isaac Sampson went into Kentucky where he had land in Madison and Shelby counties.

Isaac Sampson had enlisted in Surry County, North Carolina, in 1778 when he was about eighteen years old. He served in different units during the war. He was captured by the British at Charleston, South Carolina, when General Lincoln was forced to surrender. Isaac escaped from a prison ship and returned to North Carolina where he joined Colonel Lee's Cavalry. He was blinded in one eye at the Battle of Guilford's Courthouse. He was at the surrender of General Cornwallis at Yorktown. (Revolutionary War Record of Isaac Sampson, File N. C. 5 41999; 5 35640; for Kentucky Pension, No. 19405 R. General Services Administration, National Archives, Washington, D. C.)

Isaac Sampson died in Shelly County, Kentucky, on April 24, 1829, as his last pension payment shows.

The writer was astonished to read in his application for his pension in 1824, that he also served in the War of 1812. He stated that he had fought in the last war with England (1812), that he went with the Kentucky men, "volunteered with General McArthur and went on the campaign in upper Canada." (See Document No. 19405, R above.)

George Stott, Elizabeth's father was born on May 24, 1788 (McMurtry Family Bible, certified copy in the writer's possession). The place of his birth is not known, neither is his parentage. He was related to the Raleigh Stott family. When in 1812, George Stott sold his land on Salt River, Raleigh's widow, Lucy, and all her children bought George's land. Raleigh's will, if he had one, has not been found. George died in 1836 near Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. His daughter, Elizabeth, told her children that their plantation house was so near town that it was easier to walk into town for the mail than to saddle a horse and ride in. George's will is at the Anderson County Courthouse. In this will he named his children as follows: Jane; Elizabeth; Mary; America; John; and George. There is no other record of Jane and America; George, Jr., died in 1857. John married and went to St. Joseph, Missouri; Mary married William McMurty of Rockville, Indiana; the McMurty family was from Kentucky.

Elizabeth told her children that her father owned a woolen mill. She wanted to help him so to please her, he often brought home the day's cash for her to count the bills. Once while she had the paper money in her lap, someone opened the outside door and the air rushing in sucked the bills out of her lap and up the chimney right before her eyes. She was only thirteen when her father died.

Elizabeth was twenty-five years old when she married Andrew Hogan McFadin. They went by riverboat up the Ohio River to Cincinnati on their wedding trip, and in Cincinnati they bought the furniture for the new house at Mount Vernon.

Their first child was George Edwin McFadin, born on June 27, 1849, in that same new brick house that Andrew had built for Elizabeth.

When the writer's brother Jack was in Mount Vernon in 1930, he met Mr. John D. Ellis who remembered this child. John D. Ellis was then in his early 90's. Elizabeth hired the young John D. to take the toddler for a walk and the two children wandered down to the Ohio River, fascinated by the water. George promptly fell in. Somehow, the older child got him back on the bank and the two half-drowned little ones went back to face Elizabeth.

Andrew and Elizabeth's second child was John Lunsford, born at Mount Vernon on February 7, 1852. Lunsford was a family name on Elizabeth's side of the family.

Elizabeth's duties increased with her growing family. She had been a serious young girl after her father's death. She was a small young woman later, gentle, and with far too many people to worry about. She had an eager intelligence and a deep sense of loyalty to all her family; and she taught that loyalty to her children. She loved beautiful clothes; but in later life, when hardships in Kansas denied her these pleasures, she never complained. She was always immaculate in her person to the end of her life, and she practiced the little daily courtesies at home.

When the family decided to leave Mount Vernon for Kansas that spring of 1855, they took two covered wagons and only what could be stored in them.

They stopped at Rockville, Indiana, to visit with Elizabeth's sister Mary McMurty and their mother who was then with the McMurtrys. They went on to White County, Illinois, to see Squire and Parthena. They saw Wyatt, son of Jonathan McFadin and grandson of old Samuel McFadin of Kentucky.

The journey westward across Illinois to St. Louis was a tiresome one, but they rested there with Big Jim McFadin, his wife Louiza, the twins, Alonzo, Adelaid, and the boy Alvey. Big Jim McFadin was one of William's sons.

Another of William's sons, John, was living at Lexington, Missouri, and Andrew planned to rest there and learn more about the new Kansas Territory. John, Sr., whose first wife was Lusinda Davis, was a Southern sympathizer. He briefed Andrew about the dangers in Missouri and also in Kansas. He told about the border ruffians and the militant Freesoilers. In fact he insisted that Andrew settle near Lexington. Elizabeth, in her late life, told her children that none of these dangers seemed to deter Andrew in his determination to go on into the new Territory and take up land. She was comforted that Cousin John, Sr., was so concerned about them, and that he rode a whole day's journey westward with them when they left for Kansas. His last words, "Now, Andy, if things get too bad and the Freesoilers drive you out, come back to me." The words came true only too soon.

The family crossed the Missouri River at Westport Landing and took the old Fort Scot Military Road south. This is one of the oldest roads in Kansas and lies about two miles west of the Kansas-Missouri border.

One day at noon they left this road, crossed a low ridge on the west and found themselves on a beautiful plateau, facing west. At the western edge of this wooded meadow they found a spring of cold water that flowed over a rocky ledge and down the escarpment to a small creek. They decided to eat their noon meal there, and rest the horses under the trees.

Years later Elizabeth told George's wife, Bertha, how she loved the view from the plateau—westward was the open woodland and the hills in the distance. She asked Andrew if they could "just take this piece of land," but Andrew was of the opinion that they were on the Wea Indian Reservation. Reluctantly, they left the plateau and set out southwest toward Paola.

The next twenty years can best be told by Andrew's eldest son, George Edwin McFadin who lived through those stirring times.

My father was Andrew McFadin III who also carried the middle name of Hogan, and my mother was Elizabeth Alice (Stott) McFadin. We came from Mount Vernon Indiana, in two wagons and the journey began very early in 1855. I remember in crossing the Mississippi River, during the fording, we forgot my little dog, and we could see him running up and down the eastern river bank. Then we saw the little dog plunge into the muddy river, and helplessly we watched him fight the current, only to be sucked under. We stopped in Saint Louis for a visit with Big Jim McFadin, we stopped at Lexington, Missouri, with ow cousin John McFadin, Sr., the one who was murdered in 1862 because he flew the Stars and Bars from his housetop It was late summer before our family settled on a homestead four miles west of Paola, Kansas in Lykins Count) (Miami), then in Kansas Territory. I was only six and too young, to remember important happenings; however. I was an eyewitness to most of the statements that I shall make.

Since we had arrived in Kansas too late in the season to raise a crop, our stock had to winter on dry grass and late green vegetation in the nearby timber. My father's first job was to build a house of logs on his claim, a shed for the stock, and to dig a well. The life was lonely especially for my mother who was a Kentucky girl and had been used to nice things; but she kept busy with my little brother John and me and the many sorrowful makeshifts that she was forced to resort to on our isolated claim.

As fall came on and the weather got colder, the cows often did not come home until someone went for them. When Father went for them, he always carried his gun, for in those early times there were wild animals along the runs and watercourses. One evening, just before dusk, Father started after the cows down to the timber a half mile north of the cabin, and it was on this one evening that he did not carry his gun. He found the cows and had started them on their homeward way when suddenly he heard a rustling in the tree overhead. Before he could do anything, a panther dropped to the ground in front of him. The beast stood there swinging its tail, its head half turned, snarling or whining as if it were of two minds. Then when Father thought that he could stand the strain no longer, the panther turned and walked away into the timber.

During the late winter and the spring (1855-1856) there was great activity in the new Kansas Territory. Many of the incoming settlers had exhausted their means in just getting to the Territory and it would be months before they could raise a crop and many were destitute. Father helped such settlers near us as much as he could, but he needed his own limited funds to establish himself. As spring came on and the trouble along the Kansas-Missouri border got worse, many of these people who had spent their all in finding claims were frightened away. In late winter Father, too, ran out of supplies. Something had to be done and that quick. Our neighbor, Mr. Ackerly, offered to go for supplies for he, too was in dire need. So with the last money that Father could spare, Mr. Ackerly took our team of oxen and drove away. He had to go some distance and was detained by a late and severe blizzard so that it was a week before he returned. The poor man had risked his life in returning for his feet were frozen. Father did not bring Mr. Ackerly into the house at first. He wrapped him in blankets and put him in a sheltered place. He hurriedly got a pint of hog lard and heated it, then poured it into a hole in the ice to harden it. While this was in preparation Father put Mr. Ackerly's feet in a tub filled with fresh well water until the frost came out onto the surface of his feet in scales of ice. After his feet were thawed, Father thoroughly greased them with the cold hog lard. He did this twice daily and the feet immediately improved. They were well before the month was out.

In September of 1855, the year in which we came to the Territory, my father was commissioned Coroner of Lykins County, and about this time, if I recall correctly, the Territorial governor sent Father and two other men down into the southern part of the Territory to see about some Indian troubles. Then in March 1858 Father was supervisor for the election in Lykins County. I remember in 1855 how Mother and we two little boys remained alone while Father was looking into the Indian troubles.

Note: by Maude McFadin
A. H. McFadin, commissioned by Governor Wilson Shannon on September 21, 1855, as Coroner of Lykins (Miami) County, Territory of Kansas.

On September 23, 1855. Andrew H. McFadin, commissioned Probate Judge of Lykins County; he held this office until late summer of 1858, when he moved to his new land in Wea Township. In the early days of Lykins County, the county government was run by the Probate Judge and two County Commissioners.

On May 18, 1858, A. H. McFadin and Allen Ward were supervisors of the election (Kansas Historical Collection, Vol. 3, p. 286; Vol. 4, pp. 555, 635, 743; Vol. 5, p. 492)

Dangers in the eastern counties of Kansas Territory were great in 1856 on. Two officials of Anderson County rode to Paola for help in 1857. A letter to Brigadier General P. F. Smith, Commandant of the West at Fort Leavenworth was written by the two Anderson County officials and sent by swift rider to Leavenworth. Excerpts from the letter, written at Paola and dated March 19, 1857, follow:
"the disturbed state of the county and the insurrectionary spirit . . . render it impossible to take the census . . . men are in extreme peril of their lives . . . . The lawless bands of murderers that infest the country are a terror. Intense excitement prevails on account of the murder of Henry Sherman. There is no security of life or property.

Signed:
Thomas Totten, Clerk of Anderson
County Court.
George Wilson, Probate Judge of
Anderson County Territory
of Kansas.
Notarized, March 20, 1857
A. H. McFadin, Judge of Probate Court, Lykins County. Kansas
Territory."

In the spring of 1856 we had survived our first winter in Kansas and Father was beginning to break sod that spring for our crops, but this growing trouble along the Border was driving more and more people away from their claims. There were murders to the south of us. The situation had at last grown so bad that Father felt that the family was no longer safe, so he loaded the wagons with part of our household goods; then with teams, wagons, and livestock we left for Lexington, Missouri. We remained there with Cousin John McFadin until the worst of the excitement had died down. When we returned to the Territory in September of 1856 and went back to our claim west of Paola, everything there was gone. The house and all improvements had been carried away; nothing remained but the well and a patch of sod that was rank with reeds. There we were in the new country with nothing but the teams and wagons and some household articles. Father then turned back to Paola.

In those days Paola was a very small town. Father managed a hotel on the Square and ran that for a time bu without much success. He had been trained neither for hotel business nor for farming. His father, one of the found ers of Mount Vernon, Indiana, had been a merchant a had also been his grandfather. But Father liked a farm anc wanted one.

My maternal grandmother came out to Kansas about this time and died at Paola soon after. She was Mrs. Mar) Stott, wife of George Stott of Frankfort, Kentucky. Grand mother Stott is buried in the Miami Indian Cemetery about one mile east of Paola. She died in 1857 at the age of sixty. nine. This cemetery is also called Baptiste Peora's or Battice Burying-ground, named for the Indian chief. In late! years I went to this cemetery often with my mother. Many of the early settlers were buried there with the Indians.

In 1858 the Indian land sales began. These lands were owned by the Indians themselves, and when the tribe decided to move farther south, they sold to the incoming settlers. At this same time some government land was also opened for sale. Father helped locate incoming settlers and prospered on commissions on sales. He made enough to buy the quarter section of land about twenty miles south of Kansas City and northeast of Paola where they had camped on the way to Paola. It was the southeast quarter of Section 22, Township 15, Range 25 in what is now the northeast corner of Miami County. Later he owned other land. People were coming into Kansas Territory from all over the nation; most of them were looking for homes and peace, but some were bent on trouble. There was constant movement in the little town of Paola. I was old enough then to be interested in what I saw.

I well remember how we little boys of about eight liked to watch and spot drunken Indians. We would follow them and wait while they slept off their debauch. Then the Indian would wake and stumble away and we boys would hunt around where he was lying for coins that had dropped from the Indian's clothing. We generally found some coins, sometimes some of value, and it was growing into a profitable business when my mother learned of it and put a stop to the whole thing. Thinking back, I am often amused because Mother did not know what disposition to make of the tainted money, so she gave it to the church.

I recall the front room of the hotel there in Paola, and I distinctly remember one night when this room was lit up from the glow of the fireplace. Our guests were seated around the room talking when someone mentioned that a newly married couple were staying at the hotel. The young men began hunting for them and found that the couple had been sitting there in the room all the time. Then the young people began an old fashioned charivari with ringing of bells, pounding on floors and walls until it seemed that the house would come down. But the groom was not to be persuaded easily; the boys had to fire off a gun under his chair before he would buy the cigars and candy.

As I have stated before, Father wanted to be a farmer and he was eager to get out onto the new land that he had bought; but he waited until he had enough money for improvements for you must remember that he had used up what money he had brought into the Territory. The house that he built on the new farm in 1858 or possibly '59 had but two rooms and built of native lumber that he bought from a man named Ellis. Father had to haul this lumber ten miles, quite a distance even in those days. This first house was cold in winter. That summer after Father moved the family out to the farm, he began building an addition of a larger and warmer room. It had double walls, the space between walls filled with sawdust. That made a fine room, warm in winters and cool in the hottest summers.

All of our crop land had to be broken, and for this sod breaking Father used oxen. We had no fences at first; later we built some rock fences and stake and rider fences of wood. Wire did not come until after the seventies or eighties. Our farm was beautiful, open woodland sloping toward the Little Grand River. There were many springs on our land and some really fine woodland. Father's croplands lay not far from the house so that we boys could see that stock did not get in and destroy the crops. This was the plateau where my parents had rested at noon that day on their first journey to Paola in 1855.

I well remember one time when my brother John and I, still little fellows, went to the timber about two miles away across the line into Missouri. We were to bring back a load of wood that Father had already cut into lengths short enough for us to handle. For some reason John tried to cut down a sapling which flew back and struck the boy right in the mouth knocking out a front tooth. Another time we went for a load of wood with the oxen. When we had the load of wood nicely on the wagon and were ready to start back home, the oxen's yoke broke. There we were far from home in the timber at dusk and those oxen pulled apart. What to do! John and I skinned a sapling and found the bark tough and pliable enough to mend the yoke and so got home.

John was two and a half years younger than I, but we two learned to plow. He would drive the team and I would more or less hold the plow handles so that the plow would stay in the ground, while Father followed us and did the planting. This planting called for skill. Corn, beans, melons, pumpkins and such like seeds were planted with a spade. Father would swing the spade forward, set the blade lightly in the freshly turned sod and make a shallow cut. He would then press the handle forward leaving a small gash in the soil into which he tossed a few seeds; then he withdrew the spade and stepped on the hill. He could plant a row at a slow walk, following us down the field. When seed was scattered broadcast the plowed sod had to be broken up and that was seldom tried the first year. As our seed beds became mellower and better plowed, we planted wheat and oats, millet and the canes.

During the years of 1859-1860 we in Kansas experienced the worst drouth that I've ever known. For nearly two years little or no rain fell until the country was practically dried up. Native grasses just cured on the stem, but they held substantial nourishment for our stock and the wild things. It was hardest on our horses for we had no grain for them during the plowing. When our corn came up, it withered and what corn there was, was only nubbins. We began eating it while it was in the milk stage as roasting ears. When it grew too hard for that, we grated the kernels for spoon bread. In its hard stage the corn could of course be ground into meal for corn bread. Our wheat crop failed entirely and before we raised another crop we got mighty hungry for biscuits and white bread. We had a sugarcane crop that year, somewhat scanty but enough for our needs. As for meat we had wild game and plenty of it. I have noticed this often, that a drouth will seal into the plant all its food; and creatures, during a drouth, will pasture on these cured grasses and grow fat. Our hogs that year were mostly bacon. As for coffee, that was a treat for the older folks when they could get it. Father made ours. He parched rye grains and pounded them up for coffee. He made it that way during the Civil War when coffee was not to bc had at any price. We used the bark of sassafras and also the clean white chips from our native sycamore trees to make a good tea, and good tea it was too.

Mother did our cooking at the fireplace, an unusually large one in our big kitchen which was a dining room and a living room. Mother had a Dutch oven and several three-legged iron pots as everyone else had. When we went to Kansas City, and such trips were rare, we would see the new stoves that were then coming into use. Back home again we would plan for the big house that we would some day build for Mother there on the plateau. Even during the early years of the Civil War Father would, in his spare time, haul in limestone from our place for the house, but that part of the story came later.

As I have already told you, we had an abundance of springs on our place. The one just southwest of the house poured a large stream of cold, sweet water into a little basin, and the spillway water escaped over the escarpment into the draw. Even during the worst of the drouths that spring never failed. Late in 1859 Father built a stone milkhouse over the spring. There is a square island made of flagstones in the middle of the milkhouse and all around the flagstone is a deep stone-paved moat into which the spring water falls from the east side, circulates, and escapes through a spillway on the west side. A heavy door on the north keeps out the afternoon heat, and there are no windows. Mother used to keep crocks and jars of milk and cream and other dairy food in the water. The east sidle of the moat is shallower than the west moat to accommodate different sized containers. Once in awhile we boys were set to work to clean the milkhouse and keep it sweet with wood ashes and lime. Even today nearly seventy years later, they tell me that that milkhouse is still in use.

I well remember the first money crop that Father had from his land. It might have been in 1861, I am not sure. He had planted a field of melons down near the draw in a likely place for a good crop, and he had raised some splendid watermelons for the Fourth of July market in Kansas City. We loaded our melons and drove up at night to save ourselves, our team, and the melons from the heat. Now I must have been eleven or twelve years old, but this was the first city visit that I could remember. Father drove the first wagon and I the other. I am not sure how the accident happened. We were right down in the heart of Kansas City and I was all eyes at the strange sights, when suddenly two splendid horses and an elegant carriage dashed around the corner and right toward me. In my excitement I evidently pulled the reins of my team and hooked the wheel of my wagon quite neatly inside a wheel of the beautiful carriage. It took my father, the driver of the carriage, and some bystanders to untangle the wheels. I am afraid thai the repairs that Father paid for cut down the profits of that trip.

There were later trips to Kansas City. Father put up much hay and we hauled that to market in Kansas City and in the hot weather we drove in during the night. I'll never forget one beautiful moonlit night when we took hay to the city. We were using oxen on that trip, and since the pace was slow, I had time to enjoy the beautiful wooded parkland through which we were passing on our way north. I do recall that the hay brought us three dollars and fifty cents a tons and that was a good price for that time.

Our neighbors out there at Aubrey were few and far apart at first, but gradually the country settled up. South of Paola in 1855 as I have already related, we knew Mr. Ackerly. In Paola I recall Mr. Michener, a dry goods merchant. We knew the Indian Baptiste Peoria, generally called Batisse. My father also knew Ben Simpson who was, I think, at that time County Attorney. At Aubrey we knew Mr. Albin and family four miles west of us, and also the Wicklines. To the east of us in Missouri were: Mr. Butts, Mr. Easterbrook, Mr. Williams, and the four families of the Andersons. These families were all good people.

Roads were poor in those early days; generally trails led straight across country or followed Indian paths. Many of those early roads have been abandoned, but one can still see the faint trails unless, of course, the land has been plowed. Our buildings were placed on the plateau above the spring. Our farm was in the extreme northeast corner of Miami County, just across the line from Johnson County and two miles west of the Kansas-Missouri boundary line. The only laid-out road at first near us was the old Fort Scott Military road that ran south just east of the ridge. Years later when the country settled up and road lines ran geometrically true, some of those old farm houses like our found themselves sitting far back from the roads. Many time in those first years I have seen the Indians going across the country, single file, following their own trails.

Like many another pioneer woman my mother was un commonly skillful in treating the sick, and so she was called upon many times to go and tend a neighbor. She kept small bag ready at all times for such calls. She had in it scissors and thread, splints, oil, and such remedies as she knew, and clean linen cloths. She always saved old whit pieces of linen cloth, carefully washed, and ironed with a very hot iron. I can see her yet as she rode away on her horse, her little figure erect in the saddle as she set off for the sick neighbor. Once when Father was gone and she could not catch up a horse, she walked four miles to help out a neighbor. It was while she was on one of these missions that our terrible tragedy came to us. But that came later.

Father had no help on his farm, other than my brother John and me. There was no other help to be had out there on the frontier; everyone was trying to do the best he could for himself and land was cheap. We had no slaves. My father's family had originally come to Indiana from Kentucky, but they had been in Mount Vernon since they established the place in 1805 and so were out of touch with slavery. My mother's parents who had lived in Anderson County, Kentucky, had owned slaves. It was a strange situation; both of my parents were against slavery and loyal to the Union; and yet, they were yearning for the ways and manner of thought of the South. And all this in a new and raw country where few of the gentler ways seemed to count. I speak of this now because we brought not one slave into Kansas; and while Father got along fine with all of his neighbors, still he was considered by some as sympathetic to the South. At heart he was I think, but not as far as Secession; the Union came first. When the Civil War came on we suffered as much from the South as we did from the North.

By the opening of the War Father was raising crops of many kinds and trying out others. He experimented with cotton and did fairly well, but Kansas was too far north for success. We had our own sheep for wool, and we raised flax for our linen.

Father had our shoes made for us. While we boys were little he braided our straw hats for summer, and Mother made us woolen caps for winter. Mother was very particular that we were neatly clothed.

When the Civil War broke out in the spring of 1861, times were terribly hard here in Kansas. It seemed as if men of evil disposition took wartime for an excuse to carry out evil deeds. The soldiers of both the regular Union Army and of the Confederate Army were not so bad, but there were men on both sides of the Kansas-Missouri Border who were bad. For example there were Quantril and the James Boys over in Missouri and Jennisen's men and Cody's men in Kansas.

One evening after dark while we were milking, my father said to me, "Listen." We heard men talking and horses galloping. My father said, "You take the milk bucket and hide in this old goods box," which I did. He went to the cornfield and hid. The men entered the milking shed and as the men passed me, I heard one man say, "We will get him this time." Then they went on to the house and said to my mother: "Where is McFadin?" My mother said, "He is not at home; I don't know where he is." And she didn't; she knew only that he had got away. Then the men cursed and abused my father for awhile, and made Mother give them something to eat, after which they went away.

This being war times we had other troubles from ruffians. One day some time after this some of Jennisen's men came to our house in broad daylight and took the only good team of horses that we had.

The weather was so dry that we did not raise a very good crop that year of 1861, and although we suffered other hardships, we did not starve or freeze.

Along about the year 1862 the excitement got so high that it seemed it could not get any higher. One morning about nine or ten o'clock, while my father and I were at work in the yard at an ash hopper, all at once a group of mounted men rode over the Ridge and would have ridden us down, but stopped and the leader said, "Why didn't you run?" My father said that he didn't see anything to run from, but the leader asked, "Don't you know we are Jennisen's men?" Father said, "No, I did not know that you are Jennisen's men." Then they swore and blustered around for awhile, and made my mother get them something to eat, and rode away. But after they left that morning, we learned from one of our neighbors that these same men had been over at their place and had killed a man. Before they killed him, they made him dig his own grave, kneel down on the edge of it, and they shot him, and he fell over into it while his family stood by and witnessed the horrible crime. It seemed that my father was not to die in that way for he had got by with his life once more.

Before I forget it I will say that although the soldiers in the Union Army were well fed by the Government, they got tired of army food and often came to our house and had my mother cook them an old-fashioned meal such as they were used to at home, but they always paid her for it. We had many drawbacks, and some interesting times, and some fun too.

In 1861, in the fall I think, the greatest trouble of our lives came to us when our little sister Mary was burned to death in the big fireplace. It came about in this way. Early that morning my father, John, and I went to work on a fence that he was building. It must have been Saturday and no school so we intended to be gone until noon. Mother was at the house with Charles and two-year old Mary. Sometime in late morning a neighbor came for Mother to come at once to help his sick wife. There was no time to ride out and get Father and us boys, and besides it was so near noon that we would be back at the house very shortly. Mother told Charles what to tell Father, and taking her little bag she left at once with the neighbor. It was in that little time before noon that the accident happened. The first we knew that anything was wrong was when we saw Charles running toward us across the plateau. He told us, as soon as we ran to him, that Mother was gone and Sister was hurt.

When we ran into the house, Mary lay in front of the fireplace with her clothing still burning. When Father lifted the little unconscious child, her flesh came off in his hands. She stopped moaning very soon, but she lived for several hours. As she died I thought the grief would kill my father. Father had had John ride immediately for Mother while he and I did what we could for our baby, but he could not save her life. No doctor was nearer than Paola, too far away to take the child. That was a terrible day. The next day we with the help of our neighbors buried Mary in the center of our flower garden. We might have taken her and buried her beside her Grandmother Stott in the old Indian burying ground at Paola, but it was so far away, and Father could not bear the thought of Mary away from us. Father himself made the little coffin from walnut logs that he was curing for woodwork and floors when we should build the new house. Mother lined the box with parts from a pretty dress that she had worn when she was a young woman. We were all so stunned by the terrible death of our only sister that I can scarcely remember details of those sad days. Mother never really got over Mary's death although she welcomed on June 7, 1863 her second daughter, Fanny America.

And through our sorrow as I remember, the war dragged wearily on. Of course many of these happenings might have faded from my memory had not the family spoken about them as the years passed on. But I must tell you about two raids that we experienced; Quantril's in 1863 and Price's in 1864.

On that afternoon of August 20, 1863 Quantril just missed our house when he led his forces in from Missouri across our farm and east of the ridge. As I have told you, our first quarter on which we built our house was the southeast quarter of section 22, township 15, range 25 in old Lykins, now called Miami County. Late the next day and during the next night Quantril's band rode back to Missouri through our farm at exactly the same spot where the band had entered Kansas twenty-four hours earlier. For reasons I do not remember we had been uneasy for several weeks about raiders. Whether it was rumor of this band or some other I do not recall, but Father was at the house that late August afternoon. How he alone could have protected us I do not know for Quantril had about eight hundred men.

The weather was hot and the air still so that we heard the thunder of hundreds of cavalry long before they passed on the east side of the ridge. The band came in from the northeast riding toward Paola toward the southwest. We did not see the band until they were far away to the southwest and then we could not tell whether they were Union Cavalry, Confederates, or Border raiders. At Aubrey near us there was a small detachment of Federal Troops under Captain Pike whom we knew, but there were not more than twenty men. After the mounted men had passed, Father rode after them for a short way, but he could learn nothing, but he estimated that nearly a thousand were in the band. At home we did not burn any candles that night, and Father sat up with his gun loaded. Later we were to learn that toward evening Quantril swung his guerrillas straight north and reached Lawrence, Kansas, just at dawn. He sacked the town and turned his band southeastward.

Late that night of the twenty-first of August the raiders came back across our place, again missing the house, and reentered Missouri at the spot where they had left it. No one molested us for they did not know our little house was there. It was several days later before we learned of the destruction of Lawrence. A morning or so after Quantril entered Kansas Mother, Father, and I went up through the orchard to the ridge to see the trail left by the mounted men. Mr. Ben Simpson from Paola came riding across the prairie to talk to Father, and it was he who told Father that he did not think they were regulars but a powerful force of raiders. He said that the trail went nearly to Paola, and he was puzzled why the force turned north and where they had gone. None of us knew then about Lawrence.

After this raid the state of Kansas was up in arms and so we had