Remembrance - William and Mary Hill - Non Relatives

I found a site that contains some old Love Letters from 1854 to 1862 of a couple who met, fell in love through writing to one another, married and had children. During the times they were apart because of duty and necessity, they wrote to one another.

I was very touched and moved by these letters and not only do I want to be able to refer to them and point others to them, but believe they serve as a testament to true love and how it never fails to touch and move our hearts.

The link to these love letters of William Hill and wife Mary (Carnes) Hill is HERE.

There are over 50 letters written back and forth between these two people, who are not my relatives, but I believe they should be read by as many people as possible who are interested in live and love during that period of time in our history.

They met in 1850 where they were both students at Burritt College in Spencer, Tennessee. After completing the course, William moved away to find work, and began writing Mary expressing interest and eventually love for her. She was cautious at first, having formed an impression of William that proved to be inaccurate and she soon found herself falling for him. They were married 22 July 1854 and Mary moved away from her parents, extended family and home she had known, to where William was working and made their new home there in Sparta, TN. Mary had been teaching at the college where her father was President, after she finished her courses there during her courtship with William.

I think it's very interesting to read about this obviously well-educated family and couple, (read the letters if you think they didn't have a great education!), because I think it is thought by a lot of us that many people during that time period were uneducated. There are plenty of our own relatives who could not read nor write as indicated by the census records, so to read the Love Letters between two highly educated people, and she becoming a teacher and he studying to be a Lawyer is a refreshing change of pace. I know many areas had teachers and educational facilities, but this was, for the most part, not the norm for most of our ancestors. By the way, these families were not well-to-do as indicated by the letters.

William and Mary are buried side by side in the Smyrna Cemetery near Pikeville, Bledsoe County, TN. I found their Memorial Pages on Find A Grave.com, which are completely devoid of the memory of their love and relations. Perhaps I can persuade the owners of the Memorials to include a link to the Love Letters pages because people should be remembered in the best way possible.

Links on Find A Grave:

William Jasper Hill 1827 - 1862 - 34 yrs old

Mary (Carnes) Hill 1827 - 1901 - 74 yrs old

Mary's Mother Elizabeth (Billingsley) Carnes is buried in the same cemetery. In the summer of 1859, Mary went to take care of her Mother who was stricken with cancer, and while I'm sure she was happy to be with her Mother, she expressed deep sadness at watching her slowly waste away before her eyes. Elizabeth's husband, and Mary's Father was William Davis Carnes and was a great educator and ran several colleges during the middle part of the 1800's.

The Love Story of William and Mary has a sad ending as he died of Typhoid Fever before he even served six full months as a Confederate Captain in the Tennessee Army of the Civil War, or should I say the War between the States, as my Southern Cousins ask me to call it. They were married for only a little over 7 years and had six children, the youngest being only 4 months old at the time of William's death.

This husband and wife and family should be remembered as often as possible so I am making this post for their Remembrance and for their relatives, if they should ever find this post.

The letters and posting on the web link is by: Charles Massey, who is a direct descendant of William and Mary Hill.

For My Family

I want to do a series of posts that my family can read about our Ancestors and where we came from. They get tired of me talking about our family, but maybe one day, they might be interested in taking a closer look at . . . The Life and Times of our Ancestors.

I don't want to simply do a run down of the facts only, but provide the stories that make our family's history come alive.

It's interesting to note what country our ancestors came from to settle in America. The list of countries that I have traced so far is listed below, given with the understanding that some of the information has yet to be proved with 100% accuracy - but it's always a work in progress. More and more records and information is becoming available all the time. Also, it must be understood that a lot of very "valuable records" were destroyed for various reasons, but mainly due to fires of the wars held in America - Revolutionary War about 1776 and the Civil War from 1861 to 1865.

British Isles - England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales

The majority of our Immigrant Ancestors are from this area in Europe.

Germany - 
See Link to German Ancestors on this site:
http://doss-strange-mclelland-vaughn.blogspot.com/2010/10/german-relatives.html

First I'll begin with our Doss surname heritage. From that pedigree (family line) alone, we are from a long line of "Virginians". It is thought that our first Doss immigrant may have been John Doss (Jno Dawe) most likely from the southwest portion of England. It is also believe he was probably an indentured servant for years before he married and had 3 known children in Christ Church Parish, Middlesex County, Virginia.  He married Ann Taylor. These are our 6th Great Grandparents and the line ends there. 

Vaughn surname. This name is also spelled Vaughan and the two spellings from the 1600 to 1800's are interchangeable. It has been difficult to prove the parentage of our ancestor Starling Vaughn, born in North Carolina 1814 and died in Arkansas 1878

Doss Family Association

In about 1994, Libbie Griffin began the Doss Family Association for the purpose of sharing information among all Doss descendants.

Nathan Murphy of Kentucky has been especially generous and helpful.

For much of the 1990's she worked tirelessly untangling the Doss genealogy and compiling genealogical information. She spent thousands of hours and thousands of dollars doing original research in all the southern and mid-western states on the various Doss families. I launched the Doss Family Association and for six years published the results of her work in a journal which anyone could obtain by joining the association.

In 2003 the Doss Family Association website was launched.


In regards to the FACTS about Immigrant John Doss - here are the FACTS and RECORDS found to date:

Found Christ Church Parish, Middlesex County, Virginia records:

The Christ Church Parish Register of Middlesex County, Virginia records the marriage of John Doss and Ann Taylor. It also records the births of three of their children: William and Eleanor, twins, and their son Thomas, who we believe was the ancestor of most Dosses in America today.

Incidentally, the Church where John and Ann likely married and
where they probably brought their children to be christened is still in use
today.

Marriage Record: 1679
Children Christenings:


Here is what WE DO NOT KNOW about John doss - as of today:
We have NO RECORD of where in England the immigrant John Doss may have come from.

Many Middlesex County records survive, but he appears in very few of them, indicating to us that he was poor and landless.

Nathan Murphy, AG, (Accredited Genealogist) discovered very early records of people named Doss in the hamlet of Chedzoy, near Bristol, England but to date we've found no absolute proof of a connection. We hope to find it perhaps through the DNA research that Nathan got us into. NO PARENTS of our Immigrant John Doss have been found yet. Any person saying they know this information, is guessing.

Per Nathan:
There is no known record in America that identifies Immigrant John Doss' age.

The 1661 arrival may or may not apply to our John Doss.  It's the only possibility that has been found in headright grants, but not all immigrants appear in surviving headright grants.

Other info found about Immigrant John Doss comes from theories or guesses. There are several possible records for him, but it's really hard to say whether they actually pertain to him.


For further information on Doss DNA Test Results from around the world, please refer to:

The Doss DNA Project: Patriarchs

Doss Families in Bell County, Texas

After traveling in two covered wagons along a rutted road for over two months, most of the Jesse Doss family arrived in Texas. After considering land in Temple, TX they decided to look farther west, and decided on settling in Sparta, Bell County, Texas. While still in Hancock County, Illinois, two of Jesse's sons decided to travel to California, settling in Two Rock and Petaluma, Sonoma County, California. Another son, Washington Doss died at age 21 1852. The eldest daughter, Elizabeth Doss married Luke Cox in Illinois in 1848 and remained in that state with her husband.

Parents of what we believe to be ten children, only 5 children accompanied Jesse and Violet Doss to Texas: Christian "CC" Christopher Doss, about age 17; Mary Ann Doss, about age 12, Harmon "Hiram" Wilson Doss, about age 10; and William Henry Doss, about age 8; and Stateira Doss, age 8 and twin of William. William later died about 10 years later in 1861 at age 17, leaving three children of Jesse and Violet's who lived and raised families in the Sparta, Bell County, Texas area.

Jesse bought 640 acres of land, on both sides of the North Nolan Creek clear up to the Cowhouse Creek. It was land that contained chalky hills and scrub-cedar as well as a fresh water spring that cam to be known as Doss Spring. Through the years a five room house was built with a rock fireplace that was used for cooking.

Mary Ann Doss married first, to Elias A Wilhite. They had 6 children, with 5 of them being born in Tarrant County, Texas, although the 6th one, George Albert was born in Belton, Bell County, Texas in 1871. Mary Ann and Elias both died in Bell County Texas; Elias in 1872 and Mary Ann in 1913. Mary Ann (Doss) Wilhite is buried in the Kileen City Cemetery. Of these children, three are known to have died in Bell County Texas: Joel Erskin Wilhite, died Sept 1872, Mary Elizabeth married Ike Cox and she died in March 1942 in Killeen, Bell County, Texas. George Albert Wilhite married Francis Parmisa Jane Martin in 1895, and he died 24 april 1956 in Belton, Bell County, Texas. George and Francis "Fannie" lived around the area in Bosque County, Coryell county and moved back to Bell County, Texas where they both are buried in Resthaven Cemetery, Belton, bell county, Texas

The next child of Jesse and Violet Doss to marry was Harmon Wilson "Harm/Hiram" Doss born 12 May 1842 in Hancock County, Illinois. He married Sarah E. "Sallie" Halcomb on 10 June 1866 on Dog Ridge, near Sparta, Bell County, Texas. They had 8 known children and Harmon was buried, as were all the family members, in the Sparta Cemetery, Belton, Bell County, Texas, but due to the building of Lake Belton, most of the Doss family graves were moved to the Resthaven Cemetery.

Stateira Doss was born 13 July 1844 in Hancock County, Illinois and after traveling with her family to Bell County, Texas, she married Hamilton "Dick" Parks on 22 August 1867 in Bell County, Texas. All of their children were born in Bell County, Texas and both Stateira (Doss) and her husband "Dick" Parks were buried in Resthaven Cemetery as well.

McLelland Descendancy

To continue with the Descendancy of our family line of McLelland's, (also spelled McClelland, McClellan), James Burr McLelland and his wife, Eliza Gibson Head were married 4 July 1833 in Columbia, Richland County, South Carolina and had eleven known children. This marriage information came from a relative.

Their 11 Children were:

1. George D McLelland, Born abt 1834 in South Carolina and presumably in Columbia, Richland County. Died: 20 November, 1884, Macon, Noxubee County, Mississippi. Information from rootsweb message board post stated that in the Macon Beacon newspaper book by the historical society: "George D. McLelland, son of Rev. J. B. McLelland died Nov 20 of consumption. Survived by wife and two children." He was listed on his Father, James Burr's Will in 1883.
Census Records: 1850, Occ: Teacher - also listed in 1850 in Mobile, Mobile, Alabama living with his Uncle GKD McLelland and his family. In Mobile, G.D. the nephew of GKD by his brother James Burr McLelland was working as a clerk in his Uncle's store.
1880, George McLelland in the city of Macon, Noxubee County, Mississippi Federal Census working as a Bookkeeper and with a wife simply listed as "M.A." born in abt 1839 with two children: Stella, female, born abt 1861, and Allison William, male, born about 1866. Wife "M.A." is believed to have the maiden surname of Youngblood. No further information has been found on the two children. George's middle name is probably "Dougherty" like his uncle GKD. More research is needed on this family line.

2. Theodore R McLelland, Born abt 1835/36 in Winston County, Mississippi. Never married. Died: 1903 Bryan Brazos County, Texas. Buried: Bryan City Cemetery, Bryan, Brazos County, Texas.

3. Sue Ann McLelland, Born May 1839 in Winston County, Mississippi. Never married. Occupation: Music Teacher. Died: 11 Mar 1917, Bryan, Brazos County, Texas - Music Teacher.

4. Robert "Bob" Clayton McLelland, Born 1839, Winston County, Mississippi. Never married. Died: 1895 Bryan, Brazos County, Texas. Buried: Bryan City Cemetery, Bryan, Brazos County, Texas.

5. James H. McLelland, Born 1839 in Mississippi. Twin of Robert Clayton. He was listed on the 1850 census, age 10. James is not listed on the 1860 census with his family. Civil War service

indicates he was with 29th Regiment, Mississippi Infantry, Company K, Rank: Private - Civil War/Confederacy. Harris County, Texas Marriage Record found for J H McCellan and Florada Wynns (Florida Elizabeth Wynns) for 20 April 1863. James H was listed as deceased and had an heir named W. Clayton McLelland, (William) on the distribution of estate assets of his father in 1883. (Note for James H: Possible middle name could have been "Head" or "Harrison" for the parents ancestors.) Son William Clayton McLelland was raised by his Mother and stepfather (last name of Bishop) and appears to have lived out his life primarily in the Houston, Harris County, Texas area. More research is needed to locate James H McLelland's death date and burial place.

6. Franklin Moses McLelland, my Great Grandfather was Born 30 November, 1844, Winston County, Mississippi, and married Nancy "Nannie" Catherine Phillips, daughter of Moses Clinton Phillips and Catherine Bracken. Died: 20 June 1931, Idalou, Lubbock County, Texas. (It's interesting to note that Franklin Moses bears the same first and middle names as his presumed Uncle, Franklin Israel Moses, Sr, who was a South Carolina Supreme Court Justice in 1868.) Children of this couple: Robert Clayton McLelland, Othello McLelland (my paternal Grandmother) and Ida McLelland. See separate blog for more information on my Great Grandfather's family.

7. Allister G. McLelland, born 1844, Winston County, Mississippi, d. 1881, Bryan, Brazos County, Texas. Never married. Presumed Cause of Death: Syphilis. He was noted on the 1880 census as having this disease. Buried: Bryan City Cemetery, Bryan, Brazos County, Texas.

8. Marcia Ophella McLelland, Born June 1848, Winston County, Mississippi, married Francis Foster "FF" Hooper Jr, (husband of her deceased sister Eliza - see #9) in Brazos County, Texas on 2 November 1879 by W. H. Head (most likely a cousin of hers through her Mother's family) Died: 1910, probably in Robertson County, Texas where her husband died in 1906.

9. Eliza M. McLelland, born abt 1849, Winston County, Mississippi, married Francis Foster "FF" Hooper, Jr; died before 1882, Bryan, Brazos County, Texas. Buried: Bryan City Cemetery, Bryan, Brazos County, Texas. Children of this couple: William F Hooper b. abt 1872 and Marcia A Hooper b. abt 1875 who married Robert A Fraser and as of 1930 this couple was living in Calvert, Robertson County, Texas.

10. Sarah Jane "Sallie" McLelland, Born 17 June 1853, Louisville, Winston County, Mississippi; married Wesley Virgil Waldrop, Sr. Died: 21 Sept 1929, El Paso, El Paso County, Texas. Sarah's daughter and her family was living in El Paso at this time, so Sallie was most likely living with them. Buried: Bryan City Cemetery, Bryan, Brazos County, Texas.

11. William "Willie" McLelland, Born August 1854, Macon, Noxubee County, Mississippi, Died January 1855, Macon, Noxubee County, Mississippi. Death information from a post on the rootsweb message board about people buried in Soule Chapel Cemetery, in Noxubee County, Mississippi, of which he was one. His name is listed, per the message board post, in the "Noxubee County "Tombstone Inscription" book put out by the Noxubee County Historical Society in 1975. This was actually a surprise to us to hear of an eleventh child. Eliza, his mother would have been about 41 years of age at the time of his birth. But as we know in those days, there could have been more children that went unrecorded.

It's always been interesting to me that four of the children who lived, to the best of our knowledge, never married: Theodore R, Robert Clayton, Sue Ann and Allister.

We know that their first child George was born in about 1834 in South Carolina so this family moved to Mississippi about 1835, because the second child Theodore was born in Mississippi.

A Mississippi State and Territorial Census was found for the year of 1837 in Winston County, Mississippi. The census states indicates one male and female between the ages of 21 and 45 years of age, with two males under the age of 18, indicating James and Eliza as the adults and the two eldest boys, George and Theodore.

According to the "Robert Coleman from Virginia to Texas 1652-1965" online book, Eliza's Father William Woodward Head died 1 July 1837 in Winston (now Choctaw) County, Mississippi. In Chapter 16, it states that James B McLelland signed for his wife, as they received 7 slaves in the distribution of the estate of Eliza's father. Her Mother, Susannah Gibson (Harrison) Head died 2 November 1844, Winston (now Choctaw) County, Mississippi.

The US Federal 1840 Census indicates another boy (Robert) and a girl (Sue Ann) living with the family in Winston County, Mississippi, located in the mid-east portion of that state. On 27 February 1841, James Burr bought 80.42 acres of land in Choctaw County, Mississippi.

In the Coleman Book, it is states that James B McLelland was Sheriff of Winston County, Mississippi. This family was still in Winston County in 1845 per a state census and on the 1850 US Federal Census and again on an 1853 state census. James B is listed as Justice of the Peace as his occupation in 1850. The 1850 census list nine children and ten slaves, with a real estate value of $500. A land purchase record was found for 1 April 1856, for land in Attala County, Mississippi. This record is somewhat confusing as to the reason for the this land purchase.

In the 1860 US Federal Census, it shows that the family moved one County east to the city of Macon in Noxubee County, Mississippi. James Burr's occupation was listed as Clerk for the City of Macon at age 47, his real estate value was $500 and his personal estate was recorded at $11,000. Undoubtedly, most of this value was the sixteen slaves and two slave houses listed. Eliza, age 46, and seven of the children were still living at home, the youngest girl being born in 1853. George and the twins, Robert and James, were not listed as living at home.

The Civi War period must have created many change for this family. Records indicate the family stayed in the city of Macon, Noxubee County, Mississippi for the whole of the Civil War period. James Burr was a Captain of a Home Guard Company in his area with several of his sons and relatives serving in other Home Guards in the area. Son Franklin Moses was the only one of the children found enlisted as a soldier in the Confederate war service.

James Burr performed many marriages in Mississippi where he lived, as many records have been found showing him as M.G. (Minister of the Gospel) doing so. One of the records was found as late as 1866, so the family stayed in Mississippi until after the Civil War. Sometime between 1866 and 1870, the family moved to Texas.

By 1870 James B, age 57, with his wife Eliza, age 56, and seven children are found in Bryan, Brazos County, Texas. There he was a grocer merchant with a real estate value of $700, no personal estate amount was given. Four of the children, age 18 to 32 had no occupation, and three, ages 23 to 30, were clerks in the grocery store. Frank and Robert were listed on the County Poll Tax records for 1870.

December 1879 brought about the death of Eliza at age 65. The year of 1880 listed James, age 67, as the County Treasurer. Four of the children remained at home, all unmarried; Theodore R., age 45, was Sexton of a Baptist church; Robert C, age 40, was a Druggist; Sue, age 38, was a Music Teacher; Allie G. age 35, is not listed with a occupation, but had not worked for at least the past year due to him having syphilis, as indicated by the 1880 census.

Again, December broke up the family as James Burr McLelland died on the 12th, 1880, one year after his wife. The majority of this family is buried in the Bryan City Cemetery at Bryan, Brazos County, Texas in lots four and five purchased by James McLelland in 1869. Settlement of his Estate is listed on the Brazos County, Texas records.

ABSTRACT OF PROBATE COURT RECORDS regarding: James Burr McLelland
March Term 1883 - Order approving distribution of funds on hand of Estate of Jas. B. McLelland by E.C. McLelland, Administrator. To be paid to heirs as follows, Ninety and 90/100 collars, viz:
George D. McLelland
T.R. McLelland
Sue McLelland
Frank McLelland
The legal guardian of Frank Hooper and Marcia Hooper minor heirs of Eliza M. Hopper, formerly Eliza M. McLelland, now deceased.
Sallie J. Waldrop, wife of W.V. Waldrop, formerly Sallie J. McLelland.
Marcia Hooper, wife of F.F. Hooper, formerly Marcia McLelland.
W. Clayton McLelland, surving heir of J. H. McLelland, now deceased
R.C. McLelland
To R.C. McLelland the share as interest of A.G. McLelland, deceased, to remunrate the said R.C. McLelland for moneys paid out and expended by hi for last illness and burial expenses of A.G. McLelland.

March Term 1883 - Annual Amended Exhibit. All heirs reside in Brazos County, Texas except Frank McLelland resides in San Saba County, Texas; Geo. D. McLelland resides in Noxubee County, Mississippi, Clayton McLelland resides in Caldwell County, Texas.

I have only listed above the dates of two of the courts records in order to establish the "people" involved and who were still living and where they lived.

Tombstones for the family buried in the Bryan City Cemetery in Bryan, Brazos County, Texas were photographed by my mother, Ouida Nell (Strange) Doss in 1983. Names, dates and wording on tombstones is as follows:

James B McLelland, Born July 4, 1812, Died Dec 12, 1880.
Eliza G. wife of James B. McLelland. Died Dec 6, 1870, Aged 66 years.
"She has gone from loved ones just for awhile
In the arms of Jesus with a heavenly smile
She has passed 'neath the worlds pain for rod
To Rest Forever in the arms of God."
Theodore R. McLelland, 1836-1903
Robert C. McLelland, 1839-1895
Sue McLelland, Died Mar 11, 1917, "Asleep with her loved ones"
Allister "Allie" G. McLelland, 1845-1876
(The date of death seems to be incorrect since he is listed on the 1880 census.)
Eliza M

Mother, Eliza G. (Head) McLelland's tombstone does not note her actual date of birth, so it is unfortunately, not known - only a birth year.

McLelland Genealogy

James McClellan and Ann Nancy Harrison

My great great grandfather was JAMES BURR McLELLAND, born 4 July 1812 in Columbia, Richland County, South Carolina. He married ELIZA GIBSON HEAD born 1813 also in Columbia, Richland County, South Carolina. They were first cousins related through their mothers, who were "HARRISON" sisters.

James Burr McLelland's Father is said to have been Reverend James McLELLAN / McClelland of Columbia, Richland County, South Carolina. James Burr's Mother was Ann HARRISON (daughter of Burr Harrison). Eliza Gibson Head's Mother was Susannah Gibson HARRISON who married William Woodward HEAD). Ann and Susannah were sisters and both daughter's of Burr HARRISON and Elizabeth Dargan of Fairfield County, South Carolina. Therefore, James Burr and his wife Eliza were first cousins because both their mother's were sisters.

I will continue with the descendants of this family in a future post.

I am wanting to explore James Burr McLelland's pedigree on up the line. A wonderful genealogy friend sent me all the information she had on James Burr McLelland's parents and siblings:

Father: James McLelland / McClelland - Methodist Minister, living in Columbia, Richland County, South Carolina. It is said that he was "of" Charleston, South Carolina, on the southwest coast. I need to know more information about this person.

On the 1880 census records of son James Burr McLelland, he stated that his Father Rev. James McLelland was born in SCOTLAND. We have no reason to doubt this, other than we can't find any other sources that confirm this fact. James Burr's other two "known" siblings, Jane Dorcas and GKD are not found to have lived to the year of 1880, so it is currently impossible to tell if the information that the father James McClellan was indeed, born in Scotland.

Unfortunately, the information that was kindly provided to me stated that James Burr McLelland's mother, Ann Harrison died three weeks after her last child (presumably George/GKD) was born. This may be why not much can be found on her. We believe they had three children because they are listed on James McClellan's Will:

1. Jane Dorcas McLelland, born 31 Dec 1811, Columbia, Richland County, South Carolina.
2. James Burr McLelland, born 4 July 1812, Columbia, Richland County, South Carolina
3. George Kendrick Dougherty (GKD), born abt 1816, Columbia, Richland County, South Carolina

Also, the year following the death of their mother Ann Harrison, the father Rev. James McLelland also died from accidental poisoning as was listed in his obituary in the City Gazette Newspaper, Charleston, South Carolina, 31 December 1817:

Obituary: "On the 4th inst. near Columbia, Mr. James McClellan, occasioned by his taking salt petre instead of salts."

His Will names children: Jane, James, and George D.
Executors: Andrew Wallace and Benjamin Harrison, Jr. D: 4 Dec. 1817. Probate: 6 Dec. 1817, Richland County Equity Court Roll #361.

I wondered who Andrew Wallace, one of the executors of his Will was. I found in an online google book: "Columbia & Richland County, A South Carolina Community 1740-1990", on page 82, the mention of an "Andrew Wallace". It says he was a prominent "Scot" who made a fortune as a local merchant. I believe this is the same person who was mentioned in Rev. James McLelland's Will, because he was known to be a Reverend of a Methodist Church.

Executor Benjamin Harrison, Jr. was obviously a brother of Rev. James McClellan's wife, Ann Harrison.

I also found that both James and Ann were witnesses to a Will in Richland County, South Carolina of "Starling Clark" on 13 December 1804. On this document, Ann Harrison was listed as "Nancy McClellan", therefore, it is presumed that she was called "Nancy" or her middle name was Nancy, since many times people were called by their middle names in those times. The spelling of McClellan was used on this document as well as James McClellan's will. Regarding this Will of Starling Clark, James McClellan appeared in court on 31 December 1807 to testify on behalf of the deceased that it was indeed Starling that signed his will.

Also, interestingly, this book also mentions that the Methodists formed a society in 1803 and within a year had built a wooden meeting house on the corner of Washington and Marion streets. Benett KENDRICK was the first Methodist Minister assigned to Columbia, (Richland County, South Carolina). One of the middle names of Rev. James McLelland's youngest son, George, also known as GKD, the "K" standing for "Kendrick". The "D" in his name stands for "Dougherty" or some spelling thereof. There was yet another prominent minister of the time name: George Daughtery. This is too coincidental for Rev. James McClellan's son not to have been named after these two men of the time.

The above information provides further proof of not only where Rev. James McClellan preached, and/or attended church, but also that he probably knew Bennet Kendrick and George Daughtery well enough to name one of his children after him.

Further research regarding this very ancient church in Columbia prompted me to contact the historian of the church. He indicated that all the ministers of this church had been recorded since the very beginning and he confirmed that Bennet Kendrick was indeed the minister who started this church. He also told me that no James McClellan was listed as a minister of this church, nor was he or his family members buried in the church graveyard, which is still there and records kept about who was buried there. Although this was a good lead, it didn't give me any further information. It may be that James McClellan was a minister of another Methodist church in the area and I haven't researched them as of yet. It is always nice to know where the final burial and resting place of our ancestors are. The tombstones of the early 1800's, unless well kept up by caring people, are usually unreadable by this time.

Will of "James McClellan"
Dated: 4 December 1817
Probated: 6 December 1817
"In the Name of God Amen, I James McClellan of Richland District in the State of South Carolina being Weak in Body but Sound in Mind and Memory do make and constitute this my last Will and Testament and do revoke all others that I may have made heretofore.

In the first place it is my Will and desire that all my just and lawful debts be paid out of the proceeds of my Estate and afterwards. I give and bequeath all the rest and residue of my property to my Dear Children, viz, Jame, James and George D McClellan and I appoint and nominate as Executors of this my last Will and Testament my friends Andrew Wallace and Benjamin Harrison Junior. In witness my hand and Seal in presence of John Wyche, Zacheriah Phillips, Daniel Dockery this 4 Dec. 1817.
Jas. McClellan"

"Signed and Sealed and acknowledged in presence of Z. Phillips, John Wyche, Daniel Dockery. South Carolina, Richland District."

"Personally appeared John Wyche who being duly sworn made Oath and affired that he saw James McClellan sign Seal and acknowledge the written Deed to be his last Will and Testament, that the Testator was then of sound and disposing mind, memory and understanding according to the best of this Deponents knowledge and belief and that this Deponent with Daniel Dockery and Zackariah Phillips at the request of this Testator in his presence and in the presence of each other witnessed the due execution thereof.
John Wyche"

"Sworn to before me, 6 December 1817, James S. Guignard, Ordinary.
Recorded in Will Book G, Page 42, Box 20, Package 481."
Richland County Public Library

Who raised the 3 children of this couple, who died before their time, is under question. It could have been any of the Harrison siblings, primarily Benjamin Harrison, who was listed on James McClellan's Will. Census records at that time do not reveal definite evidence of who the children, all under the age of 10 at the time, went to live with, but it can be assumed they lived with relatives.

Jesse Doss Family

Son of Zacheus/Zachariah Doss of Virginia, Jesse Doss was one of the many sons of this large family. Sometime during the early 1800's, Father Zacheus moved his family over the Virginia county line into Stokes County, located in northern North Carolina, before moving back to Virginia several years later.

As a result, Jesse Doss was born 1806 in Stokes County, North Carolina. Jesse married 7 January 1829, Montgomery County, Virginia to Violet Wilson, daughter of John Wilson (b. 1776, VA d. 1848, Hancock Co, IL) and Elizabeth Cummings (b. 1781, VA d. 1845, Hancock Co, IL). So, it seems that Violet's parents and other family members traveled with them to Illinois because both her parents died in Hancock County, Illinois. There were many people who traveled west from the eastern states during this time period and beyond. One can only imagine how many people were in these wagon trains, walking along the trails during this time period.

As stated in the previous post, arrest warrants had been issued to the sheriff by the courts to arrest Jesse and his brother Philip in North Carolina, although Jesse never complied and ended up getting married, having a child and then leaving the state before he could be found. One can only speculate on all the possible interesting scenarios as to why he ran, and didn't comply with the court order.

Jesse and Violet's son Joel W Doss was born 29 July 1833 in Indiana, so we know they traveled through that state during that time period.