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This Kentucky farm where my mother, Lucy Jane, was born and reared seemed to be a kingdom within itself, for there they raised about everything for the table and everything necessary for clothing too. They raised flax for linen, cotton to be picked, carded, spun, and woven into cloth, sheep to be sheared, the wool washed, carded, spun and woven into cloth or knit into mittens, socks, and stockings…’Pap’, as the children called their father, made their shoes as well as managed their farm, and his own blacksmith shop.

They raised geese to supply the filling for their feather beds and down for the pillows. They wove rugs, blankets, and coverlets, made and quilted patchwork quilts…Besides the truck garden for vegetables and orchard for fruit which offered a variety of stuff to pickle, preserve, and dry, there were maple trees and sugar cane to supply sugar and syrup for the table… [1]

Reading that description by Jane Dunaway sounds like the home of a prosperous family.  It was home to Lucy Jane Allder who was born and lived on that Kentucky plantation with her parents until age 9.  James and Sarah, her parents, had 6 children and they all lived on that plantation; however, James’ death on 5 July 1858 forever altered that lifestyle.

Two years before James’ death he wrote his will naming his children and his wishes after his death.

“In the name of God Amen
I James Allder being of sound and disposing
mind do make and publish this as my last will & tes-
tament revoking all others heretofore made by me.
1st I Give my body to God who gave it
2nd that all my just debts be paid
3rd to my wife all the law allows her
4th to my daughter Mary Ann Word ten dollars in
addition to what she has allready had given her hereto-
fore   5th to my son George N Allder ten dollars and
the same amount which Mary Ann Word received in
addition  6th to my four remaining children John
E Allder   Sarah E M Allder   Lucy Jane Allder & Elviry
I Allder the remaining potion [sic] of my whole Estate both
real and personal.  But for the purpose of Educating
the three last mentioned Little Girls, to wit, Sarah Lucy
& Elviry    Sarah & Lucy is to have one hundred Dollars
Each and Elviry two hundred to be applied expressly
for that purpose  7th I hereby appoint my friend
O B Robinson my Executor with a request that he will
comply with my request.   This 7th November 1856

J L Allder

Witness
Wm D Ferguson
A W Cash” [2]

Sarah and 5 of her children moved to Dade County, Missouri in late 1859 to be near her Pyle relatives.[3]  The estate settlement process continued in Christian County, Kentucky for several years.  Several years later in August 1866 the estate settlement commenced on James’ estate stating “notes and accounts were either insolvent & never collected or there was offsets & counter claims filed with this settlement”. [4] After all the credits and charges were accounted for, the balance of James’ estate was $207.59 of which the children were to receive $138.40 but the widow had been overpaid by $127.81.  Nine years after James’ death, the settlement record states “7 February 1867 filed in open court & ordered to be laid over for exceptions more being filed was this day taken up examined approved & ordered to be recorded, which has been done with this certificate in my office.  Given under my hand 14th February 1867.”[5] 

Whether Lucy’s father was prosperous in terms of wealth or how her mother fared financially remain ongoing research questions.  Regardless, Lucy’s memories depicted in her poem  “An Old Kentucky Girl” of her 1850’s childhood imply she considered them prosperous.[6]

Lucy was my husband’s gg grandmother.

 

Reference Notes:

[1] Jane E. Dunaway, “Family No. 1 Lucy Jane Allder,” Dunaway—Allder—Pyle Family, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/dunawayallderpyl00duna/ : accessed 24 February 2020), pages 6-12, specifically 9, 10; Jane E. Dunaway, Dunaway—Allder—Pyle Family, [1962] ed. (Bloomington, Indiana, [publisher not identified); Jane E. Dunaway, M.D. includes medical history of her ancestors and their descendants; this unnumbered version has an additional page with an errata, addenda and births for 1959-1962, in Kay Bauman’s possession is an earlier autographed, hard-bound version with only the ­errata and addenda page, Dr. Jane Dunaway gave copies of the book to her family and my mother-in-law was one of her grandnieces.
[2] Christian County, Kentucky, Will Book Q 1857-59, consulted as “Wills, 1797-1921”, browsable with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/131620 : accessed 19 February 2020), James L. Allder, 5 July 1858, p 434-435; citing Christian County, Kentucky, FHL microfilm 464,801; his will was filed in court, read and proven on 5 July 1858.
[3] 1860 census in Morgan, Dade, Missouri, population schedule, post office Cane Hill, page 127 (penned) dwelling 838, family 838, Sarah Aleder [sic]; image, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com :accessed 23 February 2020); citing NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 617; Sarah age 44, George N age 20 and John E 17 are farmers, Sarah E 14, Lucy J 12, Elvira 8 all born in Kentucky, Lucy’s personal estate valued $350; William Pyle dwelling 834, family 834.  Jane E. Dunaway, “Family No. 1 Lucy Jane Allder,” Dunaway—Allder—Pyle Family, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/dunawayallderpyl00duna/ : accessed 24 February 2020), pages 6-12, specifically 9, 10; Jane E. Dunaway, Dunaway—Allder—Pyle Family, [1962] ed. (Bloomington, Indiana, [publisher not identified); Dr. Jane states it took them three months to get to Missouri and they arrived the Pyle relatives on Christmas Eve, 1859.  Missouri State Archives, Missouri Death Records, database with images, (http://ancestry.com : accessed 23 February 2020), Sarah Alder; citing “Missouri, Death Records, 1850-1931”; 24 years as a resident in the state; died in Madison township, Cedar, Missouri of cancer that she had for four years, the physician who returned the death certificate was her son J. E. Alder of Cane Hill, Missouri, she was buried in Leade Co, Missouri on 12 February 1884.
[4] Christian County, Kentucky, Will Book T 1862-68, consulted as “Wills, 1797-1921”, browsable with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/131620 : accessed 20 February 2020), James Alder [sic], 14 February 1868, p 497-499, specifically 497; citing Christian County, Kentucky, FHL microfilm 464,804;  Indexes, v. 1-2 1797-1912 lists James Alder [sic], index within volume T as well as document lists James Alder [sic].
[5] Ibid, p 499
[6] Lucy Jane (Allder) Dunaway,  “An Old Kentucky Girl”, p 1-2, creation date ca. Fall 1914, poem, privately held by Keith Bauman, [address for private use], Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 73170, 2010; originally owned by Lucy’s daughter Eva (Dunaway) Garee and passed down to her great grandson Keith.

Amy Johnson Crow offers weekly prompts to get us thinking about an ancestor and to share something about that person. She calls it 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. 

Week 8 (Feb. 12-18): Favorite Discovery.  What is the neatest thing you’ve found in your genealogy research? What makes you smile just thinking about it?

Each of my posts using one of her prompts will have the tag of “52Ancestors” and I’ll share them on the thread she’s started for that week in her Generations Cafe Facebook Group.