My Great great Grandmother was Mahala Jane James Priest. 
To the left is a picture of her as a young girl and to the right as a middle aged woman. She was the third youngest child of Samuel James’ sixteen children. I suspect she had a very interesting , but not a very easy life.
I have spent a lot of time on the James and Priest families. I’m not quite sure why but I feel a great connection with this family. Maybe it is because it has been difficult to figure out the genealogy . There has been a lot of misinformation written about these families. Interestingly enough I have ended up spending most of my time proving what is wrong with what has been written, rather than what is right. The James family has been a great lesson in Genealogy research. I am much better about documenting my research now.
I almost don’t know where to start because it gets so complicated and convoluted, plus I am not done with my search. I went back to North Carolina in the fall of 2004 with the express purpose of figuring out who Samuel James’ parents were. Although I thought I knew when I came back; it took a second trip in the fall of 2006 to finally figure out who Samuel James’ father was. I now feel confident that there is documentation to prove that Samuel James was born Massachusetts about 1774, moved to Orange County>Alamance County, North Carolina about 1776, grew up there, married Sarah Charles the daughter of Hans Michael Charles, and that Samuel’s Fathers name was Samuel – so he was a junior. But more on that later.
There is a great quote that Tim James sent me “Genealogy without documentation is mythology”. In trying to separate the fact from the myth regarding Samuel James and figure out who his Father is, I have relied mainly on the legal documents that were available at the time: land records, tax records, wills, and census records.
As I said there has been much written about the Samuel James family. Unfortunately much of the information on Samuel and the prior generations is wrong. I am convinced that the only way to approach this is to go through each article and point out the inconsistencies and factually incorrect data. I have tried to approach this in a logical manner without a preconceived notion of where I wanted it to end up. In addition, two of Samuel’s male descendants have submitted their DNA for testing and as of January 2007 we do match any of the James’s in the group yet. So we are waiting for more James’s to be tested. However, the DNA testing is important in that it does show we are not related to the Surry County, North Carolina James’s or Abner James of North Carolina. http://www.jamesdna.net/ #34980 and #61620. Thanks tp Tommy James and Tim James descendents of Samuel and Sarah Charles’s oldest son James, we have a link to our Samuel. OUr data is shown on the same page. Hopefully through DNA testing we will be able to further unlock the mystery of Samuel James’ family.
Early on I found several articles that laid out the Samuel James’ family tree. I was very excited. This was easy genealogy. I subsequently found out Frederick James from Prestonsburg hired a genealogist many years ago to research the family tree and I feel they did a terrible job. Even taking into account this was 30+ years ago before the internet and the increased information available, they did a terrible job. They worked backward to reinforce the oral family stories. Consequently, they took 2 + 2 and got 10. Unfortunately, much of this information has been published in Historical Society documents and on the internet and has become gospel.
There are three main stories or articles that and usually quoted. I will put the correct information in [italics] throughout the article. Then on the next page I will provide the documentation for the corrections. I am only going to go through two of the articles. The third Mountain Kinsman Ride by Henry “Bud” Scalf has much of the same misinformation in it You can link to his article
NOTE: MUCH OF THE INFORMATION IN THESE ARTICLES IS WRONG! The information in [italics] is documented and correct
Probably the most often quoted article is the following James Family History from the History of Floyd County, Kentucky 1800 – 1992.
The James Family
By Frederick James
History of Floyd County, Kentucky 1800 – 1992 pages 260 – 261
“The branches of an 11 generation tree in America still grow and continues to flourish in Floyd County, Kentucky.
The seed was planted in 1711 when John and Elizabeth James and family arrived from the parish of Riddellyn, Pembrokeshire, South Wales, to Bucks County, PA. They settled in what was then Montgomery Twp. (now Montgomery County), Philadelphia County, PA. [The Pennsylvania Jameses did have grandson Samuel who moved to North Carolina in 1785 but he born in 1760 and died in 1848 in Rowan County, North Carolina twelve years after my Samuel James died in Floyd County, Kentucky.]
The James family remained there until Samuel James born 1767 [according to census records my Samuel James was born between 1770 and 1775],four generations later, in 1775, one year after the Revolutionary War, started the migration west. At 18 years old and with a new bride, he left for North Carolina [We know he wasn’t 18 until about 1778 and moved to North Carolina when he was a child. He met and married Sarah Charles in North Carolina. On the next page is an analysis of the children’s census records and a majority of them place his birth as Massachusetts, not Pennsylvania (only two children put Pennsylvania: Tamsey and Malinda), including Abner his oldest living child. In addition the 1880 census for Pernina James Smith (Samuel’s youngest daughter) who is living with her Mother Peninah (Samuel’s second wife) puts his birth place as Massachusetts. I think Peninah and Abner would know where Samuel was born. Finally, based on when Samuel’s Father first shows up in land records, the family moved to North Carolina about 1776-1777].
Samuel remained there in the Yadkin Valley for 25 years. [Samuel never lived in the Yadkin Valley which is in Surry County. He lived in Orange>Alamance County on a tributary of the Haw River. His second wife Peninah grew up in the Yadkin Valley.] He then moved on to the sweet waters of John’s Creek in Floyd County, Kentucky in 1810. [First he moved to Ashe County, North Carolina about 1803 and then to Floyd County, Kentucky in 1810.] He came there as builder and always tried to make it a better place in which to live. [I think the genealogist saw there was a Samuel James who lived in Rowan and Surry Counties, and since this was where John Dean lived they incorrectly assumed this was my Samuel James.]
Samuel was commissioned to lay out the first road from the mouth of Brushy Creek to the Ball Alley curve in Prestonsburg. Samuel had three wives and 15 children.[He had two wives and 16 children.]
I. Married 1785 to Elizabeth Cornell. [The other Samuel James from Rowan County married Elizabeth Cornell. “Samuel, born 1760, died 1848, married Elizabeth CORNELL and removed to North Carolina in 1785.” Also Elizabeth didn’t die until 1848 in Rowan County, North Carolina. Why would she have left her children?] They had three children: Elizabeth, born 1795 [according to census records she was born in about 1805], married James Justice March 24, 1822; John, born 1798, married Milly Vaughan Jan. 16, 1817; Isaac, born 1799, [according to census records he was born abt. 1803] married Margaret Giddens Aug. 10, 1820. [I have the documents from the North Carolina Archives for the settlement of Michael Charles’ estate in Orange County, North Carolina in 1828. I have transcribed and scanned the documents. Links to the documents are on the next page. They clearly state that Sarah Charles married Samuel James of Floyd County, Kentucky and had six children before she died. The children were John, Isaac, Abner, David, Elizabeth, and Celia. Samuel James of Floyd County, Kentucky was never married to Elizabeth Cornell.]
II. Sarah Charles, born 1779, died 1810, married 1802 [they were probably married around 1798]. Their children were: Abner, born 1804, married Margaret Campbell April 24, 1823; David born 1806, married Vina? [Daniel was born in 1806. David was the son of Samuel and his second wife Peninah and he married Lovina Chapman], date unknown; Celia born 1808, married Robinson Brown Jan 1, 1829. [I have the documents from the North Carolina Archives for the settlement of Michael Charles’ estate in Orange County, North Carolina in 1828. I have transcribed and scanned the documents. Links to the documents are on the next page. They clearly state that Sarah Charles married Samuel James of Floyd County, Kentucky and had six children before she died. The children were John, Isaac, Abner, David, Elizabeth, and Celia.]
III. Perninah [the correct spelling is Peninah] Dean, born 1794, married June 30, 1811. Their children were: Miranda [Maranda], born 1814 [1811] married Hugh Harkins; Perninah [Pernina], born 1816 [1834], married John W. Smith; Sarah (Sally), born 1817, married William McCoy Dec. 23, 1836; Rachel, born 1819, married Ira Russell [William Ratliff], Dec. 26, 1844 [Sept 6, 1840] [Tamsey born 1824 married Ira Russell on Dec. 26, 1844]; Samuel, born 1827 [1831], married Minerva? [Minerva Jane Fitzpatrick], Mahala, born 1829, married John Priest, Feb 27, 1848.[Left out is Hannah born 1815 who married Joseph Indicutt and John Copley, Malinda born 1822 who married John Roop, and David born 1827 who married Lovina Chapman].
All of these represented the family with distinction. One of Samuel’s sons, Abner when he was 56 [58] years old went with his son William Campbell James to fight on the side of the Confederacy in the Civil War. [On September 12, 1862 Abner joined Company C, 39th Kentucky Mounted Inf. Reg of the Union Army. He lied about his age. His son William Campbell joined Company D and was killed fighting for the North.
Abner James had four [five] wives and eight [ten] children.
I. Married April 24, 1823 to Margaret Campbell, born 1804 in Virginia. Their children were: William Campbell, born 1830, married Disa Ann Fraley April 21, 1849; George, born ?, died young; Susannah (Susie) born 1836; Rachel, born 1842, married ? Mutters [George Washington Mutters]. [Missing Nancy Jane who married Elisha Howard].
II. Married July 12, 1854 [December 7, 1854] to Elizabeth McVeigh, no children.
III. Married Jan. 24, 1856 to Millie Young, born 1822. Their children were: Charlette, born ?’ Sarah, born 1859, married William Mills; John P.M., born and George D. (twins), born 1856.
IV. Married 1888 to Eliza Gray, born 1834, no children.
[V. Married Martha Rife July 13, 1885, they had a child Daniel – she and Daniel got the widows pension.] Abner died 1889 [1885 according to his pension papers].
William Campbell James, son of Abner married April 21, 1849 to Disa Ann Fraley, born 1834. They had eight children in their family. Susannah (Susan), born 1853, married John H. Blackburn; Thomas Jefferson, born 1854, married Candis Maynard [he married Nancy Jackson, Mary Boyd and Angelina Fields Robinson]; [John Wesley James, born 1855, married Candis Maynard] Daniel Webster, born 1857, married Sarah Maynard; Margaret E. born 1862[Nov. 1862], married Allen H. Blackburn on Sept. 29, 1881; William Harrison (Bud), born 1864, married Loulie Scott; Abraham Lincoln (Womp), born 1868, married Emma Spears on May 3, 1892; Victoria Bell, born 1871, married Fleming Maynard on May 12, 1892.
These continued to represent the James family that came to America from Wales. [There is no proof the James family came from Whales since they are not related to the John and Elizabeth James family who arrived from the parish of Riddellyn, Pembrokeshire, South Wales, and immigrated to Bucks County, Pennsylvania] One of William James’s family was Thomas Jefferson James who became a noted timberman. He floated timber from Johns Creek down the Big Sandy River to Catlettsburg, which was one of the hardwood capitals of the world. Thomas had 12 children and three wives.[I haven’t verified this information]
I. Married 1878 to Nancy Jackson, born 1857. They had six children: William Malcomb, born 1879, married Litha Bell Scalf, born 1885; Lucy born 1883, married Hawk Collins, born 1876; Pearl, born 1888, married Millard Harvell on Nov. 16, 1905; Ballard Monroe, born Feb. 22, 1890, died March 4, 1951, married Ginerva Williams born Aug 16, 1890, died Feb. 19, 1971, married Dec. 28, 1913; Hawkins Fuller born Feb. 12, 1892, married Virgie Damron; Myrtle, born 1881, married Robert Clark.
II. Married July 3, 1898 to Mary Boyd, born 1873. They had two children (twins), Baby girl died at birth. Thomas born Aug. 14, 1900, died December 1975, married Edith Fitzpatrick, died 19898.
III. Married Angeline Fields, born 1881, died 1951. They had four children: Elmer, born Jan. 21, 1908, died June 15, 1985, married Nina ?; Nora, born Jan 5, 1912, married Henry P. Scalf, born Feb. 20, 1902; Ollie, born 1916, married Viola, born 1918; Jesse, born 1917, died 1976, married Sallie born 1919.
Submitted by Frederick James.
Next is a series of articles done by June Johnson for the Appalachia Expressed in three parts. I don’t know what year these were done.
AGAIN, NOTE: MUCH OF THE INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLES IS WRONG! The information in [italics] is documented and correct
The first James, Charles and Dean families in Pike County
Appalachia Expressed by June Johnson – Part I
The following story is about the entry into Pike [Floyd] County in 1809 [1810] of Samuel James, his first wife, Sarah Charles James, and her brother, William Charles (they all came together) [Sarah Charles only had one brother George. George lived next door to Sarah and Samuel in Ashe County, North Carolina and probably traveled north with them but stayed in Russell County, Virginia and didn’t move to Pike County, Kentucky until between 1820 and 1830], as well as about the entry in 1807 of Samuel’s second wife, Pernina [Peninah] Dean James, and her father, James Dean [the first John Dean shows up in Floyd County Court records is 1809].
The historical account is based on old documents, scripts, handwritten notes and sources of evidence folded into a file on the above families. I added conversation and details to the facts to revitalize them, but complete credit goes to the late Henry “Buck” Scalf for gathering them.
This file was passed down to Scalf’s son, Albert Devon Scalf, who kept it safe these years. Devon’s mother, Norah James Scalf, was a direct descendant of the James and Charles family.
Samuel (1774-1836) [from census records his birth is between 1770 – 1775 so 1774 is feasible] and Sarah Charles James left North Carolina headed for Johns Creek, Ky., in 1809 [in 1810, they are in both the Ashe County, NC (January) and Floyd County, KY (summer) census for 1810 so they moved from Ashe County, North Carolina in the spring of 1810]. They had a slow-moving ox drawn wagon loaded with pioneer tools and the necessities of life for settling a virgin and isolated land.
In their wagon or walking by the team were their six children, John, Isaac, Abner (named after an uncle) [there was an Abner James who lived in the same area of Orange County, North Carolina, but there is no proof he was related to Samuel James, in fact DNA testing proves they were not related], Daniel, Celia, Mary, and Samuel’s mother, Mary James [this is pure conjecture. There is no proof Samuels Mother’s name is Mary or she came with them from North Carolina].
A second ox-drawn wagon carried the family of young William Charles II, brother of Sarah, and his wife and child [Sarah didn’t have a brother named William and her brother George was in the Russell County, VA 1810 census. George was also in Ashe County and probably went as far as Russell County, Virginia with them.]
The path was barely wide enough for a wagon. Samuel, in front of the oxen, clearing the trail, noticed that his wife was giving instructions to the children to watch for the stones and sharp sticks on the primitive trail. Their feet were sore and bruised even though shoes were inspected and repaired frequently.
Samuel bent over to cut the tangled brush. His sharp knife would double at dinner for cutting up the game. Ever alert, he looked and listened frequently for any sign of wildcats, snakes, bears, or even Indians. His gun was handy in case he spotted a small animal they could have for dinner When he could, he also scanned the sky for wild geese and ducks.
When Samuel stopped to take a drink of water from his flask, he thought of the past.
He had been born in Massachusetts [this is correct] in 1774 [1770-1775], but when he was a year old, the “embittered farmers” at Lexington opened the Revolutionary War. His family decided to pack up and leave his mother’s beloved state and go to North Carolina. Members of his family had been soldiers in that war. [This is probably true based on when Samuel James Sr. starts showing up in Orange County, North Carolina official documents – 1778. If this is true it is ironic since they settle close to Guilford Courthouse which was the area for several battles during the Revolutionary War.]
When he was a man, living in North Carolina, Samuel had gone on a hunting trip to Tennessee. There he met the proper young Quaker girl, Sarah (born Feb. 14, 1779) and her mother, Leah Charles. Sarah was the daughter of William Charles I, who had recently died. That Quaker man had learned the trade of cabinet maker as he grew up with family and neighbors in Rhode Island. [Sarah Charles was not a Quaker or the daughter of William Charles I. She was the daughter of Hans Michael and Catherine Carle (Charles) and was born in North Carolina – Orange County. See the documents on the next page settling her Father’s estate which clearly state she was married to Samuel James]
A thriving community existed back in Rhode Island with schools and stores. What caused Sarah’s father and family to leave the comfortable area, Samuel did not know. He knew that he had come down to Perquimans County, N.C. [I doubt this is true. Michael Charles was naturalized in 1762 in Rowan County, North Carolina before showing up in Orange County documents in 1763. Perquimans County is on the North Carolina coast to the east of Orange County and Rowan County is to the west of Orange County. It doesn’t make sense he would go west to Rowan County before settling in Orange County.] He and his family lived there awhile before moving on to Guilford County [The part of Orange County they lived in became Alamance County, not Guilford County, although they were close to Guilford County.]
William I became a large landowner. He organized a flourishing business with his craftsmanship on the Deep River near Jamestown, N.C. It was a great loss to the family when he died in 1796. [This is the wrong person].
Sarah and her mother were visiting relatives in Tennessee when Samuel came to visit. He remembered the first time he ever saw her. Her manners were smooth, and she spoke in the proper Northern accent [she was born in North Carolina] that Samuel knew from his mother; except that Sarah said “thee” and “thou” as her religion required. He was not prepared for her humble, non-complaining Quaker ways, and he instantaneously fell in love with her. [She was not a Quaker.]
When Samuel asked for Sarah’s hand from the mother and the church, there was some delay in the answer. First of all, he was not of their faith, and this particular sect always frowned upon marriage outside their religion.
Sarah was older than most unmarried girls. Being away from Rhode Island roots, often it was difficult to find a suitable, similar mate for a Quaker. Therefore all points had to considered when deliberation ensued to gain the approval of her church to marry.
The group would never allow him to see her without being chaperoned. While their was always someone to hear their conversations, he was allowed to work along with her at outside chores. Quakers did not party. [This is all creative writing.]
Sarah was 22 years of when Samuel was allowed to marry her in 1801. Samuel was 27.[They were probably married in 1796 or 1797 before John was born. She would have been about 19 and Samuel about 22.]
They set up housekeeping in North Carolina. Stories of Eastern Kentucky filtered back to them in Ashe County from friends and neighbors who had become restless and explore and settled there. One was the John Dean family who had moved to Johns Creek. They told of vast lands available for homesteading; some with flat fields [the area they lived in in Ashe County was very hilly.]. They wanted neighbors that they knew and trusted. Who would be more trusted than a strict Quaker-influenced family? [Before 1810 John Dean lived in Surry County and Samuel James lived in Orange County to the east and Ashe County on the other side of the Blue Ridge Mountains – a long ways away. There is no proof Samuel James ever lived in Surry County close to John Dean or knew John Dean.]
Samuel and Sarah talked of going to Johns Creek. What would it be like to go into a completely untamed wilderness. Sarah was not that strong, although she patiently did more chores than the others. Quaker women. Stern requirements at the Quaker parents’ knee trained patience, devotion, punctuality and performance.
One evening she looked up at him sleepily from her crisp, starched pillow at bedtime and said, “It would be a shame to miss out on the homestead land in Eastern Kentucky. Thou knowest we should go. Let us prepare the children carefully. We must take books, the maps and measuring stick … and oh, now we must not forget …” They were interrupted by loud thumps. Tired, she murmured, “Dear, Abner and Isaac are wrestling again in the back bedroom, would’st thou stop them.”
When Samuel came back after quieting the children, she was asleep. Her face was pale, today. He thought she looked like an angel. He tiptoed around her and went to bed.
Now on the trail, replacing his water flask on his belt, Samuel gave the command to the oxen to start again. They grunted with the heavy load. Resuming his position in front to clear hazardous objects, he compared this hazardous path to the ones where he had grown up back in North Carolina. They had been well-worn by those who used the Carolinas as road to other places. This one took strenuous work to get through, and there were few homes and practically no trading posts along the way.
Looking back to check the family he thought again of how invaluable his sweet wife was. How strict her training had been. She was trying to rear the children in the ways the sect required. Personally, he thought was a losing battle.
He smiled. In the wilderness there were few rules besides work and existence; you were mainly on your own. There was jeopardy, however, in too little training. The children had to be alert to awaiting dangers, and properly taught to deal with them.
Hastening its step, Samuel looked back again and exchanged a brief look with his wife. It occurred to him that she was more than tired. “Are you all right Sarah?” he called. She did not answer, but gave him a weak smile. Today her face was flushed. He was worried.
The next day Sarah’s face was not just flushed, she was too ill with a fever to walk. Shivering quietly in the wagon, she clutched a quilt she painstakingly had stitched in straight, perfect needlework. It was a pattern that she had learned at her mother’s knee. Now she could only stare at it.
It was too difficult for Sarah to rest while traveling on the rocky road; and the oxen were not known for smooth walking, anyway. Samuel decided to stay at the campsite by the trail for a few days, waiting for her condition to improve.
“How much farther is it to Johns Creek, Samuel?” Sarah weakly asked her husband. He dropped his head. He couldn’t lie. “We are about halfway.” [Actually about half way would be Russell County where George Charles settled.]
No one really knew what was wrong with Sarah. Her condition worsened the next day and the next. It was 100 miles to a doctor. Only the herbal medicines were available for treatment. They had been carefully collected, cured and made into salves and potions; some dried for tea. They had to last until others could be gathered. Yet Sarah was not responding well to anything they could give her. Would tomorrow be better?
Samuel eyed the sky for clouds. He hoped it would not rain while they were stopped. There was no protection for them in the rains, except for them all to gather in the two wagons or sit under a tree, hardly dry, and wait for it to be over. [Again, creative writing.]
Part II
While Samuel and Sarah Charles James, their six children, his mother Mary, and Sarah’s brother William Charles II’s [Sarah did not have a brother William. Her brother George probably traveled with them to Russell County, Virginia where he stayed. This is probably where Sarah died. Also there is no proof that Samuel’s Mother traveled with them] family traveled together in ox-drawn covered wagons over the basic Indian trails on the way to Johns Creek in 1810, Sarah’s frail condition grew even more serious.
Mary and Samuel treated her regularly and devotedly with carefully dried herbs they carried in the trunk. Nothing seemed to help.
The next morning, Sarah no longer responded to their voices.
She died by the side of the road with her children gathered around her, choking back their sobs.
The little lonely group knew that they had to go on. They soon gathered their gear, and continued their trip. Later in life no one could agree on exactly where that spot was located.
When Samuel arrived at the mouth of Brushy Creek, he faced alone the task of building a cabin, clearing the fields, tending a crop and rearing his six children. Thank God his mother came along; though Mary was growing old. [There is no proof his Mother went with them.]
One of the reasons the James and Charles families had come to the Johns Creek area was due to the stories of Mr. John Dean, who had preceded them. [George Charles didn’t move to Pike County, Kentucky until between 1820 and 1830,] Samuel had often repeated the stories Dean had relayed. [There is no proof Samuel James knew John Dean in North Carolina]. Now they would be neighbors.
John Dean was born in Halifax County, Va. He was a Revolutionary War soldier of the Continental line from North Carolina, having enlisted July 20, 1778; serving nine months. John (1757-1846) and his eldest daughter, Pernina [Peninah] “Viney” (1791-94 -1880-83), [1794 – between 1884 & 1886] came by themselves to Johns Creek at first. They journeyed on horseback through the wilderness somewhere between, 1805 and 1808, before the Jameses arrived. Records show that Pernina was 14 years old. [She was 14 in 1808].
They settled near the present post office at McCombs, Pike County. (The farm of T. B. Blackburn estate is a part of the old Dean farm.) The initial trip and dangers seemed to be too rough and stark to bring the rest of the family at first.
Working together, John and Viney cut the trees and lifted the logs to build a cabin. At last it was finished; sturdy enough to keep out the bears and other wild animals.
John knew he had to make the trip back to North Carolina to get the rest of the family and guide them back to the homestead. [He probably would have taken the Great Wagon Trail through Virginia to Surry County, no where near Ashe County, North Carolina where Samuel James lived.]
He and Viney talked of the trip. It was a terribly long and hot trip to make to turn around and come back. Then, too, should they abandon the cabin? Homesteaders had to prove occupancy. Also it was known that wandering settlers often burglarized unoccupied cabins. At any rate, it was decided that Viney would stay alone in the cabin while he was gone, even though there were no neighbors on whom who could call in an emergency. The Jameses would not arrive for a couple of years.
To construct a safe sleeping place, a framework was swung to the cabin rafters. Food to last the duration of his absence was stored in the swinging haven.
It was not that long since Jenny Wiley had been captured by the Indians, back in 1789, but their cabin had been on a main Indian trail. This one was not; and besides, more people had come in now, and the red-man situation was more controlled.
In case of wandering savages, however, the door could be tightly secured, and she had firearms for an emergency. She thought, “They act like madmen. You can’t reason with them. I know they are agitated about losing their land, but they never had a bath or a haircut, and they have been taught no manners, etiquette or work habits; not to mention lessons in books.”
Her father taught her how to manage, and they practiced a few sessions.
Unabashed, she assured her father, “I will be all right. You go on, and try to be back before long. I promise I won’t’ go swimming or wandering around alone.”
Now that he was gone everything seemed different. That night she climbed in the makeshift bed and lay there with her eyes wide open staring into the darkness. The food was placed beside her, safe from prowling animals. She had to fortify herself with many prayers. Her mother had long ago assured her that she was protected by the Lord.
It was hard not to be scared. She kept her gun by her hand at all times.
She later told her descendants over and over again, “It was terrible being there at night alone in the swinging bed. The wild beasts would scream, and sniff around the house. I would cry from loneliness and fear. I had to be brave. I knew my parents would come as soon as they possibly could.”
When John Dean arrived back home in Surrey County, his wife Hannah “Polly” Marshall Dean, said, “Where, is my Pernina [Peninah]?” Her eyes were wide with fear and accusation.
John replied, “I left her in a cabin on Johns Creek, but I built a swinging bed and the cabin is very strong. You don’t have to worry. She will be all right.”
The mother was not known for taking things lightly. She stamped her foot. “You surely didn’t do such a thing. How could you possibly leave a 14 year-old alone? Oh my God. I, can’t believe you would do this. Did you leave enough to eat for her? Anything could happen to her. What if she fell? What if Indians came by?” She began to cry.
Wailing and advising everyone, Polly’s lashing tongue drove the family to make hasty preparations for the trip.
They left hurriedly, and also left behind many things they should have brought as necessary to their convenience in the Johns Creek cabin. Mrs. Dean, in her concern, wouldn’t take time to pack.
Only arrival at the cabin and finding Pernina safe alleviated the anger and fear. Dean running the last few steps, she clutched her daughter’s breast. “I never expected to see you alive” she told her.
All eyes were on Viney. “I was all right. Nothing at all happened. I watched carefully when I got water from the creek. I washed in the cabin. I missed you, but I am all right”
Around the bend from the family, a couple of years later, Samuel James was tired of being a widower. Of course, no one could replace Sarah, but already they understood the need for help and more farmhands. He must have a wife.
He found one with the friendly and active young Pernina Dean, whose bravery was an inspiration. They were married June 30, 1810. [a copy of their marriage license is for July 30, 1811.] This couple would be the progenitors of too many present progeny in Pike County to count. Samuel and Pernina raised in addition to rearing Sarah’s six children, 10 children of their own: Miranda (reported to be one of the most beautiful women ever in early Floyd (Pike) County) Harkins, Malinda Roop, Mahala Priest, Pernina Smith, Sally McCoy, Rachael Ratliff, Tammy [Tamsey] Russell, and Hannah Endicott Copley. [plus Samuel Jr. and David]
Trace after tract of the primitive wilderness of Johns Creek and on the headwaters of the tributary streams of Tug Fork passed through their hands and the hands of their sons.
Samuel built a watermill at the mouth of Brushy Creek, and did custom grinding for his settler friends. The McCoys, Roops, Fraleys, and others came to the primitive mill.
Descendants reported that perhaps Samuel James had a premonition of his death, or perhaps he was ill already when he asked his wife Pernina, “Would you rather have the mill as a gift or the sum of $500 I have saved?”
Pernina answered, “I would rather have the mill.”
Samuel was 62 years old when, in a flood, the bed of the stream pushed against the north side of Johns Creek. Somehow, Samuel drowned in 1836 [that would put his birthday in 1774]. He was buried on the sloping hill near where he met his death.
After her husband’s death, Pernina and her stalwart sons operated the mill “That mill raised my children, several grandchildren, and great-grandchildren” Pernina James told a Mrs. Honker, who recorded her words for posterity.
Pernina continued to live on the homestead until her death in 1880 [Between 1884 & 1886], and was buried at the mouth of Brushy.
Some of the James children moved to Missouri and other states. Frank and Jesse James were a part of that family. [This is pure fabrication. Jesse James’ family was from Virginia and had no connection to Massachusetts Jameses or the Bucks County, Pennsylvania Jameses]
Part III
[I don’t know what to say about this section except it is all conjecture and creative writing regarding the Floyd County Jameses.]
I had no idea when I started to research the James family that I would run into the infamous bank robbers Jesse and Frank James! Indeed, the law-abiding family background is one that should have produced top-drawer professionals, since Robert, their father, was a Baptist minister and later their stepfather was a doctor. Their mother Zerelda was from the gifted Lindsey family in central Kentucky.
According to Frederick A. James of Prestonsburg, while Zerelda was training with the Catholic Church to become a nun, and Robert was training at Georgetown College to become a minister, he convinced her to marry him.
Moving to Missouri, Robert founded the Baptist churches at New Hope and at Providence, Mo. Lee Stewart of The Rowan County Times said. “He was seen to go into the water and baptize 60 converts at one time!” His four-year-old son Jesse James was held in his mother’s arms to see the ceremony. In eight years of preaching Robert only received at total of $100. He supported his family by farming.
In 1851, the Rev. James heard of gold in California, and decided to go search for it. Jesse clung to his father. “Please don’t go, Daddy,” he sobbed.
Robert patted Jesse on the head and replied, “I need to go and find money for your education, son.”
Besides Jesse, other children were Franklin; Robert E., born 1845; Susan, born 1849.
Robert never came back. He lived 18 days after arriving in California. It was a severe loss to the family.
Just what was the connection between Robert and the Pike County Jameses? Henry Scalf provided the answer. North Carolina courthouses mention Samuel James (about whom we wrote last week) and his brother (some say cousin) Abner James, a North Carolina Revolutionary soldier, and other Jameses who came to our area.[The Jameses and their friends and relatives were all in the Union Army in the Civil War. In fact, Abner lied about his age and joined when he was 58. His oldest son William Campbell died fighting for the North.]
“Mrs. Miranda McCoy, who well knew her cousin Jesse James, says that this first Abner had a son Isaac, who apparently was the father of Robert and the grandfather of Jesse (1847 – 1882) and Frank James (1843 – 1915).” [As I said, there was no connection between the Massachusetts Jameses, the Buck County, Pennsylvania Jameses, and the Virginia Jesse James family.][There was an Abner and Jesse James in North Carolina where Samuel James came from but they have no connection to Jesse James the outlaw.]
Norah James Scalf, wife of Henry Scalf, was descended from Samuel, who named a son after the first Abner who was the great-grandfather of Norah.
Henry noted, “This tie may have made Abner James II, Norah’s ancestor, and the grandfather of Jesse and Frank first cousins, which after all, is a dubious honor in consanguinity.”
A letter from J. W. Giddens of Plainview, Texas, dated 1974, stated, “My third-great-grandfather Reuben Giddens, who settled in Pike County on Johns Creek, had a daughter Margaret. I found a record of her marriage bond in 1818 to Isaac James” [This Isaac was Samuel’s son.]
Just what psychology caused the astonishingly good turned bad is not known. We do know, according to Frederick A. James, that after Zerelda was beaten by railroad detectives and her hand was cut off, the boys concentrated a lot more on robbing trains.
Virgil Carrington Jones, in his book The Hatfields and McCoys, neatly describes the Jameses heist of the bank in Huntington, W.Va., in 1875. Despite the crackerjack way Jones polishes the story which in places, I found a little hard to swallow, the awkward truth was that the James boys clearly had brains, and were highly skilled.
Jones also aptly describes the meeting of Devil Anse and Jesse James. The chapters are well worth your reading. (The additional bonus is to find a solid grammatical approach.)
According to Lee Stewart in an article in The Rowan County Times, Zerelda also was from several prominent families. One was the Cole family. Here is a synopsis of their research.
Richard Cole Sr. was born in Pennsylvania in 1729. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. His wife, Anne Hubbard, was a Lindsey of the famous Lindsey family of Kentucky.
Cole relocated to the land between Sodom and Midway, Ky. This was a main stagecoach road from Maysville and Lexington to Frankfort and Louisville. Cole had a large log building at Sodom, Cole’s Tavern; an important stop which accommodated the traveling public. It was located two miles south on the Frankfort road, known today as Nugent’s Crossing. Famous people like Henry Clay and John J. Crittendon stayed there.
Richard’s son, Richard Cole Jr. (1763-1839), married Sally Yates, born in Pennsylvania it 1765. Richard Cole Jr. died one of the county’s wealthiest men.
The Coles’ daughter Zerelda, in December 1841 married Robert James. This was the very spotless back ground of the infamous James brothers.
Zerelda married a Dr. Reuben Samuels four years after their father died, and she had four more children. Their son, Archie Peyton, was shot to death by Pinkerton detectives when he was just nine years old.
After the Huntington, W. VA., bank robbery, the men came through parts of Pike County. Many say they hid there with relatives for some time. Many Pike County stories have been passed down to us in both written and verbal forms.
My own research reveals that Rosa Wolford of Buskirk, mother of Jimmy Wolford, singer, musician, verifies the story of how Jesse and his gang came by her grandfather’s place on the run, after the robbery, and got water. He apparently shod a horse for Jesse. The well from which Jesse drank is still in existence on her property. She shows it often.
The Mont Bevins progeny of Johns Creek relate another story. “Two horsemen rode up to the gate and asked if the family would prepare them something to eat. Bevins said yes.”
The two horsemen fed their horses and ate the meal. As they were getting ready to leave, one of them wrote a note and laid it on the dresser near the door. When the two men were gone, Bevins picked up the note and read, “You have always heard of the James boys. Now you have seen them!”
Another one comes from Dave Coleman, reported to the Ashland Daily Independent, 1951. Coleman, who died at the age of 104, lived at the head of Harless Creek, 18 miles south of Pikeville near Marrowbone. He told colorful stories about the times he had ridden with the James gang. After the Huntington robbery, he said he wanted to quit, and did so, hiding at Regina.
Scalf’s research correspondingly found that according to a Mrs. Martha James Smith Myers, Jesse and his men stayed for a week at the residence of her grandfather Joseph James.
Additionally, W.R. McCoy, a former attorney at Inez, Ky., wrote of the McCoy connection. “Abner II’s half-sister Sallie married William McCoy. Abner’s father was Samuel and his mother was Sarah Charles James. Sallie’s mother was the second wife, Pernina [Peninah] Dean James.”
W.R. said. “I am the grandson of William and Sallie. My verbal inheritance includes a story from the McCoys about Frank James. It seems that the wounded Frank ‘holed up’ with William McCoy, at Brushy Creek. Frank allegedly nursed a hip wound; hit by a lawman’s gun.” [This is highly unlikely. Most of the men in this area were in the Union Army. Plus William McCoy had been a Deputy Sheriff.]
An article, “Mountain Kinsmen Ride,” includes recollections from his aunts, Miranda McCoy and Mary Elizabeth Honaker.
When Frank stayed with William to recuperate, he used the alias, John Pierce James, and walked around limping, using a cane. None of the children could later place that name in the family tree.
Suddenly, one day at Willie McCoy and Sally James’ home, their son Andy (Miranda’s brother) blurted out, “This man who calls himself John Pierce is not John Pierce James. He is none other than Frank James who had helped orb the bank.”
In a burst of anger, William returned to Andy, “Hold your tongue! There is a big reward out for Frank and I don’t want to see it collected by anything said in this family.”
What happened was that Frank, alias J.P., having been around for a week or longer, decided one Sunday he wanted a drink of mountain whiskey. He asked Miranda where he might find some of the moonshine he knew was made in the countryside.
Miranda directed him to a person who lived at the foot of the Dug Point. Frank went down to that home and was again directed to a brother who had some whiskey in a cornfield.
Frank went out in the field, stayed too long and imbibed too freely. Coming back to the road, he found a group of boys sitting on a big rock. He climbed on the stone and began to make a speech.
“I’m Frank James, boys,” he said loudly. “I’m hiding from the law. Now just what do you think of that?” He laughed.
The boys snickered mockingly, “We’ve heard that high talk before.” Yet they began to understand.
Suddenly realizing he might have said too much, James became silent. He staggered . . . .
[I don’t have the end of the article – ld]
Transcribed by Lucy DeYoung
2002
Mountain Kinsman Ride continues much of the same misinformation that has been written about the Samuel James family.
[This is creative journalism. Although it is folk-lore in Floyd County that the James were related to Jesse James. It was not the famous outlaw. There was a Jesse James in Orange County, North Carolina and for awhile I suspected Samuel was related to him. DNA has proved him not be related, but they lived close to the Jameses in Alamance County, and I suspect Samuel named his son Abner after him.
The people who wrote the above articles put together the James family from Bucks County Pennsylvania and later Rowan County, North Carolina with the Virginia Jameses who were Jesse James’ family to prove Samuel James was related. He didn’t descend from either family. This is a classic case of starting from the desired outcome and making the facts fit. It is also bad research.]