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Chapter 11
Son ~ George Ware
It was now 1779, and James and
Caty Todd Ware had one more child to add to their very full home. James was 38 and Caty was still
young, being only 26 years old. It
is frankly a little unusual that they didn’t end up having more children, as was
the custom of the time. They were
both certainly young enough and neither marriage partner died for 13 more years. It is always possible that this last
baby was a difficult birth for Caty, rendering any further pregnancies
impossible, or the fact that James was still serving in the war and was not at
home much. The American Revolution
was due to rage on for another four years.
For whatever reason, baby
George Ware was to be the last child born to the couple.
George came into this world with
no lack of siblings to play with.
Thompson was now 10, James III was eight, Polly seven, Lucy six, Charles four,
and Kitty two. The stress of the
times was something both James and Caty still had to bear, but just one year
earlier, in 1778, France had decided to openly support the 13 colonies and enter
the war. This would bring much
needed help to the American cause for freedom.
Two years after the birth of
George Ware, the War for Independence took a dramatic twist in his home colony
of Virginia. On October 19, 1781, British General Charles
Cornwallis surrendered his army, consisting of some 8,000 men, to General George
Washington at Yorktown, thereby giving up any chance of Great Britain winning
the war. The fighting did not end
immediately, but Cornwallis’ surrender was certainly the death knell for
England’s thoughts of celebrating a victory.
Bataille de Yorktown by Auguste Couder -
Wikipedia
Born on February 9, 1779,
George spent his first formative
12 years in Virginia, but he would know Kentucky as his home longer than any of
his brothers and sisters. He settled
with James and Caty on their new land in Fayette County until he married. Letters written back to Virginia by
James Ware make clear that his son was a huge help to his parents in getting the
new home settled and profitable. In
one instance, James wrote, “George has got another fine colt out of his old mare – a horse they call Peacemaker. She is now with foul by Noxly;
pedigree enough.” (Ref. 298)
The mere fact that James made George the executor of his will shows the
closeness of the father and son.
In 1812, George Ware
experienced two life-altering experiences; he went to war and he got married. Serving under the command of Colonel
William Mountjoy, he joined the ranks of other Ware men who proudly served their
country.
(Ref. 2289)
War Record for George Ware
Then, on October 8, 1812, George married Nancy Ferguson.
Apparently she was a neighbor’s daughter because his father wrote to James III in Virginia that “George Ware is married at last to Mrs.
Ferguson’s daughter; a close neighbor. . . he was married the day I started from
Frederick.” (Ref. 298)
George was 33 years old at the
time, which is why his father probably used the phrase, “is married at last.” Nancy, born on June 6, 1790,
was only 22.
George and Nancy “lived
on the land of James Ware II.”
(Ref. 940) It
was here that they had all their children because one of the family bibles
states that their son, Abram, “always
having lived on his father’s place which had also been his grandfather’s,”
inherited the property.
(Ref. 940)
It must have been nice for
James to have George and Nancy living so close because his soul mate, Caty Todd,
had already passed away by the time they married.
He lived several years longer than she did, and his son, daughter-in-law,
and grandchildren probably brought him great solace.
It was not long before Nancy
delivered that first grandchild for him, either.
One year after their wedding, on a Sunday, she gave birth to
Elizabeth Catherine Ware on July 11, 1813. The
couple called her Catherine, probably in honor of George’s late mother. At the age of 20, Catherine married Robert James Didlake on January 31, 1833. He was only two years her senior. Robert died in February of 1859, and Catherine passed away on July 4, 1868, at the age of 55.
Photos taken by James and Judy Ware 2010
Grave of Robert Didlake
“The Gift of God is Eternal Life.”
Grave of Catharine Ware Didlake
“I know That My Redeemer Liveth.”
Even as George was starting his
family with Nancy, he was becoming involved in civic affairs. Records show the “examination of the accounts of Frederick Shyock, administrator of the estate of Frederick Shyock
deceased, by George Ware on June 2, 1814 & recorded in July court of 1814.”
(Ref. 1043A)
The next few years would see
Nancy pregnant most of the time. It
seemed like a new baby came into the home just about every two years, on the
nose. On December 18, 1814, she had
another baby girl. This one they
named Mary Ann Webb Ware, most likely
after George’s Aunt Polly whose full name was Mary Ann Todd Ware Webb. In a letter from Lucy Webb to Sally
Stribling, she wrote, “Your Uncle George
Ware’s family are well. (As of this
date) he has two daughters, nearly grown – Catharine, she is a handsome girl
with a good figure, and Mary Ann.”
(Ref. 597)
Mary Ann married Thomas Woods Goodloe on January 17, 1844, at the age of 30. They never had any children and Mary
died in January 1887.
Grave of Thomas Woods Goodloe
Grave of Mary Ware Goodloe
Photos taken by James and Judy Ware 2010
Almost two years later, to the day, Nancy gave birth to the next child. On December 23, 1816,
James Todd Ware was born; honoring both maternal and paternal grandparents with his name. Little else is known of James. He lived to be 55, and died on
Wednesday, July 5, 1871.
Grave of James Todd Ware
Photos taken by James and Judy Ware 2010
After
another two years went by, a daughter was welcomed into the family.
Ann Ware, born October 13, 1818, lived to
be only 22 years old, dying on September 12, 1840.
On November 9, 1820, another son joined the group. They named him Abraham Thompson Ware, but he was always called Abram. Sadly, his Grandpa James passed away just two months before his birth. It would be Abram, however, who would one day inherit the land his grandfather carved out for the family.
Map showing the property of A.T. Ware ~ Abraham
Thompson Ware, son of George Ware and grandson of James and Caty Ware
Abram Ware loved farming and spent his whole life on the family land. His occupation of ‘farmer’ is recorded in Pioneer Record and Reminiscences of the Early Settlers written by Rufus Putnam. (Ref. 2281) He was well known in Fayette County and obviously held in high regard. One local publication mentioned several men residing in the area, and his name appeared above the notation, “the above are all farmers and honest men.” (Ref. 2281)
It would seem that Abram never married, and he was the last descendant of James and Caty to live on the
Ware property.
On Thursday, September 29, 1890,
“Abraham Ware,
an old and wealthy farmer of Fayette
County, died.” (Ref.
940, 964)
Maps showing the location of the land of
A.T.W. (Abram Thompson Ware)
The land
was originally settled by his grandfather, James Ware II.
Grave marker for Abraham Thompson Ware –
son of George and Nancy Ware and grandson of James and Caty Todd Ware.
Photos taken by James & Judy
Ware 2010 After the birth of Abram, Nancy and George added a sixth child to the family when another son was born two years later. George Clifton Ware, born on December 29, 1822, was always called Clifton. Catherine was now nine, Mary Ann eight, James six, Ann four, and Abram was two. The Ware home was growing rapidly. Clifton lived to be 44 years old, dying on April 5, 1866.
Grave of George Clifton Ware in Lexington Cemetery
Photo taken by James and Judy Ware 2010
A son named
Charles William Ware was born on
April 7, 1825. Little is known about
him and his tombstone is very hard to read.
He died in what appears to be the month of September.
Grave of Charles William Ware
Photos taken by James and Judy Ware 2010 Charles was followed, in 1827, by another son; this one named John William Ware. John died in 1867 at the age of 40.
Grave of John W. Ware in Lexington Cemetery
Two years after the birth of Charles, Nancy delivered another daughter.
Lucy Arabella Ware, born in 1830,
married James Hutchison Shropshire in 1850.
“Lucy and James had the following
children: Mary, who married Mat
Simpson, Catherine, who married David Field, Cliff, who married, first Miss
Kinnaird, and then Miss Willie Robb, and Laura who never married. Lucy died in 1876 at the age of 46. Her husband lived another 46 years
and remarried Laura Didlake, the niece of his first wife.”
(Ref. 2227)
Grave of Lucy Ware Shropshire, and of Cliff Shropshire, son of Lucy and James H. Shropshire
Lucy Ware George and Nancy had their last child on September 13, 1833. They named him Joseph Scott Ware. Ironically, baby Joseph was born in the middle of the cholera epidemic which killed so many other family members. He survived the cholera, but he still died young in 1853 of “flux”; being only 20 years old. Flux was often the term used to describe what is now known as bloody diarrhea or dysentery. The combination of loss of water and blood could rapidly cause dehydration and eventually death. (Ref. 586, 602, 940, 970)
Grave of Joseph Scott Ware - Photos taken by James and Judy Ware 2010
Nancy and George had a total of 10 children; quite a house full. In the family records of Mary
Simpson, courtesy of L. F. Shropshire, which are kept on file in the Hayes
Library, it is stated, “the children of
George Ware and Nancy Ferguson Ware were: Elizabeth Catherine Ware, Mary Webb
Ware, James Ware, Anne Ware, Abraham Ware, George Clifton Ware, Charles William
Ware, John William Ware, Lucy Arabella Ware, and Joseph Scott Ware.” The age gap between their first
child, Catherine, and baby Joseph was 20 years.
Nancy was 43 years old at the time of her last pregnancy, and George was
54.
*** It is of interest to note that in the book
entitled Virginia Genealogies, written by Rev. Hayden, he mentions in the
back (under errors) that he mistakenly listed the children of George
and Nancy Ware under Catherine Scott. That has often confused other
researchers. The information in this
chapter is taken from court records and two family bibles.
George was very busy during those years with Nancy. He was “appointed overseer of Cleveland’s Landing Road towards Bourbon from Estes’ tavern to the Bourbon line,
in place of Jeremiah White.”
(1044A)
Just
as with his brother, Charles Ware, George also served in the capacity of a
county commissioner. It was usually
the custom for all
commissioners to work as a group of three men.
The following are some of the cases that he worked on over the years (Ref. 1043B):
George Ware and Isaac Webb
served as Commissioners on Nov. 5, 1819 in examining the accounts for the estate
of Francis Hodges deceased.
Examination & settlement of the
accounts concerning the estate of Peter Troutman deceased by George Ware on May
18, 1821 recorded in June court 1821
Examination of the accounts
pertaining to the estate of Thomas Moxley deceased by George Ware on Feb. 20,
1822
Inventory of the estate of John
Hutsell, deceased, on Nov. 27, 1822 by George Ware
Examination of the accounts of
John Hedges as executor of the estate of Peter Troutman, deceased, on Nov. 27,
1822 by George Ware and two others
Inventory of the personal estate
of Stockley Coleman deceased, by George Ware, June 23, 1821
Inventory of the personal
property & slaves of William Davis, deceased, Sept. 23, 1823 by George Ware
Division of the real and
personal estate of Thomas Moxley, deceased, among his legatees Oct. 18, 1823 by
George Ware George spent a lot of time improving the Ware property with his father. He had the help of the following slaves, who along with his family, were members of the David’s Fork Baptist Church: Charlotte, Caty, Alsy, Jane, George, and John (Ref. 965, 2004) In a letter by Cornelia Anker, she wrote, “This branch of the family were members of the Baptist church.” (Ref. 2)
Map showing David’s Fork Church
Sign in front of the church
As previously mentioned, the growth of religion in Kentucky at this time
took such a major leap that the need for new churches could hardly be met.
“A decade of debates over schedules and
use of dual meeting houses ended when Bryan’s Station Church granted letters of
dismission to 294 members for the purpose of constituting a separate church. On Wednesday, Aug. 26, 1801, the
Upper Meeting House was at last set apart as David’s Fork Church.”
(Ref. 965)
This was the same church that Polly and Charles Webb first attended, before changing over to the Disciples of Christ, and many of the letters sent back to family in Virginia had a return address on them of David’s Fork.
Map showing David Fork Church & “Ware” in Fayette County, Kentucky
David’s Fork Church
Photo taken by James and Judy Ware 2010 George and Nancy had 37 years of marriage together, with Nancy dying less than two months after George. Since we know that “George Ware, of near David’s Fork meeting house, died of cholera on Saturday, July 28, 1849,” it would seem safe to assume that Nancy’s death on Friday, September 14, 1849, could possibly have resulted from cholera as well. (Ref. 940, 975, 1069)
Death notice for George Ware (Ref.1069)
George was 71 at the time of his death and Nancy
was 59. Both were buried in the
Lexington Cemetery. (Ref. 975) It was through the line of George and Nancy that the
property of James and Caty Todd Ware stayed in the family. The roots on the family tree were now
planted deep.
Entrance into Lexington Cemetery
Supporting documents for chapter 11
Graves located in Lexington
Cemetery
Grave of George Ware
Grave of Nancy Ware
Photos taken by James & Judy Ware - 2010
Placement of original graves of George and
Nancy Ware in relation to the larger monument placed for the both of them later.
All cemetery photos taken by James & Judy
Ware in 2010 Lexington Cemetery
Monument for George and Nancy Ware placed by their children
The grave markers in front of
the tall monument are for some of their children.
Graves of Abram Ware, Mary Ware Goodloe,
and Thomas Woods Goodloe
Family section in the Lexington Cemetery
Lexington Cemetery located on West
Main Street was founded in 1849.
The land that George inherited from his father, James Ware II, was then
passed on to Abram Ware. A lot of
his Abram’s siblings and cousins lived nearby.
The map below reflects the Didlake and Shropshire names.
Map showing the property originally settled by James and Caty Todd Ware, which passed to their son, George Ware, and eventually to his son, Abraham T. Ware
Ware family bible
owned by Mary Didlake - >
Courtesy of Kentucky Historical Society
CHILDREN OF:
GEORGE WARE &
NANCY FERGUSON WARE
B. Feb. 9, 1779
B. June 6, 1790
D. July 28, 1849
D. Sept. 14, 1849
(Friday)
George Ware was the youngest son of James Ware II and his wife, Caty
Todd Ware, and also the grandson of James Ware I and his wife, Agnes Todd Ware.
He married Nancy Ferguson on October 8,
1812. George and his wife
lived on the property his father (Dr. James Ware II) settled on in Kentucky and
later they passed the same land on to their son, Abram.
(1) Elizabeth Catherine Ware
(2) Mary Ann Webb Ware
(3) James Todd Ware
(4) Ann Ware
(5) Abraham (Abram) Thompson Ware
(6) George Clifton (Clifton) Ware
(7) Charles William Ware
(8) John William Ware
(9) Lucy Arabella Ware
(10) Joseph Scott Ware
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