|
Chapter 7
Daughter ~ Mary (Polly) Todd Ware After the birth of James III in 1771, it was not long before James and Caty added another child to their growing family. In September 1772, Caty gave birth to their first daughter. (Ref. 1070) They named her Mary Todd Ware, but she was always known by the nickname of Polly. Her middle name of “Todd” was most likely bestowed in honor of both Caty’s maiden name and also the maiden name of Polly’s paternal grandmother, Agnes Todd Ware. Caty must have had her hands full with the new baby, three-year old Thompson, and one-year old James.
Polly, like her siblings, grew
up in Virginia.
It was there she met and married Charles Webb on
February 24, 1791, thus providing the first bridge between the Ware and Webb
families that would later move to Kentucky together.
(Ref. 307, 621, 1067)
Polly was only 19 years old at the time of her wedding and
Charles was 36.
Record of more family members of Charles Webb’s line -
Ref. 621
Charles Webb was the son of Isaac Webb, Sr., and his wife, Frances Barber Webb. Born in 1755, the “North Farnham Parish Register” lists the following siblings for Charles: John (1737); Giles (1741); James (1743); Cuthbert (1745); Frances (1747); Elizabeth (1749); Winny (1750); Nancy, who was called Ann (1753); Drucilla (1754); and Isaac (1758). The family bible also mentions another Isaac Ware, born in 1739, but since his name does not appear in the church register and the parents named a later child the same name, one would assume he did not survive infancy. (Ref. Sandra Walker)
Ware/Webb Bible,
showing all the siblings for Charles Webb
Charles fought in the
Revolutionary War and, along with his younger brother, Isaac, received land
bounties in Kentucky for his service. (DAR Records, Vol.64) It was not long after their
marriage that he and Polly joined the rest of the family for the big migration
to their new home.
Polly had already delivered her first baby in
Virginia, and the harsh traveling conditions must have been very difficult on
the new mother and child.
As mentioned previously,
records on file in the Rutherford
B. Hayes Library state that “Mrs. Nancy
Innis, the oldest living representation of the family in this part of the state
tells me that she often heard her mother, Mrs. Charles Webb, say that her oldest
child [Fanny] (born Dec. 1791) was but
three months old when they came to Kentucky.”
(Ref. 174)
That first baby Polly
delivered, born on December 20, 1791, was a little girl named
Frances, but everyone called her
Fanny. Just three days
shy of her 17th birthday, Fanny married William Conn on December 17, 1808, in
Fayette County, Kentucky.
(Ref. 941)
William, the brother of Polly’s sister-in-law,
Sallie Conn Ware (wife of Thompson), was the son of Thomas and Sarah Maddox
Conn.
Thomas was a wealthy man and had “received 2,196 acres
on Elkhorn & Licking on January 4, 1783. Moving around
1787, [the
family] settled on his tract which was
located west of the present town of Centerville and built a large frame house.”
(Ref. 951)
According to an
1818 deposition in ‘Conn vs. Gaines & Menifee’ located in the Fayette County, Kentucky
Record Book E on page 221, the date that Thomas Conn settled on his land is more
accurately documented as 1784. He
“continued to reside on it until his death which took
place in February 1811.” After his death, Thomas’s
holdings were divided among
his children.
His son, William, owned “a good farm, a part of the same survey
extending up to the village, and he also purchased the farm from his brother,
James, who inherited the old homestead.” (Ref. 781)
William and Fanny’s home,
which they named Bellevue, was immediately north of where her Uncle Thompson and
Aunt Sallie Conn Ware lived. In a letter that
Charles Ware wrote his brother in 1811, he mentioned that “William Conn has settled between Thompson Ware’s and his father.
[He] has built a
brick house and cleared about 20 acres of land and put it in corn and hemp.”
(Ref. 35B) The records show that “all
this land was around the headwaters of Townsend.”
(Ref. 781)
Bellevue – home of
William Conn
Bellevue – home of William Conn
All current photos
taken by James & Judy Ware 2010
Bellevue
Bellevue
The following information
concerning the property is from a book entitled, Historic Architecture
of Bourbon County, Kentucky:
“Set above
a sweeping drive near the intersection of the Georgetown and Russell Cave Roads
at Centerville, this impressive two-story brick house with a recent two-story
entrance portico probably incorporates an earlier dwelling.
It is possible that the small one-story section at the left end of the front
block dates to the first decade of the 19th century.”
(Ref.
2290)
William built the home just prior to his marriage to Fanny Webb. “At least part
of this dwelling may correspond to the structure built in 1804 or 1805 for Capt.
William Conn, a veteran of the War of 1812.”
(Ref. 2290) William and Fanny Conn only had one child together before the untimely death of Fanny at a young age. Their little daughter
was born on
September 8, 1810, and her parents named her Mary Catherine, although she
usually went by the name Catherine. When the young
girl was only two years old, her father volunteered to fight in the War of 1812.
William attained the rank of
captain and “was in the Kentucky Mounted
Volunteer Militia from August 31, 1813 to November 8, 1813 under command of
Colonel William Mountjoy.” (Ref. 1055)
War record (Ref.
2289)
When
Fanny Conn died, she left a young
daughter, a grief-stricken husband, and a bereft mother behind.
Polly Webb was
quoted by her sister as saying, “with tears in her eyes, Oh, if he {Dr.
Scott} could have only seen Fanny, I think she would have got well.”
(Ref. 597) Polly’s sorrow must have been intensified by the fact that she was already a
widow at the time of her daughter’s death. Her husband,
Charles, had passed away in 1806.
William
Conn never remarried and Catherine (Polly’s granddaughter) was doted on by her
widowed father.
When she married a Unitarian minister named John
Allen Gano on October 2, 1827, William gave the newlyweds a farm near his own,
“where his father, Thomas Conn, settled in
1787, where he lived and died in 1811.”
(Ref. 782,
951) 1) This was most likely a home known locally as “Springdale.”
Reverend
John and
Catherine’s first child, William Conn Gano, was born at Bellevue, his
grandfather’s home, in 1828. The family then
moved to Springdale (a wedding gift from William Conn) where all the other
children were born:
Richard in 1830, Fanny in 1832, Robert in 1834,
Stephen in 1836, Franklin in 1839, Eliza in 1841, John Allen in 1845, and Mary
Eliza in 1848.
(Ref. 2255)
Meanwhile,
William Conn’s brother, John, had been living for over 30 years at Rural Glen,
across the Georgetown Pike from William Conn's Bellevue, and adjoining Thomas
Conn's (then Reverend John A. Gano's) Springdale. According to
author Walter Langsam, “a one-story brick
quarters and another old outbuilding are near the house [Rural Glen]. It appears that
this was the homestead [Springdale] of Capt. Thomas Conn who came to Bourbon County in 1790 from Virginia, locating here on 2000
acres at the headwaters of Townsend Creek.”
(Ref. 2290) It is not clear
if the brick house of Rural Glen was actually built for Thomas or his son, but
John Conn was the one who inherited it.it. Then, when John
died in 1849, the Gano family became the new occupants.
They simply moved one farm over from Springdale to Rural Glen. “Gano had the house greatly enlarged about
1850 to accommodate his large family.”
(Ref. 2290)
Rural Glen (Ref. 2290) When William Conn died at Bellevue in 1872, he bequeathed Bellevue to his only daughter, so John and Catherine Gano then moved back to that house. (Ref. 941) “About 1895 this property along with the Springdale and Rural Glen farms on the north side of Georgetown road was purchased by Voleny W. Ferguson.” (Ref. 2290)
In a
letter from Lucy Webb prior to 1830, she wrote, “Your Uncle Thompson Ware (and all his
family), and your Aunt Webb, Winny Williams, Catharine Gano [Fanny’s
daughter] are
all Unitarians.
Mr. Gano is a Unitarian preacher – no great thing.
He’s a smart man enough if he would let preaching alone.
Catherine has a son – calls him William Conn (after her father).
If her mother [Fanny] had lived, she would have never married Gano; her Grandmama [Mary Polly Todd Ware] very much opposed
to it, but likes him very well now. He is a sickly
man, worth nothing, but her father [William
Conn] has
bought James Conn’s place adjoining him. They live there
(if he ever pays for it) though the payments are quite easy.”
(Ref. 597)
Lucy’s somewhat unflattering comments about John Gano
probably stemmed from the sudden and intense religious changes that were
occurring in Kentucky at the time.
“During the
colonial period, the Episcopal church had been the official church of the colony
of Virginia.
At first no other denominations were permitted, but in time
a measure of tolerance was exercised and dissenting churches were permitted to
hold services.
Nevertheless, members of all denominational affiliations
were taxed for the support of the Anglican Church.”
(Ref. 2265)
Needless to say, this caused unhappiness among non-Anglicans.
“The controversy
developed along the denomination lines, with the Presbyterians and Baptists in
the forefront of the dissenter’s ranks.”
(Ref. 2265)
When the Wares settled in Kentucky, most of the family members joined different
Baptist churches.
“Westerners, for the
most part, detested the English social and political systems which the Episcopal
Church represented.
It was partly this system of society which drove the
Kentucky settlers out of the eastern seaboard colonies into the West.”
(Ref. 2208)
The newly settled frontier provided fertile ground for the quickly growing Baptist
movement.
Around 1800, there was a “Great Revival which
increased in intensity until an amazing climax was reached at Cane Ridge, near
Paris, in the Bluegrass Region. It was estimated
variously that from twenty to thirty thousand people assembled at the small log
meetinghouse.”
(Ref. 2265)
It was an unbelievable mass of people who gathered to find
their salvation, and “one of the more
interesting aspects of the Great Revival as it spread across the south from 1801
to 1803 was the close cooperation between the Methodist, Baptist, and the
Presbyterian teachers.”
(Ref. 2265)
Original Cane Ridge Meeting House
Cane Ridge Meeting House
Photos courtesy of
James & Judy Ware 2010.
There is now a shrine built
completely around the old log meeting house which is still intact
In time, however,
as will happen, “feelings of resentment
between the sects became apparent and soon several of the churches themselves
became divided.” (Ref.
2265) In an effort to
avoid infighting and hard feelings among the Christian neighbors, a new offshoot
of the Baptist church was formed, called the Unitarian Church. Even the name they chose for
themselves spoke of its goal; to “unify” Christians in their faith and stop the
divisiveness that was splitting communities apart. The Unitarian church would eventually
become known as the “Disciples of Christ,” a denomination founded on the core
principle of tolerance.
As staunch Baptists, it would have been only natural
to have a certain attitude of skepticism at the beginning, as Lucy and Polly
obviously did.
It is nice to know their opinion changed over time, and
Polly actually joined the same church as her granddaughter.
In September 1827, “during that meeting he
immersed Mrs. George W. Williams and her mother, Mrs. Mary Todd Webb.”
(Ref. 2255)
Catherine’s husband, Reverend John Allen Gano, came
from a long line of ministers. “His
grandfather was a Baptist minister
who
served under General Washington as chaplain in the Revolution. (Ref. 81)
Reverend Gano was loved by many and was the minister who
later officiated at the weddings of so many of Catherine’s cousins by her Uncle
Thompson.
(Ref. 782, 951
It would seem, however, that both John and Catherine were
hindered with poor health.
Even in his younger years, John was “in bad health” and in 1822, “was suddenly and violently attacked with
hemorrhage of the lungs.”
(Ref. 2293)
He “was hindered but little in his labors, and so far as his
health and strength would admit, he gave himself wholly to the work.
In after years, the long and protracted ill health of his wife restricted his
field of labor to the regions around his home.”
(Ref.
2293) Reverend
John Gano died in 1887.
Gravesite of John Allen Gano and his wife, Mary Catherine Conn Gano
***
It is of interest
to note that their son, Richard, “was the great, grandfather of Howard Hughes.” (Ref. 523)
Polly and Charles Webb were well settled in Kentucky
before adding any more children to their family. The next few
years must have been heart breaking ones for Polly because every two years she
gave birth to a son that was destined to die in infancy.
She and Charles would lose three children in a row.
James Webb was born in 1793,
Charles Webb was born in 1795, and
another baby named Charles Webb was
born in 1797.
There was a seven year difference between the birth of
their first child, Fanny, and the birth of the next child that would live to see
adulthood.
Surely Caty and James grieved mightily with their oldest
daughter as she suffered these difficult losses.
Finally, on July 2, 1798, Polly and Charles welcomed
a son who was strong enough to survive the harsh times in which he was born.
They wanted a namesake for Charles so very much that they also named this fourth
son Charles Henry Webb Jr.
This Charles not only made it to adulthood, but he, fittingly, became a doctor.
Dr. Charles Henry Webb Through marriage, Charles Henry Webb joined a very interesting family. On February 15, 1827, the handsome young doctor married a lovely woman named Cassandra Frances Ford. She came from a wealthy family with a most colorful reputation.
Cassandra Ford Webb Cassandra’s father was “James Ford, the notorious leader of the Ford’s Ferry Gang that operated out of Cave-In-Rock, a very large cave hollowed out in a huge mass of rock lying at the junction of where the Cumberland River meets the Ohio River.” (Ref. 2094, 2205, 2206, 2207, 2267) Ford was described as “one of the cleverest and most ruthless of American criminal masterminds.” (Ref. 2265)
Looking out of Cave-in-Rock (Photo by Waymark)
Cassandra’s father led a somewhat “double life,” however. For a great deal of time, nobody
connected him with crimes being committed against travelers on the river. He
“had been elected a delegate to the Tennessee Constitutional Convention in 1795, he was Captain
of the Livingston County Cavalry of the 24th Regiment of Kentucky Militia from
July 1, 1799 to Dec. 15, 1802, he was justice of the peace of Deer Creek,
Livingston Co., Kentucky in 1803, and in May 1809, the acting Governor of
Illinois appointed Ford justice of the peace for Randolph County.”
(Ref. 2267) James had all the
appearances of a law-abiding citizen; greed got the better of him, though.
Ford
heard that a man named “Sam Mason would lure the flat
boats into the cave and then rob the occupants of their wares and kill them. The average flatboat carried 18
people. Since the boats were carried
by the river current as propulsion they simply drifted right into Sam’s hands.” (Ref. 2094)
Ford wanted a piece of the action.
Cave-in-Rock
James Ford “was a very large young man, powerful and
versed in the frontier. He was over
300 pounds and had a commanding voice that came across very authoritative.”
(Ref. 2094)
He was not a man to
argue with and he had quite a little scam going.
Not only did he “own
Hurricane Island and a 500 acre plantation,
where he made his home on the river near Kirksville,” he also “built and
maintained a road on either side of his ferry, up-stream from the Cave.
When other men would try to operate similar services to cross the Ohio River,
Ford eliminated his competition by blocking the road with felled trees and
intimidating them through his henchmen.”
(Ref. 2267) Although he may not have played a personal role
in the robberies and murders from the Cave-In-Rock, he undoubtedly was the
puppet master.
As recorded in a
book about Thomas Jefferson’s nephews: “There was a ferry across the river at Hurricane Island controlled by James Ford, who, by 1808,
had been justice of the peace, and had influenced the establishment of ferries
and roads that led the innocent to their ruin . . . Hurricane Island was used as
a depot for stolen horses and livestock and boats that had been deliberately
wrecked and looted there.” (Ref. 2265)
It
soon became known that “navigation past
Hurricane Island was very dangerous.” (Ref. 2266)
The big problem
was that by Ford serving as “Justice of
the Peace and later the sheriff, he represented the ultimate legal authority in
the region. He was even generous to
those who were needy, so he was well liked by many. He had a wife and three children.
Ford would watch travelers coming into the areas and if they had money or goods,
he would direct his gang to rob them after he had ferried them across the river
at Ford’s Ferry. He was mostly
unsuspected as a criminal so the new settlers would report the robberies and
murders to him - thinking he was the law.” (Ref. 2094)
On one occasion, “Ford and his gang caught some travelers and confiscated their belongings. For some reason, they let a young doctor, who was headed for St. Louis to set up practice, go free. They put him in a boat, told him to get down and not raise up until a time specified by the gangsters. Among the things taken from the party was a mandolin belonging to the young doctor. Finally he landed against the Kentucky shore. He started out through the country until finally a beautiful young lady, driving a buggy, came along and insisted she be allowed to help him. He was hungry, tired, and dirty. She took him to her home and the first thing he saw was his mandolin. He was curious, but didn’t ask any questions. Not knowing who he had run into at Cave-in-Rock or really what the situation was, he kept his cool and let things work out themselves. He was treated so well that he stayed around and set up practice at Salem, Kentucky, being the first medical doctor the town ever had. Also, he fell in love with the beautiful young lady who rescued him and they were married. Who was the girl? She was none other than Ford’s daughter, Cassandra.” (Ref. 4, 2267)
Cave Entrance
Time
eventually caught up with James Ford.
“The locals got tired of the harassment of travelers
in the area and it got out who was behind the gang. On July 5, 1833, at his plantation,
the Regulators paid James Ford a visit.
They ordered him to hitch up his wagon and get to a small house down the
road. He knew what was happening but
didn’t act like he was bothered by it.
He sat in a chair in the dogtrot of the house and a man loaded a gun
inside the house and aimed the rifle thru the logs of the wall. Ford made a statement to a slave by
saying, ‘I guess I’ll eat my supper tonight in hell’ right before the man with
the gun fired. It took 2 days to
make a casket to fit his large frame.
Slaves were used to build it and also to put him on the wagon to take him
to the burial site. There was no
funeral. The wagon ascended a steep
hill toward the burial site and the coffin slipped out onto the road. With difficulty the slaves picked it
up and took it to the grave opening.
With the weight they were carrying, it was hard.
A lightning storm came up and while the effort was made to get the coffin
into the ground, a large clap of thunder hit.
The slaves were afraid and dropped the casket headfirst into the grave. They ran away, as fearful of him in
death as they had been in life. They
later filled in the dirt on the coffin with him being buried, to this day,
headfirst. One slave said he saw a
vision at the clap of thunder of Ford plunging headfirst into Hell. The community at large breathed a
sigh of relief but feared the gang would avenge his death. They did not, eventually breaking up
and moving down the Natchez Trace.” (Ref. 2094) Mentioned in a book entitled, Satan’s Ferryman,
Cave-in-Rock is now a state park in Illinois where thousands visit each year. It was actually used for the movie
“How the West Was Won,” which starred Jimmy Stewart. (Ref. 2094, 2205, 2206, 2207, 2267)
Presumably, Charles and Cassandra were unaware of the
details of how her father obtained his money. They were well
respected citizens in the town in which they lived, and Dr. Webb had a
flourishing medical practice. He and Cassandra
provided Grandma Polly Webb with nine beautiful grandchildren:
Mary Susan Webb, Frances Conn Webb, James Philip Webb, Nancy Winifred Webb,
Cannie Webb, Charles William Webb, Augusta Ware Webb, Charles Henry Webb III,
and another Cassandra Webb.
Sorrow seemed to plague Polly, however, as tragedy
surrounded so many of her children and grandchildren.
There was a horrible steamboat accident that nearly killed her one
granddaughter, Nancy Winifred Webb, who had been born in 1832.
The little girl survived, but her father and sister did not.
Charles Henry Webb and her granddaughter, Cannie Webb, died in the same
accident.
Cannie was only 11 years old at the time.
(Ref. 1097) The devastating event occurred aboard a steamboat called “Lucy Walker,” which was owned by Joe Vann. It was “built for Webber Falls/Louisville trade, weighed 182 tons, and frequently steamed to both Louisville, Kentucky and New Orleans, Louisiana.” (Ref. 496, 2202) According to several sources, “at about 5 o’clock on October 23, 1844, the vessel’s engines stopped and she drifted mid-river about 4 or 5 miles below New Albany while some repairs went underway. Suddenly, the steamer’s three boilers exploded in a mighty blast, propelling shards of metal and pieces of human flesh. One man shot 50 feet in the air only to fall as a missile piercing the boat’s deck. Another was sliced in half by a piece of a boiler wall. The vessel caught fire and quickly sank . . . soon the water was filled with bodies of passengers and crew, both the living and the dead. Many were mangled or burned and survived only by rescue efforts of Captain L.B. Dunham and crew of the nearby snag-boat named ‘Gopher.’ ” (Ref. 1097, 2202) It was a horrendous sight. “This disaster was especially notorious because of the complication of calamities which accompanied it; the explosion itself, the ensuing fire that enveloped what was left after the explosion, and the sinking of the steamboat which resulted in many drowning. Everything happened in such a short space of time that the whole tragedy was completed within a few minutes.” (Ref. 1097, 2202)
In
the following remarkable and jaw-dropping story, provided kindly by Sandra
Walker, a descendant of Charles Henry Webb, the horror of the accident can be
fully appreciated.
This family history has been lovingly preserved
through the generosity of Sandra and also Mrs. William Pitt Trimble, the last
known owner of the family bible of Charles Henry Webb.
The original account was written by Augusta Ford Andrews - - daughter of Augusta
Ware Webb Ford, granddaughter of Dr. Charles Henry Webb, and great granddaughter
of Polly Ware Webb.
“Every year my
mother's father, Charles Henry Webb, Jr., M.D., went to visit his mother Polly
Todd Ware, (Mrs. Charles Henry Webb, Sr.). In 1844, as per schedule, he
took the trip, leaving his wife (who was expecting a child) and the two youngest
children at home. He left the two oldest girls in school in
Lexington, Ky. He took Cannie (Cassandra) 11, Nannie (Nancy Winifred) 12,
his wife’s half brother (Marse Jim Bobby) James Robert, about 14, and two horses
on the steamboat Lucy Walker from Cincinnati to New Orleans to visit his mother.
His wife, Cassandra, was not making the trip. She was
‘expecting’ and it was not considered proper to appear in public or to make long
journeys when you were pregnant. Also, there were
two younger children at home to be cared for.
“The two little girls were in one state room with a
servant, and Dr. Webb and his brother-in-law occupied another stateroom.
Cannie was recuperating from an illness and her hair had been cut short.
“Around five o’clock in the morning, the boy woke up
and went below deck to check on the horses. That was the
last time Marse Jim Bobby was seen. The boiler blew.
His body was never found.
“Dr. Webb rushed out on deck.
There was another explosion and a piece of metal hit him in the throat.
The riverboat was on fire and sinking. Complete
pandemonium set in.
“A passenger caught the two little girls who were
running around the deck in their night dresses. He pushed a
mattress in the water and put the little girls on it.
The mattress started to sink. Nannie told her
little sister that they had to get off the mattress. They could not
hold onto the same side because it would tip. They slipped off
into the water, one on each corner of the mattress, diagonally.
The current caught the mattress as the boats were coming out to pick up
survivors.
“A mattress floating on the water was of no concern.
Two little girls at water line didn’t even show up. The sparks from
the fire had ignited the mattress. When the fire
had burned to the edge and it was too close to hold on any longer, Nannie said,
“Cannie, don’t be afraid; just hold on until I count to three and we will both
let go together.”
Nannie counted to three; they both let go of the
mattress and sank below the water. Nannie struggled
to break the surface for air and went down again. Just when she
was sure she couldn’t make it to the surface again, a man in a small boat looked
down and saw something floating in the water. He reached over
and grabbed a handful of hair and lifted a little naked girl out of the water
(the current had ripped her thin nightdress off.) They wrapped her in a
rough blanket.
“She was in shock and didn’t know who she was or where she
was from.
Someone brought her a dress. She said, “That
is a servant’s dress,” so they knew she was from a “well-to-do” family.
They had heard about an accident upriver that morning so they took her where the
survivors were to find out who she was. She didn’t
recognize anyone so they took her where the injured were.
“Dr. Webb was with the casualties, his throat was
bandaged and blood had soaked through. He could not
speak and knew he was dying. When Nannie saw
him, she shook her head.
No! Her father
didn’t look like that!
“He motioned for paper and something to write with
and wrote: “This is my daughter, Nancy Winifred Webb.
Please contact my wife, Cassandra Ford Webb.” (He also wrote)
where to reach her.
Word was sent to his home and his pregnant wife rode
three days on horseback to claim her child and the bodies of her husband and
daughter.
The baby was born and named Cassandra; she was also called
Cannie for her sister who drowned.”
(Ref. 475)
It is hard to fathom the depth of Polly’s grief upon
hearing the news of the explosion. Her husband was
already dead, her oldest daughter had passed away, and now her beloved Charles,
the son whose birth she had waited and prayed for, was gone too.
It was on his yearly trip to visit her that this happened.
Instead of hearing the welcomed voice of her son at her door, she had to hear
the news that both he and one of her granddaughters were dead.
Cassandra Webb, deeply grieving like her
mother-in-law, had to have been one very strong, gutsy woman to handle all that
was suddenly thrust into her lap. In addition to
the new baby Cannie, born under such stressful conditions, she still had all her
other children to now raise as a single parent.
Augusta Ware Webb, one of the daughters of Charles
and Cassandra, lived well into adulthood. Born October 2,
1840, she was only four years old at the time of the accident, but she must have
been a great comfort to her mother. Augusta married
her cousin, Francis N. Ford, the son of her mother’s brother, Philip Ford.
They were wed on July 21, 1869, at a Presbyterian church in Cincinnati,
Ohio.
(Ref. 476) The
couple provided two great grandchildren for Polly; Cannie Webb Ford and Augusta
Ware Webb Ford.
Cannie married William Pitt Trimble in 1897; “a millionaire and one of the wealthiest
men in Seattle.”
(Ref. 1097, 2204)
In a truly bizarre twist of fate, she also died in a
drowning accident.
She was with her husband and oldest son in their
1929 Pierce Arrow sedan when it plunged into Washington State’s Elliott Bay.
Cassandra
Trimble (1871-1929), December 8, 1929
William had
stopped the car at the end of the pier to check the engine, but had accidently
left the car in gear.
When it suddenly lurched forward, Cannie was trapped
inside the car “as it smashed through a railing and plunged, nose first, into the water.
It sank like a stone in 36 feet of water.”
(Ref. 2204) The Trimbles, who were an older
couple at the time, left five grown children to carry on the name; Ford, William
Jr., Mary, Augusta, and Webb.
Cassandra’s other granddaughter (and Polly’s great
granddaughter), Augusta Ware Webb Ford, married William Johnson Andrews of
Raleigh, North Carolina, and they had three daughters.
William J. Andrews, Augusta Ford Andrews, &
daughters:
Augusta Webb Ford Andrews with 2
of her daughters, Martha & Augusta
Left to right – Martha Bailey
Hawkins Andrews, baby sister - Jane Virginia Hawkins Andrews, and oldest sister
- Augusta Ware Webb Ford Andrews Surely Polly Webb would have been pleased to know that her son’s name was carried on in such beautiful girls. In a 1945 letter written by Cornelia Ware Anker, she wrote: “Among Father’s letters, I find one written in 1917 from Augusta Ware Webb Ford. She was a descendant of Mary Todd Ware and Charles Webb. She seemed to be a very lovely person and sent her photograph.” (Ref. 2)
Aside from Charles Henry Webb Jr., the only other
son that Polly and Charles Webb had was a boy named
John Webb who was born on October 23,
1799; just one year after his older brother was born.
In Hayden’s genealogy book, he wrote “Mary
Todd Webb’s son, John, lives in Hopkinsville, Kentucky,” but, so far, there
are no other records for him. Polly delivered another baby girl on December 18, 1801. They named her Nancy Webb. There was a 10-year difference between Nancy and her older sister, Fanny, but only about three years between her and her two older brothers. Polly was now 29 years old, and husband Charles was 46. This would be the last grandchild from Polly that Grandma Caty Todd would get to know before her death.
Nancy married Dr.
Harry (Henry) Eggleston Innes in Paris, Kentucky, on Tuesday, July 27, 1819.
(Ref. 974) He was the
youngest son of Hugh Innes and Hannah Eggleston.
(Ref. 2017, 2201) “Dr. Innes
did service
in the War of 1812 as a surgeon’s mate in the company of Capt. Mathew Flourney,
a part of the first regiment commanded by Col. George Trotter of Lexington.
He received a pension for his service during the war.”
(Ref. 2017)
Nancy and her husband owned land that joined property owned
by Henry’s brother on Russell Cave Road. “The tax record of
1817 for Fayette County showed Dr. Henry Innes with 880 acres of land on the
Elkhorn River.
A small brick house discovered in the field on the property
was probably the house built by Harry Innes as his place of residence.”
(Ref. 2017)
(Ref. 1022), Map showing location of Corinthia
In the years 1831-32, Henry Innes represented
Kentucky in the state legislature.
(Ref. 2017, 2201) His
cousin, Thomas Todd, would later be named by President Thomas Jefferson as a
Justice of the Supreme Court. According to
a letter sent to Sally
Stribling, written sometime after 1820, her Aunt Lucy Webb wrote, “Nancy Innes has four
children: Charles, Mary, Frances, and Robert. The doctor is a
very clever, rich man.”
(Ref. 597)
Some of his great wealth could be seen in the home
that Dr. Innes started to build for his son, Charles. “The casual
viewer takes little notice of the house in the distance [meaning the home of Dr.
Innes] as their eyes are drawn to the stately house closer to the road.
This house, called Corinthia, was built for his son, Charles Webb Innes.
It is an enormous house with massive columns on the front.
The construction of Corinthia was begun in 1832 but took many years to complete.”
(Ref. 2017)
According to a Kentucky home registry, the home is also known today as Oak Wind
Farm.
Corinthia Photos taken by James and Judy Ware 2010
Sadly, Nancy’s husband died in 1833 during the
horrible cholera outbreak that swept through Kentucky.
The family bible records his death date as “June 18, 1833.”
Since his will stated that “the mansion
house and 300 acres went to his widow and the remaining 720 acres were to be
divided among his three infant heirs,” one can assume that one of the
children must have already died.
(Ref. 2201)
Entrance
Gate leading into Corinthia
All photos of Corinthia provided courtesy
of James & Judy Ware 2010
Corinthia
Home of Charles Webb Innes Wall in front of Corinthia
Current map (as of 2011) showing
the approximate location of Corinthia in respect to Russell Cave Road, Ware Road
(home of James II), and Grissom and Stewart Roads where the Webb/Ware Cemetery
is located.
The last child born to Polly and Charles Webb was
another daughter.
This one arrived on February 29, 1804, and they
named her Winifred, or Winny. By the time the
little girl turned just two years old, her father had passed away.
Charles Webb died in 1806, leaving his 34-year old wife to raise their children
alone.
Her brother, Thompson, once wrote, “Your
Aunt Polly Webb is a widow and I suppose will never marry again.”
(Ref. 35E)
Polly must have been a wonderful influence on her
family, for all her children married well. Winny married
Major George W. Williams on March 23, 1824.
(Ref. 589,
621, 2204)
George, a
true romantic, was, obviously, very much in love with her.
In a letter written three
years after their wedding, he shared his feelings with Winny’s cousin, Josiah
William Ware.
In flowery, sentimental words, he wrote:
“There was but one object on earth whose idea was enthroned
in the center of my soul.
The possession of that object was the culmination of
all my hopes, of all my desires. You know that
Heaven gave it to me and in it, my wife. Since that time,
the delirium (of young love) has subsided, the fever has abated, but in its
place there has come a calm, a sensible, a reasonable knowledge of the worth of
woman and the blessings of matrimony. What I have said, I
assure you, is religiously true.”
(Ref. 141)
Small section of the letter – original
copy owned by James & Judy Ware
Winny and George seem to have had a very close
marriage.
Lucy Webb, her aunt, wrote that “Winny
Williams has four children; Mary,
Franklin, Frances Webb, and I think the youngest named George.
She is in very bad health ever since her confinement about 4 months ago.
Mr. Williams is a sensible, clever man. I suppose he
will be rich at the death of his father, should he outlive him.
But Winny is very independent herself. With the
assistance of her mother, they are all doing well.”
(Ref. 597)
Winny obviously recovered her health after the birth of the baby mentioned in the
above letter because she and George went on to have a total of 12 children
together!
The Williams family was very active in the Paris,
Kentucky, community.
The “first
debating society was organized in Paris” around the year they married and
George was listed as “among the prominent
members there.”
(Ref. 2255) The family attended the Unitarian church that sprung up in the town, and
despite Polly’s initial reservations about the new church, she decided to be
baptized there along with her daughter.
Even though Winny was baptized in the Disciples of
Christ faith, it is interesting to note that on February 25, 1864,
“George W. Williams and his wife Winifred
Williams sold eight acres of land to the Right Reverend George Alloysius Carrel,
Roman Catholic Bishop of Covington of the County of Kenton and the State of
Kentucky and to Reverend Father Brandts ‘and to his successors in office forever
to be held and used as a Catholic buring gound.’ ”
(Ref. 2283)
The entrance to this graveyard is 60 19th Street,
Frankfort, Kentucky, and it is known as Mt. Olivet Cemetery.
Entrance into Mt. Olivet Cemetery
(Ref. 2283) Having graduated from old Transylvania University, George’s education served him well. He had a very lucrative law practice and was described as being a “man of prominence in his profession.” (Ref. 2255)
Transylvania University
He “served more than 20
consecutive years without a single defeat in both Houses of the Legislature, and
in conjunction with Honorable Garret Davis, he represented Bourbon County in the
convention which framed the Constitution of Kentucky.”
(Ref. 2255, 2203) Some years before the Civil War,
George “freed his slaves and was an uncompromising Union man during the war.”
(Ref. 2279)
Clearly, Winny was well loved in the community as
well.
The following excerpt from A History of Kentucky and
Kentuckians gives a wonderful account of her life.
One of Winny’s daughters, Frances Conn Williams, married Thomas Henry Clay on July 26, 1864. He was a cousin of the famous orator, Senator Henry Clay.
The Heights
Fannie and Thomas built a lovely home.
The “two-story Greek Revival frame house
with a series of Queen Anne and colonial revival additions and alterations forms
one of the larger residences in Bourbon
County.”
(Ref. 2290)
Thomas was
“a successful farmer [who] owned 3,000 acres by 1877 and named his farm the
Heights.”
(Ref. 2290)
The Clays had five children.
The youngest, Nannine Williams, married Frederick Alfred Wallis on April 4,
1901. “The Clays were among the most socially prominent and wealthiest families in
Bourbon County, Ky. The bride's great-grandfather, Col. Henry Clay, had been
politically active, heading an emancipationist society to end slavery and
running for office on behalf of that cause. Her grandfather, Samuel "Graybeard"
Clay, had taken some 400 acres given him by the colonel and expanded that
holding to more than 10,000 acres. Her parents' elegant home was called
The Heights and was ranked as one of the most beautiful of the entire
Bluegrass state. Her father was active in the Christian Church of Paris,
Kentucky.”
(Ref. 2255 & Sandra Walker)
The home of Nannine and Frederick
Wallis is
now owned by the Woman’s Garden Club. The “Nannine
Clay Wallis Arboretum” is located at
616 Pleasant Street, Paris, Kentucky, and has been
preserved in her honor.
(Ref.2204)
The Wallis House
Home of Nannine and Frederick
Wallis
Signs in the front
Nannine Clay Wallis Arboretum
Photos taken by James
& Judy Ware, 2010 When Polly and Charles Webb first came to Kentucky, they settled around the Versailles and Paris area. Their land was “on the waters of David’s Fork of Elkhorn in Fayette County.” (Ref.1057)
Location where Polly and Charles
Webb lived
Charles was
active in public affairs and, at one point, when
“William
Smith was appointed overseer of Cleveland’s road from the crossroads at Pew’s
Tavern to the county line, Charles Webb was assigned to furnish a list of the
hands.” (Ref.1044)
The family, as
mentioned before, was also active in the church.
“With the transfer of other social
institutions from Virginia, the church found its way across the mountains too. In 1781, the Baptist Traveling Church
came to Kentucky from Virginia. The
different denominations were influential in shaping the doctrinal beliefs of the
frontier.”
(Ref. 2208)
Most of the Ware families seemed
to gravitate to the Baptist church, at least in the beginning. The Webbs were first members of the David’s Fork Baptist Church. “It was begun as a branch of Bryant’s Station Church which was constituted in 1786 and remained so for about 15 years.” (Ref. 2282) During the Great Revival era, or what has been called the Second Great Awakening, “over 500 new members joined the church. Bryan’s Station was so large and its membership was scattered over so great an area, that another house of worship was built upon the headwaters of David’s Fork Creek.” (Ref. 2282) David’s Fork Baptist Church then “became an independent church on August 26, 1801.” (Ref. 2209)
David’s Fork Baptist Church circa 1940’s
(Ref. 965)
David’s Fork Baptist Church as of 2010 Photos below taken by James & Judy Ware
Not only did Polly and Charles attend David’s Fork
Baptist Church, but they also made sure their slaves attended there as well.
The records show both the baptism and death dates for their slaves Sucky and Virgin. The records
also show that “in March of 1803, Pompy
had a complaint lodged against him for threatening to start a fire, and Alse had
a complaint lodged for committing adultery, disobedience, and lying.”
(Ref.
2004)
In later years (as mentioned before), Polly decided to change over to the Unitarian
Church with her daughter and granddaughter.
(Ref. 965)
All photos taken by James & Judy Ware 2010
Interior of David’s Fork Baptist
Church
Thompson Ware and his
large household stayed in close contact with Polly’s family.
Her brother wrote in a letter that, “Your
Aunt Polly Webb lives within a mile, where we can see each other every week.”
(Ref. 35E) That must have been a
great comfort to Polly, especially after Charles died.
Her life in Kentucky had not been an easy one. Polly had
endured the hard trip to her new home on the frontier with an infant in her
arms.
She then gave birth to, and lost, three baby sons in a row.
She watched as her oldest daughter, Fanny, died a premature death, and then she
had to deal with the tragic deaths of her son, Charles, and one of her
granddaughters in the steamboat accident. Her husband,
Charles Webb, died when Polly was only 34 years old, and she subsequently spent
48 long years as a widow.
She must have relied on her brother quite a bit over
the years.
When Charles died in 1806, “his brother, Isaac, and Polly were the
administrators of his will, and they had an estate sale on July 8, 1806.
(Ref. 974)
This was quite common at the time.
“Earlier, on May 12, 1806, an inventory
and appraisal of the estate of Charles Webb, deceased, was ordered to be
recorded.” (Ref. 1044C) It must have
been quite a chore to settle all of the estate because the records show
transactions still occurring as late as 1819, a full 13 years after his death.
The Fayette County, Kentucky Records show some of the settlements that
came out of the estate of Charles Webb:
Survey &
division of land of Charles Webb, deceased, 309 acres adjoining James Ware and
bounded by Isaac Webb, and allotment of widow’s dower. April 6, 1819 Papers
also dealt with division of slaves to Charles Webb, Nancy Webb, and Winney Webb.
Appraisal of the personal estate
of Charles Webb deceased, by commissioners & recorded in May Court 1806.
Account of
the sales of the estate of Charles Webb, deceased, August 11, 1806 and Dec. 15,
1807, total 800 pounds, 2 shillings, 9 pence. Signed by James
Webb, administrator.
Recorded Nov. Court 1808
Allotment to the widow of Charles
Webb, deceased, of her dower, 1/3 of the sales amount of the estate, plus
property and land by commissioners recorded Nov. court 1808
Accounts of the estate of Charles
Webb, deceased, with Isaac Webb administrator and Polly Webb Administratrix,
April 13, 1808 by commissioners & recorded in Nov. Court 1808
Allotment
of the estate of Charles Webb, deceased, to his daughter Fanny, recorded April
court 1809
(Ref. 1043C)
“Leonard Young, Clifton Rodes, Asa
Thompson, and William Smith Jr. were appointed Commissioners to examine and
settle the accounts of Isaac Webb and Polly Webb, administrators of the estate
of Charles Webb deceased and also to allot and set apart to the widow of the
decedent her dower in the estate of her husband.”
(Ref. 1044C)
On the petition of Polly Webb and
Isaac Webb, administration of the estate of Charles Webb deceased is granted
them – they entering into bond with James Ware.
(Ref. 1044B)
Polly Todd Ware Webb lived a remarkable life during an era in our country’s history fraught with danger and adventure. From traveling (as a new mother) on a flatboat down the river to raising her family under the harshest of conditions, she embodied the true spirit of the pioneer woman.
sample
Polly enjoyed sharing her memories with her many
grandchildren, and they, in turn, passed on her story to each new generation.
This oral history provides great insight into her life and the situations she
experienced. One such example is the following story kindly shared by Sandra
Walker, Polly’s great, great, great granddaughter. One can almost
hear the sound of Polly’s voice as her story is told once more.
“The country was still a wild and a dangerous place
to live.
A relative and his family had headed west, where land was
plentiful and possibilities were endless. Small
communities formed for protection and help with labor.
One afternoon the children were out in the yard
while their mothers were doing the laundry. The men were
away from the house, clearing land. A small group of
Indians suddenly appeared and rode through the yard, pulling the wet laundry
down and dragging it on the ground. It was not an
attack, just harassment.
As they made their final circle of the yard, one of
the braves leaned down and scooped up a young child and rode off with her.
The girl’s mother ran to ring the bell and summon the men from the fields.
When they arrived, she told them what had happened. A group was
gotten together to go find the little girl. When they reached one of the camps, the men had the children all line up and they rode down the line. No white child was to be seen. All the children were Indian looking with black hair. The men turned their horses and started to ride out to look for another camp.
They had not gone far when the father of the little girl
changed his mind and the others followed him back. He knew his
eyesight was failing, so he wanted to double check. He made the
Indians line up the children again, but this time he dismounted and laid his
hand on each child’s head, pushing their hair back and speaking softly.
He would quietly ask, “Is that you, Daughter?” About halfway
down the line, he pushed the hair back on another child and asked, “Is that you,
Daughter?”
There was a pair of blue eyes looking up at him and
a timid little voice answered, “Yes papa.” He picked up his
little girl, placed her on his horse, mounted behind her and started for home.
He asked, “Child, why didn’t you let us know you were there when we came the
first time?”
She replied softly, “Papa, I was so scared.”
The reason he had not recognized her from the
beginning was because her hair had been dyed and cut and her skin stained.
Other than that, she was unharmed.”
(Oral history)
With the telling and retelling of the story over the
years, the names of the specific people involved have, unfortunately, been lost.
Polly Webb may have been speaking about a friend, a relative, or possibly even
herself.
It was not that unusual for a white child to be carried off
by Indians in those early years in Kentucky. In fact, Daniel
Boone had encountered the same situation when his own daughter was captured in
1776.
Boone and his men were able to track her whereabouts and
rescue her as well.
(Ref. 2114)
Whoever Polly was referring to in her reminiscences,
it serves as a stark reminder of the bravery shown by these early ancestors and
the hardships they endured.
Polly Ware Webb lived to be 82 years old.
She outlived not only her husband but most of her children.
She passed away “after Christmas, on
December 29, 1854 of paralysis.”
(Ref. 970)
Supporting Documentation for Chapter 7
CHILDREN OF:
MARY (POLLY) TODD WARE and
CHARLES WEBB
B.
Sept. 4, 1772
B. Feb. 6, 1755
D. Dec. 29, 1854
D. 1806
Polly Ware was the daughter of James Ware II
and Caty Todd Ware.
She was also the granddaughter of James Ware I and
Agnes Todd Ware.
She married Charles Webb on Feb. 24, 1791 - prior to
the big move to Kentucky.
(1) Frances
(Fanny) Webb -
Married
William Conn on Dec. 17, 1808
(2) James Webb -
(3) Charles Webb -
(4) Charles H. Webb -
(5) Dr. Charles Henry Webb Jr. -
(6) John Webb -
(7) Nancy Webb -
(8) Winifred (Winny) Webb -
** Above
information kindly provided from family records of Sandra Walker
(Ref. 2210)
CHILDREN OF:
ISAAC WEBB SR.
and
FRANCES BARBER
B. Sept. 25, 1710
B. 1720
D.
1760 D.
Frances and Isaac Webb Sr., were the parents of both Charles Webb and Isaac Webb Jr., who
married daughters of James and Caty Todd Ware.
(1) John Webb
(2) Isaac Webb
(3) Giles Webb
(4) James Webb
(5) Cuthbert Webb
(6)
Frances
(7) Elizabeth Webb
(8) Winny Webb
(9) Nancy Webb (Ann)
(10) Drucilla Webb
(11) Charles Webb
(12) Isaac Webb Jr.
CHILDREN OF:
CATHERINE CONN GANO and
REV. JOHN ALLEN GANO
B. Sept. 8, 1810
B.
July 14, 1805
D.
D. Oct. 14, 1887
Rev. Gano married Catherine Conn, only child of William and Frances Webb Conn, on Oct. 2, 1827.
(1) William Conn Gano
(2) Richard M. Gano
(3) Fanny Conn Gano
(4) Robert Ewing Gano
(5) Stephen F. Gano
(6) Franklin M. Gano
(7) Eliza G. Gano
(8) John Allen Gano Jr.
(9) Mary Eliza Gano
CHILDREN OF:
CHARLES HENRY WEBB JR. and CASSANDRA
FRANCES FORD
B. July 2, 1798
B.
D.
Oct. 1844
D.
Charles Henry Webb was the son of Mary Todd Ware Webb (Polly) and her
husband, Charles Webb.
He married Cassandra Frances Ford on February 15,
1827.
She was the daughter of James Ford.
(1) Mary Susan Webb
(2) Frances Conn Webb
(3) James Philip Webb
(4) Nancy Winifred Webb
(5) Cannie Webb
(6) Charles William Webb
(7) Augusta Ware Webb
(8) Charles Henry Webb III
(9) Cassandra Ford Webb
CHILDREN OF:
THOMAS
HENRY CLAY and
FANNIE CONN WILLIAMS
B. July 28, 1840
B.
D.
D.
Thomas married Fannie Conn Williams on July 26, 1864.
Fanny was the daughter of Major George Williams and Winny Webb Williams and the
granddaughter of Polly and Charles Webb.
(1) Roger F. Clay
(2) Alfred Clay
(3) George Williams Clay
(4) Thomas Henry Clay Jr.
(5) Nannine W. Clay
CHILDREN OF: WINIFRED WEBB and MAJOR GEORGE W. WILLIAMS
B. Feb. 29, 1804
B. Oct. 7, 1801
D. Aug. 26, 1874
D. Jan. 1870
Winnie was the daughter of Polly and Charles Webb and the granddaughter of
James & Caty Ware.
She and George Williams married on March 23, 1824
(1) Mary Catharine Williams
(2) Benjamin Franklin Williams
(3) Frances Conn Williams
(4) Georgia Williams
(5) Louisa K. Williams
(6) Nannie W. Williams
(7) Anna Williams
(8) Winifred Williams (9) – (12) four children who died in infancy
|
This site is maintained by John Reagan and last updated
|
