The Descendants

The Descendants

Of William Redden Sr. and Fanny Kaylor

Newsletter Dec. 2002

P O Box 761, Toledo WA 98591

Home Children History Descendants Resources

Report to members Dec. 2002

The family organization was formed in November of 1999, A formal announcement of the formation of the family organization went out in November of 1999. In the early part of 2000 a website was created to help locate and identify descendants of William Redden Sr. and Fanny Kaylor and to provide information. In December of 2000 the domain name thedescendants.org was registered as a permanent address for the website. In the last two years the website has helped to bring us in contact with a number of descendants who have registered with the organization. Currently our numbers have grown to twenty-nine members who have registered, representing five of the ten lines descending from William and Fanny.

As many of you know, genealogy research is time consuming. Gathering, organizing, verifying information, and recording data, as well as working on a website, all takes time. Weeks turned into months, months into years and here we are after three years since the inception of The Descendants organization before the first newsletter could be sent to your e-mail or postal boxes. Slow as it may seem, the organization is moving forward! Our numbers are increasing as we continue to locate descendants. Several of them are actively engaged in researching their family lines and are sharing what they know with us. Others have family photos of descendants and have provided copies of those. Some have contributed gedcoms of genealogy data on there family lines.

Though the organization is still very young, the goal and vision of a family organization dedicated to locating as many descendants from as many of the lines as possible and building a family data base of genealogy information in one place that can be shared with all those related to William and Fanny.

How can you help? Our first request is that you keep us informed of any changes in your mailing address, phone number or e-mail address.

Secondly, we are asking for your input to help build our database of family records on all of the descendant lines. When you registered with the organization we ask for a simple genealogy of your line from William Sr. down to you, which you provided. We are now asking you to provide as much of the dates and information as possible on the names of those individuals in your line who are no longer living, and just the names of those who are still living. If you know of individuals who are descendants and are not registered with the family organization, please encourage them to do so. We welcome material such as genealogy records on all descendant lines, photographs, biographies of ancestors of any line, family histories, copies of birth and death certificates, land records, family legends, stories, etc.

Information contributed to The Descendants of William Redden Sr. and Fanny Kaylor will become the property of the family organization for the purpose of building a genealogy database that can be made available to all registered descendants free of charge.

The Descendants will provide a list of records and photographs we have obtained. That list will be part of the next semi-annual News Letter slated to be sent out by the end of June of 2003.

Copies of most information and photographs can be transferred via e-mail for free.

Any information, photographs etc. distributed by The Descendants of William Redden Sr. and Fanny Kaylor are not to be used for commercial purposes or to be copied or reproduced for sale in any format, electronically or printed.

That is not to say that the contributor who holds the original information and has provided us with a copy of the material or photographs, is under any restricted use of that material, they would hold the copyrights so long as it originates with them. Any request for commercial use of the information would be referred to the original contributor.

The Descendants may at some future date, place a compilation of such genealogical and photographic information in book or CD format, to be distributed to all registered descendants at production cost only.

Any material that requires a physical reproduction in order to transfer the information such as copying a record on to a CD or the physical reproduction of photographs, will incur a fee for the material and reproduction cost only, but not for the information contained there on.

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RESEARCH, looking for William Redden Sr. Where to start? What we know!

What we know is that Abraham Bair Redden, wrote a family history and distributed it either at the 1958 Redden reunion at Little Beaver State Park or at the reunion held at the Crow Christian Church a few years earlier. The family history states that William Redden Sr. was born in England about 1774, it also states that Fanny Kaylor was born in Holland in 1773 and that they entered the United States through the Port of Philadelphia.

We now know that this information is not accurate.

In the 1850 Raleigh Co., Virginia census it shows that William was 61 years old, which would mean he was born in 1789. The census recorded his birthplace as Virginia.

In the 1850 Raleigh Co., Virginia census it shows that Fanny was 58 years old. That would mean that she was born in 1792. The census recorded her birthplace as Virginia.

“Fanny” Frances Kaylor’s parents have been located in Summers County, Virginia. The information provided below is from Carol Benjaman, a descendant of Love Kaylor.

Mathias Kaylor b. 10 Feb 1748, Essen, Germany, m. 11 Apr 1780, in Germany, Katherine Cheter, b. 20 Mar 1760, Germany. Mathias died ca 1838, Summers Co., WV. Original listing of family names from Cecilia Schiller. Confirmed and tracked through census and marriage records by Freda and Carol Katherine: Maiden name of Catherine from Cleo Nyce, online 2/99.

Children:

1. Mathias Kaylor.

2. Catherine Kaylor b. 11 Apr 1780.

3. Michael Kaylor b. 26 Apr 1784.

4. Love Kaylor b. 20 Aug 1787.

5. Susan Kaylor b. 20 Aug 1787, m. 12 Jul 1803, in Greenbrier Co., WV, John Alderson, John A. Richmond, b. 1779, (son of William C. Richmond and Mary ___ (Richmond)). Susan died 12 Mar 1841, Greenbrier Co., WV.

6. Mary Cristena Kaylor b. ca 1789.

* 7. Frances Kaylor b. ca 1792.

8. Nancy Kaylor b. 1803, Greenbrier Co., WV.

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Note: Summers County was created in 1871, from Greenbrier Co. VA, which was created in 1777

Note: Frances Kaylor is reported to have been born in Bath Co. VA, which was created in 1790

We also know that in a record recorded by Aubrey Smith, “Smith – Rife” microfilm collection Copies in possession of the descendants. Mary Redden Worley, the granddaughter of William Redden Sr. and daughter of William Redden Jr. records the following statement in a document dated March 29, 1939. "The Reddens came from Kentucky to this country." To date, no connection to the Redden families of Kentucky has been found. To make that connection, if there is one, will require knowing the names of William Redden Sr.’s parents.

Who are we looking for? John William Redden Sr. or William ? Redden Sr.

What we know is that among some of the descendants personal records they have him recorded. As John William Redden Sr. Others have him as William Redden Sr. and a few list him as William C. Redden.

We know that in the 1950 Centennial Edition of the Beckley Post-Herald it refers to “REDDEN, John- Redden settled on Redden’s Ridge near Table Rock. His sons were Harrison, Michael, William, and Joseph.”

We know that Abraham Bair Redden, while reading that newspaper in 1950, told his daughter-in-law, Glendora Dell Shipley, that the newspaper account was incorrect. He referred to John Redden as “Old John Redden” and said that he was a different individual from William Sr. He said that John was not the father of Harrison, Michael William and Joseph. That statement has not been proven or disprove to date.

Another piece of the puzzle, is the Shady Springs land record 1850 - 1867

Below is a partial copy of that record:

Name Residence Nature of Acres

owners estate

1850

Redden, Michael Fayette Annual Fee 50 New River

Redden, William Raleigh Annual Fee 100 New River

1853

Redden, William Sr. Raleigh Annual Fee 100 Water of Glade Creek

Redden, John Sr. Raleigh Annual Fee 100 Glade Creek Hill

1854

Redden, William Sr. Raleigh Annual Fee 100 Water of Glade Creek

Redden, John Sr. Raleigh Annual Fee 100 Glade Cr

Redden, Michael Fayette Annual Fee 50 Waters of Sand Branch

1855

Kalor, Henry Raleigh Annual Fee 866 Piney & Glade Creek

(Transferred 534 Acres to J. Smith)

Redden, William Sr. Raleigh Annual Fee 100 Water of Glade Creek

Redden, John Sr. Raleigh Annual Fee 100 Glade Cr

Redden, Michael Fayette Annual Fee 50 Waters of Sand Branch

1856

Kaylor, Henry Raleigh Annual Fee 155 Piney & Glade Creek

Redden, William Sr. Raleigh Annual Fee 100 Water of Glade Creek

Redden, John Sr. Raleigh Annual Fee 100 Glade Cr

Redden, Michael Fayette Annual Fee 50 Waters of Sand Branch

Note:

The above land record continues with little change year to year from 1853 through 1866 each year listing William Redden Sr. and John Redden Sr. until the year 1867 when John Redden Sr. is listed, but William Redden Sr. no longer appears on the record.

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More of the mystery:

In the Raleigh County Death Record it records the death of John Redden Sr. as having died Sep. 13, 1885 in Raleigh County at the age of 87. The cause of death was reported as old age. The reporting family member was recorded as J.H Redden the son of the deceased.

Looking closer at the record we find that the death year of 1885 and reported age of 87 is a little confusing. If William were 61 years old in 1850, he would have been 96 years old in 1885, a nine-year difference. The family legend says William was born in England in the year 1772. If that were true he would have been 113 years old in the year 1885.

The Raleigh County Death Record also records the death of J.H.Redden as Apr. 9, 1899, in Raleigh County, at the age of 76. The cause of death was listed as Bright’s disease. The parents were listed as Wm. & Fannie Redden.

Could it be that we are looking at two different families with children who had the same initials?

To date, no other document, census, military, land, or tax record has been found where the name John William Redden was used. All other records found use only William Redden Sr. or John Redden Sr.

In another record, recorded by Aubry Smith, Mary Redden Worley, granddaughter of William Redden Sr., states, “John Redden Sr. is the son of William Redden Sr’s sister.”

RESEARCH Where to look?

We know that according to family legend William and Fanny arrived in what is now the Raleigh county area in 1810. At that time the county lines were much different than what they are today. As we know, that area was part of Virginia at the time. The county lines changed several times during their lifetime. There for, the count seats changed along with where vital records were kept.

The map shown on the History page shows the counties as they were in 1810

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Unconfirmed Speculation: By applying what we know along with information in the family legend, which probably contains some truth, the following hypothetical situation was developed to give some possible areas to be researched in looking for William Sr.

Could it be that William Sr.’s father was the one that emigrated from England by way of Holland and came to America with the Kaylors, who are reported to be German. Holland was under German rule at that time. Would it be conceivable that William’s father after arriving in this country was the one that “journeyed down to the valley of Virginia and bought a farm near Staunton VA”. Fanny’s parents migrated to Bath County VA, where Fanny is reported to have been born, and later moved to Greenbrier County, which eventually became Summers County. William Sr. would have probably been born at his fathers farm near Staunton VA. The two families could have stayed in touch perhaps even a visit or two where William may have first met Fanny. Later, as a young man, he may have gone to work on the Kaylor farm for a while after leaving his fathers farm in Staunton, Va. William and Fanny may have married in Summers County and spent some time there perhaps working a parcel of land owned by her father Mathias. Than in 1810 took that legendary camping and exploring trip with Michael Kaylor, Fanny’s brother or perhaps Mathias Kaylor may of gone along with his daughter and son in law on the trip to what was then Giles County Virginia, today’s Raleigh County WV area where they bought a farm on the level plateau, on top of new River Mountain, between Mill Creek and Glade Creek. Michael Kaylor bought a large tract of land near Grand View, although the family legend states that they never returned to the Staunton Farm. William Sr. and Fanny may have returned to the farm near Staunton VA for some family business, perhaps a death of a parent brought them back to the Staunton area where William Jr. is reported to have been born, August 20, 1820. We know that William Sr. and Fanny were back in Raleigh Co. in 1850. Is it possible that the family legend has it backwards? We have yet to find where William and Fanny are buried. We know that the Civil War 1861-1865 divided the family. We don’t know to what extent. Could it be that after selling or releasing their land to another family member in 1867 when William Sr.’s name dropped off of the land records, that they left the Raleigh County area and returned to the farm near Staunton VA and never returned to he Raleigh County farm. Could it be that William Sr. was born in Augusta County, and possibly buried there? Could his parents be buried there? What about land records, and birth records of brothers and sisters. We know that according to Mary Redden Worley, William Sr. had a sister.

You may find other information during your search for William Sr. that takes you in a different direction. You may develop a different scenario than the one presented above. You may be the one to collect the reward, which may increase in its amount if other interested descendants decide to contribute to the reward amount.

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Inquiries we have received, Can you help?

A Possible family connection:

Inquiry by Lawanna Scotti

My grandmother was Lucy Redden from Royal, WV or Grandview. She married William Marcellus Lawson. William was born in Stanardsville, VA and had migrated to WV with his brothers Grover Cleveland Lawson, Charles Albert Lawson and Lucian Watts Lawson. Lucy and William had seven children (five living) at the time of their deaths in 1914 (Lucy was 33 years old, and William was 44). They are both listed (page103) in the "Raleigh County Births, Vol IV, 1891-1900" by Pauline A. Haga, with their first born child, Fannie. Fannie subsequently died at age 2 and is buried in Stanaford next to both parents. They had another daughter, Garnet, that also died as a child. My father, Woodrow Bernard Lawson, was only 6 weeks old when his parents died within 3 weeks of each other, leaving him and his siblings, John Nicholas (age 10), Russell (age 8) , William Lloyd (age 2), and one sister, Ethel (age 11), orphaned. The children lived for a time with their uncle, Charles Lawson in Beckley. As a result, my father grew up with little or no knowledge of his mother's family. The children later (my dad was 3 years old when the family was taken in) were raised by the Ira Hurt family from Piney View, where I was born and grew up. My cousins and I always thought of "Aunt Daisy" Hurt as our grandmother. I have a copy of Lucy's and William's marriage certificate but it doesn't list her father's name. My dad told me that her family came from Pluto, or "Redden's Ridge" as it was then called. I remember my mother taking me as a child to meet, I believe, a sister of Lucy's named America. She was living in Piney View because my mother and I walked to her house. I also went to grade school with a Betty Redden in Piney View in the 40's and I think we were somehow related. I also have a picture of Lucy and William taken on their wedding day. Lucy had reddish brown hair piled up in a "gibson girl" style bun with a high neck dress with a cameo at her neck. William wore a dark suit with a tie and white shirt. They were a very handsome couple. I have traced the Lawson side back to Virginia and Maryland to about 1760's and am now interested in the Redden side. Does anyone know which of John Redden's sons, Harrison, Michael, William or Joseph, that Lucy Ann descends from? Or, if any of this sounds familiar? I would love to hear from anyone. My name is Lawanna Lawson Scotti. I live in Connecticut and my email address is:

E-mail: the_descendants@hotmail.com

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A Possible family connection:

Inquiry by Susan McBride

My name is Susan McBride from Raleigh County WV. My Grandfather was Edward Michael Redden. His daughter Sharon Kay Redden (McBride) was my mother. My mother is buried at Kidwell cemetery at Table Rock, Grandview, WV. I am trying to get some information on great great grandparents, and if this is the line of Reddens I think it is, I hope to hear from you. Sincerely, Susan McBride

E-mail: the_descendants@hotmail.com

A possible family connection:

Inquiry by John Miller

My name is John D. Miller. I am trying to find information on my grandfather, Ervin Redden. My mother was Juanita Redden. My mother died when I was very young. So I do not have a lot of information about my grandfather, only that they lived in the area of Grandview WV. What I really need to find is Ervin’s mother’s name, but any information on my Redden family would be great. Thank you, John Miller

E-mail: the_descendants@hotmail.com

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Research Inquiries by a descendant:

By Len and Karen Taylor

I have a question for you that I'm hoping you can give me some direction on.Eliza Kidwell married John Harrison Redden. Do you have any knowledge, whether real or passed down, that Eliza was a Native American or descended from one? My in-laws, who I do the Redden research for, seem to believe that Mary Redden, wife of Dennis Mahoney, was descended from native Americans. Any light you can shed on this would be greatly appreciated, since I didn't believe any Redden descendants had native American ancestry.

Thanks, sincerely, Len and Karen Taylor

E-mail: the_descendants@hotmail.com

TheDescendants .org

New photos added

The reunion held at the Crow Christian Church

Year unknown. Approximately 1954

Were you there? Do you know someone who was?

For a look at these photographs and others check out “views from the past”

Views From The Past

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The following information is provided so it could be copied and pasted in an e-mail or letter and sent to anyone that you might know of who is a descendant of William Redden Sr. and Fanny Kaylor, those who have not registered with the family organization.

We hope to increase our numbers in 2003. There are five lines of the ten lines descending from William and Fanny that we have not found representative of. We hope to find descendants from all of the lines. If you come in contact with anyone from these lines please invite them to join us, or contact me at either the above e-mail address, phone number or mailing address.

The Descendants is a non-profit family organization founded November of 1999. Its purpose is to foster more effective genealogy research on the lines of William and Fanny’s children by collecting, organizing and verifying the genealogy data of those lines. Here stands an open invitation to all who descend from William and Fanny's ten children. Let us learn of each other, and prove our family history together, sharing information with each other in a spirit of respect for those who have gone before.

Let us discover our heritage and build a Family Tree in honor of those two individuals, who were among the first to settle in what is today Raleigh County, WV. to establish a home, and a family, which is our common link.

Membership is free and open to all who are descendants of William Redden Sr. and Fanny Kaylor.

Membership Registration Requirements:

1. We ask for your full name and a line of your descendants from
William Redden Sr. and Fanny Kaylor down to you.

2. We ask for your mailing address, your e-mail address, and a phone number for our records.
The mailing address and phone number will remain confidential and will not
be given out without your permission.

3. We also ask for your permission to post your name and the state in which you
reside with the other registered descendants on our web page. Your personal information, address, telephone number, or e-mail address will not be posted on the website

This newsletter is brought to you by,

George Redden, wishing all a very happy new year, may God bless you and yours, may you be surrounded by family and friends and may peace follow you in all of your paths.

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