Gaining statehood in 1861, Kansas was the 34th state admitted to the Union.  Six years earlier Bourbon County had been formed as a part of Kansas Territory.  In the 75 years that passed between the formation of the county and my mother’s birth, 19 of her direct ancestors lived in the county and all but two are buried there with 12 of them buried in the same cemetery.  But, where did they come from and what led them all to Bourbon County?

 

Key Families

The 19 ancestors came from the Pellett, Conner, Portwood, Thomas, and Ashby families.  All of the direct ancestors in these families that moved to Bourbon County stayed there the remainder of their lives except Grant and Elizabeth Ashby, who moved west after a few years.  However, even that family maintained ties to Bourbon County.

The image at the top of the article shows some of the places these families are known to have lived.  It also shows the locations of the families of the women who moved to Bourbon County.  For example, it shows places where Eunity Harrision and her Harrison ancestors are known to have lived.  The chart does not show the locations where all of the known ancestors lived as it is impractical to represent them all in one image.

Each key family has a chart that shows more detail regarding the movement of mom’s ancestors that lived in Bourbon County. 

 

Pellett

Why did they move?

Abel John and Eunity (Harrison) Pellett had eleven children.  Nine were living when they moved.  The oldest two stayed in Ohio.  The remaining seven children moved with six of the seven being sons.  It seems very likely that the family moved so that each son could own property in the area.  In 1878, Abel John and his sons owned a total of 1,319 acres (a school was on one acre of the 1,320).

Why Bourbon County?

One of them was said to have been a scout.  It is possible that he was the one that selected the location.  However, Kansas was a new state and it was likely that available land was the draw.  Besides, Fort Scott had rail service and was adding more.  In addition, the area had become mentioned in numerous publications due to the Border War during the Civil War.

 

Conner

Why did they move?

It isn’t clear why the Conner family moved to Bourbon County.  However, it could have been that Willis, who had served multiple terms during the Civil War, was looking to continue his military service.  He joined the 19th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry in October 1868.

Why Bourbon County?

It is likely that the opportunity to join the cavalry was one draw to the area.  It is also possible that Willis had traveled to the area during the Civil War given the Border War and that Fort Scott was a Union supply depot. Thus, he may have decided that it was a good place to live.

 

Portwood

Why did they move?

In September 1858, Woodson lost his second wife and his youngest son.  I have not uncovered the circumstances.  It could have been that they died while moving.  Or, it may have been that Woodson decided to pick up stakes after they died.  In either case, he remarried in Bourbon County the following February to Ann (Watkins) McMenomy, who had also lost her spouse in 1858. Likely, they each needed a spouse to be able to raise their children.

Why Bourbon County?

Kansas wasn’t a state yet when Woodson moved to Bourbon County,  although the county had been formed. I have no idea why he moved his family to Bourbon County at such an early date. 

Thomas

Why did they move?

The Thomas family likely moved for the same reason they left North Carolina years earlier – they were related to too many people where they lived.  Interestingly, the remainder of George’s siblings stayed in or around Andrew County, MO.  Most of Louisa’s siblings stayed in that area as well.  George was a middle child in a large family and that might be a driver to the move. 

Why Bourbon County?

The Thomas family came a bit later than some of the others, arriving in the mid-1870s.  I suspect that they came for land and that being from just inside the Missouri border, although further north, they looked for land near the border between the two states.  Additionally, rail service existed making the Fort Scott area attractive.  However, I also wonder if they had friends that moved to Bourbon County that encouraged them to join them.

 

Ashby

Why did they move?

The Ashby family was very adventurous. Grant’s father Job had been born in Butler County, Ohio; he  lived in Tippecanoe County, Indiana;  in Richland County, Wisconsin;  in Jasper County, Indiana; and finally settled down in Fayette County, Iowa (which he lived in at least two different times).  I think it was this spirit and their desire for new lands and new adventures that enticed them to move. 

In addition, Grant’s father had died in 1895 and his mother had died previously.  Many families moved on after the death of their elders.  Sometimes that was because they inherited money or land that they sold.  Other times it was because they didn’t inherit land.  According to Job Ashby’s estate, he apparently died without a will.  Grant’s older brother was the administrator of the estate and Grant was one of the sureties.  Job had loaned Grant $800 only a couple of months before he died.  It is listed as owed to the estate, but Grant received a very small portion of the land his father owned.  So, although more investigation is required, it may be that the $800 became a significant portion of his inheritance.  He likely took the money and moved to where the money would purchase more land.  Of  course, he could have already been planning to move and simply delayed it due to his father’s death.

 

Why Bourbon County?

I am not sure how the Ashby family chose to move to Bourbon County.  However, it was just a stopping point for the family except their daughter Sarah Ellen “Sadie Ella.”  She married James William “Will” Thomas and made Bourbon County her permanent home.

After about ten years in Bourbon County, Grant and Elizabeth moved on settling near Holly, Colorado, which was just inside Colorado near the border with Kansas.  Choosing to live in Bourbon County was a much better choice than living near Holly.  Life near Holly was very difficult.  It was very dry, desolate and isolated.  To build anything requiring wood, meant a trip across the Colorado plains to the edge of the Rocky Mountains as trees were sparse to nonexistent in the area.  Their neighbors were few and were far away.  So, if they were looking for a place of solitude and hard work, they were successful.

After Grant died of a stroke at age 50,  Elizabeth “Lizzie” and most of the kids moved to California.  The family only stopped moving when they couldn’t move any further west.  Despite the continual moves, the family maintained contact with friends and relatives in Bourbon County.

 

A Look at the Map

1878

Three of the families owned property in Drywood Township in Bourbon County in 1878. The following images shows the land owned by the Portwood (green), Pellett (Blue), and Conner (pink) families in that year.  These two maps show adjacent areas near Memphis, Kansas, which is now known as Garland.  The Pellett family owned far more land than the other families. 

 

 

1920

By 1920, the plat map for Bourbon County had changed.  Some of the Pellett property was still owned by the family, but some portions were not.  However other land had been purchased.  Additionally, during this interval, Willis Conner had expanded the land he owned.  And, George Thomas owned property in the same area.  The Ashby family, of course, had already sold out and moved on.

 Source: https://usgenealogyresearch.atwebpages.com/Kansas/Bourbon/maps.html

 

 

Prompt: Travel

#52ancestors52weeks