My Greene county Indiana Ancestry

NOTE - some needs to be updated and clarified -

\ My Greene county Indiana ancestry is deep the Long, Turley, Sexton, Gastineau families are among some of the first settlers of Greene county. Then came the Whitworth , Mewhirter / McWhirter and Vandeventer; followed by the influx of Chostocton county Ohio familes among them being the Ault, Edington, Emery, Hardesty, Mansfield, Taylor and Williams; and then finally the last in about 1871 the McKee familyfrom Owen county Indiana.

The 3rd great grandfather Benjamin Turley was hired to help moved the courthouse records from Burlington to the new county seat of Bloomfield.When the present court house was beuilt in 1884-1885 my great grandfather Robert Thomas McKee was a county commissioner - during the court house renovation in the early 2000's the bell was discoverd tucked away in the attic - the commissoners names among others was inscribed on thebell. This was alos the time period that the A. M. Kennedy's built the covered bridge at Richland Creek and for years the commissioners names were inscribed upon it also until the vandalism towards it took its toll and during the last re-construction the names were omitted. Today it is the only remainind covered bridge of Greene county and is on the historical register.

McKee

The McKee's came to Greene county in the 1870's from Owen county Indiana where they had originally immgrated from Kentucky sometime after the 1830 census; Robert Thomas McKee's cousin John P. McKee came first and Robert followed with his sister Eliza Ann (McKee) Talley Widow of Orren I. They are of the Kentucky, Virginia and Pennsylvania McKee's

WILLIAM McKEE being my first known ancestor in America. No doocumentation has been found of his parentage nor full name of his wife there has been many assumptions as to her maiden name and parentage.

The McKee's were said to have been from Ireland and orginally Scotland and Ireland. Family tradition handed down through the years has been thet there were from five to ten brothers who came to America Settling first in Pennsylvania and three of the brothers went to Rockbridge county Virginia. Not all these brothers have ever been found for its is growing belief that this is a "family fable". Also no passenger list have been dound documenting there migration to the United States - and connecting them beyond Virginia and Pennsylvania across the "Great Pnd" to Ireland or Scotland... theories abound as to their parentage tho.

James Mckee married Lydia Todd; and their son Robert McKee married Mary Todd Mary's father is John Todd and his ancestry is unknown - many theories abound for it tho. Lydia Todd is a I have been ;ambasted by a distant cousin for not "touting' and constantly proclaiming it openly - the relationship Tohn Todd is my 6tth great grandfather

RObert McKee and Mary Todd's son Joseph Howe McKee married Lucinda Bartlett came to Owen county Indiana with their family; their son Robert Thomas McKee was married three times and founght in the civil War (1 have 2 years worth of dairis we kept and came to Greene county about 1871; his son by his third marriage James Garfield McKee married Lillie Gladys Vandeventer was my grandfather and their son Alvin Robert McKee married Reba Doris Emery were my parents; they lef Greene county shortly after their marriage in Decemeber 1948 - just exactly when in not known but it was before I was born they first lived in Bloomington, Monroe, Indiana and then moved to Danville, Indiana on High School Road and in Novemeber of 1952 they moved to Culver, Marshall, Indiana and finally in September 1974 they moved to Bradenton Flordia where they both lived until their deaths.

Vandeventer

The Vandeventer's are of New Amsterdam heritage coming from Deventer, Holland as their name implies. They migrated from Kentucky and came to the area from 1840 to 1860. ABSOLUM VANDEVENTER and his first wife first migrated from Kentucky to Gidsom county Indianawhere my great-grand father James Thomas 'Tom' Vaneventer was born in May 1844. It is believed that Absolum's first wife Susannah "Susan' Coghill died there possible from the event of childbirth as Absolum married his 2nd wife Mary Ellen Elizabeth Huffman on 27 Aug 1844 in Gibson county by an affidavit she filed .to get a dependents pension from her sons Civil War service (but no marriage license/certificate has been found. Absolum migrated to to Clay county Indiana from Gibson county Indiana by the 1850 census as they are found on the census records of Clay county and then came to Greene county Indiana after the 1850 census - he died in Greene county of a horrific sawmill boiler explosion which severed his body in half, killing and injuring others nearby.

. Several families of Vandeventer's are in Clay, Greene and Monroe counties Indiana as follows: James William and Nancy A. (Ingram); Josiah and Emily or Milly (Hugh/Hughes) Vandeventer and their children. These men could be uncles, brothers or father of Absolum. Absolum married 1st in Spencer county Kentucky Susan or Susannah Coghill daughter of John Coghill and nothing more of him or his ancestry is known. Absolum and Susannah came from Spencer county Kentucky to Gibson county Indiana. There is a possibility that Absolum was the son of either Jacob, Josiah or James William the majority says that Jacob is his father. It is believed that Josiah and James William were the sons of Wynant Vandeventer of Shelby county Kentucky but no official records of this connection can be found to date such as real estate transfers, will, probates or estates to date have been found. The only connection of these men and their families that is know is being in the same locale at the same time and the naming pattersn of their families are basically the same and these mens connection to Wynant is being in the same locale at the same time also. Wynant's ancestry being from PIETER HERMANS VANDEVENTER who came to New Amsterdam from Deventer, Holland.

Long - Sexton

ROBERT LONG was in Greene county by the 1840 census. His ancestry is unknown. His wife is Margaret Sexton n and was the daughter of WILLIAM SEXTON and Virginia Leah Free or Ferree and the SEXTON'S were in Greene county before the 1830 census. Nothing more is known of the Sexton and Free ancestry at this point. There is a THEORY that William could of been married a first time with 3 children from that marriage: Archibald, Olivia and Isaac. William and Leah are listed with children of: James, Jacob, Enoch, Margaret, Frederick Free, William Wallace, Lemuel Edward, Joel Benton (Judge of Greene county Indiana), Esom or Easom. They came from Virginia to Whitley county Kentucky then to Greene county Indiana.

Some say they it is BELEIVED (not proven) that William could be of the SEXTON'S Of the Sextons of Limerick; Kensington, London, England two of Christopher's sons emigrated to America - Windsor, Connecticut: Richard arrived on 13 July 1635 on the ship Blessing and George in 1663; but this is only a THEORY that has been passed around for years without any documentation provided for it. I really doubt this theory baased on work of Pat O'Conner and Willis Sexton both deceased now and many others and detailed here "Sexton Research" it was orginially found on Rootsweb and last I had a hard time finding it - if you dig hard and deep enough could find it there still. I was in contact with Pat and supplied her with a lot fo the material for the Greene county Indiana Sexton/Sexson as I did Georgie Benton. Most of the early research I have gotten came from Don and Georgie Benton of Ft. Worth, Texas; Don is now deceased and others has sent me undocumented material on the Sexton's. I have only tried to put it all together and document it as I can; first into PAF (Pesonal Ancestral File now defunct) and now trasnfering and cleaning up in RootsMagic so it can be indexed, expanded easier and documnentd.

Gastineau

JAMES GASTINEAU and wife Patience Morrow was in Greene county before the 1840 Census. James Gastineau's ancestry can only be definetly traced back to his father George Gastineau of Pulaksi county Kentucky again documentation as to who George's father is lacks and their have been many theories

Some in the past have it traced back to PIERRE GASTINEAU who was born in France his son Jean married into the CHABOUSSANT family again substanial proof lacks

It is very highly likely that this is the correct ancestry but PROOF, documentation is lacking as to prove George Gastineau is the son of Job Gastineau Sr.

Patience Morrow is assumed to be the daughter of Samuel Morrow and nothing more is known of him or his ancestry or descendants to date has not be accounted for. The former Greene county Sheriff and former Indiana State police officer Gene Gastineau also descends from James Gastineay and Patience Morrow.

Mewhirter - Mc Whirter

ROBERT MEWHIRTER (the family bible spelling and also on the tombstone) and wife Elizabeth Taylor, were also in Greene county before the 1840 census.

Their children bore the spelling of McWhirter and its variants.

These lines are "brickwalls" a descendant said "When I was a small child I was taught to say, - "Grandmother White was a Mewhirter; Grandmother Mewhirter was a Taylor; Grandmother Taylor was a Barr"

It is also stated that her ancestry could be connected to Zacharey Taylor but nothing has been proven. .

Whitworth

THOMAS HENRY WHITWORTH and his wife Sarah "Sally" GULICK daughter of Joseph Gulick and Mary "Polly" Stoker; came during the 1840's. Nothing at this time is known of Thomas' ancestry

Thomas married 2 more times and moved to Neosoha county Kansas where he died.

Some of Sally's can be traced back to New Amsterdam and New England.

The Gullick line then boosts the hertiage lines of: Leigh, Hoagland, Smith, Hinckely, Soole, Bergen, Rapelje, Reysre, Schenck , Van Kirk, Van Pelt a mixture of New England and New Amsterdam dutch heritage.

Dye - Duyts

GEORGE DYE was in Greene county by the 1850 census and was the son of John Eli and Lucinda (Hardin) Dye early settlers of Lawrence county Indiana. The DYE ANCESTRY can also be traced back to New Amsterdam when the name was spelled Duyts .

Turley

BENJAMIN TURLEY came to Lawrence county Indiana in 1817 from Warren county Kentucky and then went to Greene county was formed in 1825 and considered one of the pioneers of Greene county. In 1841 Benjamin Turley then moved from Greene county Indiana to Ozark county Missouri. PAUL TURLEY is the first known ancestor in Fairfax county, Virginia. The Turley's were also in Prince William Loudoun, and Rockingham counties Virginia; as well as Spartanburg and Union counties South Carolina. Ignatius Turley was the son of Paul and the father of Benjamin

Ancestors from Coshocton County Ohio

The greatest influx of my ancestors were from Coshocton county Ohio in the 1840 and 1850's as were a great number of other families that were found in Center, Jackson and Taylor townships and they were also neighbors, family and friends in Coshocton county Ohio. These were:

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My Greene County Indiana Ancestors & More...