Jesse Wilson CONN descendants
Jesse Wilson CONN descendants

Many descendants of Jesse Wilson CONN subject to verification of course!

I am Dianna Helderbrand Gilliam. Welcome to my collection of CONNS! I have spent countless numbers of hours poring over census documents and marriage records on line for Morgan, Elliott, and Rowan counties and I am 99.99% positive of the information from Reuben Harrison and Elizabeth (ROSE) CONN forward as they are my direct ancestors. My line of descent is through their son Freeland, his son Samuel, his daughter Lula, my mother Stella et voila! here I be! There are still many, many stones to turn and several brick walls to cross or tear down piece by piece! I am still looking for the parents of Jesse Wilson CONN. I have a couple of ideas as to possible brothers but no proof at this point. The Jesse Wilson CONN household first appears in Scott County, Virginia in 1820. They were possibly in Russell County before then. Scott County was created about 1814 from portions of surrounding counties so the CONNS probably didn't move but rather had the county lines around them redrawn so it appears they changed locations. They were still in Scott County in 1830 and 1840 but moved to Morgan County, Kentucky before the 1850 census along with several of their grown children and their families. George Washington and Cynthia (CONN) CARTER are not in the 1850 Morgan County census. There is an elderly female listed in the CONN household in Scott County through 1840 who I believe to be the mother of Jesse Wilson CONN. (Mary's mother was supposedly abducted and killed by Indians when she was still a small child. At least that is the story I have had sent to me more than once). I imagine the elderly lady died or possibly went to live with a currently unidentified son or daughter when Jesse and his family pulled up stakes and went to KY. Or she might have gone with them and died before the 1850 census. So many possibilities and no one to tell us the answers! The CONNS are listed in the 1860 Morgan County census and by this time George and Cynthia CARTER are in the county as well. Several of the children have started their own families but are still living relatively close to one another and to the families they married into. Before 1870 once again we find county lines redrawn and the 1870 finds the CONNS in Elliott County, Kentucky. From the Morgan/Elliott County area they also moved into Carter, Lewis, and Rowan counties as well. I have also spent many hours going through the available census records in Virginia trying to substantiate theories that I have seen or proposed myself. There is apparently no record for 1800 of an actual county by county Virginia census. Heads of households are listed for the period between 1790 and 1800 but the information is very sparse. As y'all know those census records can be a bear at their best! At least 1850 was an improvement with listing the names of everyone in the household but the relationships weren't noted so that throws a wrench in the mix right there. I am fairly certain that at least three of the children listed for Jesse and Mary must be their GRANDchildren instead but for the time being they are listed here as their children. Mary would have been in her 50's when they were born and I find that quite 'iffy' and seriously doubt the veracity of the claim. Currently the children I have listed for Jesse Wilson and Mary (PENDLETON) CONN are: Margaret, John, Cynthia, Samuel, James, Catherine, Reuben Harrison, Jesse Wilson Jr., Josiah, Lucinda, (Andrew or John) Jackson, Mary, Rosannah, and Washington. Again, all of the gathered information is subject to verification. If any of you have any questions, comments, corrections, or additions you would like to share please contact me and I will be glad to make any necessary changes. I also have a few unCONNected CONNS I would like to fit in and will be glad to furnish a list to interested parties upon request. Enjoy your visit; tell your CONNections (and mine!); come back often!

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