At the age of 22 years, Charles chose for his bride, Miss Mary Dunnigan. They were married on the 9th day of October 1841 in Greene Co TN. Mary was the daughter of Nicholas & Rebecca (Wright) Dunnigan. There were six children born to this marriage: Thomas Jefferson, Catherine Ann, James Canon, Eliza Jane, Nancy Rebecca and Charles. All were born in Greene Co TN.
Thomas Jefferson Kesterson
Catherine Ann Kesterson
James Canon Kesterson
Charles Kesterson
Its not exactly known why Charles decided to leave Greene Co TN, but in the summer of 1854 he loaded up his family and headed out by riverboat for Mills County, Iowa. He probably moved to Iowa because his father-in-law, Nicholas Dunnigan, was already there, along with Mary's other sisters and brothers. Tragically, Mary died on August 24, 1854, while enroute to their new home in Iowa. She died from Cholera, which she caught while giving a dying woman a drink of water. The boat stopped long enough to bury Mary. She left 6 young children, her parents, 3 brothers and 2 sisters. The story goes that when Mary died, another woman, seeing her dead, screamed and frightened the only cow on board the boat, which jumped overboard. There was a frantic effort to retrieve the cow, the only source of milk for Mary's 3 month old baby, Charles. Mary was buried on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River proven by a journal that was kept by Charles. The journal was in the possession of Charles' son Will (by Charles' 2nd marriage) for many year but upon Wills death on Will's death, in 1959, the Journal was destroyed by Wills wife. After Mary's death and burial, the journey to Iowa continued. The uncertainity of the future was wearing heavily on Charles' shoulders. His young family was without a mother, he was without a wife. Upon arriving in Mills Co IA, Charles and his children made their home with Nancy's parents, Nicholas & Rebecca Dunnigan, for several years.
Charles was to eventually meet, and marry Elizabeth Brooks. On the 23rd of November 1858 in Mills Co IA they were married. Along with raising Charles' children as her own - Charles and Elizabeth became the parents of eight children. They were, Marinda, Zylphia, Azuba, Ida Mae, William, John, George and Mary, all born in Mills County Iowa. It must have been a very busy household - with a combination of 14 children under one roof.
(Front Row)
When Charles left his old life in Tennessee, in that year of 1854, he had to have left behind a heartbroken mother and several brothers that would miss him. Its unknown whether or not Charles ever got back to Greene County to visit his mother and brothers, and its even more unlikely that anyone from home would have visited him. Through the contribution of Nancy Cervantes, a third great grandaughter of Charles, we are permitted a glimpse of the past through some "Letters From Home"
Being the outstanding citizen that he was, Charles Kesterson appeared on all the
Mills County Iowa Census reports from 1856 through 1895. He was one of those rare
ancestors, that we occassionally find, who left an easy trail to follow. You can click
here to find and view the
Charles and his 2nd wife Elizabeth lived their lives out in Mills County Iowa. They raised a large and loving family that would forever leave their mark in Mills County history.
Here are some researchers that are working on the Charles Kesterson family.
Nancy Cervantes A descendant of Charles' son Thomas Jefferson Kesterson Christie Eagan A descendant of Charles' daughter Catherine Ann Kesterson who married John Lang. Pat Freer A descendant of Charles' daughter Catherine Kesterson who married John Lang. Connie Eggers A descendant of Charles' son James Canon Kesterson.
If you belong to this family and would like to share your information with us just send off an email to me and let me know who you are. We are still looking for descendants and have yet to find any descendants from Charles & Elizabeth's chldren. Just click on the Email Icon below to reach me.
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Charles Kesterson, born on the 12th of August 1819 in Greene County, TN, the oldest child of Thomas & Nancy Carroll (Jackson) Kesterson. On the 7th of January, 1839, his father, Thomas Kesterson died, leaving a young family to be cared for. Charles and his younger brothers took on the responsibility of caring for their mother, and each other. His mother Nancy would eventually marry again, but it would not be until 1860, when all her children were grown.
Four of the children of Charles & Mary
