Sunday, August 31, 2008

1942 Graduation Trip

While I am thinking about Johnny Fulton and Mom going to school, I thought I would share what he wrote about their senior trip.



As I grew up and spent time at my grandmother's home, I always saw that picture of the capitol building in Washington, DC. with the class standing in front of it. I think it was Can and Jimmy's class. I was always a bit miffed that this eastern Kentucky school got to take a trip to Washington, DC. At my school in Ohio the fourth grade class got to take a train ride until I got to the fourth grade. No trip. I don't believe any of our senior classes had class trips. I always looked at that picture and thought what a great thing those kids had to go somewhere together before they went their separate ways. I also thought it was so appropriate for a school class to go to DC because they would have the opportunity to see so many things that they had studied about in school. I always wonder about the kids going to Aruba and what the meaning of that is other than drinking and partying, but maybe I am getting too old and set in my ways to think that something sponsored by the schools should have some educational value to it.



Cora Bentley Graduation Picture

Anyway, Johnny told me about their class trip - which wasn't to Washington either. Here is what he wrote:





  • I visited Cumberland Falls the first time in 1942, 65 years ago. Thanks to Johnny Mac Sharon and Russell I was there again last week. I went there in 1942 because this was the Fleming H.S. Senior trip celebrating our more or less successfully completing 4 years of high school. We got on the bus early that morning, lunched on the way, saw the Falls and rode the Bus back to Fleming all on the same day. And for most of us our school days were over. Nowadays Seniors go to Washington D.C. or the Bahamas or some other far-away place but the Class of "42 thought they were very fortunate to see such a beautiful, peaceful part of Kentucky.
  • I did sort of visit the Falls maybe forty years ago because I saw a movie with Burt Lancaster which was filmed in part there. I forget the name of that movie but maybe some body can help me out there.I asked the attendant at the mandatory gift shop if they had any literature on the movie but I don't think she ever heard of it. For those of you who have not been to Cumberland Falls I would recommend you do so if possible. It is located about 15 miles from Corbin via a scenic but typically crooked country road. Route 90.

I agree with Johnny about it being a beautiful place. I went there the first time when Kris Bentley returned from Germany and was being sent to Del Rio, Texas as his next Airforce assignment. He flew in and we took a flight to Detroit. It was the first time I had ever flown on a plane. We went to Detroit for him to pick up his brand new car -- a gremlin. We drove from there to Florida and over to Texas. Our agreement was that we would stop anywhere we wanted to along the way.

One of those stops was Cumberland Falls. We took pictures, got in the water and were awed by how beautiful it was. That was 1975 as I recall it.

I took a friend there on the way to Knoxville, Tennesse for a Jackson Five concert. She thought those were narrow, winding roads. I always threatened to take her to Letcher county and drive over to Dean by turning left out of Granny's place. Now that was drive that put fear in me.

The last time I was at Cumberland Falls was about 1993 or 94. I was suprised at the changes. I thought it was very different than the trips I had made before.

It is still a place every Kentuckian should see.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Grandma Rosie Part 2

When I published that picture of Grandma Rosie on August 20th, I also sent it to Johnny Fulton, her grandson. He is retired and lives in Memphis, Tennesse. I met him through emails with another of Rosie's relatives, Will Buntin, as they prepared for the Fulton Family reunion.

Johnny and his family were neighbors and friends of my grandparents family. He called my grandmother Aunt Cora. There has always been a connection between the families. Johnny was in my mother's class in high school.

Johnny and I  have been corresponding since that chance meeting with Will online. He has been sending me stories about his life and his family -- some of which I hope he will allow me to share on this blog.

He told me a little bit about Grandma Rosie after receiving the picture of her on the horse. Here is what he wrote about the picture:



  • GRANDMA ROSIE ON A HORSE IS ANOTHER STORY. THAT PICTURE WAS PROBABLY MADE IN 1930 SOME TIME DURING THE DEPRESSION. ROSIE LIVED ON MILLSTONE AND SHE AND JOSHUA WERE FARMERS. THEY HAD NO OTHER INCOME THAN WHAT THEIR FARM PROVIDED AND ROSIE MADE A WEEKLY TRIP TO HEMPHILL, ON HER HORSE, PEDDLING MILK AND BUTTER AND SOME PRODUCE. THAT LITTLE EXTRA CASH GOT HER AND HER FAMILY THRU THE DEPRESSION. I REMEMBER VERY DISTINCTLY SHE STOPPING AT OUR HOUSE ON HER TRIPS. THE MONEY SHE HAD COLLECTED WAS TIED IN A KNOTTED HANDKERCHIEF [NO HANDBAG] AND IF SHE NEEDED SOME CASH SHE HAD TO UNDO THE KNOT.THE BULKY ITEMS YOU SEE ON HER HORSE ARE THOSE FARM PRODUCTS.
  • AS LADIES DID IN THOSE DAYS ROSIE RODE HER HORSE SIDE-SADDLE. HER RIGHT FOOT WAS IN A STIRRUP AND HER LEFT LEG WAS DRAPED OVER A PROJECTION IN THE SADDLE SO THAT BOTH HER LEGS WERE ON THE SAME SIDE OF THE HORSE. THOSE BRAVE WOMEN DID NOT RIDE ASTRIDE A HORSE AS THEY DO IN THE OLYMPICS. I THINK YOU CAN SEE WHAT I AM TRYING TO SAY FROM THE PHOTO.


I am so glad that I met Johnny even if we have only talked electronically. He feels like family to me. I don't think anyone will mind if I publish that picture again.



This is Rosie with her first husband, Johnny Fulton. She late married Joshua Mullins, my great grandfather.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Reuben Potter and Hulda Wright

While visiting the cemeteries at Beefhide I came across the grave of Reuben Potter.

Reuben was the son of Benjamin Potter and Susannah Hollingsworth.  He was the brother of Annie Potter, our great great grandmother who married John Vint Bentley.  He was my great great uncle.  That connects him to me through the Potters and the Bentleys.

He married Hulda Wright.  She was the daughter of James H. Wright and Mary "Polly" Ingle.  James was the son of Joel Martin and Susannah Wright.  That connects them through the Wrights.

The story I had always heard about Reuben was that he joined the Confederate army.  While serving he heard that his children were in need.  They were  


Tandy, age 10
James, 9
Benjamin 6
Mahala "Hala" 4

Hulda was pregnant .  He left his company and went home.  The army sent men after him.  When they came upon him he was making shoes for the children.  He looked up and saw John Wright and his gang coming. He started to run and tried to climb a fence, but was shot by John Wright, Hulda's first cousin.  John was about 18.  Later, he would be called Bad or Devil John Wright.

Samuel Wright cut down a poplar tree from the Board Hollow, hewed it out and made the coffin for Reuben.  He buried him there..

I started to run through the records to see what I could find about this family as backup records.

I found Reuben and his family in Letcher County of 1860.  He was 31 and listed as a farmer.  Hulda was 26.  Tandy was 8 and attending school.  James was 6, Benjamin 5 and Hala 1.

From the U. S. Soldiers and Sailors web site I found that Reuben had enlised as a  private in Comapny D of the 13th Regiment, Kentucky Calvary on October 4, 1862 in Whitesburg, Kentucky.

Those same records show that he deserted on October 5, 1862.

On May 16, 1863 John Douglas Potter was born to Hulda.

I haven't been able to find the family in the 1870 census yet.

I have seen a Joel Potter who was born in 1871 listed for Hulda.  Most of those listings also put Reuben as the father and have his date of death as 1880, but I don't believe that is true.  I think Hulda had a child by another man.

In 1880 she is living with her son, James and his wife, Cynthia Ann Allen in Floyd County, Kentucky. The listing is:

  • James Potter, 25, farmer
  • Cynthia Ann, 20, wife, keeping house
  • Benjamin 2, son
  • George, 1 month,son
  • Hulda, 46, mother
  • John 14, brother
  • Joel, 9, brother
All of them are listed as being born in Kentucky and their parents born in Kentucky.  This would verify that there was another son after John and his name was Joel.

In 1880 Hulda is still living in Floyd County, but now she is living with her son, Tandy and his wife, Malinda J. Frasure.  Here is the listing:
  • Tandy Potter, head, July 1854, 45, married 20 years, farmer
  • Malinda J., wife, July 1861, 38, had 7 children, 6 living
  • Elizabeth, daughter, July 1880, 19
  • James, son, February 1882, 18
  • Hulda, daughter, Janurary 1884, 16
  • Holy, daughter, April 1886, 14
  • Gracie B., March 1888,  12
  • Julia, daughter, June 1891, 8
  • Hulda, mother, May 1833, 67, widow, had 6 children 5 living
James Potter and Cynthia are living next door.

From death certificates I found that:
  • James died in 1920 at age 66.
  • Tandy died in 1936 at age 83
  • John Douglas died in 1941 at age 77
Mahala married and moved to West Virginia.
Benjamin married Lunda and went to California.

Joel "Buck" Potter was 9 in the 1880 census when he was with Hulda at James and Cynthia's home.  He would have been 29 in the 1900 census.

The reason that I am searching for Joel is because of another story I heard about Hulda's children.  The story goes that one day John Wright came by his cousin's home and told her that he had left her a goose down by the creek.  He told her she should go get it so her family could eat it.  She went to the creek and  found her mentally retarded child who had been playing there shot and killed.  If I could find a death certificate or other evidence that Buck grew up and had a family, it would negate this story, but it was told by several members of the family as a true story.

It may have accounted for why Hulda and her children left Letcher County.

I haven't found a death certificate for Hulda nor have I found her in the 1910 census, so I am thinking right now that she died before 1910.

I will keep looking and following her children.  James and Tandy ended up in Greenup county.  I will try to find Mahala and Benjamin in the census records, too.  If any of you know more about Reuben or Hulda, I would appreciate knowing and will update this story.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Otho & Sadie's Children

I have had several people write and tell me that I am confusing May Bentley with Mary Bentley.

I grew up hearing that Sadie and Otho had six children, the last, Mary, who died at birth.

Otho and Sadie had seven children:

  • Stella Elizabath born January 14, 1904 in Letcher County, Kentucky
  • Willie D. born March 3, 1906 in  Letcher County, Kentucky
  • Nettie born December 27, 1907 in Letitia, Greenup County, Kentucky
  • Atha D. born January 23, 1910 in Greenup County, Kentucky
  • Laura Jane Bentley born January 19, 1912 in Letcher County, Kentucky.
  • May Bentley stillborn on July 30, 1914 Millstone, Letcher County, Kentucky.
  • Mary Bentley born February 3, 1915 in Letcher County.
Willie, Nettie, Laura Jane, Atha and Stella
Stella, Willie, Nettie, Atha and Laura Jane


Otho and Sadie lived in Jenkins and managed the boarding house for Consolidated Coal Company.  Sadie did the cooking, cleaning and laundry.  Otho had first one team of horses and later, a second team and carried in most of the lumber that was used to build many of the houses in the coal camps.

Boarding House, Jenkins, KY

They moved to Greenup county.  Sadie did not like living in Greenup.  One day Otho was up working on a roof.  A man came by asking about land and farms that were for sale.  Sadie told him their land was for sale and sold it.  She told Otho she had sold it.  They packed up their belongings and went back to Letcher county with a wagon pulled by a team of horses.

I have heard that story over and over.  I find it hard to believe that Sadie would sell the farm without Otho being involved but one version said  that they had already made the decision and it was up for sale when the man came by which makes a little more sense to me than when I first heard it said that a man had come by looking for directions and information about land which might be for sale and Sadie just on her own sold the farm.

When they moved back to Letcher county they had a home up behind where Uncle D. V. lives now.  Jerry took me up there and I took a picture of where the house used to be.  They had Laura Jane in 1912.

Where the house was that Otho & Sadie lived in at Millstone

I was trying to add the birth certificate numbers to the birthdates I had for the children.  I did a search for all children born in Kentucky whose mother's name was Sadie Collier.  Little May first came up on that search.  There were only the children I knew and then this one who was a mystery to me.  She had a birth certificate and a death certificate.  The death certificate which confirmed that Otho Bentley was the father and had supplied the information about her death, I printed in an earlier blog. That was in 1914.

Lastly, in 1915 was little Mary.  Sadie was pregnant.  She went out to milk the cows.  One of them kicked her in the stomach.  She went into labor and had Mary on February 3rd.  They both had problems.  Sadie died on February 8th.  Little Mary lived until July 31st.  I grew up thinking that Sadie had died in childbirth and Mary at that same time.  Actually, Sadie lived for five days after Mary was born and little Mary lived for five months.

Sadie Collier & Otho Bentley





The death date for Mary was in a ledger that Granny had.  I started asking around and Uncle Joe said, yes, it was right that Mary did not die at the time of her birth.  We walked up to the Chunk Craft cemetery and he tried to find where her little grave had been.  He said it was near where the gate used to be.  The gate is long since gone and he could not pinpoit where the actual grave was.  Bengy Craft has put markers for many of the little ones who were buried and no formal stones were erected.  I hope that one of them is where Mary lays now.

Monday, August 25, 2008

May Bentley 1914

I had found a reference to a birth of May Bentley in 1914.  The mother was listed as Sadie Collier.  The records only gave the name of the mother and the date.  I could not find another Sadie Collier in Letcher county except for our Sadie. 

I had asked some other family members who had done research if they had ever come across this birth certificate or heard about another child of Otho and Sadie.  None had.  I had thought about ordering the birth certificate, but having just gotten a copy of my own last week, they don't give you the original with all the information on it.  It would have given me the father's name maybe, but I decided I didn't want to pay for a copy just to learn that.  I decided to just not say anything.

Today I was working on Martin Bentley for Johnny Fulton.  I was filling in some information on his connection to the Bentleys through Tabitha Bentley and Creed McFall.  I came across a death record.

May Bentley was the daughter of Otho and Sadie.  She was stillborn on July 30, 1914 and was buried at the Chunk Craft Cemetery. This means there were 22 children instead of 21.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Joe Bentley turns 80

Joe Bentley, son of Otho and Nancy Alice Hall Bentley, turned 80 on Friday, August 22nd.  His wife, Doris, hosted a birthday party for him at the Millstone Baptist Church at the right fork of Millstone on Saturday, August 23rd.  Kris, Joe's son from his first marriage to Alma Henrikson, flew in for the day from Dallas, Texas.  Joe said he usually got to see his son once a year and seeing him a second time was the best birthday present of all.

Joe riding behind his dad, Otho Bentley

Searching for Aunt Annie's Grave Part 1

Do you remember being a kid and having no fear of climbing up steep hillsides just because they were there or you just wanted to see what you could see at the top? Well I did that Friday … sort of.

I did have one fear – snakes. I don’t remember the hills being quite so steep that I was climbing. I had very few trees or roots to grab onto. First, we crossed a creek, and then we started up. The area was covered with dead leaves and the soft ground beneath it did not provide much of a foothold.

I used three rules:

Don’t look down.

The person ahead of you is up there, so it can be done.

Don’t think about how you will get down.

My sister, Donna and I took a trip to Kentucky. Our goal was to visit the grave our great great aunt , Mary Ann Bentley Elliott Wright. She was known as Aunt Annie. .

We went up 23 til we came to the Pike County line where we turned left. We followed the road for a bit and came to where there was a lot of mining going on. I saw water spraying on one side of the road and ruts that I would not like to have driven through. I then got the joke that cousin Lois had told me about being sure to use the carwash at the cemeteries in Beefhide. We finagled around the roads the coal trucks were using and came to a cemetery that we could see. We decided instead of going through it first that we would go on to Mary’s which was further up the creekbed which ran beside the first cemetery.

As a guide we were looking for a rock by the road and one in the middle of the creekbed. There were several, but they didn’t look distinctive enough. Finally, we spied a fence across and up the other side of the creek. Did I mention it was straight up?

We crossed the creek, and started climbing. There was nothing to hold onto much and you had to try to dig a foothold in the soft earth. The tracks made would just crumble so we couldn’t even follow in each other’s footsteps. It was the wrong cemetery, and we had to go back.

Easier said than done.

I now broke one of my rules and looked down. Straight down. I got myself turned for the downward treck. I had already told Donna not to follow right behind me in case I slipped so I wouldn’t take her down, too. Better advice was never given. I did slip and ended up on my bottom sliding down the bank. I aimed for a small tree with thoughts in my head that I was not actually pulling a Sonny Bono because I was bigger than the tree. I just didn’t want to slide all the way down to the bottom because I didn’t want to hit the rocky creek bed maybe head first in a tumble. The tree stopped me and I had to maneuver so I had both legs on one side of the poor sapling. I managed to get down to the bottom without further incident – other than the thoughts that flashed through my head about the snakes I could have picked up along the way.

Donna made it down in one piece and without the slide/tree maneuver I used.

We did some further searching, but it was very overgrown and we could not find the markers we were looking for.

At one point we were standing by a really muddy place in the road and trying to decide what animals had made the tracks in the mud. One was three pronged like some kind of bird. But it was a big bird since its track measured as big as Donna’s hand. Then there were cat/paw like tracks which looked a bit like the bird/three pronged animal had been chasing a cat or vice versa. We thought of very large cats and very large birds and how dumb were we to be standing where that had been a very short time ago.







We finally decided that we couldn’t find the crossing because it had been described to us in a different season when the growth was not so full and wild. We decided to turn around and go back to the cemeteries that we could reach by car and try the search again in the fall after the greenery had turned brown and was no longer so full.

We drove back to the cemetery . It said it was a Joel Wright Cemetery, but I am not sure which Joel Wright that would refer to. Inside the chain link fence there was a plaque stating that it was originally established in 1901 about a mile south of that point at the headwaters of Andy Wright Fork and was moved to this location in 1998.

After we moved through the graves we went back further to Samuel Wright’s cemetery. It was a little bit of a walk but it involved no climbing, crossing or sliding. It was hard to see because of the growth around it but we were soon going through its gate.



Look closely and you will see the chain link fence. This was the cemetery we had climbed toward.


When we left this cemetery we looked across the clearing to a line of trees and wild growth. Our cousin, Lois, had said the third cemetery which we had tried to scale the wall for was about a hundred yards through that growth. We did not try to go through it and returned to the car.

From there we went to a cemetery that I had been told about at the Wright reunion. I had asked about a Wright Cemetery which was referred to on Daniel Vanover’s death certificate. Daniel was Jesse Wrght’s father-in-law. He served at the undertaker and it was stated Mr. Vanover was buried in the Jesse Wright cemetery. The ladies at the reunion thought it might be a cemetery out on 805 which had lots of Bentleys and Wrights, but was called the Bentley cemetery. It turned out to be the Ratliff cemetery.

There was a road going right up to the grave. Unfortunately, it had ruts the car could be lost in so we parked toward the bottom and walked up. At the top I might have missed where the graves were, but we found them on the hillside. I tried to take pictures of all of them. At one grave a dead branch was hanging down blocking my view of the tombstone. I moved it away and it was pointed out “I don’t mean to alarm you, but there could be reptiles there.” To which I became a squealing little girl whose next three shots were totally useless because of the unsteadiness of the cameras.

There were a couple of the covered graves like the one little Viola Wright had at Haymond. Neither was standing up very well. The roofs were intact, but the poor corner poles were sagging or tilted badly.

Ben and Sarah Ratliff Wright were at this cemetery.

The walk down was much easier than the walk up.

Next we drove over to the cemetery at McRoberts which Lois had directed us to. This is a HUGE cemetery. We looked at the old Wright portion of the graves where there is a memorial marker for Joel and Susannah Wright.


Donna and I went through a few of the graves seeing that some were Mullins, Crafts and other family names. I wanted to sit down and sort of map out the area. There were several different chain link enclosed fences. I wanted to see who was who, but I had run out of gas. Now I knew where this one was and could reach it easily so we decided to come back another day to draw the map and take more pictures.

It was a great day. We stopped at Mama Mia’s Deli at Kona on the way back. Lois had told us how good the food was. We met the owners and ate wonderful food. He told us that the cemetery where John Wallis and Sarah Waldrup Bates were buried was overgrown and impossible to get to. He said he was going to take a bulldozer and clear a path to it in the spring. What great news.

It was a wonderful day.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Cora Wright Mullins with sons

This is my grandmother, Cora Wright Mullins, with two of her sons.  The older one is Samuel Lonnie Bentley and the baby is Larlie Jesse Mullins.  I would say it was taken in 1921.

Grandma Rosie

I got another picture of "Grandma Rosie".  She was the daughter of Jesse & Margaret Jenkins Adams.  She first married Johnny Fulton.  Her second husband was Joshua Mullins, my great grandfather.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Clan Johnston from Scotland

I am always looking for where our families came from before they were in America.  I had always thought our Wrights were English until I met cousin Nell and read her work on Joel Wright.

I had traced the Johnson family back to Scotland thru Michael Johnson and Sarah Ford.  I may even have found Michael's parents, Edward and Elizabeth Walker Johnson.  Yesterday I found work by cousin Diane taking the Johnson back into the 1300's.  She has our Johnson actually going back to Clan Johnston in Scotland.  Her work goes like this:

Adam De Johnston born 1311. (my 19th great grandfather)

Stiven De Johnson born 1344 married Margaret Degarviach born 1357.

John De Johnston bron 1377 married Marjorie Leighton born 1365.

Gilbert De Johnston born 1397 married Elizabeth Vaus bor 1384 both in Scotland.

Gilbert De Johnston born 1417 married Elene Lichton born 1414 both in Scotland.

William Johnston bron 1460 married Mararet Meldrum born 1460 both in Scotland.

James Johnston bor 1481 in Saskieben, Aberdeen, Scotland died in 1548.  He married Clara Barclay born in 1492 Fyvie, Aberdeen, Scotland the daughter of Patrick Barclay and Elizabeth Arbuthnot.

Their son William Johnston born 1520 in Caskieben, Aberdeen Scotland married Margaret Hay in 1525 in Scotland.  William died on September 10, 1547.  The reason I know the date of his death is he died at Musselburgh, Lothian, Scotland at the Battle of Pinkie. 

Here I stopped.  I googled the Battle of Pinkie.  I found a lot on Wikipedia. 

  • The Battle of Pinkie was fought between the Scots and the English. The Scots were led by the Earl of Arran and the English by the Duke of Somerset. The Scots numbered between 23 and 36 thousand. The English numbered 17 thousand and had 30 warships. 5,000 of the Scots were killed and 1,500 were taken prisoner. Only 500 of the English were killed.

    The Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, along the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh , Scotland on 10 September 1547 , was part of the War of the Rough Wooing . It was the last battle to be fought between the Scottish and the English Royal armies and the first "modern" battle to be fought in the British Isles. It was a catastrophic defeat for the Scots caused by the use of Naval artillery by the English for the first time in a land battle in Britain. In Scotland it is known as Black Saturday.

    This was historically significant as the first "modern" battle fought in Britain, demonstrating active cooperation between the infantry, artillery and cavalry with a naval bombardment in support of the land forces.

    In the last years of his reign King Henry VIII had tried to secure an alliance with Scotland, and the marriage of the infant Mary Queen of Scots with his young son, the future Edward VI . When persuasion and diplomacy failed, he launched a ruthless war against Scotland, an episode known as the Rough Wooing .

    After Henry died, Edward Seymour , uncle to Edward VI, became Protector with the title of Duke of Somerset and with initially unchallenged power. He too wished to forcibly ally Scotland to England by marrying Mary to Edward, and also to impose an Anglican Reformation on the Scottish church establishment. Early in September 1547 , he led a well-equipped army into Scotland, supported by a large fleet.

    Somerset's army was partly composed of the traditional county levies, summoned by Commissions of Array and armed with longbow and bill as they had been at the Battle of Flodden , thirty years before. However, Somerset also had several hundred German mercenary arquebusiers, a large and well appointed train of artillery , and 6000 horse, including a contingent of Spanish mounted arquebusiers under Don Pedro de Gamboa. The cavalry were commanded by Lord Grey , and the infantry by the Earl of Warwick , Lord Dacre of Gillesland, and Somerset himself.

    Somerset advanced along the east coast of Scotland, to maintain contact with his fleet and thereby keep in supply. Scottish Border Reivers harassed his troops but could impose no major check.

    Meanwhile, the Scottish Regent, the Earl of Arran , had levied a large army, consisting mainly of pikemen with contingents of Highland archers. Arran also had large numbers of guns, but these were apparently not as mobile or as well-served as Somerset's. His horse consisted only of 2000 lightly equipped riders under the Earl of Home , most of whom were potentially unreliable Borderers. His infantry were commanded by the Earl of Angus , the Earl of Huntly and Arran himself.

    Arran occupied the slopes on the west bank of the River Esk to bar Somerset's progress. The Firth of Forth was on his left flank, and a large bog protected his right. Some fortifications were constructed, in which cannon and arquebuses were mounted. Some guns pointed out into the Forth, to keep English warships at a distance.

    On September 9 , part of Somerset's army occupied Falside Hill (then known as Fawside), three miles east of Arran's main position. In an absurdly chivalric gesture, the Earl of Home led 1500 horsemen close to the English encampment and challenged an equal number of English cavalry to fight. With Somerset's approval, Lord Grey accepted the challenge, but engaged the Scots with 1000 heavily armoured men-at-arms, and 500 lighter demi-lances. The Scottish horsemen were badly cut up, and chased west for three miles. This action cost Arran most of his cavalry.

    Later during the day, Somerset sent a detachment with guns to occupy the Inveresk Slopes, which overlooked the Scottish position. During the night, Somerset received two more anachronistic challenges from Arran. One request was for Somerset and Arran to settle the dispute by single combat. Another was for 20 champions from each side to decide the matter. Somerset rejected both proposals.

    On the morning of September 10 , Somerset advanced his army to close up with the detachment at Inveresk. He found that Arran had moved his army across the Esk by a Roman bridge, and was advancing rapidly to meet him. Arran knew himself to be outmatched in artillery, and therefore tried to force close combat before the English artillery could deploy.

    Arran's left wing came under fire from English ships offshore. (Their advance meant that the guns on their former position could no longer protect them.) They were disordered, and pushed into Arran's own division in the centre.

    On the other flank, Somerset threw in his cavalry to delay the Scots' advance. The Scottish pikemen successfully drove them off with the English suffering heavy casualties. Lord Grey himself was wounded by a pike thrust to the face.

    However, the Scottish army was now stalled, and under heavy fire from three sides from ships' cannon, artillery, arquebusiers and archers to which they could not reply. When they broke, the English cavalry rejoined the battle. Many retreating Scots were slaughtered, or drowned as they tried to swim the fast-flowing Esk or cross the bogs.

    Although they had suffered a resounding defeat, the Scottish government refused to come to terms. The infant Queen Mary was smuggled out of the country, and sent to France to be betrothed to the young dauphin Francis . Somerset occupied several Scottish strongholds and large parts of the Lowlands and Borders, but without peace, these garrisons became a useless drain on the Treasury of England.

    A violent Reformation in Scotland was only a few years away, but Scots refused to have Reformation imposed on them by England. During the battle, the Scots taunted the English soldiers as loons [persons of no consequence], tykes and heretics. A thousand monks from various orders formed part of the Earl of Angus's division. Many died in the battle.

    Of the Scottish prisoners, few were nobles or gentlemen. It was claimed that most were dressed much the same as common soldiers, and therefore not recognised as being worth ransom.

    Although the Scots blamed traitors within their own ranks for the defeat, it is probably fair to say that a Renaissance army defeated a Mediaeval army . Henry VIII had taken steps towards creating standing naval and land forces, which formed the nucleus of the fleet and army with which Somerset gained the victory.

    It should be noted that the longbow continued to play key roles in England's battles and Pinkie was no exception. Though the combination of bill and longbow which England used was old, the pike and arquebus tactics used in continental armies did not make it obsolete as the bill and bow could still hold their own against them at this stage in the development of firearms.

    The battle-site is now part of East Lothian .
In these articles it talked about the clans who participated in this battle.  Clan Johnston was listed.  Following their links I found the following.

This is the area of Scotland where the Johnstones lived:



TARTAN
The Tartan of this clan is
People sometimes mistake the Johnston/e tartan for the Gordon tartan. Actually, the only thing they have in common is the green, blue and yellow colors. There are a number of tartans with these colors, but it is the pattern, or sett, which really distingishes one tartan from another. The Johnston/e tartan is fairly simple, and is composed of alternating broad stipes of blue and green. The blue stripe has three narrow black stipes running through the middle. The green stripe also has three narrow stripes in the middle, but the center narrow stripe is yellow. The alternating pattern is woven in both directions (warp and weft), forming a symetrical check. Usually it is made in a twill weave, which means the weaving is done "over two, under two." See the pattern at the bottom of the page.


When the Johnston/e tartan is woven in deep, dark colors, it is termed "modern," which simply means that modern chemical dyes have been used. When woven in soft, muted colors, simulating vegitable dyes, the tartan is termed "ancient." A third version, usually termed "weathered" or "reproduction," has colors which are supposed to look like tartan which has aged a long time.

MOTTO

The motto of the clan which was put on badges that were worn by them on thier clothing was a follows:

Clan Motto: Nunquam non paratus (translation from Latin : Never unprepared).

The crest badge is supposed to be derived from the custom of having the servants of great men wear their masters' crests on their clothing. Similarly, it is claimed that clan chiefs gave representations of their crests to their followers. In any event, the present custom probably dates from the Victorian era.

The Johnston/e Clan crest for Annandale badge consists of the Chief's crest (a winged spur) enclosed in a conventional representation of a "strap and backle," upon which is inscribed the Chief's motto, which is Latin for "Never Unprepared."



The original warcry or slogan of Clan Johnston/e of Annandale was "Light Thieves All," which was a demand to the enemy to dismount and surrender. This slogan was also used as the first motto in the Chief's arms in the early seventeenth century. Later, the Chief adopted the current motto, Nunquam Non Paratus, which means "Never Unprepared." Sometimes the Chief's present motto is translated as "Ready, Aye Ready" or simply "Aye Ready," which is also used as a slogan.


The Johnston/e Clan crest for Caskieben consists of a phoneix in flames enclosed in a "strap and buckle," upon which is inscribed the Caskieben motto, which is Latin for "Live, So That You Will Live in the Future."



EARLY ANCESTORS
I did find pictures of some of the early Johnstones.  Several of them were unmarried and had no children so we know that they were not our direct ancestors.  Some of what I read was that in the Johnstone/Johnson clan the earliest known member of the Clan was John and his son Gilbert who were born in the 1100's which doesn't match with Diane's dates, but at least matches the names and gives me more to work with in my own research to try to put these names and family members in order.  The pictures I found are:
These guys look like English Lords, don't they.  I guess I expected a wilder look rather than the la-de-dah look.  I will keep working on this line and try to figure them out.
Continuing down from William and Margaret, their son was George Johnston bron 1544 in Caskieben, Aberdeen, Scotland.  He died in 1593 in England.  His wife was Chritian Forbes born June 24, 1547 in Caskieben.  She died on January 8, 1621.  George and Christan had at least two daughters.  She married distant (third) cousin Sir Robert Johnston of Caiesmill (Cayesmill) and was the mother of Alderman Robert Johnson, Deputy Treasurer of the Virginia Co. (Sir Robert moved to England during the late years of Queen Elizabeth's reign (1558-1603) which is when he changed the surname spelling to Johnson).   Future generations carried the Johnson name because of Robert' change.


Arthur Johnston wa born in 1587 in Caskieben and died in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England.  He married Mary Kynucke born in 1590.
 
Edward Johnson was born April 21, 1649 in New Leslie, Aberdeen, Scotland.  He married Elizabeth Walker who was the daughter of Alexander and Ann Keith Walker.  Alexander was born in 1630 in Monkegy, Scotland.  Ann was born in 1635 in New Kent County Viriginia.  It would appear to me that either Elizabeth was actually born in Virginia, or Ann was born in Scotland.  Alexander and Ann came to America. as did Edward and Elizabeth. 
 
Next is our line is Michael Johnson who was born in Scotland.  His siblings were Penelope, Rebecca, Arthur and Benjamin. Michael, Penelope and Rebecca were shown being born in Scotland.  Arthur and Benjamin were born in Virginia.   Michael is shown as having died in 1731 in Lichfield, England.  His wife, Sarah Ford was born in 1669 in Kings-Norton, Worceter, England and died January 20 1759 in Lichfield.  If this is true, his parents went to America but he stayed in England.  Penelope and Rebecca died in Virginia.
 
Michael and Sarah's son was Samuel Hurd Johnson.  He was born on September 18, 1709 in Breadmarket, Lichfield, Staffordhire, England.  He married Elizabeth Porther, daughter of Fnu Porter.  She was born about 1709 in England.  They were married on July 9, 1744 at St. Werburgh, Litchfield, Derby, England.
Apparently, Samuel followed his grandfather to America.  Elizabeth died on February 4, 1788 in North Carolina.  Samuel died on December 13, 1784 in Rowan County, North Carolina.
 
Their son, William Thomas "Old Billy" Johnson was born about 1750 on the Yadkin River in North Carolina.  He married Sarah Greenfield, the daugher of Stephen Greenfield.  She was born about 1755 in North Carolina.  They were married about 1764 in Rowan County, North Carolina.
Old Billy and Sarah had twelve children:  John, Sarah, Patrick, Anna/Amy, Samuel, Robert, Jesse, Martha, Benjamin, William Payne, Thomas, and Pascal.
 
Anna/Amy Johnson was born about 1774 in North Carolina. 
 
The family started moving away from North Carolina.  About 1800 Anna married Elder William "Preacher Billy" Tackett in Tennessee.   Billy and Anna had six children:  William "Bucky", Martha "Patsy", George Washington, Sarah, and Rebecca.  They were all born in Tennessee.
 
Eventually, Old Billy, Sarah, Anna and Preacher Billy were on the move again and ended up in Pike County, Kentucky. Sarah died in 1784 in Shelby Creek.  If this is true, then Anna and Preacher Billy would have come into Pike county after them for her youngest child, Rebecca, was born in Hawkins County, Tennessee in 1805.  Old Billy died between 1828 and 1833 in Pike County.   
 
Sarah Tackett was born June 10, 1813 at Laurel Mountain, Knox county, Tennessee.  On July 22 1830 she married Richard Hall in Pike County, Kentucky.  Her father died on September 22, 1851 in Long Fork.  Her mother died December 7, 1857 in Pike County.
 
Sarah and Richard had twelve children.  Their son Enoch Mahlon Hall married Nancy Hampton.  Their son Joseph Leonard Hall married Lettie Craft.  Their daughter Nancy Alice Hall married Otho Bentley. 
 
And that's how we are related to the Clan Johnston.
 
 
 

Thursday, August 14, 2008

William and John Vint Bentley


John Vint & William Bentley
John Martin and Malinda Addington Bentley had twin sons on August 14, 1875.  They named them John Vint and William Mitchell. 

When Jerry was taking me around showing me the old homeplaces just up from where Poppy built his house on the right fork was land where he said John Martin and Malinda lived.  He said William and John Vint lived one on each side of him.

The family moved to Greenup county -- a story for another day.

John married Letitia Cornett on September 2, 1895 in Letcher county.  They had ten children Robert Bryant, General Mashoe, Creed Potter, Sylvan Ray, Frederick "Fred", James Martin "Dock", John Calvin, Luke, Orville and Cora Opal.

John Vint, Letitia and their children.

William stayed a bachelor for a longer time. He married Minerva J. Holcomb on March 5, 1910 in Greenup county.  Their children were Elmira "Myra", Louise "Lula", John Henry and Prince.

William, Minerva and thier children plus May Hower (top right).

The following are pictures of William and John over the years.
The brothers worked together at the Bentley Brothers Store.


Looks like they played together, too.

Here sister, Laura Belle, helps William and John Vint hold their birthday cake.
John Vint died on September 13, 1957 at the age of 82.
William died April 23, 1963 at the age of 87.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

A Letter From Booker to Mary

Here is a letter that Booker Wright sent to his sister, Mary in 1963.

Virgie, Ky.


Feb. 3, 1943



Dear sister

I am writing you a few lines to answer your letter just recieved. I was glad to hear you all was well. This leaves us all well excecpt Sidney. She is coughing herself to death seems like. Well you asked where Mary was at. She is in Columbus Indiana. She is working in a factory. She hasn't stayed at home any since July. I have been gardening some. You always heard the saying of an early bird. I guess that will be the way of me. The war is looking good now. Well I have got till I don't go anywhere hardly. I would like to come and see you all. We are having a bus strike and no buses are running at all. The gas rationing has cut out all the car. Whatare you doing for coffee since they rationed it. I took the matlock and went to the hills and dug me some. Well they put the bridge back in. They have never worke any on the road. The roads are very rough. Yesterday has been a fine ground hog. If she has seen it's shadow today. Come out and we will make you a pot of that coffee. Tell John to come over if he wants a cup of that coffee. We can't make it very sweet because the sugar is rationed. So I will close.



Your brother,

Booker Wright