Wood Tag

Cousin Hazel told me about a game they played as children. She said if you were standing on wood you were safe, but if you were not then you had to run and tag someone who was not safe.

She said that when Hayes Bentley, who was buried in the Goose Creek cemetery I just visited, came home and was in uniform and played this tag with them just like he was a little child and not one who was going overseas.

William Thomas "Old Billy" Johnson married Sarah Greenfield. They had about thirteen children, many of them well known Johnsons in Pike and Letcher counties. One of them was Anna/Amy Johnson who married Elder William "Preacher Billy" Tackett. William and Sarah were my 5th great grandparents. Anna and Billy were my fourth great grandparents. Anna & Billy's daughter Sarah Tackett married Richard Hall. Their son was Enoch Mahlon Hall, then Joe Hall, then Nancy Alice Hall who married Otho Bentley.

Another of Old Billy and Sarah's children was William Payne "Mander" Johnson. He married Lucy Ann Akers. Their son, Robert "Bob" Johnson, married Easter Frances Branham. Their son Winfield Scott Johnson married Lovene Sarah "Viney" Fleming. She was he daughter of Fightin' Fred Fleming and Nancy Ann Wright. Nancy Ann was one of the daughters of Joel & Susannah Wright. Viney was the sister of Elizabeth "Betsy" Fleming who married Thaney Houston.

Winfield Scott Johnson and Viney had a son named John Henry Jefferson Clay Johnson. He married Oma Lou Potter.

Oma Lou Potter was the daughter of Isaac Potter and Elizabeth Emeline Bentley. Isaac was the son of Benjamin Potter and Mary Lunce. Elizabeth was the daughter of James Martin Bentley and Sarah E Lunsford Tucker. James Martin was the son of Benjamin & Jane Bentley. Benjamin was the brother of old Daniel Bentley.

John Henry Jefferson Clay Johnson was born on April 8, 1878 in Pike County. Oma Lou Potter was born on March 18, 1889. Their thirteen children were Mander, Bessie, Bertha Gay, Levi Frank, Morgan Festus, James Conway, Rozzie Emiline, John H., Ellis Gad, Elihu Penilton, Daniel Van and Nettie Hazel.

Mander Johnson was born in 1897 and died in 1923.

Bessie Johnson was bron in 1899 and died in 1985.

Bertha Gay was born on March 8, 1902. She died on September 8, 1917.

Levi Frank Johnson was born in 1904 and died in 1985.

Morgan Festus was born in 1906 and died in 1980.

James Conway was born May 7 1908 and died August 14, 1917.

Rozzie Emiline was born in 1910 and died in 1999.

John H. was born in 1911.

Ellis Gad was born in 1913 and died in 1991.

Elihu Penilton Johnson was born January 18, 1916 and died August 21, 1917.

Daniel Van was born in 1918 and died in 2007.

Nettie Hazel was born in 1920 and died in 2002.

In 1917 John Henry was 39 years old. Oma Lou was 37. They lost three of their children in 1917. Those three are buried at the Houston Cemetery at Goose Creek.

On August 14, 1917 James Conway Johnson died.

On August 21, 1917 Elihu Penilton Johnson died.

On September 8, 1917 Bertha Gay Johnson died.

John Quiller & Sarah Collier Yonts

With a name like John Quiller, I knew that he had to have a Bentley line in his background. This is John's lines.

He was the son of Solomon "Sollie" Yonts and Virginia Jane "Jennie" Quillen.

Sollie was the son of Charles Yonts and Hannah Houston. He was a half brother to Nathaniel "Thaney" Houston. Charles was the son of William & Levisa Yonts. I can't go back further on William yet. I thought I had his line figured out, but after corresponding with another cousin and then going back to look at some original records, I don't believe his line goes back the way I had it connected. Remember this William, though.

Jane Quillen was the daughter of Richard Teague Quillen and Catherine "Katie" Yonts. Katie was the daughter of William Yonts and Nancy F. Rhea. This William was the son of William and Margaret Bentley Yonts. This is the same William I told you to remember. He was married twice. Margaret Bentley was his first wife. Margaret was the daughter of Thomas & Hannah Bentley. John Quiller or Queller was one of her nephews.

John Quiller Yonts' wife was Sarah Collier. She was the daughter of Robert Collier and Martha Yonts. Her Yonts line goes back to Solomon Yonts & Frances Whitaker. Solomon is the son of William Yonts and Nancy F. Rhea. So here again William's parents were William Yonts and Margaret Bentley.

Now for Sarah's Collier line, Robert was the son of William Dee Collier and Rebecca Meade. Robert was a brother to Willis Kirk Collier who is also buried in this Houston Cemetery.

That being said, let me tell you what I know about this couple.

John was born on April 26, 1881 in Letcher County. He had ten siblings: McCreary, Holly P Nickel, Charles, Catherine, Hannah, William H., Judge S., Richard, Pharas and a child who died between census records that I have not been able to name yet.

Sarah was born on August 6, 1886 at Neon. I haven't worked on her parents much so the siblings I am aware of so far were twins, Solomon and Henderson, Willie K, Mandy, William H., James F., Timothy, Sheridan, and Myra.

Both Sarah and John Q. are with their parents in the 1900 census records. I can't find them yet in 1910 or 1920. I did find John's World War I draft registration. It said he was a tippleman for Elkhorn Coal. It also described him as short with a medium build having black eyes and black hair.

In 1930 Sarah and John Q. are in Neon. John was 47 and listed a plumber for the coal mines. It says he married at 21 and Sarah at 16. This would put their marriage at about 1902. Listed with them are

Luther, 23, a chauffeur for a garage,

Marcus, 21

Marths 21, the twin of Marcus

Gladys 19.

There is another daughter that I have found, Quilva, but she is not in their household in 1930.

John died of myocardial failure on January 20, 1950. He was buried in the Houston cemetery on January 21st.

Sarah died on July 21, 1967. She was buried in the row behind John directly behind his grave.

Hayes Bentley 1921 - 1944

Walker Hayes Bentley was born January 21, 1921. His parents were Morgan Bentley and Isabel Fleming. He has a double Bentley line. Morgan's parents were Solomon Bentley and Mary Jane Bentley. Solomon's line goes back to John Queller Bentley who was our Benjamin Bentley's brother. John Queller and Benjamin were sons of Daniel Bentley. Mary Jane's line goes back thru to the Benjamin Bentley who was a brother to Daniel.

Isabel Fleming was the grandchild of Frederick Fleming and Nancy Ann Wright. Hayes is related to me through mom and through Dad.

Hayes was not married according to his Army enlistment records. However he did say he was single with dependents. I believe his children were Eleanor and Kenneth R. Bentley and that their mother was Octavia Stewart. Hayes enlisted in the army on July 2, 1942. Eleanor was born December 26, 1942. Kenneth was born June 9, 1944. Hayes died on September 8, 1944.

Hayes is buried in the Houston Cemetery at Goose Creek behind where R. B. & Siller Houston Meade and Denton Houston's homes used to be.

The Colliers

The blog is acting up. It is doubling pictures and adding lots of spaces between paragraphs. I am going to once more remove them, but I cannot guarantee that they won't be there when I push the publish button.

This is a nutshell view of the Colliers as I have them.

The oldest Collier I have is Isaac who was born about 1718 and married Mary Gaines who was born in 1720. They had a son named Michael who was born about 1738 and married an Elizabeth. Michael and Elizabeth had a son on January 8, 1764 named Daniel.

Daniel married Elizabeth Prather born December 9, 1769. She was the daughter of James Prather. They had a son Richard on May 9, 1789. He married Matthew Caudill and Sarah Webb's daughter, Mary Caudill.

Richard and Mary married on August 30, 1832. They had a daughter, Elizabeth, in 1833.

In the 1850 census for Letcher county they are listed as:

Collier, Richard, 53

Mary 49

Stephen 16

William 15

Samuel 12

Sally 11.

Stephen married Elizabeth "Betsy Ann" Roark. They had these children: Richard (married Mary Bell Cook), James, Martha and Jamie.

William Dee "Willie" Collier married twice. First, he married Rebecca Meade, daughter of Thomas Kronis Meade and Mary "Polly" Hall. In the 1860 census he and Rebecca are living with his parents Richard and Mary:

Colier, Richard, 68, farm laborer

Mary 58

William 25, farm laborer

Rebecca 22 (William's wife Rebecca Meade)

Mary 5, grandchild

Robert 3, grandchild

Willis 1, grandchild

Meade, Catherine 24 (Rebecca Meade's sister)

Christener 4 (Catherine's child)

Martha 1 (Catherine's child)

Mary the 5 year old is Mary Matilda "Polly" Collier who was born April 30, 1855. She married Andrew "Little Andy" Wright who was killed in a shootout when he and other Wright relatives and William Pardue went to arrest Elijah Wright. After Little Andy's death she married Alexander Wright and then Wilburn Reedy.

The grandchild Robert who was 3 was born May 15,1858. He married Martha Yonts.

The grandchild Willis who was 1 was born April 22, 1859 as Willis Kirk Collier. He first married on September 18, 1885 to Mary Ellen Adams daughter of William Green Adams and Mary "Polly" Webb. She died in April of 1889. On May 5, 1890 Willis took Elizabeth "Lizzie" Vanover daughter of William and Elizabeth Vanover as his second wife.

Willis had three children with Mary: Wilburn "Wibby", Sadie and James Harrison. Sadie was Otho Bentley's first wife.

Willis had ten children with Elizabeth: Arnettie "Nettie", Mazie Frances, Milton M., Florence, Ireland Drew, Carrie, Ira F., Howard M., William and Delphia Jane.

I can't find Richard and Mary in the 1870 census yet. William Dee and Rebecca are there under a spelling of Colier.

Going on with Richard and Mary's children Samuel P. Collier married Martha Roark, probably a sister to Stephen's wife Elizabeth Roark. I haven't done any work on the Roarks to confirm this. Samuel and Martha had 8 children: William Wesley "Bill", Lizzie, Mary, Peter, Richard, James, Martha and Enoch Irvin.

Richard and Mary's youngest child, Sarah "Sally" married Robert C. Meade. They had 8 children: Mary "Polly", Nancy, Siletha, Riley, Rebecca, Samuel, Arminda and Martha.

The reason I wanted to try to sketch out the Colliers is because so many of them are in the Houston Cemetery at Goose Creek.

W. D. Collier

I don't know if this is William Dee Collier. It says W. D. Collier. It was clear at the graveyard. I can't make it out clearly on film. I should have chalked it so it would have read clearly.

Willis Kirk Collier 1859 - 1943

It says Rev. W. K. Collier July 23, 1859 May 8 1943. At the bottom that says "In Memory of Howard Collier." His son, Howard, did not die until 1971, so it is probable that this marker was not placed until after that time.

Florence Collier Hall 1898 - 1922

Florence was the daughter of Willis Kirk Collier and Elizabeth "Lizzie" Vanover, She was the half-sister of Sadie Collier Bentley. She was born on July 22, 1898 in Letcher County. She married John Henry Hall on February 21, 1916. They had two children: Rhoda and Ford. John Henry died on March 17, 1924. In the 1930 census the two children are living with their grandparents: Rhoda with Willis Kirk & Lizzie Vanover Collier and Ford with is widowed grandmother, Nancy Elizabeth Anderson Hall. Jim Hall had died in 1929.

Carrie Collier 1903 - 1920

Carrie was the daughter of Willis Kirk Collier and Elizabeth "Lizzie" Vanover. She was a half-sister to Sadie Collier Bentley. I could not find a death certificate for Carrie.

Sarah Collier Yonts 1886 - 1967

Robert Collier was Willis Kirk Collier's older brother. He married Martha Yonts, daughter of Solomon & Frances Whitaker Yonts. This is the grave of Robert and Martha's daughter, Sarah. Sarah was born August 6, 1886 at Neon. She married John Quiller Yonts, the son of Solomon "Sollie" Yonts and Virginia "Jennie" Quillen. They had five children: Luther, Quilva, Marcus, Martha and Gladys. John died in 1950 and was buried at Goose Creek. If Sarah lies beside him, he is in a grave marked only with a rock and the head and foot.

Arthur Denton Collier 1909-1909

I can't figure this one out. I have no birth or death record for him. I don't know who he belongs to.


Robert Collier 1899 - 1926

Again I can't figure this one out.

Betsy & Thaney's Children

Thaney and Betsy Houston had nine children that I know of: Mary, Preston, Joseph, Hannah, Annie, Lavina, Rinda Mae, Aulden "Olvin and James Denton. They married into many of my related families:

Mary , the oldest was born in 1867. She never married though she had several children with a Bentley and a Potter.

Preston was born in 1869 and died before 1880.

Joseph was born about 1870 and died on May 20, 1976 of dropsy.

Hannah was born on December 29, 1971. She died September 29, 1960. She married three times: Alexander Wright and William Milton "Milt" Meade. She had a child by Israel Jesse Adams.

Annie married only once to Joshua Mullins.

Lavina "Vina" married Rhodes Meade.

Rinda Mae married Jonathan A. "Twig" Collier.

Aulden G. "Olvin" married Susannah Wright. He also had a daughter with Mary Collier.

Oliver Denton married twice: Eliza Jane Wright and Mattie Wright.

I want to concentrate on the Colliers because of the graves I found at Goose Creek.

Piney Mae Venters 1899 1918

PINEY MAE VENTERS 1899 - 1918

Jesse Wright was married four time, 1st to Elizabeth Moore, 2nd to Mary Brummitt, 3rd to Maggie Perdue and last to Nickotie Vanover. After he and Mary divorced, she married at least two more times. Her second marriage was to John Venters, the son of James & Emeline Slone Venters. John had been married before, too. Mary raised and her step children stayed with her throughout her other marriages. John and Mary had one child of their own: Piney Mae Venters. She was born April 14, 1899. She had a child Gurna Charles Venters on February 26, 1918. She died on March 3, 1918. I found Gurna Charles in census records with a Potter family in West Virginia. He did end up living in Neon. He married a Hazel Hall. He died on June 23, 1946 of a heart blockage. His birth certificate listed his name as Gernia C. Wright parents Martin Wright and Piney Mae Venters. His death certificate lists Piney Mae as his mother and Martin Wright as his father. The informant was Roy Venters who was one of John Venter's children who stayed with Mary Brummit. Gurna Charles is buried in Neon.

Goose Creek Cemetery Part 2

Boy am I lost without my computer. Well, I guess I should amend that. Boy am I lost without the internet on my computer. My fan went out on my laptop and is in the shop being repaired. Well, it's somewhere being repaired. For all the service I bought they never seem to be able to fix anything onsite. So my files and sources are on that harddrive.



Yesterday my cousin, Rosie, and her husband, Robert, and I went to the cemetery which was supposed to be behind the house once owned by R. B. and Siller Houston Meade. We went up to the locked gate that I had encountered on Saturday. The construction company used to be headquartered there and have moved the headquarters to Whitesburg. This site is more storage and sometimes someone is working there, but it could be locked. They told us if it were locked they would come and unlock the gates for us. They gates were unlocked.



We had been told that you needed a four wheel drive or 4 wheeler to get up the graveled road. Robert drove up as far as he could, and then we started walking. It was steep, but at least cleared and nothing like trying to climb up the creek wall when I was going toward Aunt Annie Bentley Wright's grave. It was a long walk, too.



Finally, we got to the graves. They were covered with leaves. We split and started going through the graves looking for Thaney and Betsy. When I had called Archie Meade, R. B. and Siller's son, he said that the graves outside the fence were Jane, her husband and two babies (Siller's first child and Denton's daughter, Mae.). Archie said that the first grave inside the fence behind Jane's was Thaney's grave and next to him was where Betsy Fleming Houston was buried. He did not remember Annie and did not know where her grave was located there. He said it had been about 53 years since he had been there. He said Thaney and Betsy had tombstones.



The road we followed took us in to the back of the cemetery. There are quite a few tombstones up there. The newest grave seemed to be 1967 if I remember correctly. We set about trying to find Jane or Thaney or Betsy's grave. Rober or Rosie found Jane's. Next to it we found Charlie McCray. We didn't find the babie's graves but think they must have been only marked with rocks.



Behind Jane's grave was the remains of a fence. It had fallen down. I saw another part of old fencing at the back, but those were the only two traces I saw.



Now did I tell you how prepared we were? Rosie was in layers. She had leggings, gloves, and a toboggin. I had gloves, a toboggin, leather coat for windbreak, and a bag with chalk, a notebook, and a broom. The broom fell out of the bag and it stayed in the car. Rosie brought along two walking sticks and gave me one. We used it at the graves to try to find stones in that area where we think Thaney and Betsy were. Archie was right on with his directions. We just know that they were there, but something we couldn't find.



Rosie discovered a couple of stones that had fallen over and we were able to clear them and chalk them so we could read them. I took pictures of everything. I will post them later when I get my computer back and can take the pictures from my camera to the computer.



I was suprised to find so many Collier graves. I asked Rosie if this could be the Wright Collier cemetery they talked about. She said, no, that was the one down the right hand fork and it was an easy one to reach. There weren't any Wrights



Here are some of the names we found:

Letha Isom 1924-1925
Charlie McCray son of Benjamin & Mahala McCray 1860-1930
1865-1926
Bertha Gay Johnson
Elihu Pendleton Johnson 1916-1917
James Conway Johnson 1908-1917
Nancy Jane Potter 1877-1917
Earnest Carter
Sarah Yonts 18860
O B Houston 1880-1919
Jane McCray 1871-
Arthur Denton Collier
J. A. Collier 1874-1930
Robert Collier 1899-1926
Thomas Luther Collier 1908-1941
Orlena Ruth Isaacs 1900-1947
Robert Eugene Isaacs 1931-1993
Florence Collier Hall 1898-1922
Carrie Collier 1908-1920
Sgt. Hayes Bentley 1921-1944
Luther Potter 1908-1927
Joe Potter 1901-1923
Pina Mae Venters 1899-1918

Some names I know well. Some are mysteries to me. There were more that I could not read through my 3 inch LCD screen. If you recognize any of them and want to share the info, please email me.