Sunday, June 30, 2013

Brown County Newspaper of 1900 - Found a Bag of Money



PIECES OF A DECAYED SHOT SACK AND $16.30 IN MONEY UNEARTHED BY WILLIAM HOBBS THREE MILES SOUTH OF NASHVILLE - WAS DESCENDING A STEEP HILL WITH HEAVILY LOADED WAGON THE WHEELS OF WHICH TORE FROM MOTHER EARTH THE SHOT SACK AND HIDDEN TREASURE.

On Thursday evening, October 4, just as the sun was sinking in the western horizons, William Hobbs, son of the well known Benjamin Hobbs, whose home is about three miles south of Nashville in the vicinity of the noted Weed Patch Hill, was descending a steep hill on the old home farm with a heavy load of wood on his wagon, one wheel of which was “rough” locked, when his attention was called to pieces of decayed cloth and a peculiar stone which the wheel had unearthed, and upon closer examination $16.30 in old coins was found.

The road traversed by Hobbs was through “new” ground, which was very fertile and mellow, the wheel which was locked tearing up the soil for a depth of about eight inches. The money was unearthed near an old decayed log, and the stone above mentioned was embedded near, if not just over the coin. On the stone was some peculiar marks which, in the opinion of many, proves that it was used to mark the place where the money was buried.

William was in town Saturday exhibiting the money, thirteen dollars and thirty cents of which was pennies, bearing dates from 1830 to 1880. The remaining three dollars was in silver half-dollars, quarters, dimes, nickels, and half dimes. The oldest of these was a half dime which bore a date of 1838. The money had evidently been buried years ago in the shot sack and the stone used to mark its resting place. By whom or when it was buried is, of course, not known, but it is probable that some of the stave makers, who several years ago worked the timber in that section hid it. William said he spent about an hour in clawing the money out and did not leave until he was sure he had it all.
(Brown County Democrat, Oct. 11, 1900, page 1)

Half-Dime
The half dime was a silver coin valued at five cents, formerly minted in the United States. Some consider the denomination to be the first coin minted by the United States Mint under the Coinage Act of 1792. The introduction of the copper-nickel five-cent pieces made the silver coins of the same denomination redundant, and they were discontinued in 1873.
(from Wikipedia)

Monday, June 24, 2013

Peter Kinder's Will - Confusing information



I've been working on this Kinder family off and on for several years now. I don't quite know what to make of Peter Kinder's Will. First, here's a little background. Peter Kinder and wife, Dolly See, left southwestern Pennsylvania somewhere in the 1780-1790s. They arrived in Shelby County, Kentucky where they settled for a time. There, several of their children were married, one being my 4th great grandmother, Sarah "Sally" Kinder who married John Booth. After this time period Peter and some of his children moved on to Montgomery County, Indiana which is where he died and left a Will. Some of his children especially the daughters moved to other places. Sarah Kinder-Booth and her family ended up in Jefferson County, Indiana.

There is a lot of discussion on the web about the history of the family, but it is rare that someone produces any documentation to back their assumptions. The transcription of his Will is below, but before we get to that the names of his children and their marriages are listed next to help understand the names in the Will. Many of the dates (birth and marriage) are unknown.
Children:
Sarah "Sally" Kinder to John Booth in 1793 in Shelby County, Kentucky
Mary Kinder married John Barr - date and place unknown
Margaret Kinder to Peter Smock on Aug. 5, 1802 in Shelby County, KY
Martha "Patsy" Kinder to Elijah W. Meddock on April 1806 in Shelby County, KY
John Kinder to Jane Millone on Nov. 11, 1808 in Shelby County, KY
Peter Kinder Jr.
George Kinder to Milly Johnson - dates and place unknown
Jacob Kinder to Nancy Shepard on Jan. 16, 1816 in Shelby County, KY
Nancy Kinder to Jesse Hicks on Feb. 3, 1816 in Shelby County, KY

Now, the Will itself is confusing as it is unclear if some of the children are deceased by this time.
January the Twenty-Third 1817, Montgomery County, Indiana - Book A, page 4
In the name of God amen. I Peter Kinder . . . do make constitute and order this my Last Will and Testament in manner and form as follows, viz:
First, That my dear wife, Dolly Kinder have one horse saddle and bridle, two cows, a bed and household furniture and that to one third of my Estate be made up to her.
Secondly, I will that my son Jacob Kinder have twenty-five dollars and no more levied out of my Estate for his benefit and no more.
Thirdly, I will that the children of my decd. son, Peter Kinder, have one dollar and no more.
Fourthly, I will that my grand daughter, Peggy Mettick, daughter of Patsy Mettick have one dollar and no more - levied out of my Estate for her benefit.
Fifthly, I will that the children of my deceased son, George Kinder, Polly Barr, Sally Booth, Peggy Smock and Nancy Hicks have one third of my Estate when my widow's part is taken out.
Sixthly, I will that my son, John Kinder, have the balance of my Estate after the above legatees are paid of and my body buried in a Christian like manner.


Mt. Pleasant Church, Shelby Township, Jefferson Co., IN - area where Sally Booth's descendents live.

The Fifth group seems to be of the rest of the children. It's unclear which children are deceased except George and Nancy. George is stated as being deceased and his Will is on record in Jefferson and Shelby counties in 1813. Nancy and her family settled in Putnam County, Indiana and she lived until about 1900. There were two John Barr's in Kentucky in this same area as the Kinders so I'm not sure which family to follow to find the daughter, Polly Kinder. There was also two Peter Smocks, but neither one seems to have had a wife named Peggy. I know a little more about my 4th great grandmother, Sarah Kinder-Booth, but I still do not have a time of death for her. The only way to tell which children have died by this time is to try to track each one down to see where they went and when they died. That has been a very difficult job to work on, especially the daughters.