Wednesday, November 16, 2016

The Lineage of John Booth of Indiana and Harrison County, West Virginia



I have been working on my Booth family for some 15 years and I have been fortunate to have come across many generous distant cousins that have shared what they have found. I know I have tried to thank each and every one of them, but I just want to put it in writing "Thanks so much to my Booth cousins." It's fortunate to have an historical figure in the family, Captain James Booth, because so many records and historical accounts have been left about him. Unfortunately though, it's been a little harder to find anything on his children and wife. When I posted on Captain James Booth's letter of 1777 on the August 2013 post that was my small part that I could share what I had found at the time.

My 4th great grandfather, John Booth was born about 1768, although there are other dates that have been given. He was the son of Captain James Booth and Nancy Stalnaker. Captain James Booth was killed by Indians in 1778. His story can be found in the book, History of Harrison County, West Virginia from the Early Days of Northwestern Virginia to the Present, Morgantown, WV: Acme Publishing Co, 1910, page 71. This book can now be seen on Google books. On page 20-21: "In the year 1771 Captain James Booth and John Thomas settled on Booth's Creek on land that was afterwards owned by the Martin family and others shortly followed. Captain Booth was afterwards killed by the Indians and his loss was severely felt by the inhabitants in his neighbor-hood." On page 35: "John Booth, heir of James Booth, in the forks of the Monongahela River, to include his settlement made in 1771." And these entries go on and on in this book as well as other books that we have come across detailing the history of this area.


John and James went to Shelby County, Kentucky sometime after the death of their father. Sarah Booth married Evan Thomas and they went to Jennings County, Indiana. Bathsheba Booth married Alexander McClelland and they settled in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Little is known of their mother. There supposedly were other older children of Captain James Booth, but little documentation can be found on them. When John went to Kentucky he married Sarah Kinder, the daughter of Peter Kinder and Dolly See. They finally settled in Jefferson County, Indiana where John applied for a pension for service in the Revolutionary War but was rejected. All of these documents along with the Court case back in Loudoun County, Virginia involving his grandfather, Robert Booth, gives us good genealogical material. As I make each following post I will be putting these documents on the blog for all Booth descendants to share.