Sent by Jo An Sheely. S/o George (Nickson) Nixon and Elizabeth Arnold.
Ref: Jonathan was born in Frederick Co., (later Hampshire Co.) Virginia. By 1777 he was in Pennsylvania; 1783 Westmoreland Co., Springfield Twp.,
(Pennsylvania Archives); he paid taxes in Fayette Co., German Township,
Pennsylvania in 1785. In Marion Co., Virgina History (Now West Virgina)
Jonathan discovered Valley Falls 1785. In 1786 he built a home at Edwards
Fort, 5 miles south of Boothville; 1787 he obtained a land grant of 385 acres
at Booth's Creek, Harrison Co. he had 18 children. 7 boys and 11 girls; 13
lived to adulthood. Will in possession of JoAn Nixon Sheely, probated Harrison Co., Va. October Court 1799. Signed Jonathan Nixson.
Ref: "Early Settlers Western Frederick Eastern Hampshire Counties
Virginia" by Grace Kelso Garner. "History of Hocking Valley" page 978; "Perry Co., History" 1980; "History of Perry and Fairfield Counties". Latter two contain articles on descendants of Jonathan Nixson.
Sent by Jo An Sheely
Ref: "Early Settlers" by Grace Kelso Garner; "Capon Valley" by Maud Pugh.
Book contains a pedigree of the Pugh's. Listed as Sarah Nixon on the 1810
census, Harrison Co., Va.
Sent by Richard Ratcliff. William and Rachel are buried in the Spiceland
Friends Cem. in an unmaked grave. See page 183-184 HH Book, Vol. I by William Perry Johnson.
See page 14, Harmon Hiatt record, 1895. See also notes refering to this
family under Elijah Coffin.Rachel Hiatt Kersey married William Kersey and lived near Dublin, Indiana. They had seven children born unto them. 1) Ann m. Driver Boone. 2) Eli m. ? 3) Asher married about 4 times and lives somewhere in Iowa. 4) Vierling married Emity Butler, studied medicine and was a very successful practicioner in Richmond, Indiana for many years. Has several children. Never saw them. One is now practicing medicine in Chicago, Ill. 5) Silas Hiatt Kersey m. two or three times. Never saw his wives. I think they had children, but do not know them or where they are. Silas was a physician of considerable ability and practiced in Richmond, Ind. 6) Mary Hiatt Sheridan m. George Sheridan. I do not know where they live, but likely in the vicinity of Spiceland Quaker meeting. 7) Charity Hiatt Kersey m. a Mr. Alden, and I believe live near Spiceland in Henry Co., Ind.
Sent by Richard Ratcliff. Rachel Hiatt's grave in marked in the Earlham Cem. in Richmond, Ind.
Rachel Hiatt was born during the last year of the Rev. War. but remembers hearing her sisters tell of helping make bullets for the soldiers.
After the death of her husband, William Kersey, she made her home for twenty years with her daughter, Mary Kersey Sheridan and husband George. When the Sheridans moved to Iowa in 1865, she went to the home of her son, Dr. Vierling Kersey where she lived until her death. Alice Sheridan Meredith lived in the same house with her grandmother, Rachel Hiatt Kersey, until her 15th year. She said her grandmother had her own chair by the fireplace and told stories to the children of early days in North Carolina and Indiana as she sat knitting and sewing.
In North Carolina, she and her sister Prudence (Prudy) Hiatt Stanley lived on opposite sides of a stream. On Mondays they each brought their washing down to the stream and visited across the stream as they worked. This stream was probably a tributary of the Yadkin near Beards Hatter shop in Guilford Co., N.C. Here three of her sons Daniel and William, twins, and John died. John died of typhoid fever the day Mary was born. Her mother did not expect Mary to survive the epidemic, which had taken her three sons, but she did and lived to make a good home for her mother in her old age.
Rachel Hiatt Kersey use to say she could remember seven generations of the Hiatt family. Her mother Charity Williams Hiatt sat at the head of the Friends Meeting at Spiceland, and her grandmother, Martha Wakefield Hiatt was a noted Quaker Preacher from Belfast, Ireland.
Mary C. Kersey Sheridan said of her mother Rachel Hiatt Kersey, when she was lonely and sad, her books were her best solace.
From a note written by Asher Kersey about 1900: As early as 1740 or 1750, William Kersey from Maryland of Irish - Scotish decent with his wife and some family settled in NC on Deep River, ten miles from what is now known as New Garden in Guilford Co. This was about 3 miles from the present town of Springfield, a Quaker settlement.FOURTH GENERATION: GRANDCHILDREN OF GEORGE HIATT
(195.) RACHEL HIATT (28.) (3.) (1.):
b. 30-3mo-1781, Guilford Co., NC.; d. 19-9mo-1868, Spiceland, Henry Co., Indiana; m. 5-2mo-1800, Guilford Co., NC., to WILLIAM KERSEY, son of Daniel and Mary (Carter). Kersey; b. 27-8mo-1781, Guilford Co., NC.; d. 3-2mo-1840 - (or 23-8mo-1844 ?)., Spiceland, Henry Co., Indiana. To Indiana in 1825.
CH: (746.) Anna; (747.) Eli; (748.) Asher; (749.) Vierling; (750.) John; (751.) Daniel; (752.) William; (753.) Mary Carter; (754.) Silas; (755.) Charity Williams.
New Garden Mo. Mtg., Guilford Co., NC.:
5-2mo-1800 - Rachel Hiatt, d/o William and Charity, Guilford Co., m. William Kersey.The following was received in 1944 from Lawrence T. Kersey, 2021 North Orleans Street, Chicago 14, Illinois -- a great-grandson of Rachel (Hiatt). Kersey:
"According to Stephen B. Weeks, in 'Southern Quakers and Slavery,' Richard Williams (Rachel Hiatt's grandfather). gave, in 1732 (1752 -- editor)., forty acres of land for the purpose of a Friends meeting house and burying ground at New Garden, North Carolina. History records that the battle of Guilford Courthouse, in the war of the American Revolution was fought near here. And after the battle the wounded from both sides were brought to this Meeting House and cared for. More than one hundred soldiers from both sides were buried in one common grave under an oak tree in the burying ground. A suitable curb stone was placed around it. That tree still stands."Rachel Hiatt was born during the last year of the Revolutionary War but remembered hearing her sisters tell of helping make bullets for the soldiers. After the death of her husband, William Kersey, in 1844, she made her home for twenty years with her daughter, Mary (Kersey). Sheridan and husband George Sheridan. When the Sheridans moved to Iowa in 1865 she went to the home of her son, Dr. Vierling Kersey, where she lived until her death. Alice (Sheridan). Meredith lived in the same house with her grandmother, Rachel Hiatt Kersey until her fifteenth year. She says her grandmother had her own chair by the fireplace and told stories to the children of early days in North Carolina and Indiana as she sat knitting and sewing. In North Carolina she and her sister, 'Prudy' (Prudence Hiatt Stanley). lived on opposite sides of stream. On Mondays they each brought their washing down to the stream and visited across the stream as they worked. (This stream was probably a tributary of the Yadkin, near Beard's Hatter Shop in Guilford County, North Carolina.) Here three of her sons, Daniel and William, twins, and John, died. John died of typhoid fever the day Mary was born and her mother did not expect Mary to survive the epidemic which had taken her three sons, but she did and lived to make a good home for her mother in her old age.
"Alice (Sheridan). Meredith still owns the large cherry bureau which was the first article of furniture the Kerseys bought after they moved to Indiana in a covered wagon in 1825, just nine years after Indiana became a state. The bureau is still in use. The house where Rachel lived with the Sheridans is still standing but has been moved nearer the road, and has been remodeled and is occupied by the family who bought the George Sheridan farm near Spiceland, Indiana. The house was built in 1837, of native hardwood timber which abounded in Indiana. It was a frame house built by George Sheridan for his bride, Mary C. Kersey, and was ready for them when they were married late that fall. Porches and gables have been added.
"Rachel used to say she could remember seven generations of the Hiatt family. Her mother, Charity (Williams). Hiatt, sat at the head of the Friends Meeting in Spiceland, Indiana, and her grandmother, Martha (Wakefield). Hiatt was a 'noted Quaker preacher' from Belfast, Ireland.
"Mary C. Sheridan said of her mother, Rachel (Hiatt). Kersey: 'When she was lonely and sad her books were her best solace.'
"In Alice (Sheridan). Meredith's autograph album is the following verse which Rachel said she composed before the invention of the steam engine:
'For Alice,
I remember well when I was young,
I had not heard it said or sung,
I read it not, nor did I dream
Of the noble deeds now done by steam.
Thy grandmother, Rachel Kersey.'" (R51)."From the diary of Miss Virginia Kersey: 'Dr. Vierling Kersey, my father, told me the Kerseys originated in Scotland, drifted to Ireland for a few generations, and then to England, locating near Cambridge, where a town or village, named Kersey, still exists. I am sure they were originally weavers in all three countries." (Note: The village of Kersey is in Suffolk, 2 1/2 miles NW. of Hadleigh. Kersey cloth is well known in England.) "Father thought these two Kerseys, John Kersey, the mathematician, and John Kersey, the lexicographer, were his ancestors. John Kersey of England and his twelfth son, William, were among the early settlers of Pennsylvania. William emigrated to North Carolina and settled on Richland Creek, in Guilford County. He married Hannah Hunt, sister of William Hunt, who died of small-pox while on a religious visit to Friends in England. Their mother was Mary Woolman, daughter of John Woolman and wife, Elizabeth (Borton). Woolman. John Woolman, the great Quaker minister, was a grandson of John Woolman and Elizabeth Borton Woolman. Mary Woolman, their daughter, married William Hunt who came from England to Pennsylvania in 1718/19.
"William and Hannah (Hunt). Kersey had six sons, and one daughter, namely: Amos, Jesse, Daniel, Thomas, Eleazar, William, and a daughter that died in infancy. Daniel Kersey married Mary Carter, daughter of Ann (Whipple). Carter. Nathaniel and Ann Carter of Dublin, Ireland, were the parents of John Carter. John Kersey came to America about 1702.'
"Memorandum of Family History, given to Charles W. Kindley, by Asher Kersey about 1900: 'As early as 1740 or 1750, William Kersey from Maryland, of Scottish-Irish descent, with his wife and some family, settled in North Carolina on Deep River, ten miles from what is now known as New Garden, in Guilford County. This was about three miles from the present town of Springfield, a Quaker settlement.
"'This William Kersey blazed on trees around about 300 acres for each of his five boys, there then being no government land marks to go by. He then employed, at his own expense, a surveyor to estimate the number of acres, and paid the British Government 12 1/2 cents per acre for it.
"'William Kersey was in the act of building a stick and clay chimney to his cabin when a distant neighbor came along and proposed that he go with him to kill a deer, after which he would come back and help build the chimney. William consented and was walking in front of this man whose name was Beals, carrying a shotgun, when they saw a deer just in front of them. William squatted down, as Beals supposed to let him shoot the deer with a good rifle he carried. Just as Beals fired, William raised up, the ball going through his head, killing him instantly. This left the widowed mother and her five boys alone on the homestead, which they all occupied until about 1825.'" (R51). (Grandfather of the William Kersey who m. Rachel Hiatt -- editor.)
In 1944 Lawrence T. Kersey wrote: "….I enclose a brief memorandum concerning the accidental death of William Kersey in 1764. I remember distinctly of hearing my grandfather, Asher Kersey, relate this incident may times, but have not been able to get other verification of it. But me grandfather had a wonderful memory and was no hand to 'fix up' stories, so I have absolutely no doubt of its authenticity." (R51).
From the "Narrative of Achilles Williams", written in 1875 when nearly 80 years of age. It was written for a son (grandson? -- editor). of Rachel (Hiatt). Kersey: "Let me name now the family of Hiatts, with nearly all of them, I was quite well acquainted, with your father's Uncle Benajah and family certainly I should be, as I learned a trade, the saddling with him 60 to 63 years past.
"Joel, Benajah, Isam, Silas and Amer were the males. The Aunts were Prudence Stanley your grandmother, another Stanley, Ruth Esther Evans and Rebecca Unthank, and was there not another aunt, prehaps not.
"All of these have deceased, except cousin Amer, the youngest male. He was living at Westfield, Indiana, lately. He must be over 80. Rebecca was the youngest I think.
"Some years past, I was in Logan Co., Ohio and saw the oldest Prudence Stanley, there in her 94th year, I think. She was then walking out on the porch, at least. Signed: Achilles Williams." (R85).
Rachel (Hiatt). Kersey was a great-granddaughter of "William and (?). Hiatt who came from England to Pennsylvania about 1690." (R51). (See p. 32 -- ed.)
Sent by Richard Ratcliff and Roger S. Boone. John died of typhoid fever.
(750.) JOHN KERSEY (195.) (28.) (3.) (1.):
b. 24-11mo-1811; d. young.
Sent by Richard Ratcliff and Roger Boone. Daniel died to typhoid fever.
(751.) DANIEL KERSEY (195.) (28.) (3.) (1.):
b. 12-2mo-1814; d. young.
Sent by Richard Ratcliff and Roger S. Boone. William died of Typhoid fever.
Sent by Marjorie Morgan, Thomas Hamm.
Hiatt Marriages in Henry Co., Ind 1823-1851
Eli then married 8 March 1846 to Charlotte Miller and on 23 April 1847, he married Ruth Ellen Marshall.
S/o Uriah Hunt and Rebecca Mason.
Sent by Marjorie Morgan. Hannah died at the birth of their daughter, Mary Ann.
Hiatt Hiett Book, had no futher information.
(401.) CHARLES HIATT (81.) (11.) (2.) (1.):
b. 18-3mo-1794, prob. Surry Co., NC.; m. 1818, Surry Co., NC., to MARY KEYS; b. 2-8mo-1801. To Wayne Co., Indiana, in 1822.CH: (1155.) Elizabeth; (1156.) Benjamin Keys. (Others?).
Westfield Mo. Mtg., Surry Co., NC.:
11-7mo-1818 - Charles Hiett granted a certificate to Deep River Mo. Mtg. to marry.
12-12mo-1818 - Charles Hiett granted a certificate to Deep Creek Mo. Mtg.Deep Creek Mo,. Mtg., Surry (now Yadkin). Co., NC.:
1-8mo-1818 - Charles Hiett produced a certificate from Westfield Mo. Mtg., dated 11-7mo-1818, to marry.
5-9mo-1818 - Charles Hiett, of Westfield, reported married to Mary Keys.
3-4mo-1819 - Charles Hiett received on certificate from Westfield Mo. Mtg., dated 12-12mo-1818.
5-10mo-1822 - Charles Hiett and family granted a certificate to New Garden Mo. Mtg., Wayne Co., Ind.
5-10mo-1822 - Mary Hiett and daus. granted a certificate to New Garden Mo. Mtg., Wayne Co., Ind.
Page 32
Charles Hiatt b. 3-18-1794
Mary Hiatt b. 8-2-1801
Ch: Elizabeth b. 6-22-1819
Benjamin Keys b. 5-28-1821 (R45).
Sent by Connie Dabel. D/o Joseph Keys and Mary Pickett. Sent by Marjorie
Morgan. Also spelled KEYES.
(1156.) BENJAMINE KEYS HIATT (401.) (81.) (11.) (2.) (1.):
b 28-5mo-1821 (or 7-10mo-1828 ?)., Surry Co., NC. (or Wayne Co., Indiana?).; d, 1895 in Indiana; m. (1st). 1850, Randolph Co., Indiana, to DINA HINSHAW, d/o Thomas and Hannah (Pickett). Hinshaw; b. 11-11mo-1826, Randolph Co., NC.; m. (2nd). in Surry Co., NC, c1877-80, to (2928.) ELIZABETH BARKER, d/o Wyatt and Matilda (Hiatt). Barker; b. c1855, Surry Co., NC. To Indiana c1880. (Elizabeth Barker was a first cousin once removed to Benjamin Keys Hiatt Dinah Hinshaw was a grand-aunt to my wife - editor.) There were no children by either marriageWhite River Minutes (Randolp Co., Indiana).: Benjamin K Hiatt (of Poplar Run). at liberty 7-9mo-1850 to marry Dinah Hinshaw; marriage reported 16-10mo-1850. (R81).
Marborough Mo. Mtg, Randolph Co., NC.:
17-11mo-1875 - Benjamin K Hiatt received on certificate from Hickles Creek Mo. Mtg, Hamilton Co., Indiana - editor.) (R45).In 1946 Mattie Hiatt (of Springville, Utah). wrote: “There is a large tribe of the descendants of Jesse Hiatt and Julia Taylor down here in Payson, and many of their close relatives live at Mt. Airy, Surry Co., North Carolina.
“For many years we tried to connect our genealogy, finally after the book of Hinshaw’s (R45). came to the Library, I requested that some of the Family come over and see if I couldn’t find their ancestry, as I had some copied into family groups all the Hiatts (as well as my Stouts and Hobsons, etc.) that were in the Record. The eldest man of the tribe, Frank Edmund Hiatt (see No. (2935.) - editor)., come over Sun. July 31st 1938 and this is what he told me, saying that he wished to tell me what he knew before I said anything: ‘ A William Hiatt deeded land to Charles and Jesse Hiatt, this Jesse Hiatt was my grandfather, and the William Hiatt may have been the father, and Charles may have been a brother of Jesse. However, Charles later sold his land, deeded to him by this William, to my grandfather Jesse and went ‘wet’ I was born on this land because it later came to my father, and I have handled and seen this deed’
“Well, I knew that the only Charles Hiatt I had seen in all the North Carolina records which Hinshaw had compiled was the son of William Hiatt.... This Charles had married mary Keyes and they had 2 children on record, a daughter Elizabeth and a son Benjamin Keyes Hiatt... So as a pot shot I asked Frank Hiatt if he had ever known a Benjamin Keyes Hiatt. He looked postively startled! And replied ‘Yes, why?’ I then asked if he knew what the relationship of this Benjamin Keyes Hiatt was to himself, and he answered, that this man had told him that he (Benjamin K). was a cousin to thy father were brothers. In going on telling of this said Benjamin Keyes Hiatt he (Frank). said that this man worked at the farm of his father-in-law, while he (Frank). was courting one of the farmer’s daughters who later became his wife (Frank’s). and that this Benjamin Keyes Hiatt, although years older, had also wanted the same girl. So we have proof of this tribe, and it is a vast one.” (R124). (This incident took place in 1877 in Surry Co., NC., on the farm of Zachery Hutchens. (See No. (2935.) Mattie Hiatt’s Great-grandfather, Reuben Hiatt, was a first cousin to Jesse Hiatt, grandfather of Frank Edmund Hiatt - editor.)