LOIS ASHERST
THE STORY AS I KNOW IT
Lois Asher was born November 6, 1792 in Surrey County, North Carolina. Her parents were William Asherst and Mary McChesney. This information is from a biography of William Asher, born 1762, Halifax County, VA by Kitty Gessner and Gregory Watson. It was found at the Caldwell County, KY library. The bio is 7 pages long. With census and deed records it tracks the family as they first made their home in Augusta Va., his service during the Revolution and their move to Surry County NC where Lois was born, then on to Pendleton county SC by 1797. In 1807 William Asherst settled on 400 acres in Hopkins County Ky through a Land Grant. Lois was then 15 years of age. The story continues .....
We have a copy of a document by William W. Blackburn, written April 17, 1900 in Princeton Kentucky. He writes about his family. He states that the Asher family moved to Hopkins County Kentucky when his mother was five(fifteen) years old. "He lived there a few years and moved to this then Livingston County and located on Donaldson Creek near where Farmersville is located. He said his father, Zebulon was born in NC and moved with his family to Tenn. and lived their until 1814 when they moved to Livingston County on Donaldson Creek He completes by saying "he was the only son of parents against whom I never heard aught." That part of Livingston county became Caldwell County.
Lois married Zebulon Blackburn
in Caldwell County on August 30, 1815. Gateway to the
Jackson Purchase, by Eurie Pearl and Wilford Neel has
a chapter on Caldwell County and original Marriage Bonds
with Parental Consent. pg 111. Security
for the bond was held by David Baird, Consent to
the marriage by William Ashurst.
Both Zebulon Blackburn and William Asher were active in Donaldson Baptist Church, organized in 1823. William Asher donated the land for the church. Zebulon was Church Clerk from 1846 to1854. His son, William W Blackburn replaced him and served until 1865.
Lois and Zebulon had at least seven children:
1. Mary M. Blackburn, born 1816 wed Wiley E.
Calvert
2. Sarah A.F. Blackburn, born 1818 wed Thomas
Jones. She died 1847
3. Adelia Jane Blackburn, born 1821 wed Robert
B. Patterson
4. William Washington Blackburn, born 1823 wed 1st
Catherine Street, 2nd
Martha M. Traylor
5. Nancy M. Blackburn, born about 1827 wed
George R. McDowell
6. Elizabeth A. Blackburn, born 1829 died 1852
7. Lois Blackburn Jr., born 1831, died 1847
Births above are from the Caldwell County Cemetery Book. Marriages are listed in the Caldwell County Marriage Book. All birth date and marriages are listed in Blackburn Family History. Copies can be found at the Caldwell Library.
The 1850 Caldwell County Census confirms some names, dates and adds to family picture.
Zebulon Blackburn age 56
Lois Blackburn age 57
Nancy Blackburn age 22
Elizabeth A. age 19
Sarah A. F. Jones age 6 the children of Sarah
and Thomas Jones
Mary J. T. Jones age 10. Did Thomas
die also?
Wiley E. Calvert age 38
Mary M Calvert age 34
Nathaniel Calvert age 33 must be Wiley’s brother
Sarah L. Calvert age 1
William W. Blackburn age 26
Katherine S. Blackburn age 27
Nancy E. Blackburn age 1
Katherine Street age 61
– mother-in-law
Lydia & Robert Patterson and Nancy .&
George R. McDowell are not in the list. Both
of these families were on the 1870 Census in Franklin
Illinois. However, Nancy was not
there. The youngest child on the census was 4 years
old. So she must have died between 1866 and
1870. So another young women died probably before
she was 40.
The Caldwell County 1860 Census Roll M654_359, page
134 gives us the family living in Farmersville
Zebulon Blackburn age 67
Louisa Blackburn
age 68
Mary Jones
age 18
Sarah Blackburn
age 14
J.T. Kent
age 14
So some more puzzles, Did Zebulon and Lois
adopt Sarah Jones - so now shes Sarah Blackburn?
and who is J.T. Kent.
It seems a medical puzzle why 3, and then Nancy,
of the 6 daughters died between the ages 23 –
29? Type 1 diabetes was in the family in the
20th century. Maybe back then.
Zebulon Blackburn died in Dec. 1863. Lois Asher Blackburn died just a few months later in Feb. 1864.They are both buried in Morse Cemetery near Farmersville KY. and can be found on Find a Grave with all the dates given. .
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Doc; gbash010.html
Date created: 1/15/2001
Date edited 1/7/2016
Date edited 8/11/2016
Date edited 8/20/2019