Aaron Wells Family Association

Treasurer’s Report

Dear Cousins,

We are looking forward, once again, to visiting with many of you on Sunday, July 15, at our annual family reunion.

I have received some donations from many of you throughout the year—to you we offer our thanks and appreciation. To others of you who wish to donate, please feel free to do so.

I have just written a check for $134.00 for our January newsletter. This leaves $839.83 in our account. We will need to pay for this newsletter and $100.00 for the facilities at the 4-H Center.

Remember to bring your crafts to the reunion for our silent auction. We always enjoy these treasures. Please encourage all your relatives to come to the reunion.

? Respectfully submitted,

? Betty Jo Wells

? Secretary/Treasurer

Letter from the Editor

Welcome to all the new subscribers to our newsletter, and thanks to all of you who have contributed items and information ?Marilyn Wood Armstrong, Deanna Carter, Donald Claypool, Ronda Taylor Haley, Connie Hazeltine and Marie Hedges.

Please send your news to me at:

131 Robinhood Drive

San Francisco, CA? 94127-1626

My email address is

<straube@earthlink.net>.

Don’t forget to let me know about changes of address or if you want to be taken off the mailing list.

An abridged version of this newsletter appears at the family association website at:

http://www.webpub.com/~jhagee/wells.html

And a three generation database is at:

http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=wellswiggins

? Sincerely,

? Patricia Roane Straube

? Newsletter Editor

Biographies

History of Nicholas County. Compiled and edited by Joan Weissinger Conley. Carlisle, Kentucky: Nicholas County Historical Society, Inc., 1976. p. 347

Edmond Collins Burden

Edmond Collins Burden was born in Nicholas County, July 20, 1826, grandson of Charles Burden (17763-1836) and the son of James Burden (1793-1888) and Elizabeth Collins, who was a granddaughter of Mark Kenton, Jr., an older brother of Simon Kenton. [Elizabeth Collins was the daughter of Edmond Collins and Sarah Kenton, and the sister of Matilda and Mariah, both of whom married William W. Wells, and Lucinda, who married Daniel Wells.] He lived in the community of Crayton where, at an early age, he became an expert gunsmith and long before the Civil War was producing his famous rifles, each marked on the top of the barrel: "E. C. Burden."

He married on Oct. 17, 1850, in Nicholas County, Nancy Wells, daughter of Uriah Wells and Esther Pollick [sic], and later transferred this gun-making establishment to Carlisle. His youngest brother, James Madison Burden, became his apprentice. In 1852, he was elected Jailer of Nicholas County.

Burden's excellent craftsmanship was always in demand and brought him recognition far beyond his own county. An Ohio county history book records that during the Civil War, a group of Ohio hunters formed a militia unit. Because each man was armed with his own Burden rifle, the unit was known as "The Burden Rifles."

These Nicholas County made rifles can still be located in Nicholas and surrounding counties. Having been handed down for several generations, the writer possesses one of these muzzle loaders. It has a thick, octagon-shaped, long barrel and is very heavy; but, when placed to the shoulder, the balance is so remarkable that the heaviness disappears.

In Feb. 1879, Burden and his married children moved to Kansas and settled near Hutchinson. His eldest son, Dr. William C. Burden, was a practicing physician until his death in 1903.

Edmund C. Burden died in Feb. 1913, while living with relatives in Arkansas. His wife, Nancy, had died in 1904. Both are buried at Rogers, Ark. -- by Karl Rosenberg, Apdo. 5-472, Guadalajara, 5, Jal., Mexico.

Cutler, William G. History of the State of Kansas. Chicago, Illinois: A. T. Andreas, 1893.

Rice County, Part 7 Raymond

WILLIAM C. BURDEN, M. D. [Nancy Wells³, Uriah^2,, Aaron¹], physician and surgeon and dealer in a general line of drugs and medicines, opened trade in January, 1882. He first came to Raymond, Kansas, in February, 1879, locating in the latter place in the practice of his profession in May, 1879. He was born in Carlisle, Nicholas Co., Ky., October 6, 1851, where he lived until 1861. Family then moved to Mt. Olivet, Ky., where they lived until 1865, but made his headquarters in the latter village until he came to Kansas. Began reading medicine in 1873, under Dr. R. Wells, of Mt. Olivet, Ky. He attended several courses of lectures at the Medical University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, in 1874-5. Graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Keokuk, Iowa, in 1877. Began the practice of medicine at Mt. Olivet, Ky. Married, in 1879, Miss Fannie Kane, of the latter place, a native of Neville, Ohio. They have one son - James Willis. He is a member of the Masonic order, I. O. O. F., and Royal Arch Masons. He is the present Township Trustee of Raymond Township.

The Burden Connection

Many of our Wells cousins are also cousins through other early families of Nicholas and Robertson Counties. Through Karl Rosenberg's Descendants of James Burden, 1740-1806, published by the author in 1980, I was able to add a lot more Wells descendants to the database and also establish other Burden cousin relationships.

James Burden was born about 1740 in New Jersey. His first wife's name is unknown. He later married Mary Brain. James died in 1806 in Nicholas County. Of his many children, two had descendants that married into our Wells family: Charles Burden from the first marriage and Jane "Jinsey" Burden from the second.

Charles Burden was born in 1763 in New Jersey and died in 1836 in Nicholas Co. His wife's name is unknown. He was the father of James Burden. Jane "Jinsey" Burden married William Kenton, 5 April 1816, in Nicholas County. William Kenton's mother, Elizabeth, was the widow of Mark Kenton, Jr. His father is unknown. He was the younger half-brother of Sarah “Sally?Kenton who married Edmond Collins. Many of our Wells cousins are not only related through this Collins connection but also from four of William and Jane (Burden) Kenton's children through the Whaley, Kenton, Meadows, Gifford, Linville, and Burns families.

James Burden, son of Charles, was born 10 January 1793 in Bourbon Coumty., Kentucky. He married (1) 28 June 1818, in Nicholas County, Elizabeth Collins, (daughter of Edmond Collins and Sarah Kenton) He married (2) 8 October 1840, in Nicholas County, KY, Melinda (___) Wilson who died in 1851. He married (3) 4 October 1865, in Mason County, Kentucky, Mary Ann Hoague, born 15 January 1833, Mason County, died 14 August 1907, Robertson County, Kentucky.?James died 12 July 1888, buried: Mount Olivet Cemetery.?Melinda was the widow of Thomas Wilson. Mary Ann was the widow of Benjamin Ellis McGraw. The following is an update of the first two generations from Edmond Collins Burden and Nancy Wells. Those marked with a "+" have additional information in our database. The complete printout of the report of the descendants of James Burden who have married into the Wells family runs to 19 pages! There will be a copy available at the reunion

?/span>

Edmond Collins Burden and Nancy Wells

1.?Edmond Collins Burden, (son of James Burden and Elizabeth Collins) b. 20 Jul 1826, Nicholas Co., KY, m. 17 Oct 1850, in Nicholas Co., KY, Nancy D. Wells, b. 1834, Nicholas Co., KY, (daughter of Uriah Wells and Esther Pollock) d. 1909, buried: Rogers, Benton Co., AR.?Edmond died _ Feb 1913, Rogers, Benton Co., AR. Children:

+ ?????? 2. i William Columbus Burden b. 6 Oct 1851.

+ ?????? 3. ii Walter Scott Burden b. 7 Jan 1855.

+ ?????? 4. iii Cynthia Ann Burden b. 29 Jul 1856.

+ ?????? 5. iv Elizabeth Bertha Burden b. 30 Sep 1860.

2.? William Columbus Burden b. 6 Oct 1851, Carlisle, Nicholas Co., KY, m. 12 Mar 1878, in Robertson Co., KY, Frances "Fannie" L. Kain.? William died 1903, buried: Sterling, Rice Co., KS.

?/span>??????? Children:

????????6. i Anna M. Burden b. 1880, d. 15 Apr 1880.

????????7. ii Willis Burden b. 1881, d. 17 Sep 1883.

????????8. iii Lambert E. Burden b. 1884, d. 1 Aug 1886.

????????9. iv Walter Lawrence Burden b. 11 Nov 1895, Raymond, Rice Co., KS, m. 1919, Pearl

? ?????????????? Gertrude Tedrick, b. 14 Feb 1898, d. 16 Oct 1976.? Walter died 1932, Wichita,

?????????????????/span>Sedgewick Co., KS.

?+??????10. v Cecil W. Burden b. 9 Jun 1897.

3. Walter Scott Burden b. 7 Jan 1855, Carlisle, Nicholas Co., KY, m. (1) 10 Mar 1880, Mary Eva Mitchell, b. 8 Oct 1859, Pike Co., IL, (daughter of Samuel Silas Mitchell and Sarah Jane Gibler) d. 7 Jan 1911, buried: Raymond, Rice Co., KS, m. (2) 17 Apr 1914, Jeanette Dorris.?Walter died 20 Oct 1933, Rice Co., KS, buried: Hilltop Cemetery, Raymond, KS.

?/span>??????? Children by Mary Eva Mitchell:

?/span>+ ??????11. i Anna May Burden b. 4 Dec 1881.

? ?????? 12. ii Stanley Scott Burden b. 11 Mar 1883, Raymond, Rice Co., KS, d. 6 Apr 1888.

? ?????? 13. iii Bertie L. Burden b. 11 Jul 1884, Raymond, Rice Co., KS, d. 8 Apr 1888.

?/span>+ ??????14. iv Fanny Ethel Burden b. 29 Jan 1889.

?/span>+ ??????15. v William Walter Burden b. 10 Sep 1892.

4. Cynthia Ann Burden b. 29 Jul 1856, Carlisle, Nicholas Co., KY, m. 20 Nov 1873, in Robertson Co., KY, Thomas Jefferson Wood Jr., b. _ Apr 1850, Bracken Co., KY, (son of Thomas Jefferson Wood and Mary R. Clark). Cynthia died 19 Apr 1935, buried: Hilltop Cemetery, Raymond, KS.

?/span>??????? Children:

? ?????? 16. i Artie Bell Wood b. 17 Dec 1875, Robertson Co., KY, d. 13 Jul 1879.

+ ?????? 17. ii Bertha Louise Wood b. 30 Jul 1879.

? ?????? 18. iii William T. Wood b. 6 Nov 1881, d. 4 Mar 1891.

+ ?????? 19. iv Emmett Rondeau Wood b. 16 Nov 1883.

5. Elizabeth Bertha Burden b. 30 Sep 1860, Carlisle, Nicholas Co., KY, m. 26 May 1881, in Lyons, Rice Co., KS, Joseph R. Booth, b. 1 Jul 1851, d. 17 Feb 1935.?Elizabeth died 8 Jan 1947, buried: Odd Fellows Cemetery, Central Point, OR.

Children:

+ ?????? 20. i Lewis David Booth b. 8 Dec 1884.

????????21. ii Robert E. Booth. no issue

????????22. iii James Uriah Booth.

????????23. iv Nancy Booth m. (1) Charles Lewis, m. (2) James Talley.

+ ?????? 24. v Mary Etta Booth b. 10 May 1890.

????????25. vi Edna Booth b. 20 Apr 1898, m. Henry Kilburn.?Edna died _ Oct 1986, Central Point,

? ?????????????? Jackson Co., OR.

26. vii Iva Booth b. 8 Mar 1900.

Andrew Jackson Wells and Mary Jane Burden

Edmond Collins Burden had a sister, Mary Jane Burden who was born. 28 December 1823, in Nicholas County, Kentucky. She was married 27 June 1839, in Nicholas County to Andrew Jackson Wells who was born about 1817 in Kentucky.? Mary is buried at Hilltop Cemetery, Raymond, Kansas. Rosenberg’s book states that Andrew Jackson Wells is the son of Uriah Wells and Esther Pollock. This is obviously an error. Uriah, born in 1811, could not be the father of a man born in 1817. Could Andrew Jackson Wells be an unknown child of Nathan Wells and Jane Guffin?

Andrew Jackson Wells, his wife Mary Jane, and son Edmund are found in the 1870 Census of Fulton County, Illinois, living near Joshua and Martha (Burden) Barlow, another daughter of James Burden and Elizabeth Collins. In neighboring Warren County, Illinois were his brothers, Samuel Barlow with his wife Margaret, a daughter of William Kenton and Jane “Jinsey?Burden, and James N. Barlow with his wife Catherine, one of the “missing?daughters of Nathan Wells and Jane Guffin!?Their son, Nathan W. Barlow was working on a neighbor’s farm. Nearby were A.R. Harman, with his wife, Elizabeth Wells, another “missing?daughter of Nathan, and their children: George W., Elizabeth J., and Nora A. Harman, all born in Kentucky.

These Barlow boys were the sons of John Barlow (1777-1845) and Elizabeth Taylor (1781-1825) who were married 30 May 1799 in Bourbon County, Kentucky and are both buried in the Barlow graveyard in Nicholas County.?

Our records show quite a few gaps in the birth dates of the known children of Nathan Wells and Jane Guffin, particularly a ten year gap between the births of Ruth in 1815 and Elizabeth in 1825. There may be other “missing?children to be identified and researched.

Daniel Wells and Anna Elizabeth McGraw

Nancy Wells' little brother, Daniel, married Edmond Collins Burden's stepsister, Anna Elizabeth McGraw. Here is an update of that family

1.?Daniel W. Wells³ [Uriah², Aaron¹] b. 22 Aug 1842, Nicholas Co., KY, m. 18 Nov 1869, in Robertson Co., KY, Anna Elizabeth McGraw, b. 23 May 1850, Nicholas Co., KY, (daughter of Benjamin Ellis McGraw and Mary Ann Hoague) d. 24 Mar 1931, Germantown, Bracken Co., KY, buried: Kentontown Cemetery, Robertson Co., KY.?Daniel died 1893, buried: Kentontown Cemetery, Robertson Co., KY.

?/span>Children:

2. i Carl Wells b. 2 Sep 1870, d. 2 Apr 1905.

3. ii Mary Lena Wells b. 11 Apr 1872, d. 2 Apr 1932.

4. iii Luther Wells b. _ May 1874, Robertson Co., KY, d. 5 Dec 1943, Mason Co., KY.

5. iv Homer Richard Wells b. 20 Mar 1876, m. 14 Mar 1914, in Brooksville, Bracken Co.,? KY, Dove Harding.

6. ?/span>v Hester F. Wells b. 2 Feb 1878, d. 22 Oct 1892.

7. vi Florence Mattie Wells b. 29 Nov 1882, , Robertson Co., KY, m. 12 Feb 1907, in??Robertson Co., KY, Thomas Jefferson Taylor, b. 26 Oct 1872, Robertson Co., KY, (son??of Jasper Taylor and Elizabeth Jane Wood) d. 8 Dec 1944, Mason Co., KY.?Florence?? died 21 Apr 1960, Mason Co., KY

8. vii Zella May Wells b. 11 Apr 1885, m. 23 Dec 1906, in Robertson Co., KY, Herbert Glen??Miller, b. 18 Dec 1884, (son of Sylvester Miller and Melinda Wood) d. 13 Feb 1973,?? Robertson Co., KY, buried: Piqua Cemetery, Robertson Co., KY.?Zella died 26 Apr??1910.

?/span>9. viii Charles Burgess Wells b. 25 Jun 1887, d. 23 Mar 1961, Fayette Co., KY.

LINEAGE LINKS

The Wiggins Evans Connection

Foremost among the "missing" has been daughter Sally W. Wells. From Aaron's final estate settlement in 1845, we know that her husband's name was William Evans, that they had lived in Licking County, Ohio and that she was deceased. Many researchers, starting with Lucy Thompson, have not been able to find any further information. In our research of the Wiggins family, Donald Claypool and I have found a tantalizing clue in Pickaway County, Ohio.

History of Franklin and Pickaway Counties, Ohio. William Bros., 1880.

Pickaway Township

Early Settlement, p. 266

? The initial settlement of Pickaway county was made in this township, in the year 1796 or 1797. The first cabins were erected on Zane's "trace," which led through the plains from the crossing of the Hockhocking (now Lancaster) to Chillicothe. It cannot with absolute certainty be stated who was the first actual settler but from the best information now obtainable, we are inclined to the belief that Caleb Evans enjoys that distinction. He was a native of Pennsylvania, whence he removed to Kentucky, and resided there until the year stated, when he came to Ohio. He settled on Scippo creek, in section five, where his grandson, Samuel H. Evans, now resides. He was possessed of considerable means, for a pioneer, on coming to this country, and lost, a short time afterwards, by a fire which destroyed his house, four hundred dollars in silver coin. He was a man of strong traits of character, and a good and worthy citizen. He was married twice. By his first wife he had two children--Jonas and Joseph. Jonas went to Indiana, and died there. Joseph remained in Pennsylvania. The second wife of Caleb Evans was Elizabeth Wiggins, who became the mother of nine children, viz: William, David, John, Archibald, Caleb, Samuel, Ruth, Mary and Elizabeth. William and John settled in Licking county, Ohio. David went south, and nothing was learned of him afterwards, and Archibald died when young. Caleb died in Mexico, while serving as a soldier in the United States army. Samuel, the best known of the sons, [remained] in this county?

[Caleb Evans married Elizabeth Wiggins, June 14, 1789 in Nelson County, Kentucky.]

First Events, p. 269

? The first white child born in the township and probably the county was Mary Evans, daughter of Caleb and Elizabeth Evans. The date of her birth was June 8, 1799. She became the wife of her cousin Archibald Wiggins and removed to Kentucky.

Wayne Township

Early Settlement, p. 320

? Thomas Wiggins located in Wayne Township in 1812, where he died in 1825. His wife afterward became the wife of James Rose, and died, December 23, 1849. The children were five in number, three of whom were born in Wayne township.

Churches, p. 321

? The first religious worship conducted in Wayne township was at the house of John Hubbard, at an early date, by…ministers of the Methodist denomination. A class was formed here, which was composed in part of the following persons: Pritchard Mills, who was its leader, Mary Mills, his wife; John Hubbard and wife, Anna; Thomas White and his wife, Amy; Thomas Wiggins and Lucinda, his wife; and Thomas Bondell In 1830, a frame building,…was built for church purposes.

Editor's Note:

Who were these Wiggins? How were they related to our Ruth? Unfortunately, we haven't yet been able to determine that. However, if Aaron and Ruth's daughters Rachel and Ruth married Wells cousins in Ohio, it may be that Sally married a Wiggins cousin there as well. However there are no marriage records for either William Evans or his sister Mary Evans in Pickaway County, Ohio so the search continues. . .