Philemon Chapman and his wife, Frances Holderby

I could not help but look at my matches on Ancestry Thrulines for potential ancestor Sarah McCorkle (1750-1820) who was the wife of Edward Chapman and the mother of Philemon Chapman if the hints on ancestry are correct.  Ancestry suggests that this couple are the parents of Philemon Chapman who married Frances/Fannie Holderby.  I know a little bit about Philemon and Fannie as they lived most of their lives in what is now Cabell County, WV and both died in this county.  My data base says that Fannie died in 1872 at the age of 90 in the home of her son-in-law,  Dr. J.D. Kincaid.

Ancestry suggests that I have 2 dna matches who descend from Philemon's brother, William Chapman and 6 dna matches who descend from Philemon's sister, Sarah/Sally Chapman who married a man with surname Pointer/Poynter.  That is enough matches to seriously look at Edward and Sarah McCorkle Chapman as a good possibility for 5-gr-grandparents.

The BIG question is if all of these matches have accurate research and that there is indeed proof of marriage of Edward Chapman and Sarah McCorkle as well as proof of relationship of the children.  Is there a will for Edward Chapman?  Where was Sarah living when Edward married her?

Right now, my mind is somewhat confused about the facts.  So I am going to put down the facts that I know whether they support the theory or are in conflict with the theory and then try to write my story from what I know.

First of all, there is a marriage record found on Ancestry that looks quite excellent for Philemon and Frances/Fannie:

Digitally enhanced from multi-generation photocopy of original. Original photocopy produced from Green County, Kentucky official records (repository unknown, assumed to be Green County Court House) retrieved first hand by Evelyn L. Miller c.1985. Scan and digital enhancement in 2009 by Douglas Miller (related through Martin family, not Miller).

DonnaJeffrey48

DonnaJeffrey48 originally shared this on 14 Feb 2016

Where is Green County?  It is shown below as a highlighted area just South of Louisville and east of Bowling Green.





So the question in my mind is who is the Chapman family moving with?  Where have the come from.  Ancestry researchers suggest Culpeper County, Virginia....but had they been somewhere else between the move from Culpeper to Green County?

And the biggest question in my mind is why did Philemon and Fanny move to Cabell County in what is now WV instead of west?  And why did they marry in Green County if Fanny's family was in Cabell?

Fanny's father, William Holderby, is already in Cabell County.

“We (the undersigned), appointed to locate the public buildings under the act, etc, taking into consideration the convenience and inconveniece of the population, and interest of the county do fix the mouth of the Guyandotte, on the upper side, in the middle of a field occupied by William Holderby, as the most practicable place for said public buildings, etc.”

    Holderby’s field consisted of 100 feet of land on either side of what is now Bridge Street (3rd Ave) and extended from Guyan to Main Streets.  It was in this field that the first county courthouse was built in 1809

 He purchased the first lot which was sold in the town of Guyandotte, in 1811.  (Deed Book I-page 164).  THis Deed is recorded in 1810, but since the town was just being laid out it is very probable that it was not occupied before 1811.  It was purchased from Thomas Buffington.  Also in this book on page 163, is the Deed for seventy nine acres on the Ohio River, purchased from Jonathan Buffington, which ran down the Ohio river from the Guyandotte a certain distance and extended towards the hill, which was  purchased by James Holderby in 1811, a brother of the William Holderby mentioned above.

 There is no doubt that William Holderby and family were in Cabell County in this time period.  It would seem most unusual for the bride to have traveled to the Groom's place of residence to marry.

However, a look at the WV marriage records shows no marriage for Philemon and Frances and the information about WV marriages say that the records start in 1809.