A Wilson Family Tree

Notes for Harriet Laphand Trewolla


WFT 137 # 299 gives her birth year as 1811 (see below). The Trewolla Moskop Haas Mansfield Tree gives it as 1815. Find A Grave (listing for Harriet L Trewolla Harrison) has 1816 and has a picture of her gravestone, which is hard to read but looks like it says 1816. Furthermore, 1816 fits better with marriage of her parents in 1815, as given by WFT 137 # 299. Her place of burial is spelled Bauld Knob Cemetery in some places, but is listed as Bald Knob Cemetery in Find A Grave.


WFT 137 # 299:

Harriett Laphand Trewolla was born in England on April 15, 1811 and may have come to America with her father, Samuel Pearce Trewolla, prior to 1818. She was first married to James L. Owen. He had acquired a large tract of land very early in McCracken County, Kentucky when land was selling for less than $1.00 per acre. When Mr. Owen died, Harriet was the principal heir to the extensive lands in the area westward from the Heath Community. Included in this plantation was a large house boasting the only spiral staircase and galvanied bathtub in Western Kentucky. Harriet was a dynamic woman of an unusual degree, being more than equal to the rugged demands of the developing frontier. She was the first Trewolla to arrive in Western Kentucky. After Mr. Owen died, she married Robert Enders, a riverboat gambler, who after returning from each trip on the Ohio River, would pour gold coins into her lap. Harriet's third marriage was to Lafayette (Fayette) Harrison, a widower in 1885. Fayett was born March 15, 1815 an[d] died August 28, 1897 in Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky. Buried at the Harrison Family Plot on the Old Fate Trewolla Farm in Lamont, McCracken County, Kentucky. His first wife was Harriett Bradshaw, daughter of James Bradshw. Harriet died on April 27, 1889 leaving land and money to her nieces and nephews. The bulk of her estate went to her husband, Fayette with the provision that he should see after her sister, Anna Marie Kelley, and should her husband die before her sister, the estate would go to her sister. This area then became known as the Kelley Community. Her will was probated May 1889. Harriet is buried at Bauld Knob Cemetery off Kelley Road in McCracken County, Kentucky. Another researcher has her name as Harriet Lavina Trewolla and her year of birth as 1815.

Family Group Sheet of Samuel Pearce Trewolla and Maria Lapham sent to me by James D. Wilks Jr. of Anaheim, California (shows Harriet Lavina Trewolla instead of Harriet Laphand Trewolla)

Will of Harriet L. Harrison:
I, Harriet L. Harrison, of McCracken County, State of Kentucky, being of sound mind and disposing memory, do make this my Last Will and Testament, hereby revoking all former will made by me.
1st. I will and bequeath to Wm. R. Hapson, the piece of land lying between Frank Kelly and John Ware including the Graveyard, containing sixty-five acres more or less.
2nd. I will and bequeath to Mary E. Harrison, four hundred dollars to be paid by my Executor out of my estate.
3rd. I will and bequeath to George Hapson, four hundred dollards to be paid by my Executor out of my estate.
4th. I will and bequeath to Mary Ophella Harrison, daughter of Wm. D. Harrison, two hundred dollars,
watch chain and finger ring.
5th. I will and bequeath to my Husband, Fayet Harrison, his life time, my house and four hundred acres of land including the land that my dwelling house is on. This is for him to see after and care for my sister, Mrs. An Kelly and should my husband, Fayet Harrison die before Mrs. An Kelly, my sister, then my dwelling and the four hundred acres that I have willed to my husband, Fayet Harrison, is to be my sister's, Mrs. An Kelly's and her death, it shall be sold and divided equally among her children.
6th. I will and bequeath to my husband, Fayet Harrison his lifetime, all the furniture in my dwelling house with household and kitchen appertinances(?)
7th. I will and bequeath to Mrs. Sue Megginson, twenty five acres of land including the house that she now lives on.
8th. I will and beqeath to my Niece, Alice V. Ireland, one hundred acres of land her life time, at her death, it shall be sold and the proceeds divided equally between her brothers and sisters, but this is in no way to keep her from sharing with her brothers and sisters in theother part of my estate.
9th. I will and bequeath to my Nephew, Walter Kelly, five hundred dollars or propery equivalent to five hundred dollars in order to make him equal in my estate to his brothers and sisters.
10th. The remainder of my Estate, I will to be sold, all of my landed estate and stock to be sold and the proceeds , divided equally between my sisters, An M. Kelly's children, viz: Mrs. Delia F. Hill, Mrs. Alice V. Ireland, Mrs. Cora D. Craig, Theodore J. Kelly, Mrs. Ida Chiles, Frankl H. Kelley, George W. Kelley, Walter E. Kelly, and Clara Kelly.
Article 11. I will all my notes (promissory) and money to be equally divided between my sister, An. M. Kelly's children, this is my Last Will in witness of this will, I hereby fix my name and seal this the 3rd day of January 1889.
H. L. Harrison (signed)
witness: C.H. Brothers & W.B. Trewolla
State of Kentucky - County of McCracken

"History & Families of McCracken County, Kentucky 1824-1989", page 258: Trewollas, Kelleys and Hills:
The Trewollas, Kelleys and Hills came from England to Virginia about 1841. ..... part of McCracken Co., KY which was known as the "Kelley community". In the late 1800s Harriet Trewolla and her sister Anna Marie, both daughters of Samuel and Rowena Laphand Trewolla, moved from Virginia with a number of other relatives to McCracken County, KY. Anna Marie was born in Richmond, VA in 1818 and died in McCracken County in 1894. She married David Allen Kelley who was born in Virginia in 1810 and died in McCracken County in 1880. Harriet was born in England apr. 11, 1811 and died in McCracken County in 1889. After she moved to McCracken County she married Edward Owen, who had purchased a vast are of land which extended from South of Lamont and North to Metropolis Lake, for less than a dollar an acre. Since Harriet had no children, her estate was left to her husband. At his death it was to go to her sister Anne Marie and her 13 children. Harriet Laphand Kelley (1836-1859), Adelia Frances Kelley (1837-1917), John S. Kelley (1841-1853), David J. Kelley (1843-1862), Alice V. Kelley (1844-?), Cora D. Kelley (1846-?), Theodore L. Kelley (1848-?), Ida Blanche Kelley (1850-1916), Charles Pearce Kelley (1853-?), Edward O. Kelley (1855-1865), George W. Kelley (1858-?), Walter L. Kelley (1861-?). Anna Marie and David's second daughter, Adelia Frances Kelley, married Francis Marion Hill who was born August 11 in Appomattox Co., VA, died January 28 at Lamont, in McCracken County. They had eight children: John married Bell Blanks, Eddie who married Elizabeth Trewolla, A.P. who married Onie Moody, Barnett who married Mattie Mulvin, Walter who married Cecil Cockrell, Mary who married Lee Ray, Sue who married William Megginson and Katie who married Robert Emerson Williams. All of their children, except John who raised his family in Paris, AR, raised their families in the Heath and Lamont Communities. Katie Hill, youngest daughter of Adelia Frances and Francis Marion married Robert E. Williams. They had seven children: Stratton married Florida Pugh, Henrietta married Miles W. Meredith, Ed married Edna Zottarelle, Marion married George G. Houston, Bill married Zelma Sharp, Mildred married Willard Carroll, Katie married J. D. Merryman. In the will of Harriet 1889 she also left a plot of ground on the Kelley Road in Western McCracken County known as "Bauld Knob Cemetery" for the final resting place for the families of the Trewollas, Kelleys and Hills. You will also fina a number of Hills, Kellys, and Trewollas on the headstones in the McKendree United Methodist Church Cemetery in Western McCracken County, KY. Marion W. Houston still lives on a portion of the original land as does her daughter Linda Houston Harper who married Jack R. Harper and grandson John Houston Harper born in 1982. John became the 6th generation to live on his ancestors' land since it was acquired in McCracken County in the early 1800s. Submitted by Marion Houston.

Note: Some of the information in these pages is uncertain. Please let me know of errors or omissions using the email link above.    ...Mike Wilson
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