EDWARD FLATHERS and HIS DESCENDANTS a Genealogical H I Story of Ni Ne Generations in America
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o® - Ho ^ EDWARD FLATHERS AND HIS DESCENDANTS A Genealogical H i story of Ni ne Generations in America By Jennings H. Flathers November 1973 OF THE Ch C .niST OF LATÍ tfi-uMÍ £*AiMTS F J WITHDRAWN From the F&rnUy History Library DEDICATED To The first five generat i ons of Fiathers who moved westward with each new generation and made homes on the cutting edge of the front i er. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Introduction 1 Chapter I — Virginia 3 Chapter II — Kentucky 1$ Chapter III — Edward in Indiana 2$ Chapter IV — Edward's Son, John Fiathers 31 Chapter V — Edward's Son, Thomas Flathers 36 Chapter VI — Edward's Son, Isaac Newton Flathers 1+8 Chapter VII — Edward's Son, Benjamin Franklin Flathsrs 6£ An Introduction to Chapters VIII - XII 76 Chapter VIII — Edward's Grandson, Edward Flathers 81i Chapter IX — Edward's grandson, John Vie s ley Flathers 121 Chapter X — Edward's Grandson, Willis A. Flathers 171; Chapter XI — Edward's Grandson, Thomas Sheridan Flathers 187 Chapter XII — Edward's Grandson, Y/illiam Harris Flathers 20J> Conclusion 218 Index 221 1 INTRODUCTION As a child in the Texas Panahndle, I was so isolated from other Flathers families that my knowledge of my father's relatives consisted mostly of what I knew about the families of his two brothers, Charles and Irvin. We had lived near Uncle Charley when he had lived in Western Oklahoma before moving to Arkansas in I918. In 1926 we made a trip to Franklin, Nebraska, to visit my father's birthplace, and on that trip I met my Uncle Irvin and his family. I don't recall even knowing my Flathers grandparents names until the summer of 1°1L1, after my father's death, when my mother and I again visited in Franklin, Nebraska. It was on this trip that I gathered some family information going back to my great grandfather, John Wesley Flathers• After my wife and I moved to McLean, Virginia, near Washington, D. C, in i960, my wife, Elizabeth, began doing research in the National Archives and DAR Library on her family when I was away from home on trips connected with my work. Over the years, we had been in contact with my cousin, Maureta Flathers Witherspoon, Uncle Charley's daughter, and it was she who gave us our first look into the wonderful history of the Flathers family. In connection with my work I traveled throughout the United States, and on an early trip to Minnesota I found the name of Elaine Flathers, an English teacher in Waseca. Elaine grew up steeped in family history, for Homer, her father, has an insatiable appetite to learn more about the Flathers. Elaine had also inherited family records from three deceased cousins — Myrta Flathers, Elvira Flathers Seaquist, and Clarice Flathers Shoemaker. My wife, Elizabeth, contacted Elaine, and she along with Maureta Flathers Witherspoon gave us the impetus for further research in the National Archives, DAR Library, National Genealogical Library, county courthouses, county libraries, Library of Congress, and with relatives. 2 In 1972 when I took early retirement, I vowed that my first project would be the writing of the Flathers Genealogical History. The first draft took months and wasn't finiahed when we went exploring a third time to Kentucky, also to Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and again a third time to Indiana. We had already worked in the libraries and courthouses in Fairfax, Prince William, and Fauquier Counties, Virginia, and in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, twice. Elizabeth carried on correspondence with meribers of the Flathers families from I960 until 1972 when I was too busy with my work to gather information» Maureta Flathers Witherspoon and Elaine Flathers furnished copies of old letters, a few dating back nearly a hundred years. Mildred Flathers, granddaughter of my Uncle Irvin, sent a genealogical list of relatives dating back to our common ancestor, Edward Flathers. While this list was not complete, it furnished a solid background for further research. I ran an advertisement in The Genealogical Helper seeking information and attended meetings of the National Genealogical Society on writing and publishing a family genealogical history. The Flathers Genealogical History has been written using the best infor mation that could be gathered. It probably contains inconsistencies, inaccuracies, irregularities, and incomplete data, but such would necessarily be true of all family histories. If members of the family will sent to me corrected and additional information, in due time there may be a second edition. If anyone wishes further information or correspondence with anyone mentioned in the History, let me hear from you. I shall gladly respond or direct your letters to other members of the family0 If you have difficulty following the family lines as you read through the history, remember, please, that no family history with hundreds of names and many more dates is easy to follow. Use the charts at the first of the chapters as guides. I hope you have a good time reading about your family. Jennings Harvel Flathers 68O6 Nesbitt Place McLean, Virginia 22101 3 Chapter I — VIRGINIA If one searches throngh books listing English family names, he doesn't find the name Flathers. It is not a usual name, and even in England the name is seldom found. The telephone books in English cities list the name only infrequently, and then it is spelled Flather without the final s. The best research to date shows that families who spell the name with the final s_ are descendants of Edward Flathers. Since there is no evidence that Edward could read or write, the final s could have been added by Edward himself in pronouncing his name or by individuals who made up the Revolutionary War records. The name is spelled with the final s on the early tax rolls in Fauquier County, Virginia, and as early as May 2, 1785, in Greenbrier County (now West Virginia), when Edward's name appears in the Surveyor's Records, Book I. From that time forward all the records of Edward Flathers, including his application for a Revolutionary War pension dated November 11, I832, in Hendricks County, Indiana, (copy in National Archives, Washington, D.C.) have the name spelled with the final s. The search through hundreds of records on which this book is based has shown that all of Edward's descendants spell their name with the final s, a fact which has made the search for the Edward Flathers records a much easier task. The name Flather seems to be Anglo-Saxon in origin. The Angles were already established in the southern portion of England when the Saxon marauders and conquerors began to pillage the coastal regions of the British Isles as early as hOO A.D. The Saxons finally firmly established themselves in the southern portion of England, and there resulted the language and culture known as Anglo-Saxon. It is thought that the Flather families lived in this area. Authorities on the English language maintain that the th sound is Anglo-Saxon in origin, for none of the other European languages contain this sound. It is h one of the most difficult English sounds for Continental Eiropeans to master. Because of this evidence, plus the fact that there are many surnames and other words in the English language with the Anglo-Saxon th sound, it can be reasonably deducted that Flather or Flathers is Anglo-Saxon in crigion. Each individual has a number of heritages springing from his several ancestors. An amalgamation of these heritages influences and tends to make.of each what he is. Whatever our other heritages may be, the Flathers heritage springing from our common ancestor, Edward Flathers, is white, Anglo-Saxon English, Protestant. In these days when some speak of this heritage in less than endearing terms calling us WASPS (white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant), let us never forget that it was people like our pioneer ancestors who brought forth on this contentant a new concept of freedom and dignity of man. It was Elvira Seaquist, fifth generation American, who wrote, "This Edward Flathers, oldest of whom we have any record, was born in England. Back of him there may have been Irish, but I'm not going to believe it until I have proof. As for me, I am 1 English.» The history of the Flathers family in America began with the daring exploits of a twelve-year-old boy in England, Edward Flathers, who either left the home of his parents and ran away to sea or was captured on the streets of some English city and placed on board a ship headed for America. There is no record of the place or date of Edward's birth, but when he applied for his Revolutionary War Pension in 1832, his application states that he was born in Great Britain in 1760. However, Edward's tombstone in Gentry Cemetery, Hendricks County, Indiana, states that he was 92 years old when he died in 18U7. If this transcription is true, he must have been born in 11$$, A letter written in 192k by William Edward Flathers (fourth generation Flathers and son of William Harris, son of Benjamin Franklin, son of Edward) said My father when I would ask about his people in London would tell me 1. Time and place for writing quotation unknown. Original in possession of Elaine Flathers, Waseca, Minnesota 5 all he knew that he once saw a curry comb /with the name on it_7 The Flathers Curry Comb Factory in London. In 1910 I met a traveling salesman who had been in a Flathers Brothers Saddlery in London so that substantiated the story my Father told me h$ years ago.