Mosby Childers Our Revolutionary War Grandfather By Barbara Couts Evans Dedicated to Bo Couts and Jack Childers For information, support, and inspiration and Benjamin Childers Jr. for his DNA A Special thanks to all those family and friends, who helped with names and a special thanks to LaVerne Parsons, Mrs. George F. Miller, Glen Walker, Lorilei K. Metke, Lee Rau, Kim Shumaker Clark, Virginia Hanks, the work of Mrs. Garnie Rooker, Steve Stevens and all of the other family genealogist of the Childers/Childress Family Association for sharing long hours of research. • Gary Childress, DNA; "Childers of early Virginia by Virginia Hanks" in attachments (Microsoft Word Document) • "Areas of land ownership, Childers by Virrginia Hanks" in attachments (Microsoft Word Document) • "Childers of early Virginia bby Virginia Hanks" in attachments (Microsoft Word Document) • "Areas of land ownership, Childers by Virrginia Hanks" in attachments (Microsoft Word Document) • • Childers of Early Virginia Henrico to Amherst records by year Prepared by Virginia Hanks , Ellenburg, Washington • Areas of Land Ownership, CHILDERS, Early Virginia Prepared by Virginia Hanks , Ellenburg, Washington • “PROGENITORS AND KINFOLK OF ABRAHAM CHILDERS III” By Alberta Marjorie Dennstedt • Wills, Deeds, Indentures, Childers/Childres,Childry, Childress Families Of Virginia 1656 - 1791 BBy Patricia Childress Spurlinng Mosby Childers ~ Our Revolutionary War Grandfather Mosby died on August 03,1843, in Hancock County, Indiana at the age of eighty-four (84) years. He was well remembered by his descendents in family lore for being a kind and gentle person, who told “wonderful” stories about his family members, the war, and his life. The grave of Mosby CHILDERS has not been definitively located. Probably, he is buried in the Hayes graveyard in Brown County, Indiana near his daughter Mary CHILDERS Walker, who died July 24, 1841. (This information was obtained from "Roster of Soldiers and Patriots of the American Revolution Buried in Indiana, Volume II" published by the Indiana Daughters of the American Revolution in 1966). The other location where he could have also been buried is in the Busby Graveyard in Fall Creek Twp., Madison County, Indiana where his daughter Elizabeth CHILDERS Surber, who died Oct. 7, 1841, is buried. Because his son-in-law, Seth Walker was his executor and shared his home with Mosby, it is likely that he is buried near his daughter Mary. Historians have documented Mosby’s burial as the Hays Cemetery. HANCOCK COUNTY, INDIANA TOMBSTONE INSCRIPTIONS ONE-HUNDRED YEARS 1833-1933 HISTORIES PHOTOS MAPS By Sue Baker CGRS Page 97 Brown Township- Hays Cemetery, cont. - Mosby's daughter's family is buried there. The following initials and dates are scratched into natural rock which are used as headstones: BW 1818, MHC 1848, EC -18- MM, JCC, 184_ MR 1848, JMC 1843, RB -18- -39- , J McC 1848, SC, MB, T -840; LOOKS LIKE CEMENT, MBY, MC; RED ROCK, UPRIGHT IN GROUND, TC ELD d: 1842, TM, MC 1841 (?), WBW; OCT 1831 Most of the family, however, believes that Hays Cemetery is his last resting place. Superficially, it is impossible to determine which grave truly belongs to Mosby’s, therefore, he was not transferred to the Revolutionary War Hero’s Cemetery. Only DNA could determine his grave. His preference would probably have been to stay with his family. After his death, Mosby’s son-in-law, Seth Walker, the local Justice of the Peace became his administrator. HANCOCK COUNTY COURT RECORDS PROBATE ORDER BOOK A Page 10 In an application for assignment of dower are: Rogers...Elijah and Seth Walker, Blakey, August 1843. Page 15. Seth Walker (son-in-law to Mosby and prominent farmer, is appointed administrator of the estate of Mosby Childers dec. Aug. 16, 1843. Page 16. The oaths of Elisha Thornburg and William d. Kennedy states that Mosby Childers who died Aug.3, 1843, was a pensioner of the U.S. Government. He left no widow but did leave eleven living children to wit; John, Hannah, William, Robert, Henry, Andrew, Martin, Nancy, and Abraham and Mary the wife of Seth Walker and Elizabeth the wife of John Surber of Madison County [both daughters died in 1841]. Mosby had traveled to Indiana with his family, in a wagon train. The wagons were more like carts with all of their belongings packed inside and the baby on top. The following excerpt describes Mosby’s son-in-law, Seth Walker, with whom Mosby lived. Seth Walker, was a native of New Hampshire, where his birth occurred on the 9th day of September, 1800. The first wife of Seth Walker bore him seven children and died in Brown township, this county; the following are the names of the children: Ira, of Madison county, Indiana; 'William H., living in Valley Falls, Kansas; Elizabeth, deceased, wife of Daniel Cook ; Solon, of Madison county; Allen, deceased; Rachel, wife of John Newman, of Madison, Kansas, and John H., a carpenter working at his trade in Kansas City, Missouri. Seth Walker was reared to manhood in New Hampshire and then went to Virginia, where he lived some years, going thence to Ohio. For several years he was engaged in rafting and freighting on the Ohio river and on quitting that business came to Indiana and located in Madison county. As early as 183o he loaded his few household effects on a cart and with a yoke of oxen made his way through the woods to what is now Brown township, settling on eighty acres of land in sections 7 and 8, which he subsequently puurchased from the government. He erected a little round-pole cabin, which served as a shelter for the family until a more comfortable home could be built, and began cutting away the timber preparatory to planting a little grain and a few vegetables, depending upon his rifle for the chief subsistence of the family • until his crop matured. He was one of the first peermanent settlers within the present limits of Brown township, and for two or three years following his arrival he lived remote from neighbors and experienced many hardships and prrivations in procuring a livelihood. He was poor in this world's goods, but rich in the essential elements of success. With strong arm and tireless energy he prosecuted his labors and in the course of a few years had a comfortable home, besides owning several other tracts of land which he entered and bought. The meantime he cleared and im- prroved several farms and became one of the largest real estate holders in the county, owning at one time over seven hundred acres, which increased greatly in value with the influx of population. Of this estate he divided among his sons and daughters forty acres each and also assisted each of his daughters in a substantial way when they married and left the parental roof. He took an active part in county affairs in an early day, being a member of one of the first boards of commissioners, also serving ten years as justice of the peace and for a considerable length of time was the leading Democratic poolitician of the township in which he lived. Mr. Walker was a man of fine business abilities and was frequently retained to settle estates and do legal and other writings for his neighbors. He stood for public improvements, inaugurated a number of enterprises for the advancement of his township along material lines, and was equally aggressive Page 416 COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF HANCOCK CO, INDIANA, PAR T 4 Mosby’s claim to fame in Indiana was to be one of the earliest settlers in the county and finding the remains of a Senator’s brother. For most of his life he was a farmer, who taught his sons farming, chair-making, and wagon repair. He was located in Hancock County, Indiana in 1840. The 1840 census lists Mosby Childers in his own household at age 93 (none of his ages seem to match) with a female aged 80-90 in Brown Township of Hancock County, Indiana, also noting his military service in the Revolutionary War. (1840 United States Federal Census, Original data: United States. 1840 United States Federal Census. M704, 580 rolls. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C., Hancock, Indiana, roll 82, page 240). 1840 Census INDIANA A - D First Name Last Name Age Head of Household Town County Possible Spelling Mosby Childers 93 Mosby Childers Brown Hancock HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY, INDIANA, From Its Earliest Settlement By the "Pale Face," In 1818 down to 1882 By John Binford, 1882 Page 92 - First Settlers- Among the first settlers of the township were: Seth Walker, Mosby Childers. [This tract was established to act as a buffer between the settlers in the Ohio Company Purchase and the Indians. A 100-acre lot was given to any male, 18 years or older, on the condition they actually settle on the land at the time of the conveyance by deed. The U.S. Patent was issued May 10, 1792, to the Ohio Company, which issued the deeds to the actual settlers. In 1818, lands not conveyed in this tract reverted to the federal government and were sold at the Marietta Land Office. This gift of land to actual settlers is similar to the Homestead Act of 1862. [Ohio Lands Part 2 “Ohio Lands- A Short History” http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~maggie/ohio-lands/ohl2.html.] http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~maggie/ohio-lands/ohl9.html HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY, INDIANA, From Its Earliest Settlement By the "Pale Face," in 1818 down to 1882 By John Binford, 1882, Page 96 - Murders, suicides, and Remarkable deaths - It was in this township that a Mr.