A wonderful document by William Heard Kilpatrick (WHK), compiled from the notes of his father Rev. J. H. Kilpatrick, and titled simply “The Howell Family” was recently sent to me by Rev. Scott Kilpatrick, who lives in Australia.
McKinney Howell is currently the eldest ancestor in the Howell line that we have discovered. This document is the first I have seen to name any of McKinney’s brothers, which could be a tremendous help in further research. The document is transcribed below:
I [WHK] find in a book which belonged to my father the following statement:”McKinne Howell had three brothers, Joseph, Matthew and William”
“Matthew was an old bachelor who lived where Randolph Clark now lives – he made a good property and willed mostly to his nephew Abraham – but one slave Dick to John Howell.”
“Joseph had three children, Abram [?], Isaac, and Nancy. Isaac married a sister of C.A. Davis and moved to Alabama – became a printer [?]. Nancy married Nelms and after his death, Mercer. Nancy had two more children of whom James married Minerva Hilsman and Martha married Cuthbert Alexander and finally Davenport.”
“McKinne had two sons, Matthew and John. Matthew had two children, Nancy Jane and Samuel. [Nancy Jane was born 1834, married Dr. I.D. Moore, and died 15 June 1869.] Samuel was the father of W.S. Howell who was the father of Cornelia, my grand daughter. Samuel Howell’s mother was a Symington and a sister of Benj. Alfriend’s first wife.”
“J.M. Howell was born 13 Aug. 1838 and died 3 May 1889. S.S. Howell died 30 Sept. 1864. Elmirra [McBride] Howell was born 13 Aug. 1815 and died 23 May 1883. Polly Howell married Johnson and died 19 Oct 1856. W.J. Howell was born 4 Jan 1839. Nuna [Jurnigan] Howell was born 4 June 1852.Burinah (Howell) Hilsman was born 31 July 1840. Alonzo Howell was born 16 July 1836. Austra [Howell] Mapp was born 1 Dec. 1842 and died 25 March 1891. Villa [Howell] Mapp born 7 July 1845. H.M. Moore born 30 March 1856. Adiah Mapp born 6 May 1879. Fuller Mapp born 18 March 1879. Howell Brady born 4 Nov. 1880. McBride Howell born 6 Aug. 1879.”,
Notes:
1. The spelling McKinne is interesting – Up until this letter I had assumed it was McKinney as this is the spelling on his grandson’s (John McKinney Howell)gravestone.
2. Memoirs of Georgia says there were 5 brothers (or six depending on how you read it):
“W. S. Howell, an attorney of distinguished ability of Meriwether county, belongs to one of the pioneer families of the state, to which his great- grandfather with five brothers came to North Carolina in the last century. Four of the brothers drifted on with the tide of emigration, but one other remained in Georgia. He was McKinney Howell, one of the earliest settlers of Greene county.”
3. McKinney Howell’s brother, Joseph had a son Abram. Abram would be the nephew of Matthew Howell. Matthew Howell willed his property to “his nephew Abraham”. I’m wondering if Abram and Abraham are the same person? The name Abram was quite common at the time as can be seen in census records.
3a. Matthew Howell willed a slave named Dick to John Howell, but which John Howell? Hard to calculate without a death date for William, but perhaps his nephew John Johnson Howell (son of McKinney Howell).
4. The first line of the last paragraph refers to “S.S.Howell died 30 Sep, 1864.” I can’t locate an S.S. Howell. This perhaps a typographical error and should be “S.A. Howell” (Samuel Armstrong Howell), who died on 30 Sep, 1864 as shown on his gravestone in the White Plains Baptist Church graveyard.
A copy of the original document as typed by W.H. Kilpatrick can be viewed here.