The McCaleb's in Logan County, Kentucky

by
Fred McCaleb

The first notice I had of MCalebs being in Logan County Kentucky was that
A James McCaleb was on the 1.800 tax list for that county. The 1800 Ky census
was lost and the only replacement was a tax list, I didn’t find this James in
any of the other Ky censuses. In 1820 census Ifound Catherine MoCalop in Logan
Countyw±th the following family: 1 boy under 10, 2 boys 10-16, 1 boy 16-18 and
2 boys 18-26, 2 girls under 10,, 1 girl 10-16., one girl : 16-25 and Catherine
over 45, Catherine must have been approximately 50, being born about 1770, I am
guessing that the James was her husband., but wonder where they were in 1810,
James aid Gaitherine must be Kinsmen of first old Fayette Co. Ala. Hugh
YtoCaleb because in 1816 he sigaed a deed from Logan Co Ky to property he had
back in Stokes;Co. NC. from whence he had come.

Recently. (April 1982) I vissited with my daughter and son in law in Aurora
,Indiana. While at their house I was going through old church magazines
(Christian Messenger and Melennial Harbinger) from 1826 to 1880. Son in law is
a young C of Christ preacher (musical)., and had photocopies of these old
magazines and I was looking for hints of my ancesters and early Ala. C. Of
Christ history, and was held spellbound nearly all the time I was there. I
found the following in History of the Restoratom Movement (failed to get
author) quoted from a Methodist preacher describing Logan County.. Ky. about
1800.

Peter Cartwright., noted Mothodist circuit rider wrote:

"Logan Cointy., Ky. when my father raoved There was called Rogues Harbor. Here
many refugees, from all parts of the union fled to escape punishment or
justice. for although there was law., it could not bee executed and it was a
desperate state of society. Murderers. horse thieves., highway robbers., and
counterfeiters f'led there until they combined and actually formed a majority.
Those who favored a better state of morals were called regators but they
encountered fierce opposition from the rogues. A battle was fought with guns,
pistols.. dirks, knives., and clubs in which the regulators were defeated," P20

A Baptist preacher., Jams MGready (prob hell fire and brimstone type) decided to
do something about this mess, Logan county was the scene of his initiatory
meting which set the pattern for the regimal revivals fanning out thru Ky,,,
into Tenn, the Ohio country., western Va,. and the Carolinas,,

There on the edge of the prairie in Logan Ky., the multitudes came together.,

and continued a number of days and nights encamped on the ground. New, strange
and baffling things happened People fell down as men sladn in battle and
continued for hours in a breathless and motionles state, Some praying and some
shrieking, After hrs they obtained deliverance, Gloom disappeared., hope and
smiles brightened into joy. etc. This old Baptist preacher laid them m the
ground. Barton W. Stone.. one of first Co of Christ prearhers,was present, and
he held a meeting in Cadn Ridge,, Ky. with similr effect., though he wasnft
trying to knock them out. I guesa people were ready to do better,

Back to geneaology where we get our ancesters born, marrying ,dead ,etc.

On the way baok from Indiana we decided to come by Russellville, Ky, Co, seat
Logan County, And see what we could pick up on McCaebs in 2 or 3 hrs. The curt
house has never burned and the old records are there from the start. The county
is smaller than it used to be. Parts or all of the following counties have been
,formed from Logan. Christian, Butler, Warren., Mullenberg, Simpson, Todd, &
Ky, So some of the original records would be in those counties,

The earliest thing found was that Janes McCalep took up 200 acres on Green river
Apr. 25, 1799, 200 on Spring Creek, Jan 12, 1800 and 200 on Green River Aug. 5.,
1800. The next thing was that a Betsy McKellop got married to Thomas Harris
4-12-1815. The next thing was in deed book N, page97. Old Catherine MoCaleband
James Burgess:Sr, were about to get married 1825 and she was having Burgess to
sign an agreement where she would still hold her property and dispose of as
she saw fit. Samel W. Lineburg., appointed as trustee to see agreement carried
out. James Burgess was a cabinet maker and house carpenter and had right to
make use of property in carrying on his trade. So one would look for Catharine
Burgess in final disposal of property. I didn't have time for that. The next is
1829 Deed Book P, p 307 A James MoCaleb (may be son of old James and Cathrine)
has committed a felony and is under enditment to appear in court before M B
Morton & Wm. Whitsell Esqs. Agreement between James & Presley Morehead, James
lately intermarried with niece of Presley--Mariah Browning. Gives up his right
to Mariah’s share of Browning property. Mariah's property came from
grandfather James Duncan and James Browning, James losing all rights. 1835 Deed
Book U p38 James McCaleb of Franklin County and state of Ala. Appoints Moorehead
for his attorney. Or power of attorney to collect money for his slaves. James is
losing everything. 1833 Deed book R, p4O9 Indenture made this 29 day of Jan 1833
between John B. Henderson and Barsha Ann Henderson his wife late Barsha Ann
Browning., Jams McCaleb, and Mariah his wife and late Mariah Browning., the
said Barsha Ann and Mariah being children and heairs of Abner Browning deed ,
brother James Browning buying prop land on Muddy River. James part went to
James Browning Mariahts bro. 1840 Book X P63 Agreement. Mariah MCaleb and
Robert Poor about to get ma@rried Mariah and her heirs to have possession of
all lands tenements and other property. Robert Poor suffers the said Mariah to
have and to hold, sell and convey., and enjoy profits., rents and proceeds of
said land. And devise by her last will and testament all or any portion of said
property to whom she may think proper. Armaduke B. Morton entered on books.
Signed before Robert Browdery, and J.B. Herndon(bro in law of Moriah). Sounds
like Logan Co, Ky, was a very rough place for any other man man to be., I found
no record of our Fayette Co,. Al, Hugh McCaleb or selling land there, He must
have cleared out of that place before he got killed. The marriage book in Logan
County had worn out and had been rewritten just before throwing away, I imagine
some of the marriages got missed. Old Catharine lived in Russellville. I wonder
if the old James got killed., or did the same way as the young one. The records
didn't say what felony young Jams had committed. Mariah was:not 21 at time of
legal proceedings. She also didn't have offspring by James. Maybe they just got
married., James saw, things were pretty ruff., so he stole a hoss and headed out
for Ala. It is interesting to note that Russellville, Ala. is the county seat of
Franklin Co, Ala. My grandfather was named James Franklin MoCaleb, Don't suppose
it was, for James of Franklin Co. Ala, Hugh’s son James got married in Fayette
Co. Al. to Phebe Hollingsworth in 1838. He was bom about 1816, so he would have
been only 13, or 14 in 1829. Some of the MCalebs in Miss. were named James
Franklin. The old James of Logan county must have been an uncle or a cousin of
Hugh McCaleb. He could have been Hugh's dad Andrew’s bro, Old Hugh of NC
didn't mention all the old or young chi.ldren of his in his will. That James
may have helped work on Daniel Boone's wilderness trail. One might find more
info on the McCalebs in the Adjoining counties. I believe these McCalebs are
only kinsmen of our McCalebs, no direct ancesters. It would be interesting to
see what happened to the old Catharine McCaleb Burgess estate. Our ancesters
would never have committed a felony, would they?

McCollum's

The information in this article was originally written by FRED MCCALEB and was used in the Hollingsworth Quarterly. Fred has written a lot of material that has showed up in other folks articles. Honor goes out to Fred for all his work over the years.

The McCOLLUM family was one of Fayette County’s earliest. Newman and his
merry band arrived in 1824. About the same time, John HOLLINGSWORTH moved into
the area, as did Daniel FORD and Thomas GALLOWAY. The McCALEBs came sometime
later.

[Newman] McCOLLUM acquired considerable land and built a grist mill and later a
sawmill at present-day Hubbertville. In fact, the community that grew around
the mill was known as McCollum Mill. It remained the name until members of the
HUBBERT family bought the mill and renamed the community Hubbertville. The
McCollum Family Cemetery is located on the small rise at the rear of present
day Hubbertville Cemetery. Most of the names on the markers have long ago
succumbed to the elements and one can only guess who the plots belong to today,
but more than likely Newman and his mother “Beloved Ann” are buried there
along with Sarah and James K. [McCOLLUM].

Newman was evidently a very benevolent man as his will shows many outstanding
loans that he had made to many in the area, much of it uncollected. In any
event, he was well respected and loved by his family as the many descendants
named after him will attest.

James K. was the most colorful of the McCOLLUM clan. He was considered a
“well to do” planter and land speculator of his time. He ran for the state
legislature and was elected to that office. Fred McCALEB has researched the
legislative records for the period and found that James K. was an aggressive
voice for Fayette County. He was a visionary for his time. He proposed as
early as the mid 1800’s a flood-control project for the Sipsey River with the
view towards dredging the river and eventually using it to ship goods downriver.
The dredging issue has surfaced in recent years and remains unresolved to this
day, 150 years later.

There are many stories about James K. Some are only speculation. Sie McCOLLUM
[James K.'s former slave] told the story of James K. and Sie burning the
Fayette County Courthouse [in 1866], obviously to delay the trial over his debt
situation involving his father’s will. Another story tells of his returning
from a visit to Mississippi and finding the river flooded and all of his crops
ruined. The story goes that he walked down to the riverbank and flung his new
hat into the raging water and looked up into the heavens and said, “You’ve
taken every thing else, you might as well have this too.” These legends lead
one to believe that James K. was somewhat of a rogue. However, he was well
thought of in the community as is evidenced by the elections he won. (He may
not have been the only politician in the family. I believe that former
Congressman Bill McCOLLUM of Florida is a descendant of Newman.)

Joseph [McCOLLUM] was the youngest child of Newman and Elizabeth. Indications
are that he was more conservative in his business dealings than James K.
Newman appointed him Executor of his estate. Because of several problems, some
caused by James K., the estate was not settled for 30 years. This put a strain
on Joseph’s relationship with James K., as James K. was forced to sell most of
his assets to settle his part of the estate.

The McCOLLUMs were a restless lot. By 1900 many if not most of the family had
moved west to Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Elizabeth, Newman’s oldest
daughter, and her husband George W. PATTERSON had moved to Uvalde Co., Texas,
in 1847 and many of her kin followed them. Most of them settled in Uvalde
County, near San Antonio, and Cooke & Grayson counties, Texas. Today many of
his descendants can be found further west in New Mexico, Arizona and
California, as well as Texas. It has been this writer’s pleasure to meet
some of these descendants, both personally and by phone and the internet.
Among them are Paula McCOLLUM of California, descended from James K., and
Rolland McCOLLUM of Oklahoma, descended from Newman’s oldest son, Henry.
Henry died an untimely death while on a visit to Fayette County in 1826. His
descendants mostly stayed in South Carolina until the later years. Many of
James K.’s and Joseph’s descendants stayed in Alabama. They married into
the McCALEB, HOLLINGSWORTH, FORD, FOWLER, BOX, WHITEHEAD and other local
families. Most of us are descended from these two brothers.

Newman McCOLLUM’s legacy lives on. We should all take pride in our McCOLLUM
heritage. It is a noble one indeed.

Christmas Letter 2002

Christmas Letter 2000
I have been seeing or experiencing Christmases since 1916, or a total of 84 of
them. In my young years while growing up the most expensive presents we ever
got was a dozen or two of apples and about that many of oranges. At about the
time I was 6 years old my father bought a little red wagon for my brother and
I. We and the neighboring Hollingsworth cousins tore the wagon up in about a
month. My dad never bought another wagon Christmas present after that. He
allowed we would only tear it to pieces. He did continue buying the fruit and
sometimes 5 or 10 cents worth of peppermint candy. He did that until I was a
grown boy. Thinking back about him, that was all the gifts he could afford. I
don’t recall him ever making over $500 in any one year. It was all he was
able to do was to keep us fed with mostly groceries grown on the farm. For heat
in the winter at Christmas he burned wood cut from his place with a cross cut
saw with me pulling one end of it after I got big enough. When I was 15-17
years old we cleared the trees from about 10 acres of woodland on which to grow
corn. It is a miracle that I didn’t get killed doing that. After spending
spare time clearing each winter we had a log rolling to pile the logs in a big
heap for burning. We must have burned up several thousand dollars worth of
timber at present 2000 AD prices. At a log rolling the neighboring men come in
to help pile the logs and their wifes come to help prepare the meals. They had
a talking, hard working time on those days and got fed bountifully.

After the log rolling and the piles were burned came the plowing of the cleared
field. It was my dad and me for the plowing with a gee whizz plow. The gee
whizz had spring teeth to plow the ground with and the teeth were constantly
swinging back and forth while plowing. Sometimes you received a hard knock on
the leg or ankle with that plow. But I had to take whatever knocks came my way.
I wished I had a mechanical plowing machine to do the work, but machines that
ran on own power were only a pipe dream at that time for us on a poor farm.

We did have a Christmas tree after I was in my teens and maybe before, but I
don’t recollect the before. We would cut a little cedar tree and brace it up
in the front room. My sister Clancy would do the decorating. The decorating was
done with home made decorations at practically no expense. Cut up aluminum foil
and strung popped popcorn around the tree. Throw the cut up aluminum foil on
the sides of the tree and do other cheap things I have forgotten about. The
Christmases were just as merry then as they are now. We didn’t know how poor
we were financially. Everyone in the community was in same shape and didn’t
know the difference. We didn’t know we were disadvantaged by present
standards. My dad’s old farm, which I have today, has yeilded many thousands
of dollars in timber and gas royalty. I regret that my parents and young family
never got any benefits of that. The good timber on your place would sell for
about $200 back in those days. Today mature timber would sell for $100,000.
Money has gradually cheapened and is getting cheaper.
The water for the farm was drawn with a windlass and well bucket
For our water needs. Washed your hands in a common washpan and drank from a
waterbucket with a cheap dipper. Dippers were sometimes made from gourds and
the fanciest costliest dipper was a cedar one. No attention was paid to getting
germs. Sanitation and safety were on a primitive level.
In the 1930s president Roosevelt started dishing out government money to needy
families and the amount of the dish has been getting greater through the 1900s.
The country would be in sad financial shape without the welfare payments.
Farmers with sophisticated equipment are growing the food and grain products.
The mule farmers have vanished. It’s anyone’s guess as to what may happen
in the future if the US has financial reverses. But the politicians say nothing
like that can happen. Let us hope so. My Christmases have been better since I
went to Berry College in 1937 and obtained a starting job at US Steel in
Birmingham, Al. at $90 per month. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Fred and
Bettie Cline McCaleb

Hollingsworth Family Cemetery

This Cemetery was missed by Herb and Jeanie Newell. Transcribed
to computer by Fred McCaleb

HOLLINGSWORTH FAMILYCEMETERY Located at the foot of Ford's Mountain Fayette
County, Alabama
M Hol. was born Aug the 26, 1825 an died Feb the 26, 1832
G.Hol. was born Nov the 13, 1833 and died Aug the 26, 1834
Mrs. Jane Galloway was born Mar. the 27, 1776 and died Dec. the 31, 1851
Mr. T Galloway was b; Feb the 18. 1773/ and died. Jan. the. 30 1852
B.D. Hollingsworth born July 4, 1868 died Oct 20, 1870 Sleep on dear child and take thy rest God has called you home He thought it best.
John Hollingsworth born Sept. 3, 1792 died Nov. 30, 1880
Marthie daughter of I.W. and E.A. Payane born Aug. 26, 1869 died Aug 6, 1882 In
Paradise thou sharest bliss Never to be found in a world like this.
Infant son of J.M. & P.A. Lowrey born Aug 4, 1884 - died Aug 8, 1884
Infant son of Elijah & Orienia J. Rainey b. & d. Oct. 11, 1888
JepthaHollingsworth born May 18, 1820 died June 30, 1890 The hour of my departures has come I hear the voice that calls me home At last Oh Lord let trouble cease And thy servant die in peace.
D.M. Hollingsworth born June 20, 1848 died November 11, 1892 The race appointed
I have run The combats o'er, the prize is won And now my witness is on high And
now my records in the sky.
Elijah Rainey born July 7, 1859 died Nov. 28, 1893 Another link is
broken In our household band But a chain is forming In a better land.
Zilpha Galloway wife of John Hollingsworth born June 30, 1809 died April 13, 1894
Martha M. Hollingsworth born Nov 23, 1824 died May 24, 1899 I leave the world
without a tear Save for the friends held so dear To heal their sorrows Lord
descend And to the friendless prove a friend.
Pheby M. daughter of Elijah & Jenny Raney born July 10, 1886 died Oct. 29, 1907 Sweetly Sleeping Annie May
Ham daughter of C. K. and Mattie - born March 8, 1907 died April 28, 1908 A
sleep in Jesus
There are many graves with stones but no inscriptions. Compiled by Frances L. Brasher and written as interpreted on stones.
Directions: From Fayette go Highway 43 N. turn Right on Highway 102, go 2.4 miles turn left on
Rd. 53 and go 2.1 miles. This cemetery is about 100 yards to the right in the
Woods at the foot of Ford's Mountain. (At present time, 1990, is behind a brick
house driveway.)