Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy

Ann Catherine Chestnut

Female 1844 - 1863  (18 years)


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  • Name Ann Catherine Chestnut 
    Born 11 Apr 1844  , , Missouri, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Female 
    Died 27 Mar 1863  Washington, Washington, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried Old Washington City Cemetery, Washington, Washington, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I1250  Petersen-de Lanskoy
    Last Modified 27 May 2021 

    Father William Albert Chestnut,   b. Abt 1812, of, , Missouri, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Sep 1852, Echo Canyon, Summit, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 40 years) 
    Mother Johanna or Nancy,   b. Abt 1816, of, , Illinois, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Sep 1852, Echo Canyon, Summit, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 36 years) 
    Married Abt 1843  of, , Missouri, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F837  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Father Samuel Jefferson Adair,   b. 28 Mar 1806, , Laurens, South Carolina, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 6 Jul 1889, Nutrioso, Apache, Arizona, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 83 years) 
    Relationship guardian 
    Mother Jemima Catherine Mangum,   b. 14 Sep 1809, , Warren, Ohio, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 28 Apr 1848, Mount Pisgah, Union, Iowa, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 38 years) 
    Relationship guardian 
    Married 3 Dec 1829  , Pickens, Alabama, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F98  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family George Washington Adair,   b. 27 Jun 1837, , Pickens, Alabama, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 9 Sep 1909, Hammond, San Juan, New Mexico, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 72 years) 
    Married 8 Nov 1858  of Washington, Washington, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. George Washington Adair,   b. 26 Jan 1861, Santa Clara, Washington, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 10 Jan 1934, Bloomfield, San Juan, New Mexico, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 72 years)
     2. Jemima Ann Adair,   b. 27 Mar 1863, Washington, Washington, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 2 Jan 1919, Junction, Piute, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 55 years)
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F128  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • RESEARCH_NOTES:
      1. She does not appear in 1856 Utah census under surname of Chestnut.

      2. Censuses:
      1856 Utah Territorial Census was taken because Utah was trying to get statehood to avoid some of the problems that later came. As a result they wanted as many people as possible and frequently included names of everyone in a family without regard to whether they were living or dead. As a result, some of the people listed with the family may not actually have been in the household in 1856. The Adair and Mangums listed included the following heads of households in the Provo and Payson City area: George W. Adair, James Mangum, Joseph Adair (wife Rebecca), Samuel Adair, and Thomas Adair. I am not sure who the Ann is that is listed here and so I am guessing that it is Ann Chestnut. Likewise, her brother William may also be the William on the same list. Source for the following entry is FHL film # 505,913 (index in FHL book 979.2X22u); Ms d 2929 fd. 33, Payson City, p. 8:
      Samuel Adair
      Roxana "
      Ann "
      John M. "
      George "
      Jane "
      Newton "
      Rufus "
      Catherine "
      William "
      Joseph "
      Emily "
      Ezra T. "
      Joshua "
      Eliza J. "

      1860 US: Washington, Washington, Utah, page 150 indicates house #1291 and family #1114, July 27, 1860 (Samuel Adair, Thomas Adair, Wesley Adair, James Richey, Geo. W. Adair, James Mangum, John Mangum, Valentine Carson, John Price, William Mangum, Cyrus Mangum, Samuel N. Adair are all listed as neighbors):
      Geo. W. Adair, 23, farmer with value-real estate of $200, personal property $275, birthplace of Alabama.
      Ann, age 16, MO.
      Sarah Chesnut, age 14, MO.

      4. Is there a clue as to Ann's birthplace since her son lists her birthplace as Nebraska in the 1900 Federal Census, San Juan County, New Mexico, Precinct No. 6 Bloomfield (Hammond):
      Adair, George W. Head-W-M-Jan 1861-39-Marr-20-Utah, Ala, Neb, Farmer
      Adair, Almira, Wife, W-F-Oct 1860-40- marr-20-Utah, Ala, Iowa
      Many children also listed.

      5. Daughter Jemima lists her mother's birthplace as Missouri in both the 1880 and 1900 censuses. Sister Sarah Chestnut's burial records lists birthplace as Missouri. In marriage sealing record of 1867 of Ann with George, birth is noted as 11 Apr 1844 in Missouri with last name spelled as Chesnut.

      6. Jemima Ann Adair, Ann's daughter, was born 27 Mar 1863 at "The Muddy." Ann died in childbirth at the same time. I emailed Harold Cahoon , historian of Washington, Utah to find out where "The Muddy" was. His response: "The Muddy of which I am not an expert is south of Washington in the towns of St. Thomas, St. Joseph (now Logandale), and even as far south as Moapa. The Muddy referred to an area and not an exact location as in those that came to Washington, etc."

      7. Reviewed Rootsweb.com Worldconnect Dec 2002.

      BIOGRAPHY:
      1. Out of the Unknown by Edna Irvine; 1931; Deseret News 22 July 1931 B.Y.U. Film # D45d # 184; page 7; Copy in poss. of Chris R. Petersen, 1994: Deseret News, 22 Jul 1931, pg. 14: "Picture three terrified Children, the oldest only eight years of age, brutally bereft of parents and left on a lonely mountain in a perfectly strange locality! Just a few hours before they had been, perhaps wearily, but nevertheless happily, jogging along in a big covered wagon under the care of loving parents. No doubt, somewhere, friends and relatives often wondered why no word ever came from the little family that started for the California gold fields in 1849. All that can be told of the story is what has been gleaned from the older children. They were able to tell that their parents were William Albert and Johannah Chesnut. At any rate, before they entered Salt Lake Valley, the parents were murdered by teamsters and a like fate was about to be inflicted upon the children, but the oldest pleaded so hard that their lives were spared. They were tied to a cow and headed toward the settlement of the "Mormon" pioneers with threats of death if they told anyone of what had occurred. All day the forlorn tots trudged behind cows down the rugged mountain. By nightfall they had reached the settlement and were found and cared for by the hospitable pioneers. When their story finally became known, too much time had elapsed for any attempt to be made to trace the murderers and with the meager information obtainable it was impossible to trace relatives of the little orphans. The children were given permanent homes, in good pioneer families and grew to be respected citizens in the community." [Kerry's note: Ann was born in 1844; if she was 8, then the date of the murder would have been 1852 which coincides with the Samuel Jefferson Adair account of an 1852 plains crossing to Salt Lake City.]

      2. From email of 26 Dec 2001 email of Norma Entrekin [nje@mindspring.com] in speaking of Samuel Jefferson Adair: "The Mangums and Adairs appear to have been family friends and it is thought they moved together from So. Carolina to Alabama about 1828 or 1829 and then later to Mississippi. While in Mississippi, the Mangums and Adairs heard of the Mormons and joined the church there. Shortly after this they moved to Nauvoo, Illinois to be with the Mormons. They were driven from their homes and were forced to cross the Mississippi River in the winter of 1846. Then they established residence in Pottawatomie County, Iowa. This was Indian territory, and they had to get permission from the Indians to settle and do a little farming. While living in Iowa, due to improper food and unhealthy drinking water, and general unhealthy living conditions, there were many deaths in the camps. Samuel's son Ezra Taft Benson Adair was born in Iowa at Mt. Pisgah and died one day later. The baby's mother, and Samuel's wife, Gemima died 2 days later of complications of childbirth at age 39 after having her 10th child. At her death, the living children ranged in ages from 2 to 15. One can only imagine his grief, at losing his wife, new baby and 7 other family members in less than 2 years. Samuel must have loved Children, as he raised 3 extra ones; they were David L. Sechrist, Ann Catherine Chestnut, and her brother, Alfred Chestnut. While in Iowa, Samuel took David L. Sechrist to raise. Later, as they crossed the plains, he took the other two, the Chestnut Children. He later adopted them. It is thought that their parents had died on the trip across the plains. When they arrived in Salt Lake, the Chestnut boy recognized his genetic father's team of horses. The driver of the team of horses told Samuel to shut the boy up or he would shut him up himself. (So, perhaps the driver had stolen the team of horses.) The girl, Ann Catherine Chestnut married Samuel's son, George W. Adair, and later died at 19 in childbirth, I believe, with their second child. The Adairs and Mangums first settled in the Payson-Nephi area. On the 3rd of March, 1857, the Mangums and Adairs left for Dixie [Southern Utah]."

      3. See notes with Sarah Mary Chestnut for extensive biography of the Samuel Adair family and her husbands and families.

      4. Version of Chestnut children Story summarized by Don and Carolyn Smith from my notes and other family stories:
      "Ann Catherine was born about 1844. When she was about 6 years old, traveling west with her parents and sister, Sarah Mary about 5 years old & brother Alfred, age three, their parents were murdered by two men that her father had hired as teamsters to take them west.
      The three children were spared but the cruel men tied them to a cow and sent it on its way. At this time they were outside Echo Canyon. The confused cow and the frightened children were left to wander, until they were rescued by Samuel Jefferson Adair, widower of (sic) eight children, also on his way to Zion. Being shocked and amazed when he found them, he released them from the cow, took them in his arms and did his best to comfort the distressed Children. He brought them on to the Salt Lake Valley, arriving around September 24, 1852.
      When they arrived, the Chestnut children recognized the fine wagon that belonged to their parents. They started to shout, but were quickly silenced when two rough men told Samuel to shut them up or they would be shut up for good. The men were soon gone and the children remained with Samuel as he raised them as his own.
      They moved south to Payson and from there they answered the call to go on the Cotton Mission in Utah's Dixie. They camped for a while at Adair Spring and then helped settle the community of Washington.
      Sarah Mary went to live with Bishop and Sister Bingham in Riverdale, Utah. She was living there when at age 15 she met and married Jefferson Slade. By the time her first child was born they had separated.
      She later married John Moroni Foy in the Endowment House on Dec 13, 1862. The marriage lasted but two years, no children were born to the couple.
      In December 1869, Sarah married Stephen Malan, in the Logan Temple. They became the parents of six children. Three years after the birth of their last Child, Sarah Mary passed away at the age of forty-one.
      Ann Catherine eventually married George Washington Adair the son of Samuel J. Adair. Their first Child, a boy, was named after his father, George Washington Adair Jr. Ann Catherine died while giving birth to their second Child, Jemima Ann Adair."

      BIRTH:
      1. Date per website for Utah State Historical Society Cemeteries Database; 8 Jan 2002.

      DEATH:
      1. Date per website for Utah State Historical Society Cemeteries Database; 8 Jan 2002.

      2. Per website ; "Cemetery/Death Indexes (1852-1996) in Washington County, Utah," compiled by Wesley W. Craig, Ph.D: "Ann Catherine Adair, b. 11 Apr 1844, d. 11 Apr 1863, Old Wash. City."
      3. Typescript "Washington City Cemetery, Washington, Utah," by Cuba Hall Lyle, St. George, Utah, 1986 describes the incompleteness and lack of vital records in early Washington: "...the lack of complete LDS Ward records (only 1880 - 1900 and 1907- 1940's) for the Cotton Mission which began in Washington in the spring of 1857. Consequently, many of the early dates, etc., shown are from family records or memories. The Washington City Offices did not keep death and burial records by location until 1961 when the new sections were platted. Old ward records, city records, LDS family group sheets, federal census records and the 1871 and 1881 school census records of Washington City have all played a part in this material, but, for documentation, some could be questionable. So many families moved on to greener pastures and had no way to leave permanent grave markers." On this list the following are included:
      Adair, Ann Catherine, b. 11 Apr 1844, d. 27 Mar 1863, parents are William Albert and Johanna Chesnut, spouse is George Washington Adair.
      Adair, Emily Jane, b. 2 Nov 1855, d. 1860, parents are John Milton Adair and Eliza Jane Richey.
      Adair, Olive P., b. 27 Nov 1864, d. 28 Nov 1864, parents are George Washington Adair and Emily Prescenda Tyler.
      Adair, Rufus Columbus, b. 9 Feb 1844, d. 2 Aug 1858, parents are Samuel Jefferson Adair and Jemima Catherine Mangum.
      Adair, William Orin, b. 12 Oct 1873, d. 18 July 1876, parents are Samuel Newton Adair and Helen Gennette Brown.
      Carson, Hannah Marie, b. 14 May 1864, d. 14 May 1864, parents are Valentine Carson and Hannah Waggle.

      BURIAL:
      1. Place per website for Utah State Historical Society Cemeteries Database; 8 Jan 2002.

      2. 27 Jun 2003 email from Harold Cahoon, city historian of Washington, Utah: "I went to the city and they do not have a lot number for Ann Adair. In the Old Section - no headstones it shows, on the paper record only, an Ann Catherine Adair that is buried in this section born 11 Apr. 1844 and died 27 Mar 1863. Her parents were William Albert Chestnut and Johanna. It also states that she was married to George Washington Adair, Wife #2 [error: should be #1]. I was told that Cuba Lyle who did all of the work finding all of the old records etc. and combing them as they are now, said that many years ago there was a flash flood come down the area where the cemetery is and wash away a good many of the markers of the early pioneers. The markers and head stones were made out of a soft white-ish colored limestone which has also disintegrated. I got hold of Barry Blake and they will not allow a head stone to be placed unless the lot is owned and has been recorded. This is a little misleading since there is no one in this world who knows where a good many early pioneers are buried. Ann Chestnut Adair is buried in the Washington City Cemetery for sure. They do have the record I sent you earlier. So there is no doubt she is there but where. They do not have a plot number telling where she is. I do not know for sure if they even bought lots in those days. Barry did say that if you wanted to buy a lot then you could put up a head stone. He sounded like there are some single lots that could be purchased. The lots in Washington are not expensive. If you want to talk to Barry his number is 435-634-9850 ext. 321."

      3. Email from Harold Cahoon, Washington City researcher, 6 Jul 2003: Burials listed in the Washington City Cemetery (this can be found on site and includes all of the cemeteries in Washington County) www.lofthouse.com/USA/washington/cemetery/wash1.html
      My note "nothing" means they were not listed on the lofthouse list nor the list that the Wash. Cemetery has. "No head stone" means they were listed on the lofthouse list and are listed in the City's record as not having a head stone. I do not know if the city has any better records in their office.
      Ann Chestnut Adair, no head stone.
      Mary Ann Adair Carson, nothing.
      Olive Parintha Adair, no head stone.
      Rufus Columbus Burlison Adair, no head stone.
      Samuel P. Adair, nothing.
      Ellen Bardsley Mangum, nothing.
      Eliza Jane Clark Mangum, no headstone, b. 11 Aug 1827, d. 21 Feb 1859, spouse James Michel Mangum, fa. Samuel Clark, mo. Adair.
      Eliza Jane Adair Price buried in row 36; I would assume there is a marker for this grave.

      4. In an effort to locate and place tombstones in Washington, Utah, I sent the following 6 Jul 2003 email to Barry Blake, city cemetery official wcparks@ci.washingtoncity.state.ut.us [phone is 435-634-9850 ext. 321]:
      "My friend and fellow researcher Harold Cahoon gave me your name as the contact for the Washington Cemetery. He spoke to you about locating an early pioneer gravesite for Ann Chestnut Adair, wife to George Washington Adair, and daughter-in-law to Samuel Jefferson Adair whose new statue was just dedicated as the founder of Washington. At age 9, her parents had been murdered somewhere on the Mormon Trail to Utah and she and two younger siblings were tied to a cow and left to wander helplessly. Samuel found her and adopted her. She eventually marries Samuel's son George.
      Harold indicates that you do indeed have a record that she is buried in your older cemetery but that the location has been forgotten over the years. Several people would like to contribute to a memorial stone for her. Ann died at age 19 on 27 Mar 1863. Are there any experts with expertise in regards to those early plots that could pinpoint it more accurately. I have found death records of Ann's closest relations who died around the same time and are supposedly buried in the same cemetery which may help to pinpoint her or at least get as close as we can with what available plot maps you have. They are:
      Mary Ann Adair Carson, d. 27 Apr 1861, bur. 29 Apr 1861. (Wife of the Valentine Carson who adopts Ann's baby upon her death and cousin to Ann's husband George.)
      Olive Parintha Adair, d. at birth 28 Nov 1864, oldest child of George and his second wife Emily Tyler who he married after Ann's death.
      Rufus Columbus Burlison Adair, bur. Aug 1858, George's younger unmarried brother.
      Samuel P. Adair, d. 30 Jan 1871, another young child of George and Emily Tyler Adair.
      Ellen Bardsley Mangum, d. 22 Jan 1864, wife of John Mangum who was a cousin of Samuel J. Adair.
      Eliza Jane Clark Mangum, d. 21 Feb 1859, wife of James Mitchel Mangum who was brother to John Mangum and also a cousing to Samuel J. Adair.
      Eliza Jane Adair Price, d. 16 Aug 1892, bur. 18 Aug 1892, mother of Valentine Carson noted above, sister of Samuel J. Adair, later wife of John Buren Price.
      As you research the plots for the above and their proximity to each other and potentially Ann's, could you advise me as to which one are definitely platted with stones, platted without stones, or just plain unplatted.
      What arrangements are needed by us with your department?"
      15 April 2005 follow-up note by Kerry Petersen: I have received no reply to the above. I have now personally visited the city cemetery and the city records office; they cannot verify her gravesite. The city clerk mentioned that they do not excavate graves in the old part of the cemetery because they know there are so many unmarked gravesites. Of the people listed above, I could only find a stone for John and Eliza Jane Adair Price. No further action possible.

      SOURCES_MISC:
      1. Boston Transcript or Boston Evening Transcript; 1929;18 Sept 1929, FHL film # 014,740; 9049; Copy in poss. of Chris R. Petersen, 1994.

      ACTION:
      1. Look up censuses of children in all years to determine reported birthplaces of Chestnut girls.