William Akers (1801 - 1868)

Born 7 Jun 1801 in Franklin, Virginia, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Delilah (Miller) Akers — married 13 Aug 1821 in Estill, Kentucky, United States

Descendants

Died 4 Dec 1868 at age 67 in Fresno, California, United States

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Biography

William “Henry” Akers, son of Simon Akers and Mary Smith (needs citation), was born on 7 June 1801 in either Kentucky, or Franklin County, Virginia.

Henry Acres and Delilah Miller were married 13 Aug 1821 in Estill County, Kentucky.^[1][2]

Before migrating to California in the Akers' wagon train in 1852, he lived in Kentucky, Illinois, Arkansas and Texas. The Akers’ wagon train from Austin, Texas followed the “Southern Route” to Los Angeles, the Tejon Pass, up San Joaquin Valley to settle in Millerton, California, arriving March 1853.

Henry and Delilah had the following children:

• Malvina E. (Lewis) (1822-1901)
• John “Smith”
• Harvey J. (1826-1911)
• Anderson B. (1828-1911)
• Lucretia (d. Ky.)
• Sarepta (Statham) (1832-1870)
• Sarah (Chambers)
• Elizabeth (Howard) (1835-1854)
• Henry Francis (1838-1937)
• Mary Jane (Hazelton) (1840-1910)
• William Albertus Akers (1844-1931)^[3]

He died 4 Dec 1868 (aged 67) in Centerville, Fresno County, California. He is buried at Akers Cemetery, Centerville, California.^[4]

"Henry Akers was a large, well-built man, more interested in adventure than the daily duties of a family man. ... Delilah and sons Harvey & Anderson ran their farm. Their son Smith was much like his father before his marriage. It is not known who the parents of Henry were, but he had two brothers who also lived in Estill [Kentucky], John and William. Tradition says that their ancestors had migrated from England to Holland, then to VA. (According to footnotes on this same page, Donna Hull indicates that the father of Henry, John and William could very possibly have been a “Joseph Akers” closely associated with these three brothers in this area of KY, during these years.)"

Residence

1850 US Census; 17 Sep 1850; Goliad County, Texas, United States

Listings of Texas Rangers - barracks, unit ? (Note: Henry is not listed on the 1850 census with the rest of his family - see profile of Delilah (Miller) Akers.)

• W Mcintosh M 30 Illinois, Ranger
• J W Scott M 21 Maine, Ranger
• Wm Harris M 28 Georgia, Ranger
• Henry Acres M 46 Kentucky, Ranger
• Thos Willcox M 21 Kentucky, Ranger
• W R Gregg M 18 Maine, Ranger^[5]

A little history: Most of the Ranger force was disbanded during the years following the end of the Mexican–American War on February 2, 1848, since the protection of the frontiers was now an official duty of the U.S. Army. But as more settlers sought to establish homesteads in lands traditionally occupied by Indians, the skirmishes with the native peoples became a major political issue. During the 1850s, the Rangers were intermittently called on to deal with this problem ... ^[6]

1860 US Census; 6 July 1860; Township 3, Fresno, California, United States

Note: Henry is not listed on the 1860 census with some of his family - see profile of Delilah (Miller) Akers, where Delia is listed as a Widow living with several of their children.

Anderson Acres M 26 Kentucky, trader

Amanda Acres F 15 Arkansas

Levi Acres M 1 California

Henry Acres M 60 Kentucky^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ Ancestry.com. “Kentucky, Compiled Marriages, 1802-1850” [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1997. Original data: Dodd, Jordan, Comp.. Kentucky Marriages to 1850. Electronic transcription of marriage records held by the individual counties in Kentucky. Ancestry Record 2089 #118047
2. ↑ KYGenWeb, Estill County, Estill County Marriages to 1850. (http://www.kykinfolk.org/estill/marry/marry03.htm)
3. ↑ Ancestry.com. “California, Pioneer and Immigrant Files, 1790-1950” [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors. Original data: California State Library - Sacramento Co, Sacramento, California, Pioneer Index File (1906–1934); A–Z. Sacramento, California: California State Library. Ancestry Record 2161 #11131
4. ↑ Find A Grave, database and images (accessed 05 August 2019), memorial page for William Henry Akers (7 Jun 1801–4 Dec 1868), Find A Grave: Memorial #11670925, citing Akers Cemetery, Centerville, Fresno County, California, USA ; Maintained by Leland Garton (contributor 48052381).
5. ↑ “United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXLK-FRF : 5 August 2019), W R Gregg in household of W Mcintosh, Goliad county, part of, Goliad, Texas, United States; citing family 84, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
6. ↑ (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Texas_Ranger_Division)
7. ↑ “United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDKW-W6L : 13 December 2017), Henry Acres in entry for Anderson Acres, 1860.

• "California, Pioneer Migration Index, Compiled 1906-1935," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP24-893Z : 16 August 2019), William Or Henry Akers, 1852; citing Emigration, California, United States, California State Library, Sacramento.
• Hull, Donna M. “Jacob Miller: Our Immigrant and More,” published 1998, Visalia, CA.