Temperance (Blair) Connelly (1781 - abt. 1855)

Born 22 Mar 1781 in North Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Henry Connelly — married 8 Mar 1832 in Floyd County, Kentucky

Descendants

Died about 30 Jun 1855 at about age 74 in Johnson County, Kentucky, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Mary Imler [send private message] and Brian Hitchcock [send private message]

Biography

Temperance was born 22 March 1781^[1]. Her first marriage, to John Hitchcock, is assumed to have taken place not long before the birth of her first child (Phebe) in 1798^[2].

The above-referenced Bible record lists four children for Temperance and John Hitchcock: Phebe (5 December 1798), Margaret (25 July 1800), John Jr. (8 September 1803), Parker (1 September 1805).

Kentucky death records suggest a much later child, Martha (26 February 1825), whose death certificate from 1916 says that her parents were John Hitchcock and Temperance Conley.^[3]

Temperance was married for a second time to widower Henry Connelly on 8 March 1832, in Floyd County, Kentucky.^[4]

No known children exist from this second marriage, unsurprising, given that Temperance would have been 50 years old when the couple wed.

Temperance filed for a widow's pension in 1851, stating that she married Henry in 1833 and that he died in 1840. She applied again in 1853, giving their more precise date of marriage (as stated above) and affirming that she remained a widow. In June 1855 she filed for her bounty land entitlement. In this testimony, she says that she and Henry were married by a Baptist preacher, that her name prior to this was Tempy Hitchcock, and that Henry died in 1838.^{[5] [6]}

Census Presence:

• 1800: North Carolina: Guilford County: presumed to be the female aged 16-25 years^[7] (actual age approximately 19)
• 1810: Kentucky: Clay County: presumed to be the female aged 26-45 years old^[8] (actual age approximately 29)
• 1820: Kentucky: Floyd County: presumed to be the female aged 26-45 years^[9] (actual age approximately 39)
• 1830: Kentucky: Whitley County? The Hitchcocks lived in Whitley County for a few years before returning to Floyd County, according to John Hitchcock's pension application. However, the individuals in the known John Hitchcock household in this census don't match Temperance's family.
• 1850: Kentucky: Johnson County: enumerated as "Temperance Conley", age 69 born in North Carolina, in son John's household.^[10]
• 1860: Kentucky: Johnson County: enumerated as "Tempy Conley", age 79 born in North Carolina, in son John's household.^[11]

Although many online genealogies state that Temperance died 30 June 1855, she was clearly enumerated five years later in the 1860 census. Her FindaGrave entry, which repeats this date, does not show a headstone and says she was allegedly buried with her second husband in an unmarked grave.^[12] The source for the 1855 date is unknown; it may be a transcription error (for, say, 1865), or it may apply to another person.

It may also be that Temperance's bounty land application on 13 June 1855 led researchers who had not seen the 1860 census to record that she died after this date. Perhaps at some point someone heard "thirty" for "thirteen" and introduced an error, followed by the "after" (this date) being dropped at some point.

The theory for Temperance being a "Blair" is based in a threefold rationale:

• an alleged oral tradition^[13][14]
• land transactions with members of the Blair family ^[15]
• autosomal DNA matching (as suggested by ThruLines at Ancestry and Theories of Relativity at MyHeritage - no description of segment triangulation and elimination of other possibilities for common ancestry has yet emerged)

Sources

1. ↑ Eastern Kentucky papers; the founding of Harman's Station, with an account of the Indian captivity of Mrs. Jennie Wiley and the exploration and settlement of the Big Sandy Valley in the Virginias and Kentucky. 1910. William Elsey Connelley. Page 108, citing a Bible record. https://archive.org/details/easternkentuckyp00conn/page/108
2. ↑ Ibid.
3. ↑ Ancestry.com. Kentucky, Death Records, 1852-1965 [database on-line]. Original data: Kentucky. Kentucky Birth, Marriage and Death Records – Microfilm (1852-1910). Microfilm rolls #994027-994058. Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort, Kentucky.
4. ↑ The History of Kentucky, Volume III. Judge Charles Kerr. "Captain Henry Connelly ... married (second) 8th March 1832, Temperance Hitchcock, widow of John Hitchcock, who had been a soldier in his company and also moved to Johnson County, who was a Quaker, but went into the Revolution; the Hitchcock, Caudill, Pelphery and other Eastern KY families are descended from him."
5. ↑ Ancestry.com. U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900. Henry Connell. Archive Publication Number: M804. Archive Roll Number: 628.
6. ↑ Southern Campaign American Revolution Pension Statements. https://revwarapps.org/w8188.pdf
7. ↑ 1800 U S Census; Census Place: Salisbury, Guilford, North Carolina; Series: M32; Roll: 31; Page: 635; Image: 592; Family History Library Film: 337907. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHR7-RPQ
8. ↑ 1810 U S Census; Census Place: Clay, Kentucky; Roll: 9; Page: 153; Image: 00161; Family History Library Film: 0181354. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH2S-RQ5
9. ↑ 1820 U S Census; Census Place: Floyd, Kentucky; Page: 36; NARA Roll: M33_22; Image: 45. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHLN-TBM
10. ↑ 1850 U S Census; Census Place: Johnson, Kentucky; Roll: M432_208; Page: 107B; Image: 219.https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M65C-N1K
11. ↑ 1860 U S Census; Census Place: Johnson, Kentucky; Roll: M653_378; Page: 272; Family History Library Film: 803378. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZBC-BH8
12. ↑ Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 08 January 2020), memorial page for Temperance Blair Hitchcock (28 Mar 1781–30 Jun 1855), Find A Grave Memorial no. 132734509, citing Jellico Creek Cemetery, Williamsburg, Whitley County, Kentucky, USA ; Maintained by Carole Conrad (contributor 46532185) .
13. ↑ Website of Jerry Conley. http://jerryconley.com/Index/Page1.html "According to descendant Joe Conley of Paintsville, Kentucky: "Through the oral tradition of my family, Tempy was the sister of George and Noble Blair. I do know for a fact that George Blair and John Hitchcock, Sr. came to what is now Johnson Co., Ky. at the same time. Along with Eleazor LeMaster and Abiud Fairchild, they founded the first community on Paint Creek at what is now Staffordsville, Ky. It was not until I began posting my family tree on the internet that the fact that Tempy was a Blair was questioned. I have no proof of this either, other than a mountain of family tradition. With so many diverse sources, however, my belief has become a certainty. Concerning Tempy, (and George and Noble's) lineage, their parentage is a million dollar question. I have been told that they were the children of a promanent 'Presbyterian minister, John Blair. I question that their parents were of any clerical or educated background as George could not sign his name. Every legal document he signed, he used his mark (X)."
14. ↑ "Ancestors of Randall Blair". http://sites.rootsweb.com/~kyfloyd/familyfiles/randallblair.htm "After the death of Ann, Henry remarried Temperance Blair Hitchcock. Many genealogists would question listing Temperance as the sister of George and Noble Blair and I will admit the only proof I have of her lineage is the oral tradition passed down through the Conley generations. I have a great deal of confidence in my family's oral tradition. Temperance was the widow of John Hitchcock Sr.. She was the mother of John Hitchcock Jr. who was the forefather of my grandmother Alma Conley's generation of Hitchcocks."
15. ↑ Floyd County, Kentucky, "Deeds, v. C - D (1825 - 1841)," v. C, p. 117 and 118, deed from John Hitchcock to John Blair, 20 acres on Paint Creek and 15 acres on Paint Creek (2 deeds), 18 October 1828; i>FamilySearch</i>. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4Y-H9PB-X?i=56&cat=111602 and https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4Y-H9PT-3?i=57&cat=111602 ; citing Floyd County Courthouse, Prestonsburg, Kentucky; Family History Library US and Canada microfilm 836821, images 57 and 58 of 505.

• Whitley County, Kentucky, "Tax Books (1819 - 1831, 1833, 1835 - 1855)," 1829, p. 15, Temperance Hitchcock.
• Whitney County, Kentucky, "Will Books v. 1 - 2 (1818 - 1863)," Book 1, p. 30, John Hancock, May term 1829; d