Susannah Mahala (Brock) Callahan (abt. 1749 - abt. 1820)

Born about 1749 in Cumberland County, Virginia, British Colonial America [uncertain]

Wife of Edward Callahan — married 25 Jul 1810 in Clay County, Kentucky

Descendants

Died about 1820 at about age 71 in Benge, Clay County, Kentucky

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Susannah (Brock) Callahan is currently protected by the Native Americans Project for reasons described below. Join: Native Americans Project Discuss: native_americans

Due to claims about her being daughter of a documented Native American (who had no documented children), WikiTree's Native Americans project is tracking this profile.

Disputed Origins

A previous version of this profile claimed, citing a compiled genealogy, that she was daughter of Redbird and that Redbird was the same as someone named Aaron Brock [Sr]. There are no documented wife or children of the Cherokee man, Redbird. There is no contemporaneous record that associates him as the same man as Aaron Brock (for which there is actually no proof of existence). He has been detached as father of this profile. Please use g2g to discuss evidence for her origins. Thank you.

There is also no documentary evidence that anyone named "Aaron Brock" ever existed, that Edward Callahan's wife was named Mahala, or that his wife was the sister of Jesse Brock. While we retain a WikiTree profile for Aaron Brock, we do so only to prevent re-creation and to educate people about the lack of evidence for his existence.

Biography

Susannah/Mahala Brock is believed to have been born about 1749 in Cumberland Co., VA. Her parents are unknown. She is consistently listed in records as Susannah or "Sukey", not Mahala. She appeared in a court record in 1773: "Likewise, Mary Johnson, Sandel Brooks Elizabeth Brooks Lyddia Morris AND SUSANNA BROCK for having bastard children. Likewise, EDWARD CALLIHAN for unlawfully keeping and cohabiting with SUSANNA BROCK, with Samuel Wilson as informant." ^[1] Susannah and Edward apparently resolved the issue by marrying.

Ned and Susannah were well known in southwest Virginia: ""Although the country was setled with a well-informed population generally, yet there was in it a mixture of all sorts. The leading characters of one class were Edward Callahan and his wife Succy. where they originally came from I do not know, but they were themselves originals. edward was a hunter by profession, and when they emigrated to Holston he selected for his residence the banks of the north fork twenty-five miles below Abingdon, at a point where he could see the top of Clinch mountain through a gap in the river knobs. Here he lived many years. Succy was a cake woman, but with the cakes she sold something to drink. She made her appearance on the first day of every court, with a cartload of cakes, pies and drinkables... ^[2][3]

The History of Southwest Virginia 1746 through 1786 page 629

The History of Southwest Virginia 1746 through 1786 page 630

Mahala/Susannah & her husband "Ned" Callahan immigrated abt Dec 1801 to near Grapevine Creek, N. Fork of Kentucky River, Knox (now Perry) Co., KY, from Russell Co., VA; three children had married; they were joined by their sons-in-laws' Davidson, Strong, and Cornett families. ^[4] They appear in numerous tax and court records between 1807 and their deaths. ^[5]

Susannah died 1820 in Clay Co., KY.

Research notes

The name of Aaron Brock as father of Jesse Brock and his sister Mahala Susanna Brock Callahan was mentioned in two printed (but undocumented) family histories: 1. Strong Family, by Mrs. J. C. Hurst, Lexington, KY, 1958. She wrote, "The Strong family of Breathitt and Owsley Cos., KY, was established by William, who was born about the year 1768 in VA and died about the year 1848. He was married about the year 1790 to Jennie Callahan (commonly called Jane), who was born about the year 1779 and died about the year 1815. She was a daughter of Edward and Mahalah Brock Callahan. Mahalah was a daughter of AARON BROCK and a sister of JESSE BROCK, who lived in Harlan County. The Brocks were part Indian." .^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ Fincastle & Kentucky County Va-Ky Records and History" Volume 1, pg 370 Michael and Bettie Cook, C. G., Cook Publications Evansville, Ind. 47712 Court November 2, 1773 pg 143 Digitized at court
2. ↑ History of Southwest Virginia, 1746-1786, Washington County, 1777-1870, by Lewis Preston Summers; J. L. Hill Print Company, 1903. pp. 629-630 image at: Succy
3. ↑ History of southwest Virginia, 1746-1786 : Washington County, 1777-1870; by Summers, Lewis Preston
4. ↑ Strong Family, by Mrs. J. C. Hurst. Lexington, KY, 1958, p. 1.
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1810," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH2S-R45 : accessed 5 February 2020), Edward Calliham, Clay, Kentucky, United States; citing p. 156, NARA microfilm publication M252 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 9; FHL microfilm 181,354.
6. ↑ Davi(d)son: The First Ten, the Second Ten, and Many Allied Families, by Charlotte Davison, Robbie Jean Davison; assisted by Mary Ruth Moffitt Stevens; published Braddyville, IA, by Violet Pence Apple, 1985; pp. 4-5.

• History of Southwest Virginia 1746-1786, Washington County, 1777-1870, Page 629. Lewis Preston Summers. With Rearranged Index and Table of Contents, Clearfield Company by the Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore, Maryland 1995. Originally published 1903, Richmond, Virginia.

Interview by Dr. John J. Dickey Diary, Fleming County, KY with Edward Red Ned Callahan Strong on 21 July 1898, at Lost Creek, Kentucky. Reprinted in Kentucky Explorer, Volume 11, No 3 - August, 1996, pp. 104-105. Edward Callahan was "Red Ned's" grandfather's father-in-law, Edward Callahan. Edward's (and Suckie/Succy) son was Isaac Callahan (1784-1817).

• 1800 and 1810 U.S. Federal Census have listings for Edward Callahan

See also:

Anonymous 1971. The Kernel of Greatness—An Informal Bicentennial History of Bedford County, Educational Pamphlet. Bedford County Heritage Commission.

Ball, Donald B 2006. Scribbles, Scratches, and Ancient Writing: Pseudo-Historical Archaeology in the Ohio Valley Region. Ohio Valley Historical Archaeology 21:1-29.

Bush, William 1807. Clay County Surveyor's Office Entry dated June 10, 1807, p. 1. Manchester.

Collins, Lewis. History of Kentucky. 1847.

Collins, Lewis, and Richard H. Collins 1874. History of Kentucky.

Coy, Fred E. and Thomas G. Fuller 1969. Red Bird River Petroglyphs, Clay County, Kentucky. Southeastern Archaeological Conference 10:27-31.

Coy, Fred E., Thomas C. Fuller, Larry G. Meadows, and James L. Swauger 1997. Rock Art of Kentucky. The University of Kentucky Press, Lexington.

Dickey, John Jay, 1898a, February 2, Diary record testimony of Captain Byron, in Manchester, Clay County, Kentucky.

Dickey, John Jay, 1898b, July 12, 1898, Diary record testimony of Abijah Gilbert, in Clay County, Kentucky.

Dickey, John Jay, 1898c, July 12, Diary record testimony of John R. Gilbert, in Manchester, Clay County, Kentucky.

Draper, Lyman Copeland, 1851. Drapers Life of Boone and Boone Papers. Draper Manuscripts Collection.

Feder, Kenneth L. 1999. Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries. Mayfield Press, Mountain View.

Filson, John 1784. The Discovery, Settlement, and Present State of Kentucke.

Rafinesque, Constantine 1824. Ancient History or Annals of Kentucky.

Summers, L. P. 1903. History of Southwest Virginia 1746-1786, Washington County 1777-1870, J. L. Hill Printing Co., Richmond.

Walker-Burns, Annie n.d. Testimony of Elijah Brock. Unpublished manuscript.

White, Roy 1932. A History of Clay County, Kentucky. The Manchester Guardian. Issues May to December.

Wilson, Jess 1978. When They Hanged the Fiddler. Possum Trot University Press, Manchester.