Rachel (Jolliff) Rhea (aft. 1783 - 1851)

Born after 16 Oct 1783 in Washington, Pennsylvania, United States [uncertain]

Ancestors

Wife of James Rhea Jr. — married 20 Nov 1801 (to 1843) in , Barren County, Kentucky, United States of America

Descendants

Died 28 Oct 1851 before age 68 in Sangamon, Illinois, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Wilda Pingel [send private message] and Susan Hudson [send private message]

Biography

Rachel was born Oct 16, 1783 possibly in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, (but also maybe in Greenbrier County, Virginia, or perhaps in that part of Pennsylvania/Virginia where the boundary line was in dispute.)
She was the oldest of eight children and four daughters of James (I) and Elizabeth Norris Jolliff. Almost 5 years would pass before her parents had another child (likely because of her father's travels).

From Jolliff Family website:^[1]
James & Elizabeth's first child, Rachel, was born in Oct. 1783, probably in Westmoreland Co, PA. Her father, James was across the river in Norristown, Ohio in 1785-6 (probably leaving his family in the relative safety of Pennsylvania). In 1785 Army troops marched into Ohio, burned cabins and removed settlers. The settlers felt they would eventually be given title to the land, so by the next spring there were more cabins built. That spring, April 1786, the soldiers destroyed 35 houses, one being that of James Jolliff of "Norris Town." This time the government succeeded in permanently closing the settlement, and thereby probably saving all the settlers from massacre by the Indians. The next year (1787) Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance allowing settlement in the Northwest Territory (Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois), but James had his eye on Kentucky, and after his wife had their second child in 1788, he set off again. In April 1789 he bought land in Fayette County, KY. It was 10-20 miles south of (Fort) Lexington and 15 miles west of Boonesboro. These frontier men often when home in the winter, so likely in the winter of 1789-90 he went back to PA and in the Spring moved his family to KY. Elizabeth had her 3rd child in Oct, 1790. They probably lived first at Fort Lexington for protection from the Indians. Then, he moved his family to Fort Crab (though his farm land was the same). In 1798 James sold his land south of Lexington and moved west to Barren County, KY and here spent the rest of his life.

The 1800 census for Kentucky was lost.

On 20 November 1801, shortly after she turned eighteen, Rachel married James Rhea in Barren County, Kentucky. She bore him 11 known children, 5 sons and 6 daughters.

In April, 1818 they bought her father's 150-acre farm at Knob Lick, Barren Co, Ky.

1820 Barren Co, KY^[2]
James Ray - 12111 - 3111
. . . 1 man - 26-45 (James-40)
. . . 1 woman - 26-45 (Rachel-37)
. . . 1 man - 16-26 (George May-1794-1804)
. . . 1 woman - 16-26 (Elizabeth Rhea May-17)
. . . 1 boy - 16-18 (James-16)
. . . 2 boys - 10-16 (William-14, Richard-12)
. . . 1 girl 10-16 (Nancy-9/10)
. . . 1 boy - 0-10 (John-3)
. . . 3 girls - 0-10 (Jahoda-7, Rachel-5, Mahala-0)

In March 1824 they sold their land and with Rachel pregnant, they moved to Jefferson Co, Illinois with all their children and their son-in-law, meeting up with Rachel's Joliff siblings (Richard, Abner, Jahoda) moving there from Indiana. (Brother, Elijah had already moved there in 1819 and sister, Catherine in 1823.) They probably camped on Elijah Jolliff’s land, while the men looked for their own place to settle.
The Rhea place was 4 miles NE of Richview, IL. Their youngest child, Thomas, was born there the year they moved.

Daughter Rachel died in 1825, age 10.
In 1825 James bought land in Sangamon Co, IL.
In 1827 the Rhea family (except James Jr) moved to Island Grove township in Sangamon Co. (west of Springfield)

1830 Sangamon County, IL^[3]
James Ray - 01101001-01100001
. . . male 50-60 - James-50
. . . female 50-60 - Rachel-47
. . . male 20-30 - Richard-22
. . . female 10-15 - Mahala-10
. . . male 10-15 - John-13
. . . female 5-10 - Mary Ann-8
. . . male 5-10 - Thomas-6

About 1831 he built a 2-story log cabin, said to be the finest accommodation in the section at that time.
In 1832 family and friends gathered at the Rhea home to organize the Emancipation Baptist church. Rachel was the daughter of a preacher and many in her family had strong ties to the church. Her brother, Abner, was a Baptist minister in Washington Co, IL, and her brother James organized the Bethel Baptist Church in Marion Co, IL in his home in 1832. Rachel loved singing and was always called upon to pitch the hymns at worship. Her son Richard was also a preacher.

Frank Hiett Rhea wrote 6 July 1921 in Springfield, Illinois:
"My great-grandmother Rachel Jolliff Rhea was a woman of great size, tall and big boned, of a very happy disposition and very religious. The old set of Jolliffs, that is, all I ever saw, were big, powerfully built men and women."

Rachel suffered though much death in her family:
In 1838 their son James Jr. died at their farm in Sangamon County, age 33.
In 1839 their son Richard died there, age 31. Maybe they were buried on the family farm.
In 1841 their daughter Elizabeth May died, age 38
In 1842 daughter Jahoda Foutch died, age 28

Her husband, James d Feb 1843, age 62. Most likely, he was buried near his sons.
In 1843 daughter Mahala Rhea died, age 22.

Rachel Ray [Rhea] appears  in the 1850 United States Federal Census as a 68-year-old illiterate woman without occupation living with her youngest son, Thomas, a farmer with $3200 of real property, daughter-in-law, five-year-old grand-daughter, and 3 single young farmers, one is a kinsmen.

1850 Sangamon county, IL^[4]
Ray, Thos - 26 b Ky, farmer
. . . Lucinda - 25 Ky
. . . Ann - 5 Ky
. . . Rachel - 68 Indiana
Jolliff, Elijah - 23 IL
Brown, James - 21 IN
Hammonds, Frank - 23 VA

For a larger view of the 1850 census image below, click here.

1850 census for household in which Rachel Jolliff Rhea lives

In Apr 1851, daughter Mary Ann Alsberry died, age 28.
Rachel died in Oct, 1851, near her 68th birthday, in Sangamon County, Illinois, of unknown causes, outliving all but 4 of her 11 children (William, Nancy, John & Thomas)

Sources

1. ↑ http://rfmin.net/mjgen/jolliff/2james.html
2. ↑ 1820 - https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHG7-Q43
3. ↑ 1830 - https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH53-3JG
4. ↑ 1850 - https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M85S-S21

• WeRelate contributor, “Rachel Jolliff, b.16 October 1783 Greenbrier County, Virginia,” WeRelate.org. Last updated 5 May 2013. URL: https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Rachel_Jolliff_(1) Accessed 30 Sept 2017 by Patricia Prickett Hickin.
• Rachel Jolliff' Birth:16 October 1783, Greenbrier County, Virginia; Death: 28 October 1851, Sangamon County, Illinois.: Family: Parents: Father: James Jolliff, 1753 - 1821; Mother: Elizabeth Norris, abt 1762/63 - 1812 (m. 1781); Siblings: Richard Joliff, 1788 - 1833; James Joliff, 1790 - 1876; Abner Joliff, 1792 - 1853; Elizabeth Joliff, 1793 - 1884; Jahoda 'Hodie' Joliff, 1795 - 1864; Elijah Summers Joliff, 1797 - 1828; Catherine Joliff, 1804 - 1843; Mildred Ann Joliff, 1816 - 1904; Lucinda Joliff, 1818 - 1892; Spouse: H.  James Rhea, 1780 - 1843, m. 20 November 1801, Barren County, Kentucky; Children: Elizabeth Rhea, 1802 - 1841; James Rhea, 1804 - 1838; William Rhea, 1807 - 1860; Richard Rhea, 1809 - 1839; Nancy Rhea, 1811 - 1892; Jehoida 'Hody' Rhea, 1813 - 1842; Rachel Rhea, 1815 - abt 1825; John Rhea, 1817 - 1893; Mahala Rhea, 1820 - 1843; Mary Ann Rhea, 1822 - 1851; Thomas F. Rhea, 1824 - 1900.

Acknowledgments

• Thank you to Susan Hudson for creating Jolliff-59 on 24 Nov 13.
• Thank you to Theresa Ellenwood for creating WikiTree profile Joliff-4 through the import of LucindaElizaBatesAncestors.ged on Mar 5, 2013.