Marellis Killian was born about 1762 in the Colony of North Carolina to John Killian and his wife, Ann Elisabeth (maiden name unknown; first husband was a Zimmerman).[1] Some documents indicate Marellis may have also been known as Elisabeth.[2] If so, she may have been the "Maria Elisabetha Kilian" mentioned in the register of first communion records from 19 June 1776 at Catawba, North Carolina recorded in the diary of Rev. Johann Gottfried Arends.[3]
Marellis married Jacob A Yount in North Carolina in 1782 and together they had 11 known children.[Fig. A] In 1787, Jacob purchased 87 acres of land in Lincoln County, North Carolina[4] and entered a land grant for 200 more.[5] Their growing family was enumerated there in the 1790 US Federal Census.[6]
Jacob's wife was identified as "Elisabeth" in 1794 when they sold some of their Lincoln County land[2] and 1795[7] Another transaction the next year indicated they had moved (probably less than 5 miles) west into neighboring Burke County. Because of county records loss during the American Civil War, it is unclear exactly when they first purchased land in Burke County, North Carolina or when or to whom they disposed of it. Jacob's land grant issued in 1798 mentions it adjoined his existing property there.[8]
An 1801 Lincoln County land transaction settling Marellis' father's estate mentioned her brothers, her brothers-in-law, and her husband.[9] She was mentioned by name in her mother's will written the next year.[10] Shortly after the Louisiana Purchase, they moved westward to an area of the Cape Girardeau District, which is now Bollinger County, Missouri.
Jacob died before the 14th of August 1819, when his estate was probated without a will in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri Territory.[11] Missouri became a state in 1821 and Marellis passed away in Cape Girardeau County sometime after 1823, when John's estate was settled.[12][13] The 9th of September 1830 is widely circulated as her date of death, though the source remains unclear. In 1851, the western portion of Cape Girardeau County would be organized into Bollinger County. Marellis is believed to have been buried at Dalton Cemetery on County Road 364, southeast of Patton, in present-day Bollinger County, Missouri.[14]
↑ Figure A Children Named in the Estate of Jacob Yount[13]
"Marellis (Murrillo) Killian, the 3rd child of John and Elizabeth Killian, married Jacob A. Yount in about 1782. This Yount family moved to California among the earliest settlers there. In 1781, Jacob Yount served under General Greene. After the enemy evacuated Charleston, General Greene's army was disbanded. When Jacob Yount returned home he found it in ruins. The Tories had burned his buildings and driven his cattle away. He then moved to Burke County near the Catawba River and built a mill on Dowden Creek. In 1804 the family moved to Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Jacob and Marellis Yount had eleven children."
↑ 2.02.1 "Lincoln Co., NC Deed Book, Vol. 18", Pages 405-407. 11 March 1794, Jacob Yont & his wife, Elisabeth, both of Lincoln Co., NC, sold 87 acres on the north side of Henry's Fork of the South Fork of the Catawba River in Lincoln Co., NC to [sic] Michael Simmerman (Jacob's cousin and Marellis/Elisabeth's half-brother) of Lincoln Co., NC for 110 £ of lawful North Carolina money. Name is spelled "Yont" in the document, "Jund" where Jacob wrote his signature, & "Yunt" where Elisabeth gave her mark.
↑ "Lincoln Co., NC Deed Book, Vol. 3", Pages 183-184. 2 April 1787, Jacob Yunt of Lincoln Co., NC bought 87 acres on the north side of Henry's Fork of the South Fork of the Catawba River in Lincoln Co., NC for 100 £ lawful North Carolina money from Peter Mull of Burke Co., NC.
↑ "Lincoln Co., NC Land Grant Files, 1693-1960" Certificate #468. Name: Jacob Yount (Images 906-910 of 1457) Acres: 200 Grant No.: 428 Issued: 17 May 1789 Entered: 17 August 1787 to Book 71, Page 202 Location: on [the head of] Butts Shole Creek.
↑ "United States Census, 1790," Lincoln, North Carolina, United States; p. 113, NARA microfilm publication M637, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 7. Census household of Jacob Yount (11th row of 1st column):
1 free white male over 16
3 free white males under 16
3 free white females
↑ "Lincoln Co., NC Deed Book, Vol. 17", Page 362. 9 November 1795, Jacob Yunt of Burke Co., NC sold 200 acres at the head of Butts Shoal Creek in Lincoln Co., NC from his 1789 Land Grant to Jesse Robinson of Lincoln Co., NC for 20 £ lawful North Carolina money. The name is spelled "Yunt" in the document and "Yund" where he signed his name.
↑ Jacob Yount, "Burke Co., NC Land Grant Files, 1693-1960" Certificate #341 Name: Jacob Yount Acres: 100 Issued: 24 April 1798 Location: joining his own line above his mill on the Mill Fork of Drowning Creek (west of present-day Hickory Regional Airport).
↑ Lincoln County, North Carolina Deed Book, Vol. 20, Page 194. Elisabeth Killian, widow of John, collectively sold land along Clark’s Creek on 6 April 1801 with Philip Killian, Jacob Killian, John Killian, Abraham Killian, Jacob Yount, Jacob Dietz and the legal representatives of Jacob Fye, dec’d (husband of Mary Killian), all of Lincoln County, North Carolina.
↑ "Lincoln County, North Carolina Original Wills: Goodson, Abner - Lewis, Mary". Will of Elisabeth Killian, widow of John Killian, written 1 March 1802 (unknown probate date). Heirs named include her:
son, Michael Zimmerman, from her marriage to Hans Michael Zimmerman
son-in-law, Daniel Smith (married Catherine Zimmerman, who probably died before 1790. Daniel married (2.) Elizabeth Hahn sometime in the 1790s.)
son, Jacob Killian
daughter, Marellis (Killian) Yount
son, John Killian
son, Philip Killian
daughter, Mary (Killian) Suttlemire
son, Abraham Killian
daughter, Sarah (Killian) Dietz
↑ "Cape Girardeau Co., MO Wills & Letters, Vol. A" Pages 105-106. Jacob Yount Sr. of Cape Girardeau County, lately dead without a will. Bond given 7 August 1819 by John Yount & David Yount.
↑ "Cape Girardeau Co., MO, Deed Book, Vol. F", Page 88. 8 January 1821, George Yount of Cape Girardeau County, heir of Jacob Yount, deceased, sells his share of the 300 acres of land west of the White Water River from the estate of Jacob Yount, deceased, "on which the widow of the aforesaid Jacob Yount now lives", to John Yount for $30.
↑ 13.013.1 [Widow &] heirs of Jacob Yount, "Cape Girardeau Co., MO Probate Records, Vol A", Page 85-86. Settlement dated 25 February 1823. Widow granted her share on page 85. Heirs named on page 86:
John Yount
Jacob Yount
Henry Yount
George Yount
David Yount
Jesse Yount
Betsey Farmer
Sally Welker
Christina Polk
Katherine James
Susan Tinnin
↑ FindAGrave Memorial 175677996 for Mrs Marrillis Elizabeth Killian Yount, Dalton Cemetery, Bollinger County, Missouri.
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Marellis by comparing test results with other carriers of her mitochondrial DNA.
However, there are no known mtDNA test-takers in her direct maternal line.
It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Marellis: