A Nelson Mother with No Name

Date: 2024 [unknown]
Location: [unknown]

NELSON GROUP REPOSITORY home page https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:NELSON_GROUP_REPOSITORY

A Nelson Mother with No Name

How do we find her? Using the sources of her children Moses and Elizabeth Nelson - assuming that she was still alive after her husband’s death [c1810.] As a very young widow with two small children she would have been living with another family – and moving with them. It would be likely that she remarried [1811-1812?} and is one of the neighboring families to Ross Nelson. There may be half-siblings although none have been mentioned in any of the sources.

Mother Nelson - Mrs. William Nelson

BIRTH c1785 in Kentucky per children [1880 census] Age estimated from birth of daughter Elizabeth born about c1803. This would indicate that her parents were some of those first settlers in Kentucky. Many of those early settlers returned to Virginia due to the Indian raids.,
MARRIAGE: c1801-1802 – either VA or KY to William Nelson Nelson-26232
BIRTH: c1775/1780 in Kentucky per children [1880 census] Age estimated from birth of daughter Elizabeth born about 1803.
They may have been early settlers in Kentucky but had returned to Virginia by 1806 when Moses Nelson was born. The area of Ohio containing Ross and Scioto Cos. was the “Virginia Donation.” [see 1804 Ohio map]

1804 map of Virginia https://www.mapofus.org/_maps/atlas/1804-VA.html
1814 Map pf Virginia https://www.mapofus.org/_maps/atlas/1814-VA.html

1804 Kentucky Map https://www.mapofus.org/kentucky/
1814 Kentucky Map https://www.mapofus.org/kentucky/

1804 Map of Ohio - https://www.mapofus.org/_maps/atlas/1804-OH.html
1814 Map of Ohio https://www.mapofus.org/_maps/atlas/1814-OH.html

There were still scattered Indian raids at that time. Another possible explanation is that the family was moving on the Salt Lick trail and not staying long in any one place. The borders of VA, KY and OH all meet on the Ohio River near what is now Huntington, WV across the river from what was then Gallia Co. area in 1814. The Big Sandy River is the border between VA and KY. From this point Galipolis, Gallia Co., Ohio is to the east and Portsmouth, Scioto Co., is down river to the west. By just crossing the river one could be in another state with limited travel. They were also not concerned with state borders. Kentucky became a state in 1792 and Ohio in 1803.

On December 31, 1776, the region of Virginia beyond the Appalachian Mountains was established as Kentucky County by the Virginia General Assembly.[4] (Kentucky County was abolished on June 30, 1780, when it was divided into Fayette, Jefferson, and Lincoln counties.) On several occasions the region's residents petitioned the General Assembly and the Confederation Congress for separation from Virginia and statehood. Ten constitutional conventions were held in Danville between 1784 and 1792. Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky#European_settlement_and_conflict_with_Native_Amerians

DEATH: William Nelson - About 1810 per this newspaper item. This is the only mention of him found. Jackson (OH) Standard-Journal 4 JUL 1900, p.19.

• The Jackson County Nelsons - The Nelson family has had representatives in this county from the earlist days. Two brothers, Ross and William Nelson came here about 1800 to work at the Salt Works. Ross was the father of John, David, Samuel, Oliver, Sarah, the wife of Allison J. Kinnison, and Eleanor the wife of Wesley Cremeens. He died about 1810. Absalom F. Nelson, who now lives in this city, is a son of John. William, the brother of Ross, was the father of Moses, who moved to Jay County, Indiana, where he died, and of Elizabeth, who married Samuel Bunn and was the mother of Mr. Peter Bunn.

Timeline for Mother Nelson

1782-1785 Mother Nelson - Birth: Kentucky - Parents birth place per Moses-Eliz 1880 Census
c1801-1802 Married William Nelson – either VA or KY
c1803 Mother Nelson in Kentucky - Elizabeth Nelson was born; Kentucky
12 Aug 1806 Mother Nelson in Virginia - Moses Nelson was born; Virginia
c1810 Husband William Nelson died [info per Jackson Standard article]
1810 Mother Nelson to Gallia Co., Ohio – “Elizabeth Nelson . . . a native of Kentucky who came to Gallia County, Ohio at 7 years [1810?] and to Jackson County in 1812” [History of Lower Scioto Valley, p.607, bio of Harmon Bunn]
1811 Very likely that Mother Nelson married again – WHO? WHERE? KY VA OH?
1812 Mother Nelson to Jackson Co., Ohio – “Elizabeth Nelson . . . a native of Kentucky who came to Gallia County, Ohio at 7 years [1810?] and to Jackson County [Ohio] in 1812” [History of Lower Scioto Valley, p.607, bio of Harmon Bunn]
War of 1812 Samuel Bunn 29 Jul 1813: Pvt. in Capt. Story's Company Ohio Militia
15 Sep 1818 Marriage- Elizabeth Nelson to Samuel Bunn [Pension Aff. -10th day of Sept. A.D. 1818 by David Mitchell, J.P.,] Two marriage dates? Was pension affidavit from faulty memory or court record filed after the event?
Jan 1819 Marriage Jackson, Ohio marriage License: Elizabeth Nelson to Samuel Bunn
1820 Census Jackson Co., OH – Samuel Bunn [population of Jackson, Co. 3,746]
1824 Moses Nelson “moved from Virginia to Jackson County, Ohio in the year 1824” [This date may be incorrect unless he did not come to Ohio with his mother]
26 Mar 1831 Moses Nelson and Mary Childers married; Jackson, Ohio
1832 Ohio Tax Records, Moses Nelson Franklin Twp, Jackson, Ohio
1833 Ohio Tax Records, Moses Nelson Franklin Twp, Jackson, Ohio
c1842 Death of Ross Nelson in Jackson Co., Ohio
1850 Census – Moses Nelson and Elizabeth Nelson Bunn in Jackson Co., Ohio
1852 Moses Nelson to Jay Co., Indiana
22 Jan 1853 Moses Nelson – Land purchase Jay Co., Indiana
1860 Census – Moses Nelson in Jay Co., Indiana
1860 Census – Elizabeth Nelson Bunn -Jackson Co., Ohio
15 Aug 1865 Death of Samuel Bunn Jackson Co., Ohio
1870 Census – Catherine Nelson Jackson, wid, Jay Co. Indiana Dwelling 24.
1870 Census – Moses Nelson in Jay Co., Indiana Dwelling 29
1870 Census – Elizabeth Nelson Bunn -Jackson Co., Ohio
1880 Census – Moses Nelson - Jay County, IN, Bearcreek Twp. VA KY KY 1880 Census - Elizabeth Bunn – Jackson Co. Ohio w/son Harmon Bunn OH KY KY (This is only source where Ohio is given as her birthplace all others say Kentucky.)
25 Jul 1880 Moses Nelson died; Jay Co., Indiana
25 Aug 1880 Moses Nelson – estate Misc. Rec. 25 p. 556-557
17 Feb 1890 Elizabeth Nelson Bunn died; Jackson, Ohio - Old Bunn Cem., Jackson Co. OH.
27 Feb 1890 Elizabeth Bunn – Will probated Jackson Co. OH Will Bk. C p.304