Lane/McCullough Bible

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]
Surname/tag: Lane

Contents 1 Lane/McCullah Family Bible 2 The Bible's Travels 2.1 McCullah Family Migration West 2.2 Lane Family Migration West 2.3 Lane/McCullah Bible Migration Path 2.4 The Civil War - Migration from Missouri to Arkansas 3 McCullahs Listed in the Registry Pages 4 Lanes Listed in Registry Pages 5 Sources

Lane/McCullah Family Bible

Patricia Bruner Avant (1941-) has in her possession a family Bible that was handed down to her from Cousin Luther “Lee” Lane (1907-1978). It is believed that he received it from his mother Great Aunt Hettie Lane (1889-1973) since she was not only the first born but also the oldest surviving child of Great Grandfather James Alexander Lane (1860-1937). The Bible is very delicate and great care must be taken whenever it is viewed as the pages tend to crumble at the touch.

The Bible’s registry pages include the birth, death and marriage history of the descendants of two men – Alexander McCullah (1793-1856) and John Lane (1817-1877). Both families have deep roots and many branches with a rich pioneer history. Their migration paths from Virginia to Tennessee then ultimately onto Missouri and Arkansas are very similar. The paths are so parallel that it is not surprising that the two families were occasionally neighbors and eventually joined through marriage.

The Bible's Travels

McCullah Family Migration West

In 1805, twelve-year-old Alexander McCullah (1793-1856) walked barefooted with his family across the Cumberland Mountains through the Cumberland gap to settle in Tennessee. After enlisting and serving in the War of 1812, he marries Lucy Robertson (1799-1849). Lucy is our first biological link to the McCullah family. Lucy’s mother is Elizabeth Laine (1771-1838). Lucy’s father is Thomas Robertson (1763-1834). The Laines and Robertson families were neighbors. Elizabeth’s brothers Joseph L. Lane (1756-1846) and Charles Lane (1759-1843) served in the Revolutionary war with Thomas Robertson. Joseph L. Lane (1756-1846) is our 4th Great Grandfather which means Elizabeth is our 5th Great Aunt and Lucy is our 1st cousin 5X removed. After farming for several years, Alexander sells the farm in Tennessee. On October 19, 1849, Lucy, four of their children and Alexander begin their journey to be close to other family members that had proceeded them to homestead in Missouri. Sadly, Lucy died on November 1, 1849 before they reached their new home. A few months after Lucy’s death, Alexander and his children continued onto Stone County, Missouri where they lived close to Lucy’s older sister (our 1st cousin 5X removed,) Polly Mary Robertson (1791-1861) and her husband Benjamin Haywood (1791-1881).

Lane Family Migration West

As the McCullahs were making their way from Virginia to Tennessee, our young Great-Great- Great Grandfather John Lane (1794-1872) and his family were gradually making their way from Amherst County, Virginia to Bradley County, Tennessee. Perhaps the drought of 1805 in Virginia that prompted the McCullahs western migration was the same motivation for the Lanes to “go west”. Along the way, John Lane (1794-1872) meets and marries Lilly ‘Sally’ Jane Highton (1791-1855). The couple settles down farming and raising their family in Tennessee. Their family grows to include eleven children of which one is our Great Great Grandfather John Lane, Jr (1817-1877). John Jr. grows up helping his father and brothers on the farm in Bradley County, Tennessee. When John Lane, Jr (1817-1877) turns 20, he marries Sarah (last name unknown) (1819-1916) on January 1, 1838. John and Sarah start farming and raising a family in Roane County, Tennessee until around 1844 when they move to Polk County, Missouri. With no written record of why they moved, we can only speculate it may have been to join family and friends already there, to obtain cheap and uncultivated land, or to improve their economic prospects. By 1860, John and Sarah have moved south to a farm in Stone County, Missouri. This move may have been to be closer to his sixty-six-year-old father John Lane (1794-1872) who is living just across the state line in Carroll County, Arkansas with the family of John’s younger brother William L Lane (1820-1880).

Lane/McCullah Bible Migration Path

In the early 1850’s, we find the Alexander McCullah (1793-1856) and John Lane (1817-1877) families living near Springfield in Stone County, Missouri. There is no documentation of how or who brought the LANE/McCullah Bible on the journey. It is written in A genealogy of the McCullah-Wasson Families that Alexander and his son James Alexander McCullah (1829-1904) were great religious workers. I have no concrete evidence but since the registry pages of the Lane/McCullah Bible contains the births, marriages and deaths of Alexander McCullah’s children (see chart on page ##), it is likely that the Bible came west with him and Lucy. The well-worn pages and fragile condition of the Bible indicates it was used routinely. Perhaps it gave comfort when Lucy was laid to rest or quoted at the “camp meetings” where Alexander would do his best to bring souls to Christ. Conceivably, it may have been the Bible used in the first services held at the McCullah Chapel built by the family near their home in 1850. In 1856, Alexander was laid to rest in Greene County by the side of his wife Lucy Robertson (1799-1849) who proceeded him in death during their journey to Missouri. At some point, Alexander McCullah’s (1793-1856) Bible was passed onto his son James Alexander McCullah (1829-1904). His name and the date June 11, 1860 are scarcely decipherable on the fly page of the Bible.

Bible Fly Page transcribed as James A McCullah’s Book June 11 1860

The date on the Bible fly page is significant because James Alexander Mccullah (1829-1904) was married on June 9, 1860. After his marriage, James set up housekeeping (according to 1860 Census) with his bride Idella Adli Parks (1844-1917) on the farm directly adjacent to our 2nd Great Grandfather John Lane (1817-1877) in Stone County, Missouri. At that time our 2nd Great Grandmother Sarah (1819-1916) was pregnant with our Great-Grandfather James Alexander Lane (1960-1937) who was born later that year on October 15, 1860. I believe we can safely assume that the newborn baby was named for his neighbor and 2nd Cousin once removed - James Alexander McCullah (1829-1904)

The last McCullah family entry to the Bible was James Alexander McCullah’s marriage – June 9, 1860. The First Lane family entry documented the death of James Alexander Lane’s 4-year-old brother - Joseph Lane on October 26, 1861. It seems reasonable that at some point between June 1860 and October 1861, James Alexander McCullah gave his father’s Bible to John and Sarah perhaps as a gift for his newly born namesake - John Alexander Lane.

Characteristically, when one acquires a Bible, they will bring it ‘up to date’ by documenting their current family data on the registry pages. That is how the initial Lain family information was added as the “Birth” information starts with John Lain (1817-1877) and his wife Sarah (1819-1916); then continues with their children in the order of their birth. The only Lane Marriage entry is that of John and Sarah Lane.

Structured Lane Entries on right appear entered at one time

McCullah Entries on left appear entered randomly

Upon inspecting the penmanship on the family registry pages in the Bible, it appears that 2-3 individuals made the entries. Most of the data entry is in two very distinctive handwriting styles. The initial Lain family data is very neat, practically in columns and of the same ink. Additionally, at the end of each entry there is a series of dashes separating the individual entries. This upholds my theory that upon receiving the Bible, either John or Sarah posted their genealogy. It is recorded on several of the U.S. Federal Censuses that both could read and write.

Commonsense suggest that the initial McCullah family information existed prior to the Lain family data. The fact that it is of a different handwriting and ink supports that concept. The earlier McCullah family entries are neat and of the same beautiful penmanship still supporting the theory that the initial family data was entered at one setting to bring it ‘up-to-date’ when Alexander McCullah (1793-1856) first acquired it. Most of the organization of the later entries appears ‘random’ as if entered at the time of the event – births, deaths and marriages.

The Civil War - Migration from Missouri to Arkansas

The Civil War: April 1861-May 1865 had a significant impact on the migration of the Lane/McCullah Bible and the relationship between the McCullah and Lane families. During the war, Missouri was claimed by both the Union and the Confederacy, had two competing state governments, and sent representatives to both the United States Congress and the Confederate Congress. Most of Missouri held "conditional Unionist" beliefs meaning they did not favor secession but did not support the North imposing war on or coercing the Southern states. James Alexander McCullah and his four brothers were loyal to the Union. They were listed by the Military authorities of the U.S. as being among the reliable Union Men of Stone County, Missouri.

On the other hand, just a few miles south of the Lane/McCullah homes in Stone County, Missouri was Arkansas, which was a Confederate state, although it had initially voted to remain in the Union. Following the capture of Fort Sumter in April 1861, President Abraham Lincoln called for troops from every Union state to put down the rebellion. Rather than provide the troops to coerce the seceded states back to the Union, Arkansas seceded. John Lane (1817-1877) enlisted in the home guard in Benton County, Arkansas in 1861 according to the Arkansas Confederate Pension Records,

To date, no record that reflects exactly when or why John Lane (1817-1877) moved his family and the Bible to White River, Benton, Arkansas. The family was living in Stone County Missouri when the 1860 U.S. Federal Census was taken and in Arkansas on the 1870 U.S. Federal Census. It wasn’t an extensive journey as Benton County was just across the Missouri/Arkansas state line. His seventy-five-year-old father John Lane Sr. (1794-1872) was already living close by in Boone County, Arkansas with the family of his younger brother William Lane (1820-1880). Perhaps the move was simply to be closer to his father and brother’s family.

The “Wire Road,” originally called the “old Wilderness Road,” was completed in Stone County, Missouri early in the 1860s for the purposes of running telegraph lines. These lines and the road were very useful for communications during the war, especially for the Union. Confederate troops targeted this road and cut many telegraph lines. In retaliation, Union troops burned one Confederate sympathizer’s home for every telegraph line cut. With this all taking place in virtually his back yard, it is conceivable that John Lane moved his family early in the 1860’s due to the potential threat of having his home burned by Union troops.

Bushwhackers were a constant plague in the county during the war. Even though his sympathies aligned with the Confederacy the impact of his 2nd cousin John Wesley McCullah (1821-1864) being executed by a squad of bushwhackers in front of his (Wesley’s) family on October 11, 1864, could have initiated the timing of relocating the Lane family to a safer environment.

John Lane’s family may have still been living in Stone County, Missouri during post war reconstruction. Could the 1864 introduction of the “Ironclad Oath” have been the final indignity that pushed him to move his family across the state line to Arkansas? For persons to be allowed (depending upon the state) to preach, teach, vote, practice law, and medicine a person had to take the “Ironclad Oath”. ^[1] John Lane’s (1817-1877) options would have been to refuse to sign or lie about being a Confederate soldier and swear that he had not participated in the rebellion. Additionally, the oath called out “giving aid or comfort” to anyone who was involved meaning just writing a letter to her husband would have disqualified Sarah (1819-1916) from being allowed to take the oath. Many people fled the state rather than sign the oath, perhaps John Lane’s family was among them. The Arkansas Supreme Court overturned the "Iron-Clad" oath in December 1865 whereas continuing to reside in Missouri would lead to living under the oath’s shadow for two more years until it was annulled.

McCullahs Listed in the Registry Pages

Name	Born	Died	Married	Add’l Info
Alexander McCullah*	July 16, 1793	April 18, 1856	Elizabeth Coleman	Elizabeth was 2nd Wife
			Oct 12, 1851*
Lucy McCullah (Robertson)*	Feb 1799	Dec 1, 1849	Alexander McCullah	Alexander’s 1st wife – James’ mother
			Mar 1, 1819*
Elizabeth McCullah*	Feb 15, 1820	Nov 15, 1822
John W. McCullah*	Mar 12, 1821		Melcinia Short
			Dec 23, 1841*
Rebecca McCullah*	July 18, 1822		Elias B Short
			Dec 2, 1841*
Thomas Lindsey McCullah*	May 15, 1825	Dec 6, 1825
James A. McCullah*	Jan 18, 1829		Idella Parks; June 9, 1860*	A= Alexander; Assume James gave Bible to John Lane
Lucinda C McCullah*	March 10, 1830		John Wasson	Marriage entry is barely distinguishable
			Jan 15, 1854
William F McCullah*	Feb 19, 1832		Almeria C. Parks
			Oct 9, 1856*
Rufus A McCullah*	July 27, 1833
Samuel C McCullah*	July 7, 1837

• Found in Ancestry.com Family Database

Lanes Listed in Registry Pages

Name	Born	Died	Add’l info
John Lain*	Dec 28, 1817		Jan 1, 1838 m
			Sarah Lain
Sarah (???) Lane*	March 12, 1819
Frances Lain*	Dec 2, 1840
Charles Wesley Lain	Nov 12, 1838	Feb 18, 1859	If died in 1859, wouldn’t be on 1860 census
Samuel A. Lain*	Dec 26, 1842
Thomas M Lain*	April 15, 1845
Sarah J Lain*	January 15, 1847
Lindsey Lain*	July 14, 1848
Mary A. Lain*	Jan 29, 1850	June 11, 1856
Delila Lain*	July 30, 1852
John Lain*	Nov 28, 1854		On 1870 census as 15 yo / MO
Nancy C. Lain	April 14 1855	July 15, 1857
James A Lain*	October 15, 1860		A=Alexander**; Assume he received Bible from his father- John Lain who passed to his daughter- Hettie Lane.
Nancy Jane Lane*	Sept 10, 1873?		Grandaughter to John/Sarah– Lindsey’s daughter
John Lain	Oct 1, 1875
James A Lain*	May ?, 1875		Grandson to John/Sarah- Lindsey’s son MI “ C”
Robert L Lane Jr???	Jan 24, 1873		Another grandchild????
Sarah Lain	June 2 1877??		Another grandchild????
John William Kirk*	Oct. 1877		Grandson to John/Sarah Delila’s son
Joseph Lain	Nov 18, 1856	Oct 26, 1861	Different handwriting; looks like 1st entry after initial posting
John Lain		June 29, 1876	Perhaps entry for John Lane but off by 1 year 76 instead of 77
John Lain		July 28, 1876	Different hand – very childlike or feeble  dide vs departed. Could this be Jr?

• Found in Ancestry.com Family Database
  • History of Adair County

Sources

1. ↑ Civil War Trivia Junkie Web Site; WordPress.com, the free blogging platform; January 21, 2013