All Things Alcorn

The Great Counterfeit Conspiracy

Last February, I posted a deed from the June 1804 Madison County, Kentucky deed book in which William Allcorn deeded all of his material possessions to his brother George (see The Mystery of William Alcorn's Debt). In the article, I asked what kind of debt could he have incurred that his own relative felt comfortable kicking him out of his home and taking all of his possessions?

Not one, but two, Alcorn researchers have come to my aid.

Lisa Anlen Engle wrote:

I can help solve this puzzle. William was found guilty of passing counterfeit money and was sentenced to hard labor in jail or penitentiary for five years. He was also in debt and I think he "sold" out to his brother, George to hide his assets. However, in the end, this didn't work and the property was sold anyway to cover William's debts. On Apr 4, 1808, a suit was filed by Richard West (Sheriff of Jessamine County in 1808) against William & George Alcorn. William was being sued for the sum of $129.88 and 5 mils with interest dating from Jan 1 1805. The suit stated no estate of William's could be found except for that which had been transferred to George. The court ordered the sale of property of George Alcorn to satisfy the suit against William with George to receive the remaining profit from the sale.

Ginnie Mitchell added the following:

Apr 6, 1804, Kentucky Gazette, p. 45. Vol. XVII, No. 929. Tuesday. Alcorn
and Irwin were arrested in Lexington for passing counterfeit money. Sep
24, 1804, Monday, William Alcorn before Federal Court at Frankfort, KY
for counterfeit bank notes. Trial continued through evening, when he was
found guilty and sent to 5 years hard labor in jail or penitentiary.
Christopher Irving was with Alcorn and was out on bond; he did not appear
in court and forfeited his recognition. Oct 18, 1804, William Alcorn of
the County of Madison to George Alcorn, of the County of Jessamine 400
acres on which William was living at the time, 19 or 20 head of cattle,
his rifle, and all his household furniture. The deed states the reason
for this action was to satisfy the demands of George Alcorn and those of
the state against him.

Apr 4, 1808, a suit by Richard West (Sheriff of Jassamine County in 1808)
against William & George Alcorn. William was being sued for the sum of
$129.88 and 5 mils with interest dating from Jan 1, 1805. The suit stated
no estate of William's could be found except for that which had been
transferred to George. The court ordered the sale of property of George
Alcorn to satisfy the suit against William with George to receive the
remaining profit from the sale.

Curious about this black sheep in our family tree, I did a little more research and discovered William Allcorn's deposition in the Thomas Jefferson Papers on the Library of Congress's American Memory site. If you'd like to learn more, be sure to check it out. 

United States Kentucky District Court, September 1805, Deposition on William Alcorn, page 1.

John Alcorn: Revolutionary War Service?

I recently heard from Jennifer, a fellow Alcorn researcher, who's preparing to file a DAR application based on her ancestor John Alcorn's Revolutionary War service. The problem she's running into is separating the anectdotal from the factual.

John was born 1734 in Augusta County, Virginia, and lived in Montgomery County, Virginia before moving to Kentucky in the late 1780s.

He did not file a Revolutionary pension file, though there are references in several pension files from several soldiers under Col. John Alcorn's regiment. I believe this is a different John, the one who lived in Wilson County, Tennesee.

From the book "Robert Alcorn and his Descendents" by Lloyd Alcorn, Sr, we learn that: "Lt. John Alcorn, later Capt. John Alcorn, also owned land on Reed's Creek (along with Robert and James Alcorn), Montgomery County, Virginia, at this time (1753 to 1782).  At the court of Montgomery County, May 3, 1780, John Bethel, John Alcorn, and others were awarded 40-acre grants for six-months' service under Col. George Washington. Their lawyer representative was Patrick Henry." 

I've also found several books that list John Alcorn's service, but none with actual sources and citings.

Can you help Jennifer find the documentation she needs? If you can, we'd love to hear from you.

Looking for the Parents of Jesse Alcorn, 1781-1852

Mark Alcorn, California, recently wrote that he's a descendent of Jesse Alcorn, 1781-1852, who lived in Wayne County, Kentucky. Here's Mark's lineage:

Jesse Alcorn (1781-1852)
William Russell Alcorn (1813-1862?)
Charles Alfred Alcorn (1846-1884)
George Washington Alcorn (1876-1939), Mark's great grandfather

"I am especially interested in finding out more info about the Alcorn relatives above, as well as linking Jesse to possible parents John and Jane Breckenridge Alcorn," he wrote. " A long-time researcher who spent time researching in Kentucky warned me to be slow to link anyone to Jesse (1781-1852) due to lack of evidence. I would be very curious to see if you have made connections regarding this."

The advice Mark was given is excellent advice for anyone trying to untangle the Alcorn's tangled routes, but in this case, the evidence for Jesses' parentage is fairly strong, though circumstantial.  We know from census data that there were two men named Jesse who could be John and Jane's son -- the one born in 1781 who lived in Wayne County, Kentucky, and the one born in 1806 who lived in Gallatin County.

The Wayne County Jesse married Polly Duncan on April 4, 1806. She was the daughter of George Duncan and Catherine Smiley. She was born about 1781 in North Carolina and died about 1820 in Wayne County. Jesse married Sinah Ann Jones on Jan. 28, 1824 in Wayne County. Sinah was the daughter of James Jones. She was born 1794 in Virginia and died 1864 in Wayne County. Jesse died Nov. 26, 1852, in Wayne County.

The Gallatin County Jesse married Sarah Darbro on April 16, 1830. She lived her whole life in Gallatin County, 1816-1849.  He married Phoebe Ann Mulligan, born 1810 in Kentucky,  on Oct. 26, 1849 in Gallatin County. They later moved to Greene County, Indiana.

If we can agree that Mark's ancestor must be one of these two men, then we're left with the question: Is the Wayne County Jesse the son of John and Jane Breckenridge Alcorn, or the son of Robert and Susannah Welch Alcorn?

Since we know that Robert lived in Gallatin County, that Susannah died there, and that several of their children married Darbros, it's a logical assumption that the Jesse who lived in Gallatin County is their son. That would make Jesse of Wayne County the son of John and Jane Breckinridge.

No, it's not proof, but it may be as close as we can get. If you have more information on Jesse and his descendents, we'd love to hear from you. Let's help Mark solve this puzzle.

I'll be following up with more information from Mark, along with some pictures he's contributed on my next posting.

James Alcorn, 1893-1976

James (Jimmy) Alcorn, Jr., born March 20, 1893, was the second child of James Alcorn and Anna Eliza Corman of Jessamine County, Kentucky. The March 20 date comes from his memorial book and his Social Security registration.

On his draft registration card, Jimmy lists his birthdate as April 15, 1899 and his age as 19. (For some reason, the Alcorns in this family changed their birthdates randomly. Whether they really didn't know or they felt that it wasn't anyone else's business is a matter of conjecture.) He states that his eyes were brown; his eyes were black; and that he was of medium build.

He spent most of his life in the Handy's Bend area of Jessamine County where he farmed and fished. Although I knew him all of my life and was 16 when he died, I know very little about him. Like his brothers, he was a quiet man that kept to himself. He never married. His obituary read:

From his memorial book, we learn that the service was performed by Pastor Clyde Van Valin on Feb. 26, 1976. Pall bearers were Raymond Hasty, Allen Baker, Tim Puckett, Raymond West, Ernest Drury and Carl Puckett. He was buried in the Wilmore Cemetery, Wilmore, Jessamine County, Kentucky.

Getting to Know James Alcorn, 1832-1902

James Alcorn was one of five children born to John Alcorn (1799-1877) and an unknown mother. According to the 1900 census, James was born in April of 1832 in Kentucky. His father John appears on the 1840 census with his wife and five children in Jessamine County, so it is generally accepted that James was born in Jessamine County. John had been married to his second wife, Nancy McPherson, for two years by then, so it can only be assumed that James's mother had died when James was small, only four or five years old.

Sadly, after having four children in the next four years, Nancy, too, died, leaving James motherless once more. John would remarry again, in 1846, this time to Elizabeth Hicks Barnett, who brought her own two children into the growing Alcorn brood. John and Elizabeth would have six more children over the next few decades.

It must have been a hard life growing up in rural Jessamine and Garrard counties, helping his father farm, and living in what had to have been crowded conditions.

At the age of 18, James moved out and went to work with Dr. John C. Welch. Hugh Corman, husband of Alice Alcorn, said that in later years, James would be referred to as "the old medicine man." It's presumably while living with Dr. Welch that he learned his skills.

He married Sarah Ann Hicks (1832-1910) on Dec. 21, 1852 in Jessamine County. Sarah was the daughter of John Hicks and Elizabeth Preston of Garrard County, Kentucky. They had nine children -- Sarah Jane, Martha, James, Squire, William Harrison, Sallie, George, Joseph Thomas, and Catherine. All of their children lived to adulthood, with the exception of Sallie, who died at the age of 15.

By all accounts, their's was a happy home. The lived at the mouth of the Kentucky River, where James made his living, farming and fishing. Bertha Alcorn Johns, daughter of William Harrison Alcorn,  said her grandfather made baskets to put in the river to catch fish. She recalled the day James was fishing and began to yell for Sallie to bring the plow line. He had caught a 106-pound fish, and needed the rope to bring it in.

Lillie Alcorn, daughter of James Alcorn Jr. and Anna Elizabeth Corman, said her grandfather had an orchard and a flower garden that was admired by all. Many marriages took place at the Alcorn home.

When James died, the following account appeared in the July 27, 1902 issue of the Jessamine Journal:

Mr James Alcorn, aged 72, died at his home near Hanley July 17, Friday. The deceased was a great fisherman and known to almost everybody in this section of the county.

In the same paper, but located in the Wilmore Society page, we read :

James Alcorn, about 72 years of age, died at his home Friday, July 19. Mr. Alcorn had lived on the Kentucky river almost all his life and was a great fisherman. No man knew the river from Camp Nelson to High Bridge better than Mr. Alcorn , and almost everybody that did much fishing went to him for information. His remains were buried at the Nicholasville Cemetery, Saturday .