The Bucher/Booker Family, 1686-1990: Chapter II

Kentucky To Indiana

The John Phillip Bucher/Booker Family

(Son of Hans Ulrich Bucher)

Much of the following information was researched by Patricia W. Lister of Louisville, Kentucky, one the most knowledgeable genealogists of early records of that area. Over the past several years I have confirmed and added to it. The Deitrick records mentioned in Chapter I, incorrectly stated that John Phillip Bucher [Sr.] first settled near Middletown, Kentucky. Actually, the John Phillip Bucher/Booker family first homesteaded in Harrison County, Kentucky. The property tax lists for Harrison County from 1795 to 1801 prove this:

Harrison County, Kentucky Tax list 1795-1801

1795 No Bookers by any spelling [Only white males were listed]

1796 Page 1, 3 August 1796

1797 9 September, 1797

1798 Records lost

1799 31 August 1799

6 September 1799

1800 24 April 1800

1801 No Bookers listed

Philip’s son, Jacob, is listed 6 June 1800 on the Jefferson County, Kentucky tax list, living on Hancock Creek. In Harrison County Phillip Booker and sons, David, Isaac, and George, are all listed sequentially on the same page in these tax lists. (Since all records of this time period used the English spelling of our family name, from now on I will also use the spelling “Booker.”)

In Harrison County Order Book A, page 234, dated “Monday, the 3rd Day of November 1800…Ordered that Phillip Booker be exempted from paying county levy [taxes] in future on account of age and infirmity.”

 

From Harrison County Deed Book I, page 605 and 606, dated 9 March 1801:

William McFarland and Thomas Craig and David McKee, commissioners appointed in behalf of James Sterrett, deceased, by court of Harrison County and John Grant of Campbell County sell to John Phillip Booker of Harrison; whereas James Sterritt in his lifetime did in conjunction with said grant, sold to John Phillip Booker for 50 pounds a tract of 33 acres on twin Creek, (Adam Houses corner).

Also, from Harrison County Deed Book I, page 607, James Sterritt sold land that mentions “David Booker’s line, twin Creek, Houses Corner, corner of said Bookers.”

 

On 16 July 1801, Jacob Booker is listed on the tax list of Jefferson County, Kentucky, living on Floyd’s Creek. On 17 July 1801, Isaac Booker, Phillip Booker, and George Booker are listed on the tax list of Jefferson County, Kentucky on Harrod’s Creek, and again, they are listed one right after each other on the original list. On 15 May 1802, the tax list of Jefferson County, Kentucky lists Isaac and Jacob Booker living on Floyd’s Creek. On 10 June 1802, on the same tax list, George, David, and Phillip Booker are found living on the watercourse Beasgrass. For the first time Phillip’s son, John Booker (yes, another John), is listed on the same tax list dated 20 June 1802, but living on Cain Creek.

From Jefferson County, Kentucky Court Order Minute Book #6, page 122, dated 3 October 1803, Phillip Booker was granted exemption from payment of present and future levies. (Again, this was probably due to age or infirmity, although this time reasons were not stated.)

From Harrison County Deed Book I, page 831, dated 16 October 1804:

John Phillip Booker, of Jefferson County, Kentucky, sold to John Hall a tract of thirty-three acres in Harrison County on Twin Creek, (Adam Houses corner). In Jefferson County Court, 16 October 1804, John Phillip Booker appeared before James Taylor and Joseph Oglesby and acknowledged his deed.

This proves that the John Phillip Booker in Jefferson County from 1801 to 1804 was the same John

John Philip Bucher/Booker and Molley Roy

John Philip Booker and Molly Roy had seven children:

*Polly, d/o John Philip Bucher and Molley Roy, married Elijah Arterburn Phillip Booker who had lived from 1796 to 1801 in Harrison County, Kentucky.

The last time John Philip Bucher/Booker is listed on the tax records in Jefferson County, is June 27, 1804. Finally, the last reference of “Philip Booker and his wife Molley” is found in their written consent to their daughter’s (Polly) marriage to Elijah Arterburn in 1806. Phillip is not found on the 1810 Kentucky Census. The manuscript found in Indianapolis, Indiana states that Philip Booker died in 1815 in Jefferson Co., Kentucky (now Oldham Co. next to the Jefferson County border), and was buried one mile west of Peru (railroad changed the name to Glenarm), Kentucky – close to PeeWee Valley. I believe, though, that Phillip died prior to the 1810 Census.

The Isaac Booker and Margaret Watson Family

(Son of John Phillip Bucher [Sr.])

The following information on Isaac Booker (son of Phillip) and his family came from a letter written in 1894 by William P. Booker (son of Isaac) to his cousin, George W. Denbo. This letter is mentioned in the Deitrick manuscript in Indianapolis as its source of information. (The whereabouts of this letter are unknown.)

I have combined my own research on Isaac Booker with the information found in the manuscript in Indianapolis. Isaac Booker was born in Virginia on 26 March 1773. As I mentioned earlier, after first settling in Harrison County, Kentucky in 1796, the Bookers moved in 1801 to then Jefferson County, Kentucky. On January 31, 1805 in Jefferson County, Isaac Booker married Margaret (Watson) Miles, widow of William H. Miles. According to A Record of the Ancestors and Descendants of Sam Ashly and Ida Reid Ashby” by Ida Reid Ashby (pub. 1936, Cornelius Publications, Indianapolis, IN), Margaret was born 25 April 1776, the daughter of William Watson and Nancy Ryan. Her grandparents were John Watson, a native of England, and Peggy Smith. Isaac Booker and Margaret had nine children:

 

Found on the 1850 Census of Jefferson Co., Kentucky, 2nd District, City of Louisville, dated 7 September 1850, is Harrison Booker, age 44, a carpenter, born in Kentucky and unmarried. On the 1850 Census of Oldham Co., Kentucky, Division #1, dated 6 August 1850, page 130, William P. Booker, age 30, farmer, born in Kentucky, is listed along with his three sisters; Julia A., age 37, born in Kentucky; Aletha, age 35, born in Kentucky; Minerva, age 33, born in Kentucky; and one Watson relative, James O. Watson, age 9, born in Kentucky. Also listed on page 130 is Mellen (Mahlon) A. Booker and his family. Mahlon first married Jane Isaacs on 30 April 1833. Mary Vance, listed below, is his second wife, marrying her on 22 November 1837. Marriage records list her father as William Vance.

Mahlon Booker and his family are found on the 1850 Census of Oldham County, Kentucky as follows:

Casandria Booker married Thomas Scriwinsher in Oldham Co., Kentucky on 4 September 1837.

William Pierce Booker and Minerva Q. Booker never married and lived together in Pee Wee Valley, Kentucky until their deaths in the same year 1907.

Isaac Booker enlisted during the War of 1812. He enlisted as a Private with Captain Joseph Funk’s Company, 13th Regiment, Kentucky Detached Militia. His military records consist of one page that states he signed up for six months beginning on 10 November 1814. His records also shows him discharged 15 November 1814 (five days later) by a Court of Inquiry.

Isaac died 13 September 1822 in Jefferson Co., Kentucky (now Oldham County). A copy of his will and estate settlement can be found in Book #5, page 80 of the Jefferson Co., Kentucky Probate Records. No children are named. His wife, Margaret Watson Booker, died 29 October 1848.

The George Booker and Nancy Conyers Family

(Son of John Phillip Bucher [Sr.])

The first of the Bookers to move west was George Booker who moved across the Ohio River from Louisville, to Harrison County, Corydon, Indiana (three miles west of the old Leavenworth farm). From Relinquishments of Jefferson Land Office, #42, he purchased this land (with his signature) on 5 April 1817, and the land was relinquished to him 13 August 1821. George was born 26 February 1778 in Middletown, Virginia (close to where Shenandoah, now Warren County, and Frederick County meet). George married Nancy Conyers (born in 1782 in Middletown and died in 1849). In Harrison County, Kentucky, there is recorded a marriage, dated 26 January 1801, between George Booker and Nancy Conyers. George Booker and Dennis Conyers signed the bond for the marriage. (During my research at the Virginia State Archives in early 1990, I discovered under miscellaneous papers of Prince William County, Virginia, a deed dated November 16, 1742 in the amount of 298 acres for a Dennis Conyers.)

George Booker signed his will on 4 March 1829. It was recorded in the Harrison Co., Indiana Courthouse on the 6th of March 1829, and George died before 20 April 1829. Although only his wife is mentioned in his will, George and Nancy had six children.

 

According to Mrs. Alice Gilmore McCullum, Katherine Booker married Louis Crawford. Katherine and Louis had three children:

 

Mary Ann Booker (Katherine’s sister) married John Crawford (brother of Louis) on 7 February 1821 in Harrison Co., Indiana.

The Jesse Booker Family

Jesse Booker, son of George Booker and Nancy Conyers, waited until his forties to marry. He married Cynthia Ann Vibbert, born circa 1829 in Tennessee. By researching the 1850, 1860, 1870 Federal Census’s of Harrison Township, Harrison Co., Indiana, and by researching all marriage and birth records of the same county, I have compiled the following vital statistics on the ten children of Jesse Booker and his wife, Cynthia Ann Vibbert. All children were born in Harrison County, Indiana. Note the names!

 

In a letter dated 22 June 1987, William T. Rowland (born in 1909, and a great-grandson of Jesse Booker) wrote that when he was child, there was a cousin (also a Booker descendant), Henry Denbo, who said that the immigrant Phillip Bucher was a general, and that this Phillip’s full name was Phillip Von Bucher or Boucher of Germany. William sent me the following information on Jesse Booker’s two sons, George David Booker and Joseph D. Booker.

George D. Booker married three times. His first marriage took place in Harrison Co., Indiana on 16 April 1874 to Catherine (Katie) Kussler. George and Catherine had two children:

 

William Rowland wrote that his mother, Grace G. Booker, did not claim kin with her half-brother and half-sister. She told William only their names.

 

On 31 January 1901 in Harrison Co., Indiana, George David Booker married a third time to Clara A. Davidson. George D. Booker and Clara can be found on the 1910 Census of Illinois in Sangamon County. George and Clara had three children:

 

The 1910 Census shows that Goebel was born in Indiana, Walter in Missouri, and Ira Booker, age 17, also born in Missouri. Georgia Booker is found listed separately in Sangamon Co., Illinois with Missouri as her birthplace (Georgia is listed under Dan Marty’s household.)

William T. Rowland tells another story given to him by his mother, Grace Booker.

“My mother’s mother (Amanda Carr Booker) died when my mother was eleven years old, and she stayed any place that they would have her. She stayed with her Grandmother Cynthia Vibbert Booker [wife of Jesse] who was being cared for by her son, Joe… and she stayed with either Kate or Sarah, whichever married the Weaver. My Grandfather, George David Booker, put shipping tags on Ira and Georgie and loaded them on the train, and sent them to a place in Western Missouri. My mother said there were lots of Bookers out there. When the train got to St. Louis, Ira and Georgie got off and was wandering around… and a policeman saw him and looked at the tags and put them back on the train… Cynthia Vibbert Booker was blind and bald-headed and so bent-over that they had to break her back to get the lid on the coffin. My mother said that although she [Cynthia] was blind, she could count money by feeling it… Mother said (and I am sure she was quoting Cynthia) that Jesse [Booker] was lazy and when he needed money, he would sell off part of the farm… this has been passed down through four generations.”

 

Grace Booker, daughter of George D. Booker and Amanda Carr, married Harry W. Rowland in Corydon, Indiana on 28 June 1903. Harry, born 1875 in Corydon, was the son of John W. Rowland and Jenny Heth. Grace Booker and Harry W. Rowland had three children:

Joseph D. Booker, son of Jesse Booker and Cynthia Ann Vibbert, married on 11 April 1889 to Alma Rhodes in Corydon, Indiana. Joseph and Alma had three children:

 

William Booker (son of George Booker and Nancy Conyers) married Lorenza Long on 25 March 1830. William became a coroner of Harrison Co., Indiana in 1836. William and Lorenza had no children, but a story by Alice G. McCullum found in the Deitrick records is recounted. Mrs. Alice McCullum had heard her mother and George W. Denbo say that they were “sister’s children” (Cynthia Booker and Mary Booker), and that their fathers were cousins (Joseph Denbo and John Crawford – Crawford being a nephew of Mary Ann Crawford Denbo).

 

“Mary Booker [daughter of George and Nancy] had married John Crawford and she died leaving behind several children. Louisa, the youngest …couldn’t walk…and was taken to live with her grandmother [Nancy]. The Booker’s home was just west of Corydon [Indiana]. Louisa remembered that her grandfather [George] was dead before she went to that home and her Uncle Jesse [Booker] lived with his mother [Nancy], and when she [Louisa] was small and had a toothache, Uncle Jesse would sit and rock her, and that she was very fond of him. Aunt Ren Elliot says that William Booker [George’s other son] lived a few miles west of Corydon on what was known as “Uncle Clark Highfill’s Place” [Adam C. Highfill’s farm and his wife Mary P.]. Louisa Crawford lived with her Uncle Billie [William Booker] and wife until she [Louisa] married William Gilmore. Billie Booker and wife had no children, but they raised Louisa Crawford and Polly Long Rowland – niece of Billie Booker’s wife.”

 

Louisa Crawford Gilmore, daughter of Mary Ann Booker and John Crawford, had three children:

 

Cynthia Booker, daughter of George Booker and Nancy Conyers, married Joseph Denbo on 17 August 1825 in Harrison Co., Indiana. They had thirteen children:

Mrs. Gillmore also wrote about the circumstances surrounding Cynthia Booker Denbo’s death. It seems that Cynthia died a few days after General Morgan of the Confederate Army had invaded southern Indiana through Corydon. The story goes that she was a very large woman and had worked very hard that day carrying water from the spring to Morgan’s men, and that the excitement and work was really the cause of her death.

Roger W. Gleitz of Leavenworth, Harrison Co., Indiana, a descendant of Joseph Denbo and Cynthia Booker, wrote to me in 1986 that Phillip and Molley are believed to be buried in the old Glenarm Cemetery in Oldham Co., Kentucky, but he cannot locate either the cemetery or a stone. He also has been searching for the graves of George and Nancy Booker. Supposedly, they were buried on the Old Leavenworth farm (named derived from the old Leavenworth road, about one mile west of Corydon). He believes this is in an old farmstead between the Old Forest Road and Indian Creek, on a hill and overgrown. Also, he theorizes the farmstead could be on the present-day Engleman place, but several searches so far have not located the cemetery.

George Booker is found on the Federal Census of 1820 in Harrison Co., Indiana. Listed with him on the Census are ten females (includes his wife Nancy) living in his household. There are other Booker marriages that took place in Harrison Co., Indiana, and the following women could have been children of George and Nancy.

The John Booker and Nancy Wallace Family

(Son of John Phillip Bucher [Sr.])

John Booker, son of Phillip Booker and Molley Roy, first appears on the Jefferson Co., Kentucky tax list of 1802. John married Nancy Wallace 10 January 1807 in Jefferson Co., Kentucky. Bondsmen were Thomas Mason, and William Arterburn; witness was James Denny. John raised Nancy’s younger sister, Melinda Wallace. Melinda is listed as marrying Jeremiah Caple on 24 May 1822; bondsman, John Booker; Melinda’s father deceased and mother out of State, and consent given by John Booker, who raised the bride. John and Nancy had five children:

 

John Booker’s children who married, did so in Jefferson Co., Kentucky. Eliza married Jeremiah Davis on 12 December 1830. Matilda married William H. Word on 20 October 1834 (living in Jeffersonville, Indiana in 1897 with her daughter, Mrs. Biggert). Mary Jane never married, and Sidney married Nancy Jane Rhodes on 15 November 1845. John Milton C. Booker married Margaret Rebecca Rhoades on 23 July 1848; bondsman – Basil Rhoades, father of Margaret – Basil Rhoades.

On the 1850 Census of Jefferson Co., Kentucky, Milton Booker and family are found as follows: Milton Booker, age 29, Planter with land worth $1500, born in Kentucky; wife, Margaret, age 22, born in Kentucky, and their son, Lewis W. Booker, age 1 year and four months, born in Kentucky.

During the War of 1812, John Booker enlisted on the same date as his brother, Isaac, 10 November 1814. Like his brother, John also enlisted in the 13th Regiment, Kentucky Detached Militia. John was a Sergeant, and appeared for six months on the muster roll of Captain Thomas Joyes’ Company of Infantry. Upon the expiration of service 10 May 1815, John was paid 11 dollars a month for a total of 66 dollars.

From Jefferson Co., Kentucky Court Order Minute Book #13, page 216, dated 9 December 1822, Nancy Booker, widow of John Booker is made administrator of John Booker’s estate. In Book #13, page 225, dated 13 January 1823, the inventory and appraisal of estate of John Booker deceased is ordered recorded. From Jefferson Co., Kentucky Wills, Inventories and settlements, John Booker’s inventory and Nancy’s administrator accounts are recorded in I & S Book #4, page 315 (December 1822), and Book #5, page 56 (December 1823). Apparently, John died sometime near the end of November 1822 or the beginning of December 1822.

Also, from Wills, Inventories and Settlements of Jefferson Co., Kentucky, Nancy Booker’s Will is recorded in Will Book #4, page 293. The will, written on 17 April 1849, was probated 4 November 1850.

Nancy Booker, “advanced in years”, [leaves] real estate to William H. Word for use of her unmarried daughter, Mary Jane Booker and her son, Milton C. Booker; daughter, Mrs. Davis, previously given a lot on Preston; lot now given to son, Sydney and his family; remainder of real estate to Wm. Word in trust for her minor grandchildren, Ann Word, Ellen B. Word, Harriet Ann Booker, and Arabella Booker.”

The Mary (Polly) Booker and Elizah Arterburn Family

(Daughter of John Phillip Bucher [Sr.])

Mary, daughter of John Phillip Booker and Molley Roy, married Elizah Arterburn on 30 October 1806 in Jefferson Co., Kentucky. The bondsman was Presley Arterburn; witnessed by Levi Tyler; “Polly of legal age; father – Philip Booker and mother – Molley Booker; mother gave consent in writing.”

 

Found in the Filson Club History Publication, Volume 6, page 162, “Wills of Jefferson Co., KY,” is the Will of William Arteburn [Arterburn], father of Elizah, dated 19 September 1815 – 14 October 1816.

“To grandaughter, Lydia McKee $30.00, to be paid when she marries or reaches lawful age. To wife, Nancy, I lend rest of estate, and at her death same to be divided among children, Elizah, William, Samuel, and Presley Arteburn, Betsy Cornwell and Lydia Saffer. Exec. William and Presley Arteburn – sons. Witnesses: Robert Tompkins, Enos McKee.”

During a visit to Salt Lake City, Utah and the LDS Library, I discovered a book entitled The Arterburn Cousins by C. Norben Arterburn and Janet D. Arterburn. According to this book, Eliza(h) Arterburn, born 1770 in Shenandoah County, Virginia, was the son of William Smith Arterburn and Nancy ? (of Culpepper County, Virginia). Elizah first married Sarah Vincent [Vinson] on 24 December 1791 in Shenandoah County, Virginia, bond by William Arterburn. The following list of children was found in the Indianapolis manuscript and do not match the children listed under Elizah Arturburn’s second marriage to Mary Booker. (They could be from Elizah Arterburn’s first marriage). Here are Polly Booker’s and Elizah Arterburn’s children according to Deitrick:

 

There are no records on Betsy Booker, Phillip and Molley Booker’s last child.

The David Booker and Jacob Booker Families In Kentucky

(Sons of John Phillip Bucher [Sr.])

I have left David Booker and Jacob Booker, sons of Phillip and Molley Booker, for last, since their lives and families were intertwined for almost one hundred years in Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois. David Booker, born in Virginia, married Theodosia or Theodosha Smith on 8 April 1791 in Shenandoah County, Virginia (from Shenandoah Co. Marriage Records by Bernice M. Ashby, page 33), and the marriage was witnessed by Phillip Boucker and Edward Lawrence. This marriage record states that Theodosia was eighteen years of age, and that both of her parents were deceased. Having previously appeared on the Harrison County, Kentucky tax lists from 1796 through 1800 with 40 acres on Twin Creek, David Booker appears on the Jefferson County, Kentucky tax lists from 1802 to 1818.

David Booker buys 47 and 1/2 acres on Floyd’s Fork in Jefferson County on June 28, 1811. Recorded in the Kentucky Court of Appeals, dated 20 February 1812, page 323:

“Indenture, 28 June 1811, Richard Taylor and Mary Taylor, his wife of Jefferson County, Kentucky to David Booker of the same county, for 35 pounds, 12 shillings, 6 pence, a tract of land in Jefferson County on Floyds Fork, containing 47 1/2 acres, being part of Jones and Lewis survey, and surveyed for Richard Taylor. Mary Taylor relinquished her rights of dower. Recorded by Kentucky Court of Appeals, March 12, 1812. On the Jefferson County tax list of 1818, David has “60 acres on Floyds Fork, one tithe and five horses.”

Also found in Volume 6, Filson Club, dated 20 May 1812 – 10 August 1812, is the following will of Thomas Mason:

“To daughter, Harriet, who is under 18, a negro and $1000; to wife Sarah, resident of estate for life, and at her death, this, with proceeds of his share of distillery lands, owned by him and Samuel Watson, to daughter Harriet. Exec. – wife Sarah, and Samuel Watson. Witnesses: David Booker and William Watson.”

William Watson was the father or brother of Margaret Watson. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, Margaret had married David Booker’s brother, John.

From Jefferson County, Kentucky Court Order Minute Book #11, page 235, dated 12 June 1815, David Booker is made surveyor of the road from Middletown to the Henry County line. George Booker and John Booker are included among those named as residents of the area being described. The same order is repeated on page 309, dated 11 December 1815.

On the 1810 Census of Jefferson County, Kentucky, the following Bookers of our family are recorded; Phillip Booker is not listed:

 

The last known deed transaction, or any record on David Booker, is found in the Jefferson County Deed Book “P”, pages 125-126 on 14 October 1818. Entered in the index as “Joseph” Booker, David Booker and “Edosha” (sic), his wife of Jefferson County, sell to Elijah Yeager 47 and 1/2 acres on Floyds Fork for $593.75. David signs his name, David, and his wife makes an “x”. The deed is recorded the same day.

“This indenture made this 14th day of October 1818 Between David Booker and Edosha, his wife, of the county of Jefferson and state of Kentucky of the one part and Elijah Yeager of the County and of the one part and Elijah Yeager of the County and state aforesaid of the other part Witnesseth that the said David Booker and Edosha, his wife, [David is underlined in original deed] for and in consideration of the sum of Five Hundred and ninety three dollars and seventy-five cents…do grant bargain and sell unto the said Elijah Yeager, his heirs and assignees forever a certain Tract or parcel of Land situate lying and being in the county and state aforesaid on Floyd’s Fork containing 47 1/2 acres more or less at being a part of Jones and Lewis’s survey surveyed for Joseph Jones and bounded as follows (Viz) beginning at a dogwood and Cherrrytree in Jones…Running S 69 degrees E 65 1/2 poles to a white oak and sugar tree, thence 21 degrees E 116 poles to two dogwood samplings and one white oak thence N 20 degrees E 116 Poles to the beginning. To have and to hold the said tract or parcel of Land with all he apurtenan [?] unto the said Elijah Yeager his heirs and assigns to his and there only proper use benefit and behalf forever, and the said David Booker do consent and agree with the said Elijah Yeager and his heirs and assigns…

 

In Testimony whereof the said David Booker, Edosha, his wife, have here [?] set their hands and seals this day and [?] above written. [signed] David Booker & Edosha X Booker [her mark] signed and sealed and delivered in thepresence of Worden Pope

 

I, the clerk of the county Court of Jefferson County in the state of Kentucky do certify that on this day the witness named David Booker and Edosha, his wife, came personally before me in my office and acknowledged and delivered the [?] deed as and for their act and deed that she answered the said Edosha separate and apart from the said David, her husband, and having shown and explained said deed to her she again acknowledged and delivered the same as said for her act…and declared that she done so of her own will and consent and that she did not wish to retract her said acknowledgement….recorded in my office…this 14th day of October 1818. Worden Pope

Immediately under David Booker’s deed, is another deed in which a Charles Smith also sells to Elijah Yeager 8 1/4 acres of land on Floyd’s Fork. This deed is signed by Charles Smith and wife, Winnifred, who makes her mark. It is signed and delivered in the presence of David Booker, dated the same day as David’s Deed 14 October 1818, and all in the presence and the office of Worden Pope, County Clerk. This is a good indication of family relationship between Charles Smith and David’s wife, Theodosha.

(There is a marriage recorded on 8 February 1792 in Frederick County, Virginia between Winny [Winnifred] Feathergill and Charles Smith.) Although not recorded in the Frederick County, Virginia marriage bonds, I found the marriage of Jacob Bucher and Elizabeth Crist listed in the LDS library in Salt Lake City, Utah. The marriage is dated 22 August 1790 in Frederick County. I have no reason to believe that this is not our Jacob Bucher, son of Phillip and Mary (Molley).

In the Jefferson County, Kentucky Deed Book I, page 425, there is a Jacob Bucker (as written in the deed and so signed his name) of Jefferson Co. Virginia sold to August Kay of the same county for 15 pounds, a half-acre lot in the city of Louisville, designated Lot #179 on March 3, 1789! (Located near what became Market and 5th Streets.) If this Jacob Booker is the son of Phillip and Molley Booker, this deed places Jacob’s birthdate earlier than previously thought, since he would have been born 1768 or earlier to be of age in 1789, and places him in Jefferson County much earlier than expected. Deed Book I, page 310, contains the deed by which a Jacob Bouhar bought the half-acre lot #179 in Louisville from William Johnston and wife, Betsy, on July 1, 1788. Since this is the same lot he re-sold to August Kay, Jacob Bouhar and Jacob Bucker are clearly the same person. He is already a resident of Jefferson County, Virginia (later Kentucky) in July 1788. This deed, then becomes the earliest record with any reference to a Booker (by any spelling) in Jefferson County. Since no wife signed the deed in 1789 as required by law, this Jacob must have married after that date. There is no Jacob Booker in any records of Jefferson Co., Virginia (KY) after 1788, until 1800.

Our Jacob Booker, son of Phillip and Molley Booker, appears on the Jefferson Co., Kentucky tax lists from 1800 to 1818.

In Book #8, page 424, dated 14 November 1808, Jacob Booker buys from Jenkin and Samuel Phillips 113 acres on Harrods Creek with all parties residents of Jefferson County. On the next page of Book #8, page 425, Jacob sells to Yewell on 14 Nov. 1808; Samuel Phillips, Benjamin Ross and Jacob Booker sells land on Harrods Creek. In Deed Book “N”, page 434, dated 13 April 1818, Jacob Booker buys land located near Harrods Creek from Jenkin Phillips. Finally, in Book “Q”, p. 65, Jacob Booker and his wife, Elizabeth, of Jefferson Co., Kentucky sell 114 acres on Harrods Creek to Joel Yeager on 2 March 1819. They appeared in court in person on that date. NOTE: David Booker sold his land to Elijah Yeager, and Jacob Booker sold his land to Joel Yeager.

From Jefferson County, Kentucky Court Order Minute Book #11, page 414, dated 12 August 1816, Jacob Booker made a motion to have a summons given to John Whiteman to have Whiteman’s son bound out.

The last deed or record on Jacob Booker in Kentucky is dated 14 October 1819. On this date Jacob and his wife, Elizabeth, gave written consent to their daughter’s, Catherine, marriage to John Ingle.

“Ingle, John; bondsman James B. Booker [brother of Catherine]; witnessed by Isaac H. Tyler. Booker, Catherine; age 18; father and mother, Jacob and Elysabeth Booker, consent in writing October 14, 1819, witnessed by James B. Booker and Henry Ingle, proven.”

In 1818 Isaac, John, Jacob and David Booker appear on the Jefferson Co., Kentucky tax list; in 1819 only John and Isaac are listed.

From Historical Data from The Wabash Valley compiled by the Frances Vigo Chapter, DAR, Vincennes, Indiana 1958, found in the Indiana State Library, I found the following excerpt:

“The Western Sun of January 10, 1822, contains a list of uncalled mail at the Carlisle Post Office. These names follow – George Armstrong, John Booker [son of Jacob], William Benefiel, William Cox, James Beeker [possibly James Booker – son of Jacob], John Duly, William Gill, Jonas Hatfield, William Hollenback, Jacob Helms, William Blackburn, Charles Boothe, Jonathan Batson, Jacob Booker…Margaret Patton…”

To summarize briefly, this mass of data tells us that our Jacob Booker arrived in 1800 in Jefferson Co., Kentucky and remained there until 1819. On 2 March 1819 he and Elizabeth sold their land on Harrods Creek, and in the fall, 14 October 1819, they gave written consent for their daughter, Catherine, to marry to John Ingle. The preceding fall, David and Theodosha sold their land on Floyd’s Fork (14 October 1818). I believe that the brothers had determined to “move on” by October 1818. David apparently died between 14 October 1818 and the summer of 1820 when the Sullivan County, Indiana census was taken. His widow, Theodosha (“Dosha”) and children, and Jacob and his family are listed on the Sullivan County, Indiana 1820 Census. Apparently, Dosha Booker’s family accompanied Jacob Booker’s to Sullivan Co., Indiana. Did David die in Kentucky before beginning the family relocation, or in Indiana shortly after arriving there? The Deitrick records I discovered in Indianapolis, Indiana, which included the Crawford, Booker, and Denbo families, contained no information about David and Jacob, except they were listed only as children of Philip and Molley Booker. When William Pierce Booker (son of Isaac) wrote to George W. Denbo (son of Cynthia Booker and Joseph Denbo) in 1894, David and Jacob were listed, but there was no vital statistic information given (i.e. birthdates, marriages, etc.). It would seem that the David and Dosha Booker descendants and the Jacob and Elizabeth Booker descendants of Sullivan and Knox Counties, Indiana, did not keep in touch with their southern relatives.

Dosha Booker, widow of David, is listed on the 1820 Federal Census of Sullivan Co., Indiana, along with the following children by age and sex:

 

I have been able to reassemble by name the male memembers of Dosha’s family based on research accumulated from descendants, census’s and cemetary inscriptions, and Sullivan County, Indiana records from 1850 to the present. (The Sullivan County Courthouse was destroyed by fire in 1850).

 

Of all the sons of David Booker and Theodosha Smith who lived until 1880 (Jacob, Abraham, Phillip and James), only Phillip listed his father (David) on the 1880 Census as born in Pennsylvania. The other brothers listed Kentucky.

From The History of Sullivan County by Thomas J. Wolfe, p. 39, there is a short paragraph written about Jacob Booker, son David and Dosha.

“Jacob Booker at his death, January 22, 1882, was one of the oldest residents of the county. He was born in Jefferson Co., Kentucky in 1798, and had located in Indiana when about twenty-one years old [1819]. He lived many years in the northeast part of Haddon township.”

An old atlas dated 1871 found in the Sullivan County, Indiana Historical Society Museum lists prominent farmers of the County by townships. The list includes the farmer and the year or “Date of Settlement.” The name of “Booker, Jacob 1818” is given.

Most importantly, on Jacob Booker’s tombstone there is engraved “Son of David and Dosha.” The above statement and the gravestone inscription prove that the David and Dosha Booker family moved to Sullivan County, Indiana about 1819 or early 1820.

I have been able to find only one daughter of David and Dosha Booker.

From the Filson Club compilation of “Jefferson Co., KY Early Marriages,”

 

From Marriage Records of Knox County, Indiana, other Booker marriages are found:

 

Most likely these women are children of David and Dosha Booker.

According to the late Mrs. Katherine Elizabeth Booker Greene [1877-1964], great-grandaughter of David and Dosha Booker, her notes list David Booker’s family as follows: Jacob Booker b. 1798; George Booker b. 1800; Ike [Isaac] Booker b. 1802; Abe Booker b. 1804; David Booker b. 1806; Washington Booker b. 1808; girl Booker b. 1810; Phillip Booker b. 1812; and James Booker no date of birth given.

As mentioned earlier, Jacob Booker, son of Phillip and Molley, is found with his wife, Elizabeth, and family on the 1820 Federal Census of Sullivan Co., Indiana.

Children of Jacob Booker and Elizabeth (?Crist)

From Deed Book K-10, page 423, Sullivan Co., Indiana, received for record on 5 May 1853, the following is recorded:

“This Indenture made this fourth day of February 1828 between Edmund Boles and Anna his wife of Sullivan County, of the one part and John A. Booker, Mary Matthews, James B. Booker, Catherine Ingle, Susanah Milam, Keziah Benefield, William J. [Jarrett] Booker, Nancy Milam, Albert Booker, Levicy Booker, Levena Booker, heirs at law of Jacob Booker, late of said county deceased of the other part witnessed that the said Edmund and Anna for and in consideration of the sum of $1200 by the said Jacob Booker during his lifetime to the said Edmund…”

Notice that Catherine Ingle who married John Ingle in Jefferson Co., Kentucky on 14 October 1819, and whose father was listed as Jacob Booker in the marriage records, is now mentioned here with the rest of her brothers and sisters, including James B. Booker. This deed establishes without any doubt that the Jacob Booker recorded as her father in Jefferson Co., Kentucky is the same Jacob Booker found on the Sullivan Co., Indiana 1820 Federal Census, and the same Jacob Booker in the above document.

I believe I have clearly shown that the David and Dosha Booker and the Jacob and Elizabeth Booker families moved from Jefferson County, Kentucky to Sullivan County, Indiana sometime after late 1818, and before the 1820 Census.

The Bucher/Booker Family, 1686-1990 © 1990 Charles Lee Booker Jr.