The Bucher/Booker Family, 1686-1990: Chapter VIII, Part 1

The Phillip Booker Family

(Son of David Booker and Theodosha Smith)

Phillip Booker was born on 25 June 1812 in Kentucky, most likely in Jefferson County, and died 4 March 1889 in Bement, Piatt County, Illinois. He married three times, and from these marriages he fathered, I believe, twenty-one or twenty-two children, nineteen confirmed. Sources to much of the information I have accumulated on the Phillip Booker Family, will be stated as we follow his life story.

According to Mrs. Mildred Booker Smith, grandaughter of Perry R. Booker (11th child of Phillip Booker), Phillip Booker’s first marriage took place in the year 1830 at Carlisle, Indiana to Sarah Bird. Most of the information that Mrs. Smith has researched on Phillip Booker was given to her from her cousin Bill Moody (deceased), and Catherine E. Booker Greene, eldest child of Perry R. Booker. Bill had Perry R. Booker’s Bible, given to him by his mother, Pearl Ellen Booker, youngest daughter of Perry R. Booker. Mildred has many notes and pictures of the Perry R. Booker Family. Many of these notes were written by Perry R. Booker, Catherine Booker and Bill Moody. Some of the notes have proven to be correct, others are incorrect or unsubstantiated. Some are undoubtedly based on tradition with no proof given. From Phillip’s first marriage, he and Sarah had five children:

Phillip Booker bought forty acres of land in Haddon Township, Sullivan County, Indiana near Carlisle on 22 March 1836 (T7NR8W Section 33, SouthEast NorthEast 40 acres). According to Catherine Booker Greene’s notes, Sarah Bird Booker, Phillip’s first wife, died shortly after the birth of Josiah, and was buried in Carlisle, Indiana, no date given. If Josiah Booker lived until the early 1900’s, there is a chance that his death certificate might prove the actual existance of Sarah Bird Booker.

Phillip Booker’s second marriage (confirmed) was to Martha Purcell in May of 1837. (I believe that Martha Purcell was the daughter of John Purcell, and sister to Simpson Purcell and John Purcell [Jr.] both of whom married daughters of Isaac Booker, brother of Phillip Booker – see Chapter V.) Catherine Greene’s lists five children from Phillip’s second marriage.

Using the exact dates of the 1840, 1850 and 1860 Census’ of Sullivan Co., Indiana, and by comparing Bibles and death certificates of both Thomas Benton Booker, and Perry R. Booker, the pension records of Perry R. Booker, and the obituary of Louisa Jane Plew (Phillip’s 3d wife), I agree with Catherine Greene. (Although Thomas Benton Booker was born in 1845 and listed as son of Louisa, the obituary of Louisa Jane Plew Booker stated her marriage to Phillip Booker took place in 1846.)

I mentioned in Chapter I, that the Halstead family of Huntington Beach, California had sent me a photo copy of a handwritten page listing important Booker and Halstead family information. It was written by Nellie Halstead Chamney, year unknown. Listed therein are the children of Philip Booker. Winnie Ann had nine full brothers: Dick, Strauder, La Fayette, James, Nancy, Mahala, and Rural [Samuel left out] and names [of] half brothers and sisters: Betsy Ann, Joseph, David, John, Benton, Franklin, Perry, George, Thomas [Elizabeth left out]

Also, here is a copy of a letter written in 1937 to Teddy Leroy Booker from his father Marquis Lafeyette Booker, son of Phillip Booker and Louisa Jane Plew Booker.

 

Dear Son and Daughter and Grandgirls,

Everybody well. I am still going, but not very strong. I don’t know if I will get anything to do or not but we can make it all right maybe. You wanted to know how many of us children. There is ten brothers and sisters. Dick [Richard], Mahala, Nancy, Ruel, William, James, Lafayette, Strauder, Winnie and Samuel. Half-brothers and sisters – nine – Joseph [Josiah], John, Perry, Elizabeth, Betsy Ann [Cynthia], George, Franklin, Thomas Benton, and David. I don’t know where Jim is. The last I heard of he was in Oklahoma City. He is a full brother.

I think there will be lots of work here if it ever gets warm enough. It is freezing every night. I have quite a little garden made but it isn’t doing any good. Well, I don’t know any more to write now, so by by for now from Daddy Booker. Love to all.

Here are the children from Phillip Booker’s second marriage:

Notice that Sarah Ann was not mentioned in Marquis Lafeyette Booker’s letter to his son. Also, note the date of George’s birth. Except for the year, the dates are the same for him as well as the two twins who died in Phillip’s first marriage. Coincidence?

The Phillip Booker family can be found on page 91 on the 1840 Census in Sullivan County, Indiana. He is listed as having one son and one daughter under the age of five. Phillip is listed as being between the age of 30 and 40, and his wife (Martha) is listed between the age of 20 and 30. Children from Phillip’s first marriage are not listed. Most likely the children were living with the Bird family or other relatives.

Catherine Greene wrote in her notes that Martha Purcell Booker died six weeks after Perry R. Booker’s birth. Since Thomas Benton Booker’s birth is stated as 19 October 1845, and if we are to believe that Marquis L. Booker was correct in stating Thomas was a half-brother, then we could assume instead that Martha Purcell Booker died after Thomas’s birth. But the obituary of Louisa Jane Plew Booker, stated that she married Phillip Booker in 1846, and had eleven children, which included Thomas Benton Booker. Also, Catherine Greene wrote that Louisa Jane Plew had previously been married to a Ben McCammon (or McCammer), having one child by him named Thomas Ben. Her notes further state that this child died in childbirth. Also, in Thomas Benton Booker’s Family Bible, (in the possession of Mary Counts of Dallas, Texas) he is listed as born 19 October 1843, and later the year was marked over and replaced by 1845. 1845 is the same year that Perry R. Booker was born. This is another puzzle for someone with more time and resources than I to solve.

The Simon Plew and Elizabeth Jones Family

Louisa Jane Plew, daughter of Simon Plew and Elizabeth Jones, was born 7 November 1827. (Elizabeth Jones was the daughter of Benjamin Jones and Peggy (maiden name unknown) of Virginia. Benjamin Jones is on the 1830 and 1840 Census of Sullivan Co., Indiana.) Catherine Greene wrote that Louisa was one of eleven children by Simon Plew. By comparing her notes and census’, I find only ten. Besides Louisa there was Benjamin Plew, who married America Booker, daughter of Isaac Booker; Polly Plew; William Allen (Jack) Plew, who married Joannah Booker, also a daughter of Isaac Booker; James F. Plew; Sarah Plew; Fleming Plew; Harriet Plew; Andrew E. Plew and Nolan Plew. Simon Plew is found on the 1830 Census in Sullivan County, Indiana on page 188, the same page with Mao Jones and Fleming Jones.

According to Mrs. Greene’s notes, Simon died in 1839 just prior to the 1840 Census. Widowed, Elizabeth Jones Plue [sic], age 30 to 40, can be found on page 125 of the Sullivan Co., Indiana Federal Census of 1840. Just above her name is her father, Benjamin, age 70 to 80. Just below Elizabeth’s name is her brother, Fleming Jones age 40 to 50. On the 1850 Census, this brother is listed as born in Virginia.

The Richard Gott and Elizabeth Jones Plew Family

Just after the 1840 Census (taken in October), Elizabeth Jones Plew married Richard Gott, veteran of the Mexican War. Again according to Catherine Booker Greene, before his death in 1850, Richard Gott and Elizabeth Jones Plew had seven children. Mrs. Greene’s list includes children, Richard, Louise [Lewis Gott?] and Elizabeth (twins who died in infancy) and Margaret Ann. On the 1850 and 1860 Census, I find only the following children of Richard Gott and Elizabeth Jones Plew Gott: Richard Gott [Jr.], Lewis Gott, Peggy A. Gott and Margaret Ann Gott. On the 1860 Census in Jefferson Twp., Sullivan County, Indiana, page 78, Elizabeth Gott, age 53, born Virginia is listed with her daughter, Margaret Gott, age 11, born Indiana. Elizabeth and her daughter are listed immediately below the family of Phillip and Louisa Plew Booker. In 1866 Perry R. Booker, son of Phillip Booker, married his step-mother’s half- sister, Margaret Ann Gott. Catherine Greene’s notes state that Elizabeth Jones Plew Gott was born in Virginia in 1796, and she died in Carlisle, Indiana in November 1880, age 84. Catherine also wrote that Elizabeth’s father and mother, Benjamin and Peggy Jones, are buried in the cemetery “past Al Alsop’s farm,” and that “the old Plew farm was three miles northwest of Carlisle near the Ledgewood farm.”

Catherine Booker Greene tells another story: “Grandfather Benjamin Jones died at 1839 at Carlisle, Ind. and was buried at Carlisle, Indiana. At the time of his death he owned 80 acres of good farm land in Sullivan County, Indiana, and he willed this to his only daughter Elizabeth Jones, who became Mrs. Plew and then Mrs. Gott. and was Margaret Ann Gott Booker’s mother. The courthouse and all legal and public records, wills, etc. at Sullivan, Indiana were burned up and destroyed and Margaret Ann Gott Booker, nor her mother, not any of her children were ever able to establish their right and claim to the lands that their ancestor had willed to them. His will was destroyed and his administrator Dickson Davidson squandered and used up the entire estate and our ancestors never did recieve anything at all out of it. The land in 1813 was valued at $80,000 which was very valuable land. Richard Gott was born in Sullivan County, Indiana in 1810 of Irish parentage, his parents having emigrated from Ireland in the early part of the nineteenth century and settled in Sullivan County, Indiana where they lived on a farm. Richard was shoe-maker by trade at first but later learned the wagon-making trade and followed that until he enlisted in the U.S. Army in the Mexican WAr in 1846. He died suddenly with an attack of indigestion in 1850 and is buried at Carlisle, Indiana.”

 

Incidentally, Richard Gott, Jr., [Civil War Vet. Co. C, 59 Indiana Infantry] half-brother to Louisa Jane Plew, moved his family to Long Creek, Illinois in the 1870’s, and is buried there in the Point Pleasant Cemetery, along with his wife, Casandra and three children. Phillip Booker and Louisa Jane Plew had eleven children:

On the 1850 Census, Haddon Twp., Sullivan Co., Indiana, Phillip and Louisa Booker’s family are listed as follows:

Here we see listed the surviving children from Phillip’s first and second marriage, along with Louisa and Phillip’s first two children, Richard and Mahala. (Richard Booker was most likely named after Louisa’s step-father, Richard Gott.)

On the 1860 Census of Sullivan Co., IN., Jefferson Twp., page 77, 28 June 1860, post office Carlisle, we find Phillip Booker and his family. They are listed as follows:

Perry and Thomas are noted as twins on the above census. This was incorrect, but since they were the same age at the time of the census the enumerator just assumed they were twins. Notice the census lists Louisa’s birthplace as Kentucky rather than Indiana.

Although Louisa’s obituary states she and Phillip moved to Illinois, in 1869, I believe they were somewhere in Indiana in 1870. At the time of this writing I have been unable to locate the Phillip Booker family on any 1870 Census in Indiana or Illinois. Phillip and Louisa Booker can be found on the 1880 Census of Washington Township, Harrison County, Missouri, page 42, Enumeration District [E. D.] 291, sheet 18, dated 12 June 1880. Also on this same page is listed Cynthia Ann Booker, Phillip’s daughter, married to Phillip Solomon. In Jefferson Township, Harrison Co., Missouri, page 15, E. D. 297, dated 8 June 1880, three more Booker families from Sullivan Co., Indiana are found. [They will be shown later in this chapter.] The 1880 Census is very important in that it lists for the first time on any census the birthplace of the father and mother of each person reported. Here is Phillip Booker and family on the 1880 Census.

As mentioned in Chapter II, of all the children of David Booker and Theodosha Smith who lived until 1880 (Jacob, Abraham, Phillip and James), only Phillip listed his father’s birthplace as Pennsylvania. The other sons listed Kentucky. Missouri did not agree with most of the Booker clan. Cynthia Ann Booker Solomon remained in Missouri, and Phillip and Louisa returned to Sullivan Co., Indiana. The remainder of Phillip’s family scattered across the country to Texas Co., Missouri; Bell Co., Texas; Crawford Co., Kansas; and Lexington, Oklahoma. Phillip Booker and his son, Lafayette Booker, are found on the Sullivan County, Indiana “enumeration of white and colored males over 21” dated 2 June 1883, in Jefferson Township:

 

The Piatt County, Illinois Independent Newspaper dated 30 January 1889, under Bement News, reported the following incident: – Mr. Philip Booker, an old man of 77 years of age, was adjudged insane one day last week, and, if arrangements can be made, he will be sent to Jacksonville soon. The names of the jurors were A. V. Boggs, Dr. Trabue, Wm. Parker, E. R. Shook, Jas. Howard, and George Dawson. Mr. Booker’s affliction is recent, as nothing unusual was noticed in his conduct until about four weeks ago.

 

Phillip Booker and Sarah Bird, Sullivan Co., IN 1st Marriage 1830 – 1836

Phillip Booker and Martha Purcell, Sullivan Co., IN 2nd Marriage 1837

Elizabeth married Jacob Nelson Booker s/o William J. Booker. Elizabeth’s daughter Margaret Ellen Booker married Andrew Jackson Booker s/o Samuel H. Booker who was s/o James Booker brother of Phillip Booker.

 

Phillip Booker and Louisa Jane Plew, Sullivan Co., IN 3d marriage 1846 – 1889 to Piatt Co., IL c.1869 and c.1881 (Bement, IL)

In the Monticello Bulletin (Piatt County, IL), dated 8 March 1889, under Bement News, the following is written: – Philip Booker who has been quite low for some time passed quietly away Sunday night and was laid to rest in the Bement Cemetery Tuesday afternoon.

 

Louisa Jane Plew Booker lived in Bement, Illinois until her death 11 March 1903. On the 1900 Census of Piatt Co., Illinois, she is found residing with her son, Samuel Francis Booker and his wife, Hattie. She lists her birth in Virginia, and her father’s in Kentucky, and her mother’s in Virginia. Louisa’s obituary is found in the Bement Register, dated 12 March 1903.

Louisa Jane Booker

Louisa Jane Booker was born Nov. 7, 1827 in Sullivan County, Ind., where she resided until her marriage to Phillip Booker in 1846. To this union was born eleven children, eight boys and three girls, nine of which still survive: Richard of Gravel Point, MO; James of Lexington, Oklahoma, Ruel H., William N., Thomas B. and Mrs. I. M. Ferre (Mahala) of Bement, Samuel F., Lafayette M., and Mrs. Chas. Halstead (Winnie) of Decatur.

They remained in Sullivan County until 1869 when they moved to Lake City, Moultrie county, Ill. They resided there until 1879 when they moved to Bethany, MO., not liking that country they returned to Illinois in 1890 [sic] locating in Bement, where she lived until the death of her husband March 4, 1889. From that time on she made her home with her children until death which occurred March 11, 1903, age 75 years, 4 months, and 4 days. She united with the Baptist church at an early age to which she continued a faithful member until she came to Illinois when she transferrred her membership to the Christian church of which she was a menber until her death.

The last five weeks of her life were spent at the home of her daughter, Mrs. I. M. Ferree [Mahala Saphronia Booker], the last three weeks of which she suffered untold pain, but bore her sufferings patiently until the end, never fearing the Lord. She leaves two brothers, seven sons, two daughters and a host of friends to mourn her departure from this world.

The funeral services were conducted from the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ferree this afternoon at one o’clock by Geo. M. Thompson after which the remains were taken to the Bement cemetery for interment. The family have the sympathy of the community in their sadness.

CARD OF THANKS – We desire to express our many thanks to the friends and neighbors who so kindly assisted during the last sickness and death of our beloved mother.

HER CHILDREN.

Louisa’s funeral card is very beautifully engraved, and the following poem reflected:

The David Booker and Elizabeth Solomon Family

David Booker, eldest son of Phillip Booker and Sarah Bird, married Elizabeth Solomon, daughter of James Solomon and Elizabeth Rhodes, on 20 October 1852 in Carlisle, Indiana. James and Elizabeth Solomon had lived in Guilford Co., North Carolina before bringing their family to Sullivan County about 1844. Both were buried in the Bethlehem Cemetery in Sullivan Co., Indiana. David Booker and Elizabeth Solomon had two children.

According to Mrs. Jeanne E. Booker Woods, David Booker died 22 August 1889, place of death unknown.

The Cynthia Ann Booker and Phillip Solomon Family

Cynthia Ann Booker, daughter of Phillip Booker and Sarah Bird, married Phillip Solomon, son of the same parents of Elizabeth Solomon. Phillip Solomon was born 8 January 1826 in Guilford Co., North Carolina, and died 4 August 1916. Phillip Solomon was buried in the Logsdon Cemetery (as is Cynthia Ann) North Hatfield, Harrison Co., Missouri. Mildred Moore Huntsman, a descendant of Phillip Solomon and Cynthia Ann Booker, wrote in 1985:

 

“At the age of eighteen, Phillip Solomon went with his parents to Sullivan Co., Indiana, walking all the way. He led a blind mare which drew a light wagon that contained all the earlthly possessions of the Solomon family. Soon after traveling to Indiana, Phillip and his Mother went horseback to Stanford, Kentucky to visit her brother. Uncle ?? Rhodes gave Phillip a silver watch which was a key-wind and had a decorated dial. Phillip Solomon enlisted in Company G, 149th Indiana Infantry in the Civil War and was made a Corporal. He was the only soldier in the Company who had a watch. He gave this watch to his seventh son, Perry Albert Solomon. After his brother, William Solomon, was killed in the battle of Missionary Ridge, Phillip found a silver half-dollar in his brother’s pocket, which Perry’s daughter, Myrtle Olive, had in 1941.”

According to Mildred Moore Huntsman, Cynthia was born in 1834 in Palmyra, Harrison County, Indiana. Chapter I contains much information on George Booker (brother of David Booker) of Harrison County, Indiana. (As you may recall, George Booker had a daughter, Cynthia Ann Booker, who married Joseph Denbo. Phillip Booker’s first three children to survive birth were named David, Cynthia Ann, and Joseph or Josiah.) Mrs. Huntsman continued:

 

“After her mother’s death, after she was three months old, [this doesn’t fit with the birth of Josiah in 1836], Cynthia Ann Booker was bound out to a Mr. and Mrs. Cox. Mr. Cox was a heavy drinker and often she [Cynthia] would go with Mrs. Cox to bring him home and get him into bed to sleep off his drunkeness. Cynthia was raised a Catholic and was a drudge for the Cox family until she was eighteen and had filled her term of service. Then she was baptized into the Christian Church. Cynthia and Phillip Solomon were married 11 September 1851 in Sullivan County, Indiana, and in 1870 Phillip traded his 40 acre farm in Indiana for $900 and 120 acres of land (sight unseen) near New Hampton, Harrison County, Missouri. In the winter of 1886 when Phillip was 60 years old, he was baptized into the Christian Church in a stream in Missouri where the ice had to be broken. He was told that he would die, but he said, ‘If the Lord wants me to die it will be for a good cause.’ His clothes were frozen before he could get into some dry ones, but he didn’t die and lived to be 90 years old.”

 

Cynthia Ann Booker and Phillip Solomon had ten children:

Josiah or Joseph Booker

Josiah or Joseph Booker, son of Phillip and Sarah Booker, is found age 15 on the 1850 Census of Sullivan Co., Indiana with his father’s third family. According to his military records, Josiah moved to Palmyra, Macoupin County, Illinois about 1852 where he lived with William M. Esirex for about ten years before enlisting in the Union Army in 1862. He is listed I on the 1855 Illinois Census in Macoupin County, with his wife and one son – listed by initial “J. Booker.”

As mentioned Josiah enlisted in the Army on 1 March 1862. He enlisted in Decatur, Illinois for a period of three years with the rank of Private in the 52d Illinois Infantry, B Company. His description is as follows: born in Sullivan Co., Indiana, age 25 years, occupation farmer, eyes brown, hair black, complexion dark, height five feet and eight inches. According to his military records, he spent one year with his regiment as a teamster in Decatur. He was detailed to Corinth, Mississippi on July 11, 1863 until December 1863; back in Decatur January 1864 until detached to the military railroad in Pulaski, Tennessee on 9 March 1864 until April 1865; and then mustered out of the Army at Louisville, Kentucky on 6 July 1865.

Here is a chronological order of Josiah Booker’s unrewarded quest for a military pension:

1. War Dept. Adjutant General office January 8, 1879- “His whereabouts from March 1, 1864 or the nature of duty performed by him since that date are not known. There is no record of discharge.” Notation: Bookmark BO 512.1866

2. Declaration for Original Invalid pension “A”, State of Missouri, county of Worth, 3 April 1882; Josiah Booker resident of Denver, Worth Co., MO.Does not mention where he was discharged, but Josiah writes, “treated by Surgeon Humphrey at Shiloh at Pittsburg Landing and Corinth.” He states that since the War he has resided in Nebraska, Arkansas, Texas, and Missouri…occupation Blacksmithing, …was a farmer at enlistment.

3. 13 May 1882, Josiah declares for pension based on “while working on the Railroad at Pulaski, Tennessee, left hip was broken 10 October 1864; at Pittsburg Landing contracted Rheumatism; at Corinth, Mississippi contracted Piles and incurred buckshot wound of head.” claim signed on 18 November 1882 in P.O. Milam, Sullivan County, MO. Claim not substantiated by Surgeon General’s Office, Washington D. C., but a Surgeon’s Certificate, State of Missouri, Sullivan County, P. O. Greencastle dated 20 December 1882, described Josiah Booker, 5’8″, 134 pounds, complexion dark, age 48, pulse 99; respiration 18, and “certifies all wounds.”

3. On 19 December 1882 William M. Esirex, age 57 years of Palmyra, Illinois, Macoupin County, certified that Josiah Booker “lived with me for ten years before enlisting in the War of 1861…”

 

4. On 27 December 1882, W. C. Franklin, age 44 of Burnet Co., Texas, swears “he has known Josiah Booker since 1867...” P. O. address Double Horn Burnet Co., Texas.

5. War Dept. Adjutant General’s Office, 25 November 1885: “Application for the removal of the charge of desertion and for an Honorable Discharge has been denied.”

 

6. Articles of Agreement (with Lawyer) 21 February 1890; Josiah Booker, living in Rogers (Bell County), Texas. John R. Booker was living in Rogers also at this time. In fact, Josiah Booker is a witness on John R. Booker’s declaration for military pension.

7. On 11 July 1891, J. W. Cuzzard, age 25, resident of Double Horn, Burnet Co., Texas, wrote, “I got acquainted with Josiah Booker in the year 1880. On the same date, Thomas Denniston, also of Double Horn, writes, “I got acquainted with Josiah Booker…in…1872 and have known him ever since…”

 

8. On 20 January 1896, a congressional inquiry was made on behalf of Josiah Booker, requesting examination of all records of Josiah Booker.

9. Response 23 January from the Army Department “military records furnish nothing additional to former reports herein.” On 25 January 1896, Josiah Booker’s request for pension was rejected. Address of Josiah Booker is listed as P. O. Palmyra, Macoupin, Illinois.

Using his pension information as a guide, I found Josiah Booker in Precinct #4, County of Burnett of Texas 27 August 1870, Post Office Double Horn, page 266, 1870 Federal Census of Texas.

I was unable to find Josiah in Burnett Co., Texas on the 1880 Census; he could have moved his family to Bell Co., Texas where his brother, John R. Booker resided.

Next I found Josiah Booker on the 1900 Census of Illinois, in North Palmyra Township, Macoupin County, Volume 120, Enumeratin District 67, Sheet 3, line 38 with his second (or third?) wife, Martha A. Josiah is listed age 65, born in Indiana in March 1835; his wife, Martha, is listed age 61, born in Illinois in May 1839. Both Joseph and Martha list four years of marriage, and Martha lists having given birth to six children, but only two living. Josiah and Martha list their father and mother as born in Kentucky. Neither he nor his wife are found on the 1910 Census of Illinois.

The Elizabeth Booker and Jacob Nelson Booker Family

For descendants of Elizabeth and Jacob Nelson Booker family see Chapter III – The William Jarrett Booker family, and Chapter IX – The Andrew Jackson Booker family.

The John Ross Booker and Elizabeth Cowden Family

John Ross Booker married 1 February 1860 in Sullivan Co., Indiana to Elizabeth Cowden. Elizabeth, born 7 March 1839 in Carlisle, Sullivan County, was the daughter of John Cowden and Sarah Carrico. John R. Booker and Elizabeth had five children. Please note the first birthdate given to me by Madelene Scott, great-grandaughter of John R. Booker and Elizabeth Cowden, does not match the wedding date recorded in the Sullivan County Courthouse:

The following story was written by Madelene Cowden [Booker] Scott in a letter to Dulcie Jewell of Sullivan, Indiana, dated 28 December 1961: “As the story goes, Sarah Carrico, a daughter of Reason Carrico and Elizabeth Engle, married a man by the name of Cowden [we know now to be John Cowden]...Sarah and [John] Cowden had two children, Elizabeth and Eliza. Elizabeth married John Booker, son of Phillip and Louisa [sic – we know now was Martha Purcell], 1 Feb. 1860 in Sullivan County. They had John A., Sarah Jane and Mary Jane, twins, Charles Wesley (my grandfather) and Effie B. Somehow or other when my grandfather was in his teens, his parents separated and mother and children took back her maiden name of “Cowden.” I have never learned the reason for the separation or if there was a legal divorce or what ever happened to John Booker. In fact, until I started working on genealogy, none of my family knew that our name should have been Booker instead of Cowden, except my grandfather, and he never told anyone. After I started looking, I found the marriage record for John Booker and Elizabeth Cowden and school records for their children made out in the name of Booker….Sarah Carrico Cox married William G. Cox and had another family by him listed on the Census records… Sarah Carrico Cox and Elizabeth Cowden Booker left Sullivan Co. and went into Texas somewhere close to Sherman, Texas where Sarah Cox died as did Sarah Jane Booker Smith…They left Texas and went to Texas County, Missouri where my grandfather married 7 February 1889, and my father was born in 1892. When my father was a young boy, they left Missouri and went to Oklahoma where my father grew and where I was born and grew up. I left Okl. and moved to Utah after I was married. All my people still live in Okla. Mo. Kansas, and Texas. I have heard my grandfather and Father talk about Indiana that it seems like home to me too and still get a tear in my eye when I hear “Back Home Again in Indiana!” I can hear my father sing it yet and Grandfather too.”

 

Another letter from Madelene [Booker] Cowden Scott, dated 6 July 1988, describes her grandfather Charles Wesley [Booker] Cowden: “I don’t remember very much about my grandfather except that he was a very kind, soft-spoken and affectionate person, and that his stiff, brisly mustache felt funny when he kissed me. Mary Reed wrote me that “the best thing that Uncle Wesley left us was his wonderful sense of humor and his gentleman ways.” He was a farmer near Ketchum, Oklahoma and had a white two story house there. I used to love to go up the stairs where the spicy herb plants were hung on the walls to dry and the fragrance was so pungent. I would go up to the rooms where my father’s younger brothers slept. I would sit in the window at the end of the room and read their western paperback books while they were out working.”

 

And now for the rest of the story!

 

The John Ross Booker and Louisa B. Tarver Family

I discovered that John R. Booker is listed on the 1870 Census of Sullivan Co., Indiana, not with Elizabeth Cowden, but with a totally different family. 1870 Census Sullivan Co., IN, Jefferson Twp., 5 Sept. 1870, p. 22:

Haddon Twp. 28 July 1870 – Merom, IN, page 53 or typed p. 119 395/272 Carico, Reason age 76 Male Retired Farmer b. KY

Taking his new family with him, John R. Booker left Sullivan Co., Indiana after the 1870 Census, living first near Bloomfield, Indiana. In 1877 he joined his brothers, Perry R. and Josiah Booker, in Bell County, Texas. John and his family were listed on the 1880 Census of Texas in Bell County. On the 1890 Special Census of Union Veterans of the Civil War, John R. Booker was listed living in Echo, Bell County, Texas. He complained from having measles and “has breast complaint.” In 1894 he moved his family to Lexington, Oklahoma, where they are found on the Oklahoma Territory Census of 1898 – Village of Lexington – dated 7 July 1898. Also, found in the same village are John’s half-brothers, James F. Booker with his wife, Ida, and Lafe (Marquis Lafayette) Booker and his three children.

On the 1900 Census, I find John R. Booker’s family as follows: Lexington, Cleveland County, Oklahoma Sheet 14, ED 28, Vol. 3, line 57, 14 June 1900 262/285 Booker, J. R. b. Nov. 1839, age 60, Male 34 yrs., b. IN, Father b. in IN., Mother b. in IN., occupation Carpenter, two months umemployed, reads and writes, owns own home, free of Morgage

Booker, L. B. wife, b. Oct. 1844, age 55, Married 34 yrs, had 12 children, six living, born in MS., Father b. in Alabama, Mother b. in Alabama, Reads and writes Booker, A. J., son b. July 1883, age 16, single, b. Texas, Father b. in IN., Mother b. in MS., at school, last eight months, reads and writes

Booker, E. M. son, b. Jan. 1891, age 9, single, b. in Indian Terr., Father b. in IN., Mother b. in MS, at School last eight months, read and writes

Before this sheet on same census, same E. D. and Volume, Sheet 10, line 4: Booker, P. W. b. Mar. 1867, age 33, b. IN Michie, b. July 1873, age 26, b. MS

Notice that John R. Booker’s wife, Louisa, told the census taker she’d had twelve children, only six living. On his pension records John R. Booker mentions only eight children.

John R. Booker was also on the 1910 Census, Lexington, Oklahoma, listed as widower and living with his son, Elmer Marcus Booker.

Here is a summary of John R. Booker’s military service and pension records. He enlisted into the U. S. Army July 1, 1861 in Bloomfield, Indiana with the rank of Private, serving in Company C. of the 21st Regiment of Indiana Infantry commanded by Capt. William Bough. Although discharged at Baton Rouge, Louisiana on 1 July 1864, John reenlisted into Company C, 1st Indiana Headquarters Artillery on 1 July 1864, serving until 15 December 1866 when he mustered out of the Army in Baton Rouge. At the time of his initial enlistment, John was described as follows: 5’9″ complexion dark, hair black, eyes gray, nativity Sullivan Co., Indiana, occupation farmer.

John R. Booker first requested a pension in 1888, while a resident of Rogers, Texas. He writes … “while a member of the organization aforesaid, in the service and in the line of his duty, at Carlton in the State of Louisiana, on or about the ? day of April 1862, while driving a mule team, towing a coal barge, the saddle mule stumbled and threw him forward over the horn of the saddle causing a rupture on the front side.” Signed by himself, with witnesses, Thomas Tarrell and Josiah Booker, both residents of Roger, Bell Co., Texas.

On 26 July 1890 John R. Booker states in the presence of a Notary Public in Echo, Bell Co., Texas that “he is unable to earn a support by manual labor, by reason of ruptured Rheumatism, and other loss of one lung. That said disabilities are not due to any vicious habits and are to the best of his knowledge and belief permanent.”

On 15 June 1898 John R. Booker was required to fill out a questionaire:

Are you married? Yes, Louisa B. Tarver, maiden name [married] in Newton County, MS by Justice of Peace, name forgotten

 

What record of marriage exists? by license at Decatur, MS

 

Were you previously married? Yes, to Elizabeth Cowden, married Feb.1859, parted December 1859, Divorce 1864

 

Have you any children? Yes, six [at this time John lists his six living children by his second marriage]

There are several other requests for upgrading the amount of his pension. They contain much the same genealogical information above, but I find the next questionaire dated 3 April 1915 the most informative.

From Department of the Interior, Bureau of Pensions, Questionaire: [Answers to questions only]

1. Born November 11, 1839, Carlisle, Sullivan Co., IN, unit Co. C, 21st Reg. Indiana Vol. Inf.

2. Post Office at time of enlistment: Pleasantville, Indiana [different than 1st application for pension]

3. Wife’s full name and her maiden name; Louisa B. Tarver

4. Date and Place of marriage: [no date] Enterprise, Newton Co., MS Married by a Mr. Jackson, a Justice of Peace

5. No official record or church record of marriage

6. Yes, previously married to Elizabeth Cowden and was married 1 Feb. 1858, and divorced February term of Court 1864

7. Was your present wife married before you? Yes, to Lunsford who died in 1865, and had served as Wagon master in the 1st Artillery, H.A.

8. Are you now living with your wife? No, she died February 6, 1910

9. Names and dates of birth of all your children, living or dead:

I have been unable to find any divorce records or divorce proceedings in the Sullivan County, Indiana Courthouse reference John R. Booker and Elizabeth Cowden. At this time I have not found a marriage record between John R. Booker and Louisa B. Tarver.

John R. Booker died 2 December 1922 in Lexington, Oklahoma and was buried in the Lexington Cemetery. On his death certificate, John’s son, Phillip Washington Booker, is listed as informant. He lists John R. Booker’s father as Phillip W. Booker, place of birth unknown; mother – ? Purcell, and place of her birth unknown.

Much of the following information was given to me by Kelly Larson Denny of El Reno, Oklahoma. She is a descendant of Phillip Washington Booker, eldest son of John R. Booker’s second marriage. Also, Census’, pension records, and of course, notes of Catherine E. Booker Greene, helped me to round out John’s second family.

Children of John R. Booker and Louisa B. Tarver, widow:

George W. Booker

George Booker is found with his father’s family on the 1850 Census of Sullivan Co., Indiana. He was listed as age 9, born in Indiana. He is not found on the Sullivan Co., Indiana 1860 Federal Census, but in searching for his whereabouts during this time period, I discovered he enlisted in the U. S. Army in Indianapolis, Indiana on 12 November 1864. He is described as follows: born in Sullivan Co., Indiana, age 23 years, occupation farmer, enlisted as a Private for one year, eyes blue, hair dark (one record says light), complexion light, height 5’11” (one record says 11 and 1/2 inches – another 10 inches). Under remarks, and also on the form entitled “Declaration of Recruit,” I find “Resides in Liberty Township, 11th Congressional District, Howard County.” His military unit was Company H, 142nd Regiment Indiana Infantry. George appears on the Muster-out Roll, in Nashville, Tennessee on July 14, 1865. His name on this document is spelled, George W. Bocker. George W. Booker/Bocker is not listed on the 1870, or 1880 Census of Howard County, Indiana.

The Perry Ruffin Booker and Margaret Ann Gott Family

Perry R. Booker married Margaret Ann Gott on Sunday, 4 February 1866 at 4:00 P.M. in Sullivan Co., Indiana. Margaret, born 28 November 1849, was the last daughter of Richard Gott and Elizabeth Jones Plew Gott. According to Catherine Booker Greene, Perry and Margaret “were married at her [Margaret’s] half-brother Jack Plew’s home in Sullivan, Indiana; She wore white.” From Perry R. Booker’s Bible, (in the possession of Mildred Moody, the widow of William Earl Moody of Lakeland, Florida) witnesses to their marriage were Nance Minsk (?Nancy – half-sister to Perry?), Mahala Booker (half-sister to Perry), James Plew (half-brother to Margaret) and mother, Elizabeth Gott. Perry and Margaret were married by Rev. William Stancell.

Written in 1943 by his eldest daughter, Catherine E. Booker Greene, the following is the story of Perry Ruffin Booker’s early years: Perry R. Booker, the son of his father, Phillip Booker, and mother, Mrs. Martha Purcell Booker, who was the second wife of Phillip Booker, his first wife being Sarah Bird and his third wife being Louise Ann Plew Booker. Perry was born in Carlisle, six miles [?] (Pleasantville, Indiana, on July 18, 1845. [Catherine incorrectly believed we were descended from a Noah Booker – she writes as follows] Noah Booker immigrated from his family from Germany 18–. They were of sturdy German descent and were men and women of honesty, integrity, and frugality. Nothing was ever to hard too tedious or too difficult for them to undertake, and once they became interested in a particular thing or person, they exerted their full energy, perserverance and fidelity to complete and master the task. The old and rigid rule of “love one another” and “together with the First of Heaven’s rules order” was early taught the children and strenously insisted upon as they grew into manhood and womanhood.

Perry R. Booker began his early career in somewhat trying circumstances. His mother who was only a young matron, sickened and died when he was only a babe six weeks old. His father, who was the father of ten children, found himself surrounded with much gloom and sorrow in the death of his young and beautiful wife, who was his very life and strength, and with this small babe, and his other children, he again up the —-[can’t read] lines of trying to keep his family circle together and to raise and educate his boys and girls. Only for an older sister, Elizabeth, this small babe must have had to suffer the companionship and care of stranger hands and heartbeats. She felt it her sacred duty to undertake the tutoring and care of this little brother, and she at once took him to her heart and arms, and nursed and cared for until he reached the age of 16 years. Elizabeth helped her father to send these children to school so much of the time as they could spared fron the work of keeping the farm going. Perry was therefore enabled to secure a partial education up until his enlistment in the army. At the beginning of the Civil War, Perry decided that he wanted to go the War, and being a boy of unusual size and stature, it was easy to gain admission in the ranks of the Army. Although scarcely sixteen years of age, yet, he managed to persuade the mustering officer to take him in, and he thus enlisted, and went away from his humble little home and his loved ones, to join the files of his comrades to fight for their country.

His sister, as well as his Father, felt deeply grieved because of his enlistment. After two years of service in the Army, from January 1862 to January 1864, Perry then reenlisted for three years longer, or during the War. He was then away in the war untill January 22, 1866. He first enlisted as a private in Company C, Twenty-First Regiment of the Indiana Volunteer Infantry. And when he reenlisted in 1864 [he was] in the First Regiment Indiana Heavy Artillery. His first Captain was Elihu E. Rose, and his second was Captain William Booth. The most of his Army experiences were enacted near and about New Orleans, La.

After the close of the War, he returned to his Father’s home at Carlisle, IN. only to find his beloved sister who had cherished and cared for him through his tender childhood days, years had passed away. This was his first real grief, as his mother had died during his infancy and he had not realized what it meant until now to part with one from the family circle.

He had been home but a short while when he decided it would be best to begin work of some kind to make aliving for himself. He negotiated a deal with his father whereby he became the purchaser of the old “Home Place,” his father buying a larger place two miles distance. Mr. Booker then married a young and beautiful girl, Miss Margaret Ann Gott, and at once began housekeeping. Mr. Booker and Miss Gott had been sweethearts from mere childhood, as they were raised in the same community, their parents living only a short distance from each other. Miss was great favoite with all her friends and chums, being possessed of much beauty as well as personal charm, with pretty blue eyes, auburn hair and a faultless complexion and she numbered her friends by her acquaintances. Although surrounded by ardent wooers in gallant and stalwart youths who sought to win her heart and hand, still she remained true and loyal to her boy sweetheart during his four years service in the Army, and upon his return home, she was among the first to greet him and welcome him home again.

Perry R. Booker enlisted in Greencastle, Indiana on 25 January 1862 for a period of three years, with the rank of Private in the unit mentioned above. He is described at the time of his enlistment, born in Jefferson, Indiana, occupation farmer, eyes Black, hair dark, complexion dark, height 5’6″. He was honorably discharged on 29 January 1864 at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He reenlisted the next day, 30 January 1864, as a Veteran Volunteer in Company C, First Regiment, 2nd Heavy Artillery and was discharged on 10 January 1866 in New Orleans. He states in his second enlistment he was born in Sullivan Co., Carlisle, Indiana. Most of his service was near New Orleans, Louisiana, Mobile, Alabama and at Fort Morgan, across the bay from Mobile. As you can see, his brother, John R. Booker, had enlisted with him.

After the War, and his marriage to Margaret Gott, Perry lived with his father, Phillip Booker, in Carlisle for a while. Ater buying Phillip’s farm, he and Margaret stayed in Sullivan County untill about 1870. According to a Decatur, Illinois newspaper, dated 27 June 1915, [which told of Perry’s trip to Decatur to visit his half-brothers, Marquis and Ruel], Perry moved his family to Long Creek, Macon County, Illinois in 1870. There he resided with his Uncle James Booker [the author’s family line] until 1876 and bought a farm in La Place, Piatt Co., Illinois, a few miles from Long Creek on the county line. His first three children were born in La Place. Perry and family are listed on the 1880 Census in Cerro Gordo Twp., in Piatt Co., Illinois. In 1881 he left for Bell County, Texas, after taking with him a $1200 draft from Peddecord & Burrows Bank. Perry and his family arrived in Bellmont, Texas 5 February 1882, where his son, Cashious, was born in September of that same year. Later that fall he moved his family to Crawford County, Kansas, where his next two children were born. On the March 1885 Census of Osage Twp, Crawford Co., Kansas, Perry R. Booker and family are listed. In 1886 Perry moved his family to Edwards County, Kansas where he bought 160 acres near Kinsley.

In 1893, Mr. P. H. Fitzgerald, an attorney and publisher of “The American Tribune” a weekly newspaper with the largest circulation in the nation, was very much interested in Union veterans. He concieved the idea of “a colony in the South where aging Union veterans and their families could escape the rigors of the cold biting Northern winters.” This idea appealed to Perry R. Booker. Here is an newspaper article from the Evansville, Indiana Journal dated 3 December 1897: Overland from Edwards County, Kansas to Fitzgerald, GA. The distance is about 2,100 miles and three-fourths of it has been covered by P. R. Booker, his wife and 11 children who arrived in Evansville yesterday afternoon. Three old-fashioned prairie schooners and a two-horse surrey are used to carry the family and their possessions. The train stopped in front of Mozart Hall at the corner of Fifth and Sycamore streets, for a few minutes while the head of the family was making a deal with a wagon yard keeper for shelter and feed for his team for the night.

A LARGE CROWD gathered to gaze at the scooners and their occupants and ply the old man with questions regarding the trip. The “schooners”, that is the upper part, were built after the ’49 pattern, when thousands were hauled overland to the gold fields of California. The canvas coverings of Bookers scooners are travel-stained, but in good repair. Canvas curtains closed the rear and sides of the surrey in which Booker, his wife and four children rode and which headed the train.

 

“We left Edwards County, Kansas, on September 13, last,” said Booker to a Journal reporter, “and we expect to reach Fitzgerald, GA., sometime during the first week in January, 1898. “I had heard a great deal of Fitzgerald, and last fall I visited the place. I was so impressed with the conditions there that I concluded to sell my farm in Kansas and locate in God’s country, as they call it. I had 160 acres of land in Edwards County, 100 miles west of Wichita. I sold it to a neighbor, and with part of the proceeds secured 20 acres in Fitzgerald, where we will be better satisfied with life than we were in Kansas, the home of the cyclone and tornado. “We have traveled in our wagons every foot of the distance thus far, and will continue in that way to the end of our journey. We have an ample supply of provisions and utensils necessary for camping. We cook our meals wherever we happen to be when it is meal time, and at night we sleep in our wagons in the woods if we are not near a city or town when darkness overtakes us. Time is no object with us and we travel leisurely and enjoy the novelty of the trip. We are, without exception, in the best of health.

 

“Since crossing the river at Hannibal, MO., we have visited relatives in Illinois and Sullivan County, Ind., where I was born 52 years ago. We came to Evansville by the state road from Sullivan and will leave tomorrow morning. We will cross the Ohio at Henderson and continue on our journey through Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia to Fitzgerald.”

Booker is above the average in appearance and intelligence. He is of medium height with black hair and whiskers slightly streaked with gray. He and the members of the family seemed to be in a cheerful mood, and perfectly contented, but deeply interested in the scenes of city life they witnessed as they traveled the streets.

BOOKER’S OLDEST CHILD is aged 27 years and the youngest is four. The father stated that he was a member of the 21st Indiana volunteers. He enlisted at Sullivan and served four years in the war of the rebellion.

Fitzgerald is a soldier’s colony, founded by P. H. Fitzgerald, and now has a population of about 13,000, principally emigrants from the north, who have secured land from the managers of the colony and established fine farms. It is 200 miles south of Atlanta and about 500 miles, by rail, from Evansville.

Booker’s train of schooners was seen last going out First avenue about 5 p.m. He stated at Mozart Hall that if he could not persuade the wagon yard keeper to reduce the price from $3.50 to $3, he would return to the edge of the city and stop overnight in a wood yard.

Perry and his family made their home at 501 W. Alpha Street in Fitzgerald, Georgia, and today the house still stands.Mildred Booker Smith confirmed the brother relationship between Phillip and James Booker by discovering the following newspaper article from the Decatur Herald dated 27 June 1915, page 10, 1st column: Mr. and Mrs. P. R. Booker of Fitzgerald, GA. are in the city visiting Mr. Booker’s brother, M. L. Booker, 560 West Wood Street. They are making a tour visiting brothers, sisters, and other relatives. They came by New Orleans, LA, visiting at Fort Worth, TX, Percell, OK [John R. Booker], Cherryville and Parsons, KS [Mahala Booker Feree]. They will go from here to Bement, where Mr. Booker’s parents are buried, then to Sullivan, IN to visit their son [Bert].

To Long Creek in 1870

In 1870 Mr. Booker came to Long Creek, Macon County, to his uncle James Booker, having been married in Sullivan, IN…… He is now 70 years of age “70 years young,” he says…. Mr. Booker was the originator of the plan for a peace memorial to be erected in Fitzgerald, GA commemorating the Blue and the Gray. Mr. and Mrs. Booker accompanied by M. L. [Marquis Lafayette] Booker are planning to go to Bement to pass the Fourth of July.

Included in this article is a very distinguished picture of Perry and his wife, Margaret.

Margaret Ann Gott Booker died 12 September 1916 at age sixty-seven. The funeral services were conducted at the home by Rev. L. A. Cooper of the 1st Baptist Church in Fitzgerald, Georgia. “After the song, scripture reading, and prayer, Mr. Cooper in a brief talk called attention to the fact that Mrs. Booker filled the place of woman that God intended that of a devoted wife and loving mother. Her main desire was to make home what it should be. Every member of the family, husband and children always looked to her, and it was her delight to give counsel and render tender ministries to each and all…during the last days of her illness, [she said] ‘Whatever else you may forget, don’t forget God, and your duty to Him.'”

 

Perry R. Booker married twice more before his death in 1925. He married Nancy Floyd 31 August 1919, and after her death, he married Marie T. Defore on 21 May 1924.

At the time of his death, Perry R. Booker was in attendance at the Grand Army of the Republic Encampment at Grand Rapids, Michigan. He had been in ill health for some time but wanted to make this trip north. On the way, he stopped for a few days in Sullivan County, Indiana and visited his son, Bert Booker and his family, and then continued to Grand Rapids. There he was met by his daughter, Mrs. Katherine Greene, of Detroit,

Michigan. He was too weak to attend any of the sessions, but his friends and comrades visited him in his hotel room. On the day of the Grand Parade, he pleaded to “March with the Boys.” A special car was procured for him, and he “marched” in the parade with his comrades. After the Encampment, his daughter took him to her home in Detroit where he became critically ill and died on September 15, 1925. He was buried in Fitzgerald, Georgia next to his first wife, Margaret. Perry R. Booker’s death certificate states that his father was Phillip Booker and his mother was Martha Purcell. Children of Perry Ruel Booker and Margaret Ann Gott:

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