Digging Up Your Family

My Breedlove Line

I’m wading my way through the Hope Perry Breedlove book slowly.  It has a ton of information and I am trying to make sense of it all (lucky for me Joni Breedlove, who transcribed the book, offered to answer any questions I may have, so I will probably be taking her up on that soon!  Thanks, Joni!).  I’m going to post what I have found and I will get into the details at a later date.  I will take this down as far as Lucy Breedlove, my great-grandmother.

So far I have gone back as far as my 6th great-grandfather, Thomas Breedlove, born roughly about 1730 possibly in Essex County, Virginia.  I say “roughly” and “possibly” because the book doesn’t come right out and say it, but it seems that many of the Breedloves in Virginia were, at some point, in Essex County.  I haven’t figured out who Thomas’ parents are yet, though I can see in most places people have them listed as Charles Breedlove and Mary Parr.  Like I said, though, I haven’t really gotten down and dirty into the Breedlove Genealogy Book yet.  Thomas married Sarah Broaddus (Broadus), daughter of Richard Broaddus and Bridget Vaughan.  For the record, I can see on Ancestry that they married, however it doesn’t tell me exactly when they married.  Thomas and Sarah had the following (known) children: John Breedlove, Charles Breedlove, Thomas Breedlove, Cornelius Breedlove, William Breedlove, Philip Breedlove, Benjamin Breedlove and Madison Breedlove.  Thomas Breedlove died about 1795 in, I believe, Albemarle County, Virginia.

To save time I am going to follow my line of Breedloves from here.  Mentions of others will be made, however.

My 5th great-grandfather William Breedlove was born about 1762 (according to his marriage record) in Albemarle County, Virginia.  William married Mary Watts, daughter of David Watts, Jr and Sarah Unknown.  William and Sarah had several children, one of which was my 4th great-grandfather, David Watts Breedlove.  William Breedlove died about 1838 in Simpson County, Kentucky.

UPDATE:  I believe Sarah Unknown was actually Sarah Eliza Bush.  Sarah Eliza Bush was born about 1735, married David Watts and had several children, including a Mary Watts born in 1865-the same year my Mary Watts was born.

David Watts Breedlove was born about 1786 in Albemarle County, Virginia.  He married Nancy Breedlove, who I believe was his cousin.  David and Nancy had several children including my 3rd great-grandfather, Cornelius Vaughan Breedlove.  David Watts Breedlove died about 1836 in Simpson County, Kentucky.

Cornelius Vaughan Breedlove was born in 1812 in North Carolina, according to census records.  Cornelius married first Celia Brown on January 31, 1836 in Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky.  He married second Elizabeth Crissman on August 15, 1845 in Todd County, Kentucky.  He had no (known) children with Celia.  Cornelius and Elizabeth had the following children:  William F Breedlove, Jesse T Breedlove, Henry J Breedlove, Mary A Breedlove, John J Breedlove, Sarah Breedlove, Nancy F Breedlove.  Cornelius Vaughan Breedlove died in 1880 in McLean County, Kentucky. (note:  I can find the marriage records on Family Search, but not on Ancestry)

My great-great-grandfather John J Breedlove was born in Todd County, Kentucky on August 7, 1848.  He married Margaret Stringer *about* 1870.  John and Margaret had the following children (possibly more): Mary Jane Breedlove, Ona L Breedlove, William M Breedlove, Lucy Johnson Breedlove and Drusie Breedlove.  John J Breedlove died October 12, 1912 in McLean County, Kentucky.

Lucy Johnson Breedlove, my great-grandmother, was born October 13, 1881 in McLean County, Kentucky.  She married Martin Riley Vincent on November 10, 1902.  Lucy and Martin Riley had the following children: Floella (Ella) Vincent, Edna M Vincent, Lillie Oleta Vincent, Elbert “Shorty” Tracey Vincent, Connie E Vincent, Everett Vincent, Vernie Vincent and Garland Kenneth Vincent (I think I got all of those right!).  Lucy Johnson Breedlove died February 14, 1971 in Stewart County, Tennessee.

A story I read somewhere online (which I cannot remember where I read it, or if it was even this family…but it is stuck in my head as a Breedlove story-why oh why didn’t I save it?) was something along these lines:  the father had at one point beat his son so severely that the son ran away to Tennessee.  Later in life the son was killed when his car hit a tree during a police chase while he was running moonshine.  Is that the Breedlove family?  I hope someone will come forward and let me know!

I have printed out the Hope Perry Breedlove book so that I can highlight my line and hopefully give more detail.  If you are researching the Breedlove family you should really get this manuscript.  It is a wealth of information.  It was written back about 1965, and an updated version is being written now, but it may take several years before it is finished.

Hopefully if I have something wrong on this someone will let me know!

John J Breedlove

(note:  birth and death records were not required by law in Kentucky until 1911.  it is fairly hard to track down exact birth and death dates prior to that year unless an obituary, Bible record or doctor’s notes were kept.  in some instances a birth may be written down in a church register or a book kept by an attendant.  death records were often kept in Bibles and church registers, and sometimes if a doctor attended at the time of death he may have recorded the date.  anything that requires legal filing, such as a marriage, can usually be easier to find, but not always)

John J Breedlove was the son of Cornelius Vaughan Breedlove (about 1812-about 1880), a farmer, and Elizabeth Crissman (about 1815-?).  He was born in Todd County, Kentucky on August 7, 1848, the fifth of, I believe, seven children.

The family was still living in Todd County, Kentucky 2 years after John was born.  On the 1850 census John is shown living with his father, mother and siblings: William F (age 15 years), Jesse T (age 9 years), Henry J (age 7 years), Mary A (age 5 years) and Sarah E (age 8 months).

In 1860 the family starts getting a little sketchy.  First off, the name recorded for the family is “Breadlove”.  It is also just their initials that are written, rather than their names.  John is 11 years old and living with his parents and siblings.  The other children listed are:  Wm F (age 26 years), JT (age 20 years), HJ (age 18 years), MA (age 14 years) and VACF (age 3 years).  Ok, now I realize that another sister had been born, as far as I know, in 1859.  And her name on other census records is Nancy.  So who is VACF?  And what happened to Sarah E?

Sigh.

So, I hunted down John J Breedlove in the 1870 census and I *think* that I found him.  That year there is a John Breedlove listed as living in Logan County, Kentucky with the Beauchamp family.  There is no occupation written in for him.  There are other boarders living in the house, but I can’t really figure out how he came to live there himself.

Another document I am still hunting down is his marriage to Margaret Stringer.  From what I understand they married sometime around 1869/1870.

In 1880 John shows up in McLean County, Kentucky with Margaret and their children: stepdaughter Emma (age 11 years), daughter Mary Jane (age 7 years), Ona L (age 5 years) and William M (age 3 years).  This census has Emma’s surname as Breedlove, but I think it might actually be Moore, as we see on later census records that John has a stepson by the name of Benjamin A Moore.

No census record available for 1890. (of course)

Apparently having set down roots, the family is still living in McLean County, Kentucky in 1900.  On this census it is shown that they are living with two children that had been born during the previous 20 years: Lucy J (age 18 years, my great-grandmother) and Drusy (Drusie, Drusey, Druse, age 15 years).  This census also states that Margaret is the mother of nine children, five of which are still living.  I don’t know if the two children that are no longer living are accounted for or not.  I also don’t know if they are John’s children or if they are children from Margaret’s previous marriage(s).  I do see that John and Margaret have two grandchildren living with them in 1900, Magnola Lovell (age 4 years) and Mack H Lovell (age 1 year), the children of Lulu Breedlove and Jim Lovell.  I’m not certain if Lulu is a nickname for one of the daughters accounted for or a different daughter all together.

The last census that John J Breedlove is found on is the 1910 census.  He is living with Margaret and stepson Benjamin A Moore (age 47 years).  John is a farm operator, as is Benjamin.  The family is still living in McLean County, Kentucky.

John J Breedlove suffered a tragic death 2 years after the 1910 census.  On October 12, 1912 in East Sacramento, McLean County, Kentucky he was killed when a sawlog, the largest and heaviest part of the tree, fell on him.  I believe his death may have been instantaneous because no doctor attended to him.  I cannot give an exact location of burial.  The death certificate has the initials of the cemetery as M.E.C. Sacramento.

One of the more interesting stories of John J Breedlove’s life was told by his daughter, Lucy J Breedlove, to her grandson, Roger Vincent.  Lucy said that John was good friends with Buffalo Bill (William Cody).  Whenever Buffalo Bill would travel through Kentucky he would always stay with the Breedlove family for a few days.  John and Buffalo Bill would hunt together during his stays!