Our Immigrant Ancestors

            I haven’t found all the immigrant ancestors, but here is a list of ones we know for sure and ones we are making educated guesses about:

McClure:  Scotland by way of Ireland (hence Scots-Irish)

Points:  Ireland

Blackburn:   England

Speagle:  Germany

Sturgeon:  Ireland

Ransdell:  probably  England

Petty:  England

Wheeler:  England

Mattingly:  probably England

Terhune:  Holland

Hardin:  England

Hopson:  probably England

Musick:  England or Wales

Walter:  probably Germany

Strausbaugh:  Germany

Whiteside:  Ireland or England

Buckalew:  France

Harritt:  Scotland

Helm:  England

Floyd:  Wales

Skinner:  England

John:  Wales

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Our Ancestors in Kentucky

            The first white settlement in Kentucky was established in 1774.  On June 4, 1792, Kentucky became the 15^th state of the union.

            The Sturgeons came to Kentucky in the late 1770s, before statehood.   The McClures came in 1795, the Beach and Points families in the early 1800s.  The Miller family was in Kentucky by 1815, the Blackburn family by 1817, the Speagle family by 1820, and the Collins family by 1824. 

            The Terhunes came to Kentucky  in 1793, the Ransdells in the 1790s, the Musick family by 1830, and, finally, the Hopson family by 1870.

            The lives these pioneers led can only be imagined by us.  A history of Kentucky (edition 4) written in 1887 by Perrin, Battle, and Kniffin describes the life of a typical frontier family:

             “The men hunted and brought in the meat; they planted, plowed and gathered the corn; grinding it into meal at a hand-mill, or pounding it into hominy in the mortar.  Custom and necessity united to lay upon the women the duty of providing for every household need that the rude agriculture of the period did not supply, and in all the activities which engaged her skill and energy, she labored unaided by labor-saving machinery.  And so she milked the cows in all weather, while sturdy men and boys watched an operation too effeminate to enlist their service; churned the butter and pressed the cheese; carried the tubs to the spring or caught rain water for the weekly washing from the eaves in troughs and barrels; made her own soft soap; washed, picked, carded and dyed the wool; pulled, broke, hatchelled and bleached the hemp; spun the thread and wove the cloth; contrived and made the garments; reared her children; nursed the sick, sympathized with the distressed and encouraged the disheartened.  In all this, and above it all, woman was the tutelar saint of the frontier.”  [that means she took care of everybody.]

             “Early emigrants to Kentucky came principally from the back settlements of the Atlantic colonies.  With few exceptions they came from the poorer farming classes, and possessed little of the refinement to be found in the older communities in the region from which they came.

             “Social gatherings were frequent and were closed allied to useful occupations.  Meetings to raise log cabins, barns, etc., to roll up logs in a new clearing, or late for the opening of new roads, were occasions when the men, after a hard day’s work, would spend the evening in the rough sports of the period.

           “Other gatherings in which the women took the leading part were quilting and spinning bees.  Corn huskings engaged both sexes and were popular sources of rude but absorbing amusement.

             “There was little romance and less formality in frontier life, and marriage was viewed with far more practical concern then than now.  There was little philandering; the character of pioneer recreation brought the young of both sexes frequently together, and marriages were made up with little previous formality.  It was quite the thing, if the young man possessed the means, to escort one's lady-love to church on horseback; the less fortunate swain met his sweetheart at the church and walked home with her.

             “The early settlers generally married young, boys of eighteen and girls of sixteen entering into the marriage relation.  There were no arbitrary social distinctions, a family establishment cost little more than labor to provide, and there were no prudential reasons to prevent the first impression of love being speedily followed by marriage.  This was the usual order, and was a matter which enlisted the eager interest of the whole community.  The wedding was a public occasion, and the only one in the social regime of the frontier that was not associated with a season of vigorous exertion.  It was anticipated, therefore, with the liveliest satisfaction, and was attended by a revel in which the wildest spirit of frolic ruled the hour.”

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