Elijah North & Family
who is Rachel?©
Elijah NORTH was born about 1847. The 1850 Clay County census and 1860 Harlan County census indicate that he was the son of Mariarter and Sarah NORTH and that Mariarter, born about 1825 in Tennessee, was the son of John and Jincy NORTH. According to Harlan County Marriage records, Elijah married Malinda BROCK in 1868. But, it is suspected that Elijah's wife, listed in 1880 as Linda had first been the wife of George Claiborn GROSS, s/o Edmund and Hester BROCK GROSS. George died about the time of the Civil War and is known to have had a daughter Rachel who often went by the GROSS name. Listed in Elijah and Linda's 1880 Leslie County household is a Rachel age 15.

Now, George Claiborn GROSS' wife is said to have been a HOWARD but, Harlan County Marriage records also give a marriage in 1865 of a Matilda HOWARD to a Solomon BROCK. A search of the 1870 census for Harlan, Bell and Clay Counties cannot locate either Solomon and Matilda BROCK nor Elijah and Malinda NORTH. [Note regarding Matilda vs Malinda, we have several times seen these two names misinterpreted or miswritten by censustakers and/or by census transcribers or, in this case possibly by those who re-copied the original Harlan marriage records in the 1890's.]

Back to the HOWARD clue, the 1850 census of Harlan lists a Malinda HOWARD, age 2, presumably daughter of Michael and Rachel HENDRICKSON HOWARD, in their 1860 household she is listed as age 13 which fits the later census dates for Linda NORTH.

THEORY: Malinda HOWARD born about 1848, married first to George Claiborn GROSS about 1864 and had daughter Rachel, George died in the war and she married second to Solomon BROCK in 1865 who died within a year or two and she then, in 1868, married Elijah NORTH bringing to the marriage her daughter Rachel.

HELP IS NEEDED TO PROVE OR DISPROVE ANY OR ALL OF THE ABOVE!!!!!!!! Hopefully someone reading this somewhere can provide additional information maybe through death records for the children of Elijah and Linda NORTH:

  1. Wilson NORTH born about 1868 married 20 Oct 1890 in Leslie County to Gelania WILSON, by 1900 they had 3 chidlren: Lucy, Grant and Lewis.
  2. Daniel NORTH born about 1873 married Samantha, by the 1900 census they had Savanah, Susie and Mossie
  3. Sarah Catherine NORTH born about 1876/7 may have married a WILSON
  4. George W NORTH born about 1879

The main clue that set all the above hypothesis into motion is that in 1900, Elijah and Linda NORTH have in their household a Mattie GROSS, granddaughter, born May 1890. Mattie is one of Rachel's two children before she married J B SAYLOR in 1894 in Leslie County. Mattie and Cora, who both went by the GROSS name were reputedly fathered by James FARMER.

By J B SAYLOR, Rachel had three more children:

  • Rufus SAYLOR who married Loddie WILSON
  • Silas SAYLOR
  • Ester SAYLOR who married Rose d/o Lish HOWARD

Additions and corrections welcome, email [email protected]
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