Comanche County, Texas 
Comanche County, Texas This is a
research
study of two men, John R. Nigh in family number 1 and John R. Nigh in
family
number 2. The goal is to answer the “Question.” Are the John R. Nigh in
family
number 1 and the John R. Nigh in family number 2, the same man?
Family
Number 1:
[From James Clark, great grand nephew of Sarah Clark and Jeff Scott,
great,
great grandson of John R. Nigh and Sarah Clark]
In 1986, some
24 years
ago, I launched an effort to trace my Clark ancestry. At that time,
computers
were very primitive (Atari) and the Internet was only a thought in Al
Gore’s
mind. I began the search as most others did, by visiting libraries,
court
houses, historical societies, state archives and any other place I
thought I
might find family information. Sometimes, I was even lucky enough to
find a
living relative who could help me. In one instance, I found the
graveyard
containing the graves of my great-great grandfather and some of his
family in
Owsley County, Kentucky. While visiting the graveyard, I learned that
Fern
Scott Smith and her husband maintained the graveyard.
I went to
their nearby
home, introduced my self and learned that Fern and I were cousins.
Fern’s
ancestor, Sarah Jane Clark, was the sister of my great grand father,
Edward
Clark. Fern told me how Sarah had married John R. Nigh, who was from
Hagerstown, Maryland. That he had come to Owsley County about 1850 as a
schoolteacher and had married Sarah in 1852. They had two children,
Samuel V.
Nigh and Tabitha Rebecca Nigh who had married William H. Scott, which
was her
line. She also told me that when the Civil War started, John R. Nigh
went east
and was never heard from again. The family had always presumed he was
killed in
the war.
Following my
meeting
with Fern, I traveled to Booneville, Kentucky, the county seat for
Owsley
County and looked for more information on my Clark family. While there,
I found
the marriage record of J. R. Nigh to Sarah J. Clark, which took place
in Nov
1852. John was 33 and Sarah was 20, making the birth years about 1820
for John
and 1832 for Sarah. I also visited the Booneville Public Library and
found
Samuel V. Nigh’s biography in “Kentucky: A History of the State” by
William Henry Perrin, J. H. Battle & G. C. Kniffin, written in the
1880s,
it reads in part. “Samuel V. Nigh, circuit and county
court clerk
of Owsley County, Ky., is a native of the same county, and was born
February
14, 1853. His father, John R. Nigh, was born in Hagerstown, Md., and
settled in
Owsley County, Ky., in 1851, where he was engaged in school teaching
until the outbreak
of the late war, when he started East, and has never since been heard
from; it
is supposed he was killed in the war. His wife was Sarah J. (Clark)
Nigh, a
daughter of William and Tabitha (Evans) Clark, natives of Virginia, and
residents of Owsley County….”[William Clark and Tabitha Evans were born
in
Kentucky, not Virginia].
I returned to
my home in
Tennessee and later reviewed the 1860 census for Owsley County at the
McClung
Historical Collection in Knoxville. I found that during the census,
Sarah Nigh
and her two children were living with her parents in Owsley County and
that she
was listed in the census as a widow. That indicated that John had left
before
the Civil War started. I never looked into his disappearance from that
time
until January 2010.
In December
2009, I
became a member of Ancestry. After learning how to navigate their site,
I was
amazed at how far genealogy research had come. Now, one could have
access to
many records with nothing more than a keystroke on the computer.
One day I was
looking
over my Family Tree Maker file and came to John R. Nigh and Sarah J.
Clark.
After looking at his page, I noticed that I could initiate a web
search, which
I did. I ended up at the Comanche County, Texas web site. The site
contained a
letter from John R. Nigh written in Comanche County, dated 22 January
1878 and
included a transcription by Donna Nigh Jones. She had also written an
Introduction for the posting, which is as follows:
Family
Number 2:
[From Donna Nigh Jones, great granddaughter of John R. Nigh]
“John R. Nigh
was born
in Hagerstown, Maryland about 1832 to Samuel T. Nigh and Elizabeth
Rench.
The Nighs came to the United States from Holland or Germany. The
story
passed down through the family was that two brothers arrived from
Holland with
the name Neu pronounced Nigh. One brother decided to keep the
spelling
and change the pronunciation and the other kept the pronunciation and
changed
the spelling. What gives the story credibility is that a couple
named
Nigh visited my mother in the hospital at one time and told her that
same story
had been passed down through their family. John R. Nigh served in the
Union
Army during the Civil War. He was a school teacher and a circuit
preacher. He moved to Indiana and married Josephine Louisa
Matthews
Hinton. Louisa had been married to Asher Hinton in Kentucky and
had
several children. After her husband died, she moved back to
Greencastle,
Putnam County, Indiana. John and Louisa had three children,
William
Daniel Nigh, Margaret Inez Nigh, and Samuel Fowler Nigh (my
grandfather).
About 1875, John R. Nigh left on a trip west to find a place to move
his
family. He supported himself by teaching school along the
way. The
letter posted on this site is the last letter from John R. Nigh and the
last
time the family heard from him. Louisa, with her grown Hinton
sons,
finally moved her family to Newtonia, Newton County, Missouri. We
would
like very much to know what happened to John R. Nigh. Attempts
were made,
but relatives were told that the courthouse burned down with the
records of
that time.”
Here is the
transcription of the letter by Ms. Jones.
Comanche,
Comanche Co.,
Tex
Jan. 22, 1878
Dear Louisa,
I have stopped
in this
co. and gone to teaching. My health has improved and I am able to labor
again,
but my life is very little better than a beggar. I have no money and
cannot get
any just now, but I live in hope. I am in a much more convenient county
here
than McClennan Co. There is timber, water, rock, land and health here
and
plenty of land that can be bought form $1.50 to three dollars per acre.
If you
succeed in selling your land in Ky, I would advise you to invest your
money in
this part of Texas somewhere. You do not need my formal consent to sell
the
land. If you and the children agree to sell it and invest the money
somewhere
else, that is your business not mine. This country is not so rich as it
is
farther east, but it is rich enough and large bodies of it is covered
with rock
and can never be cultivated, which will always be a range for hogs and
cattle.
Three years ago this was the frontier. Now counties are organized 100
miles
west of this, and heavy settlements. You may have some idea how fast
this
country is settling when I tell you that for 4 months at one toll
bridge over
the river Leon, there was an average of forty families per day and it
only one
of the bridges that are within ten mile of each other on the same
stream
besides the hundred other roads by which they are coming to the west.
It looks
strange to see deer and wolves in a county that votes 1600 votes, yet
it is so
here and in three years will double that the game is disappearing very
fast and
soon there will be none. There is buffalo 150 miles from here and most
every
family in this neighborhood has plenty of buffalo to do them. They take
a team
and wagon and go to buffalo range and kill them until they fill their
wagons
with meat and them come back and dry it like bacon. It keeps better
than beef.
I have been living on it for 4 weeks, and it is real good. I am glad
that you
have all determined to come to Texas, for here you can get good homes
and
cheap. I know I will not be with you long after you come, but it will
be a
satisfaction when I die to know that you have a home of your own. Now,
if you
can sell, let me know and I will pick out some land for you to look at
when you
come. Comanche is only 135 miles from Dallas, and there is no railroad
any
closer, but there will be a railroad through this country in a few
years. The
church and school is only a question of time. Every community gets one
up as
soon as they can to induce others to stop with them. Three years ago,
here
where there were only three families of 8 square, there are now 80
children and
nearly every 150 acres has a family on it. God directs for our good. I
know I
can select 4 quarter sections in this country all together for you and
the
children of as good land as ever was with timber, water and rock, and
it will
not cost over $3 per acre. I am very much out of heart, but what is
before me I
must endure. I know it won’t be long until my time comes, and if I can
do
anything to help you to a home before I die, I will be glad. The winter
here is
mild, grass green and growing stock lives without feed, onions and
lettuce will
soon be fit to eat.
Direct your
letter to
Comanche, Comanche Co. Texas.
[Ms Jones
later informed
me the date of the letter should have been 1876, not 1878]
I found the
above
information to be very interesting, not only from a historical
viewpoint but
also for the following reasons. (1) The name, John R. Nigh. (2) From
Hagerstown, Maryland. (3) Was a schoolteacher. (4) Soldier during the
Civil
War. (5) A connection to Kentucky.
I definitely
wanted more
information on this man, so I wrote to the Comanche County web site and
asked
to be put in touch with Ms. Jones. She soon responded to my request.
Through
her, I learned that some people had supposed her John R. Nigh to be the
same
John R. Nigh that had married Sarah Clark. Ms. Jones assured me that
could not
the case, and that she was tired of people accusing her great
grandfather of
being a bigamist.
I then began
searching
on Ancestry and found that Ms. Jones also was a member and had posted
her Nigh
family on Ancestry as a Public Member Tree. She had also posted the
above
letter on Ancestry as well as this additional comment.
“I have been
searching
for many years, would hit a roadblock and quit for a while. I found
some
serious connections recently, but I'm bothered by erroneous information
others
put out. My great grandfather John R. Nigh, born in Hagerstown about
1834 did
not marry Sarah Clark in Owsley, KY. Marriage records show that John R.
Nigh to
have been born in Virginia in 1819. Hear ye, hear ye, all who have that
information wrong, please fix it.”
Below is a
synopsis
of the research data pertaining to the “Question.” Everyone who reads
this data
will have to draw his or her own conclusion.
The first step
in the
quest to answer the question at the beginning of this work was to
explore all
avenues available on Ancestry. A review of Ms. Jones Public Member Tree
disclosed the date of birth of John R. Nigh as about 1832. The birth
data for
his parents and siblings were reported as Samuel T. Nigh, 1758;
Elizabeth
Rench, 1796; Margaret C. Nigh, 1823; Elizabeth M. Nigh, 1825; Daniel R.
Nigh, 1829
and Theresa R. Nigh, 1837. No marriage information was listed for the
marriage
of John R. Nigh to Josephine Hinton other than an approximate date in
Indiana.
In addition, Ms. Jones was using the military record of a Civil War
soldier as
a reference to establish residence in Kentucky for John R. Nigh. A
cursory
review of that record disclosed a John R. Nigh, had enlisted as a
Private in
Company B of the 11th Kentucky Cavalry on 16 July 1862.
Since Ms.
Jones had
provided the parents and siblings for John R. Nigh, census records were
reviewed for that family and disclosed the following: [Samuel Nigh’s
monument
in Hagerstown, Maryland lists his date of birth as 22 September 1789,
not 1758]
Review of
the 1840
Census Records:
Samuel Nigh in
Hagerstown, Maryland, reported to be the father of John R. Nigh by Ms.
Jones,
of family number 2. Listed below are the names of the parents and
children
placed in brackets to correspond with the dates of birth as listed on
Ms. Jones
family tree? The John R. Nigh of family number 1 fits into the 15 to 20
age
group.
1 male 10 to
15 [Daniel
R. Nigh, born 1829]
2 males 15 to
20 [John
R. Nigh, born about 1820 and an unknown male]
1 male 60 to
70 [Samuel
T. Nigh, born 1758]
1 female under
5
[Theresa Nigh, born 1837]
2 females 15
to 20
[Margaret Nigh, born 1823 and Elizabeth Nigh, born 1825]
1 female 40 to
50
[Elizabeth Rench, born 1796]
This census
seems to
indicate the date of birth of the John R. Nigh in family number 1 could
very
well be the son of Samuel Nigh and Elizabeth Rench. One additional
small clue
is that the John R. Nigh in family number 1, named his son Samuel.
[Although
census records are extremely helpful to genealogy research, experience
has
proven the data contained on a census record is sometimes incorrect. However, since the information given to the
census taker in this case is no doubt from a family member, it is much
more
reliable]
Review of
the 1850
Census Records:
Samuel Nigh is
living in
Hagerstown, Maryland. [John’s father]
Saml Neigh,
age 61 born
about 1789 in PA.
Elizabeth
Neigh, age 54,
born about 1796 in MD.
Mary E. Neigh,
age 24,
born about 1826 in PA.
Danl Neigh,
age 21, born
about 1892 in PA.
Terreasa
Neigh, age 13,
born about 1837 in MD.
Elizabeth
Garaham, age
60, born about 1790 in PA. [Possible relative]
[Hagerstown,
Maryland is
situated very close to Franklin County, Pennsylvania]
No record
found for the
two males, age 15 to 20, that were in the 1840 census.
No record
found for a
John R. Nigh [exact spelling] in the 1850 census records.
A John Nigh
was found in
Virginia but he was a newborn.
A John R.
Neys, age 30
[born about 1820], born in Maryland and 38-year-old Peyton Weldon are
living on
the farm of Thomas and Sarah Weldon in District 2, Harrison County,
Kentucky.
Both John and Peyton are schoolteachers. [The John R. Nigh in family
number 1
and family number 2 were both reported to be teachers].
Following the
review of
the 1850 census records, an attempt was made to locate any record in
Harrison
County, Kentucky, which might further identify the John R. Neys who was
a
teacher in the 1850 census. We were extremely lucky to make contact
with Mr.
Philip Naff, Staff Writer and Webmaster of the Harrison County
Historical
Society at Cynthiana, Kentucky. It just so happened that he was working
on
marriages in Harrison County, and he immediately responded with the
following
marriage data.
Marriage
Record –
Family number 2:
Josephine
Louisa
Matthews, born abt.1834, from Harrison County, Kentucky, married Asher
Hinton,
born abt.1832 from Scott County, Kentucky. They were married in
Harrison County
on 1 Jul 1852. [Scott and Harrison Counties border each other and are
north
west of Owsley County]
Asher Hinton
died at the
age of 27 in 1859, which was about the time John R. Nigh, from family
number 1,
leaves his family in Owsley County and is never heard from again. It is
possible that John R. Nigh knew Josephine Matthews while he was in
Harrison
County, either through his teaching or through being a minister, or
both. She
would have been 16 years of age, when John was teaching in 1850.
On 17 November 1865, John R. Nigh obtained a marriage license in Harrison County, Kentucky. He was married to Mrs. Josephine L. Hinton two days later on November 19th. He signed the license (versus putting an "X" on it). His surety, the man who signed the marriage bond with him, was James L. Moore, who put his "X" on the document. At the time, John R. Nigh lived in Harrison County, was 43 years old, [born about 1822] and his marriage to Mrs. Hinton was his second marriage. He was a schoolteacher. John R. Nigh was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. So was his father. His mother was born in Washington County, Maryland. [This marriage record goes a long way in establishing that this is the same John R. Nigh who married Sarah Clark in 1852. The age of the groom and that it was his second marriage stand out. This information is more reliable because it came directly from John and not from someone else]
At the time of the marriage Mrs. Josephine L. Hinton was living in Harrison County, was 32 years old, and this marriage to John R. Nigh was also her second marriage. She was born in Harrison County, Kentucky, as was her father. Her mother was born in Virginia.
No other
remarks were
made except to say that they were married at the residence of Josephine
L.
Hinton. This information comes from pages 88 & 89 of the record
book
entitled “Marriage Book Jun-1865 to Jan-1867.” [John R. Nigh is the
only Nigh
listed in the first one hundred years of marriage records for the
county
(1794-1893). No persons named Ney or Nye were found in the
marriage
records. [Comment and record information provided by Philip
Naff, Staff
Writer and Webmaster, Harrison County Historical Society]
Copies
of the above referenced marriage records were obtained from the
Harrison County
Clerk in April 2010. Review of page 88 of the Marriage Bond, disclosed
that not
only had John R. Nigh signed his name to the document, certifying that
all of
the information provided was correct to the best of his knowledge, he
had
actually written the entries himself. There
is no doubt he knew his age was entered as 43 and that it was his
second
marriage.
Marriage
Record –
Family number 1:
A current
review of the
marriage record between John R. Nigh and Sarah J. Clark in Owsley
County,
Kentucky disclosed J. R. Nigh, married Sarah J. Clark in Owsley County,
Kentucky in November 1852. The record lists his age at 33 [born about
1820], in
Virginia and Sarah as 20 [born about 1832], in Kentucky. The
marriage
was recorded in a marriage log at the county clerk’s office with many
other
marriages of the same year. Neither the bride nor the groom, were
required to
sign the log.
In
1852 there could be two sources of marriage records in
Kentucky. Those
created by the Sutton Law in the 1850s and 1870s and those kept by the
local
court clerk, since the founding of each county. The Sutton Law
marriage
records were kept in record books with columns for the names of bride
and
groom, their ages, birthplaces, residences, etc. The county court
clerk
records usually are full page affairs, one or two pages per couple,
with a
bond, license, certificate, etc. [Courtesy of Philip Naff, Staff Writer
and
Webmaster, Harrison County Historical Society]
Efforts
to obtain the more inclusive record mentioned above were unsuccessful.
The
Rebel Army and subsequent burning of the courthouse in Owsley County
destroyed
many of their records.
The
census records and marriage records clearly show the John R. Nigh in
both
family number 1 and in family number 2, were born about 1820, not about
1832,
as reported by Ms. Jones.
Family number
1 is of
the opinion that the John R. Neys in the 1850 Harrison County, Kentucky
census,
is in fact, John R. Nigh, born about 1820. Information provided to a
census
taker is usually provided by the head of the household. In the case of
John R,
Neys, he was not a family member and could have been at work or away
from the
house when the census was taken. His birth date could have been
reported as an
approximate and the place of birth given as, “He is from Maryland.” How
the
name is spelled, is completely up to the person taking the census. In
some
instances census records will show different information on the same
person,
from census to census.
Review of
the 1860
Census and additional records:
Sarah Nigh was
listed as
a widow. She and her two children are living with her parents in Owsley
County.
No death record was found for John R. Nigh in Owsley County.
Josephine
Hinton was
listed as a widow. She and her children are living in Scott County,
Kentucky
with 60 year old, Nancy Hinton. [Possibly a relative]
John R. Nye,
age 27
[born about 1833], in Kentucky is living with the family of Chris and
Jonnah
Musselman in Grant County, Kentucky. Chris is a farmer and John R. Nye
is a
schoolteacher. [My
estimate is that he is probably the same John R. Neys who was in
Harrison
County in 1850. The age in 1860 is a problem, and so is the
birthplace,
listed as Kentucky. The age is more of a problem, but one never knows
who
answered the door to tell the census taker what was what. As John
R. Nye
wasn't a relation, no one may have known how old he was. That his
birthplace was given as Kentucky might be a problem in the same
vein. It
may be a case of a lazy census taker who put down everybody as a
local. Sometimes one sees page after page of census records where
everybody was born in Kentucky, and it seems against the odds for so
many in a
row to have been born in Kentucky. I have seen where someone who was
born
out-of-state was correctly recorded in one census, born in Kentucky in
the
next, and then correctly reported again in the third one. [Record and
opinion
provided by Philip Naff, Staff Writer and Webmaster, Harrison County
Historical
Society]
Additional
marriage records:
John
R. Nigh, Minister, performs the marriage of John M. McKinley to
Missouri A,
Hance on 21 January 1861. Doc. #5392. Harrison County Marriages.
John
R. Nigh, Minister, performs the marriage of David C. Rulon to Margaret
A.
Brooks on 12 March 1861. Doc. #5414. Harrison County Marriages.
John
R. Nigh, Minister, performs the marriage of Jesse Morris to Nancy M.
Rulon on 7
April 1864. Doc. #5634. Harrison County Marriages.
John
R. Nigh, Minister, performs the marriage of Lewis Austin to Nancy Jane
Morris
on 2 November 1864. Doc. #5665. Harrison County Marriages.
John
R. Nigh, Minister, performs the marriage of James S. Kinman to
Elizabeth P.
Dungan on 9 May 1865. Doc. #5706. Harrison County Marriages.
John
R. Nigh, Minister, performs the marriage of Randolph Cramer to Mary E.
Dunn on
6 February 1866. Doc. #5789. Harrison County Marriages.
Jno.
R. Nigh, Minister, performs the marriage of Taylor Switzer to Rebecca
New on 27
February 1866. Doc. #5798. Harrison County Marriages.
John
R. Nigh, Minister, performs the marriage of William H. Highlander to
Zylpha
Dunn on 20 December 1866. Doc. #5893. Harrison County Marriages.
[Above marriage
record information provided by Philip Naff, Staff Writer and Webmaster,
Harrison County Historical Society]
Military records:
Jeff Scott, of family number 1 obtained copies of the muster rolls for the John R. Nigh, who enlisted in Company B of the 11th Kentucky Cavalry on 16 July 1862. The muster rolls show the enlistment took place in Grant County, Kentucky. The enlistment record remarks were “Within the lines of the enemy.” Subsequent muster rolls for Company B, list John R. Nigh as absent without leave, never showing up, or having deserted. The final muster roll, dated 17 July 1865 at Louisville, Kentucky for John R. Nigh, lists him as being “Enrolled but never mustered in or served.” [Grant County, is the same county where the John R. Nye, above, was living in the 1860 census]
The original muster in and muster out rolls do not
contain
any further information upon John R. Nigh. At the end of the
muster out
roll (dated 17 July 1865) there is a list of 28 soldiers, with Nigh
being one
of them. This listing is headed with the notation "The following named
men
are borne upon the muster in rolls of the company but were never
mustered in or
served with the company. Many behind enemy lines at the time of
muster in
and never returned." This company was mustered into service
around the time of the
summer 1862 raid of Confederate General John H. Morgan, and there were
many
areas of Central Kentucky (including Grant County) that had little or
no Union
control. Instead these areas were "over run with Rebel recruiters and
recruits." (From a July 1862 telegram describing the Carroll, Owen,
Gallatin, and Grant County areas). From the notation on the muster
out
roll, it is possible that Nigh could not report to muster due to these
Confederate units operating in his area. [Record information and
comment
provided by Brandon K. Slone, Military Historian, Kentucky Department
of
Military Affairs]
Review of
the 1870
Census and additional records:
No record
found in the
1870 Census for John R. Nigh. [There were some named John Nigh, found
in
Pennsylvania, Ohio and Maryland, but none were teachers or preachers]
No record
found in the
1870 Census for Josephine Nigh or any her children, including those
with the
surname of Hinton.
Josephine Nigh
received
a letter from John R. Nigh, dated 22 January 1876, from Comanche,
Texas. [Full
text copy of the is letter set forth above]
Sarah Nigh is
36 years
old, listed as a widow and is living with her mother, Tabitha Clark in
Booneville, Kentucky. Sarah’s children, Samuel and Tabitha, are also
living in
the home. Sarah’s father, William Clark was the Provost Marshal of
Owsley
County and was murdered by Morgan’s Raiders in June 1864. Sarah and her
mother
moved into Booneville to be closer to her two brothers, Colonel Andrew
H. Clark
and Captain Henry J. Clark, who both had survived the war.
Review of
the 1880
Census and other records:
No record of
John R.
Nigh was found in the census.
Sarah J. Nigh
is 48
years old and listed as a widow, living in Owsley County, Kentucky. Her
son,
Samuel is living with her. Also living in the home is her daughter
Tabitha and
her husband, William Scott and their baby son Charlie. William and his
brother-in-law, Samuel Nigh are farming. The birthplace for the father
of
Samuel and Tabitha is listed as Kentucky. Sarah dies in 1889 in Owsley
County,
Kentucky and is buried in the Clark – Scott Cemetery on the farm where
they
lived.
Louisa Nigh is
45 years
old and listed as a widow, living in Newtonia, Missouri. Her children,
Samuel
F. Nigh, Maggie Nigh, James Hinton and Lavina Hinton are living with
her. The
birthplace for the father of Samuel F. Nigh and Maggie Nigh is listed
as Pennsylvania.
Living next door to Louisa, is Richard Hinton and his family who are
farming.
Texas
General Land
Office on-line files, Austin, Texas:
(1.)
12 March 1884,
McLennan County,
Texas: John R. Nigh was the original grantee for 160 acres of land in
McLennan
County, Texas. Abstract number 687, (University and Asylum Lands), file
number
000227. Patentee, Thomas M. West, patent number 615, vol. 5. [In his
1878
letter to Louisa from Comanche, Texas, John mentions having been in
McLennan
County, Texas]
(2.)
6 December 1884,
Montague County
(Fannin Preemption), Texas: J. W. Nigh was the patentee and original
Grantee
for 156.60 acres of land. Abstract number 985, file number 002178,
patent
number 498, patent vol. 16.
(3.)
No date, Clay County
(Fannin
Preemption), Texas: J. R. Nigh was the original grantee for 160 acres,
file
number 002071, abstract number 799.
(4.)
No date, no county
(Robertson
Script), Texas: John R. Nigh was the original grantee, file number
001759.
Texas
General Land
Office, Austin, Texas:
Copies of the
above referenced
files were requested and received in May 2010. Review of the files
disclosed
the following:
(1.)
August 24, 1875,
McLennan County,
Texas. John R. Nigh applies to purchase 160 acres of land known as the
SW ¼ of
section 18, located in McLennan County. Abstract number 687. Nigh
agreed to pay
to the Treasurer of the State of Texas, the sum of $288.00 with ten per
cent
interest annually. Signed John R. Nigh. The land was sold on November
5, 1875
to Thomas M. West for $90.00 in hand. Signed John R. Nigh. [The
signature
appears to match the John R. Nigh signature on the 1865 Harrison County
Marriage Bond]
(2.)
November 27, 1878,
Montague
County, Texas. John W. Nigh applied for 160 acres of vacant public land
as a
bona fide settler. His witnesses were Hugh Whisenant and G. A. Turner.
After a
period of three years the application was approved on October 17, 1881.
Signed
J. W. Nigh. [The signature does not match the John R. Nigh signature on
the
1865 Harrison County Marriage Bond]
(3.)
June 19, 1878, Clay
County,
Texas. John R. Nigh applied for 160 acres of vacant public land located
about
22 miles, N 42 W from the town of Henrietta, Texas. His witnesses were
J. R.
Bland and J. R. Kendall who declared that John R. Nigh is a bona fide
settler
and as the head of a family is entitled to 160 acres of land. Signed
John R.
Nigh. [The signature appears to match the John R. Nigh signature on the
1865
Harrison County Marriage Bond]
(4.)
The no date, no county
(Robertson
Script), Texas file was an error at the General Land Office in Austin,
Texas.
File number 001759 did not apply to John R. Nigh.
Document 1: Marriage Bond, Harrison County, Kentucky, 1865.
Document 2: Marriage Bond, Harrison County, Kentucky, 1865.
Document 3: Purchase of land in McLennan County, Texas, August 1875.
Document 4: Sale of land in McLennan County, Texas, November 1875.
Document 5: Application for 160 acres as settler in Clay County, Texas, June 1878.
Notice
that the
above document is dated almost two and one half years following his
January
1876 letter to his wife wherein he stated. “I am very much out of
heart, but
what is before me I must endure. I know it won’t be long until my time
comes,…..”
Greer
County Clerk’s
Office, Mangum, Oklahoma:
(1.)
John McCleariu and his
wife
deeded to J. R. Nigh on February 1, 1889, filed in book 2, pages 178 –
179.
(2.)
J. R. Nigh deeded to
J. R.
McMahan on July 23, 1889, filed in book 2, page 211.
(3.)
J. R. Nigh deeded to
Josiah
McCleariu on May 31, 1890, filed in book 2, page
269.
(4.)
J. R. Nigh deeded to A. W. Short on May 31, 1890, filed in book 2, page
280.
[Efforts to
locate the
deed documents for the above transactions were unsuccessful. The pages
in the
only book 2 at the clerk’s office did not match the above page numbers.
Information provided by Sonja Wallace, Greer County Clerk]
Greer
County
Oklahoma, The Plain Dealer – 1898:
“John R. Nigh
asked to
show why his purchase entry should not be cancelled—April 30, 1898.
Prior to
March 16, 1896 bona fide occupant and has continuously occupancy since
1892.
Built fence 2 ½ miles long. Residence is 2 miles from land. He
is a minister
and had no permanent home. The government replied, As Mr. Nigh does not
reside
upon the land he is not qualified under section I, but will be allowed
under
section II. He will be allowed 30 days to show cause why his cash
receipt #1067
should not be cancelled. Land Commissioners.”
Review of
the 1900
Census and additional records:
John Nigh, age
78, born
March 1822 in Pennsylvania, who was widowed, was living in Mangum,
Greer
County, Oklahoma. He was a boarder in the home of a family named
Johnson. His
occupation was listed as a Clergyman. The birthplace of both of his
parents was
also listed as Pennsylvania. [This John Nigh was not listed with a
middle
initial but that does not mean he did not have one. John R. Nigh was
born about
1822 in Pennsylvania and so was his father. He seems very likely to be
the same
person in the census. There were no other persons found in Greer County
on any
census record named Nigh, Neys or Nye]
Josephine Nigh
is 66
years old, a widow, living with her son, 25-year-old Samuel F. Nigh, a
farmer
in Newtonia, Missouri. Her daughter, Lavina T. Hinton, age 44 is also
living in
the home.
Josephine dies
in 1908
in Missouri. [Provided by Ms. Jones, family number 2]
Neither
Josephine nor
Sarah ever re-married. The children of each of these two Kentucky women
went on
to have good and decent lives.
From
Oklahoma
Historical Society’s Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History:
“From 1860 to 1896 Greer County was part of Texas. On March 16, 1896, a U.S. Supreme Court decision made Old Greer County part of Oklahoma Territory. In the 1860s and 1870s the Kiowa and Comanche used the area as a hunting ground…
From a History of the Public Schools in Mangum, Oklahoma: by Tom Johnson.
“The first institution of learning was organized in 1888 as a subscription school with Professor John R. Nigh as teacher. The class room was a dugout located on the lot where Wright’s Storage building now stands. Soap boxes, barrels, rude benches, and barbed wire spools served for desks and seats. A large fireplace provided heat for the occupants. The school term lasted only three or four months. There were thirteen pupils who attended school…The teacher’s salary was low, the average salary was thirty dollars per month, but the “Professor” enjoyed the hospitality of his school patrons, for then it was considered quite an honor to have the schoolmaster as a guest in the home; therefore, he managed to make ends meet in spite of the meager salary.” [This John R. Nigh is no doubt the same John Nigh, listed in the above Greer County census of 1900]
Greer
County
Oklahoma, The Plain Dealer – 1901:
“Greer County Sunday School Convention and Picnic to be held July 10, 11 at Mangum. Those on the Program are: Rev. W. C. Banks…Rev J. R. Nigh…Communities taking part were Mangum, Lowder, Altus, Granite, Elk View, Mt. Zion, Deer Creek, Union, Navajoe and Bethel.”
Mangum Oklahoma Star, August 25, 1904:
“Rev. Nigh old time pioneer school teacher and later preacher. He died last year at 80 years [about 1823 birth date] and was laid to rest in a graveyard near Granite. Many of the early time pioneer children went to school to him seventeen years ago. (1887).”
“Rev. or Prof. Nigh as he was better known, possessed a striking presence and personality. Aside from his venerable appearance he was a man of fine intellectual attainments and for nearly a quarter of a century he had devoted these attainments to the intellectual and moral betterments of the people of the frontier. He, having followed the outworks of civilization from Henrietta to Vernon and to Greer County. He was a native of Pennsylvania and rode the first train that ever ran over the Baltimore and Ohio railway.” [Henrietta and Vernon are towns in Texas, located just south of Greer County on the old cattle trail]
“For a number of years before his death he devoted his time to the ministry of the Baptist church which now makes it fitting that that church should take the initiative in the laudable enterprise or erecting a monument in a measure befitting the work he did.”
Review of cemeteries in Greer County, Oklahoma:
Review disclosed the gravesite of J. R. Nigh in the Rock Cemetery, west of Granite, Oklahoma. The grave is located on row 11 S and the dates on the monument are 1815 – 1904.
This discovery further helps to show the John Nigh in the Greer County census of 1900, had the middle initial R. The 1815 birth year vs. the 1822 birth year in the census is a problem, but again, we do not know who provided the information to the census taker or the stonecutter. Notice the above information from the Mangum Oklahoma Star; August 25, 1904 reported John R. Nigh died last year, indicating the death to be in 1903 at the age of 80. That puts his birth year at about 1823.
Review of all
other
cemeteries in Greer County disclosed no other persons with the name of
Nigh,
Neys or Nye.
The date
and place of
birth problem:
The Nigh to
Clark
marriage, of 1852, shows John’s age to be 33 [born about 1820], in
Virginia.
[John did not sign this marriage record].
The Nigh to
Hinton
marriage record, of 1865, shows John’s age to be 43 [born about 1822],
in
Pennsylvania. This record was signed by John, which indicates that he
had read
the document and that he knew what it contained. [Not only did he read
the
document, it appears all of the entries were made by John’s hand. There
is no
doubt that this John R. Nigh is the son of Samuel and Elizabeth Nigh of
Hagerstown, Maryland and that he was born about 1822, not 1832]
Conclusion
of Family
number 1:
Both James and
Jeff
believe the research is compelling, especially in view of the
comparison of the
signatures on the marriage bond to the signatures on the land records
in Texas,
that John R. Nigh in family number 1 and John R. Nigh in family number
2 are
the same man.
On his
marriage license
to the Widow Hinton, John states the marriage to be his second. It
would appear
that John went to Owsley County in 1850 as a teacher and met Sarah
Clark. She became
pregnant and John may have been forced to marry her. John kept in touch
with
friends in Harrison County and as soon as he learned of the death of
Asher
Hinton in 1859, he told Sarah he was going back east. Instead, he
returned to
Harrison County and probably told the Widow Hinton that he had divorced
Sarah.
This would have compelled him to state on the marriage license, that it
was his
second marriage.
This
investigation has
not covered every possible source in searching for the definitive
answer to the
question at the beginning of this work. The answer probably never will
be
answered to everyone’s satisfaction because of human error in preparing
official records. The John R. Nigh of family number 1 and family number
2 has
not been proven to be the same man without the shadow of a doubt.
Conclusion
of Family
number 2:
Ms Jones has
not
responded to requests for her comments, since the discovery of the
signatures
of John R. Nigh on the Texas land transactions.
If there is
but one John
R. Nigh, then the question now is, why did he abandon his two wives and
their
children? We could offer an explanation of why John abandoned his first
family
but why he would abandon two families is difficult to explain.
All comments
are
welcome. Please direct comments via e-mail to:
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