josephadkins

I am the forth generation grandson of Joseph Adkins and Elizabeth Conley/Connely. Some families claim Joseph and Elizabeth's children are: Hawkin b:1836, Milly Adkins b:1838, Amanda J. Adkins b:1841, George M. Adkins b:1843, Linsey Adkins b:1844, James Turner Adkins b:1847, Corilda Adkins b: 1850, Silvester Adkins b:1851, Spencer Adkins b1855, Hamson Adkins b:1857, and Green Adkins b:1858. It seems a mistake has been made by someone. Research has shown that this couple is not related to the Connelly Clan.

Does anyone have documents or concrete information with sources on the following information concerning the Adkins/Connelly family history or other allied families. I would like to know how Joseph Adkins died. Was he killed, murdered, etc? I am told he is buried in Butler County, Kentucky. I am also seeking information on when he was run out of Carter County for releasing his slaves and his neighbors set out to lynch him. Please reply if you have any information and other family connections to these people. Contact: [email protected].

Henry and Sarah lived in Floyd County, Kentucky, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains near Henry's father and other family members, for most of their early lives. Henry served in the Army during the War of 1812 from November 10, 1814 until May 10, 1815. He served as a Private in a Company of Kentucky Militia commanded by Captain L. P. Higdon. Sarah was later granted a pension of eight dollars a month because of his service. According to Sarah, they were married by a Baptist minister named Spencer Adams/ Adkins?, although no official record of the marriage was ever found. Henry's father, Captain Henry Connelly, died in 1840 and in March or April of 1844, Henry, Sarah and their four youngest children moved "out west" to Wisconsin. Upon arrival in the Wisconsin Territory - Wisconsin wasn't a state until 1848 - Henry filed his claim to 40 acres in the Southwestern part of the Territory. On January 22, 1848 he bought a joining 40 acres from Francis Lewis McKensie for the sum of fifty dollars. The farm was located just across the street from the Jacob Borah Cemetery where Henry and Sarah are both buried. Many legal documents concerning the Connellys - his gravestone says "Connely" - are recorded in the Grant County Court House.

ELIZABETH CONLEY, daughter of HENRY CONNELLY, JR. and SARAH PHILLIPS, was born January 20, 1812 in Floyd County, Kentucky, and died May 25, 1897. She is buried at the Towles Cemetery in Wayne Township, Lake County, South Dakota. She married JOSEPH ADKINS, April 22, 1832 in Morgan County, Kentucky. It is possible that Elizabeth and her brother John were twins. They married Joseph Adkins and Rachel Adkins who were brother-sister. According to the book "The Connelly Clan of Eastern Kentucky," they were married four days apart, but I've also seen reports that they were married on the same day, April 22, 1832.

"She was such a remarkable woman.... She and grandfather lived in Ky. to them 6 children were born.. Grandfather died when the children were all small. Many a mother would have been staggered ay the thought of raising 6 children by herself, but not grandmother ADKINS. To her it was a challenge to be met. Tales had spread in Ky about hundreds of acres of fertile land in Wis open for homesteading. To make a long story short, grandmother left her children with relatives. She tied a roll of blankets at the back of her saddle, mounted her steed & rode, all alone over torturous miles of wilderness, to the land of her dreams, tethering her horse when night overtook her, sleeping under a canopy of blue, up on her way at the break of day, grandmother rode to Wis. She looked the country over and found a place in Grant Co., that suited her. Again she mounted her horse & rode another hundred miles to Madison, the capitol of Wis and filed on her homestead. She then rode back to Ky, packed up her kids and a few belongings & moved up to her newly acquired homestead. She built a little shanty and moved in. What a courageous soul she was. What other woman would have had the nerve to have tackled such an undertaking? Yet, she took it all in her stride. But that was just the beginning. She & her little brood went to work in earnest. There were acres to be cleared, plowed, cultivated, grain & feed to be sown, garden to be made, a years supply of potatoes to be raised & always a never ending round of chores to be done. Chickens, pigs, calves, & colts to be raised for she must prove up on her land & wrest living for herself & family. There was housework to do, baking, churning, mending, & always mittens & caps to be knitted. She made trips to town in the lumber wagon, taking crocks of butter and dozens of eggs to be exchanged for staples such as sugar and coffee, etc, dressed chickens, were taken if she needed calico or woolen materials for clothing. Wheat and corn were to be taken to the old burr mill to fill her barrels with flour. A patch of cain was grown for her sorghum. Then cam butchering for meat, etc. One little dreams of the endless toil they endured. One can only guess at the sacrifices she made, the depriving & hardship they encountered. I wonder if the spirit of that brave pioneer woman ever longs to return to the haunts of the old homestead that held her in its embrace so many years ago."

Elizabeth Conley. Children: George Buchanan, John Conley, Thomas Jefferson, Enoch, Francis Marion, Louisa Marion, Louis Marion. A cousin Jesse Adkins has done a family history, and says Joseph owned slaves in Carter Co, Kentucky, freed then and fled to Grant County Wisconsin. Jesse Adkins has (I believe) a family bible from 1790's that lists, "Henry Conley, 1789, Virginia" and "Sarah Phillips, born 1791, South Carolina"--These are Elizabeth Conley's folks. Henry Conley Adkins and Eleana Alma French Adkins--a Mayflower descendant.

JOSEPH ADKINS(1807-1844-45
Info for his whole family. A story in the outline that conflicts with the one told about the wife Elizabeth.
"When Joseph freed his slaves in Carter County, Ky to put an end to slavery ablution movement 1834-40) he was forced to flee in the night, so he wouldn't be lynched. for his safety, he traveled at night and rested during the daytime. He left Ky after telling George, the eldest what to take, and what to pack in two wagons; one to be canvas covered and to trail the 2 milk cows. the six young children, George and his mother, were to go to a colony of migrates in Ohio and he would find them. After 2 weeks preparation, they were ready to travel, meet their father, and go on to Grant Co., Wis. Later they moved to Iowa but because of 2 years of drought, moved back to Wis again, where they lived out their lives.

Children of JOSEPH ADKINS and ELIZABETH CONLEY are:

1. LOUISA MARION ADKINS, b. July 7, 1841, Morgan County, Kentucky; d. October 25, 1907, Mt. Ida, Grant Co., Wisconsin.
2. GEORGE BUCHANAN ADKINS, b. June 1, 1833, Morgan County, Kentucky; d. October 2, 1891, Mt. Ida Grant County Wisconsin.
3. JOHN CONNELLY ADKINS, b. May 07, 1835, Morgan County, Kentucky; d. September 28, 1921, Stockton, California.
4. THOMAS JEFFERSON ADKINS, b. November 27, 1836, Morgan County, Kentucky; d. as child.

Thomas Jefferson Adkins joined the Wisconsin 5th Regiment, Co. D. He was one of the 744 men killed in Civil War service who had enlisted from Grant County, Wisconsin.
5. ENOCH ADKINS, b. February 5, 1838, Morgan County, Kentucky.
6. FRANCIS MARION ADKINS, b. September 5, 1839, Morgan County, Kentucky; d. September 19, 1900, Lake County, South Dakota.
7. LEWIS B. ADKINS, b. September 27, 1844, Carter County, Kentucky; d. June 3, 1926, Madison, Lake County, South Dakota.

Lewis ADKINS   Self   M   Male   W   36   KY   Farmer   KY   KY
Ellen ADKINS   Wife   M   Female   W   30   IL   Keeping House   ---   ---
Joseph ADKINS   Son   S   Male   W   8   WI   At Home   KY   IL
Isaac Loe ADKINS   Son   S   Male   W   7   WI   At Home   KY   IL
Marybel ADKINS   Dau   S   Female   W   5   WI   At Home   KY   IL
Francis M ADKINS   Son   S   Male   W   3   WI   At Home   KY   IL
Milton L ADKINS   Son   S   Male   W   1   WI   At Home   KY   IL
Elisabeth ADKINS   Mother   W   Female   W   67   KY   At Home   VA   IL

Source Information:
Census Place Kickapoo, Vernon, Wisconsin 1880
Family History Library Film   1255449
NA Film Number   T9-1449
Page Number   340C

MADISON
Gen. James Shields Post No. 22 This post was chartered September 25, 1883, with the following
members:

Berumger, O.; Coon, L. N.; Curtis, O. H.; Cosgrove, S. L.;
Creech, T.; Downs, W. M.; Downs, N. H.; Ellis, T. G. French, J.
L.; Fleming, J.; Garey, J.; Huntimer, John; Klassey, G.; Lee, W.;
Luce, W.; McAllister, R. C.; Norton, C. A.; Stemfielt, T.; Wolfe,
T.

Adkins, Lewis; b. Custer Co., Ky., 1844; private, Co. K 47 Wis.; Jan. 30 to Sept. 5, 1865.
NOTE: I am pretty sure this birth location should be Carter Co., KY. There is no Custer Co., KY. (Shirley Buckler)

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