THE HISTORY OF ELIJAH FOLEY AND HIS FAMILY

THE HISTORY OF ELIJAH FOLEY AND HIS FAMILY,
AFTER WHOM "FOLEY'S LANDING" SUBDIVISION IS NAMED
A Fayette County Kentucky Story

     Steve Haydon, the developer of "Foley's Landing" asked me to prepare some information on Elijah Foley who built a brick home in 1795 in what is now the "Foley's Landing" area where you reside. The brick were made and fired on the site. About this time, brick homes were beginning to replace the wooden ones. The threat of Indian attacks and the Indian wars were ended. Migration to Kentucky was rampant and the Lexington/Fayette County area was highly attractive to these pioneers. The house was a three-bay, two and a half-storied Federal-style home with a gable roof and full basement. The basement contained a large stone fireplace.
    Elijah Foley (b. 1771) made the journey from VA to KY with his parents, Richard and Margaret (Wilson) Foley in 1779 when he was between the ages of seven and eight. He died at age 72 in 1843.
    Before his death he was interviewed by Reverend John D. Shane and this interview appears in the Kentucky Papers portion of the Draper Manuscripts, 11CC133-35. In the interview he tells of the family's journey from the Shenandoah Valley area of VA to Bowman's Station in Kentucky County, VA [now Mercer Co. KY, a few miles from Burgin]. The trip was made by a group of about twenty families, under the leadership of Abraham Bowman, brother of Col. John Bowman who brought 100 militia to that area in 1777 and established a fort in the same area as the station which was settled when the families, under the leadership of his brother, arrived. Colonel John was in Kentucky as early as 1775. He was the first Military Commander of Kentucky County at the time of the station's settlement, and was the first Military Governor of KY County. There are also family writings which give details of that journey. It is not known if they were written by Elijah, dictated to someone, or written from memory by a family member.

These two sources of information are as follows:

1. Reverend JOHN D. SHANE'S NOTES on his interview with [not dated] ELIJAH FOLEY - Draper MSS, 11CC133-35 [taken from The Filson Club Quarterly:, 1937:
[He: Elijah] lives down by the Republican Meeting house [in 1999-Trinity Pentecostal Church on Higbee's Mill Road]..that is between the two turnpikes [Nicholasville Road and Harrodsburg Road], on or near the Clay's Road. (postscript: Since dead? Yes.)

Re: Bowman's Station: We started from Frederick County, VA and settled Bowmann's Station, fall 1779, [arriving] about the middle of December. My mother was the first white woman that was there for some time; and our coming was the first settling of the station. There was nothing but a camp there till sometime in March, because it was too cold to work. As soon as we had gotten a good camp, Colonel Abraham Bowman brought his family from Harrodsburg, and by spring we had twenty families that had camped in the snow and remained during that winter. [At this point he goes on to mention the names of the settlers of Bowman's Station, which included his father, Richard Foley. The names were all heads of families and those who wintered there in camps. In June, by planting time, there were 31 or 32 families there. There were that many cabins; over 30. The cabins were built on each side of a hollow in the form of a half H. The main lines were probably 150 yards apart, to give the stock room to get in . The Run went down through the H and then in about a mile, emptied into Cane Run. The cabins were not stockaded in. The stream ran north and was rather between Cane Run and Dick's Rivers. He than proceeded to tell various things about the families at Bowman's station, and finally about his own...

Re: RICHARD FOLEY: My father had six in [the] family and only had six bushels of corn to go on for these six of us till he could raise [more]. [There eventually were ten children in all, the last born in 1788.] In the spring boats came down the river with corn to Louisville. As for salt, we had to get as we could, till we went to the Licks and worked for it.

2. THE FAMILY WRITINGS: These have been quoted in letters written between the great granddaughter of Elijah and the great granddaughter of his brother, William and are prefaced in the letters by the words, "by Elijah Foley" (as if told to or copied by the original scribe):

   "We started from Frederick Co., VA and settled at Bowman's Station [in the] fall of 1779 - about the middle of December. We were the first settlers in the station. There was just a [half-faced] camp there until some time in March. As soon as we had gotten a good camp, Col. Bowman brought his family from Harrodsburg; we had twenty familys that had camped in the snow and survived the winter"... ['The Hard Winter' of 1779-80 was one of the worst the region and all along the eastern United States had ever endured. Authorities have indicated that the ice on the Kentucky River became two feet thick. Around the Harrodsburg area, from the middle of November to the middle of February, snow and ice continued on the ground without a thaw, and snowstorms accompanied with bleak, driving and piercing winds were frequent. Not a drop of rain fell and the rivers and streams were frozen solid. Water could be obtained only by melting snow and ice. Wild animals, wild fowl and birds were found starved and frozen to death. The pioneers suffered too. For weeks they had nothing to live on except wild game. Things reached desperate proportions. Food was rationed and still there was not enough. According to Lewis Collins' History, a simple johnny-cake would be divided into a dozen parts and distributed and it was to serve for two meals.]..."By spring there were 30 or more and as soon as it got warm enough to, that many families built cabins next to each other. They were probably 50 yds. apart. That gave room to keep the stock in. It was not stockaded. The creek ran in a northern direction and emptied in Cane Run. The station was kept up four years until the Indians were gone. The families then began to go to the farms; some went to Tenn; some to their farms in other places." The letter then relates that when they got to Cumberland Gap they couldn't get over with their wagons and had to leave them and walk or ride oxen or horses.
    Richard Foley left the station in 1787 and bought a farm near Lexington in 1789. He raised his family there. Elijah built a home nearby and so did [BO:William:BO], Elijah's brother who was born in the station in 1780. [The ice house on William's farm was located on what later became the corner of Lee Adams Drive and Bordello Drive. It remained there for several years after the Clemens Heights subdivision was built. It is now gone-1983.] William's and Elijah's farms were very close to each other.
    In 1793 Richard was advertising in the KENTUCKY GAZETTE that he had gunpowder which he had made by hand for sale. [Because of this ad, Richard is, to date, the first known commercial gunpowder manufacturer in the state. It sold at 3 shillings 9 pence per pound, with an allowance to those who purchased a large quantity. By this time, of the ten children, only Elijah - age 22 and his brother, John , age 14 were old enough to be of assistance to their father in the mill. They obviously learned the trade from him. Richard died from the effects of measles at age 49 (1895) and his sons took over running the gunpowder mills. Richard left 100 acres, (including his home) of his entire 154 to wife, Margaret for her lifetime and then it was to go to son, John. The remaining fifty four acres were willed to Elijah. William received money that he invested in nearby land.
    In the meantime, Elijah had married Rachel Miller and their first son, Richard was born in 1793. [NFJ NOTE: 1794 Tax List, Fayette Co, KY, Elijah Foley showing an enumeration of 1-0-0-0-2. He is also on the tax lists for 1795-97 and 1800, and FC census for 1810 and 1820, showing #21: 00100-00100-00 and # 101: 210101-02000.
    After his father's death, Elijah apparently took over the running of the powder mill, based on an ad for gunpowder which ran in the KENTUCKY GAZETTE in 1799. In 1803-04, John (now 24) was advertising in the GAZETTE. By this time, the price was two shillings per pound to anyone buying 25 pounds or more. The South Elkhorn area was literally dotted with gunpowder makers and eventually, according to a sales report of a wholesale/retail dealer in Lexington, Elijah's brother William joined his brothers in the family's business. In 1811 in a period building up to the War of 1812, Elijah announced in the GAZETTE that he had his powder mill in order and was ready to manufacture gunpowder - indicating the possibly that production had halted for a time, the operation had changed hands, or it had to be rebuilt.

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1807 - 21 February, Foley, Roberts & Others to Colson - Jessamine Co KY Deed Bk. B, pp. 178-181:
Know all men...that we, William Pollard,

Thomas Roberts, Elijah Foley, Uriah Proctor and Nathaniel Dunn of the State of KY and County of Jessamine are held and firmly bound unto Edward Herndon and William Waller,:Exec'or of...Thomas Colson, dec'd of VA, Co. of Spotsylvania in $3,000...to be paid unto the said Herndon and Waller...dated this 21st day of Feb. 1807.

The condition of the above obligation is such that whereas the above bound Wm. Pollard's children are entitled to a certain proportion of the estate of the above named Thos. Colson, dec'd from the intermarriage of Wm Pollard with Frances Hampton, and they, the said Wm & Frances have since their marriage 6 children now alive who are infants under the age of 20 years and who by the said Thomas Colson's will are entitled to an equal dividend of a certain sum of money desired to them and...such of the said children as may be born after the distribution...William Pollard, father of the six such sums which the said Wm Pollard may receive from Herndon and Waller.
Signed: Wm. Pollard

    Wittn: Peter Mason
    Thos. Roberts [f-i-l of Elijah F's brother]
    Joseph Dougherty
    Elijah Foley
    Burton Mullikin
    Uriah Proctor
    Nathaniel Dunn
    [Relationships, if any, not known.]

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The Filson Club Quarterly, Ibid., pp. 252-259:

    In Rev. Shane's interview with Elijah Foley it states that it is of interest because it gives us another one of Shane's vivid pictures of pioneer life, but mostly because it deals with extraordinary people and one nationally famous event.
    The scene is laid in the upland country that lies between the Kentucky River and the heads of Salt and Green rivers; beautiful Bluegrass downs which, rising above the cliffs and crags of the canyon of the Kentucky, shelter on their bosom the twin towns of Danville and Harrodsburg. At the time of which Foley talks these downs stood out as prominently for picturesqueness and fertility as they have since stood out in the production of great men and women.
    The fight at Pickaway, Ohio, where William Bryant was killed, occurred in August, 1780. There are many descendants of these Bryants still in KY and they have a memento in the names of the pleasant little village of Bryantsville, nearby in Garrard County.
    The Bowmans played heroic and leading parts in the conquest of our Kentucky wilderness and the Northwest. Col. John Bowman was a member of the first Court of Kentucky County in 1777; and two years later was commander of the ill-fated expedition against Chillicothe. Capt. Joseph Bowman was with [George Rogers] Clark at Kaskaskia and it was to him that Cahokia surrendered. It was at Capt. Joseph Bowman's that the "corn-shellers fight" took place on September 11, 1777, in which two whites were killed and six wounded. Abram Bowman was also member of the first Court of Kentucky County; and elector in 1792 for Fayette County for the first Kentucky legislature. Isaac Bowman was Lieutenant in Capt. Joseph Bowman's company at Harrodsburg, in 1778. Their influence and usefulness are set out in history. They have many descendants yet amongst us.
    Col. Abraham Chapline came in with Harrod in 1774, was in the Point Pleasant Campaign and returned with Harrod in 1775, remaining from then on in Kentucky as one of its most useful citizens. From 1808 to 1817 he was State senator from Mercer [County].
    Arthur Fox early settled in Mason Co, because one of its first surveyors, and represented it, in 1790, in the Virginia legislature. His best claim to fame is that Simon Kenton practically gave him a survey in Mason County upon which Fox built the town of Washington, the first place in America to be named for the great Revolutionary leader.
    Major Herman Bowmar was a gallant Revolutionary soldier and in 1814 to 1817 was senator from Woodford County. Abraham Miller and Henry Funk were privates in 1778 in Capt Joseph Bowman's company at Harrodsburg. Jacob Myers was one of the many Jews who came to Kentucky early. He was an active trader in land. The story of the Jews in pioneer times awaits a historian.
    Gilbert Marshall, who was killed at Blue Licks, was one of the Tennesseans who came to KY with Col. John Donaldson.
    A notable item of interest about Foley's list of those killed at Blue Licks is that he gives the names of two who are not mentioned in the list five in Judge Samuel M. Wilson's carefully prepared and delightful story of that battle. These two new names are Thomas Ferrier and Joseph Smith. Judge Wilson lists James and William Smith and "Joseph" may be a mistake for one of them; but there is no mistake about Ferrier.
    Col. John Donaldson's career is not well known to Kentuckians, but he played a heroic part in Tennessee. He was leader of a company that set out in boats to go down the Tennessee and up the Cumberland rivers to make a settlement at the present site of Nashville. It was during the hard winter of 1779-80; but, besides their suffering from the inclement weather, they were set upon by Indians, and one boat captured and its passengers killed. After many difficulties the voyagers fortified themselves at Nashville but the Cherokees, Chicamaugas, Chickasaws, and Choctaws were so hostile that many fled to their nearest neighbors, the Kentucky settlers near Harrodsburg, Stanford, and Danville; and there remained until the treaty of peace with England brought hopes of better times.
    A tradition in the Robards family states that the Donaldsons were given asylum in an unused cabin on the Robard's farm. Mrs Robards, the head of the family, had moved to Kentucky during the Revolution with her four valiant sons and two lovely daughters. Each of her boys had been soldiers in the Revolution, and so had her two sons-in-law, Jack Jouett and William Buckner. From the "widow Robards" have come her brilliant grandson Matthew Harris Jouett, the artist, the Thompsons of Harrodsburg, and of Ohio, and Wyoming, also some of our most prominent Buckners and many other useful and accomplished citizens.
    Lewis Robards married Col. Donaldson's daughter Rachael, and thereby hangs a tale which is known wherever the story of Andrew Jackson is known. The reason for Rachael's infidelity are not known, in spite of the reams of paper devoted to the story, but Foley's interview implies that she had not made up her mind about the man she preferred, even after her marriage to Robards and before Jackson came into the story. The assertion of Jackson's protagonists that Robards was rough, cruel and uncouth, is not mentioned by Foley, nor, so far as known to me, by other contemporaries; and the refinement of the family in which he was reared makes such a charge improbable. After his divorce from Rachael Donaldson he married, in Jefferson County, Hannah Withers Winn, settled in Bullitt County, reared an excellent family, and lived and died honored by his neighbors.
    The journal kept by Colonel Donaldson during his trip down the Tennessee and up the Cumberland can be read in Ramsey's Annals of Tennessee.
    He later built his station in the Clover Bottoms, a few miles above Nashville, near where Stones River empties into the Cumberland - a country as lovely as that which surrounded Bowman's Station.
    Shane's notes do not indicate the time of this interview [with Elijah Foley]. It probably occurred about 1855; it may have been a few years earlier or later than 1855. [NFJ NOTE: Elijah died in 1843, so the interview would have had to have been given in 1843 or earlier.] Shane, it will be recalled, was born in 1812 and died in 1864. In the transcription no changes have been made other than the spelling out of Shane's abbreviations and the occasional insertion of a word in brackets.

Major Herman Bowmar: "Major Bowmar, of Woodford [Co.] his father, and his father's family came that same winter to Bowman's Station."

Old Mr. Estill, in Madison [What? or reference?]

General Jackson: "General Andrew Jackson never came to Bowman's Station. In two years after we came, Col. John Donaldson came, and settled in the edge of the Station, and remained there for four years. The Indians had broken them up at Nashville. Lewis Robards, who had settled between Harrodsburgh and Danville some time before, now married Colonel Donaldson's daughter. They first separated on account of Peyton Short - afterward, or then of Woodford [County] - or the trouble was caused first by him. But General Jackson was said to have taken her off down the river two years before they were married, and to have married her as soon as Lewis Robards got his divorce. Mrs. Jackson was a very smart woman. I didn't know anything of Jackson's difficulty. Her father moved his family again, down to Nashville, and she sent with them. Donaldson had been here a year or so before they were married. Robards followed his wife down there, and they lived together for a little while, and the connection was then broken up. When Robards left, Jackson got married. Gen. Jackson had been keeping a little store, (while he lived in Mercer), at the widow Robard's place, between Harrodsburgh and Danville. When he got married he was a lawyer, and boarding at Donaldson's."

Colonel John Bowman: "Col. Bowman was commander of the militia of this state (then Kentucky County) at the time of the settlement of his Station.

[John] Bowman's Campaign [against the Indian town of Chillicothe] was in 1779. They got news of some victory gained by Washington, while [George Rogers] Clark was at the O'Post [Vincennes]. They were firing on account of it, and the keg of powder caught fire and burnt Joe Bowman (who was a captain) so that he died.

Clarksville: They had begun to build a fort, at afterwards Clarksville, after their return from the O'Post and Abraham Miller, then a lieutenant, was killed there by the Indians. Abraham Chaplain was along, a captain in that campaign, as well as Joe Bowman. There was a grant by the State of Virginia, (Clark's Grant) of 20 miles square, right opposite Louisville, to the officers and men in this expedition, for their services."

"Henry Funk, a private in that campaign, married my wife's oldest sister. Miller was my wife's brother.

Joe and Isaac Bowman: Joe Bowman was sent by Clark to take the boat of goods that was coming down the Wabash. They got fired on, while in the boat. Isaac Bowman was at the O'Post at the time and was along. Isaac's arm was broken by the shot. He and an old man and woman, who were wounded too, somehow got out into the cane. Isaac killed the bear, and carved it with his lame hand. They then heard the Indians, who took them and treated them kindly. They healed Isaac's arm, and he was afterward exchanged, and died in Virginia."

The Bowman Family: 1. George, the Tory and the oldest. The Whigs killed him at his own house. I saw when the Colonel [Abram Bowman] received the letter. "It was no matter," he said, "at all; no matter." 2. Jacob, killed by the Indians in Carolina. 3. Isaac Bowman. 4. Joseph was between George and Abraham. I saw his share of the goods he took in that boat on the Wabash, sold at Bowman's Station. There was a trunk of them - red clothes, etc. for uniform. 5. Abraham was a Colonel according to the Whigs, in the Revolution. Abraham, by the Mill, was Abraham's oldest son. (No certainty about his (Foley's) knowledge of the relative positions of the several members of the family.) 6. John, colonel of the Militia, about the third child. He was old when he married; that was on the Roanoke. His wife was a widow (of the name of Bryant); had had eight children of which William Bryant was the youngest."

Bryants: (These Bryants were no relation to the Boon-Bryants.) "By this woman John had but one child (also named John), since dead. William Bryant and David Bryant, brothers, were sons of this widow. William was married to a Miss Henry. David was single, and about eighteen. They came out together as far as the Wilderness, from which William came on out, leaving his brother, David, in the Wilderness with the stock. David starved for want of bread. Couldn't live on the fresh meat. Died? of starvation and of the cold weather, the winter of the hard winter. One Jacob Myers and a Negro, now about Mr. Bowman's were with David. William Bryant was killed at the Pickaway towns, August, 1780, in Clark's Campaign. Abraham Bowman afterwards married the widow. Post Script: (From this mark, in the margin, the [following] information I think was given me by [one Mr.] Bowman. This Bowman referred me to Colonel Bowman's successor, at Bowman Station, and did not profess, himself, to be able to give any information.)
Jacob Myers

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Listed in " Kentuckians in the War of 1812", we find: Private Elijah Foley, 9/18/1812 to 10/30/1812, Capt. James William's Wo. of KY Mounted Volunteer Militia commanded by Lt. Col. James Allen.

Elijah apparently liked to partake of strong drink and during one of his bouts with intoxication was heard to say that his powerful competitors in the powder business, the Trotter family, had sold gunpowder in Canada because their brand was seen there. This was to imply that the Trotters were supplying the enemy (the British) with gunpowder, and therefore, were traitors. The Trotters were incensed and before long there were broadsheets published by Elijah and by the Trotters*** with each declaring statements of character assassination about the other. In one of theirs, the Trotters called Elijah a "man, who, from habitual intoxication has become considerably deranged in his intellects." War with England was soon in full swing and the attention turned to that. Elijah served in the 42nd. Regiment of the Fayette Militia as a Lieutenant and possibly later as a Captain. He also enlisted as a private in Capt. James Williams' Company which was commanded by Lt. Col. James Allen.

By the end of the war, gunpowder from England took over the markets here and that was the ruination of the industry in South Elkhorn as well as elsewhere. No more was ever known to be manufactured by the Foleys. Elijah's and Rachel's lives had taken a turn for the worse, possibly because of a great decline in his livelihood. In 1815 in the GAZETTE, a notice was published stating that the trustees for Elijah Foley (insane) cautioned the public about dealing with Foley because of his insanity.

***[NFJ: Note related to handbill/broadside "war"]:

" T O T H E P U B L I C "

"In justice to ourselves and our friends, we feel bound to notice in this publick way, a malicious and wicked slander, which has been circulated concerning us; which we have reason to believe originated with ELIJAH FOLEY, of this county, and in its circulation has assumed various forms and diversity of character. The substance of the slanderous charge is - that we were supplying the British or Canadians with Powder, and of course unfriendly to our country. To those who know us and who know the author of the report, it would be unnecessary to do more than to deny the charge and more particularly when it was known to have originated with a man, who, from habitual intoxication has become considerably deranged in his intellects. His motives (if any he had) are unknown to us, except that more than three years since he was discontinued as a manufacturer of powder for us."

"That he has propagated this falsehood, we have been informed by various persons, his near neighbors - amongst others by Mess'rs William Pollard, John B. Miller and Jacob Kellar - When our friends Doctor Walter Warfield and Captain William Bobb [Robb?], called on him to know his authority for the slander, he denied ever having said so."

"Within the last six years we have sold articles, the production of our country, viz. Cotton, Tobacco, Yarns, Salt-Petre, Posder, & etc. to a very considerable amount to citizens of our neighboring states and territories, which not only promoted our own interest, but we trust was somewhat beneficial to this state in procuring markets for our own manufactures and productions."

    "The concern which we have had in the manufacture and sale of Powder, was, in the ordinary course of fair and legitimate trade - we have in the pursuit of that trade violated no law either municipal or moral - we have never sold a pound of powder to other than citizens of the United States, residing in our own territories, and from our knowledge of the persons with whom we have had dealings, we feel confident, that no part whatever of the Powder sold to them, was ever disposed of by them to other than citizens of the United States, and for their use only. For the further satisfaction of the publick, we refer to the annexed certificates."
    SAM'L: & GEO: TROTTER
    Lexington, July 22nd, 1812.

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"As a report has been in circulation for some time, that Messrs. Saml. & George Trotter have furnished large quantities of powder to the British, we deem it but justice to declare, that the report in our opinion, is without foundation. We have examined their books with attention, and have observed that the powder made for them by William Foley, Daniel Bryant, Elijah Foley, John Foley, John B. Miller, William Roman and Nathaniel Pettitt, has been sold to different persons resident in Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the territories. And the entries (with the exception of a few only, made by persons not now in Lexington,) have been proved on oath, by John D. Young, William C. Bell, Robert G. Dudley, William Montgomery, Barnett Metcalfe, Robert Scott, and Levy I. Gist - gentlemen in whose veracity the highest confidence can be placed."

    "Our examination of their books commenced from the date of entries as early as April 1806. Since that time, they have received from the manufacturers of powder before mentioned, 49416 1/2 pounds of powder, 48750 of which they have been able to account for, which has been sold to persons in the habit of buying goods from them, most of whom are known to some of us. The deficiency of 666 1/2 which has not been accounted for, grew out of the circumstance of its being sold for cash or due bills, of which no entry was made on their books.
    Lexington, July 20, 1812. (Signed)
    JOHN BRADFORD BEN'J. STOUT
    CHA. WILKINS, JAMES MORRISON,
    PATTERSON BAIN, THOMAS JANUARY,
    NAT. G. S. HART, E. YEISER,
    GAB'L. TANDY, LEWIS SANDERS.

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    "Having transacted business for a considerable time in the capacity of Clerk for the firm of Saml. & Geo. Trotter, and having free access to the accounts, books and papers, concerning all the transactions of the firm, I have no hesitation in stating, that, from the first day of September 1807, until the 7th. day of March 1812, except an interval from about the 20th Sept. 1809, to the 1st of Feb. 1810, I have had a general knowledge of the purchase and sales made by them of Powder, and can state with confidence that during the above period, they did not sell one pound of Powder which was intended to be exported to Canada, and if any part of it was thus disposed of, I am confident it was without the knowledge, privity or consent of Saml. & Geo. Trotter; and do pronounce the report in circulation of their having furnished the British or Canadians with Gun Powder, false and malicious. Given under my hand at Lexington this 22nd day of July, 1812. BARNETT METCALFE."
    COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY,_________FAYETTE COUNTY, Sct.
    "Subscribed and sworn to before me, a Justice of the Peace for the county aforesaid."
    LEWIS SANDERS
    22 July, 1812.

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    Whereas a false and malicious report is in circulation, that S & G Trotter, merchants of this place, are in the habit of forwarding Gun Powder to James Adams, Merchant of Pittsburgh, Penn. for the purpose of disposing of it to the British government in Canada, I do hereby certify, that I resided with and transacted business for Mr. James Adams from Dec. 1805 until the latter part of the year 1910, and that during that time he received frequent supplies of Powder and other articles from S. &G. Trotter, all of which articles were sold to merchants and others residing in Pittsburgh, and the neighboring towns and country. Given under my hand at Lexington, this 18th day of July, 1812.
    WILLIAM BROWN
    COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY._____FAYETTE COUNTY, Sct.

The above deposition of William Brown subscribed and sworn to before me, a Justice of the Peace for the county aforesaid. Given under my hand, 18th July, 1812.

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NOTE.---Amongst various other shapes this infamous falsehood has assumed, one was, that "we had shipped large quantities of Powder to Pittsburgh, with directions to send it to Canada." ---whereas the fact is, that we neither sold to or sent to be sold, to any person or persons at that place, either during the present or two preceeding years, but a very inconsiderable quantity (say 1101 lb.) owing to the circumstance of one of our former principal customers residing at that place having his own Powder manufactured in the neighborhood of this place, during those years, by one of the same Powder Makers who manufactured for us."
SAM'L: & GEO: TROTTER

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[...and later in the month, there appeared...]

"T O T H E P E O P L E."

"A hand-bill having made its apperance, dated July 28th, 1812, signed Elijah Foley, in which an attempt is made to disprove the ground upon which an address to the public by myself and Brother was founded. From the peculiar character of Foley's hand-bill, in selecting me individually to bear the force of his slanderous insinuations, and imputing to me electioneering motives in making a defence to charges against our reputation as men--I am induced to make this publication, to expose his perservering villainy; and trust the following certificates will sufficiently demonstrate to the world the correctness of the information upon which our former address was predicated. The public can compare Mr. Foley's account of his declarations of those men, (to whom we referred in our former address) and the subjoined certificates; and determine how far truth has been respected by Mr. Foley -- of whom I now take leave, and shall not notice further.
GEORGE TROTTER, Jun. Lexington, July 31, 1812.

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Fayette County, sct. State of Kentucky.
   This day Jacob Keller (of Jessamine County) came before me, a justice of the peace for said county, and made oath in due form of law, that sometime during the year 1811 (after the election of that year) that he was going to Lexington in company with his father (John Keller) and Elijah Foley--that on the way his father said, "I wonder where all the powder went to that was made for Trotter's in this neighborhood." The answer was made by Elijah Foley, that "they sent it to Canada, for that his brand was seen there," and my impression was that he meant the powder was intended for the use of that Government. Given under my hand this 29th day of July 1812. (Signed)
    JACOB KELLER.
   Subscribed and sworn to before me, one of the justices of the peace for the commonwealth of Kentucky, and county aforesaid, the day above written. Given under my hand.

MATHEW ELDER, J.P.
Fayette County, sct. State of Kentucky

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This day John Springer and Achilles Howard (carpenters of Jessamine County) came before me, a justice of the peace for said county, and made oath in due form of law, that they were at work on Jacob Keller's house on the 27th inst. when Elijah Foley and a person called Joseph Beard, came there ---when Foley asked Mr. Keller to state what he had heard him say about S. & G. Trotter's, and concerning the powder, Mr. Keller answered and said that he (Foley) had stated in conversation, that "the Trotters had sent powder to Canada, for that his brand was seen there." Foley then asked Mr. Keller whether he had ever heard him say that the Trotters had sold powder to the British. Mr. Kellar answered, he had never heard him use those words---and we have no hesitation in saying that from the manner in which Beard and Foley acted in drawing up Keller's certificate, that the words "the Trotters had sent powder to Canada," were intentionally and wilfully omitted, and contrary to Mr. Keller's wish and intention. Given under my hand this 29th day of July 1812.

(Signed)
JOHN SPRINGER, ACHILLES HOWARD.

Subscribed and sworn to before me, one of the justices of the peace for the state and county aforesaid, this day above written. Given under my hand.
MATHEW ELDER, J.P.

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   I, John B. Miller, of Jessamine county, do herby certify, that in the months of August or September 1811, that I rode in company with Elijah Foley, Wm. Pollard and Elijah Pollard from Lexington towards the Republican Meeting-House---that in conversation, I heard the said Elijah Foley say that the powder that Samuel & George Trotter had manufactured was sent to Canada to supply the British---insinuating they were privy thereto---and that when called on by said E. Foley in presence of Joseph Beard and Henry Maxey, on the 27th inst. I told them in substance the above---which information I had previously given to S. & G. Trotter upon being asked by them. Given under my hand at Lexington, this 29th day of July 1812.
    (Signed)
    JOHN B. MILLER

Fayette County, sct. Subscribed and sworn to before me by John B. Miller, this 20th July 1812.
MATHEW ELDER, J.P. for the county aforesaid.

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Capt. Foley when meeting with John B. Miller---then the said Foley asked the said Miller whether he ever told Trotter anything respecting what Trotter published; the said Miller replied, he never had told Trotter anything, or any one else to carry a tale of ---till asked by Trotter whether he heard the said Foley say anything respecting the powder that the said Trotter should have sent to Canada, or elsewhere---the said Miller then said he then told Trotter that he heard said Foley relate about in substance what William Pollard had related to said Trotter.

Fayette County, Sct. Personally appeared Joseph Beard and Henry Maxey, before me, a Justice of the Peace for said county, and made oath that the above statement is correct and true. Given under my hand, this 31st July, 1812.

RICHARD HIGGINS

Fayette County, Sct. This day Beverly Miller came before me a Justice of the Peace for said county, and made oath, that on the 30th inst. he heard Joseph Beard and Henry Maxey say that they never had signed any certificate or authorised any other person to do so---purporting, that John B. Miller had denied what he (John B. Miller) had told Trotters, concerning what Elijah Foley had said of said Trotters.

Given under my hand at Lexington, this 31st. July, 1812.
MATTHEW ELDER, J.P.

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=> The absence of Mr. Wm. Pollard from home, prevents our getting his deposition---yet Mr. Foley, in his own handbill, proves by Mr. Pollard all that was necessary to establish the fact charged on him.

=> Mr Foley, in his handbill, having denied uttering the slander imputed to him---for the satisfaction of those who have not had it in their power to see that production, annexed they will find the whole of the testimony which he produces to exonerate himself. The public will determine how far he is entitled to additional claims for truth.

John B. Miller says before witnesses, that he never heard Capt. Foley say that the said Trotters had sent powder to Canada, or ever told Trotters so, or any body else.

Witness, JOSEPH BEARD, HENRY MAXEY

William Pollard says, before witnesses, that he never heard Foley say that the said Trotters had sent powder to Canada but once and then Capt. Foley was in a state of intoxication, and knew not what he was saying.

Witness, JOSEPH BEARD.

   I heard John Keller say, "I wonder where all the Powder went to that was made for Trotter in this neighborhood." The answer was made by Capt. Foley, that his brand was seen in Canada. I never heard Capt. Foley say that Trotter sent any powder to the British.
    JACOB KELLER Teste. ALEXANDER SMITH,
    JOHN SPRINGER,
    JOSEPH BEARD.
July 27th, 1812

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KENTUCKY GAZETTE, No. 16, Vol. 1, Monday, 17 April 1815, Vol. 29:
"Thomas Roberts, John Keller and Jacob Keller of Lexington, trustees for Elijah Foley (insane), caution the public not to deal with Foley due to his insanity."

The following year the land that contained the location of the powder mill was sold to Elijah's brother, John's father-in-law, Thomas Roberts. Within a few months (1816) a deed was recorded which granted provisional title to Elijah's house and land to trustees of the Foley estate. Within the deed is what possibly constitutes at a legal separation, if not a divorce. It reads:

"Whereas the said Elijah Foley & Rachel Foley from some unfortunate circumstances are unable longer to live together as man and wife and they have immediately agreed to separate and the said Elijah by these presents, releases and relinquishes all right and claim in the said Rachel his wife and covenants from henceforth to withdraw from and never more to molest the said Rachel. And the said Rachel hereby releases and relinquishes all right and covenants henceforth to withdraw from the said Elijah Foley."
"The property was to be sold and one-third of the proceeds were to go to Rachel for support of herself and the children. The remainder was to go to Elijah. The records do not record what happened as a result of this deed, however, in the Fayette Co. tax list of 1817, Elijah is shown as owning 33 acres. This same acreage is shown on the tax lists for him for many years afterwards. They apparently settled their differences at some point in time because Elijah died in 1843 and the land is in Rachel's name on the 1844 tax list, and she is listed on the 1850 Census of Jessamine, living with her son."

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O'Dell, "The Trotter Family...[first draft] p.20:
At the opposite end of the county [Fayette] [from the McCoy Mill] had been the Foley Mill, the first to commence operation in the state. In 1816, John Higbee had apparently taken over the Foley operation at South Elkhorn, due to the mental incapacity of the former owner and Higbee's near neighbor, Elijah Foley. In 1818 a brand-new powder operation began with the purchase of a four-acre tract on the Woodford Road [present Versailles Rd] by the Rev. Spencer Cooper.

O'Dell, Ibid., p.22:
In May of 1819, an advertisement in the KENTUCKY GAZETTE broke the news that Tilford & Trotter had entered into partnership with William Roman to manufacture gunpowder at their new Eagle Powder Mills.

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Lexington GAZETTE, Vol. XIX, No. 993, ca. 1805:
A notice regarding the Kentucky Militia mentions, among others, Capt. Foley. {NFJ NOTE: I PRESUME all listed as Capt. Foley to be referring to Elijah since the others in his company of militia are his contemporaries.] .....

1807 Jessamine Co, KY Deed Bk.B pp. 178-181:
Foley, [Elijah] & Roberts [Thos.] and others [Uriah Proctor and Nahaniel Dunn, Edward Herndon and ____ Waller] for Thomas Colson, deceased.

Lexington GAZETTE, Vol. XXII No.1193, Tuesday, 6 Sept. 1808:
An article regarding the visit of Gov. Charles Scott in Lexington mentions, among others, Capt. Foley.

KENTUCKY GAZETTE, Vol. XXIV, No. 1275, Tuesday, 19 June 1810:
Mentioned is Thomas R. Gatewood regarding a bond to Leonard Grinstead and Elijah Foley. .....

KENTUCKY GAZETTE, Vol. XXIV, No. 1278, Tuesday, 10 July 1810:
An account of the 4th of July celebration at Lexington mentions, among others, Capt Foley.

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1810 Census, Fayette Co KY, p.792:
Foley, Elijah 21010 11010 3 slaves
1820 Census, Fayette Co, KY, p. 101:
Foley, Elijah 2 1 - 1 - 1 - 2 - 1

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Elijah & Rachel’s grandson Thomas is shown as owner of Elijah's homeplace on landowner maps published in the 1860's and 1870's. The land passed out of the family after Thomas' death in 1892.

In more recent years the house had become a tenant house and eventually was left vacant. Several years ago a fire of unknown origins ruined the interior, thus causing the roof supports to give way. By 1994, the house was destroyed, with as many of the brick salvaged as possible. Some of these were used in erecting the pillars at the two entrances of "Foley's Landing", which is mid-way into the Wyndham Hills subdivision, turning left off of Clays Mill Road (going south) just a bit beyond Man O'War Boulevard. A brief archaeological dig was done at the site, producing many pottery sherds along with a myriad of twentieth- century "artifacts". A description of the dig follows.

From the Summer 1995 issue of the Kentucky Heritage Council's Heritage News we get the results of the. . . "Excavations at the Elijah Foley House"

During the summer of 1994, the Kentucky Heritage Council learned that the Elijah Foley House would be demolished to make way for a subdivision. Constructed in southern Fayette County about 1795 for gunpowder manufacturer Elijah Foley, this house was one of only a few surviving eighteenth-century dwellings in the Bluegrass. The Heritage Council felt that excavations were warranted and Mr. Steve Haydon, owner and developer, granted permission to conduct archaeological investigations at the site. Between April 21 and June 2, 1994, 12 days of salvage excavations were conducted under the supervision of KHC staff archeologist Charles D. Hockensmith. Participants included elementary school students, interested adults, professional archaeologists, and University of Kentucky graduate students.

Originally, the house was a substantial 2 1/2 story Federal style brick structure with Flemish bond brickwork. Situated on a broad ridge top about 380 meters east of Clays Mill Road, the 3-bay structure had a gabled roof and two outside end chimneys with corbeled caps. The building was later modified in the Greek Revival style and enlarged with the addition of a 2-bay, 2-story ell.

The 17 excavation units yielded 6,012 historic artifacts. These artifacts represent 11 general functional groups including: kitchen, architecture clothing, activities, arms, personal, furniture, entertainment, transportational, faunal, and miscellaneous groups. The Kitchen group artifacts, items associated with activities such as food preparation, food service, and food storage, are the most numerous. Included within this group are a large number of glass container fragments, along with forks, knives, spoons, pot handles, and bottle caps. Ceramics types recovered include: whiteware, semi-porcelain, pearlware, porcelain, yelloware, redware, buff stoneware, grey stoneware, creamware and fixture porcelain. Ceramic decoration includes: decal transfer printed, edge, mocha, rockingham, flow, colored glaze, relief, shell edge, handpainted, banded, sponge, luster, and salt glaze.

The remaining general functional groups were represented by fewer artifacts. The architecture group contains artifacts recovered, handmade bricks, mortar, plaster, and asphalt roofing shingles were also found. Arms group artifacts included brass cartridges for rifles or pistols and brass bases for shotgun shells. The transportation group consists primarily of horseshoes and artifacts representing other farm-related activities. Among the entertainment group artifacts found were marbles and doll parts, as well as modern plastic and metal toys. Buttons buckles, eyelets, cuff links, and small leather shoe parts comprise the clothing group, while furniture group artifacts consist of decorative ceramic items such as vases and glass lamp globe fragments. The personal group represents a wide variety of items that are related to personal adornment or that are likely to be kept on one's person. Personal artifacts recovered from the Elijah Foley house include a smoking pipe, coins, beads, bone-handled pocket knives, keys and jewelry. Faunal group artifacts include domestic animal bones such as cows, pits, chickens, turkeys, and rabbits as well as a variety of wild game animals.

The salvage excavations at the Elijah Foley House were important for several reasons. From a research perspective, the artifacts recovered are an excellent comparative collection of material culture for a 19th. Century Lexington-area residence. Domestic buildings of this period are rapidly disappearing and, to date, very few artifact assemblages have been salvaged from early historic house sites in the Bluegrass Region.

Secondly, the investigations at the Foley house demonstrate that preservationists, developers, and volunteers can work together to mitigate the effects of urban expansion. While it is not always possible to save each historic house or archaeological site, we can preserve valuable information by working together. Everyone benefits from this type of cooperation: irreplaceable information is recorded for future generations, volunteers gain educational opportunities, and developers have the satisfaction of knowing that they helped gather information about the past while meeting the needs of the present. Hopefully, the investigations at the Foley House will stimulate future efforts to salvage significant sites associated with Kentucky's rich cultural heritage.

By Charles D. Hockensmith

[NFJ: Within the article are three photos of the house: one about 1970, one after abandonment, and one as it is being razed in 1994. Also shown are excavations at the house, ceramics excavated, and volunteers digging at the site. The Man in the trench is Gary O'Dell a geologist for the State who has written several articles which included information about the Foley Family and its connection to the manufacture of gunpowder. The woman in the same photo, seated at one of the sifting tables is the writer.]

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The family graveyard was located behind the house and to the left in a grove of trees a little ways from the house. This was investigated and found to contain 24 graves. No stones were found, consequently none of the graves could be identified. Of the 24, nine were graves of adults, six were those of children and nine were of infants. The black dirt, some bones and some skulls which constituted the remains in the graves, along with the artifacts which remained in the form of buttons, nails, casket handles, glass, pieces of leather shoe soles and fabric, were individually placed in small pine boxes and moved to Rose Crest Memorial Gardens in Woodford County. Elijah and Rachel had six children..four sons and two daughters. The oldest was born in 1793 and the youngest in 1816 near the time of the 'deed of seperation'. Three remained in KY, two married and moved to Clay County, MO and one, nothing further is known about. All married. One daughter had no children. Thomas, the grandson who became owner of the farm eventually, is the only one of his father's children who remained in KY. The others also moved to the area around Clay County, MO.

I believe that both Rachel and Elijah were buried in the family graveyard behind Elijah's house off Clays Mill, because, according to family writings dated 1939, (author unknown) is stated that the "house is still extant and accessible on the Clays Mill Road," and that "Elijah and Rachel lie buried in the family graveyard near the house."

This writer is the fourth great granddaughter of Elijah and Rachel (Miller) Foley [and also the third great granddaughter of Elijah's brother, William and his wife, Elizabeth (Stone) Foley. This is due to the fact that both of my great grandparents were Foleys]. I have researched this family for the past 37 years and I was both pleased as well as saddened to be present during some of the archaeological dig and to witness the graveyard removal and re-interment. This was definitely a different approach to genealogy than I had heretofore experienced. I have viewed the house only from the outside...off and on... over the past thirty years. I was never able to find anyone at home who might have let me view the interior, much to my chagrin.

There have been happy as well as sad times spent here by each succeeding generation of inhabitants. That is life. You too will, no doubt, encounter some of each, but I hope that the happy times are many and the sad ones few.

Nancy Foley Johnson Lexington, KY
March 10, 1996

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<< SOURCES For The Above >>

THE HOLY BIBLE, London M.DCC.LIX [1759], Thomas Bassett, printer, [belonged to Henry & Amy Foley, and brought to Kentucky by their son, Richard.]

Family Records] Nancy Foley Johnson Family Collections [genealogy]

Nancy Foley Johnson Photo File

William Sudduth Foley, Sr. Family Collections [genealogy]

Gary A. O'Dell, "THE TROTTER FAMILY, GUNPOWDER, AND EARLY KENTUCKY ENTREPRENEURSHIP, 1784-1833."

KENTUCKY HISTORICAL SOCIETY REGISTER, Vol. 88, No. 4 , Gary A. O'Dell & Nancy Foley Johnson, "SOUTH ELKHORN AND THE FOLEY FAMILY: A COMMUNITY OF POWDERMAKERS" n.y.p.

Teresa Morrow, Family Collections [letters]

John D. Shane Interview, n.d., Draper MSS 11CC133-35

Lexington, KY, KENTUCKY GAZETTE [gunpowder ads]

Lexington HERALD LEADER, Don Edward's Feature Story, "Without A Buyer, 199-Year-Old Kentucky Home Faces Bleak Future." d.u.

FILSON CLUB QUARTERLY, 1937 KENTUCKY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, "BULLETIN," d.u., "The Hard Winter."

John W. Wayland, "THE BOWMANS, A PIONEERING FAMILY," 1943, Staunton, VA

"REPORT OF THE ADJUTANT GENERAL OF THE STATE OF KENTUCKY. SOLDIERS OF THE WAR OF 1812", (1891) E. Polk Johnson, Public Printer and Binder, printed by authority of the Legislature of Kentucky, Frankfort, KY

FAYETTE COUNTY KY DEED BOOK E, 1791

FAYETTE COUNTY KY DEED BOOK U, V, or W, 1822

FAYETTE COUNTY KY TAX LISTS FAYETTE COUNTY KY WILL BOOK 7, -Burnt Records- 1795

Bell, "REVOLUTIONARY WAR PENSIONS OF SOLDIERS WHO SETTLED IN FAYETTE CO KY"

Trotter, Samuel & George, "TO THE PUBLIC" [broadsheets]

Randolph Richardson Corporation, "General Report of Examination of Foley Cemetery, Lexington,

Kentucky Map and Inventory."

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Other notes on the family:

John Wayland, "The Bowmans, A Pioneering Family," pp. 7-8 [NFJ: Wayland is discussing the order of birth of George Bowman's sons.

Filson Club "Historical Quarterly", October, 1937, pages 252-259, is printed from the Draper Mss., an interview of Rev. John D. Shane with Elijah Foley of Fayette County, KY.

Foley as a boy, went with Col. Abram Bowman from Virginia to Kentucky in 1779. From this interview, as reported, we quote the following:. . .[NFJ: he states the order he believes to be correct and also gives some other interesting information..." I saw his [Joseph's] share of the goods he took in that boat on the Wabash, sold at Bowman's Station. There was a trunk of them - red clothes, etc., for uniform." Also in this interview, Elijah names George Bowman, the oldest and the TORY. It was then stated by Wayland that "he [Elijah] was right in saying that the Tory was the oldest...but the Tory was Jacob, not George. It has taken until 1996 for descendants of Jacob Bowman to prove that their Jacob Bowman was not a Tory. There was another Jacob Bowman in the area and the two had been confused in an early reporting and the error had followed him down through history until the present time when it was fortunately corrected. One of his descendants has now received membership in the D.A.R. based on his patriot status from many donations of food and supplies made by him and his wife during the Revolution.].

Elijah Foley was in the 3rd. Regt. (Allen's) Mounted, KY Volunteers – Pvt.

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FC KY Tax List 1795:
Elijah Foley ..........

FC KY Tax List 1800:
Elijah Foley no twp listed ...........
FC KY Census 1810:
Elijah Foley p. 21 00100 00100 00 - [Elijah and wife, Rachel]

FC KY Census 1820:
Foley, Elijah Fayette Co KY 101 [page] No twp. listed
William Sudduth Foley, Sr. – Writings, p.18-19:

Elijah Foley was born in VA [most likely] and was a bit over the age of 8 when he came with his family to Bowman's Station in the winter of 1779. He died in July or August of 1843; his will is signed July 6, 1843 and was probated in the FC August Court, 1843. Elijah died in Fayette Co. after April 8, 1844 as that date is given when Rachel signed as Administrator for the Sale Bill of the Estate of Elijah.

He married in KY - ca. 1793, Rachel Miller, a younger sister of Lt. Abraham Miller and Mrs. Henry Funk.

Both Elijah and Rachel are both [said to be*] buried in the family graveyard in a grove of trees a short distance from the left back of their home - if facing the front of the house. There are now - 1997 - several houses built in the area which at one time was the graveyard. [NFJ NOTE regarding the graveyard: No one remembered stones ever being there - I am certain that some sort of markers were put up at their deaths-but none were found throughout the entire probing for, digging up and moving of the graves in this cemetery, which I was there for.] *Mid-way through their married life, ca. 1811, Elijah drew up a deed whereby he gave Rachel a parcel of land for her to live on "since they could no longer live together as man and wife" [NFJ NOTE: To my knowledge there is no document to show the outcome of the situation. However, about this time, he was embroiled in a bitter dispute with the Trotter family, his competition in the gunpowder manufacturing business and they accused him of being a drunk and there was a notice in the Lexington newspaper, warning people not to do business with him because of "his insanity". In that day and age, not much was known about the symptoms of diabetes and the consequences they provoked. Since he went on to live a long life, no more mention was recorded about spouse problems, and in his will he named her to inherit his land, home and household belongings, I have a theory of what MIGHT have happened. given the drinking problem, and the fact that several of his direct descendants have developed diabetes, I wonder if he was not in some sort of big-time insulin/blood sugar imbalance which can make a person difficult to reason with at times then there is a fair amount of imbalance. It COULD have appeared to be insanity when it MIGHT have been diabetes...two completely different illnesses. This is pure speculation on my part.]

NFJ NOTE: [Elijah was involved in the manufacture of gunpowder as were his two brothers, John and William, and brother-in-law, William Roman. The brothers took over the business and ran it after the death of their father in 1795. Technology changed and the demand for powder dropped off after the War of 1812 and Elijah's efforts were taken up with farming the land he had inherited from his father.]
I [WSF] found no definite record of Elijah's religious affiliation, but his wife is listed on the rolls of the Republican Church as are some of his children.

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We find in "Revolutionary War Pensions of Soldiers Settled in Fayette Co." by Annie W. Burns:

March 19, 1839, Fayette County - Affidavit of Elijah Foley, Fayette Co, KY: Before the undersigned Justice of the Peace, personally appeared Elijah Foley, a resident of said county, states he was present at the marriage of Col. Abraham Bowman and Sarah Bryan in the then county of Lincoln (now Mercer Co., KY) in, he thinks, the summer of 1782. He was not in the room however, at the time of the marriage ceremony, but was present a few moments afterwards and before they had taken their seats and believes that they were legally married. He [swore that] lived a neighbor to them from the time of his marriage until his [Abraham's] death and that his widow, Mrs. Sarah Bowman is the same woman above named and etc. ...

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1830 Census, Fayette Co, KY:
Foley, Elijah M=1 10-15 ? F=1 50-60 Rachel (?) Living together?
M=1 15-20 ? M=1 50-60 Elijah

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1840 Tax List, Fayette Co, KY, 5th District:
Foley, Capt. Elijah 40 acres Fayette S Elkhorn 1800
Foley, Richard (his son)15 acres Fayette S Elkhorn 700
[NFJ: 40 + 15 acres = the 54 he inherited from his father, Richard.]
Foley, Henry (his son)
Foley, William (? his son)

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FCKY Will Book P, p. 454:

                                                           WILL OF ELIJAH FOLEY
In the name of God, Amen. I Elijah Foley of the county of Fayette and state of Kentucky deem it expedient to make a will, to show how I wish my estate to be disposed of after my death. First, I will to my wife, Rachel Foley, forty acres of land, more or less, whereon I now live, with the household and kitchen furniture to have and to hold during her natural life. The land to be equally divided between my two sons, Henry and James after the decease of my wife. It is my will that my executors pay to Richard Foley, two hundred dollars to be paid in one year after my decease; also they will pay to Phoebe Johnson, two hundred dollars, and at the expiration of four years, they will pay to William, two hundred dollars. I constitute my wife, Rachel Foley, Henry Foley and James Foley as my executors to this my last will and testament. Whereof, I have set my hand and affixed my seal this 6th. day of July, 1843.
Test: Rich. Gate wood         ELIJAH FOLEY (seal)
    Leonia's B. Talbot
    Sanford Foley

Fayette County Sct: August Court 1843
The foregoing instrument of writing, proporting to be the last will and Testament of Elijah Foley, deceased, was produced in open court, and fully proven by the oath of Richd. Gatewood, Leonidas B. Talbott, and Sanford Foley, the subscribing witnesses thereto, and ordered to be recorded, which is truly done in my office
ATT: James C. Rodes C.F.C.C.
By Wm. R. Bradford D.C.

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FC Will Book Q, pp. 80-81:
INVENTORY AND APPRAISEMENT of ELIJAH FOLEY ESTATE

A true and just inventory and appraisement of all the Personal Estate of Elijah Foley dec'd which was produced to us by Rachel Foley and James Foley, Executors of said dec'd, to wit:

One bed and bed clothing $ 13.00
Trundle bed and clothing 5.00
One bed and clothing 12.00
One lot bed clothes 10.00
One lot carpeting 8.00
Twelve chairs 3.00
One small table 1.00
One dining table 4.00
One corner cupboard 5.00
One desk 5.00
One lot cupboard ware 7.00
Knife Box and knives 1.50
Lot of stoneware 2.50
One looking glass 3.00
One candlestick & shovel .75
Two mockels (?) 1.00
Two bread trays .50
Ladle, flesh fork & spit 1.00
One lot of tinware and pewter basin 1.00
One clothes Iron, trivet and two pr. Cotton cards .50
One lot tools 1.50
One kitchen table .25
Two wheels & reel 2.00
One lot tubs 1.00
One lot castings 4.00
One pr. waful Irons & Coffee Mill 1.50
Two wedges & ax 1.50
One pare stretchers & chane 1.00
Hanes and two Hoes 1.00
One Mule cow 5.00
Hogshead & box

We do hereby certify that the foregoing inventory contains all the Personal Estate of Elijah Foley, dec'd which hath come to our hands.

Her
RACHEL X Foley
Mark

James Foley, Executors .....
We do certify that the foregoing appraisement was truly and justly made of the estate of Elijah Foley, dec'd to the best of our judgements. March 6th. 1844
        Louis Faulconer
        George W(?) Bowman
        J.S. Faulconer .....

George W. Bowman, J.S. Faulconer and Louis Faulconer, who have been appointed by the Fayette County Court to view and appraise the personal estate of Elijah Foley, deceased, personally appeared before the subscriber, a Justice of the Peace for said County and were sworn to view and appraise such estate as shall be produced to them, truly and justly, to the best of their judgement.
Given under my hand this 6th. day of March 1844. John Brown, J.P.

Fayette County to Wit: April Court 1844:
The foregoing Inventory and Appraisement of the personal estate of Elijah Foley dec'd was returned to court, examined, approved of the ordered to be recorded, which is done.
Att. James C. Rodes C.F.C.C. .....

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Will Book Q, p.81:
BILL OF SALE OF PERSONAL PROPERTY OF THE ESTATE OF ELIJAH FOLEY DEC'D
The 8th. of March 1844:

James Foley 1 log chain .81
Same one pr. Stretchers .43
James Marrs two wedges .56
James Foley one pr. Hames .25
Robert Clements one grubing hoe .12 1/2
James Foley rake & hoe .31
L.B.Talbott one reel 31
James Foley one small wheel 1.62 1/2
Martha Adams one large wheel 2.00
James Foley lard stand 12 1/2
L.B. Talbott one small tub .31
Martha Adams one large tub .18
Richard Foley one auger .93
Same one pr. foot adds .35
Robert Clements one saw .06 1/4
Richard Foley one froe .43
Thomas Kidd two hackles 1.75
James Foley three crocks 37 1/2
James Sally jar & crock 31 1/4
Robert Clements ladle & fork .50
Louis Faulconer one lot of tinware .56
L.B. Talbott one bason & spoon .31 1/2
Thos. Kidd one drawing knife & hammer .31 1/2
Same flat iron .12 1/2
L.B.Talbott sausage stuffer .15
Thos. Kidd one pr. of cards .25
Robert Clements two jars .37 1/2
L.B. Talbott three jars .37 1/2
James Foley one skillet .18
Richard Foley two pr. of books .50
James Foley waful irons .50
John Rial one brass kettle .50
James Foley one pot .50
Same one pot 12 1/2
Same one pot rack .56
Same one pot rack .62
Robert Clements one kettle 1.87
Craig Asher(st) two sifters 12 1/2
Thomas Kidd two trays .43
Robert Clements two barrels 12 1/2
Same coffee mill .25
Same one table .37 1/2
Richard Foley one set of knives & forks 1.12
Thomas Kidd teapot & sundries .12 1/2
John Rial two vegetable dishes .12 1/2
Thomas Kidd two bowls .37 1/2
Richard Foley one pitcher .50
John Rial one set cups & saucers .93
Thomas Kidd three plates .12 1/2
Thomas White six plates .75
Thomas Kidd five plates .12 1/4
Same one lot of cups .12 1/2
Richard Berry one tea pot .18
John Rial one lot of glass .31
Richard Berry one teapot, five spoons .18
Robert Clements five glass plates .25
Willis Jenkins one dish .37
Robert Clements candlestick & snuffer .37
James Foley one hone 1.12 1/2
Same one table 2.87 1/2
Richard Foley one small table .81
James Foley one cupboard 4.12 1/2
Robert Clements one bed & stead 3.18
John Rial shovel & waiter .31
Richard Foley five chairs .37 1/2
Same eight chairs 3..87
Robert Clements bed & bedding 16.62 1/2
John Rial one desk 4.25
Richard Foley one Looking glass 3.50
Same lot of carpeting 7.00
Thomas Kidd one lot of carpeting 1.50
Robert Clements one coverlet 1.56
Richard Foley one toilet 12 1/2
James Foley one coverlet 1.00
John Rial one quilt 1.50
Thomas Kidd one quilt 1.00
Same one quilt 1.00
Same one quilt 1.00
Same one quilt .75
Thomas Kidd one arm chair .12 1/2
John Rial one lot of books .12 1/2
Richard Foley one cow 7.00
James Foley one box & pitchfork .12 1/2
Same one hogshead .12 1/2
L B Talbott one axe .50
Rachel Foley one bed and bedding 14.00

The above is a correct Sale Bill of the Personal Property of the above named Elijah Foley, Dec'd.
8 April, 1844
Rachel Foley Administrator
James Foley Administrator Fayette County to Wit: April Court 1844
The foregoing Sale Bill of the Personal Estate of Elijah Foley deceased was returned to Court, examined, approved of, and ordered to be recorded, which is truly done in my office.
Att. James C. Rodes C.F.C.C.

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Their house, which Elijah either built or had built, [was] a large two storied residence with a solid dividing wall running through the center of the second story. There were separate stairs leading to each side. The boys slept on one side and the girls on the other. This arrangement which provided a "traveller's room" has been built for the convenience/safety of the family when someone - stranger, family or friend- stayed the night. It gave them access to the outside, but not to the rest of the house, therefore, providing privacy as well as protection for all. This house is listed in Clay Lancaster's [well known and respected authority on KY architecture] book, "Ante Bellum Homes of Fayette County."

To this union were born six children; four boys and two girls.

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Lexington Herald-Leader, 20 Sept., 1992 (an article regarding the beliefs of Henry Clay):

Elijah was apparently a Henry Clay supporter, along with his brother, William Eugene Southworth - Born (in 1930) & raised in Elijah Foley house. He provided drawing of interior of the house. ......

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