A Wilson Family Tree
Notes for James D. Donley
From the Parks manuscript:
James Donly lived at Burksville, Kentucky, till after his marriage with Miss Martha Stockton, a most excellent lady, who died within less than two years after giving birth to their only child, a son. He never married again, but spent his time alternately in Missouri and Kentucky, until his son had arrived at manhood he settled in Texas, where he died, at what time I am not informed.
Some family trees say he was born in Cumberland County, KY, but that seems unlikely. From the Parks manuscript, Lincoln County seems more likely, and Find A Grave (listing for James D Donley) says Lincoln County and shows that on his gravestone. The Bakers of Cumberland Co., Ky family tree says that he died in Rusk County, Texas, but I think that is a mistake. Son Stockton lived in the town of Rusk, Cherokee County, at that time, and that is where James is buried. So I am assuming that James died in or near the town of Rusk.
He was likely James Davis Donley, named for his uncle James Davis. We know that, like his three sisters, James went to Missouri relatively early. We don’t know just when he went, but he was in Adair County, Kentucky, in July 1819 when he was married, and then was in Missouri by May 1821 when son Stockton was born in Howard County. WFT 22 # 1690 said that he went back to Kentucky in 1833 (see the notes for Stockton Patsey Donley; actually it said that he and Stockton went to Kentucky in 1933, but presumably that was supposed to be 1833). His whereabouts in the 1840 census is not known; there was a James Donly in Gallatin County, Kentucky, in 1840, but that one is listed as age 30–40, which is too young. He is listed in the 1850 census in Cumberland County, Kentucky. Dr. Parks says that he spent his time alternately in Missouri and Kentucky, so perhaps he went back and forth multiple times. And then we know he was in Texas (probably Cherokee County) in 1858 when he died.
A number of family trees show a daughter Frances who was born about 1816. The origin of this seems to be that James D. Donley was living with Frances Munson and her family in the 1850 census in Cumberland County, KY. Given that 1816 is three years before James and Martha married and given that Dr. Parks said James had only one child, I am not going to include Frances here. It seems entirely possible that James was living with an unrelated family and people have wrongly inferred a relationship.
Also, some family trees show three younger children: Anne, Mary, and William. However, I believe they were children of James' brother William. See the notes for Mary A. Stuart (William's wife).
Note: Some of the information in these pages is uncertain. Please let me know of errors or omissions using the email link above. ...Mike Wilson
Page generated on 31 October 2023; see http://wilsonfamilytree.org/ for further updates