WAS ROGER OR SAMUEL THE FATHER OF WILLIAM CORNETT?
WAS ROGER OR SAMUEL
THE FATHER OF WILLIAM CORNETT? ©

by Holly Timm
[originally published 17 February 1988
Harlan Daily Enterprise Penny Pincher]

Because of the scarcity of records in early Kentucky, it can be difficult to determine with certainty who a particular individual's parents were. Often passed down information is considered contradictory and available recorded sources offer only circumstantial evidence.

One such person about whom contradictory information as to his parentage exists is William Cornett. There were several William Cornetts in southeast Kentucky prior to 1850, living in Harlan, Letcher, Perry and Clay Counties.

Two of these had wives named Nancy. One of the William Cornetts was born about 1798 in Russell Co., Va., and married in 1825, in Clay Co., to Nancy Benge. This William died in 1868 and he and his wife had a number of children.

The other William was born Oct. 5, 1809 and died Aug. 23, 1871 in Harlan County. On Jan. 6, 1830, also in Harlan, he married Nancy, daughter of John J. Lewis. This William had only one known child, John Lewis Cornett, born April 2, 1831, and died July 28, 1912.

Family researchers apparently disagree on the parentage of these two Williams, some placing one as the son of Roger Vader Cornett and his wife Zelphia Callahan and the other as son of John S. Cornett and his wife Mary "Polly" Davidson and other searchers switching the two.

It does appear certain that both Roger and John S., who was generally known by his middle name, Samuel, were sons of John and Mary Cornett of Henrico Co., Va., making the two Williams first cousins. Although no documentary evidence is known definitely establishing which William belonged to which brother, circumstantial evidence indicates that the William who married Nancy Lewis and lived his life in Harlan was the son of Samuel.

Traditional history mentions that Samuel Cornett first saw Harlan County while tracking a band of Indians who had either stolen some of his horses or abducted a young girl from his neighborhood, probably the former. Samuel is known to have died about 1849, but it is not known with any certainty where he died.

Roger Cornett on the other hand is not known to have been mentioned in stories about early Harlan and is known to have died, in 1847, in Clay County, where the older William lived.

As mentioned above, the wife of William of Harlan was the daughter of John J. Lewis, son of Wilson Lewis and a judge and prominent figure in 19th century Harlan. Her mother, Jane, was a daughter of Jonathan Smith. Jane Smith Lewis died when Nancy was a little girl and Judge Lewis married again to Elizabeth Morgan. By this second wife, Judge Lewis had a son, James J., who married his half-sister's husband's sister, Malinda Cornett.

William and Nancy's only child, John L., married Precious Ely. Sometime before 1880, John and Precious divorced and she married again to Henry Jennings. The divorce appears to have been friendly as in 1880 Precious and her new husband lived next door to her ex-husband.

John and Precious had seven children. The oldest of these was William Wesley Cornett, born Jan. 28, 1852. In 1872, he married Mary Jane Wynn. They raised their family on Poor Fork, where W.W. became a prosperous merchant, operating a general store in Cumberland.

His next brother, Arthur Blankenship Cornett, was born Nov. 11, 1853. In 1880, he married Amanda Hurst, daughter of Campbell and Mary Rice Hurst. Amanda died March 27, 1900, less than three weeks after the birth of their youngest child. Several of Arthur and Amanda's children became prominent figures in the town of Harlan.

The third child of John L. and Precious Cornett was Jonathan L., born April 7, 1855. In 1875, he married Daniel and Patience Kelly Setser's daughter, Elizabeth. The next brother, George, was born in 1857 but died at the age of seven.

The three remaining children of John and Precious were their only daughter, Nancy Jane, who married Israel Blair and the two youngest sons, Robert N. and Bethel.

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