Appendix G: Isaac Keen -- A Case Study in Genealogical Research

The life of Isaac Keen, the Civil War veteran (and my great-great- grandfather), is documented in a variety of sources, ranging from family traditions to contemporary historical documents. Apart from providing dates, relationships, and other basic data, this documentation provides an interesting look into the nature of genealogical research and reveals in a clear way the uses and limitations of genealogical sources. For this reason I have called this study a "Case Study in Genealogy." Besides attempting to set out the genealogical information in a logical and readable format, I also occasionally discuss the nature and, more importantly, the interpretation of the sources. Because all historical sources (and what we call genealogy is simply a sub-set of history), no matter how obvious and straight-forward, are subject to differing interpretations which affect to a greater or lesser degree our understanding of the past.

There is no doubt that not all researchers will accept some (or many) of my interpretations presented here, and I certainly do not offer this work as any kind of definitive study of Isaac; it simply reflects my own understanding of the sources in late 2002. I expect my views will change as new information comes to light or as I rethink some of my interpretations. I will include here all of the sources available to me so if the reader objects to my interpretations he or she may develop their own theories.

Early Years and Ancestry

Isaac Keen was born on February 25, 1830 in Anson Co. North Carolina. This is a traditional date taken from his tombstone. This date and the location of his birth is supported, more or less, by census documents and numerous military and pension documents. These will be discussed in detail in the relevant sections below. First we will consider the census texts.

Isaac first appears in the 1850, 6th District, Decatur County, TN federal census¹. This census, dated December 5, 1850, gives the following information:

Parents:

• Elisha Keen; age 47; b. in NC


• Lucy Keen; age 49; b. in NC

Children:

1. Isaac Keen; age 19; b. in NC


2. Thomas Keen; age 18; b. in NC


3. Elizabeth Keen; age 17; b. in NC


4. George Keen; age 16; b. in NC


5. Phebe Keen; age 15; b. in NC


6. John Keen; age 13; b. in NC


7. William Keen; age 12; b. in NC


8. Sarah Keen; age 9; b. in NC


9. Edmund Keen; age 8; b. in NC


10. Litha Keen; age 5; b. in NC

In this census, Isaac is said to have been 19 years old in 1850, suggesting a birth date of 1831. This document says he was born in North Carolina, which, along with his age, conforms closely with the traditional date and place. Isaac cannot be found in the year 1860 (see note 8a below), but reappears in the 1870 Morris Twp., Texas County, MO federal census:²

Parents:

• Isaac Keen, dwelling #90; age 40; b. in NC


• Phebe M. Keen; age 35; b. in TN

Children:

1. McGuinn Keen; male; age 15; b. in TN


2. Emma L. Keen; age 8; b. in TN


3. Thomas R. Keen; age 4; b. in TN


4. Nancy M. Keen; age 1; b. in MO


5. Martha Williams; age 8; b. in MO

Here Isaac's age is given as 40, and his birth place is North Carolina, Corresponding perfectly to the traditional date. Isaac is next found in 1880, in the Piney, Madison County, AR census:³

Parents:

• Isac Kaine; age 48; b. in MO


• Nancy Kaine; age 35; b. in MO

Children:

1. Emma Kaine; age 18; b. in MO


2. Ransom Kaine; age 15; b. in MO


3. Nancy Kaine; age 13; b. in AR


4. Jane Kaine; age 11; b. in AR


5. Martha Kaine; age 6; b. in AR


6. Isac Kaine; age 4; b. in AR

Isaac is 48 years old according to this census, only two years off from the traditional date. But he is said here to have been born in Missouri. This particular census has some problems which we will discuss in more detail below. The last census mentioning Isaac is the 1900 Piney Twp., Carroll County, AR census:⁴

Parents:

• Isaac Keen; dwelling # 195; b. February, 1830; age 70; married 33 years; b. in NC; parents b. in NC


• Pheba M. Keen; b. in March, 1834; age 66; married 33 years; 6 children, 4 living; b. in TN; parents b. in TN

Children:

• Jane Can; b. February, 1870; age 30; widow; 4 children, 3 living; b. in MO; father b. in NC, mother b. in TN


• William R. Can; grandson; b. August, 1895; b. in AR; father b. in AR, mother b. in MO


• Hiram Can; grandson; b. November, 1896; age 3; b. in AR; father b. in AR, mother b. in MO


• Lacy A. Can; Granddaughter; b. November 1899; age 1; b. in AR; father b. in AR, mother b. in MO

This census has Isaac born in North Carolina and gives the more precise date of February, 1830 for his birth, both of which support the tradition information.

Before proceeding to the next section, I would like to briefly discuss the census as a genealogical source. Federal censuses began in 1790 and were taken every ten years. The censuses from 1790 to 1840 only named the head-of-household. For the rest of the household, only statistics were given, such as the number of people living in the household and their respective age groups. In 1850 the format changed to include the name of each member of the household with their ages, places of birth and whether they could speak, read, or write English. This format lasted through the 1880 census. In 1900 the format was changed again to give the name of each person in the household, relationship to parents, month and year of birth, age, marital status, length of marriage (if married), total number of children, total number of children living in 1900, place of children's birth, place of parents birth, and various statistics concerning the property. I make no mention of the 1890 census because all of those records were lost in a Washington D.C. fire early in the century. Some states are trying to reconstruct the 1890 census from preserved tax documents.

Right away we can see that the earlier censuses were limited in the type of information they offered. The format beginning in 1850 was better, but the 1900 and later censuses really began to provide useful information for the genealogist.

Censuses are a peculiar class of documentation. They are contemporary, but they are not always primary. That means they date to the time of the ancestor, but the information they contain may not have originated with the ancestor in question. Indeed the form may have been filled out by someone with little information about the ancestor, or even by the census taker himself. Thus a census’s usefulness for genealogists depends on who provided the information. The census workers in the past, just as those of today, were paid according to the number of people they contacted. Most of them were no doubt interested in doing a good job and obtaining the most reliable information they could get. But there is no doubt that they took information from anyone in the household they could find, be it a parent, a child, a farm laborer, or even a neighbor. Some census workers would even make up names, dates, and places-of-birth if no contact was made with the household or knowledgeable neighbors. Occasionally census workers would list a family twice in a county (often with minor changes the second time to make it less blatant) to pad the list and increase his profits.

The problems with the 1880 census, whose information on Isaac and his family deviates so much from the other censuses, I believe, result from the census taker gleaning information from an unreliable source, I guess a neighbor. The census worker probably found no one at home at the Keen farm, so he would likely have asked a neighbor for the information. This alleged neighbor obviously knew they had come form Missouri but knew little else about the family. He didn't know Isaac's wife's name (which suggests that he spoke with the husband or one of the children), but seemed to know the children's names and probably guessed at their ages. The informant knew the place of birth of the younger children born in Arkansas, but listed everyone else as being born in Missouri, showing that he knew where they had come from.

This particular census also suffers from an unrelated problem the fact that it is most easily available in transcription on CD-rom. This creates the possibility of errors and misreadings on the part of the transcriber. It is certainly best to go back to the census images themselves rather than rely on someone else’s skills.

In general, therefore, the quality of the information provided by censuses is dependent on the census worker talking to someone who had accurate information and how carefully the worker recording that information. Unfortunately there is no way we can tell whether census information is accurate or not without a more generalized context to place it in. That is why all genealogical handbooks warn that a census should not be used alone. A series of censuses together can give a more accurate account and can help to spot inaccuracies, but censuses should be used together with other documentation. As the old saying goes, "a single census does not a family make." yet census information can often be correct and very helpful, we certainly do not want to dismiss information from a single census out-of-hand, we just need to be cautious, that is all.

Isaac's Ancestry

Isaac's parents were most likely Elisha L. and Lucy Keen. We do not know Lucy's maiden name. According to the 1850 Decatur County, TN census (see above), Elisha was born about 1803 in North Carolina and Lucy was born about 1802 in North Carolina. The 1860 Decatur County, TN census⁵ gives us the following information:

Parents:

• E.L. Keen; age 56; b. in NC


• L. Keen; age 56; b. in NC

Children:

• E. Keen; age 26; b. in NC


• P. Keen; age 23; b. in NC


• S. Keen; age 16; b. in NC


• L. Keen; age 13; b. in NC

The census worker who recorded this part of Decatur County had the annoying habit of only using first initials. This must have saved him a lot of writing, but causes problems for genealogists. In the above list, E. Keen must be Elizabeth, P. is Phebe, S. is Sarah, and L. is Litha, the youngest. The 1850 census gave Elisha's age as 47, and this one, ten years later, gives his age as 56. Certainly close enough to give his birth date as roughly 1803. Lucy's age differs by three years from the 1850 census. She appears in the 1880 census (living with her eldest daughter, Elizabeth) where her age is given as 78. So from the censuses we have the following options for a birth date for Lucy: 1801 (1850), 1802 (1880), or 1804 (1860).

Elisha is mentioned in the 1840 Anson County, NC census, but little useful information can be extracted from that census. We know Elisha was in Anson County from at least 1830, when Isaac was born. They remained in Anson County until sometime after 1845 (when the youngest, Litha was born) and then moved to Decatur Co. TN before the 1850 census. Elisha died probably before 1870, while Lucy lived until after the 1880 census.

We enter the realm of speculation when we turn our attention to the parents of Elisha Keen. Cousin and genealogist Paula Barnes spoke with a researcher who believed that a George Keen was the father of Elisha. I am aware of several George Keens in Anson County, one of which I believe is Elisha's brother. But I have not uncovered any evidence which suggests that one of the Georges had a son named Elisha. On the other hand, John and Elizabeth Keen of Anson county did allegedly have a son named Elisha. I have not verified much of this evidence yet, but it is suggestive enough that I would like to present it here.

John Keen fought in the Revolutionary War. We know this from a pension application filed by his widow. Much of our information concerning John Keen and his family comes from this application and subsequent court documents. His will is supposedly extent, I have not seen it yet, only a summary of what it contains. Here is a transcription of the pension application:⁶

State of NC, Anson County
On this day of June 1844 personally appeared before me William Allen a Justice of the Peace for the County, Elizabeth Keen a resident of North Carolina and this county aforesaid age 80 years. She being first duly sworn makes the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the Revision made by the Act of July 7 1838 and Act 23 Aug. 1842 granting half pay and pension to certain widows. That she is a widow of John Keen who was a Pvt. during the War of the Revolution in the NC Militia. He served one tour of duty as a substitute for Joshua Lamb, a tour of 3 months and he was afterwards drafted for 6 months and served his time out.
I knew John Keen at the time of this service before we were married, the date not recollected. She further allowed that she was married to the said John Keen in the month of April 1786 in the county of Johnston, state of NC by Evert Pirce a Justice of the Peace and that her husband John Keen died Aug. 17 1824. And she is yet a widow and can not by reason of bodily infirmity attend at the court house. She would have applied earlier but didn't know she could get one and am willing to accept such pension as the Dept. will allow and be quite thankful. Sworn and subscribed the date and date above signed William Allen
Elizabeth X Keen (her mark)

A few years later this notice is found in the North Carolina court records:

State of NC Anson Co., Superior Court August term 1850
It was there made appear to the satisfaction of said court that Elizabeth Keen widow of John Keen died on the 16 day of June 1845 leaving George Keen, Betsey Keen, Mourning Keen, Kezzia Keen, Litha Keen and Sarah Keen children of the above marriage of John and Elizabeth Keen. D.F. Caldwell, JP.

Further court documents give the following children without birthdates: Ferbia, Elisha, Letha and Sally. John's will also allegedly mentions a son named Elisha. I want to reiterate here that this is speculative and I have not yet checked the sources, but what attracts me to John and Elisabeth is the name of their youngest daughter, Elitha. She married James Davis and is found in the 1850 Lanesboro, Anson County,NC census which gives the following information: Elitha Davis, age 45, b. in NC.⁷ She was born, therefore, around 1805, making her a few years younger than Elisha. Elitha, or Litha as she is sometimes called, is not a common name, in fact I have not seen it anywhere else (and I have looked). But we find that Elisha named his youngest daughter Elitha. Naming patterns can be a great help in pointing a researcher in the right direction, as I have found many times. I will not go into detail here on naming patterns since I have discussed the topic in Appendix E, but for Elisha to name his youngest daughter after his younger sister would have been a common practice.

Thus there are four circumstantial points hinting at a connection between John and Elizabeth Keen and our Elisha Keen: (1) they are all in the same North Carolina County (Anson County) at the correct times; (2) unconfirmed documents exist which document that John and Elizabeth had a son named Elisha;(3) the rare name Elitha occurs both as John and Elizabeth's youngest daughter and as Elisha's youngest daughter; (4) and finally, Elisha's approximate birthdate (1803) fits perfectly with the other birthdates of this family and accords well with the twilight of Elisabeth's child-bearing years.

From the scattered bits of information I have gleaned from various sources, we can provide this synthetic list of John and Elizabeth Keen's family:

Parents:

• John Keen, d. 17 August, 1824 in Anson Co., NC


• Elizabeth, b. ca. 1764; m. (1) Unknown Boyett, ca. 1783; (2) John Keen, April, 1786 in Johnston Co., NC; d. 16 June, 1845 in Anson Co., NC

Children:⁸

1. Ferbia Keen


2. Kezzia Keen


3. Sarah Keen


4. Molly Keen, b. 23 January, 1787


5. George Keen, b. 20 October, 1789 in North Carolina


6. Elizabeth Keen, b. April, 1792


7. Unknown Keen, b. 18 June, 1794


8. Mourning Keen, b. 5 January, 1798 in North Carolina


9. Elisha Keen, b. ca. 1803 in North Carolina


10. Elitha Keen, b. ca. 1805 in North Carolina

I will repeat once more before moving on,that the above information in no way implies that I believe that John and Elizabeth Keen are definitely or even probably Elisha Keen's parents. I provide the information because it is suggestive and provides a possible avenue for further research.

The Two Wives of Isaac Keen

Perhaps the most confusing issue with Isaac Keen's life is his marital status--was he or was he not married twice, and if so, who was the first wife? I will approach this problem in three parts. First I will discuss the family traditions. Second I will present evidence that suggests Isaac could not have married Pheba Simmons in 1850 in Tennessee, indicating that there was a first wife, and third I will discuss the evidence for who this first wife was.

My grandmother (Tonnie Keen, Isaac's granddaughter) reported to my father in an interview which took place in the '60's (we still have the original sheet upon which my father took notes) that Isaac married first in Tennessee a girl named Martha Lofden and that she died around 1867, after the birth of Thomas Ransom. Paula Barnes (she is the granddaughter of Thomas Keen, Isaac's grandson and brother to Tonnie Keen) reports that the tradition is found in her family that Isaac did indeed marry a woman in Tennessee in 1850, and that she died in Butler, Missouri shortly after Thomas Ransom was born. However, her family tradition does not remember the name of this woman. Isaac's grandson Thomas Keen provided the information on Thomas Ransom Keen's death certificate. On that document he wrote "unknown" in reference to Thomas Ransom's mother, his grandmother. This indicates that Thomas believed that his grandfather had a wife before Pheba Simmons, because Thomas (b. 1890) was certainly old enough to remember his grandmother Pheba and would have listed her name if he believed she was the mother of all Isaac's children.

This seems straight-forward, and often there is no need to doubt family traditions. I discussed written family histories in Chapter Six, but here we are dealing with oral history. Oral and written histories are related and both function in a similar manner and the same caveats concern them both. Indeed, the early family histories were often based solely or mostly on oral family traditions with little attention given to documentary evidence. Before passing judgment on the genealogical skills of these earlier researchers, however, we must remember that genealogical research has only recently become more accessible with the work of the Family History Library and the important contributions made by the Internet.

Getting back to Isaac, the family traditions concerning his marriage in the mid 1800's to a Tennessee girl named Martha Lofden seem clear enough. However, the confusion over this issue is caused by Isaac himself. In a pension application dated 5 May, 1898, he answers the following questions:

Q. first. are you married? If so, please state your wife's full name and her maiden name.
A. Pheba Margaret Simmons Keen

Q. Second. When, where, and by whom were you married?
A. August 1849-Pheba M. Simmons

Q. Third. What record of marriage exists?
A. Decaturville, Tenn

Q. Fourth. Were you previously married? If so, please state the name of your former wife and the date and place of her death or divorce.
A. none

Isaac goes on to list his children which list we will discuss later in this essay. Here he unambiguously claims that he was not married before marrying Pheba Simmons in 1849. This also seems very clear, even though it contradicts the family traditions. Usually documentary evidence wins out over family traditions, but Isaac's statement in this application raises some doubts when taken in light of other evidence. The rest of this section will examine some of this other evidence.

The logical and obvious approach to this problem would be to look at the marriage documents from Decatur County. Unfortunately Decatur County marriages are not documented before 1869. Also, as of this writing I have not found any mention of Isaac in any church documents. Indeed, I know of no evidence that Isaac was affiliated with any church. So we have to look carefully at what information we have for indirect evidence.

Isaac wrote on the above mentioned pension document that he and Pheba were married in August of 1849, but that simple statement already raises a problem. As we saw above, Isaac is listed in the 1850 Decatur County census as living at home. That census is dated 5 December, 1850. Pheba Simmons was the daughter of Lewis Simmons and Sally Willis of Marshall County, TN and we find her in the 1850 census of that county (33rd District) also living at home. That census reads: Phebe Simmons, age 15, b. in TN. That document is dated November, 1850. So Isaac and Pheba could not have been married in 1849 as Isaac claims. The birthdate of Isaac's oldest child, Mary, is 8 June, 1852, so Isaac had to have been married between December 1850 and August 1851 (nine months previous to the birth of his first child). So Isaac was incorrect concerning the date of his marriage in Decatur County on the pension application.

A small point in this regard is that Phebe grew up in Marshall County, which is situated about 200 miles east of Decatur County where Isaac's family lived. Naturally not an insurmountable obstacle since people did travel, but something to keep in mind. Also,the traditional date for Pheba's birth is 1834, and the 1850 census supports this date by giving her age as 15. So in 1849 she would have been 14, a little young for marriage and in 1851 she would have been about 16. It is certainly not unknown for girls to marry at 13 or 14, but it was more common for them to marry around 18, at least in the families I have researched, including the Keens. Moreover, Simmons family researchers claim that Pheba was married first to a Jeremiah Williams before she married Isaac. Considering that Pheba would have barely been old enough to marry Isaac in 1851, fitting in a previous husband seems implausible (but, of course, not impossible).

In the 1900 census we find Isaac and Pheba living in Carroll County, AR. In that document, when asked how long they were married, the informant responded with 33 years. This would give Isaac and Pheba's marriage date as 1867, which corresponds perfectly to the family traditions which say that Isaac's first wife died shortly after the birth of Thomas Ransom, whose date of birth is 1866. We first find Isaac and Pheba together in the 1870 Morris Twp., Texas County, Missouri census, so they were married at least by 1870 and were living in that Missouri county. According to Simmons researchers, Lewis Simmons and his family had moved to Texas County in about 1855, and they are indeed listed in the 1860 Texas County census. But Pheba is not mentioned as living at home, so she must have been married by then, presumably to Jeremiah Williams. Unfortunately I have been unable to locate Pheba in the 1860 censuses. However, in the 1870 census mentioned above, a child named Martha Williams, age 8 is living with Isaac and Pheba. This girl must be the daughter of Pheba and her probably deceased first husband, Jeremiah Williams. Martha was born in about 1862, so Pheba and Jeremiah were married before that date.

Armed with the above information, we can construct the following possible scenario. Isaac Married his first wife in Decaturville, TN, perhaps in August, 1851. they lived in Tennessee. Isaac joined the Union Army in 1862 and was discharged in 1865. Almost exactly nine months later, Thomas Ransom was born in 1866. Shortly thereafter Isaac and his family left Tennessee and moved to Missouri. After reaching Missouri, Isaac's first wife died and Isaac met the widowed Pheba Simmons who had been living in Texas County since 1855. They were married in Missouri around 1867 and their first daughter, Nancy, was born in 1868.

The next question to consider is who this alleged first wife was. The only clue we have is the tradition in my family that her name was Martha Lofden. We do find a Martha A. Loftin in the 1850 census in Decatur County. She is living with her widowed mother (age 46, b. in North Carolina) and her 14 year old sister, Angeline D. Loftin. Martha's age is given as 16 and both her and her sister were born in North Carolina. The Loftins were living just down the street from Elisha Keen's farm in 1850. There is no direct evidence that Isaac married Martha Loftin. The only connection between the Loftins and the Keens is that by 1860, Mary Loftin had moved next door to Elisha Keen. It is unfortunate that Isaac does not appear anywhere in the 1860 census, because that document could have cleared the whole matter up by telling us the name of Isaac's wife in 1860.^8a But that is the nature of genealogical research.

The Civil War Years

Isaac enlisted in the Union army on 28 August, 1862 at Jackson, Tennessee. Isaac and his wife had probably moved from Decatur Co. to Henderson Co. by this time because he is mustered into a unit recruited solely from Henderson County residents. We are fortunate to have in our possession numerous muster rolls from Isaac's units⁹, and although we cannot reconstruct his war career in great detail from these relatively few documents, they provide some interesting information and are well worth a closer look. Like most of the documentary evidence surrounding Isaac, there are some discrepancies in these texts that require careful interpretation. These muster rolls are official copies of original documents and abound with factual errors, either original or caused by the copyists. Here is a catalog of Isaac's military documents. The remarks are from the documents themselves. All editorial comments are in brackets.

To view images of the documents, go here.

Isaac enlisted on 28 August, 1862, the same day the 7th Regiment of the Tennessee Cavalry was formed. He was discharged on 9 August, 1865, the day the 7th Regiment was disbanded. Because his military career is so closely bound to the 7th Regiment, I will present a brief history of that Regiment to give us a context for Isaac's experiences. The following is from Tennesseeans in the Civil War.

7TH TENNESSEE CAVALRY REGIMENT, U.S.A.

Organized at Trenton, November 14, 1862; mustered out at Nashville, August 9, 1865.

FIELD OFFICERS Lieutenant Colonel-Isaac R. Hawkins (Commissioned as colonel September, 12, 1862, but mustered as lieutenant colonel). Major-Thomas A. Smith.

The muster-in roll of the field and staff dated November 14, 1862 bears a note: "Six companies of this regiment were organized and mustered in by Major Hays, mustering officer, by special orders approved by Major General Grant, commanding Department." The muster-out roll bears the following note: "The 7th Tenn. Cav., Vols. was originally organized and made up of nine (9) companies, was captured by the enemy and afterwards the companies were consolidated by transfer in accordance with special order No. 104, dated Hdq. Dist. Western Kentucky, June the 18th, 1864. There were never any regular transfer rolls of the companies made out. Officers and men were taken upon muster for payrolls of the four organized companies as they escaped and returned from rebel prisons. The regimental and company records were all either lost or destroyed at the time of the capture of the regiment." The four companies thus referred to were called "A", "B", "C", and "I". However, original muster-in rolls for companies "C", "G", and "K" were found, and individual service records gave further information about other companies. Based on these sources, the original organization of the regiment was as follows:

CAPTAINS-Thomas A. Smith, Thompson, Co. "A". Organized in Henderson County, July, 1862; mustered at Jackson, August 18, 1862.

James M. Martin, Co. "B". Organized in Carroll County, August, 1862.

Asa N. Hays, Thomas P. Gray, Co. "C". Mustered September 5, 1862 at Jackson, with men from Henderson County.

Edwin Arbuckle, Co. "D". Some enrollments from Paris, Henry County, Tennessee.

Pleasant K. Parsons, Co. "E". Organized in Carroll County, June, 1862.

No record of Co. "F".

Thomas Belew, Co. "G". Organized in Carroll County, August 5, 1862.

W. Derberry, or Dearberry, Co. "H". (Probably should be Derryberry). Organized in Henderson County, September, 1862.

_____ King, Co. "I". Organized from Benton, Carroll, and Obion Counties, September, 1863.

John W. Beatty, Co. "K". Organized in Henderson County, April, 1863; mustered at Grand Junction June 27, 1863.

No record of Co. "L". One enrollment at Union City, Obion County.

_____ Mercer, Co. "M". Some enrolments at Corinth, Mississippi and Adamsville, Tennessee in July, 1863.

Other captains mentioned in the Official Records, or in individual personnel records, but without company identification were Jacob H. Hays, Reed, Hawkins, and Gey. The four consolidated companies were: James M. Martin, George W. Moore, Co. "A". Men principally from companies "A", "B", "C", and "D". Pleasant K. Parsons, Co. "B". Men mostly recruits enrolled at Paducah and Columbus, Kentucky, in 1864 and 1865. John W. Beatty, John T. Robeson, Co. "C". Men mainly from companies "A", "E", "H", "K", and "M". 1st Lieutenant W. W. Murray, Co. "I". Men principally recruits enrolled in 1864 and 1865.

The first mention of the regiment in the Official Records was on November 10, 1862, when, in a list of troops in the District of Jackson, the 7th Tennessee, Lieutenant Colonel Isaac R. Hawkins, was listed in the infantry, and "Hawkins' Horse" was listed in the cavalry. On December 15, 1862, at the time of Brigadier General N. B. Forrest's first raid into West Tennessee, the regiment was stationed at Trenton, where Lieutenant Colonel Hawkins, with all his effective strength, was ordered to report to Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll, who with the 11th Illinois Cavalry, was at Lexington. Ingersoll reported that he was joined there on December 17 by Colonel Hawkins, with 272 men. In his report of the fight with Confederate forces under Colonel George G. Dibrell, which took place the following day, he stated: "The force on the Lower Road (2nd West Tennessee) came back in confusion, and on the full run, pursued by the enemy. It was impossible to stop them.... I endeavoured to bring the 2nd West Tennessee to the right of the guns, but found it impossible. They were not very well equipped, and had never been under fire before. They were rallied three times, but did not succeed in making a stand. Had they held the right for only a minute or two, the guns could have been brought off."

Colonel Hawkins returned to Trenton with some of his men on the 19th, just in time to be captured when General Forrest took that place on the 20th. Colonel Hawkins, Captain Belew., and Lieutenants Hawkins, Robinson and Allender were paroled. According to a letter from Governor Andrew Johnson to President Lincoln dated August 9, 1863, about 300 men from the regiment were still in the camp for paroled prisoners at Camp Chase, Ohio at that time.

One company of the 2nd West Tennessee, under Sergeant Doss, joined Brigadier General Mason Brayman outside of Jackson, in time for the fighting around that place on December 19. Companies "A" and "B" under Captain Thompson, were with Colonel George P. Ihrie when the Federal forces recaptured Humboldt on December 22, 1862.

On January 31, 1863, what was left of the regiment, under Captain James M. Martin, was reported in Colonel John K. Mizner's Cavalry Brigade, District of Jackson. On February 17, 14 men, under Sergeant Mize, were with the 3rd Michigan Cavalry in a surprise attack on Clifton, Tennessee, in which Colonel J. F. Newson, seven officers and 60 men were captured. 80 men were with Colonel Hatch on a scout from La Grange into North Mississippi from April 29 to May 5, 1863.

On April 30, eight companies, under Captain Asa N. Hays, were reported as part of the XVI Army Corps, unassigned. On June 9, Colonel Mizner was given command of the 1st Division, and the 2nd West Tennessee placed in the 4th Brigade, under Lieutenant Colonel Basil D. Meek. At this time, the regiment, with 200 men, was at Grand Junction, Tennessee.

On August 20, the Cavalry Corps was reorganized, and the 7th Tennessee assigned to Colonel L. F. McCrillis's 2nd Brigade. As part of this brigade it took part in the operations against Brigadier General James R. Chalmers October 5-15, 1863, and had returned to Saulsbury, Tennessee on October 19. On November 1, a battalion from the regiment was with the 7th Illinois in an engagement at Collierville, Tennessee.

On October 26, 1863, Major General Stephen A. Hurlbut, Commanding XVI Army Corps, advised Brigadier General A. J. Smith, Commanding 6th Division at Columbus, Kentucky, "The 7th Tennessee is ordered to move up to Union City to report to you, as the nucleus of recruiting. Lieutenant Colonel Hawkins is a very inferior officer, and should be got rid of."

Just at this time, there was a large movement of troops from West Tennessee in the build-up of Federal forces at Chattanooga, and Brigadier General Grenville M. Dodge requested that the 6th and 7th Tennessee Cavalry be held at La Grange, where they were then located, to protect the railroad until the movement was completed, and General Hurlbut instructed him to hold them as suggested. Colonel Hurst, 6th Tennessee Cavalry, in command at that point, moved away despite the orders of General Dodge, and on November 7, 1863, General Hurlbut wrote: "Both the 6th and 7th Tennessee have behaved badly. I have ordered the 7th Tennessee in here (Memphis), and will make something of them or break them." On November 18, Colonel Hawkins and his regiment were ordered from Memphis on a scout to Hernando, Mississippi. Finally, on November 24, General Hurlbut advised General Smith, "The 7th Tennessee Cavalry, 175 men, leave here tomorrow for Columbus."

On January 11, 1864, Colonel Hawkins, at Paris, Tennessee, advised General Smith at Columbus, Kentucky: "When I left Union City I had 262 men. I now have 364, and with sufficient force to hold the country, I could recruit a regiment in a short time." On January 15, the regiment was ordered to Dresden, but on March 14, was back at Union City.

Here, on March 24, 1864, it was attacked by the 7th Tennessee Cavalry, C.S.A. under Colonel Duckworth. After repelling four assaults, with a loss of only one killed and two or three wounded, Colonel Hawkins was bluffed into an unconditional surrender by Colonel Duckworth when a Federal force of some 2000 men marching to his assistance was only six miles away. The force surrendered totalled 16 officers and about 500 men. Captains John W. Beatty and T. P. Gray were surrendered, but escaped a few days later. Captain Beatty's report stated: "When we found that Colonel Hawkins had made an unconditional surrender, the officers and men cried like a whipped child. They also cursed Colonel Hawkins, and said he was a traitor, and that they would never serve under him again."

The remnant of the regiment served the rest of the war on garrison duty at Paducah and Columbus, Kentucky. On May 31, 1864, a detachment under Captain James Martin was reported at Paducah. On July 17, Lieutenant Robert Y. Bradford led a scout from Columbus to Hickman, Kentucky; on August 31, three companies under Captain Martin were at Columbus; on September 3, Lieutenant Murray and 70 men, were in a skirmish near Union City, Tennessee; on September 30, a detachment under Captain Beatty was at Paducah; on October 31, the detachment at Paducah was reported as commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Isaac R. Hawkins, who by that time had been exchanged.

On December 13, 1864, the 7th Tennessee and 3rd Illinois Cavalry, at Paducah, were reported with a combined strength of 171 men. On February 28, 1865, four companies, under Lieutenant Colonel Hawkins, were reported at Paducah. On March 7, 1865, 25 men under Lieutenant Neely were reported at Columbus. On May 2, 1865, the 7th Tennessee was ordered to Eddyville, Kentucky, to pursue a band of 120 Confederates who were reported in that area.

On June 27, 1865, the 7th Tennessee was relieved from duty at Paducah, and ordered to Rockville, on the Tennessee River. The regiment was mustered out of service August 9, 1865.¹⁰

From the documents above and with the history of the 7th Tennessee Cavalry in mind we can construct a sketchy outline of Isaac's war experiences. He enlisted on 28 August, 1862 at Jackson, Madison Co.TN. On 5 September he was assigned to Captain Asa N. Hays' company C of the West Tennessee Cavalry. This unit was subsequently renamed Company C, Regiment 2, West Tennessee Cavalry and finally became known as Company C, 7th Regiment, Tennessee Cavalry. It is curious that in a state which joined the Confederacy, Isaac chose to enlist in the Union army. But Isaac was not alone, as Peggie Scott Halley wrote:

"...The mountain area of eastern Tennessee had been unsympathetic to the southern case. Mountain people were often unwilling to fight to preserve a plantation economy in which they did not participate. Furthermore, many were also staunchly Unionist. Several Union regiments had been raised in the east including the 2nd Tennessee Infantry, which had 475 of its men captured at Rogersville, Tennessee and sent to Andersonville Prison. The West Tennessee Unionists..., however, were not mountaineers but were farmers from a cotton growing area of small farms and plantations. The largest number of West Tennesseans, about 450, were from the 7th Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry. [These soldiers were from] Henderson and McNairy Counties with some recruits from Henry, Weakley, Benton, Madison, Gibson, Hardin, and Decatur counties."¹¹

The 7th Regiment participated in the action surrounding General N.B. Forrest's expedition into Western Tennessee in December, 1862, and Isaac's company was stationed at Trenton, TN. Here is what that battle was about:

"The engagement at Jackson occurred during Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's Expedition into West Tennessee, between December 11, 1862, and January 1, 1863. Forrest wished to interrupt the rail supply line to Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's army, campaigning down the Mississippi Central Railroad. If he could destroy the Mobile & Ohio Railroad running south from Columbus, Kentucky, through Jackson, Grant would have to curtail or halt his operations. Forrest's 2,100-man cavalry brigade crossed the Tennessee River on December 15-17, heading west. Maj. Gen. Grant ordered a troop concentration at Jackson under Brig. Gen. Jeremiah C. Sullivan and sent a cavalry force out under Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, to confront Forrest. Forrest, however, smashed the Union cavalry at Lexington on December 18. As Forrest continued his advance the next day, Sullivan ordered Col. Adolph Englemann to take a small force northeast of Jackson. At Old Salem Cemetery, acting on the defensive, Englemann's two infantry regiments repulsed a Confederate mounted attack and then withdrew a mile closer to town. To Forrest, the fight amounted to no more than a feint and show of force intended to hold Jackson's Union defenders in place while two mounted columns destroyed railroad track north and south of the town and returned. This accomplished, Forrest withdrew from the Jackson area to attack Trenton and Humboldt. Thus, although the Federals had checked a demonstration by a portion of Forrest's force, a major accomplishment, other Confederates had fulfilled an element of the expedition's mission."¹²

Isaac was captured at the Battle of Trenton on 20 December, 1862 and was immediately paroled to Camp Chase in Ohio. The parole of prisoners-of-war was part of an agreement between the Union and the Confederacy to exchange prisoners. The paroled soldiers went to special camps and were gradually returned to their outfits according to a plan outlined in "special order 104." Isaac remained at Camp Chase until about November 1864. This turned out to be fortunate for him because in March, 1864 the Lincoln administration unilaterally stopped the exchange of prisoners. If Isaac had been returned to his unit earlier than November, 1864, he may have been present when the entire regiment was captured by General forrest. Unfortunately, this time because the exchange program was no longer in force, these prisoners were not paroled but rather interred at the infamous Andersonville Prison in Georgia, where many of them died from disease, exposure, and starvation.

The muster rolls during this period require some commentary. The roll dated Oct 31, 1863 to February 29, 1864 has the cryptic remark: "Deserted, Sept. 15, 1863." There are also numerous rolls of Company C with Isaac marked as "absent." It is unlikely that Isaac would have been granted his pension had he in fact deserted. What is going on here is probably this. When Isaac was paroled to Camp Chase, his records remained with Company C, hence the numerous "absent" notes. In September, 1863 an audit was no doubt performed, and since Isaac had not been present with company C since December, 1862, he was marked as "Deserted." but we know that Isaac had not deserted, but was at Camp Chase, as the muster rolls from there prove. One of the pension documents (no. 11) addresses this issue, but since in 1908 they had access to all of the muster rolls, they cleared him of the alleged desertion.

When Isaac was returned to active duty, he was transferred to Company A of the 7th Regiment. Isaac spent the remainder of the war garrisoned, engaging only in a few minor skirmishes. The tenor of his last year in the service is summed up by the remark on document no. 18: "onguard at the corral." Isaac was mustered-out 9 August, 1865, the same day the 7th Regiment was disbanded. he then returned to his wife and family in Tennessee.

Isaac's Children

Isaac lists his living children (as of 1898) in the 1898 pension document (no. 8), In response to the question: "Have you any children living?" he gives the following list: Mary Keen born 1851; Fanny Keen 1855; Ransom Keen 1863; Nancy Keen 1869; John Keen 1872; Ike Keen 1875; Jane keen 1877. As usual, There are problems with the dates of this list. The discrepancies will be addressed shortly. First I will give a complete list of his children as I have reconstructed them from various sources. Then I will discuss each child individually.

Isaac's children with his first wife (Martha Loftin?)

1. Mary Ann Keen, b. 6 June, 1852 in TN; m. Isaac Haislip, 1 December, 1869 in Morris Twp., Texas, MO; d. 4 July, 1931 in Watalula, Frankilin, AR
2. McGuinn Keen, b. 1855 in Tennessee
3. Emma L. Keen, b. 1862 in Tennessee
4. Thomas Ransom Keen, b. 14 May, 1866 in Tennessee; m. Martha LeAnn McClain, 20 March, 1890 in Chaplain, Madison, AR; d. 19 April, 1946 in Metalton, Carroll, AR

Isaac's children with Phebe M. Simmons:

1. Nancy Minerva Keen, b. 24 October, 1868 in Morris, Texas, MO; m. George Porter Doss, 1885; d. 15 July, 1952
2. Jane Keen, b. February, 1870 in Morris, Texas, MO; m. (1) William H. Cane; (2) Unknown Moffet
3. Unknown Keen, d. bef. 1898
4. John H. Keen, b. April, 1873 in Morris, Texas, MO; m. Lillie Dickard, 26 December, 1897 in Carroll, AR
5. Martha Keen, b. 1874 in AR; d. bef. 1898
6. William Isaac Keen, b. March, 1876 in AR; m. Effie Walker, 23 January, 1898 in Carroll, AR

Mary Ann Keen

Mary Ann Keen's birth and death dates are from her tombstone. Often information on tombstones is erroneous, but there is no reason to doubt Mary's dates. The date of her marriage is from a pension application she filed in 1919.

She first appears for certain¹³ in the 1870 Morris Twp., Texas, MO census where the following information is given: Mary A. Haislip, age 18, b. in TN. She had recently married Isaac Haislip and they were living next door to Isaac and Pheba. Mary and her husband remained in Missouri when her parents moved to Arkansas. Mary Ann and her husband Isaac Haislip appear in the 1880 Benton, Wayne County, Missouri census: Isaac Haislip, age 36, b. TN, parents b. in TN; Mary A. Haislip, age 28, b. in TN, father b. in TN, mother b. in NC; Nancy Haislip, age 9, b. in MO; Levi Haislip, age 2, b. in MO. Mary and Isaac appear next in the 1900 Franklin County, AR census: Mary A. Haislip; b. June, 1852; age 47; married 30 years, 6 children, 6 living; b. in TN; both parents b. in NC. When they moved to Arkansas is unknown, being sometime between 1880 and 1900. They settled in Watalula, Franklin Co. Arkansas. According to the above pension application, Isaac died on 28 July, 1919, and Mary died 4 July, 1931 in Franklin County.

McGuinn Keen

In Isaac's list of children, he gives the second oldest child as Fanny Keen, b. in 1855 . Although he does not mention gender, Fanny is usually a feminine form of Francis. The only place McGuinn appears for certain (see note 13 above, where he may appear in 1860 as R.M. Keen) is in the 1870 texas County, MO census which states: McGuinn Keen, age 15, b. in TN. This would make his birthdate 1855, the same as Fanny Keen in Isaac's list. McGuinn disappears after 1870. I only list McGuinn here rather than Fanny out of preference to the census evidence over Isaac's seemingly selective memory.

Emma L. Keen

Emma is not listed by Isaac in his list of children, suggesting that she was dead by the time of the pension application (1898). She is listed in the 1870 Texas, MO. census: Emma L. Keen, age 8, b. in TN. she also appears in the 1880 Madison, AR census: Emma Keen, age 18, b. in MO. Nothing else is known about her.

Thomas Ransom Keen

Isaac gives Thomas Ransom the birth date of 1863, but on his death certificate, his son Thomas lists his birthdate as 14 May, 1865. Alternately, his tombstone reads: May 14, 1866. Thomas appears first in the 1870, Texas Co. MO. census: Thomas R. Keen, age 4, b. in TN. This suggests a birth year of 1866. The 1880 Madison Co. AR census reads: Ransom Keen, age 15, b. in MO, suggesting a 1865 date of birth. Finally, the 1900 Carroll Co. AR census lists: Thomas Ransom Keen, b. May, 1866, age 34, married 10 years, b. in TN, father b. in NC, mother b. in TN. May, 1866 coincides with the date on his tombstone, and is most likely the correct date for his birth. Isaac was not discharged from the army until 9 August, 1865, so unless Isaac had leave the year previous to his discharge, which seems unlikely during the war, it is not likely that Thomas Ransom was born in May, 1865, or 1863 for that matter. Besides, May 1866 is exactly 9 months from August, 1865, a correlation worth considering.

Thomas Ransom married Martha LeAnn Mclean, daughter of William H. Mclean and Martha Ledbetter, on 20 March, 1890 in Chaplain, Madison, AR. Their first-born son, Thomas Isaac Keen, was born later that year. Thomas Ransom and Martha went on to have 10 children. Thomas Ransom and Martha keen lived their whole adult lives farming in Carroll County, AR. Thomas Ransom was also a lay Baptist minister for much of his life. Martha died on 23 July, 1945, and Thomas Ransom followed shortly thereafter on 19 April, 1946. They were both buried in Gobbler Cemetery, Carroll Co. AR. An unusual feature of their double headstone is that only his birthdate is given, not his date of death. That detail is included, however, for Martha. Often double headstones were purchased when the second spouse died, and if there were a large time gap between deaths, the death date of the first spouse may be omitted because it was not remembered exactly. But in this case, the spouse with the omitted death date died second, and his death date was known because it is on the death certificate. The explanation is simple. In this case the headstone was purchased at the time of Martha's death and Thomas Ransom's name and birthdate were inscribed at the same time as Martha's name, birth and death dates. No death date could be given because he was still alive. When he died less than a year later, the headstone was left as it was; for whatever reason it was not removed and updated.

As has been discussed above, Isaac's first wife died shortly after Thomas Ransom was born. Isaac married Pheba Simmons around 1867 and their first child, Nancy Minerva Keen was born in 1868. According to the 1900 census, Pheba and Isaac had 6 children, 4 of which were still living in 1900. Pheba also had at least one daughter from her earlier marriage, Martha Williams, b. in 1862 in MO.

Nancy Minerva Keen

Isaac has Nancy born in 1869, which is close to the traditional date of 24 October, 1868. She is first found in the 1870 Texas, MO census, which reads: Nancy M. Keen, age 1, b. in MO. the 1880 Madison Co. census reads: Nancy Keen, age 13, b. in Ar. She married George Porter Doss about 1885 and they had 7 children. The 1900 Carroll Co. census has the following: Nancy Doss, b. Oct. 1868, age 31, married 15 years, 4 children, 4 living, b. in MO, father b. in NC, mother b. in KY. Nancy and George were living next door to Thomas Ransom and Martha Keen and two doors down from Isaac and Pheba in 1900. George Doss died in 1932 and Nancy died 15 July, 1952.

Jane Keen

Isaac gives Jane's birthdate as 1877 in his list, but the censuses support an earlier date. The earliest census which lists Jane is the 1880 Madison Co. AR census which reads: Jane Keen, age 11, b. in AR. This would place her birth about 1869. She married William H. Cane sometime before 1895 (the birthdate of her eldest son) and they had 4 children, but only three living when William Cane died, sometime before 1900. In the 1900 census, she is living with Isaac and Pheba with her 3 children. The census reads: Jane Can, b. Feb, 1870, age 30, widow, 4 children, 3 living, b.in MO, father b. in NC, mother b. in TN. This gives Jane a birthdate of February 1870. According to tradition, Jane later married a man with the surname Moffet.

Unknown Keen

Acording to the 1900 census, Pheba Keen had six children, but only four of them were living in 1900. The four children living in 1900 were Nancy, Jane, John, and William. These are all mentioned in Isaac's list. The two who died before 1898 (the date of Isaac's list) are Martha (see below) and an unknown child. I place this child here between Jane and John because here is the largest gap between children. This child could possibly fit between Martha and William Isaac, depending on when during 1874 Martha was born, and also possibly between John and Martha, also depending on when Martha was actually born, but there is probably not enough space to insert another child between Nancy and Jane.

John H. Keen

The 1900 Carroll County, AR census reads: John Keen, b. April, 1873, age 27, married 2 years. B. in TN, both parents b. in NC. This gives the birthdate of April 1873, close to what Isaac wrote. The 1900 census gives his birth place as Tennessee, which seems unlikely, since, if the date of April, 1873 is correct, we can pinpoint Isaac and Pheba's location near that time fairly accurately. According to BLM land documents, Isaac purchased 156 acres of land from the BLM Springfield, MO office on 1 February, 1873, and Pheba purchased an adjoining lot of 121 acres from the Springfield office on 1 November, 1873. John was then presumably born between those two dates, April according to the census. And he was no doubt born in Missouri, since both his parents were buying land in MO at the time of his birth.

According to the Carroll Co. AR marriage license, John married Lillie Dickard (daughter of Nelson Dickard) on 26 December, 1897 in Carroll County. In 1900 they had one daughter, Virgie Keen. I know little else about John, but there is a family tradition which states that he died in a drowning accident.

Martha Keen

Martha is one of the two children of Pheba who died. That is why she is not found in the list Isaac gives on his pension application. She only appears in the 1880 census: Martha Keen, age 6, b. in AR. This places her birth in 1874 and her death was obviously sometime before 1898, the date of Isaac's list.

William Isaac Keen

In Isaac's list, he refers to William Isaac as "Ike" Keen and places his birth in 1875. He first appears in the 1880 Madison Co. census: Isac Keen, age 4, b. in AR. This census places his birth in 1876, close to Isaac's date. According to his marriage license, William married Effie Walker, daughter of Rebecca Walker, on 23 January, 1898. This document refers to William as W.J. Keen, but this is probably a typographical error. The 1900 Carroll County census lists William and reads as follows: William I. Keen, b. March, 1876, age 24, married 2 years, b. in AR, father b. in NC, mother b. in TN.

Later Years

One of Isaac's pension documents, In response to the question: "That his several places of residence since leaving the service have been as follows.... provides us with a list of the places he lived after the war. Here is that list:

• Huntsville, Ark
• Berryville, Ark
• Bebee, IT
• Nampa, Idaho
• Rudd, Ark

Huntsville is in Madison County and Berryville is in Carroll County, Arkansas. Concerning Bebee, I.T., Paula Barnes discovered that I.T. referred to Indian Territory, an early name for the region we know as Oklahoma. Bebee was in Pontotoc County, in the Chickasaw Nation of the Indian Territory. The town of Bebee lies NW of the county seat Ada, near the Canadian River. The Chickasaw Nation became part of the state of Oklahoma in 1907. Nampa was a major railroad town located in Canyon County, southern Idaho. Rudd is also in Carroll County, Arkansas.

Armed with this list, the censuses and some land documents, we can outline Isaac's later years with relative accuracy.

After the war Isaac returned to his family in Tennessee, I believe Henderson County, but that is not yet definitely established. He was discharged from the army in August, 1865. Shortly thereafter, probably in late 1866 (after the birth of Thomas Ransom), he and the family moved to Missouri. According to tradition, Isaac's first wife died in Butler, Missouri, probably late 1866 or early to mid 1867. Isaac then moved to Texas County where he married Pheba (Simmons) Williams. Because Pheba and Isaac's firstborn child was born in October, 1868, Isaac and Pheba must have been married no later than December of 1867 or January of 1868. They remained in Missouri until probably early 1874. Isaac purchased land in Texas County in 1873; the BLM land document is dated 1 February, 1873. Later that same year Pheba purchased in her own name an adjoining lot; the land document is dated 1 November, 1873.

Isaac makes no mention of living in Tennessee or Missouri in his list of post-war residences. His list starts nearly 10 years after he was discharged from the army. He therefore omits nearly ten years of his life, but on the other hand, specifically mentions the Indian Territories, where he could not have lived for more than about a year and a half.

Isaac's list starts with Isaac living in Huntsville, Madison county, AR. Isaac moved there after John was born, but before Martha was born (1874). Where Martha was actually born is questionable, however, since her place of birth is only listed in the unreliable 1880 Madison County census entry. However, William Isaac Keen's place of birth--Arkansas in both the 1880 and the 1900 Carroll county censuses--is more secure. We can therefore say with assurance that Isaac and Pheba were in Arkansas by no earlier than November, 1873 and no later than March, 1876, and possibly by 1874. The first documentary evidence for Isaac and Pheba in Arkansas is the 1880 Piney Twp.,Madison County census. Isaac bought land from the government in 1893; the document is dated 21 February, 1893.

While living in Rockhouse, Madison County, Isaac applied for an Invalid Pension for his war service. This application generated a small corpus of 18 interesting and relatively useful documents covering a period of about 17 years. We have already looked at some of these documents above. Here is a summary of these important documents.

To view these documents, click here

Following their stay in Madison County, Isaac and Pheba are next found in Rudd, Carroll County. They were there by the 20th of June, 1900, when they are listed in the census of that year. They were living next door to Thomas Ransom, Martha and their family, and two doors down from Nancy and George Doss.

According to Isaac's list, sometime after June, 1900, and before about April, 1902, Isaac and Pheba lived in Bebee, Indian Territory (Oklahoma). We do not know why Isaac and Pheba moved to the Indian Territory or who accompanied them (they were, after all, in their seventies and Isaac not in the best of health).They stayed in the Indian Territory for less than 2 years. In April, 1902, they were in Nampa, Idaho. Pheba died in Nampa, and was buried in Kohler Lawn Cemetery. Pheba's headstone is curious because whoever gave the information for the inscription confused her Middle and first names and mispelled her middle name, Margaret, giving it as Margret.

The Kohler Lawn records show that Isaac purchased four plots on April 25, 1902 for the amount of $1.00. This provides an approximate date of death for Pheba, since Isaac would have had to procure a burial place within just a few days of her death. Therefore Pheba died around the 23rd or 24th day of April, 1902.

Why Isaac and Pheba were in Nampa at all is dealt with in family traditions. One story is that they were on there way to live in Oregon, and were just passing through Nampa. Nampa was a major railroad town at that time, but I have never heard where they were bound in Oregon and why. After all, Isaac was 72 at the time and Pheba was 68. Another family story is that they were traveling to visit relatives in Idaho and again were just passing through Nampa when Pheba died. According to Simmons researchers, Steven Simmons, Pheba's older brother, died in Lava Springs, Idaho, so they may have been traveling to visit him or some other relative.

Regardless of the reason why Isaac and Pheba were in Nampa, apparently Isaac remained there for some time, since he lists it as a place of residence. At one point I entertained the idea that Isaac planned on settling in Nampa permanently because he bought four plots in Kohler Lawn cemetery instead of just one for Pheba. But my uncle Bryce Keck (great grand-son of Isaac) heard that Isaac had to buy 4 plots because they came in a package of four, one could not buy a single plot. The cemetery director at Kohler Lawn affirmed that family plot packages were a common marketing ploy at the time of Pheba's death.

We do not know when Isaac returned to Carroll County, Arkansas, but he was there in April of 1907 according to pension document no. 8 dated 6 April and signed by A.M. Rudd, Justice of the Peace in Carroll County. Isaac died only a year later, on 8 November, 1908 while visiting his eldest daughter, Mary Ann Haislip in Watalula, Franklin County. He was buried in Belt Cemetery in Franklin County.