Box 414 - Delleker, California.
June 23 1937.
Mrs. Frances S. Whitfield
605 - Park Avenue
Southern Heights
Louisville, Kentucky.
My dear Mrs. Whitfield:
I really should drop that formal salutation and call you
cousin for of all the revelations I have received since my work on Haynes - Stith
Genealogy began, your letter carried one of the most interesting ones. When I wrote you
recently I had no idea I was stumbling onto a clue which I have endeavored to follow for
weeks and months.
I have before me on my desk several letters containing
information which I believe will interest your father, not alone because he is a Stith
descendant but also because his mother Nancy Catherine Abel was a descendant of
Millner Haynes the fourth and last Haynes' brother my history deals. You can't imagine how
thrilled I was sitting here reading your letter the first time and to learn your entire
family rests upon both the Haynes and Stith Family Trees. You state that because your
father has no male children the names will be unimportant -- that is not so I am most
eager to receive every item of your family and connections which you can possibly submit
for each and every one of you have space reserved in my histories.
Before giving items which I know will interest your father, I
wish to say that on April 4, 1936, I wrote Mrs. Maggie Roberts who was then living in
Medford, Oklahoma, according to word received from Mr. Robert Williams of Garberville,
California, son of Narcissa Robert Abel, but I never received a reply from Mrs. Roberts,
much to my regret. I take it from what you tell me and from what Mr. Williams wrote me
that Mrs. Roberts is very well informed on Haynes' history or else has in her possession
some old Family Bible containing names and dates. The letter must have reached her hands
because I never fail to place my return address on all outgoing letters, but, frankly, I
never give up hope hearing from all those I write for just the other day I received a
reply from a lady in Arkansas to whom I wrote in 1934.
The fact of the matter was, that my aged mother sent me a newspaper clipping cut from the
Meade County Messenger (Brandenburg, Ky. ) giving an account of death of Narcissa Robert
Abel daughter of the late Robert and Narcissa Haynes Abel. She first married John Taylor
Williams; 2nd. Mr. Ezra Read; 3rd. Mr. C.L.Ford. I wrote all three of the children by 1st.
marriage: Mr. Samuel Williams of Columbus, Kentucky; Robert Williams of Garberville,
California, and Mrs. Jess Young of Guston Ky., but Mr. Robert Williams was the only one to
reply to my letter. He stated he could give me little if any information regarding his
mother but referred me to Mrs. Maggie Roberts, hence, my letter to her.
Before branching out on the Stith Family I wish to speak
(for the benefit of your father) of the Haynes' side through which line all of you are
entitled to space in that history. I am at present doing my utmost to unravel the mystery
surrounding our mutual great-great-grandmother Bathsheba Hampton Haynes mother of
the four Haynes' brothers whose descendants I am seeking. As previously stated - your
father is a descendant of Millner Haynes the last of those four brothers. There were ten
children born to Henry Haynes, Sr., and Bathsheba Hampton Haynes, but the task of tracing
the descendants of all ten would have been far too great for one person to undertake,
hence, the four mentioned... William, John, Henry and Millner - on the questionnaires.
Upon the death of Bathsheba Hampton Haynes, Henry Haynes married 2nd. Tabitha Turner and
five more children were born. In an old letter written in 1880 by a cousin of my
Grandfather William Washington Haynes, I learned that Bathsheba Hampton was a close
relative to Wade Hampton whose son Wade Hampton, Jr., subsequently became Governor of
South Carolina. I am still tracing the source of that statement and recently stumbled upon
a valuable clue.
Now, to give your father his descent on the Haynes' side
back over 200 hundred years or more:
Old William Haynes, born Circa. 1710. (Private in Old Bedford County, Virginia Militia.)
Married Elizabeth __________ Have copy of his Will probated in Bedford County, Virginia,
in 1781.
Henry Haynes son of Old William Haynes, b. Circa. 1745. Married 1st. Bathsheba Hampton;
2nd. Tabitha Turner. The sons whom this history deals were of the first union.
Millner Haynes, born 1781; married Nancy Pate in 1808. Their children:
1. "Little " Henry Haynes; married Jane Stith. (This was the reference
2. William Haynes; m. Nancy Brandenburg. (made in
my 1st. letter.)
3. Perry Haynes m. Catherine Gallagher
4. John Haynes m. Julia Horsley
5 . Mathew Haynes never married .
6. Narcissa Haynes married Robert Abel
7. Betsy Haynes married Thomas Hendricks.
Millner Haynes m. 2nd. a widow Richardson and had three children:
1. Jabey Haynes. 2. Ackley Haynes 3. Mary Haynes.
NANCY CATHERINE ABEL m. FRANCIS MARION STITH
ROBERT GRIFFIN STITH, your father.
------------------------
Mrs. W.W.Geiser of your city gave me the names of children
of Narcissa Haynes Abel as follows:
1. Marguerite - no record.
2. Samuel
3. Nathan
4. John, m. Callie Brandenburg.
5. Mary Jane, m. Ben Dowell.
6. Nannie (this is your grandmother) m. Marion Stith.
It would please me greatly if you could give me the names
and addresses of your near kin in order that I might get a compilation of facts of the
above families for all belong in this history. I am positive there are countless relatives
belonging in the line of the fourth brother Millner Haynes of whom I have no record at
all, and I am sure some of them would be more than willing to comply with my request if
informed of this work.
Now, for the Stith side. Your father is undoubtedly a descendant
of Richard Stith, Jr., born Dec. 9, 1778, of Campbell County, Virginia. If so, your
father's great-grandfather Richard Stith, Jr., was a brother to my great-great-grandfather
Captain Joseph Stith of the Revolution. I shall
refer you to my first letter in which I gave you the list of children of Richard Stith,
Sr., and Lucy Hall Stith, early Meade County settlers. The youngest child of Richard Stith
Sr., was Richard, Jr. who married Elizabeth Jones (daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Jones
) Dec. 27, 1798. Their children were:
Lucy, b. March 2, 1802; d. Oct. 6, 1876; m. Thomas Hawkfield Stith.
Elizabeth b. Oct. 6, 1803; d. June 7, 1840; m. Stith Saunders.
Buckner b. May 31,1807; died Sept. 1, 1856.
Susan b. December 10, 1808, d. Aug. 4. 1847 m. Griffin Stith May 13, 1825.
John C., b. Oct. 3, 1810; d. March 1, 1880.
William, b. Apr. 21, 1812; d. July 17, 1880; m. Hannah Hayden.
Edmund, b. March 25, 1814; d. April 2, 1860; m. Mary Dowell.
Martha Ann, b. May 14, 1816; m. July 14, 1831, Joseph E. Hardaway.
Jesse J. b. March 14, 1818, d. July 21, 1895.
Mary Ann, b. Jan. 23, 1820; d. Oct. 24, 1873; m. Henry Stith.
John Cain, b. Oct . 2,---
The last name doesn't belong there for there were only ten
children in the family of Richard Stith Jr.; the name of John Cain comes in another line
of Stiths since he married into this family I have written Beverly Cain of Los Angeles a
descendant of the Cains and have her reply.
You will readily observe from the above that many of the Stiths
married near and distant cousins. I have a letter here from Mr. Taylor Stith of St. Louis,
Mo., in which he states his grandfather was Griffin Stith born 1790 and died in
1828. He married Mary Ann Wilmer daughter of Bishop Wilmer. I doubt if this is the same
Griffin Stith as your father's grandfather because in the record above I note Griffin
Stith and Susan Stith were married in 1825. Could be the same of course, but I will have
to let your father decide that because I don't think it probable Susan Stith could have
died so soon after marriage to allow Griffin Stith to remarry Mary Ann Wilmer so shortly
before he died in 1828. (note handwritten in margin: "Not the same Griffin Stith
since Susan Stith died in 1847.) Mr. Taylor Stith makes no mention of any other marriage
of his grandfather. Going further back into history - your father's grandfather no doubt
received his name (which was carried down to the present generation) from the very early
Virginia Stith Family. The fountain head of all Stiths in America was Major John Stith son
of William Stith of England . His children were:
Col. Drury Stith, d. 1740 m. Susanna Bathurst.
John Stith m. Mary Randolph. Through the Randolph Family of
Virginia Thomas Jefferson and Robert E. Lee
were descended.
Ann Stith, m. Robert Bolling. We are descended from Robert & Ann
through Lucy Hall who married Richard Stith,
Sr. The
first wife of Robert Bolling was the
granddaughter of
the Indian Princess Pocohontas.
We are also descended from Major John Stith through his first
child named above Col. Drury Stith who m. Susanna Bathurst. His son Lt. Col. Drury Stith,
Jr., m. Elizabeth Buckner and their son Richard Stith, Sr., married Lucy Hall. This latter
couple were the parents of my Captain Joseph Stith and your father's great-grandfather
Richard Stith, Jr.
But let me continue with the name of Griffin Stith. Lt. Col. Drury
Stith, Jr., who married Elizabeth Buckner (parents of Richard Stith, Sr.,) had a brother
Griffin Stith, and in turn Lt. Col. Drury Stith, Jr., named one of his sons Griffin Stith
for this brother. This younger Griffin Stith married Mary Blaikley. This younger Griffin
Stith was Clerk of Northhampton 1743-1794. It is quite apparent that this Griffin Stith
distinguished himself in some way or else the older Griffin Stiths were highly respected
citizens since the name has been brought down with high honors to the past few
generations.
In closing I wish to say that I am not particular about the Stith
data in your family because I do not wish to carry through all the lines from the early
Meade County, Kentucky, Stith Family. I only wish to search for the direct descendants of
my great-great- grandfather Captain Joseph Stith of the American Revolution. Captain
Joseph was the only child (male) of Richard Stith, Sr., and Lucy Hall Stith old enough to
join the colors during the Revolution. Your father's ancestor Richard Stith, Jr., being
the youngest child was not near old enough - in fact, was born during the Revolutionary
era. I have been informed through the Clerk of Meade County, Kentucky, that so many of the
descendants of Richard Stith, Jr., settled in Jefferson County Kentucky. This is why I
believe your father is truly a descendant of Richard Stith, Jr. through the daughter Susan
Stith, b. December 10, 1808, and who married Griffin Stith. Without a doubt this Susan and
Griffin (your father's grandparents ) were distantly related before their marriage - both
being descendants of the early Virginia Stiths.
I am going to enclose for you a stamped, self-addressed envelope. If
your father writes his sister Mrs. Maggie Roberts I would greatly appreciate your aid in
securing for me the information she possesses concerning Narcissa Abel and all those
descended from her. It is highly important to this history and from the newspaper clipping
sent me by my mother in Seattle concerning Mrs. C. L. Ford I know there are many relatives
whose names and addresses I do not have at the present time. I am going to follow your
advice and write Mr. John Hicks of Brandenburg. I wrote Mr. W. W. Stith of Guston,
Kentucky, long ago and he wrote me some interesting items of the Stith Family. Whether he
knows which John Stith (mentioned in my first letter) was the minister I don't know but
eventually I believe I will find the right person to ask.
Thank you again for your letter, and I close with best wishes to
you and yours.
Sincerely yours,
signed
Estie S. Crabbe