Family History Writing Challenge Day 14

At this point I have exhausted every avenue that I can think of, and that has been suggested to me, in attempting to find out who were the parents of Thompson Hightower. I will continue to watch for DNA matches that might point me to another person researching this family, as well as check online resources as information in constantly added.

But I feel that my next step is to hire a genealogist who specializes in Kenton County/Campbell County genealogy to see if he or she knows of resources that I have missed. Thanks to the postings this month on my blog, I can point the genealogist here so that my efforts won’t be duplicated.

Elizabeth Hightower

Thus I will be ending my writings on the Family History Writing Challenge for this year, and will instead resume my 52 Ancestors posts. But I’ll leave you with this intriguing piece that I found at the Kenton County Public Library. An article dated 22 July 1870 on page 1 of the Cincinnati Daily Gazette discussed the case of the Commonwealth vs. Richard Harris in which Harris had been accused of raping Mrs. Elizabeth Hightower. Thompson Hightower died in 1866. Is this his widow, Elizabeth? There was another Hightower named Rolla living in Kenton County at the same time, and his wife was also named Elizabeth, so it could have been her as well.

It is a noteworthy case in that the acting mayor allowed the “introduction of a negro woman as testimony for the prosecution.” It is believed to be the first instance of the court in Covington allowing a negro to testify in a case that involved a white person. The testimony resulted in the accused going free. It would be interesting to see if any other articles exist on this case.

For now, I am stepping away from the Hightower brick wall I have been banging my head against.

Family History Writing Challenge Day 13

Thompson Hightower

The previous posts have illustrated the extent to which I have tried to find information about the parents of Thompson Hightower. It does not include all the online avenues that I have utilized, nor the trip I took to Richmond, Virginia back in 2014 as that trip involved looking at Hightowers and affiliated family lines from George Hightower, Jr. back. Thompson was born in Kentucky, so until I can ascertain if or how they are related to Thompson, it makes no sense to cover that information here.

As I stated on the beginning of this writing challenge, I am confident of the direct tie between myself and Thompson Hightower. It is getting beyond him that is the problem. My brother and I have taken DNA tests, and I am hopeful that someday a George Hightower, Jr. (or any Hightower, for that matter) descendant will reach out to me as a match. Until then, here is summary of what I know.

Thompson Hightower was born in Campbell County (which became Kenton County in 1840), Kentucky around 1815. He remained in the Covington area until his death from cholera in 1866.

George Hightower was born in Virginia in 1770, but moved to Kentucky with his wife Frances and children, Mary Polly and Austin, by 1800. By the 1830 census he was living in Adams County, Illinois with his wife. He sold his land in Kentucky to his son Austin in March of 1836. What is odd is that the deed indicates that both George and Austin are residents of Campbell County. That could have been an error on the recording clerk’s part. There were no other George Hightowers living in Campbell County at that time, and none that show up on the 1830 census for Campbell County.

Austin then sold the land to a non-family member in October of 1838. By the 1840 census, Austin was also living in Adams County, Illinois with his wife and children. George, Mary Polly and Austin, along with their spouses, all died in Adams County and are buried in the Denson Pioneer Cemetery in Ursa.

If George moved his family in 1830, Thompson would have only been 15 years of age. Would they have left him behind in the Covington area? Or if he went with them and is indeed the one male ages 15 thru 19 on that census record, would he have gone back to Covington on his own as an adult when all of his family remained in Adams County? That doesn’t seem likely to me.

Family History Writing Challenge Day 12

A suggestion given to me by members of the Tri-State Genealogy Connection on Facebook when I asked for assistance regarding my Hightower broken branch was to go to the Campbell County Clerk’s Office in Alexandria, Kentucky. As the Campbell County Historical Society is also located in Alexandria, I decided to visit both places last July.

Campbell County Historical Society

It made sense to me to begin with the historical society as I felt like the volunteers there could give me guidance on what records and documents would be available to me at the clerk’s office. A wonderful woman assisted me at the society, which is housed at the beautiful old courthouse. As the building is no longer functioning in that capacity, it was nice to see that it still serves a useful purpose in the community.

Pouring through old books, family histories and documents I found no references to any Hightowers, or Hopper family members for that matter. I did photograph some information about early Baptist churches in the area in case that information would later be helpful.

Heading over to the Campbell County Clerk’s Office, I had a bit more success. While there was no one to give me any guidance in the facility, I had free reign of the old documents and books. As I mentioned in an earlier post, which can be found here, this office is where I was able to see the actual marriage bond between Thompson Hightower and his wife as opposed to a transcription of it. Seeing the actual document led me to the realization that Elizabeth Hopper’s father was in fact not deceased at the time of her marriage as I had assumed. That information will enable me to follow a different trail in researching him at some point.

George Hightower land purchase 1810

As property deeds are housed in this office - and indexed, thank goodness - I pulled and made copies of every deed that involved a Hightower or a Hopper. There were none for Thompson as he most likely would have been in Kenton County at the time he would have been of age to purchase land. However, there were quite a few transactions for George Hightower. If I can ever prove that he is my 4th great-grandfather, then I will spend some time deciphering where his land was located when he lived in Campbell County.

At the end of the day, though, there were no records that linked Thompson to George. Just as I thought I had begun to climb that brick wall, reality brought me crashing back to the ground with a resounding thud.