Benjamin Kuykendall

Notes:

"His son lives in Dubuque, Iowa"

Family/Spouse: Susie Husk. Susie was born about 1834; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

According to his son, John, James had eight boys and two girls.

1830 White County, Illinois Census

p 10 James Kuykendall4-2-0-0-0-1;1-0-0-0-1

Notes:

George Benson Kuykendall, author of HISTORY OF THE KUYKENDALL FAMILY SINCE ITS SETTLEMENT IN DUTCH NEW YORK IN 1646, featured a section in his book featuring some of those Kuykendall's whose membership is quite large and widely scattered over the country, but who had not yet been able to trace their lineage back to earlier Kuykendall families. He listed Peter Kuykendall in this section at the time of the books publication in 1919.

The HISTORY OF THE KUYKENDALL FAMILY quotes E.G. Kuykendall, a veterinarian of Carmi, Illinois, "My great grandfather, Peter, came to this county from near Bowling Green, Kentucky, in 1807 or 1808. He came to Kentucky from farther east, supposedly Virginia. He stayed here a few years and went to Northern Missouri. His two sons, James and Noah, stayed here, and later James moved to Southeast Indiana, where some of his descendants still live, one or two in New Harmony."

In the winter of 1912-1913, George Benson Kuykendall received a letter from an old veteran of the Union Army, John Kuykendall, at the Soldier's Home, Los Angeles, California "There were two Kuykendalls settled in White county, Illinois, in an early day; there names were Noah and Peter. Peter was my grandfather; my father's name was James."

In the book, the author notes that "There are a lot of Kuykendalls whose ancestors came into White county, Illinois, in the first decade of the nineteenth century, and since then have scattered...Carmi, the county seat of White county, is yet the location of a considerable sized settlement of Kuykendalls. These people with all their known relatives have been classified by me as the "Carmi Branch." By consulting a map of the country surrounding Carmi, in the White county, White river regions, it will be seen that Carmi is only about ten miles from the Wabash river, and that the White river empties into the Wabash only about twenty miles distant by straight line. The Ohio is the line between Kentucky and Indiana, and between the lower part of Illinois and Kentucky. In early times it was very common for the emigrants from Kentucky to go down the Ohio in barges or pirogues and to land at such points as suited their destination. It appears very likely that a good many of these Kuykendalls ....took the water lines of travel...(being) much more convenient to travel this way, after the Indians had been subdued by Wayne and Harrison. It was easier to float down the rivers than to go through the vast forests of Kentucky and Indiana."

This theory is confirmed in "...a matter of history..." Old Times, Old People and Old Buildings: Newspaper Accounts of Nineteenth Century Life in Carmi and White County, Illinois (The White County Historical Society, P.O. Box 121, Carmi, Illinois 62821: 1996), an article reprinted from the White County Democrat Centennial Edition published on July 30, 1914 by William D. Hay: " It has been stated that the first name to become of record in the new county of White was Kuykendall. That being true, a few lines regarding him and his family will likely be of interest. James (sic) Kuykendall came from Tennessee in the winter of 1807, crossing the Ohio river at Shawneetown. There he camped to rest himself and family and take a look around. It appears that he tarried too long, for before he was aware of it, he was water bound. The river had backed up and he found himself on an island with no way of getting off. He had more than the usual amount of stock for a mover at that time, and he lost the greater part of it getting it out of the backwater. After getting to dry land with his family and such of his stock and household goods as he was able to save from the water, he felt he had all of Shawneetown that he wanted. So he came to Big Prarie and settled near where Georgia school house now stands. There he raised one if not two crops of sod corn. Enough of it to be able to loan a load to Robert Land when he came in the fall of 1809. So far as I can learn James (sic) Kuykendall made no effort to enter land and about 1820, maybe before, he complained that the country was getting too thickly settled to suit him, so he moved on. Going to northeast Missouri and settled near Chillicothe, where he died. Noah Kuykendall, a son of James, who had not inheritied his father's love for moving and hunting a new and unsettled country, selected a location in the north edge of the Prarie and in 1809 built a log cabin about one hundred yards west of the present home of George G. Kuykendall, his grandson. He married and brought to his cabin home a Miss Jones, sister of Dan and John, prominent men in their day. The only descendant of the Jones family now living in the county so far as I know is our fellow townsman, John R.

The Carmi Illinois 1816-1966 Sesquicentennial booklet also mentions the earliest settlers of Carmi: first the trappers and hunters, seeking fur and game. Then the land-lookers, wanting to settle. Daniel Bain, a Revolutionary War soldier from Virginia, pushed into this area in 1806. He sired 18 children; was step-father of six more. Others built on the Big Prarie---Peter Kuykendall in 1808; Robert Land, Thomas Miller, Henry Jones, James Garrison, Thomas Gray and the Rev. Daniel McHenry in 1809.

The year 1811 was one of trouble and terror. Indians were killing and scalping. Tecumseh was trying to unite all tribes for war. "This is our land," he told General William Henry Harrison at Vincennes.

Then came that terrifying December 16. It was 2 a.m. Monday. Settlers slept. Suddenly the earth shook. Cabins shuddered. Logs creaked. Cradles rocked. Chimneys cracked. Bells rang. Clocks stopped. Dishes crashed. Cattle bawled. Dogs howled. Horses panicked. People fled their cabins; huddled in the cold. Parents prayed. Children cried. The ground rolled up in waves. Trees blew up, cracked, split, fell by the thousands. When earth waves hit the tall timber, forest giants weaved their tops together, interlocked their branches, sprang back and cracked like whip lashes. The earth rumbled, roared, split open, raised in some places, sank in others. On the prairie, snow white sand shot up like geysers. Along the Wabash and little Wabash Rivers banks caved in. Trees toppled into the water. Mrs. Edward McCallister hurried her children into a dugout canoe, pushed it into the Wabash River. Violent waves forced her to struggle back to the heaving land.

The earth shook all night and the following day. Tremors continued for three months, with massive shocks January 23 and February 7. The praying pioneers didn't know it, but they had experienced the heaviest earthquake ever to shake the American continent. It shook 1,000,000 square miles.

The following biography, not entirely accurate, was published in the "HISTORY OF NEW LEBANON, COOPER COUNTY, MO":

Peter Kuykendall went from KY to IL at an early date; he was dealing in land there at least in 1814-15. By his first wife (name unknown) he had the following children: Benjamin (R AR Terr.); Catherine (married Mar. 8, 1818 Howard Co., MO Benjamin Mathews) (R AR Terr.); Sarah (R AR Terr.); Moses (R Howard Co, MO); Hannah (married a Gage, R Howard Co, MO); Jesse (R IL); Polly (married a Taylor, R IL); and Noah Kuykendall (R IL); the geographic placements are as of 1826. While in Illinois, Peter Kuykendall married his second wife, Ruth Wyatt, and had seven more children: Wyatt, b Sept 28, 1810 IL; William Grant b Nov. 18, 1811 IL d 27 July 1892 buried Otterville, MO; Josiah A. b Feb 19, 1815 d Jan. 20, 1853, buried Brush Creek Cemetery, Williamson Co, TX; Peter b ca 1817 d before 1846; Mary d 1892; Narcissa; and Janette Kuykendall (married William Adams).

Wyatt, Josiah, and William Grant all entered land inthe 1830's northwest of Otterville Isee DVKM). Ruth (Wyatt) Kuykendall and her sons, Peter and Josiah entered land northwest of Otterville (see DVKM). Just when Peter Sr. and Ruth Kuykendall moved to Cooper County, Missouri from IL is not known, but Peter died there in Dec. 1826. Ruth died in 1858 and is buried in Llano County, Texas. **Taken from the probate papers for the Estate of Peter Kuykendall. R=resides

In Gifford White's unpublished paper titled "William and Mary Kuykendall Perry of Llano County, TX", he quotes Lania and Mattie Perry as saying "Mary Kuykendall Perry said that her father was in the Revolution, and was an old man when he married Ruth Wyatt, with a first family. She said he died of TB because of exposure in the war...the Kuykendall family lived near Boonville in MO because they used to hitch up and go into town."

There were 17 KNOWN living children of the two marriages of Peter Kuykendall at the time his estate was probated.

Peter married Unknown Wife Of Peter Kuykendall before 1780. Unknown was born after 1748; died before 1810. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

From GenealogyLibrary.com: Abstracts of Wills, Washington County, Tennessee pg. 41 P. 6 --Will of Peter Kuykendall, Feb. 17, 1783: Son, Jesse slave and land; d. Jane; s. Adams; d. Elizabeth; s. Matthew; s. Peter; ch. Mary, Ruthy, Rebecca, Offay [Affay]. Brother, Abraham, executor. Teste: Andrew Thompson, John Kuykendall, Robert Irwin. May Sessions, 1783.

(Courtesy of Grace Gleason)

Will of Peter Kuykendall

I, Peter Kuykendall of the State and aforesaid county being sick and in a low state of health, but in perfect mind and memory, thanks be to God for it with all others of his mercies, calling to mind the mortality of the body and knowing that it was appointed for all men once to die Do make and ordain this my last will and testament and principally and first of all I give and recommend my soul unto the hands of God who gave it., etc. First, I give an bequeath that track or parcel of land where I now live and one Negro boy named Harry to my well beloved son Jesse; Secondly I give and bequeath to my well beloved daughter Jane Kuykendall one Negro named Dick; Also I give and bequeath to my son Adam Kuykendall five shillings sterling. I give and bequeath to my beloved daughter Elizabeth Young the sum of one shilling sterling; I give and bequeath to my son Matthew the sum of one shilling sterling; I give and bequeath to my son Peter the sum of one shilling sterling and remaining part of my Estate after the discharge of all my just debts. I do ordain that it shall be equally divided among six of my children (viz) Mary Kuykendall, Ruth Kuykendall, Rebecca Kuykendall, Affray Kuykendall, Jesse Kuykendall and Jane Kuykendall. and this I do ordain and constitute my last will and testament revoking all others and affirm my seal this seventeenth day of February one thousand seven hundred and eighty three. The above will and testament to be put into execution by my brother Abraham Kuykendall.
Signed Peter Kuykendall (Seal) Witnesses Andrew Thompson, John Kuykendall and Robert Irvin. Proven in open court by the oath of Andrew Thompson and John Kuykendall two of the subscribing witnesses. May Sessions 1783 and ordered to be recorded. Will Book 1 1779-1808

(Courtesy of Linda Young)

Peter married Mary Hampton about 1743 in Hampshire County, West Virginia. Mary was born about 1720; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The daughter of Noah Hampton. (Marti Hurst).

Notes:

Married:
Velma Winn also lists a son, Simon.