James Jolliff

abt 1753 NJ - 1821 KY
The Frontiersman & Preacher
2nd generation
son of Richard Jolliff

JAMES (Abner?) JOLLIFF was born about 1753 probably in Morris Co, New Jersey. His great-great-grandson, Frank Hiett Rhea (1871-1926) said after researching the family, that James' father was Richard Jolliff who lived in New Jersey and died in the battle for Quebec in 1759. [Frank Hiett Rhea's source for family stories was James Richard Jolliff, grandson of James Jolliff.]
    So, James' father died when he was about 6 years old in 1759. I don't know of any siblings or any other family in New Jersey. In searching Morris Co, NJ records, I found a William B. Joll?? who voted in May 1776 for delegates to New Jersey's first constitutional convention. [He voted for Ellis Cook, Silas Condict, Jacob Drake & Moses Tuttle.]
    James' mother may have then remarried and moved to Washington Co, Pa. where several other settlers from New Jersey had moved. There is some confusion about when the Jolliffs moved to western Pennsylvania. The battalion James was in during the war was made up of soldiers mainly from Bucks, Lancaster, Chester & Philadelphia counties, which leads us to believe that he did go west until after or during the war. The only war records we have of him was that in Sept 1781 he was in Co. 6, 4th PA Battalion, and also that he was in the Washington Co, Pa milita in Sept 1781. So that is difficult to understand. Westmoreland Co, Pa was organized in 1773 and Pennsylvanians began moving in travelling along the old Forbes Road. Virginia, which at the time claimed the same territory, established the West Augusta District as a sub-district of Augusta Co, VA in 1775. This disagreement continued until it was settled in 1780 by the Baltimore Agreement, giving most of the disputed area to Pennsylvania.
    There was some relationship to Abner Wilson. There was an Abner Wilson who was about the same age as James Jolliff who moved from New Jersey to Washington Co, Pa. and then to Bourbon Co, Ky. James named one of his sons Abner Wilson Jolliff. Two of James' sons (Richard and James Jr.) also had sons named Abner Wilson Jolliff, though they must have been named for their uncle by that name. [Abner Wilson was a private in Capt. Zadock Wright's company, Washington co, Pa militia during the Revolutionary War.]

James' migrations are as follows:
        to Washington County, PA [sw corner of Pa] - He went there in the 1770s or after the War in 1781.
        to Jefferson County, OH in 1782 [across the Ohio River into Ohio]
        to Ohio County, VA in 1785
        to Jessamine County, KY in 1789
        to Barren County, KY in 1800

James was a Revolutionary War soldier, and was later also a frontiersman and a minister. Samuel A. Jolliff, a grandson of James, stated that his grandfather was in the Revolutionary War "having served under Washington until its close and received seven different discharges from the War Department of the US" [History of Marion Co, IL, p 750]. (Samuel is a very reliable source since his father, James Jr. stayed in Ky. near James Sr. until Sr. died, while almost all Sr's other children moved to Illinois. This means that, though Samuel was born after James Sr. died, his father was probably closest to James Sr.)
Kentucky historians list Lieutenant Colonel "Joloff" among the Revolutionary War soldiers buried in Barren County, Ky. When he was older and living in Barren County, he was known as "Colonel Jolliff." [However, this story may have been about James' son, James Jr. who was also known as Col. James Jolliff.]
James was in the Washington Co., PA, militia, in Sept., 1781 (in the SW corner of PA) in North Strabane twp. The Pennsylvania Archives lists our "James Jollef" in the Revolutionary War. [Search under Revolutionary War, then "J"]:
- James Jollef, pvt., Washington Co, 4th Battalion, Co 6 (8th class), date Sept 29, 1781 [also serving in Co 6, 4th Battalion, as captain was Andrew Dye, b 1744 in Cranberry, Middlesex Co., NJ, d 1843 in Miami Co, Ohio]
- Luke Jolly. Lancaster Co, enlisted in 1776-1781 (10th Reg), 1782 (1st Reg.), 1783 (3rd Reg) &1784 (4th Reg.) [another signer of his pay receipts: Abner Cloud]
- William Jollop, Westmoreland Co, loan of Apr 1, 1784

- Hugh Joley, Lancaster Co, 6th Co, date Oct 25, 1779
- Charles Jolly, pvt., Philadelphia Co, date Aug 29, 1780
- David Jolly, Northampton Co, 5th Co, date Mar 8, 1783
- James Jolly, Bucks Co, enrolled 1775-1776
- John Jolly, Phildelphia Co, 7th Co, enlisted Aug 10, 1780, date paid July 5th 1782
- Maybury Jolly (Esq), Phildelphia, 7th battalion (1778-1779), 3rd battalion 1780-1782
- Rob Jolly, Cumberland Co, 1780 7th Battalion
Pennsylvania law required that all men between the ages of 18 and 53 be part of the militia. [James may have been related to Luke Jolliff, who in 1775 was ordered by the West Augusta County Court, which covered most of what is now northern WV and southwestern PA, to be flogged for failure to take part in militia activities. The origin of Luke is unclear, but maybe he was the Luke Jolly from Lancaster Co?]

The 4th Pennsylvania Battalion

, of which James Jollif was a part, was created in Jan 1776 under the command of Col. "Mad Anthony" Wayne, with the soldiers recuited mainly from Chester, Lancaster, Bucks & Philadelphia Counties. Enlistments were for 1 year. Gen. Wayne insisted that his soldiers wear a distinctive uniform of blue coats with white facings and pewter buttons marked with "4BP" on them. In 1776 they failed to capture Quebec so had to retreat to Fort Ticonderoga where they served as garrison from July to Jan. 1777. (If James was with this group in Quebec, as he surely was, he would have been aware that his father died fighting there in 1759.)
After Wayne was promoted to Brigadier General, the 4th Battalion was mustered out and re-organized in early 1777 in Morriston, NJ as the 5th Pennsylvania Regiment, under the command of Col. Francis Johnson. The regiment continued to wear its distinctive uniform with the 4BP buttons. Members of this regiment served throughout the war and at the victory at Yorktown.
If James received 7 different discharges, as stated by his great-grandson (above), then he probably served throughout the War and was at the Battle of Yorktown in Oct 1781.
Here is what the 4th PA Battalion/5th PA Regiment did during the war:

- June 1776 Three Rivers, Canada
- July 1776- January 1777 Garrison force at Ft. Ticonderoga
- October 1776 Crown Point, NY
- June 1777 New Brunswick, NJ
- September 1777 Battle of Brandywine, PA & the Paoli Massacre
- October 1777 Battle of Germantown, PA
- Winter 1777-78 Encampment at Valley Forge, PA [The PA muster roll of Valley Forge doesn't list him]
- June 1778 Battle of Monmouth, NJ
- July 1779 Battle of Stony Point, NY [On the night of July 15, 1779 with a force of 1,500, mostly Pennsylvanians, Gen. Wayne made a daring raid--considered the most daring of the War--across the mountains and with bayonets alone, captured 475 British prisoners at Stony Point.]
- July 1780 Assault on blockhouse at Bergen Heights
- July 1781 Battle of Green Springs, VA
- October 1781 Battle of Yorktown, VA

At the end of the Revolutionary War in October, 1781, James left Yorktown and went home to Washington Co, PA. He married about 1782 to Elizabeth Norris (1754-1810), (according to grandson James Richard Jolliff, they were married in a fort), probably in Strabane Twp., Washington Co., PA. William Norris was living there by 1774. A fort was built on his property. William owned at least 200 acres and he called his property "William's Fancy." James Jolliff moved to Kentucky in 1790, but William was still in Washington Co, Pa. when the infamous Whiskey Rebellion occurred in that area in 1792. He seems to have followed his children to Kentucky after 1800 and died there in Montgomery Co in 1806. [There was a Norris family buried in North Strabane Twp: John (1804-64), wife Elizabeth (1804-56), daughter Lizzie (1865-69) -- see cemetery list and search for "Norris."]

During this time, western Pennsylvania was a dangerous place to live and still subject to many Indian attacks. [In 1782, Hannastown was totally destroyed during an Indian attack inspired by the British. Famous Indian fighter, Captain Samuel Brady pursued a party of Indians who were on their way north with a number of prisoners taken from Hannahstown, Westmoreland County. After nightfall their camp was discovered and Brady appeared and addressed them in their own tongue. They, supposing Brady's group to be another Indian party, gave him the full particulars about their prisoners, strength of their band, etc. The pursuing party went down to the encampment, surrounded and killed the Indians and rescued th e prisoners. More stories

For further reading on the area, see:
• That Dark and Bloody River: Chronicles of the Ohio River Valley, by Eckert
• The Frontiersmen: A Narrative, by Eckert (This book really gives you a great understanding of how the people lived on the frontier and ma ny events, people and places that James Jolliff would definitely have known.)
• Washington County, Pa., Frontier Rangers, 1781-1782, by Myers
• History of Washington County, Pa., by Crumrine -- index
• Biographical Sketches of Washington Co, Pa., 1893, by Beers -- index
• The 1783 Tax Lists and 1790 Census of Washington Co, Pa.
(These books may not mention James Jolliff directly, but they give fascinating information about the area and people he would have known.)

    Some Norris in-laws, including Charles, Elizabeth's brother had already settled in Wheeling (located on the east shore of the Ohio River; now in West Virginia.) At this time the Ohio River was the boundary which had been set by a treaty between the US and Shawnee & Delaware Indians in Ohio. The government promised not to allow white settlers on Indian land on the west side of the river. The troops of Ft. McIntosh were there to keep the marauding Indians under control and to keep settlers out, but they were hardly able to do either.   This was a very dangerous time for all white settlers in both Ohio and Kentucky. There were severe conflicts between the Indians and whites with plenty of examples of atrocities and massacres on both sides. But in 1779 (8 years before Congress permitted settlement in Ohio) Charles Norris had crossed over the Ohio River with a woman named Bilderback and built the first blockhouse ever built in what is now Ohio--the first white settlers in Ohio. Other settlers joined him in this settlement, called Norristown (located 11 miles down the Ohio River from present-day Steubenville).
    James Jolliff would have been aware of and surely shocked as many others were at the tragic events of Mar. 1782 when a militia group, angry at constant Indian attacks and following Lt. Col. David Williamson, marched into Ohio and killed what turned out to be about 90 peaceful Moravian Christian Indians (men, women, and children) who had been converted by Moravian missionaries. His brother-in-law Charles Norris may have been in this group. [There is no way to justify this tragic event, but the frontier people lived in constant terror of Indian massacres and eventually became non-discriminating in their reprisals, as did the Indians. Records of Indian attacks on white settlers began in 1779 and continued until 1789.]

    James & Elizabeth's first child, Rachel, was born in Oct. 1783, probably in Westmoreland Co, PA. James was across the river in Norristown, Ohio in 1785-6 (probably leaving his family in the relative safety of Pennsylvania). In 1785 Army troops marched into Ohio, burned cabins and removed settlers. The settlers felt they would eventually be given title to the land, so by the next spring there were more cabins built. That spring, April 1786, the soldiers destroyed 35 houses, one being that of James Jolliff of "Norris Town." This time the government succeeded in permanently closing the settlement, and thereby probably saving all the settlers from massacre by the Indians. The next year (1787) Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance allowing settlement in the Northwest Territory (Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois).
    The following story about Elizabeth Norris came from her great-great-grandson, Frank Hiett Rhea (1871-1926) who worked on the family history. He heard the story from Elizabeth's grandson, James Richard Jolliff, son of Col. James Jolliff, Jr.
    Elizabeth Norris lived on the Kentucky River at Lexington, Ky. They lived in a fort, but don't know the name of the fort. She swam the Ky. river several times during overflows and kept her father's cattle from being drowned. During a 'house raising' at her father's house, there came a strange man to where the men were at work and said he ran foot races for a living. He asked the crowd if any of them wanted to run and put up any money on it.
Elizabeth's brother, William Norris Jr., said to the man, "I have a sister that will outrun you if she will run."
The man answered, "I never did run with a woman, but I will."
William Jr. went to the house to see Elizabeth. She at first did not want to run, but her brother said to her, "Bets (a nickname) you can beat him and if you will run I will back you and you can have the money you win."
The purse was $100 a side. She said she wanted 2 weeks to get ready. In that time she knit herself a suit of tights and ran on the track made on her father's farm and won the money!
    About 1803 Charles Norris, Elizabeth's brother, was jumping from a wagon and fell on the standard of the wagon and was killed.

    James second child, Richard was born in 1788, almost 5 years after his first child. This gap might be explained by his settlement attempt at Norristown, Ohio, 1785-6.
    About 1789 James set off for Fayette Co, Kentucky. [Fayette County, formed in 1780 from Kentucky

Co., VA, comprised all the land north and east of the Kentucky River, with Lexington as the county seat. There were only 2 other Ky counties: Jefferson & Lincoln.] He left his wife and 2 children at home.
        In April 1789, 15 days before George Washington was inaugurated President, James Jolliff purchased from James Hogan 500 acres on West Hickman Creek for 75 pounds in Fayette County. The Kentucky Gazette newspaper (first published in 1787) printed this item on June 6, 1789: "James Jolliff, living on little Hickman about 3 miles from Hogan's Ferry, found a horse." Hogan's ferry was one of Kentucky's first ferry services at the mouth of Hickman Creek. It ferried pioneers for many years across the Kentucky River.
    This location is a little confusing. Hickman Creek does empty into the Kentucky River at Camp Nelson, however it has a branch about 10 miles north of there called the West Hickman, and formerly known as little Hickman. So his land was somewhere 10-20 miles south of Lexington and about 15 miles west of Boonesboro in what is now Jessamine County [between the 2 red arrows]. Tax records show that he owned 3 horses.
    Probably in the winter of 1789-90 James went back home to Pennsylvania to get Elizabeth and their 2 children. [He had to have been at home about Jan of 1790 because Elizabeth had a 3rd child in Oct 1790. Frontiersmen often went back home during the winter months.] As was common then, James left his family at one of the forts for safety while he went alone to farm his land. Some of his children were born at the fort (his 3rd child James Jr. was born in a fort), but no one knows for sure which fort. The fort at Crab Orchard was about 30 miles south of his land, Boonesboro was about 15 miles east, and the fort at Harrodsburg was to the west. A later story (below) seems to indicate that it was at Crab Orchard where he located his family.
    Some settlers built their cabins close to one of the forts. Others built farther away, but would go back to the fort at night for protection. Unless they were handy with a gun and were also a good Indian fighter, they would not stay alive long. Kentucky was a very dangerous place to live. Though no Indians actually lived there, it was the hunting ground for the Shawnee in Ohio and in the 1770's-90's they were determined to keep the white settlers out. They had little success attacking a fort, but they often killed & scalped farmers and families caught outside the forts or on the rivers, stole horses, burned cabins, and killed cattle.
    Wm. Whitley House

The William Whitley House, south of Lexington and just a couple of miles north of the Crab Orchard fort was built in 1788 on the Wilderness Road, the first brick house in Kentucky. It would have been familiar to James Jolliff as it was a common stopping place on the road, with visitors including George Rogers Clark and Daniel Boone. It would be very unlikely that our James Jolliff did not know all of these men. Mr. Whitley had a race track at the back of the house where horse races were held. It was the first circular horse race track in the nation and it's thought that the American practice of racing counter-clockwise began here, as one way to express their anti-British feelings.
    In March 1790 James rode to Lexington and bought 75 more acres for 150 pounds, again from James and Elizabeth Hogan, located “on both sides of little Hickman Creek.” James was busy during the week with his crops and livestock, and operating his mill, but on the weekends he went south to his cabin and family at Flat Creek (12-15 miles south of Crab Orchard and between Crab Orchard and Mount Vernon; abt 45 miles south of Lexington). [In 1789 there had been a road cut from western Virginia to Crab Orchard. Before that time wagons couldn't be brought into Kentucky from Virginia.]
His sons, James & Abner, were born in 1790 & 1791. In 1792 Kentucky became a state. Daughters Elizabeth & Jahoda were born in 1793 & 1795.
    In 1795 the Kentucky Legislature voted to build a road from Lexington to Crab Orchard. During this time the Fort at Crab Orchard was a major intersection and most traffic into Kentucky from Virginia went through Crab Orchard. Not only were there wares for sale, but when someone was planning a trip to Virginia, it would be advertised in the Kentucky Gazette, and anyone wanting to go along would meet at Crab Orchard and travel together in a group for protection. For example, on Nov. 1, 1788, the Gazette printed this note: “A large company will meet at the Crab Orchard the 19th of November 1788 in order to start early the next day through the wilderness. As it is very dangerous on account of the Indians it is hoped that each person will go well armed.”

    James was at first a frontier, circuit-riding Methodist preacher. But then something happened to change his beliefs -- John Clark, a Scottish Methodist minister arrived in Crab Orchard in April 1796. He wrote this about the area:
    “Down the mountain range, towards Crab Orchard, the country was thinly settled. Every eight or ten miles was a cluster of log cabins. . . No public houses existed in that region. . .Fifty cents for horse-keeping, supper, and lodging, was the uniform price. . .at these country houses.”
John Clark reached Crab Orchard in April 1796. Hearing therewas to be preaching, he went with the family he was boarding with.
    "The preacher Jolliff was a plain, frontier-looking man, dressed in the costume of the country, a hunting-shirt of dressed deer skins and trousers of cotton and wool mixed of a very course texture, colored brown with the bark of a species of the White Walnut tree. The house where the people assembled was a double log cabin, rough hewn and when all had gathered, it contained about 75 or 80 persons. The name of the preacher was Jolliff and he preached the gospel to his neighbors and people generally as opportunity offered without any thought about compensation in this life. He was a plain preacher and enforced such truth as he understood on the minds of his hearers. He had been and perhaps was still a Methodist preacher of the local order--but he afterwards joined a class of Baptists called Separates in KY" (p141-142)
    "Mr Jolliff fell into conversation with the preacher (Clark) while the people were gathering, found out his business in the country and insisted he (Clark) should preach (in his stead)."(p 142) "Mr Jolliff who lived several miles from the place of meeting was so much impressed with the discourse that he persuaded Mr Clark to attend the meeting in his (Jolliff's) neighborhood on the following Saturday and Sabbath and to come to his (Jolliff's) house." (p143) "At that period 1796 the Methodists had 5 circuits in KY, ten preachers in the traveling connections and 1880 whites and 64 blacks in their societies. Their preachers learning that Mr Clark had left the Methodist connection, gave him direct encouragement as a preacher. Mr Jolliff, Rev Joseph Lillard, and two or three other preachers were Independent Methodists and affiliated with Clark." (p149)
[These are excerpts from the book Sketches and Incidents of Rev. John Clark by an Old Pioneer Preacher by J.M. Peck.]

    Rev. Clark lived with Elder Jolliff for several months. Both men joined the Separate Baptists who were strongly opposed to slavery. They both attended a religious meeting lasting 4 days and nights in Crab Orchard in Dec. 1796. "The meeting was 12 to 15 miles from Flat Creek, the location of the Jolliff house and the local school." [source same as above]. It is not known which church James Jolliff was associated with but with so few preachers, it would have been easy for all the preachers to know each other, so he could have known Kentucky preacher Elijah Summers here. Summers was in Lexington, Kentucky area from at least 1788 to about 1795 when he organized Bethel Church in Montgomery County. In 1797 James named one of his sons Elijah Summers Jolliff.
The Kentucky Baptist History 1770-1922 gives us an idea of what worship was like in those times:
“They had no house of worship. In the summer time they worshipped in the open air, in the winter time they met in the round-log cabins with dirt floors, as there was no mills and plank to make a floor...
“The men dressed as Indians; leather leggins and moccasins adorned their feet and legs. Hats made of splinters rolled in Buffalo wool and sewed together with deer sinews or buckskin whang; shirts of buckskin and hunting shirts of the same; some went the whole Indian costume and wore breech-cloths. The females wore a coarse cloth made of Buffalo wool, underwear of dressed doe skin, sun bonnets, something after the fashion of men’s hats and the never-failing moccasin for the feet in winter, in summer time all went barefooted.
“When they met for preaching or prayer, the men sat with their trusty rifles at their sides, and as they had to watch as well as pray, a faithful sentinel keeping a lookout for the lurking Indian. But it so happened that their services were never seriously interrupted, except on one occasion.   One of the watches came to the door hole during a sermon and endeavored by signs and winks to apprise the people that something was wrong—not being exactly understood, a person within winked at the messenger, as much as to say, ‘Don’t interrupt us.’ But the case being urgent, the outside man exclaimed, ‘None of your winking and blinking—I tell you the Indians are about.’” [p 31-32]

    Kentucky refused to sell large tracts of land below the Green River to speculators, instead the land was sold directly to settlers. The Barren Co, Ky

act that passed in 1798 stated that any person who cleared and farmed 2 acres of this unsurveyed land could buy up to 200 acres for 60 cents per acres (40 cents for second-rate land). So, in 1798 James sold 52 acres of his land on the little Hickman and moved about 110 miles southwest to Barren County, Kentucky (midway between Louisville and Nashville) where he applied for 150 acres between the Barren and Little Barren rivers, near Center & Knob Lick (after 1860 this was Metcalfe County), which he paid off in 1802. Here he spent the rest of his life.

There was a William, Hugh and Henry Norris who married in Barren County, Kentucky between 1808-1811. Maybe they were Elizabeth's relatives? [Source: Barren Co. Marr. Record]

Another story from gg-grandson, Frank Hiett Rhea:
    "When James Abner Jolliff and his wife Elizabeth Norris of Lexington, Ky. had moved into what was known as the Green River county and settled near Glascow, Ky, which is the county seat of Barren Co., they had built a log cabin near Glascow in the fall of the year [1798--prob about 12 mi NE of Glasgow near Knob Lick]. It was not completely finished when they went after their furniture in Lexington, Ky with a wagon driven by an ox team. So they left 2 young boys, James, 8 years old & his brother Richard, 10 years old, with a hired man to stay with them while they went after their furniture. Their father had killed a deer and dressed and cured deer meat before he went after the furniture, so the hired man and 2 little boys could have deer meat to eat while they were gone. The cracks between the logs of the cabin were not filled in at the time until after they got back with the furniture--before real cold winter set in.
    "The hired man left the 2 young boys and didn't stay with them. He went to stay in a fort about 4 or 5 miles from there where a number of families were staying in the fort. (Guess he was afraid of Indians & went to stay in the fort.) The 2 young boys stayed by themselves for 3 weeks alone until their parents got back. At one time there was a big, black bear came up to the cabin and he smelled the deer meat hanging over a rafter inside of the cabin. Both boys had their hunting knives and when the bear climbed up outside of the walls of the cabin with his feet between the cracks that was open & not filled in--he reached inside of the cabin with his paws through the cracks trying to get the deer meat. The little boys tried to stab the bear with their hutning knives, but it got away. They had a lot of courage and bravery for 3 weeks alone among all kinds of wild animals."
James Abner Jolliff built a mill on the Barren River (which is head waters of Green River). He was a miller and a breeder of fine race horses, the noted Copper Bottoms of the south (a sure-footed, easy traveling horse of the Fox Trotting breed). He lived there until his death at his son Col. James Jolliff's house in Barren Co, Ky in Dec., 1821.
    Another interesting story is found in the court records of Barren County: In July, 1801 when James Jolliff had returned from a trip to Jessamine County to see about his land there, he accused Adam Blakeman of stealing bacon from his house while he was gone. James stated in testimony with witnesses that he confronted Adam, and Adam admitted the theft. But at the trial both sides had witnesses. Afterwards Mr. & Mrs. Ben McQueen, who had testified for Adam Blakeman, attacked James Jolliff with various weapons. He sued them for 1000 pounds. Seven months later he won his suit and was awarded $50 in damages.

1801 - James’ first child, Rachel married James Rhea
1804 - James was 51 years old when his 8th child, Catherine was born.
By 1806 James Jolliff owned 770 acres of land in Barren County, and he still owned 575 acres in Jessamine County.
In 1809 on his oldest son, Richard's 21st birthday, James gave him 225 acres and 3 horses.
The next year (1810) Richard married Rebecca Hoover.
1811 - James Jr. & Abner married. James gave James Jr. 224 acres and Abner 100 acres.
Dec. 16, 1811 to Feb 7, 1812 - the region was shaken by a series of strong earthquakes in the lower Mississippi valley that collapsed chimneys and damages houses. Halley’s comet was also seen that winter.
June 18, 1812 war was declared with Great Britain and the 3 oldest sons, Richard, James Jr. & Abner, served in the War. James Jr. later filed for pay for a rifle lost in that war.
1813 tax records - James Sr. had only 150 acres of land, probably having given the rest to his children. James Sr. had 7 horses, Richard-4, James Jr-3, Abner-3. [The Jolliff men were known for generations to love and own good horses.]
1814 - Jahoda married Enoch Holtslaw.

Barren Co, Ky marriage records list:
James Jolliff [Jr] m Betsy Jackson - 17 Mar 1811
Abner Jolliff m Rhoda Clarke - 10 Oct 1811
James Jolliff m Milly Slinker - 17 Jun 1815

    James' wife Elizabeth died between 1810 and 1814 and was probably buried near their home near Knob Lick (It may have been in the Buck Hill Cem. though there is no identifiable marker there for her). All of her 8 children named a daughter for her, and several generations had sons named Norris.
    James was about 62 years old when he married Mildred Ann Slinker, June 17, 1815 (marriage bond signed June 14, 1815).
    In Oct. 1816 Richard moved to Indiana. The next month James & Milly’s first child, Mildred Ann was born.
    In Jan. 1817 daughter Elizabeth married John Faulkner, leaving only Elijah and Catherine & baby Mildred at home. In the summer or fall of 1817 Abner took Elijah followed Richard to Indiana. James Sr. gave Elijah 3 horses, perhaps because he would turn 21 the next year.
    Early in 1818 Elijah married Lucinda Noble in Indiana. Late in the year they may have traveled straight south to Barren Co, Ky. to visit his father. This would explain why Elijah’s son Randolph was born in Kentucky in Dec. 1818, also sometime in 1818 James Sr. had his10th child and named her Lucinda, maybe after his new daughter-in-law. [Frank Hiett Rhea said that his second marriage was an unpleasant one because Mildred disapproved of religious worship of all kinds and she left him, took the 2 little girls and went to Texas. Some of this might be true, but it appears that the girls actually grew up, married and lived in Kentucky. However, they lost contact with their Jolliff half-siblings in Illinois.]
    In April 1818, after living in the same house for 19 or 20 years, James “Jolliffe” sold his house and 150-acre farm near Knob Lick to his son-in-law, James Rhea, for $1,500.
    In 1819 daughter, Jahoda Holtslaw and her family moved to Indiana, to be near her 3 brothers, Richard, Abner & Elijah. However about the same time, Elijah moved to Illinois with his in-laws and his mother-in-law’s Casey family, leaving Richard, Abner & Jahoda in Indiana and Rachel, James Jr., Elizabeth & Catherine (still at home) in Kentucky.

    James died in early December 1821 in Barren County, Kentucky, leaving two small children: Mildred, 5 & Lucinda, 3. He was about 68 years old and was probably buried beside his first wife, Elizabeth near his home near Knob Lick, Ky. In 1925 there was printed in the Glasglow Times a list of Revolutionary War soldiers buried in Kentucky. The list included "Colonel Joloff buried at Buck Hill near Savoyard" (betweem Hiseville and Center).
    James Jr, the only son remaining in Kentucky, was the estate administrator. Richard returned for the estate sale in Jan. 1822. He took Catherine, about 17, back to Indiana with him, leaving only 3 of James & Elizabeth’s 8 children in Kentucky: James Jolliff, Jr., Rachel Rhea, and Elizabeth Faulkner.
    Catherine soon married in Indiana in 1822 and in 1823 she & her husband, Walter Alexander, moved to Illinois.
    In 1824 Richard, Abner & Jahoda left Indiana and joined Elijah & Catherine in Ill. Rachel also joined them from Kentucky that year. They all settled in the community of Irvington, where 4 counties meet: Jefferson, Washington, Clinton & Marion.
    In 1827 Rachel’s family moved to Sangamon Co. Ill.
    In 1829 James, Jr. followed the family to Illinois, settling near the others, and the next year in 1830 Elizabeth was the last of the 8 children to move to Illinois. [The 2 young children of James & Mildred, Mildred & Lucinda stayed in Kentucky and lost touch with the rest of the family.]

The following is a summary of the moves James’ children made:
Moved from Kentucky to . . . . . Indiana    Illinois
1. Rachel Rhea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1824
2. Richard Jolliff . . . . . . . . . . . . 1816 . . . 1824
3. James Jolliff Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1829
4. Abner Jolliff . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1817 . . . 1824
5. Elizabeth Faulkner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1830
6. Jahoda Holtslaw . . . . . . . . . . 1819 . . . 1824
7. Elijah Jolliff . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1817 . . . 1819
8. Catherine Alexander . . . . . . 1822 . . . 1823

CHILDREN (Elizabeth’s 1-8; Mildred’s 9-10):

1. RACHEL was born Oct 16, 1783, Norfolk Co., Va; married Nov 20, 1801, Ky. to James Rhea (1780-1843). In March 1824 they moved to Jefferson Co, Illinois with all their children and their son-in-law, meeting up with the rest of the family (45 in all) moving there from Indiana. In 1827 the Rhea family (except James Jr) moved to Island Grove township in Sangamon Co., Ill. In 1832 The First Baptist church in the township, called Emancipation Baptist Church, was organized in their home.
Frank Hiett Rhea wrote 6 July 1921 in Springfield, Illinois: "My great-grandmother Rachel Jolliff Rhea was a woman of great size, tall and big boned, of a very happy disposition and very religious. The old set of Jolliffs, that is, all I ever saw, were big, powerfully built men and women."
Rachel loved singing and was always called upon to pitch the hymns at worship.
James d 1843; Rachel died Oct 28, 1851 (age 68), outliving all but 4 of her children (William, Nancy, John & Thomas)
Children: Elizabeth, James, William, Richard, Nancy, Jahoda, Rachel, John, Mahala May, Mary Ann, Thomas F.,

2. RICHARD (named for his grandfather, Richard Jolliff) was born July 11, 1788, Pa. He moved to Fayette Co, Ky. when he was 2 years old, and then to Barren Co, Ky when he was 10. For his 21st birthday (1809), his father gave him 225 acres of land on the Little Barren River. He married Feb 28, 1810, Green Co., Ky. to Rebecca Hoover (1790-1857).
Sept 18, 1812 he volunteered to served in the company from his county in the War of 1812. The company went to Bushrow, Indiana, in search of Indians, but found none and Oct 30, they were discharged and sent home.
In the 1816 Barren Co, Ky tax record, Richard owned 7 horses.
In Oct. 1816 Richard & Rebecca moved to Orange Co., Indiana, along with his brothers, Abner & Elijah, and followed by Jahoda in 1819 and Catherine in 1821 (after their father's death).
In 1824 all the Indiana Jolliffs (including Rachel from Kentucky) moved to the community around Irvington, IL, Richard's family settling on the Washington County side.
Richard was a farmer, a tanner, & owned a horse mill. He was in the IL state militia and was a 2nd Lieut. in 1833.
He died Oct 21, 1833 (age 45).   He and Rebecca were buried in the family plot near their home.
Children: Elizabeth, Martha, James E., Aaron, Abner Wilson, Richard Jr., John Jacob

3. JAMES H. JOLLIFF, Jr. was born in a fort Oct 26, 1790, in Lexington (Fayette Co) Ky. He married James Jr.

Mar 17, 1811 in a fort in Barren Co, Ky to Elizabeth “Betsey” Jackson (1792-1847, his first wife). To this union were born 11 children: Peggy, Betsy, Liddy, Andrew Jackson, James Franklin, Reuben William, Jane Caren, Elijah, Samuel Anderson, Daniel and Abner Wilson.
He and his brother-in-law, James Rhea, served in the War of 1812 on Lake Erie under Commodore Perry, and also in the Battle of the Thames.
About 1829 James Jr. moved to southern Illinois to join his 6 brothers & sisters. He built a water mill and also operated a brickyard. In 1832 the Bethel Baptist Church of Marion Co. was organized in his home. His father and his brother Abner were the preachers in the family; James was a Deacon. He was a County Judge 12 years, a Justice of the Peace 15 years, & County Commissioner 6 years in Brookside twp, Clinton Co.
Betsy died Mar. 17, 1847 on her 36th wedding anniversary (age 55). James married 2nd 1848, Marion Co, IL to Mrs. Susanna (Reed) Burton (1809-71). James & Susanna’s children: James Richard (several of the family stories above were from him), Francis Marion, Susan Rachael.
Susanna died in 1871 (age 62). James died 1876 (age 85).

4. Elder ABNER WILSON JOLLIFF was born about 1791, Fayette Co., Ky. He married 1st Oct 10, 1811, Barren Co, Ky to Rhoda Clark (d 1841; 11 ch). In 1817 he moved to Indiana with brother Elijah, following brother Richard. They settled in Dubois Co In 1824 they moved to Washington Co, Illinois with other Jolliffs. He was Justice of the Peace (1831) & County Commissioner (1832). Abner was the only one of his father’s sons to follow his father and become a Baptist minister. He married 2nd Mar. 18, 1842 in Jefferson Co, IL to Keziah Scott. He died Mar. 21, 1853 (7 days after his son James) at Irvington, IL. Children:
Rhoda's: Martha, Ruth, James Norris, Richard, Abner, Zellah, Rhoda, Elizabeth, Elijah, Elisha S.W., Jane C.
Keziah's: Jacob

5. ELIZABETH was born 1793 Fayette Co., Ky. She married Jan 1, 1817, Barren Co, Ky to John Bear Faulkner (1791-1851). They moved to Illinois in 1830, the last of the Jolliff children to leave Kentucky. John erected a horse mill there; he also built the first grist mill in that part of the country. They were members of the Grand Point Baptist Church (right by his mill) which was mostly made up of Faulkners & Jolliffs. He died in 1851 (age 60); she died Aug 18, 1884 in Irvington, Washington Co, IL (age 91; outliving her 7 brothers & sisters and 9 of her 13 children).
Children: Rev. John bear Faulkner Jr., Catherine, Richard, Aaron, Elizabeth, Gilbert, James F., Abner, Margaret, Alexander, Angeline, Charles J., Mary Caroline.

6. JAHODA “Hodie” was born Mar 10, 1795, Fayette Co., Ky. Married Jan 11, 1814, Barren Co, Ky to Enoch D. Holtslaw (1790-1861). In 1819 they moved to Orange Co., Indiana near her brothers, Richard & Abner; then in 1824 moved to near Mt. Vernon, Jefferson Co, IL; 1836 moved to Marion Co. where they built the first house in Central City. In 1854 they moved to Mason Co., Ill.; he died Oct 12, 1861; she died Sept 19, 1864 (age 69), buried in family cemetery east of Kilbourne.
Children: Enoch Harrison, Henry W., Elizabeth, Rev. James F., Jahoda, John W.

7. ELIJAH SUMMERS was born abt 1797, Ky. He went to Indiana with his brother Abner in 1817 where he met and married Lucinda Nobles probably in early 1818. In Oct 1819 they moved to Jefferson Co, IL with her Casey relatives. He died Dec 25, 1828 (age 31) from an accidental gunshot wound. Lucinda remarried in 1834 and died soon afterward. Their children were raised by relatives. Children: Randolph Casey, Elizabeth, William Norris, Elijah Jr., James Erasmus.

8. CATHERINE was born abt 1804, Barren Co, Ky. Her mother died when she was 6 years old. She went to Indiana with her brother Richard in early 1822 after her father died. She married Walter Aquilla Alexander, April 11, 1822, in Orange Co, Indiana. They moved Jefferson Co, Ill. in 1823. Catherine died abt 1843 (age 39) maybe in Marion Co, Ill. Walter married Catherine’s niece Margaret (Jolliff) Castleberry in 1845 and they had 3 children. He died in 1848. Children: Paulina Ann, Mary Jane, Walter Norris Aquilla, Elizabeth Harriet, Jahoda Catherine, James Joseph, Abner Jolliff

Mildred's children:

9. MILDRED ANN was born Nov 27, 1816, Barren Co, Ky. Her father died in Dec. 1821 when she was only 5 years old. She married (7 days before her sister Lucinda) Dec 4, 1834 to Woodson B. Ferguson (1811-84). [She probably did not know that her half-brother Elijah died 19 days after her marriage.] She died in 1904, Green Co, Ky. Children: Frances Katherine, James Henry, Joseph Miller, Mary Elizabeth, Zachary Taylor, Noah Pierce.

10. LUCINDA was born about 1818, Barren Co, Ky (when her father was abt 65 years old). Her father died in Dec. 1821 when she was only 3 years old. She married (7 days after her sister Mildred) Dec 11, 1834 to Henry Crail. Children: Elizabeth Ann, Dorinda, James, Lucinda, Henry, Frances Catherine, Joseph, William, Narcissa, James Henry.

Site map: Generations - Richard - James - Elijah - Randolph - Rab - school - pictures - home

If you would like to check my database to see if the information on your family is correct, go to my ancestor file then search for the name of one of your ancestors. (Only those born before 1930 or no longer living are listed by name. I have names of the living, but they are not displayed in the online database.) Please email me if there are any corrections or additions!!