Notes
Note N1546
Index
Missouri, County Marriage, Naturalization, and Court Records, 1800-1991
Name: Melvin West Event Date: 3 Aug 1887 Event Place: Crawford, Missouri Spouse's Name: Eliza Weatherley Page: 328
U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
Name: Binum West Birth Place: MO Birth Year: 1860 Spouse Name: Elizabeth Weatherly Marriage Year: 1887 Marriage State: MO
pos Byron Perry
United States Census, 1900
Name: By* West Event Place: Benton Township Cuba city, Crawford, Missouri Age: 39 Years Married: 12 Birth Date: Mar 1861 Birthplace: Missouri Marriage Year (Estimated): 1888
Father's Birthplace: Kentucky Mother's Birthplace: Tennessee
Household Role Gender Age Birthplace
By* West Head M 39 Missouri
Mary West Wife F 32 Missouri
Rosa West Daughter F 11 Missouri
Mabel West Daughter F 9 Missouri
Ollie West Daughter F 6 Missouri
Infant West Daughter F 0 Missouri
United States Census, 1910
Name: Mell B Wese Event Place: Liberty, Crawford, Missouri Age: 50 Birth Year (Estimated): 1860 Birthplace: Missouri
Father's Birthplace: Kentucky Mother's Birthplace: Missouri
Household Role Gender Age Birthplace
Mell B Wese Head M 50 Missouri
Mary Wese Wife F 39 Missouri
Rose Wese Daughter F 21 Missouri
Mabel Wese Daughter F 19 Missouri
Cecil Wese Son M 9 Missouri
Warren Crabtree Hired man M 16 Missouri
United States Census, 1920
Name: Biannam M West Event Place: Liberty, Crawford, Missouri Age: 59 Can Read: Yes Can Write: Yes Own or Rent: Own Birth Year (Estimated): 1861 Birthplace: Missouri
Father's Birthplace: Kentucky Mother's Birthplace: Tennessee
Household Role Gender Age Birthplace
Biannam M West Head M 59 Missouri
Mary West Wife F 51 Missouri
William Kelly Son-in-law M 32 Missouri
Mable I Kelly Daughter F 28 Missouri
Keneth Kelly Grandson M 7 Missouri
Charles F Kelly Grandson M 3 Missouri
United States Census, 1930
Name: Melvin B West Event Place: Liberty, Crawford, Missouri Age: 70 Birth Year (Estimated): 1860 Birthplace: Missouri Father's Birthplace: Missouri Mother's Birthplace: Tennessee
Household Role Gender Age Birthplace
Melvin B West Head M 70 Missouri
Mary L West Wife F 62 Missouri
findagrave
Binum Melvin “Mel” West BIRTH 1860 DEATH 1933 (aged 72-73) BURIAL Lea Cemetery Leasburg, Crawford County, Missouri MEMORIAL ID 49376961
Parents John Laffoon West 1811-1869 Permelia Emaline Fancher West 1824-1886
Spouse Mary Lee West 1864-1933
Siblings
Susan Caroline West Rowden 1844-1933
Byron Perry West 1856-1902
John Calhoon West 1857-1925
Martha Ellen West Haley 1862-1942
Edward Laffoon West 1866-1931
Children
John Cecil West 1900-1965
Son of John L West. Married first, Eliza Weatherly and second, Mary Lee [Jones]
Geneanet Community Trees Index
Name Bynum (Binum) Melvin West Birth Date 22 mars 1860 Birth Place Miller Co., MO (Miller), Missouri Death Date 4 mai 1933 Death Place Leasburg, Crawford Co., MO (Leasburg), Missouri Father John Laffoon West Mother Permelia Emeline Fancher
Spouses
Eliza Jane Weatherly
Mary Lea
Child
John Cecil West
Ollie West
Private West
Private West
Notes
Note N1547
Index
U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
Name: Permelia Emeline Fancher Birth Place: TN Birth Year: 1824 Spouse Name: John Laffoon West Spouse Birth Place: US Spouse Birth Year: 1811 Marriage Year: 1840 Marriage State: US
Posted 30 May 2010 by haploman Deed, 9 Jun 1871, Crawford Co., MO, Book M, pp. 319-320 "John L. West by Probate Judge to Deed P.E. West
"To all to whom these presents shall come, I Wm M. Robinson Judge of the Probate Court in and for the County of Crawford and state of Missouri Send greeting Whereas at the September Term 1870 of said Court an order was made by said Court and entered of record that Wm M Walls and Permelia E. West executors of the Estate of John L West deceased and at the December Term 1870 of said Court said order was renewed and at the March Term 1871, of said Court was again renewed sell at private sale for Cash in hand the following described real estate lying and being situated in the County of Crawford and state of Missouri To-wit: the NW1/4 of the NE1/4 of Section Eighteen (18) and the SW1/4 of the SE1/4 of Section Seven (7) in Township Thirty nine (39) Range three (3) West. And the SE1/4 of SE1/4 of Section Thirteen (13) in Township Thirty Nine (39) Range four (4) West Containing 120 acres or so much thereof as may be necessary to pay the debts of said Estate, and whereas in obedience to said order we Wm M. Walls and Permelia E. West Executors as aforesaid did at private sale on the fifteenth day of March 1871 sell the real Estate in said order and in this deed described, the said Wm M Walls and Permelia E West executors as aforesaid first having had the same duly appraised by Walter F. Chapman James Avery and Hiland J. Morrow three disinterested householders of Crawford County as appears by their Certificate of appraisement returned with the report of the proceedings to the June Term 1871 of said Court. And Whereas Permelia E. West became the purchaser of said real Estate under the terms of said order and has Complied with the terms of said order and has paid to said Estate the sum of fifteen hundred and Sixty dollars the amount of her bid. And whereas at the June term 1871 of said Court said Executors made report of their proceedings under Said order of sale and the said report was at the said June term duly approved by said Probate Court and the said sale is therefore valid and binding where all concerned[.] Now therefore I Wm M Robinson Judge as aforesaid in Consideration of the premise and by virtue of the power in me vested by law so to do and of the said sum of fifteen hundred and Sixty dollars which has been duly reported and Charged to said executors do hereby grant bargain sell and Convey to Permelia E. West the above described real Estate to-wit: NW1/4 of NE1/4 Sec 18 and the SW1/4 of SE1/4 of Sec 7 Township 39 Range 3 West and SE1/4 of SE1/4 of Sec. 13. Township 39 Range 4 W Containing 120 acres More or less situated in Crawford County Missouri To have and to hold unto the said Permelia E West her heirs and assigns all the right title claim and interest which the said John L West had in and to said real Estate at the time of his death with all rights privileges thereto belonging.
"In witness whereof I Wm M Robinson Judge as aforesaid have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of said Court at Office [seal: LS] in Steelville Mo. this 9th day of June 1871 [signed] Wm M Robinson Judge
"State of Missouri[,] County of Crawford S.S. Be it remembered that this 9th day of June 1871, before me the undersigned a clerk of the Circuit Court of said County personally appeared before me Wm M Robinson Judge of the Probate Court of Crawford County Mo. who is personally Known to me to be the same person who name is subscribed to the above deed as Judge of the Probate Court of said County and acknowledged that he executed the same for the purposes therein mentioned.
"[seal: LS] Witness my hand and the seal of said Court affixed at Office in Steelville Mo. the day last above written. [signed] RW Dunlap Clerk
"Filed July 1st 1871 at 8 Oclock A M and was recorded the same day. [signed] R.W. Dunlap Recorder."
The dividing line between Range 3 and Range 4 is a north-south line running slightly west of Leasburg. The deed mentions sections 7 and 18 in Range 3 and Section 13 in Range 4. Section 7 is roughly 1-2 miles north and northeast of Leasburg. A topo map shows no roads or landmarks in the section, except for a short farm road. Section 18 is the section in which Leasburg is located. The deed refers to the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter of Section 7, and the northwest quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 18. These two locations join. The northwest quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 18 is northeast of Leasburg, and the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter of Section 7 is adjacent to it, immediately to the north. Both these areas today, according to a topographic map, are cleared farm land. The deed also refers to Section 13 in Range 4. This is the section that is immediately west and northwest of Leasburg. The southeast quarter of the southeast quarter is essentially immediately northwest of Leasburg, and begins on the outskirts of the town (more like a village) of Leasburg. This land, according to the topo map, is bounded on the north by an east-west road which the map does not name, but which is Greenbriar Road. Again, it consists of mostly cleared farm land. A satellite view shows the land as being used today as a well developed farm or farms.
1880 United States Federal Census
Name: Permelia E. West Age: 53 Birth Year: abt 1827 Birthplace: Tennessee Home in 1880: Liberty, Crawford, Missouri Marital Status: Widowed
Father's Birthplace: Tennessee Mother's Birthplace: Tennessee Occupation: Farming
Name Age
Permelia E. West 53
Perry West 22
Melvin West 19
Edward West 14
Josephine Reed 13 Granddaughter
plus farm workers
22 Nov 1886 Deed, Crawford Co., MO Deed Book 28, pp. 516-517 Posted 29 May 2010 by haploman
Deed for land in Crawford Co., MO, sold in McLennan Co., TX from Permelia Emaline Fancher to her son-in-law Charles Wesley Griffith, while both and Permelia's daughter Livonia Givens (West) Griffith) were living in McLennan Co., TX.
findagrave
Permelia Emaline Fancher West BIRTH 1824 Tennessee DEATH 5 Dec 1886 (aged 61-62) Waco, McLennan County, Texas BURIAL Unknown MEMORIAL ID 66586007
Spouse John Laffoon West 1811-1869 (m. 1840)
Children
Susan Caroline West Rowden 1844-1933
Byron Perry West 1856-1902
John Calhoon West 1857-1925
Martha Ellen West Haley 1862-1942
She married John Laffoon West on Feb 3 1840 in Miller County, Missouri. They were the parents of 14 known children:
Thomas Hampton Benton West
Livonia Josephine West
Susan Caroline West
Satira Adeline West
Mary Olivia West
Livonia Givens West
Byron Perry West
John Calhoun West
Binum Melvin West
Infant boy West
Martha Ellen West
Edmond West
Edward Laffoon West
Jennie West
Parentage of Permelia Fancher Posted 21 Dec 2009 by haploman
Two unanswered questions surround my great-great-great grandmother Permelia Emaline (Fancher) West: (1) Who were her parents? (2) How did she end up in Miller County, Missouri?
Much speculation about both of these questions has ended up across the Internet, much of it presented very dogmatically, none of it (as far as I've seen) proven, very little of it connected with any kind of documentation, and much of it contradictory.
Who were her parents?
I've listed Grey Bynum Fancher as the father of Permelia Emaline (Fancher) West, but this is tentative and by no means proven. Presumably she was a daughter of either Grey Bynum Fancher or one of his brothers, but even that has not been proven.
Some researchers have assumed that her father was Grey Bynum Fancher because late in life she lived in the same part of Texas as him. That, however, is merely circumstantial evidence, not proof.
She named her first child Thomas Hampton Benton West, and one of Grey Bynum Fancher's brothers was a Thomas Hampton Fancher, but I don't know whether there's any possibility that he could have been her father. From what I've been told, it was common for 19th century parents to name their first child after the mother's father. The name Bynum also appears among Permelia's children, but not until much later, 20 years later, in fact.
She also named one of her daughters Martha. According to a 19th century biography of Gray Bynum Fancher's son A.R. Fancher, Gray Bynum's mother was Patsy Gray. If this is correct (a suggestion that immediately draws protests, although I have seen no documentation against it), and if Permelia's father was Gray Bynum Fancher, then Permelia's grandmother was presumably this Patsy. Patsy was a 19th century nickname for Martha. Was Permelia's daughter Martha named after this Patsy (Gray) Fancher?
How did she end up in Miller Co., MO?
Various theories have been advanced. One that has not been advocated, to my knowledge, is that her husband John Laffoon West maintained contacts in Illinois and that he met her there.
Another theory that has not been advanced, to my knowledge, is that she could have been associated with Gray Bynum (not Gray Bynum Fancher, but simply Gray Bynum). He was a prominent early resident of roughly the same general area of central Missouri as John Laffoon West and his wife Permelia.
This Gray Bynum was born Mar 1782 according to the BULLETIN OF THE MISSOURI HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Vols. 1-3. He settled 10 Mar 1810 at Boone's Lick, Howard County, Missouri, according to Parker, MISSOURI AS IT IS IN 1867, p. 267). On 20 Dec 1812, he married Nancy Cooper in St. Charles, Missouri, according to a marriage record included in Ancestry. He was one of those manning Fort Cooper at Boone's Lick in Howard County in 1812, according to O'Laughlin, MISSOURI IRISH, p. 47. He became Howard County Court Clerk on 8 Jul 1816 when the county's first court met, according to Conard, ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE HISTORY OF MISSOURI, Vol. 3, p. 313, and various other books.
Gray Bynum served as Howard County Clerk until into the 1840s. but in the 1850 census is listed as a Howard County farmer. He died 2 Oct 1853 according to the BULLETIN OF THE MISSOURI HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Sally Denton, in AMERICAN MASSACRE: THE TRAGEDY AT MOUNTAIN MEADOWS, SEPTEMBER 1857 (2004), p. 94, notes that Alexander Fancher, son of Isaac Fancher/Sarah, was born 1812 TN, then res. as child in Coles Co., IL. She says that he served in the Black Hawk War with his father (something which might be questionable, although questioning that immediately draws protests as well), and mentions that Isaac received an arm wound from a musket ball in the Battle of New Orleans.
She refers to Alexander and Isaac serving together in the militia, without making it clear if she is referring to the Black Hawk War or some other time or event. The book then notes that Alexander "then returned" to Illinois, without clarifying what's meant by "then."
The book further has Alexander marrying Eliza Ingram in 1836, and mentions the birth "soon after" of two sons, Hampton and William. Denton then asserts that the family moved "temporarily" to Big Richwoods Twp., Miller Co., MO. (Could she mean simply Richwoods Twp.? I don't recall this township ever being referred to as "Big" Richwoods Twp.)
She quotes from an unidentified "later descendant" as saying that this location provided "an abundance of good mast of acorns, beechnut, hickory nuts" which, in turn, would be a good place to raise pigs. Denton says that two more children of Alexander and Eliza were born in this location - Mary and Thomas.
Alexander then moved to Arkansas, where his uncles Alexander and James were already living. She seems to imply that they had moved to Arkansas because of land grants associated with their War of 1812 service as spies.
One idea that some have advanced that Permelia could have arrived in Miller County with this Alexander and his family. That would have occurred early enough for her to have then married John Laffoon West in 1840.
Note that descendants were later shown as living in Coles County, Illinois (see, e.g. G. B. Fancher in the 1840 census). The 1840 census shows various individuals named Gray living in the same county. A 1913 biography of a James Madison Gray of Decatur, Illinois says that he is the son of a Richard H. Gray, born in Coles County, Illinois, and that the familly came there from Tennessee. Since the Fancher family also came into Coles County, Illinois from Tennessee, there is likely a connection.
Posted 28 May 2010 by haploman Permelia Emaline Fancher - my great-great-great grandmother
Both her parents were born in TN according to 1880 census. That information is not covered in the 1860 and 1870 censuses. Permelia was born in TN according to 1850 and 1860 censuses, IL according to 1870 census.
She certainly seems to have been a daughter of one of the sons of Richard Fancher (b. 1756), but the question has been which one? One of those brothers was Thomas Hampton Fancher, and Permelia named her first son Thomas Hampton Benton West, but if Thomas Hampton Fancher was her father, then why did he remain in TN while she moved west? (He appears in TN in the 1860 and 1870 censuses).
Most researchers believe her father was Gray/Grey Bynum Fancher, but that seems to be based solely on conjecture. The assumption has been made that he was her father, since in later years he was living near her in TX. While believing that this proves that he was her father makes life easier, it does not actually prove anything.
In order for Gray Bynum Fancher to have been her father, it appears that Grey Bynum Fancher would have to have had two daughters - howbeit each by a different marriage - with "Emaline" in their names.
According to family tradition through my grandmother, Permelia's son-in-law Charles Wesley Griffith worked at Skotia Iron Works near Leasburg, Crawford Co., MO (now in Huzzah State Forest, across the river from Onondaga State Park). When Charles was out of work at Skotia, a brother of his wife Livonia (Permelia's daughter) invited them to come to the Waco, TX area, which they did.
Charlie built stock tanks while in TX, lived there about 15 years, then returned to St. Louis. Another family tradition says he may have gone to TX with his mother-in-law, Permelia Emaline (Fancher) West, so she could be with some of her Fancher relatives. Some Fanchers who appear to be related were living in the Hill Co., TX, not far from Waco, McLennan Co.
A deed I found today in Crawford Co., MO makes it clear that she did indeed live with the Griffiths in McLennan Co., TX. In 1886 in McLennan Co., TX she sold land that she still owned in Crawford Co., MO to Charles Wesley Griffith. This deed was also recorded in Crawford Co., MO, and it refers to Permelia, Charles and Livonia as all living in McLennan Co., TX.
Grey Bynum Fancher shows up in the same general area of TX, but he could have been an uncle as easily as her father. To my knowledge, at this writing, no one has ever turned up any real evidence, let alone proof, that Grey Bynum Fancher was her father.
Isaac Fancher has also been cited as her father, but again evidently with no proof. Another brother, Alexander Fancher, did make it into AR, and Permelia married just north of there in MO, but the fact of the matter is that no one, as far as I know, knows who her parents were.
No basis for claiming who her parents were can be made until either proof or proponderance of evidence has been found. To be knowledge, no one has come close to either. As long as that is the case, there is no basis for making dogmatic claims.
