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KESTER Family History, Part V

Rebecca (KESTER) WELCH^Δ (1786-1849)

125111. Rebecca Kester^Δ was born on July 3, 1786, probably in Nelson County, Kentucky. She married William Welch in on April 10, 1806, in Butler County, Iowa.^{[Mar 1806]} They had 10 children:^{[Hunt 310]}

Rebecca (family name spelled as "Castor") and William were married by the Rev. James Lee on April 10, 1806, in Butler County.^{[Mar 1806]}

The Welch family moved from Ohio to Vigo County, Indiana by 1817 and settled in Pierson Township^{[Hunt 310]}, where they remained through at least 1840.^{[Cen 1840]}

William Welch died on November 29, 1846, at the age of 62.^{[Hunt 310]} He was buried at Friendly Grove Cemetery, Lewis Township, Clay County, Indiana. (Lewis Township borders Pierson Township to its southeast.)

Rebecca (Kester) Welch lived another three years and died, probably in Clay County, Indiana, on December 8, 1849. She was buried with William at Friendly Grove Cemetery. She was 63 years old.^{[Hunt 310]}

Sarah (KESTER) EVANS (1788-1862)

125112. Sarah Kester was born on October 5, 1788, in Kentucky, likely in Nelson County south of Louisville. She married Moses Evans on March 26, 1806; she was 17 years old and he was 25. They had six children:^{[Hunt 326]}

The Evans family probably started in Preble County and made their way northeast into Miami County by 1813. They then moved west into Indiana Territory in 1815, the year prior to Indiana's admission into the union as the 19th state. They settled in Vigo County, south of Terre Haute.^{[Hunt 326]}

In 1842 the Evans moved to Houston County, Texas, for about two years before returning to Vigo County in 1844.^{[Hunt 326]}

Moses Evans died on January 8, 1853, probably in Vigo County, Indiana. He was 72 years old.^{[Hunt 326]}

Sarah (Kester) Evans died 9 years later at the age of 73 on September 19, 1862. She is buried at Union Cemetery, northwest of Farmersburg, Vigo County, Indiana.^{[Hunt 326]}

John Bonham KESTER, Sr.⁶ (1791-1840)

125113. John Bonham Kester, Sr.⁶ was born on March 24, 1791, in Nelson County, Kentucky, south of Louisville. He was likely named for his maternal uncle, John Bonham. He probably moved with his father north to Preble County, Ohio, as a young man around 1807. He is said to have served in the War of 1812^{[Hunt 337]}, as his father had, but does not appear to have served in the same unit. He later married Margaret Layson² on April 13, 1815; he was 24 years old and she was 18. They raised 10 surviving children of 12:^{[Hunt 336-337]}

125113A.	George W. Kester	9 Feb 1817	11 Feb 1818	(1)
125113B.	Sarah Ann Kester7	18 Mar 1819	29 Jun 1902	(83)
125113C.	Mary Kester•	28 Oct 1820	23 Mar 1841	(20)
125113D.	James Layson Kester	12 Apr 1822	23 Dec 1890	(68)
125113E.	Cynthia Ann Kester	3 Oct 1823	10 Sep 1860	(36)
125113F.	Elizabeth Ann Kester	20 Feb 1826	27 Mar 1854	(28)
125113G.	Joseph Kester	19 Jan 1828	13 Jul 1828	(5 mos.)
125113H.	John Bonham Kester, Jr.•	19 Sep 1829	17 Jul 1921	(91)
125113I.	William KesterΔ	19 Aug 1831	27 Dec 1894	(63)
125113J.	Naomi KesterΔ	7 Sep 1833	18 Mar 1885	(51)
125113K.	Eliza Jane Kester	17 Feb 1836	20 Dec 1888	(52)
125113L.	Francis Marion Kester	1 Jul 1838	8 Mar 1920	(81)

The Kesters were likely married in either Preble County, Ohio, after John's father died, or in Vigo County in western Indiana. It was probably in Pimento, south of Terre Haute in Vigo County, that the Kesters started their large family and stayed there into 1822. By 1823 they moved about 50 miles north to the area of Crawfordsville, Montgomery County.

During the Black Hawk War of 1831-1832, John enlisted in Vermilion County, Illinois, as a private in Captain E. Aston's Illinois Militia under (Colonel Isaac R.) Moores' regiment.

After the Black Hawk War, the Kesters stayed on another year in Montgomery County before relocating west to Mercer County, south of Davenport in western Illinois in 1834. They then crossed the Mississippi River into Iowa Territory in 1836, two years before Iowa had been officially declared a territory by the U.S. Congress. They settled in Cedar Bluff, Cedar County, just south of Cedar Rapids, by 1838.^{[Hunt 337]}

Not long after the move to Cedar Bluff, John Bonham Kester, Sr. died there on January 1, 1840. He was only 48 years old. John is buried at the Gunsolus (Evergreen) Cemetery, in Cedar County. John is said to have been a doctor and a farmer.^{[Hunt 337]}

Margaret was left with nine children at home between the ages of 1 and 20. She lived on in Cedar County through at least the 1850 census where she was enumerated with her five youngest children and next door to her next elder daughter, Elizabeth (Kester) Dennis.^{[Cen 1850]}

In 1856, Iowa recorded residents of Newport Township with the Kester, Andrews, Ames, and Morse families all in close proximity. Margaret's 15-year-old granddaughter Finetta Miller was also counted with the family. The farm was in the care of son James and that year they reported on products from 54½ acres as follows: 8 acres of meadow with 14 tons of hay; 15 acres of spring wheat that netted 225 bushels; 6 acres of oats that netted 360 bushels; 25 acres of corn that netted 1500 bushels; and 1/2 acres of potatoes that netted 100 bushels. They also sold 24 hogs valued at $200; sold 4 cattle valued at $160; and manufactured 700 pounds of butter and 150 pounds of cheese.^{[Cen 1856]}

About 1860, the Kester children, beginning with James, began migrating westward to California. First James, and later John Jr., moved to Napa County. Then they relocated south to San Luis Obispo County about 1867 (about the time of Margaret's death) where many of the remaining children settled.

Margaret (Layson) Kester died in Ivanhoe, (probably Linn County), Iowa, on July 17, 1867. She was 70 years old.

Mary A. (KESTER) WELCH (1792-1857)

125114. Mary A. Kester was born on November 1, 1792, in Kentucky, probably in Nelson County south of Louisville. She married John Welch (Jr.) in 1810. They had 12 children:^{[Hunt 350]}

They started their family in Ohio and soon after their marriage John answered the call to war against the British in the War of 1812 (1812-1815).

The Welchs moved west from Ohio to near Pimento, Vigo County, Indiana, in 1818, after the twins were born.

Mary A. (Kester) Welch died near Pimento on July 8, 1857, at the age of 64. She is buried at the Second Prairie Creek Cemetery in Linton Township, Vigo County, as is her mother.

John Welch died four years later on July 12, 1861.

Jesse KESTER (1800-1856)

125115. Jesse Kester was born in January or May 1800 in Kentucky, likely in Elk Creek, Shelby County, which was later redrawn into Spencer County. When he was about seven years old his family moved northeast to Preble County, in southwest Ohio, west of Dayton. Jesse's father died when he was 13 years old. Jesse married Sarah "Sally" Johnson (or Johnston) in Preble County and soon after they moved west across Indiana to Vigo County and started their family. They had six children before Sarah's death in 1833. Jesse later remarried to Ruth Eveline Conley and had three more children:^{[Hunt 366-367]}

A couple years after Jesse's father's death in 1814, when Jesse was about 16, he became a baptist in Ohio.^[Webb]

After Jesse's and Sally's marriage, the Kester family started in Prairie Creek Township (Township 10 North, Range 10 West), Vigo County, in western Indiana. Jesse sold his homestead, the west half of the northwest quarter of Section 34, about 1 mile west of Prairie Creek town, to William Lane on June 3, 1824.^{[Hunt 366]}

The family followed the Wabash River north to Fountain County where they resettled in Hillsboro and Jesse and Charles McLaughlin built a "corn cracker" mill for grinding corn that fall. Jesse laid out the town of Hillsboro in 1830 and 1832.^{[Hunt 366-367]}

Sarah (Johnson) Kester died in Hillsboro, Fountain County, Indiana, in 1833.^{[Hunt 367]}

After Sarah's death, Jesse sold the Hillsboro homestead to Mr. Zuwalt and continued west into north-central Illinois where he started a second family with Ruth Eveline Conley in Magnolia Township, Putnam County.^{[Hunt 367]} Only a couple a years prior Jesse's brother John had fought in the Black Hawk War of 1832 and repulsed Black Hawk and the "British Band" of Sauks, Meskwakis, and Kickapoos after they reoccupied lands west of the Illinois River that traverses Putnam County. There the family was enumerated in Lyons Precinct (likely modern-day Roberts Township), Marshall County, to the south of Magnolia.^{[Cen 1840]}

Jesse and his younger brother Bonham joined the Sandy Creek Church, a Regular Baptist or Primitive Baptist congregation^[Webb], which had been founded in 1836 at Ox-Bow (Caledonia), just west of Magnolia in Magnolia Township. Ruth is recorded as having joined the congregation in 1841.^[Webb] Jesse and Bonham served as elders and held services at pioneer homes, schools, or perhaps even at the fort at Caledonia. It wasn't until 1856, the year of Jesse's death that the church built a meeting house in Caledonia.

In 1847, the Kesters, except for the eldest two children who stayed behind in Magnolia, moved to Oregon Territory over the Oregon Trail. Two years later, Jesse followed the 1849 California Gold Rush south to California, but by 1850 returned to Putnam County, Illinois, where they lived at Ox Bow Prairie near Magnolia.^{[Hunt 367, Cen 1850]} At about the same time, brother Bonham left Putnam County for Polk County, Iowa.

Jesse Kester died on July 27, 1856, at his home in Putnam County. He was 56 years old.^{[Webb, Hunt 366, ]} Jesse's descendants have heard that he was not buried at Magnolia Cemetery and suspect that he is most likely buried in an unmarked grave at Caledonia Cemetery.

Ruth Eveline (Conley) Kester died 34 years later in 1890 at about the age of 79.^{[Hunt 367]}

Ruth (KESTER) MCCOSKEY (1802-1869)

125116. Ruth Kester was born August 14, 1802, in Middletown, Butler County, Ohio. When she was about 5 years old her family moved north into the adjacent Preble County. Her father died when she was 11 years old and a few years later they moved west to west Indiana, settling in Vigo County. She married Thomas Campbell McCoskey on August 24, 1820, in Vigo County, Indiana, and had 10 children:^{[Hunt 375]}

The McCoskey family settled in Youngstown, north of where Ruth's older siblings settled in Prairie Creek and Pimento.

Ruth (Kester) McCoskey died on March 3, 1869, probably in Youngstown, at the age of 66. She is buried at Smith Cemetery (Mount Zion Cemetery), east of Youngstown in Vigo County.

Thomas Campbell McCoskey died six years later on March 8, 1875, at the age of 73. He is buried with Ruth at Smith Cemetery.

Jacob KESTER (~1805-~1845)

125117. Jacob Kester was probably born in Preble County, Ohio, about 1805, a twin brother with Bonham. He was likely named for his maternal grandfather, Jacob Bonham. After his father died when he was about 9 years old, his family moved west to Vigo County, Indiana. There he married Margaret Pierson on January 11, 1827^{[Marr 1827]}, and had four children:^{[Hunt 384]}

The KESTERs moved northeast to Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, by 1830.^{[Cen 1830]}

They apprently returned to Vigo County where Jacob platted "Urbana" in Township 10 North, Range 10 West, Section 17 (Prairie Creek Township), on October 9, 1838,^{[Hunt 384]} about 3 miles northwest of Prairie Creek, Vigo County. They then moved to Pierson Township, about 14 miles east, by 1840. Jacob's younger brother William and cousin Joseph LISTON were enumerated nearby.^{[Cen 1840]}

Margeret (Pierson) Kester died sometime before Jacob, perhaps in the early 1840s.

Jacob Kester died about 1845 on his way to Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, Indiana, about 70 miles to the northeast.

After Jacob's an Margaret's deaths, children Sylvania and Jacob appear to have been taken in by Jacob's twin brother, Bonham and his wife Priscilla. They moved west to Polk County, Iowa, by 1850.^{[Cen 1850]}

Bonham KESTER (~1805-1869)

125118. Bonham Kester was probably born in Preble County, Ohio, about 1805, a twin brother with Jacob. He was apprently named for his mother's family name. After his father died when he was about 9 years old, his family moved west to Vigo County, Indiana. He married Priscilla Steapleton on August 17, 1827, in Montgomery County,^{[Marr 1827]} where they settled in Crawfordsville. They had no children of their own.^{[Hunt 384]}

Bonham is said to have "run a carding machine propelled by overshot-water power" and was "an 'old school' Baptist minister."^{[Hunt 384]}

Bonham moved to Putnam County, Illinois, probably when his elder brother Jesse did in the late 1830s. There Bonham and Jesse joined the Sandy Creek Church, a Regular Baptist or Primitive Baptist congregation^[Webb], which had been founded in 1836 at Ox-Bow (Caledonia), just west of Magnolia in Magnolia Township, Putnam County, Illinois. They served as elders and held services at pioneer homes, schools, or perhaps even at the fort at Caledonia. It wasn't until 1856, several years after Bonham left Putnam County, that the Sandy Creek Church built a meeting house in Caledonia.

The Kesters later moved west to Polk County, in central Iowa near Des Moines, by 1850 and appear to have taken in the orphaned, teenaged children of Bonham's deceased brother Jacob, Sylvania and Jacob. Bonham worked as a carpenter.^{[Cen 1850]} In 1854 they were noted in Camp Township, in the southeast corner of Polk County, and enumerated as one male and two females.^{[Cen 1854]}

A few laters they shifted southwest into neighboring Madison County, Iowa, where they settled near Saint Charles in South Township. There Bonham worked as a mechanic.^{[Cen 1860]}

After about 10 years, Bonham and Priscilla moved south to Washington County in the northwest corner of Arkansas. There they joined the Vine Grove church of "Old School Baptists."

Bonham Kester died on January 31, 1869, at the age of 63 years.

William KESTER (1811-1860)

125119. William (B.) Kester was born on April 6, 1811, probably in Preble County, Ohio. He was apparently named for his paternal grandfather. After his father died right about when he turned 3 years old, his family moved west to Vigo County, Indiana. He married Sarah Ann Mosier in Fountain County, Indiana, north of Vigo County, on July 1, 1830.^{[Hunt 384-385]}

The Kesters likely started their family in Rainsville, Warren County, Indiana, north of Fountain County, by 1832. They then moved southeast to Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, Indiana, by 1834 where the next three children were born. Afterward they returned south to Vigo County where they are variously reported in Terre Haute and Prairie Creek throughout the 1840s.^{[Hunt 385-392]}

The Kesters moved across the Illinois border into neighboring Edgar County, settling near the town of Kansas in the early 1850s.^{[Hunt 393-394]}

William Kester died on February 27, 1860, in Moultrie County, Illinois, following 4 days of hemorrhaging of the lungs.^{[Cen 1860]} He was 48 years old and is buried at Lynn Creek Cemetery, in Moultrie County, west of Mattoon.^{[Hunt 384-385]} He had been living in Township 14 North, Range 4 East (believed to be in Bethany Township).^{[Cen 1860]}

Four months after William's death, Sarah lived southeast in Township 12 North, Range 6 East (believed to be in Whitley Township), Moultrie County.^{[Cen 1860]}

Sarah Ann (Mosier) Kester died 6 years later on January 10, 1866, in Mattoon, Coles County, Illinois. She was 55 years old.

Continue on to Part VI