BIO-SKETCH BY ROSE H. BONNELL (29 Oct 2023):
Son of Philip and Sarah (Hitchcock) Herndon. His brother, Philip's & Sarah's son, Lewis Herndon, a Stewart Co TN magistrate "justice of the peace" had a biosketch published in the book, "History of Tennessee...", Stewart Co TN, by William Arthur Goodspeed, 1886, pp. 1305-1306), giving the names of the parents and stating that neither "lived to be old."
1848: His father, Philip Herndon, a Stewart Co TN Justice of the Peace, newly-elected to a six-year term died suddenly requiring a special election to fill his position. It was filled by Benjamin Herndon, relationship as yet unproven. Probate of Philip Herndon continued 1848-1850 with widow's provisions and estate sale and administration settlement.
1850 WIDOW FAMILY (IDENTIFIED BY MAXINE NEWTON GIBSON) ON US FEDERAL CENSUS, STEWART CO TN:
Sarah He[r]ndon, and children, widowed/daddy-orphaned in April 1848.
BIRTH CALCULATION VIA CENSUSES:
1850 US Federal Census of Stewart Co TN (dated 20 Sep) says Robert He[r]ndon [sic] (with mom Sarah) was age 17 = born about 1833.
1860 US Federal Census of Stewart Co TN (dated 3 Jul) says Robert Herengdon [sic] (& Nancy) was age 27 = born about 1833.
1870 US Federal Census of Trigg Co KY (dated 28 Jul) says Robert Herndon (& Mariah) was age 37 = born about 1833.
(1880 US Federal Census not yet located, could be indexing error, but he lived in the border region of Stewart Co TN-Trigg Co KY.)
1891 US Compiled Census and Census Substitutes for Stewart Co TN says R. M. Herndon was on the 1891 Voter's List, District 9, page 1.
1900 US Federal Census of Stewart Co TN (dated 21 Jun) says Robert Herenden [sic] (& Mariah) was age 67 and born Oct 1832.
1910 US Federal Census of Stewart Co TN (dated 27-28 Apr) says Robert M. Herndon (& Mariah) was age 75 [sic] = born about 1835.
Death Certificate (least reliable): Age about 83 from 28 Sep 1915 death = born about 1832.
Conclusion: Taking the 1900 Census & the 1915 Death Certificate, since he died just prior to his 1915 birthday, purportedly in October it would likely make him born in Oct 1832 instead of 1833. Since all the US Federal Censuses which enumerate him were taken prior to his October birthday, they did not reflect the age he became that year, which agree with him being born in Oct 1832, rather than 1833.
MARRIAGES:
Robert M. Herndon married twice:
(1) on 13 Jun 1852, of Stewart Co TN, to Nancy Shaw (1835-1968), daughter of Daniel C./G. Shaw, and sister of Missouri Shaw who married James Herndon, a case of sisters marrying brothers.
(2) on 10 December 1868, in Stewart Co TN, to Mariah Barrett (1834-1910), daughter of Thomas Jefferson Barrett Sr.
CHILDREN:
(A) with Nancy, he had (1) Virginia E. Herndon (b. 1860) and (2) Nora L. Herndon (b. 1865).
(B) with Mariah, he had (3) Emmer [sic, Emma] L. and likely others (who will be identified when their 1880 Census is located).
EXACT DEATH DATE & DEATH PLACE IS STATED ON HIS DEATH CERTIFICATE:
28 September 1915 in Tharpe, Tennessee, signed by Dr. J. H. Giles of Tharpe, Tennessee.
DISCREPANCY ERROR ALERT: On his death certificate, a document type which is known to contain error, especially during this early 19-teens pre-modern era, there are several reasons for caution against taking the info for Robert M. Herndon, (widower, blacksmith), as fact: (1) there are at least three, or more, different handwritings on this document; (2) the informant is not listed and did not know his birthdate, estimating his age to be "about 83;" and (3) while his mother is listed as "Hitchcock" with no first name, in a different hand, different slant, the first name "Ben" is added as his father. But that father is provably an error based on the bio-sketch of his brother Lewis Herndon, naming their parents as Philip Herndon and Sarah (Hitchcock) Herndon.
EXACT BURIAL PLACE IS NOT LISTED ON DEATH CERTIFICATE, OTHER THAN AS:
"Tharpe Tenn." or "Tharpe Farm?" (compare entry below it), appears to be "Tenn."
MOST LIKELY BURIAL LOCATION: within Tharpe, Tennessee.
Believed buried in the same area or cemetery as his brother Lewis Y. Herndon (Boyd Memorial Cemetery, Tharpe, Stewart Co TN).
No surviving stone. But, keep in mind, as is so with many early graves, older unmarked grave rocks or soft limestone tombstones often did not survive.
PARENTAL MARRIAGE DATE CALCULATION FROM 1830 CENSUS AGES OF CHILDREN (= 1823 or 1824):
(Household of 8, all white, parents and children, with zero slaves; married young ages 15-16 or 16-17.)
1830 HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:
[self/head] 1 male age 20-29 = b. betw. 1801-1810 = Philip Herndon, b. 1808.
[wife] 1 female age 20-29 = b. betw. 1801-1810 = Sarah (Hitchcock) Herndon, b. 1807.
[unknown, sis or dau, twin?] 1 female age 5-9 = b. betw. 1821-1825 = ?
[unknown, sis or dau, twin?] 1 female age 5-9 = b. betw. 1821-1825 = ?
[dau] 1 female age 5-9 = b. betw. 1821-1825 = Nancy Herndon, b. ca. 1823.
[son] 1 male age 5-9 = b. betw. 1821-1825 = Lewis Y. Herndon, b. 31 Aug 1824, md. by 1850.
[son] 1 male age 5 = b. betw. 1826-1830 = ?
[dau] 1 female age 5 = b. betw. 1826-1830 = Rebecca Ann "Becky" Herndon, b. ca. 1830, md. by 1850.
COMPARE 1840 CENSUS DATA:
(Household of 10, all whites, head and family; BE AWARE: Within the span of 11 names, are listed Younger Herendon [sic, Herndon], probable uncle, and Phillip Herendon [sic, Herndon], probable son.)
1840 HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:
[self/head] 1 male age 30-39 = b. betw 1801-1810 = Philip Herndon, b. ca. 1808
[wife] 1 female age 30-39 b. betw 1801-1810 = Sarah (Hitchcock) Herndon, b. ca. 1807
1 male 15-19 = b. betw. 1821-1825 = ?
1 male 10-14 = b. betw. 1826-1830 = Robert Herndon, b. ca. 1830.
1 female 5-9 = b. betw. 1831-1835 = ?
1 male 5-9 = b. betw. 1831-1835 = James Herndon, b. ca. 1833.
1 male 5-9 = b. betw. 1831-1835 = George Herndon, b. ca. 1835.
1 male 5 = b. betw. 1835-1840 = William Herndon, b. ca. 1837 or 1838.
1 female 5 = b. betw. 1835-1840= ?
1 male 5 = b. betw. 1835-1840 = Ellenor "Ellen" Herndon, b. ca. 1843.
COMPARE 1850 CENSUS DATA:
(Household of 7, all white, mom and children; BE AWARE: Census informants were not identified till the 1940 census, and reading census instructions to the enumerators, if on repeated visits they found no one at home, they were allowed to gather info from neighbors. This seems possible for this 1850 Census for two reasons: one, because their surname is erroneously recorded as Hendon [rather than Herndon], and, two, because Sarah's birthplace state is listed as unknown, and third, due to transposition of lines resulting in mismatch of gender & age for William and Elender.)
1850 HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:
[widow/head] Sarah, age 43 = b. ca. 1807.
[dau] Nancy Herndon, age 27 = b. ca. 1823.
[son] Robert Herndon, 17 = b. ca. 1833.
[son] James Herndon, 15 = b. ca. 1835.
[son] George Herndon, 13 = b. ca. 1837.
[son, alert: transposed lines, M] William Herndon age 12 or 13 (overwritten) = b. ca. 1837 or 1838.
[dau, alert: transposed lines, F] Ellender/Ellenor "Ellen" He[r]ndon, age 7 = b. ca. 1843.
FAMILY OF ROBERT HERNDON, HIS SIBLINGS:
KNOWN CHILDREN OF PHILIP & SARAH (HITCHCOCK) HERNDON:
Philip Herndon (1808-1848) & Sarah (Hitchcock) Herndon (1807-aft. 1850+) were parents of these children:
(#1 in Goodspeed's, 1886 "History of Tennessee..." Stewart Co Section, pages 1305-1306)
(#2-7 on 1850 US Federal Census of Stewart Co TN with widowed mother Sarah Hendon [sic, Herndon]:
(1) Lewis/Louis Y. Herndon (1824/5) md. Mary Futrill.
(2) Nancy Herndon (1827), no further info, died after 1850.
(3) Robert Herndon (1833) md. Nancy Shaw & Mariah Barrett.
(4) James Herndon (1835) md. Missouri Shaw.
(5) George Herndon (1837) md. Mary E. McClannahan.
(6) Ellen/er "Elender" Herndon (1838) md. Richard Burn[e]s.
(7) William Herndon (1843); md. Seregorda [sic] Manning.
(ALERT for children 6-7: The 1850 enumerator transposed the lines for William and Elender, saying William, 12, was female and Elender, 7, was male; likely he also transposed the ages making Ellen/er age 12 born 1838 and William age 7 born 1843, which fits with later research on their lives.)
(CHILDREN SOURCE: Identified by RHB 2011 research sparked by the finding in 2010, my/RHB 1990s research, shared by fellow-researcher/series-publisher DLHj to MNG, quoted in the 2003 book by Maxine Newton Gibson, along with some identifiable conflation mistakes I had evidentiary proof to correct and realized I needed to quit working solo & share the that crucial documentation for the benefit of posterity and other researchers and historians. Documentation freely shared.)
PUBLISHED BROTHER: LEWIS Y. HERNDON (BIO-SKETCH IN HIS LIFETIME):
Known child of Philip Herndon & wife Sarah Hitchcock (published during lifetime of Lewis):
Lewis Herndon, born August 31, 1824 in Tennessee; died January 08, 1914 in Stewart County, Tennessee; married Mary Futrell February 19, 1846 in Stewart County, Tennessee.
(REF: Book, "History of Tennessee from the earliest time to the present : together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Montgomery, Robertson, Humphreys, Stewart, Dickson, Cheatham and Houston counties" by Weston Arthur Goodspeed, 1886, pp. 1305-1306, Bio-sketch of "Lewis Herndon."
URL: https://archive.org/details/historyoftenness00good_1/page/n1385/mode/2up?q=lewisherndon.)
CORRECT 1850 SURNAME OF PHILIP'S WIDOW WAS HERNDON (NOT HENDON, AS ENUMERATED):
Following all of Sarah (Hitchcock) He[r]ndon's 1850-set of children forward through the censuses, their marriages, and deaths, proves them to be Herndon's, all using spelling variants of Herndon, but never again erroneously-listed as Hendon, as it was on the 1850 US Federal Census of Stewart Co TN.
SOURCE: Alerted by 2003 compilation by Maxine Newton Gibson (although containing conflation errors, 2011 research by RHB.)
WHAT HAPPENED TO MOTHER, SARAH (HITCHCOCK) HERNDON?:
Philip's widow, Sarah (Hitchcock) Herndon, died sometime after the 1850 census---likely dying before the 1860 census, since according to Goodspeed's mention of them in the "History of Tennessee" (1886) in a biographical sketch of their son, "Lewis Herndon"---"neither lived to be old." One document raises the possibility she may have remarried to a Harrel, due to "Sallie Harrel" being listed as mother (with Philip Herndon listed as father) on death certificate of their son, (misspelled "Louis Herndon"), unfortunately the informant line is empty, so Harrel may be an error since it conflicts with the parental info published in the biographical sketch of their son Lewis during his lifetime. (Older death certificates are notorious for incomplete or incorrect data because surviving informants---assorted successive wives, grandchildren, in-laws, neighbors---often didn't know exact birth data or parentage.)
(REF: History of Tennessee from the earliest time to the present : together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Montgomery, Robertson, Humphreys, Stewart, Dickson, Cheatham and Houston counties, by Weston Arthur Goodspeed, 1886, Section: Stewart Co, pages 1305-1306; URL: https://archive.org/details/historyoftenness00good_1/page/n1385/mode/2up?q=%22lewis+herndon%22.)
THESE PEOPLE WERE NOT IN THE FAMILY OF ROBERT HERNDON:
THE FOLLOWING CHILDREN ARE NOT HIS SIBLINGS, NOR ARE THEY HIS HALF SIBLINGS, THEY BELONG TO ANOTHER COUPLE, YOUNGER HERNDON (1785 VA-1859 KY) & WIFE SARAH ANN WILSON (1801 VA-1860 KY)
CHILDREN OF YOUNGER & SARAH ANN (WILSON) HERNDON:
Younger Herndon (1785-1859) and Sarah Ann (Wilson) Herndon (1801-1860) were parents of these children:
(1) Alfred C. Herndon (1825) md. Martha Frances Vinson.
(2) Ann S. Herndon (1828) md. Riley Vinson (siblings marrying siblings).
(3) David D. Herndon (1831) md. Elizabeth M. Gream/Graham.
(4) Susannah "Susan" Herndon (1834) md. widower John S. Son.
(5) Younger Newton Herndon (1836) md. Mary Jane Curry.
(6) Missouri Jane Herndon (1840) never wed; mother of 3.
(7) Nancy A. Herndon (1843) md. Bradley Boren/Edmonds, died before Feb. 1874 and all her children stayed with Bradley when he remarried to Melinda McCarver.
Son of Philip and Sarah (Hitchcock) Herndon. His brother, Philip's & Sarah's son, Lewis Herndon, a Stewart Co TN magistrate "justice of the peace" had a biosketch published in the book, "History of Tennessee...", Stewart Co TN, by William Arthur Goodspeed, 1886, pp. 1305-1306), giving the names of the parents and stating that neither "lived to be old."
1848: His father, Philip Herndon, a Stewart Co TN Justice of the Peace, newly-elected to a six-year term died suddenly requiring a special election to fill his position. It was filled by Benjamin Herndon, relationship as yet unproven. Probate of Philip Herndon continued 1848-1850 with widow's provisions and estate sale and administration settlement.
1850 WIDOW FAMILY (IDENTIFIED BY MAXINE NEWTON GIBSON) ON US FEDERAL CENSUS, STEWART CO TN:
Sarah He[r]ndon, and children, widowed/daddy-orphaned in April 1848.
BIRTH CALCULATION VIA CENSUSES:
1850 US Federal Census of Stewart Co TN (dated 20 Sep) says Robert He[r]ndon [sic] (with mom Sarah) was age 17 = born about 1833.
1860 US Federal Census of Stewart Co TN (dated 3 Jul) says Robert Herengdon [sic] (& Nancy) was age 27 = born about 1833.
1870 US Federal Census of Trigg Co KY (dated 28 Jul) says Robert Herndon (& Mariah) was age 37 = born about 1833.
(1880 US Federal Census not yet located, could be indexing error, but he lived in the border region of Stewart Co TN-Trigg Co KY.)
1891 US Compiled Census and Census Substitutes for Stewart Co TN says R. M. Herndon was on the 1891 Voter's List, District 9, page 1.
1900 US Federal Census of Stewart Co TN (dated 21 Jun) says Robert Herenden [sic] (& Mariah) was age 67 and born Oct 1832.
1910 US Federal Census of Stewart Co TN (dated 27-28 Apr) says Robert M. Herndon (& Mariah) was age 75 [sic] = born about 1835.
Death Certificate (least reliable): Age about 83 from 28 Sep 1915 death = born about 1832.
Conclusion: Taking the 1900 Census & the 1915 Death Certificate, since he died just prior to his 1915 birthday, purportedly in October it would likely make him born in Oct 1832 instead of 1833. Since all the US Federal Censuses which enumerate him were taken prior to his October birthday, they did not reflect the age he became that year, which agree with him being born in Oct 1832, rather than 1833.
MARRIAGES:
Robert M. Herndon married twice:
(1) on 13 Jun 1852, of Stewart Co TN, to Nancy Shaw (1835-1968), daughter of Daniel C./G. Shaw, and sister of Missouri Shaw who married James Herndon, a case of sisters marrying brothers.
(2) on 10 December 1868, in Stewart Co TN, to Mariah Barrett (1834-1910), daughter of Thomas Jefferson Barrett Sr.
CHILDREN:
(A) with Nancy, he had (1) Virginia E. Herndon (b. 1860) and (2) Nora L. Herndon (b. 1865).
(B) with Mariah, he had (3) Emmer [sic, Emma] L. and likely others (who will be identified when their 1880 Census is located).
EXACT DEATH DATE & DEATH PLACE IS STATED ON HIS DEATH CERTIFICATE:
28 September 1915 in Tharpe, Tennessee, signed by Dr. J. H. Giles of Tharpe, Tennessee.
DISCREPANCY ERROR ALERT: On his death certificate, a document type which is known to contain error, especially during this early 19-teens pre-modern era, there are several reasons for caution against taking the info for Robert M. Herndon, (widower, blacksmith), as fact: (1) there are at least three, or more, different handwritings on this document; (2) the informant is not listed and did not know his birthdate, estimating his age to be "about 83;" and (3) while his mother is listed as "Hitchcock" with no first name, in a different hand, different slant, the first name "Ben" is added as his father. But that father is provably an error based on the bio-sketch of his brother Lewis Herndon, naming their parents as Philip Herndon and Sarah (Hitchcock) Herndon.
EXACT BURIAL PLACE IS NOT LISTED ON DEATH CERTIFICATE, OTHER THAN AS:
"Tharpe Tenn." or "Tharpe Farm?" (compare entry below it), appears to be "Tenn."
MOST LIKELY BURIAL LOCATION: within Tharpe, Tennessee.
Believed buried in the same area or cemetery as his brother Lewis Y. Herndon (Boyd Memorial Cemetery, Tharpe, Stewart Co TN).
No surviving stone. But, keep in mind, as is so with many early graves, older unmarked grave rocks or soft limestone tombstones often did not survive.
PARENTAL MARRIAGE DATE CALCULATION FROM 1830 CENSUS AGES OF CHILDREN (= 1823 or 1824):
(Household of 8, all white, parents and children, with zero slaves; married young ages 15-16 or 16-17.)
1830 HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:
[self/head] 1 male age 20-29 = b. betw. 1801-1810 = Philip Herndon, b. 1808.
[wife] 1 female age 20-29 = b. betw. 1801-1810 = Sarah (Hitchcock) Herndon, b. 1807.
[unknown, sis or dau, twin?] 1 female age 5-9 = b. betw. 1821-1825 = ?
[unknown, sis or dau, twin?] 1 female age 5-9 = b. betw. 1821-1825 = ?
[dau] 1 female age 5-9 = b. betw. 1821-1825 = Nancy Herndon, b. ca. 1823.
[son] 1 male age 5-9 = b. betw. 1821-1825 = Lewis Y. Herndon, b. 31 Aug 1824, md. by 1850.
[son] 1 male age 5 = b. betw. 1826-1830 = ?
[dau] 1 female age 5 = b. betw. 1826-1830 = Rebecca Ann "Becky" Herndon, b. ca. 1830, md. by 1850.
COMPARE 1840 CENSUS DATA:
(Household of 10, all whites, head and family; BE AWARE: Within the span of 11 names, are listed Younger Herendon [sic, Herndon], probable uncle, and Phillip Herendon [sic, Herndon], probable son.)
1840 HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:
[self/head] 1 male age 30-39 = b. betw 1801-1810 = Philip Herndon, b. ca. 1808
[wife] 1 female age 30-39 b. betw 1801-1810 = Sarah (Hitchcock) Herndon, b. ca. 1807
1 male 15-19 = b. betw. 1821-1825 = ?
1 male 10-14 = b. betw. 1826-1830 = Robert Herndon, b. ca. 1830.
1 female 5-9 = b. betw. 1831-1835 = ?
1 male 5-9 = b. betw. 1831-1835 = James Herndon, b. ca. 1833.
1 male 5-9 = b. betw. 1831-1835 = George Herndon, b. ca. 1835.
1 male 5 = b. betw. 1835-1840 = William Herndon, b. ca. 1837 or 1838.
1 female 5 = b. betw. 1835-1840= ?
1 male 5 = b. betw. 1835-1840 = Ellenor "Ellen" Herndon, b. ca. 1843.
COMPARE 1850 CENSUS DATA:
(Household of 7, all white, mom and children; BE AWARE: Census informants were not identified till the 1940 census, and reading census instructions to the enumerators, if on repeated visits they found no one at home, they were allowed to gather info from neighbors. This seems possible for this 1850 Census for two reasons: one, because their surname is erroneously recorded as Hendon [rather than Herndon], and, two, because Sarah's birthplace state is listed as unknown, and third, due to transposition of lines resulting in mismatch of gender & age for William and Elender.)
1850 HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:
[widow/head] Sarah, age 43 = b. ca. 1807.
[dau] Nancy Herndon, age 27 = b. ca. 1823.
[son] Robert Herndon, 17 = b. ca. 1833.
[son] James Herndon, 15 = b. ca. 1835.
[son] George Herndon, 13 = b. ca. 1837.
[son, alert: transposed lines, M] William Herndon age 12 or 13 (overwritten) = b. ca. 1837 or 1838.
[dau, alert: transposed lines, F] Ellender/Ellenor "Ellen" He[r]ndon, age 7 = b. ca. 1843.
FAMILY OF ROBERT HERNDON, HIS SIBLINGS:
KNOWN CHILDREN OF PHILIP & SARAH (HITCHCOCK) HERNDON:
Philip Herndon (1808-1848) & Sarah (Hitchcock) Herndon (1807-aft. 1850+) were parents of these children:
(#1 in Goodspeed's, 1886 "History of Tennessee..." Stewart Co Section, pages 1305-1306)
(#2-7 on 1850 US Federal Census of Stewart Co TN with widowed mother Sarah Hendon [sic, Herndon]:
(1) Lewis/Louis Y. Herndon (1824/5) md. Mary Futrill.
(2) Nancy Herndon (1827), no further info, died after 1850.
(3) Robert Herndon (1833) md. Nancy Shaw & Mariah Barrett.
(4) James Herndon (1835) md. Missouri Shaw.
(5) George Herndon (1837) md. Mary E. McClannahan.
(6) Ellen/er "Elender" Herndon (1838) md. Richard Burn[e]s.
(7) William Herndon (1843); md. Seregorda [sic] Manning.
(ALERT for children 6-7: The 1850 enumerator transposed the lines for William and Elender, saying William, 12, was female and Elender, 7, was male; likely he also transposed the ages making Ellen/er age 12 born 1838 and William age 7 born 1843, which fits with later research on their lives.)
(CHILDREN SOURCE: Identified by RHB 2011 research sparked by the finding in 2010, my/RHB 1990s research, shared by fellow-researcher/series-publisher DLHj to MNG, quoted in the 2003 book by Maxine Newton Gibson, along with some identifiable conflation mistakes I had evidentiary proof to correct and realized I needed to quit working solo & share the that crucial documentation for the benefit of posterity and other researchers and historians. Documentation freely shared.)
PUBLISHED BROTHER: LEWIS Y. HERNDON (BIO-SKETCH IN HIS LIFETIME):
Known child of Philip Herndon & wife Sarah Hitchcock (published during lifetime of Lewis):
Lewis Herndon, born August 31, 1824 in Tennessee; died January 08, 1914 in Stewart County, Tennessee; married Mary Futrell February 19, 1846 in Stewart County, Tennessee.
(REF: Book, "History of Tennessee from the earliest time to the present : together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Montgomery, Robertson, Humphreys, Stewart, Dickson, Cheatham and Houston counties" by Weston Arthur Goodspeed, 1886, pp. 1305-1306, Bio-sketch of "Lewis Herndon."
URL: https://archive.org/details/historyoftenness00good_1/page/n1385/mode/2up?q=lewisherndon.)
CORRECT 1850 SURNAME OF PHILIP'S WIDOW WAS HERNDON (NOT HENDON, AS ENUMERATED):
Following all of Sarah (Hitchcock) He[r]ndon's 1850-set of children forward through the censuses, their marriages, and deaths, proves them to be Herndon's, all using spelling variants of Herndon, but never again erroneously-listed as Hendon, as it was on the 1850 US Federal Census of Stewart Co TN.
SOURCE: Alerted by 2003 compilation by Maxine Newton Gibson (although containing conflation errors, 2011 research by RHB.)
WHAT HAPPENED TO MOTHER, SARAH (HITCHCOCK) HERNDON?:
Philip's widow, Sarah (Hitchcock) Herndon, died sometime after the 1850 census---likely dying before the 1860 census, since according to Goodspeed's mention of them in the "History of Tennessee" (1886) in a biographical sketch of their son, "Lewis Herndon"---"neither lived to be old." One document raises the possibility she may have remarried to a Harrel, due to "Sallie Harrel" being listed as mother (with Philip Herndon listed as father) on death certificate of their son, (misspelled "Louis Herndon"), unfortunately the informant line is empty, so Harrel may be an error since it conflicts with the parental info published in the biographical sketch of their son Lewis during his lifetime. (Older death certificates are notorious for incomplete or incorrect data because surviving informants---assorted successive wives, grandchildren, in-laws, neighbors---often didn't know exact birth data or parentage.)
(REF: History of Tennessee from the earliest time to the present : together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Montgomery, Robertson, Humphreys, Stewart, Dickson, Cheatham and Houston counties, by Weston Arthur Goodspeed, 1886, Section: Stewart Co, pages 1305-1306; URL: https://archive.org/details/historyoftenness00good_1/page/n1385/mode/2up?q=%22lewis+herndon%22.)
THESE PEOPLE WERE NOT IN THE FAMILY OF ROBERT HERNDON:
THE FOLLOWING CHILDREN ARE NOT HIS SIBLINGS, NOR ARE THEY HIS HALF SIBLINGS, THEY BELONG TO ANOTHER COUPLE, YOUNGER HERNDON (1785 VA-1859 KY) & WIFE SARAH ANN WILSON (1801 VA-1860 KY)
CHILDREN OF YOUNGER & SARAH ANN (WILSON) HERNDON:
Younger Herndon (1785-1859) and Sarah Ann (Wilson) Herndon (1801-1860) were parents of these children:
(1) Alfred C. Herndon (1825) md. Martha Frances Vinson.
(2) Ann S. Herndon (1828) md. Riley Vinson (siblings marrying siblings).
(3) David D. Herndon (1831) md. Elizabeth M. Gream/Graham.
(4) Susannah "Susan" Herndon (1834) md. widower John S. Son.
(5) Younger Newton Herndon (1836) md. Mary Jane Curry.
(6) Missouri Jane Herndon (1840) never wed; mother of 3.
(7) Nancy A. Herndon (1843) md. Bradley Boren/Edmonds, died before Feb. 1874 and all her children stayed with Bradley when he remarried to Melinda McCarver.
BIO-SKETCH BY ROSE H. BONNELL (29 Oct 2023):
Son of Philip and Sarah (Hitchcock) Herndon. His brother, Philip's & Sarah's son, Lewis Herndon, a Stewart Co TN magistrate "justice of the peace" had a biosketch published in the book, "History of Tennessee...", Stewart Co TN, by William Arthur Goodspeed, 1886, pp. 1305-1306), giving the names of the parents and stating that neither "lived to be old."
1848: His father, Philip Herndon, a Stewart Co TN Justice of the Peace, newly-elected to a six-year term died suddenly requiring a special election to fill his position. It was filled by Benjamin Herndon, relationship as yet unproven. Probate of Philip Herndon continued 1848-1850 with widow's provisions and estate sale and administration settlement.
1850 WIDOW FAMILY (IDENTIFIED BY MAXINE NEWTON GIBSON) ON US FEDERAL CENSUS, STEWART CO TN:
Sarah He[r]ndon, and children, widowed/daddy-orphaned in April 1848.
BIRTH CALCULATION VIA CENSUSES:
1850 US Federal Census of Stewart Co TN (dated 20 Sep) says Robert He[r]ndon [sic] (with mom Sarah) was age 17 = born about 1833.
1860 US Federal Census of Stewart Co TN (dated 3 Jul) says Robert Herengdon [sic] (& Nancy) was age 27 = born about 1833.
1870 US Federal Census of Trigg Co KY (dated 28 Jul) says Robert Herndon (& Mariah) was age 37 = born about 1833.
(1880 US Federal Census not yet located, could be indexing error, but he lived in the border region of Stewart Co TN-Trigg Co KY.)
1891 US Compiled Census and Census Substitutes for Stewart Co TN says R. M. Herndon was on the 1891 Voter's List, District 9, page 1.
1900 US Federal Census of Stewart Co TN (dated 21 Jun) says Robert Herenden [sic] (& Mariah) was age 67 and born Oct 1832.
1910 US Federal Census of Stewart Co TN (dated 27-28 Apr) says Robert M. Herndon (& Mariah) was age 75 [sic] = born about 1835.
Death Certificate (least reliable): Age about 83 from 28 Sep 1915 death = born about 1832.
Conclusion: Taking the 1900 Census & the 1915 Death Certificate, since he died just prior to his 1915 birthday, purportedly in October it would likely make him born in Oct 1832 instead of 1833. Since all the US Federal Censuses which enumerate him were taken prior to his October birthday, they did not reflect the age he became that year, which agree with him being born in Oct 1832, rather than 1833.
MARRIAGES:
Robert M. Herndon married twice:
(1) on 13 Jun 1852, of Stewart Co TN, to Nancy Shaw (1835-1968), daughter of Daniel C./G. Shaw, and sister of Missouri Shaw who married James Herndon, a case of sisters marrying brothers.
(2) on 10 December 1868, in Stewart Co TN, to Mariah Barrett (1834-1910), daughter of Thomas Jefferson Barrett Sr.
CHILDREN:
(A) with Nancy, he had (1) Virginia E. Herndon (b. 1860) and (2) Nora L. Herndon (b. 1865).
(B) with Mariah, he had (3) Emmer [sic, Emma] L. and likely others (who will be identified when their 1880 Census is located).
EXACT DEATH DATE & DEATH PLACE IS STATED ON HIS DEATH CERTIFICATE:
28 September 1915 in Tharpe, Tennessee, signed by Dr. J. H. Giles of Tharpe, Tennessee.
DISCREPANCY ERROR ALERT: On his death certificate, a document type which is known to contain error, especially during this early 19-teens pre-modern era, there are several reasons for caution against taking the info for Robert M. Herndon, (widower, blacksmith), as fact: (1) there are at least three, or more, different handwritings on this document; (2) the informant is not listed and did not know his birthdate, estimating his age to be "about 83;" and (3) while his mother is listed as "Hitchcock" with no first name, in a different hand, different slant, the first name "Ben" is added as his father. But that father is provably an error based on the bio-sketch of his brother Lewis Herndon, naming their parents as Philip Herndon and Sarah (Hitchcock) Herndon.
EXACT BURIAL PLACE IS NOT LISTED ON DEATH CERTIFICATE, OTHER THAN AS:
"Tharpe Tenn." or "Tharpe Farm?" (compare entry below it), appears to be "Tenn."
MOST LIKELY BURIAL LOCATION: within Tharpe, Tennessee.
Believed buried in the same area or cemetery as his brother Lewis Y. Herndon (Boyd Memorial Cemetery, Tharpe, Stewart Co TN).
No surviving stone. But, keep in mind, as is so with many early graves, older unmarked grave rocks or soft limestone tombstones often did not survive.
PARENTAL MARRIAGE DATE CALCULATION FROM 1830 CENSUS AGES OF CHILDREN (= 1823 or 1824):
(Household of 8, all white, parents and children, with zero slaves; married young ages 15-16 or 16-17.)
1830 HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:
[self/head] 1 male age 20-29 = b. betw. 1801-1810 = Philip Herndon, b. 1808.
[wife] 1 female age 20-29 = b. betw. 1801-1810 = Sarah (Hitchcock) Herndon, b. 1807.
[unknown, sis or dau, twin?] 1 female age 5-9 = b. betw. 1821-1825 = ?
[unknown, sis or dau, twin?] 1 female age 5-9 = b. betw. 1821-1825 = ?
[dau] 1 female age 5-9 = b. betw. 1821-1825 = Nancy Herndon, b. ca. 1823.
[son] 1 male age 5-9 = b. betw. 1821-1825 = Lewis Y. Herndon, b. 31 Aug 1824, md. by 1850.
[son] 1 male age 5 = b. betw. 1826-1830 = ?
[dau] 1 female age 5 = b. betw. 1826-1830 = Rebecca Ann "Becky" Herndon, b. ca. 1830, md. by 1850.
COMPARE 1840 CENSUS DATA:
(Household of 10, all whites, head and family; BE AWARE: Within the span of 11 names, are listed Younger Herendon [sic, Herndon], probable uncle, and Phillip Herendon [sic, Herndon], probable son.)
1840 HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:
[self/head] 1 male age 30-39 = b. betw 1801-1810 = Philip Herndon, b. ca. 1808
[wife] 1 female age 30-39 b. betw 1801-1810 = Sarah (Hitchcock) Herndon, b. ca. 1807
1 male 15-19 = b. betw. 1821-1825 = ?
1 male 10-14 = b. betw. 1826-1830 = Robert Herndon, b. ca. 1830.
1 female 5-9 = b. betw. 1831-1835 = ?
1 male 5-9 = b. betw. 1831-1835 = James Herndon, b. ca. 1833.
1 male 5-9 = b. betw. 1831-1835 = George Herndon, b. ca. 1835.
1 male 5 = b. betw. 1835-1840 = William Herndon, b. ca. 1837 or 1838.
1 female 5 = b. betw. 1835-1840= ?
1 male 5 = b. betw. 1835-1840 = Ellenor "Ellen" Herndon, b. ca. 1843.
COMPARE 1850 CENSUS DATA:
(Household of 7, all white, mom and children; BE AWARE: Census informants were not identified till the 1940 census, and reading census instructions to the enumerators, if on repeated visits they found no one at home, they were allowed to gather info from neighbors. This seems possible for this 1850 Census for two reasons: one, because their surname is erroneously recorded as Hendon [rather than Herndon], and, two, because Sarah's birthplace state is listed as unknown, and third, due to transposition of lines resulting in mismatch of gender & age for William and Elender.)
1850 HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:
[widow/head] Sarah, age 43 = b. ca. 1807.
[dau] Nancy Herndon, age 27 = b. ca. 1823.
[son] Robert Herndon, 17 = b. ca. 1833.
[son] James Herndon, 15 = b. ca. 1835.
[son] George Herndon, 13 = b. ca. 1837.
[son, alert: transposed lines, M] William Herndon age 12 or 13 (overwritten) = b. ca. 1837 or 1838.
[dau, alert: transposed lines, F] Ellender/Ellenor "Ellen" He[r]ndon, age 7 = b. ca. 1843.
FAMILY OF ROBERT HERNDON, HIS SIBLINGS:
KNOWN CHILDREN OF PHILIP & SARAH (HITCHCOCK) HERNDON:
Philip Herndon (1808-1848) & Sarah (Hitchcock) Herndon (1807-aft. 1850+) were parents of these children:
(#1 in Goodspeed's, 1886 "History of Tennessee..." Stewart Co Section, pages 1305-1306)
(#2-7 on 1850 US Federal Census of Stewart Co TN with widowed mother Sarah Hendon [sic, Herndon]:
(1) Lewis/Louis Y. Herndon (1824/5) md. Mary Futrill.
(2) Nancy Herndon (1827), no further info, died after 1850.
(3) Robert Herndon (1833) md. Nancy Shaw & Mariah Barrett.
(4) James Herndon (1835) md. Missouri Shaw.
(5) George Herndon (1837) md. Mary E. McClannahan.
(6) Ellen/er "Elender" Herndon (1838) md. Richard Burn[e]s.
(7) William Herndon (1843); md. Seregorda [sic] Manning.
(ALERT for children 6-7: The 1850 enumerator transposed the lines for William and Elender, saying William, 12, was female and Elender, 7, was male; likely he also transposed the ages making Ellen/er age 12 born 1838 and William age 7 born 1843, which fits with later research on their lives.)
(CHILDREN SOURCE: Identified by RHB 2011 research sparked by the finding in 2010, my/RHB 1990s research, shared by fellow-researcher/series-publisher DLHj to MNG, quoted in the 2003 book by Maxine Newton Gibson, along with some identifiable conflation mistakes I had evidentiary proof to correct and realized I needed to quit working solo & share the that crucial documentation for the benefit of posterity and other researchers and historians. Documentation freely shared.)
PUBLISHED BROTHER: LEWIS Y. HERNDON (BIO-SKETCH IN HIS LIFETIME):
Known child of Philip Herndon & wife Sarah Hitchcock (published during lifetime of Lewis):
Lewis Herndon, born August 31, 1824 in Tennessee; died January 08, 1914 in Stewart County, Tennessee; married Mary Futrell February 19, 1846 in Stewart County, Tennessee.
(REF: Book, "History of Tennessee from the earliest time to the present : together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Montgomery, Robertson, Humphreys, Stewart, Dickson, Cheatham and Houston counties" by Weston Arthur Goodspeed, 1886, pp. 1305-1306, Bio-sketch of "Lewis Herndon."
URL: https://archive.org/details/historyoftenness00good_1/page/n1385/mode/2up?q=lewisherndon.)
CORRECT 1850 SURNAME OF PHILIP'S WIDOW WAS HERNDON (NOT HENDON, AS ENUMERATED):
Following all of Sarah (Hitchcock) He[r]ndon's 1850-set of children forward through the censuses, their marriages, and deaths, proves them to be Herndon's, all using spelling variants of Herndon, but never again erroneously-listed as Hendon, as it was on the 1850 US Federal Census of Stewart Co TN.
SOURCE: Alerted by 2003 compilation by Maxine Newton Gibson (although containing conflation errors, 2011 research by RHB.)
WHAT HAPPENED TO MOTHER, SARAH (HITCHCOCK) HERNDON?:
Philip's widow, Sarah (Hitchcock) Herndon, died sometime after the 1850 census---likely dying before the 1860 census, since according to Goodspeed's mention of them in the "History of Tennessee" (1886) in a biographical sketch of their son, "Lewis Herndon"---"neither lived to be old." One document raises the possibility she may have remarried to a Harrel, due to "Sallie Harrel" being listed as mother (with Philip Herndon listed as father) on death certificate of their son, (misspelled "Louis Herndon"), unfortunately the informant line is empty, so Harrel may be an error since it conflicts with the parental info published in the biographical sketch of their son Lewis during his lifetime. (Older death certificates are notorious for incomplete or incorrect data because surviving informants---assorted successive wives, grandchildren, in-laws, neighbors---often didn't know exact birth data or parentage.)
(REF: History of Tennessee from the earliest time to the present : together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Montgomery, Robertson, Humphreys, Stewart, Dickson, Cheatham and Houston counties, by Weston Arthur Goodspeed, 1886, Section: Stewart Co, pages 1305-1306; URL: https://archive.org/details/historyoftenness00good_1/page/n1385/mode/2up?q=%22lewis+herndon%22.)
THESE PEOPLE WERE NOT IN THE FAMILY OF ROBERT HERNDON:
THE FOLLOWING CHILDREN ARE NOT HIS SIBLINGS, NOR ARE THEY HIS HALF SIBLINGS, THEY BELONG TO ANOTHER COUPLE, YOUNGER HERNDON (1785 VA-1859 KY) & WIFE SARAH ANN WILSON (1801 VA-1860 KY)
CHILDREN OF YOUNGER & SARAH ANN (WILSON) HERNDON:
Younger Herndon (1785-1859) and Sarah Ann (Wilson) Herndon (1801-1860) were parents of these children:
(1) Alfred C. Herndon (1825) md. Martha Frances Vinson.
(2) Ann S. Herndon (1828) md. Riley Vinson (siblings marrying siblings).
(3) David D. Herndon (1831) md. Elizabeth M. Gream/Graham.
(4) Susannah "Susan" Herndon (1834) md. widower John S. Son.
(5) Younger Newton Herndon (1836) md. Mary Jane Curry.
(6) Missouri Jane Herndon (1840) never wed; mother of 3.
(7) Nancy A. Herndon (1843) md. Bradley Boren/Edmonds, died before Feb. 1874 and all her children stayed with Bradley when he remarried to Melinda McCarver.
Son of Philip and Sarah (Hitchcock) Herndon. His brother, Philip's & Sarah's son, Lewis Herndon, a Stewart Co TN magistrate "justice of the peace" had a biosketch published in the book, "History of Tennessee...", Stewart Co TN, by William Arthur Goodspeed, 1886, pp. 1305-1306), giving the names of the parents and stating that neither "lived to be old."
1848: His father, Philip Herndon, a Stewart Co TN Justice of the Peace, newly-elected to a six-year term died suddenly requiring a special election to fill his position. It was filled by Benjamin Herndon, relationship as yet unproven. Probate of Philip Herndon continued 1848-1850 with widow's provisions and estate sale and administration settlement.
1850 WIDOW FAMILY (IDENTIFIED BY MAXINE NEWTON GIBSON) ON US FEDERAL CENSUS, STEWART CO TN:
Sarah He[r]ndon, and children, widowed/daddy-orphaned in April 1848.
BIRTH CALCULATION VIA CENSUSES:
1850 US Federal Census of Stewart Co TN (dated 20 Sep) says Robert He[r]ndon [sic] (with mom Sarah) was age 17 = born about 1833.
1860 US Federal Census of Stewart Co TN (dated 3 Jul) says Robert Herengdon [sic] (& Nancy) was age 27 = born about 1833.
1870 US Federal Census of Trigg Co KY (dated 28 Jul) says Robert Herndon (& Mariah) was age 37 = born about 1833.
(1880 US Federal Census not yet located, could be indexing error, but he lived in the border region of Stewart Co TN-Trigg Co KY.)
1891 US Compiled Census and Census Substitutes for Stewart Co TN says R. M. Herndon was on the 1891 Voter's List, District 9, page 1.
1900 US Federal Census of Stewart Co TN (dated 21 Jun) says Robert Herenden [sic] (& Mariah) was age 67 and born Oct 1832.
1910 US Federal Census of Stewart Co TN (dated 27-28 Apr) says Robert M. Herndon (& Mariah) was age 75 [sic] = born about 1835.
Death Certificate (least reliable): Age about 83 from 28 Sep 1915 death = born about 1832.
Conclusion: Taking the 1900 Census & the 1915 Death Certificate, since he died just prior to his 1915 birthday, purportedly in October it would likely make him born in Oct 1832 instead of 1833. Since all the US Federal Censuses which enumerate him were taken prior to his October birthday, they did not reflect the age he became that year, which agree with him being born in Oct 1832, rather than 1833.
MARRIAGES:
Robert M. Herndon married twice:
(1) on 13 Jun 1852, of Stewart Co TN, to Nancy Shaw (1835-1968), daughter of Daniel C./G. Shaw, and sister of Missouri Shaw who married James Herndon, a case of sisters marrying brothers.
(2) on 10 December 1868, in Stewart Co TN, to Mariah Barrett (1834-1910), daughter of Thomas Jefferson Barrett Sr.
CHILDREN:
(A) with Nancy, he had (1) Virginia E. Herndon (b. 1860) and (2) Nora L. Herndon (b. 1865).
(B) with Mariah, he had (3) Emmer [sic, Emma] L. and likely others (who will be identified when their 1880 Census is located).
EXACT DEATH DATE & DEATH PLACE IS STATED ON HIS DEATH CERTIFICATE:
28 September 1915 in Tharpe, Tennessee, signed by Dr. J. H. Giles of Tharpe, Tennessee.
DISCREPANCY ERROR ALERT: On his death certificate, a document type which is known to contain error, especially during this early 19-teens pre-modern era, there are several reasons for caution against taking the info for Robert M. Herndon, (widower, blacksmith), as fact: (1) there are at least three, or more, different handwritings on this document; (2) the informant is not listed and did not know his birthdate, estimating his age to be "about 83;" and (3) while his mother is listed as "Hitchcock" with no first name, in a different hand, different slant, the first name "Ben" is added as his father. But that father is provably an error based on the bio-sketch of his brother Lewis Herndon, naming their parents as Philip Herndon and Sarah (Hitchcock) Herndon.
EXACT BURIAL PLACE IS NOT LISTED ON DEATH CERTIFICATE, OTHER THAN AS:
"Tharpe Tenn." or "Tharpe Farm?" (compare entry below it), appears to be "Tenn."
MOST LIKELY BURIAL LOCATION: within Tharpe, Tennessee.
Believed buried in the same area or cemetery as his brother Lewis Y. Herndon (Boyd Memorial Cemetery, Tharpe, Stewart Co TN).
No surviving stone. But, keep in mind, as is so with many early graves, older unmarked grave rocks or soft limestone tombstones often did not survive.
PARENTAL MARRIAGE DATE CALCULATION FROM 1830 CENSUS AGES OF CHILDREN (= 1823 or 1824):
(Household of 8, all white, parents and children, with zero slaves; married young ages 15-16 or 16-17.)
1830 HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:
[self/head] 1 male age 20-29 = b. betw. 1801-1810 = Philip Herndon, b. 1808.
[wife] 1 female age 20-29 = b. betw. 1801-1810 = Sarah (Hitchcock) Herndon, b. 1807.
[unknown, sis or dau, twin?] 1 female age 5-9 = b. betw. 1821-1825 = ?
[unknown, sis or dau, twin?] 1 female age 5-9 = b. betw. 1821-1825 = ?
[dau] 1 female age 5-9 = b. betw. 1821-1825 = Nancy Herndon, b. ca. 1823.
[son] 1 male age 5-9 = b. betw. 1821-1825 = Lewis Y. Herndon, b. 31 Aug 1824, md. by 1850.
[son] 1 male age 5 = b. betw. 1826-1830 = ?
[dau] 1 female age 5 = b. betw. 1826-1830 = Rebecca Ann "Becky" Herndon, b. ca. 1830, md. by 1850.
COMPARE 1840 CENSUS DATA:
(Household of 10, all whites, head and family; BE AWARE: Within the span of 11 names, are listed Younger Herendon [sic, Herndon], probable uncle, and Phillip Herendon [sic, Herndon], probable son.)
1840 HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:
[self/head] 1 male age 30-39 = b. betw 1801-1810 = Philip Herndon, b. ca. 1808
[wife] 1 female age 30-39 b. betw 1801-1810 = Sarah (Hitchcock) Herndon, b. ca. 1807
1 male 15-19 = b. betw. 1821-1825 = ?
1 male 10-14 = b. betw. 1826-1830 = Robert Herndon, b. ca. 1830.
1 female 5-9 = b. betw. 1831-1835 = ?
1 male 5-9 = b. betw. 1831-1835 = James Herndon, b. ca. 1833.
1 male 5-9 = b. betw. 1831-1835 = George Herndon, b. ca. 1835.
1 male 5 = b. betw. 1835-1840 = William Herndon, b. ca. 1837 or 1838.
1 female 5 = b. betw. 1835-1840= ?
1 male 5 = b. betw. 1835-1840 = Ellenor "Ellen" Herndon, b. ca. 1843.
COMPARE 1850 CENSUS DATA:
(Household of 7, all white, mom and children; BE AWARE: Census informants were not identified till the 1940 census, and reading census instructions to the enumerators, if on repeated visits they found no one at home, they were allowed to gather info from neighbors. This seems possible for this 1850 Census for two reasons: one, because their surname is erroneously recorded as Hendon [rather than Herndon], and, two, because Sarah's birthplace state is listed as unknown, and third, due to transposition of lines resulting in mismatch of gender & age for William and Elender.)
1850 HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS:
[widow/head] Sarah, age 43 = b. ca. 1807.
[dau] Nancy Herndon, age 27 = b. ca. 1823.
[son] Robert Herndon, 17 = b. ca. 1833.
[son] James Herndon, 15 = b. ca. 1835.
[son] George Herndon, 13 = b. ca. 1837.
[son, alert: transposed lines, M] William Herndon age 12 or 13 (overwritten) = b. ca. 1837 or 1838.
[dau, alert: transposed lines, F] Ellender/Ellenor "Ellen" He[r]ndon, age 7 = b. ca. 1843.
FAMILY OF ROBERT HERNDON, HIS SIBLINGS:
KNOWN CHILDREN OF PHILIP & SARAH (HITCHCOCK) HERNDON:
Philip Herndon (1808-1848) & Sarah (Hitchcock) Herndon (1807-aft. 1850+) were parents of these children:
(#1 in Goodspeed's, 1886 "History of Tennessee..." Stewart Co Section, pages 1305-1306)
(#2-7 on 1850 US Federal Census of Stewart Co TN with widowed mother Sarah Hendon [sic, Herndon]:
(1) Lewis/Louis Y. Herndon (1824/5) md. Mary Futrill.
(2) Nancy Herndon (1827), no further info, died after 1850.
(3) Robert Herndon (1833) md. Nancy Shaw & Mariah Barrett.
(4) James Herndon (1835) md. Missouri Shaw.
(5) George Herndon (1837) md. Mary E. McClannahan.
(6) Ellen/er "Elender" Herndon (1838) md. Richard Burn[e]s.
(7) William Herndon (1843); md. Seregorda [sic] Manning.
(ALERT for children 6-7: The 1850 enumerator transposed the lines for William and Elender, saying William, 12, was female and Elender, 7, was male; likely he also transposed the ages making Ellen/er age 12 born 1838 and William age 7 born 1843, which fits with later research on their lives.)
(CHILDREN SOURCE: Identified by RHB 2011 research sparked by the finding in 2010, my/RHB 1990s research, shared by fellow-researcher/series-publisher DLHj to MNG, quoted in the 2003 book by Maxine Newton Gibson, along with some identifiable conflation mistakes I had evidentiary proof to correct and realized I needed to quit working solo & share the that crucial documentation for the benefit of posterity and other researchers and historians. Documentation freely shared.)
PUBLISHED BROTHER: LEWIS Y. HERNDON (BIO-SKETCH IN HIS LIFETIME):
Known child of Philip Herndon & wife Sarah Hitchcock (published during lifetime of Lewis):
Lewis Herndon, born August 31, 1824 in Tennessee; died January 08, 1914 in Stewart County, Tennessee; married Mary Futrell February 19, 1846 in Stewart County, Tennessee.
(REF: Book, "History of Tennessee from the earliest time to the present : together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Montgomery, Robertson, Humphreys, Stewart, Dickson, Cheatham and Houston counties" by Weston Arthur Goodspeed, 1886, pp. 1305-1306, Bio-sketch of "Lewis Herndon."
URL: https://archive.org/details/historyoftenness00good_1/page/n1385/mode/2up?q=lewisherndon.)
CORRECT 1850 SURNAME OF PHILIP'S WIDOW WAS HERNDON (NOT HENDON, AS ENUMERATED):
Following all of Sarah (Hitchcock) He[r]ndon's 1850-set of children forward through the censuses, their marriages, and deaths, proves them to be Herndon's, all using spelling variants of Herndon, but never again erroneously-listed as Hendon, as it was on the 1850 US Federal Census of Stewart Co TN.
SOURCE: Alerted by 2003 compilation by Maxine Newton Gibson (although containing conflation errors, 2011 research by RHB.)
WHAT HAPPENED TO MOTHER, SARAH (HITCHCOCK) HERNDON?:
Philip's widow, Sarah (Hitchcock) Herndon, died sometime after the 1850 census---likely dying before the 1860 census, since according to Goodspeed's mention of them in the "History of Tennessee" (1886) in a biographical sketch of their son, "Lewis Herndon"---"neither lived to be old." One document raises the possibility she may have remarried to a Harrel, due to "Sallie Harrel" being listed as mother (with Philip Herndon listed as father) on death certificate of their son, (misspelled "Louis Herndon"), unfortunately the informant line is empty, so Harrel may be an error since it conflicts with the parental info published in the biographical sketch of their son Lewis during his lifetime. (Older death certificates are notorious for incomplete or incorrect data because surviving informants---assorted successive wives, grandchildren, in-laws, neighbors---often didn't know exact birth data or parentage.)
(REF: History of Tennessee from the earliest time to the present : together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Montgomery, Robertson, Humphreys, Stewart, Dickson, Cheatham and Houston counties, by Weston Arthur Goodspeed, 1886, Section: Stewart Co, pages 1305-1306; URL: https://archive.org/details/historyoftenness00good_1/page/n1385/mode/2up?q=%22lewis+herndon%22.)
THESE PEOPLE WERE NOT IN THE FAMILY OF ROBERT HERNDON:
THE FOLLOWING CHILDREN ARE NOT HIS SIBLINGS, NOR ARE THEY HIS HALF SIBLINGS, THEY BELONG TO ANOTHER COUPLE, YOUNGER HERNDON (1785 VA-1859 KY) & WIFE SARAH ANN WILSON (1801 VA-1860 KY)
CHILDREN OF YOUNGER & SARAH ANN (WILSON) HERNDON:
Younger Herndon (1785-1859) and Sarah Ann (Wilson) Herndon (1801-1860) were parents of these children:
(1) Alfred C. Herndon (1825) md. Martha Frances Vinson.
(2) Ann S. Herndon (1828) md. Riley Vinson (siblings marrying siblings).
(3) David D. Herndon (1831) md. Elizabeth M. Gream/Graham.
(4) Susannah "Susan" Herndon (1834) md. widower John S. Son.
(5) Younger Newton Herndon (1836) md. Mary Jane Curry.
(6) Missouri Jane Herndon (1840) never wed; mother of 3.
(7) Nancy A. Herndon (1843) md. Bradley Boren/Edmonds, died before Feb. 1874 and all her children stayed with Bradley when he remarried to Melinda McCarver.
Gravesite Details
Believed buried in the same area or cemetery as his brother Lewis Y. Herndon (Boyd Memorial Cemetery, Tharpe, Stewart Co TN), and, as is so with many early graves, older unmarked grave rocks or soft limestone tombstones often did not survive.
Family Members
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