Wheatleys in the Research of Mamie Ground Hayes

On Wednesday I posted a scan and transcription of the will of my 5th-great-grandfather Robert Wheatley. This document was in Western Kentucky University's Special Collections. Another record in the Manuscripts and Folklife Archives fills significant gaps with the names of several of Robert's children who were not listed in his will in 1842. This document is a notebook of the research compiled by Mamie Ground Hayes, showing the Ground Family Graveyard in Three Forks, Warren County, Kentucky.

The citation for this file is:
Folklife Archives, Manuscripts &, "Ground Family Graveyard - Warren County, Kentucky (SC 2203)" (2010). MSS Finding Aids. Paper 1212.http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/dlsc_mss_fin_aid/1212.

The names and graves were recorded by Pleasant Ground and Mamie Ground Hayes in 1936. We really owe quite a debt to them for preserving this information, for the person who donated this to WKU and huge thanks go to WKU for scanning and making this document freely available. This is a fantastic record. If you're descended from the Ground, Hayes, Wheatley or Duff lines in Warren County, Kentucky, you need to see this file.

Source: WKU Special Collections

Source: WKU Special Collections

Page 51 of the notebook shows Robert Wheatley, the children of his first wife, and the children of his second wife Cassey Duff Wheatley. The page also has birth dates for each. The page also shows Robert Wheatley as the son of Daniel and Mary Lawrence Wheatley, and lists several of Robert's siblings. This will be very useful as we look back to earlier records in Fauquier County, Virginia in a future post.

In the will of Robert Wheatley signed on 2 January 1842, the only children from Robert's first wife included were Richard, Andrew, Garrett and Henrietta, while all 7 of Robert and Cassey's children were listed. I assume that means George, Jacob and Harriett Wheatley were no longer living in 1842.

Recall also that Robert Ground was a witness for Robert Wheatley on his will in 1842. Several of Robert Wheatley's children and grandchildren are buried in the Ground Family Cemetery (see link on Findagrave.com). These families were closely linked in the Three Forks area of Warren County. The Wheatleys and Grounds were neighbors of Isaac Goodnight, and connected to that family through marriage.

Robert's first wife likely died around 1822, and is probably buried in the Ground Family Cemetery in one of the graves now missing a headstone. Robert married Cassey J. Duff in Warren County, Kentucky on 13 January 1823. Cassey's brother Edmund Duff was listed as a witness in Robert Wheatley's will. The Duff family were well known to the Wheatley family and were connected in Virginia. Cassey's mother, Mary Wheatley Duff, was the sister of Daniel Wheatley, Robert Wheatley's father. So...Robert and Cassey were first cousins.

With this record and the earlier will, we have a pretty solid picture of the immediate descendants of Robert Wheatley:

Children of Robert Wheatley and Polley (first wife, maiden name currently unknown to me):
1. Richard L. Wheatley, born on 14 October 1806
2. George Wheatley, born on 22 October 1808
3. Joseph Wheatley, born on 28 November 1810
4. Harriett Wheatley, born on 28 November 1812
5. Andrew J. Wheatley, born on 1 August 1815
6. Garrett Wheatley, born on 28 November 1817
7. Henrietta Wheatley, born on 23 November 1819

Children of Robert Wheatley and Cassey J. Duff
1. Edmon D. Wheatley, born on 27 November 1823. He is buried in the Ground Family Cemetery.
2. Nancy Amanda Wheatley, born on 11 May 1825 (married William Ground). She died on 21 June 1907 in Warren County, Kentucky
3. Sarah Ali Wheatley, born on 11 September 1826
4. James Wesley Wheatley, born on 31 December 1828
5. Mary Jourdan Wheatley, born on 14 March 1829 according to the papers of Mamie Ground Hayes but I question the birth year of Mary or James as they're born so close together. Mary died on 31 May 1876.
6. Pamela Nash Wheatley, born on 3 October 1832
7. Daniel Bradford Wheatley, born on 1 October 1835. Daniel died in Somervell County, Texas in 1897.